Seeing the Christmas Lights

Red Fish's cousin E was really excited to push her in her stroller.

Bundled up tight so she can't possibly get cold.

The family

We had dinner together after we were done seeing the lights. This is the first time we have ordered Red Fish a separate meal. We usually feed her part of both of our meals. We ordered her a bowl of macaroni and cheese and she went to town on it. Her highchair was right in the middle of everybody so she was having a great time trying to entertain everyone.

Red Fish was getting a little smothered in cousin love. Don't be deceived- she loved every second of it. She loves to be the center of attention.

Gingerbread Houses

Uncle M is in town and we are having a lot of family activities this week. Yesterday we had dinner together and tonight we had our traditional gingerbread house party. It's one of my favorite things that Two Fish's family does. We had a TON of candy and the kids all go crazy having fun together. It's a good time for everyone.
This little baby loves her grandma. She's been having fun with all these family get togethers. Little M on the right is visiting with her Dad and she is loving all the time with her crazy cousins.
Showing off the new horse Grandma gave her for Christmas. She can't just ride it normal- she has to go straight for the stunts.
Every year the cousins draw names and pick out presents for eachother. This year we had all 12 of them together to exchange their gifts. I think they were as excited as they were for Christmas morning. They have a blast giving eachother something special. It's a really sweet tradition.
Red Fish's cousin I gave her a very soft little teddy bear and a new pair of socks. Red Fish was pretty excited about the bear. He received alot of love.
Red Fish sucked the sugar off every piece of candy before she put it on the house. She had never had candy before so she was baptized by fire into the world of sugary treats. I switched to Nilla Wafers about halfway through the house so she wouldn't be on a sugar high all night.

Helping mommy with the construction

Her beautiful house. This year everyone graduated from graham cracker houses to real gingerbread but we decided to go the milk carton route for Red Fish. I wasn't sure how long her attention would last. I think she had fun squishing the frosting with her fingers and sucking the sugar coating off all of the candy before we put it on.

Gotta love the chaos.

Snow Snow Everywhere

This picture didn't work out quite as planned. We were leaving for church and had to hurry and snap it fast. We were trying to show how deep the snow in our front yard is because it is as tall as Red Fish but Red Fish didn't really want to stand next to it. She was too busy sliding around on the driveway. You can kind of see it compared to me though- that's right four inch heels and it's still way above my knee. I'm starting to miss our old house that was in this delightful pocket where it rarely snowed more than a couple inches. This mountain business is hard work!

More Christmas

Two Fish, One Fish, and Red Fish

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We started the festivites off by going to our traditional Christmas eve gathering at my grandparents. This year Lovely N's family came too. We had a great dinner, homemade candy, played games, and exchanged gifts.

The great grandparents

Bonding with cousins

Getting ready to go to bed so Santa can come! Four generations of jammies.

Mimi always sleeps over at my parents house like we do every year. This year was especially fun because we got to play Santa. My brother J and I stayed up late putting together a few practical joke gifts that we thought were pretty funny.

Christmas morning was a lot of excitment. Watching Red Fish was a blast. (For pictures see my last post) She was spoiled rotten by all of her grandparents and got a rocking horse, play kitchen, giant dog, and some books and accessories.

Wrestling Uncle Joshy for the giant puppy

A guitar from Uncle M- Red Fish has been using it to jam along to Guitar Hero with her daddy.

Red Fish's santa gifts

Two Fish, Red Fish, Grandma, and Little S

On Christmas night we went to Aunt L's for wonderful dinner and fun company. Little S loves Red Fish so much and they are great buddies. I'm pretty sure Little S covered Red Fish's face completely in chap stick aka "meecup" and Red Fish was happy to sit and chair and let her do it. Two Fish and I spent some time playing wii games against our nephew D. Aunt L had made a fun pepermint cake that was so tasty Red Fish licked her plate afterwards. The only downside to all this merriment was the very long drive home in the snow.

Overall I have to say this was one of my favorite Christmases. Red Fish was so hilarious to watch and we were so lucky to see so much of our family. I got to talk to my brother M who is currently serving a mission for the LDS church in Vine Del Mar Chile. He has been gone for 18 months and we only get to talk to him a couple times a year so it was fun to hear his voice. He has this cheesy little chilean accent and his English has suffered from speaking so much Spanish so we had to tease him alot.

