Are you ready for a really long-winded tour of our Christmas celebrations?

Okay, here we go…

This year i wanted to switch things up with the “color scheme” of our tree, but we didn’t want to spend money on new decorations, so we used all sorts of white/silver things that we found around the house. I really liked how pretty and sparkly it turned out.
Here’s my attempt at making a flower out of scraps of fabric i had laying around. why do other people make it look so easy?
And who needs to buy wrapping paper and ribbon when you have rolls of butcher paper for art and twine?

Speaking of money….

Brian and I had decided that we were NOT under any circumstance exchanging gifts with each other. Our new downstairs was going to be our gift to each other. So, you can imagine my surprise when the night before xmas eve finley handed me a big box, covered with brown industrial paper and blue painter’s tape. Brian got me a new camera!! I was so shocked and delighted {and also slightly intimidated by all the buttons and features}.

It was love at first sight when I took my first picture…

Unfortunately, all I had for Brian was a batch of his favorite cookies. But, he was happy.

We had made food for Santa’s reindeer {oatmeal, sugar, and red and green sprinkles} so on xmas eve we went outside to throw it on the lawn.
Later that night we had lots of fun hanging out at Brian’s dad’s.

Finley loves her cousin Maya soooooo much. I love watching them play together.

Instead of spending Christmas morning at my parent’s house, we decided that it made more sense for them to come over to our place. We got to wake up and have time with just the three of us, and then they came over for brunch. This was probably the best decision we’ve ever made. Seriously, it was sooooo much more relaxing! Thanks, mom and dad for embracing a new tradition!
That afternoon we went over to spend time with Brian’s family. More yummy food and lots and lots of laughing.
My sissy and I are so excited to be pregnant together and looking forward to having babies a few weeks apart.
And here’s the cutest thing that I’ve ever laid eyes on. It makes my heart so happy to see that in some part of her little, two year old heart, she understands that Christmas is about “baby jesus”.

Hope you had a very merry christmas too!

We took Finley to see Santa this weekend and, well it was bad. I sort of was planning on her shedding some tears, but I had not anticipated it being so traumatic. We came armed with a lolly (sucker) for her and one for her to give to Santa because I thought that would be a good icebreaker. As soon as we got within three feet of him, she threw it at him and started tearing up. We tried having her sit on a chair at his feet, on a rocking horse to the side of him, and they even tried a “bye bye Santa picture” {Santa says goodbye and goes around back, while the kid sits in his chair and he sneaks in behind the child for a quick picture}. She would have none of it. It seriously attracted a crowd of employees and shoppers. In the end, we threw her on his lap and snapped a picture. Is it evil of me to think that crying pictures are kinda funny? Within seconds of leaving his sight, she realized she was holding a lolly and everything was fine. Maybe next year when she has a sibling with her it will go better? One can hope…

These are just some random pictures from the weekend. Is it me or does she look really old?!
and i couldn’t resist the opportunity to capture a belly shot when i’m actually wearing real clothes and makeup {it’s kind of a rare occurrence}.

…we have a little bit of holiday cheer going on. I love how our little tree with white lights instantly makes our house feel cozy and peaceful. First year without a “full” tree, and I kind of like it.

Our mantel, for the time being, “kinda looks like antlers”-brian

can’t wait to add a new initial next year!!

One of my very favorite family traditions is heading up to the mountains on Thanksgiving morning to cut down our Christmas tree. This year was especially interesting because the snow was soooooo deep (above my knees). Thankfully, Brian’s family came prepared with enough snow shoes for almost everyone in the group. But even with snow shoes on it was still really tricky to maneuver around in the snow and i sort of thought i miiiiight go into labor when i had to carry finley back to the car. As usual, we had a great time and we have LOTS of pictures to prove it (it’s bound to happen when Brian’s mom and I get together). And now, let me introduce you to what many of you wait for all year long…..

Brian, in his onesie snowsuit. Try not to be afraid.

Grandma had to make the trek without snowshoes!

