Eric's 30!

Well, I pulled off a surprise (for once) for Eric, a 70's themed party to celebrate the old man turning 30...

Snow Day!

Check out those bright blue peepers!


Our first snow of the season, just had to take some pics and then cozy up inside...

Cheap Thrills

Keely loves playing with the tree and presents...we always introduce her to new sensations (touch, smell, etc) and she likes feeling the needles and making ornaments jingle. Of course, next year I imagine it won't be so cute as I'm trying to keep a toddler from "un"decorating the tree and eating pine needles! Boxes and ribbons are also fun "toys"...

O Tannebaum...

We took our traditional Saturday after Thanksgiving trip to a tree farm in the county, to bring home a beautiful evergreen tree to decorate for Christmas. We have always gone to Fullner's, a little farm just past Nugent's Corner. Our first Christmas, trees were only 15$ and we scored a gorgeous 8 foot Noble--what a deal! The second year, same story (ask Eric about the sideways rain). But year three they raised the prices to 4$ a foot, still a good deal and we found a great Fraser fir--great thick needles, shiny and long lasting, and come'on, nearly a name sake. Last year, it was pretty hard to find a great tree, even the first weekend after Thanksgiving...most were dougs. We did come away with another quality Fraser, but it was slim pickings.

So this year I wanted to try a new farm, realizing of course, that it would probably be a bit more expensive. But cutting down a tree right after Thanksgiving was something I had done since I was a kid, an a tradition I was happy to bring to our new family. After two failed attempts to visit Stoney Ridge Farms during the Halloween season to procure a pumpkins and enjoy the other festivities I was determined to get our tree there. Mission accomplished! Eric, Keely, Nonnie, Meg, and I braved the near freezing temps this morning to scope out a great Noble fir. It now sits on our garage, acclimating and awaiting the trimming tomorrow! I can't wait for that wonderful fresh smell!

Giving Thanks

There's so much to be thankful for this season...

Of course, our little Keely bug brings smiles to us daily. We're very thankful that she is gaining weight now (the verdict's still out on why she was losing) and has such a happy disposition. Hard to believe six months have already passed!! She was a supercute tiger for Halloween

We also enjoyed a great family trip to Hawaii in October. We stayed right next to Poipu Beach on Kauai and snorkeled with huge sea turtles, surfed at Hanalei Bay, visited Waimea Canyon, and Keely took her first foray in the ocean. You'll have to check out the pics on flickr, sorry I never got around to fully blogging about it.

We are also thankful that we found a great church that we are super excited to be a part of, a true community of folks who are following Jesus together. We are becoming official "members" and Keely will be dedicated on December 30th...


Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Grunts + Jump-ups = Major Blowout

Keely *loves* spending time in the Johnny Jump-up, bouncing, spinning, playing with her rings and drooling tons.








Today, while on the phone with Eric, I made a comment that she was grunting lots and probably pooping. Well, when taking her out of the jump-up I noticed my hand on her back was warm and squishy...when I pulled aside her warm up jacket, the whole back of her onesie was destroyed!! Of course, she didn't really seem to mind...


Let me tell you, it was a trick getting her out of her clothes without getting poop everywhere! Afterwards she enjoyed herself in the bath and then we read and she took a marathon nap, nearly two hours (in her crib!), a Keely record...

Yikes!

So Keely had her four month check up today...boy has time flown by. And yes we know, we've been terrible bloggers lately. Eric did upload some new pics into flickr, so check it out. I'll try to get some new posts up soon!

She keeps growing--14 lbs (50-60% percentile) 25 3/4" long (80% percentile) and 40 3/4 cm head circumference (50%)--right on target! More shots :( but she did great with a little Tylenol on board!

Eric's been doing a great job as Mr. Mom on Thursdays and Fridays as I returned to work after Labor Day. Work's okay, everyone was excited to see me and I've gotten back into the swing of things more easily than I expected. Our course, I'd rather be at home with the bug. Knowing Keely has great Daddy time takes the sting out of going to work...It's worked out pretty well and he brings her by so I can still feed her at lunchtime. However, we really need to find someone to watch her on Thursdays as Eric is out of sick time. Any ideas?