santa baby.

 The day we decided to not get the house was kind of a sad one, so I did what I usually do when something sad happens ... hit up a thrift store for treasures.  Without fail, thrift stores turn my frowns upside down.   I walked in and BAM ... this sweet little christmas tree was begging me to bring him home.  My heart grew two sizes and I just couldn't deny him a home. 

We also have a make shift fireplace this year as well ....  crackling noises included.

 

 In the spirit of healthy eating, we decided to try and healthify the beloved buckeye.  We used chickpeas, peanut butter, honey and some agave ... so the filling was pretty much peanut butter hummus.  I thought they were great, but then again I haven't had a real buckeye in over a year.

We attended Mitchell's work Christmas party Saturday night.  We thought it would be fun to take Winter.  Think again.  The restaurant was incredibly noisy and crowded.  Poor Winter had a major sensory overload.  I spent most of the night walking around with her.  Despite her crying everyone at the restaurant loved her Santa suit.

Winter is a rolling machine.  She rolls from one end of the room to the other exploring.

5

I am in denial.  Winter is indeed 5 months old today, but I don't want to accept it.  Just the other day I realized that I was still trying to shove our extra large five month old into her three month old sleepers.  Poor girl.  It really is blowing my mind how fast life moves.

Trying to get some photos of her was like pulling teeth.  This little girl is always on the move

Feet sucking: it should be considered gross but it is so so darn adorable when she does it.

Still waiting for her hair to show up .... I'm putting money down that it will come in blonde. 

We sure do love this little creature.

I tried the other day to get some photos of Winter and I.  What a joke.  She was interested in everything else but looking at the camera.

Last week we spent Thanksgiving with my brothers Max and Dan.  I don't think I will ever volunteer to make Thanksgiving dinner for a large group.  Just cooking a nice meal for four people was enough for me.  Mitchell and I worked up a sweat trying to get all the food on the table at the same time and still have it be warm.  Props to you moms who have perfected that talent.

Hours of work  ... all for a 20 minute meal

Post feast nap

Winter decided to sleep during all the festivities

Homeless.

We have been looking at homes now for about 1.5 years.  It has been a wild ride and we have learned a ton about the housing market and the ugly games it can play.  We thought we had found the one a few weeks ago.  We placed a bid on it and won.  We were beyond excited.  It is in a great area.  It is spacious and would allow us the room our growing family would need. We began looking at paint colors, carpet, tile, appliances ... all the exciting stuff that comes with home ownership. 

 We had an inspector go out and give it a good looking over.  We knew that there was a ton of work that would need to be done in order to get it in working order, but that didn't scare us.   DIY housing projects excite us and make us feel warm and fuzzy.  But after the inspection was completed and we crunched some numbers we both came to the conclusion that we would have to tap out.  Our hearts were slightly broken.   We both felt like this was our house.  We could see ourselves raising our family in it.  

And now its not.  

Here is the house that once was and now is not

So instead of going home and crying about it we decided to celebrate the fact that we just saved a TON of moo-lah.  Sushi is a pretty good way to celebrate just about any occasion. 

And we may or may not have watched one of those horribly cheesy corny Hallmark channel Christmas movies.  And it may or may not have made us feel better.  But in all honesty, we can't be too sad considering we have a baby this cute ....

So the hunt continues.

Caterpillars, Gypsies and Steve Jobs Oh My!

I love Halloween. 

-the pumpkin infused desserts

-dressing up/costume parties

-the awesome weather

-black and orange decorations

-candy, candy and more candy

ANDDDDD it reminds us that the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons are just around the corner

Winter wasn’t quite sure why we were shoving her into a giant fluffy caterpillar … but one day, I know she will love Halloween just as much as we do. 

 Shout out to Meredith for the adorable costume. Thanks Mer!

Mitchell paid a tribute to the dear Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs circa 1986

 

And here I am gypsified … sans tambourine and little monkey.  

 

four

Four months.  I’m not quite sure how I feel about this.  Before I know it I will have a 6 month old, and then 1 yr will creep up …. I like my little baby.   

Speaking of little … Winter is anything but little.  Yesterday the Dr reported that she is ABOVE the 100th percentile in height.  We either have a super model or volleyball player on our hands.   The poor girl had to get not one, or even two shots … but FIVE yesterday.   She screamed.  Not the I’m-a-thirteen-yr-old-girl-and-I-just-won-tickets-to-a-Justin-Bieber-concert type scream … more like the someone-is-coming-to-murder-me type scream.  I’m pretty sure she is known in the doctor’s office for her screaming.   Each shot was like a dagger to my heart. 

The Doctor was kind of appalled when I told her Winter still wakes up every 3 hours during the night.  So she commanded me to begin sleep training.  And began, we did.  She only cried for two hours straight last night … on a positive note it gave me extra time to do some dishes and make Mitchell’s lunch.   Round 2 will be happening tonight. 

We got to spend a week in Denver visiting family.  I have learned it is ten billion times harder to take photos now that we are carrying Winter around.  I got home and realized that I didn’t get near the amount of photos I wanted during our stay.  Oh well.  

During our stay we got to go to the candy factory with Monette, Xander, Elodie and Rachael.

The happy group.

My parents have now been on their mission for an entire month.  Craaazzzy.  They are incredibly happy serving in the Lock Haven branch and love to send photos our way …

MTC district

Loverly forest

A group of Mennonites have an ice cream shop in town

Morbid picture for Halloween

And they are in Amish country for sure. 

three

Winter turned 3 months over the weekend.  Three months … that’s not really a long time, yet it feels like she has been a part of our family forever and its weird to think about a time without her.  

- She enjoys sucking on her hands and then wiping them all over me

- She hates being alone … if I leave the room for a minute you better believe there will be some whining from her end

- She caught her first cold and is still getting over it.  The amount of screaming and crying thanks to the snot-bulb-sucker-of-death is out of control.  I’m surprised the neighbors haven’t called CPA on us yet …

- She gets a million and two compliments on her lips per week … the second most common comment is “Well, she sure isn’t starving.”

- She loves having her feet rubbed … with lotion.  What a spoiled baby.

Winter met Grandma Fillmore for the first time.

We visited Gardner Village with the Church Family

The famous Mitchell smirk.

And my parents left for the MTC yesterday.  I don’t think it has really hit me that they are officially off on this awesome adventure.   Watch out Pennsylvania, here they come.

We celebrated with some Pittsburgers.

They will be missed, but we are excited to hear their experiences.  It will be one heck of a party when they get back, along with my little brother Craig,  in the spring.