If only there was a way to photoshop finley’s whiny face into a smiling face…it could’ve been a Christmas card option!

don’t worry…we’re only using the very top of the tree for our “table topper tree”.

not happy taking a face plant in the snow

with grandma
I LOOOOOVE THESE TWO!!

After our excursion we headed to my family’s house for yummy food and relaxing. Sometimes I hate to use the word “blessed”, but that’s the best way to describe how we feel. This year we are especially thankful for: God (duh), our hilarious daughter, both our amazing families, our friends, our church, our health, our baby girl on the way, my easy pregnancy, Brian’s new company and the doors that have opened for him, and our home that brings us lots of joy and comfort.

Tomorrow I’m making my first turkey. Since it’s a no no to eat deli turkey when you’re pregnant I’ve gone without it for seven months. I am really excited about having tons of leftovers for sandwiches. Wish me luck!

As soon as we’re done finishing our downstairs remodel, we’ll get to the really fun task of doing the baby’s nursery (which is currently our room). Brian and I both agreed that we wanted to do something other than pink, since we’ve got the whole bubble gum thing going on in finley’s room. I toyed around with green, but my heart just wasn’t in it. For some reason I keep going back to the idea of a white/neutral colored room. I love how white is clean, bright, and calming all at the same time. We’ve already got all white furniture so we’re off to a good start. I’m just nervous that it’s not as easy to pull off as it looks. What if the whites don’t exactly match? Will that look weird? What if it just ends up looking like an unfinished room? I don’t know if I can get brian on board with this crazy idea, or even if I’m brave enough to give it a go, but here’s some pictures that made me melt…

i hope and wish with all my might that someday we will live in a house with white plank wood floors. But, don’t worry babe. I’ll never suggest to you again that we paint our hardwoods. i now know, that the odds of us purchasing a quaint little beach house with said floors is far more likely (ie not gonna happen). a girl can dream though…

Every now and then I like to do a post about Finley and what she’s up to. I have been awful at keeping up with her baby book, so it’s kind of a way for me to record important things. Now that she’s a big two year old I’ve been meaning to do one, but keep putting it off. I really feel like my words can’t possibly describe this super fun stage that she’s in. I can’t keep up with all the new things that she’s learning or all the impossibly cute and hilarious things that come out of her mouth. So here is my attempt at capturing what brian and I feel has been “the best stage yet!”

Go ahead and judge me for saying this…our family isn’t really that into halloween. I just couldn’t bring myself to spend any money on a costume so we dressed her up in something she already had. If I do say so, I think she made a rather cute little ballerina (even if she wouldn’t leave on her ballet slippers). Instead of taking her trick or treating we decorated plates of sugar cookies and took them to some of our friends in the neighborhood. At night we stayed home and enjoyed seeing all the kids (um, and adults) come to our door. Every time the door bell rang, Finley screamed “my friends are here!!”.

Last weekend we went out to Jubilee Farm to visit a friend to who lives and works on the farm. Even though it was FREEZING, we had the best day checking out the farm. I would totally recommend this place to anyone looking for a good pumpkin patch because there was so much to do and see (for free).

searching for the perfect pumpkin. hmmmmmm

maybe this one?

or this one?

maybe i can carry this one.

i think this is it!

family photo attempt 1.
the best part was the hay rides from the barn to the patch. our friend was driving so we stayed on for several rides.

feeding the pigs some corn.

checking out the chickens, roosters and turkey.

family photo attempt 2

and 3.

hanging out at the barn.

going through the hay maze.

we better go that way.

photo op with “farmer ian”

You probably can’t imagine anything cuter than this janie and jack knit dress we picked up for finley, right?how about one for finley and baby sister?

i should not be allowed in that store. it’s dangerous. my eyes were darting around the store eyeing things for finley and then for the baby and then for finley and then….ohmygosh. look at that little suit for a boy. do i have any need for a little pinstripe suit. Thank goodness I don’t. I will tell you that our birthday girl will be decked out in the cutest little “happy birthday skirt”-her words, not mine.