You have been a lovely year!

May 2009 bring us a healthy son!

Warmest wishes to all of you for a wonderful 2009!

We had such a nice Christmas at home. It was very quiet and simple and so much fun to see Magnolia get a visit from Santa! Fondue has started to become our tradition on Christmas Eve which I love. It's so easy and good. It also means eating in front of the fireplace and Christmas tree! Here are our pictures of our Christmas.

The elves have always dropped off pajamas on Christmas Eve. Usually right after dinner and just before reading T'was the Night Before Christmas. Magnolia and I heard a little jingle at the front door and sure enough a red sack was left with our name on it and brand new pajamas inside!

Magnolia's stocking was left at the foot of our bed. We had coffee cake and grapefruit in bed while she opened her stocking presents. The sun wasn't even close to rising at this point!First glimpse of what Santa brought!
A basketball hoop!

A train!

A drum! A tool bench like daddy's!

Mr. Potato Head!

And many more...

Magnolia was worn out and took her place at the table to wait for her breakfast.

Hoping yours was merry too!

And to all a good night!

Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas.

We went to a local mansion/museum on Saturday. Each of its rooms is decorated in a scene from the Nutcracker. It was beautiful and Magnolia loved playing with the old fashioned toys under one of their trees. Then we watched the Nutcracker on PBS. Magnolia was just mesmerized. I was too! It was a cold, snowy, and cozy weekend at home. Here are some pictures from our gingerbread party. We had a lot of fun and I think all the kids did too. Magnolia did more eating candy than decorating. :)

First Salon Visit

Magnolia had her first visit to an actual salon and she did really well! I gave her a candy cane but she didn't even eat it. She was fascinated by the big mirror and cape with penguins on it.

Looking pretty cute with her new haircut.

I can't believe only one more week until Christmas! I'm hosting a gingerbread party tomorrow and have been busy getting ready for that. Last Christmas while we were in St. Louis, we went to the one George's family hosts every year. It was SO much fun, I wanted to have one too! I was pretty intimidated to make 8 gingerbread houses. My friend gave me the idea of taking little milk cartons and covering them in graham crackers. That wasn't as easy as I thought either but it will work. I'm also making gingerbread men cookies to decorate so at least we'll have something gingerbread!
-I haven't taken any pictures lately so I thought I'd include these Christmas card out takes...

We've already had over a foot of snow here in the northwoods. It's really beginning to look a lot like Christmas. I'm excited for the holidays this year, for the first time in a long time. I have a lot to be excited about. Magnolia is loving all the Christmas stuff, we have a baby on the way, and we are having Christmas at home for only the second time ever in our marriage! We have Christmas music going all day long and we've been baking entirely too much. Christmas cards went out. Now I have to finish my Christmas shopping!

We had such a nice weekend around the house. We put up our Christmas tree and other decorations. We did a some eating out and a little Christmas shopping.

St. Nicholas came and surprised Magnolia with a lot of chocolate and new pajamas. I baked entirely too much including these cookies which are heavenly. We spent our Saturday night staring at our Christmas tree and feeling the baby really kick for the first time!

My little elf has been such a good helper putting up all of the Christmas decorations. She especially likes the creche figures. She also tasted her first candy cane in which she told me a hundred times how good it was. When we go shopping she wants to see "Christmas stuff." She recognizes "Ho Ho Santa Claus" anywhere. She gasps, "Oh my gosh!" when she sees Christmas lights and Christmas trees. It's so much fun to have the holiday season with Miss Magnolia, it's so much fun to see it through her eyes. We brought a Christmas tree back with us from the island. I'm so excited to put it up with her this weekend.

Hope you're enjoying the start of the holiday season too!

So long Nani! We will miss you, we loved having you. Come back soon!
So long Island. The next time we come back we'll be bringing a new baby with us!

So long November!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving on the island complete with snow!

Hoping yours was wonderful too!