Visit from Santa

Santa dropped by for a visit this weekend... Ginny wasn't too sure about him at first but eventually warmed up to the idea after he shared some of his cookies :) Pretty nice old elf after all!

Making Christmas cookies!

Our kitchen has been a busy place the last few weeks- we've been cranking out cookies like nobody's business! Ginny has been a big help, of course :)

The trays this year had rocky road (my grandma's recipe), pecan pie cookies (a new family favorite, from the food blog Annie's Eats), linzer cookies with our homemade strawberry jam (berries from at the farmstand when we picked our raspberries this summer with Jennine), snowball cookies, fudge (also my grandma's recipe), springerle anise cookies, and Hello Dolly Bars. In the middle- Trader Joe's English Toffee, or if you have pooches, peanut butter and pumpkin dog treats.

Cookie Trays ready for delivery!

Happy Yummy Christmas!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

A very special box arrived in the mail last week, with the first gift of Christmas... Meredith's stocking! Grandma Annie, with some help from Aunt Jamie, custom-made a stocking for Todd, Ginny, and now Meredith as they entered our family. The Christmas bell is a beautiful pick for Meredith!



The stockings are hung by the chimney with care....

A little Santa Lucia doll tucked up on one of our shelves, from one of my favorite etsy shops (Armadillo Dreams,with beautiful handpainted wooden toys)

The Little People Nativity set has been a big hit. The wise men are travelling from far away (the kitchen bookshelf) and shepherd is keeping his flocks by night (in the hallway).

Reading a christmas story! Ginny lets us know when she wants to be tucked in with a blanket by asking for "night-night"

Watching a little Curious George, rocking the reindeer antlers!

Meredith in her Santa hat

The girls ready to go visit baby Emma, Jessica & Travis's little girl born just a few days ago

 (thanks to Brook for the Christmas outfits!)

We are happy to be getting ready for our first Christmas in our new house, with our two sweet babes. Every day is pretty sweet right now!

Awesomest family photo of all time!

It's really hard to get everybody looking good in a picture. But not hard at all to get everybody looking goofy/terrible/squirmy!

Enjoy!

Fall Happenings

A recent Meredith picture to start us off! She is gaining weight like a little sumo-in-training, and is over 10 lbs as of her 6 week checkup.

 

 

Ginny has discovered the power of a stepstool, and now she can access all sorts of new and dangerous places, like the counter tops. We have dubbed her stool "Ginny's weapon of mass destruction" because of the chaos she makes with it.

 

Ginny dotes on her sister and is alwas stopping by for a visit. Especially when Meredith is snoozing :)

 

My cousin got married in Boise over Thanksgiving weekend, and this picture is my grandma with all five of her great-grand kids. It was pretty awesome to have all of them together for the holiday!

 

Granny Annie & Ginny at Thanksgiving dinner. Ginny is wearing a little dress that my grandma sewed for me for my first Christmas. I loved watching Ginny run around in that outfit! 

 

Uncle John supervising Meredith's nap!

 

Oh boy! Penguins knitted just for us from Aunt Nancy!

 

Meredith all dolled up for the wedding

 

Bundled up for errands

 

Meredith's first bridal shower! Mostly, she slept through it...

 

Family picture from the wedding.

November Outings

A recent picture of Mere-bear to start things off!

 

Meredith went on her first big outing last weekend! My friend Brook was here for a visit from Montana, and we took a little day trip into Seattle. We rode the ferry over, and then wandered through Pike Place sampling food and browsing through the vendors stalls.

 

Ginny loved chasing the pigeons around the park!

 

Brook and Meredith waiting for the ferry (Thanks to Kelli for the cute little aviator cap!)

 

Last week we had a 3 week check up for Meredith with our midwife in Tacoma, so we snuck in a trip to the Point Defiance Zoo that afternoon.

 

Ginny had a ball, and especially loved the penguins, tiger cubs and the aquarium. And the benches. There were lots of benches all over the zoo and she wanted to climb up on every one. And we totally let her. Climbing on benches as tall as yourself = tired kiddo, which equals one great nap!

 

A stop by the musk oxen to say hi from cousin Patrick (Paddy just had a musk ox themed birthday party!). They were pretty sleepy, so we left them to their napping

 

 

Around the house

 

Meredith loves to cuddle up in the carrier and snooze while we go for walks, or even just work around the house. We have been able to take lots of nice fall walks in our neighborhood, although they've been a little slower than usual because Ginny prefers to walk on her own, rather than ride in the stroller. It's really fun to follow her lead and see where her whims take us :)

 

 

Ginny lounging on the couch

Meredith napping with her dad.

 

Ginny loves to help out with her sister, and pulls up a chair when it's time for a diaper change so she can help us. Her job is to hand us wipes :)

 

Ginny got a little miniature chair that is just her size and she LOVES it. She likes to settle in with a little snack and watch an episode of Curious George or read books.

 

A closing shot of Meredith!

Halloween and other fall fun

Meredith bundled up and ready to head to the midwife's office in Tacoma for a checkup (she's doing great! Gaining weight, looking perfectly healthy. We are tremendously grateful for that simple fact).

 

 

 

Girls posing in their Halloween costumes- a little lamb for Meredith, and a wiggly octopus for Ginny.

 

Todd and his girls. He had his hands full these days :)

 

Meredith is alreay getting so big and long- those precious newborn days are fleeting. 

 

 

Both girls took a nap at the same time (Hooray!!!!) and instead of napping, doing laundry, or any of the other things I SHOULD be doing, I made cookies. S'more cookies, specifically. They were as delicious as they sound. (The recipe is here, if you're interested: http://www.fortheloveofcooking.net/2012/10/smores-cookies.html)

Meredith's First week

Meredith has had a busy first week.... lots of eating, sleeping and pooping. Only a little crying- it turns out that she has the mellowest little personality. And LOTS of getting poked, prodded and loved on by her big sister. Ginny has settled into a funny little routine- she does the rounds in the living room playing with toys, and periodically cycles past Meredith, climbs up in my lap or peers into the swing, and pets Meredith's head and gives her a big kiss. And then continues on playing. It's really sweet :)

 

 

My mom & Dad with their newest granddaughter.

 

Snuggled in under the beautiful ocean-colored quilt from Grandma Ann & Aunt Jamie.

 

Having a little chat with mom

 

Oh, the things we'd forgotten about newborns... like how you take turns eating and juggling the baby during dinnertime. Or, in Todd's case, just juggling the babies :)

 

snoozing!

She likes to look out the window and just soak it all in, and maybe have a little kick

 



 

Cuddles with Grandma Ann

Sisters!