I got pretty spoiled on Christmas as well with a new bedspread and coats among other things. Two Fish got a wii and guitar hero so he has been having a great time trying to play his new games.

Our celebrations aren't through yet because we still have a week full of festivities ahead with Two Fish's brother M coming into town with his daughter. We're looking forward to gingerbread houses, family dinners, and a new years party! The best part of this season is sharing it with all of our friends and family. We are truly blessed to be surrounded by so many people we love.

Now This Is Excitement

Just look at that face- no idea what is going on but she likes it.

It has hit her now that this stuff is for her!

He looks a little weird because he just had a bath and is still all wet. As you can tell he was oh so thrilled to be a reindeer.

Merry Christmas To All and To All A Goodnight!

Super Baby!

Red Fish's newest thing is to have me tie one of her blankies around her neck like a cape. Then she races around the room as fast as she can until the blanket falls off and I have to tie it for her again. I'm not sure where she figured out this game since she has never seen a super hero but it sure seems to entertain her.
She then tries out her crime fighting skills on the dog who just lays there and chews his bone like nothing has happened.

Employee Christmas Party

On Friday we did a little bowling to celebrate with the dive shop staff. Red Fish thought running around and all the ruckus of the bowling was pretty fun.

Christmas with Friends

The Christmas Crunch is Getting To Me

This is pretty much how I've been feeling lately. Every year I swear I will get things done before December and then i can concentrate on Christmas and family. I'm kicking and biting back but I'm not so sure it's working.

Love Language Of Choice

I've heard there are a lot of love languages and ways to express love. Red Fish's current currency of love is a headbutt. Yes, a headbutt of love. It comes with a kiss and pat on the cheek. If she is really feeling the love it's a triple headbutt. My chest is a little sore from all the headbutting. The dog is often also on the receiving end of these tokens of Red Fish's affection. I think he may be the one who taught her this particular expression.

Dinner With Friends

We went to dinner last Friday. It was great company. Unfortunately crappy service and too much waiting with two babies. Red Fish was pretty much beside herself by the time we finally sat at the table. Poor baby. I guess we are going to have to reconsider the restaurants we eat at and their wait time.

One Of The Lucky Ones

Tonight I was watching Jon and Kate +8, one of my favorite shows. They were visiting St. Jude Hospital for pediatric cancer patients. One of the mothers said: "We have a secret now, we know what life is about. We're the lucky ones." How amazing is that perspective? It really got me to thinking about my life and whether I truly learn from my experiences. I'm very blessed and I don't know if I truly appreciate it all the time. It is definitely a season for blessing and gratitude.

Random Updates

Well we had our final home check for the adoption application process yesterday. Hours of anxious scrubbing for someone to walk around our house for ten minutes and check it out. It was the last step toward getting approved. Red Fish was a total maniac the whole time the case worker was here. She was hilarious. She just kept shaking her whole body and head and screaming and running. She's become quite the wild thing lately. Now it's just matter of waiting and hoping for a birth parent to pick us. So keep your fingers crossed for us.
Baby updates- well Red Fish isn't much of a baby anymore. She is more like a tiny person with her own opinions and personality. She is up to eight teeth now and has more on the way. (This has made for a lot of sleepless nights around here.) It has also made feeding options a lot easier. She can pretty much eat anything now and she fully enjoys it. She enjoys rubbing the food into her hair, throwing it on the floor, and trying to feed me soggy pieces of pre-moistened food. It's crazy to see how big she is getting.

The pacifier died out a couple months ago. Ever since we trimmed it that one time she wasn't as interested in it and then all the sudden she didn't want it at all. I'm happy that wasn't a battle. We have cut back on the bottles and Red Fish hasn't seemed to care much. We just switched from formula to milk and she likes to drink it out of a cup anyway. Now we've got to try and let her use more silverware and get used to it.

Yesterday was Two Fish's 29th birthday. We had our home check so we just had a simple dinner with his mom and cake.

Other than that we've been feeling a bit of the Christmas crunch so we are just trying to get things done.

Here Comes Santa Claus

One hour in line while Red Fish makes friends with other kids and waves at people. We get to the front where we can see the big man and Red Fish freaks. I thought the combo of a guy dressed in red and fur would be a hit but apparently it strikes pure terror in heart of this little girl. Ah Christmas memories.