Christmas!

Here are some pictures from Christmas! Hope your holidays are merry and bright!

Speaking of bright...Here's a picture of our house after the big snowstorm the weekend before Christmas:

Glowing under the snow!

Rachael checking out the Christmas tree

Christmas Eve in the play fort (hmmm...looks like a prison!) that Grandma and Grandpa got her

Rach with momma on Christmas Eve

Playing on her new car from Auntie Shannon

Rachael's FIRST Christmas, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving (a week late...). Here are a few Thanksgiving pics, including one (snif snif) of Rachael's FIRST Thanksgiving last year! Our plush turkey was bigger than she was last year! OK, enough with the nostalgia....

Rachael had her very own spot at the table at her Grandma's this year and ate turkey (and everything else!) with us. I know I am enjoying not having to pack food for her everytime we go out now--being able to give her "real" food is very convenient!

Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday!

Rachael and daddy, 2007

Rachael and the turkey, 2006

Rachael and Grandma, 2007

Let's Hear Those Sleigh Bells....

Major ordeal: we went and had family photos taken last weekend. There is nothing easy or convenient about trying to keep your toddler looking nice in her Christmas finery while waiting for your turn (the turn that was scheduled to be over an hour ago, but the family in front of you needed 20 minutes to get their 3-year old to smile so... It's awesome).

Don't mind my sarcasm. It really was quite an ordeal, but it was worth it. :)

Rachael did well in spite of the wait, and with the help of Pooh Bear and a very patient, baby-friendly photographer, we ended up with several nice photos. Here are a few!

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Enjoying Fall

There won't be too many more nice days outside so Rachael's been trying to get outside to play as much as she can! She was especially intrigued by the huge leaf pile that her daddy and grandpa made in her front lawn. She couldn't help but explore.... ;-)
Is there a baby in that leaf pile somewhere??

Baby Shower

Last Saturday was our friend Audrey's baby shower. She's expecting a little boy in January; I am so excited for her! :-) Anyway, Her shower was fun and she got lots of great baby loot! Congrats Andy and Audrey! Can't wait to meet your lil' one!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Rachael had fun trick-or-treating at a few of our neighbors' houses on Wednesday. She was dressed up as a monkey and I have to say--the tail on the costume was by far the best part.

Now that we're going through Rachael's second round of holidays, I find myself in a reflective mood--she was so little at this time last year! And now, she can run up and down our driveway (and the stairs). To capture my sappy, nostalgic mood, I've included a pic of Rachael's first Halloween too. :-)

Making her way down the street!
(Halloween 2006)

Smaller than a pumpkin!
(Halloween 2006)

Off to the Pumpkin Patch

OK, so by pumpkin patch I mean the pumpkin/Christmas tree emporium down on the corner. I know, I know....that's cheating, but in our defense, we did attempt to take Rachael pumpkin-picking at an honest-to-God pumpkin patch. We went two weeks ago....drove like 45 minutes to a farm in the middle of nowhere, only to find that there was a huge line of other families already there, waiting for the tractor to pick them up and take them and their screaming, bored children to a far away field to find their magic pumpkin... Yeah....

It took David and I about three minutes to figure out that this was a bad idea. Rachael was in NO way going to tolerate this. This was also about the same time that Rachael was bored enough to sit down in the gravel-covered waiting area and try to eat the dusty rocks. So, we packed up and drove 45 minutes back home. Pumpkinless.

Our experience at the local pumpkin joint was so much nicer. After a tolerable five-minute drive, Rachael got out and toddled around rows and rows of pre-picked squash. She totally dug it--no waiting, just that immediate satisfaction that toddlers demand. We picked out two pumpkins and a pretty white mum for our front porch and headed home. Total time: under 30 minutes.

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So anyway, while this was not the pumpkin-acquiring method of our forefathers, it worked for us! The trick-or-treaters won't care that we didn't snip our squash off the vines ourselves. ;)