Summer-Winter (a picture recap) and some other tidbits

I've been terrible with keeping up the blog. I'll give you a little update on us and then show you some of the pictures I just pulled from the little camera I carry in my purse. I have some from back in the summer, even!

Thanksgiving was nice, but the next day my Mom fell ill and spent a week in the hospital in Louisville. Brian's Mom was nice enough to stay with us and keep Eliza last week. Thankfully, my mother is home and doing much better, so we'll be back in our usual routine tomorrow.

We've put up two Christmas trees this year. We initially put up an artificial tree, but it's no secret that I'm not a fan of the fake tree or colored lights. My very understanding husband let me undecorate the fake tree and put up a real one with white lights. Before and after pictures to follow below.

Next week we're heading to Western KY to visit family and we'll also head to Nashville to take in some of the holiday cheer at the Opryland Hotel. We couldn't be more thrilled.

Eliza is chatting up a storm these days. She likes to say "Oh, wow!" along with "Who/what's that?" Along with her own little alien baby language we've yet to translate. Her hair is getting much longer and really wild, but she won't let me put bows and ponytail holders in it. She has almost a full mouth of teeth and still uses them to chew almost anything she can get her hands on.

And now, a half a year's worth of quick snapshots.

Santa Claus is coming to... Mayfield!

Brian is going to have to work a good chunk of the day tomorrow, but after that, we hit the road. We're going to head to Mayfield to celebrate Christmas with Brian's family. The plan is to go to Brian's grandparents' house for Christmas Eve and then have the family over Christmas morning to open presents with the baby.

Sorry for the lack of updates and pictures. Our camera stopped working for some reason, so there may be fewer picture updates in the future. Maybe we'll start taking more video, though.

Dinner with Family

Tonight I cooked a yummy (even if I do say so myself) pork chop dinner for Brian's family. We're sad that we won't be able to do this again in the near future, but happy that everyone seemed to have a good time. We even talked Brian's grandmother into Wii bowling.

Unfortunately, Eliza has been very fussy and tearful tonight. She's been pulling on her ear, so I think she may have her first ear infection. If she isn't significantly better in the morning, I think we'll visit the doctor.

Tomorrow is our last day here in our little house and then off to Lexington.

Eliza Wears Shoes

First of all, Eliza wore shoes for the first time today! She did really well with them and looked adorable. They're size 3-6 months, so they're a little big. Still, soo cute. I can't wait 'til she can wear the vintage Nikes I wore when I was little. A few more months still on those. Also, after going to the mall today, I've decided we must win the lottery so I can afford to buy all of Eliza's clothes at Gymboree. I've never been a big fan in the past, but their Christmas dresses are so adorable and classic.

In other news, we picked up our Olan Mills portraits today. They threw a few extras in the envelope to tempt you to buy them. I didn't. When I walked away, I heard the greasy assistant lady call me something less than flattering. We hadn't called someone about her before, but we will now for sure. Also, in checking the back of the envelope the pictures came in, it says very plainly that they plan to sell our information. If we don't want our information sold, we have to write a letter to the address given. How evil is that?

Also in the news, we ran into the nurse midwife who took care of us during my pregnancy. Reportedly the doctor let her go. That's too bad. We really liked her. We wish her nothing but luck!

Eliza Visits Santa

Eliza is 3 months old (yesterday)!

I had to take this month's Raggedy Ann picture because Brian was at work. Not such a great picture, but I think you can see the growth!

In the past month, Eliza has learned to babble lots of consonant sounds, push herself up really well when she's on her belly, and laugh out loud. She also tries to sit up on her own when she's propped up on her Boppy or in her booster chair. She rolled over on Thanksgiving, but we think it was a fluke because she was on a soft bed and she had a bit of help from the slope of the mattress. Hopefully she'll roll over on her own soon!

We put up the Christmas tree today. For the first time ever, I had to have an artificial tree and colored lights (I'll tell you about that later). I'm not thrilled, but the baby seems to enjoy it.



This afternoon, Brian has to cover the local Christmas festival/parade. I think we're going to take the baby and see how she does. The baby's first Christmas is so exciting!