Let the Festivities Begin!!

Thank you to Yvette and Brian for hosting the annual Kris Kringle dinner again! Every year they invite us into their home, provide the turkey and everyone else brings the trimmings. The result? We all get to have a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings.

For us, it was the first of the holiday season get togethers and it has me all pumped and excited for the rest to follow. After dinner we started the long process of the Kris Kringle gift exchange. I should have learned by now, but it is always the coolest wrapped gift that is stolen over and over again. Sadly, I'm no Martha Stewart so our gifts were not highly sought after.

It's so much fun to steal from one another, only to have it stolen from you in the next round! After everyone finally had their gift, we opened them one by one to see what they REALLY were inside. It turns out we are horrible at guessing what it was. Not a single block of cheese in the entire bunch! Can't wait for the rest of the holiday get togethers. Happy holidays everyone!!!

Ok, so this picture isn't actually at the party, but Maddy wore a dress for the very first time! Thank you Auntie Jenny!

P.S. There is a new post under the one titled "Gotcha", so scrolled down and check it out!

Gotcha!!!

Madelin has started to really smile recently. For the last week or so, I've been trying to capture one of those smiles on our camera but every time I get the camera she stops. Finally, after patiently waiting and making googly eyed faces at her, I got it! Whoever said "A smile is worth a million dollars" was right. Thank goodness for digital cameras or this smile would've been worth just about that much in film and developing.

Ho,Ho, oh no!

It's been a long time since I've been to see Santa at the mall, but we wanted Maddy to have a photo with Santa for her first Christmas. So while at the mall, in the middle of the day, we thought it would be a great opportunity to get it done without having to stand in a long line. Initially, we thought that it would just be Maddy with Santa. Since she is so young we knew that this would be at least one photo with Santa where she wouldn't be crying. I myself missed many photos with Santa because I was off to the side crying. The family in front of us had baby, mom and dad in the photo, so on a whim Josh and I decided that we'd get in the picture too and make it a family photo.

The thing is, there is something weird about cozying up to a stranger even if he is supposed to be the man who brings joy to children around the world. Even if he were the real Old St. Nick, he is still a stranger. Too weird for me. Well as you can see from the picture, with our stiff body language and fake smiles, Maddy was the only one who felt 'comfortable'! On a side note, Josh's eyes are open!!