The Family Christmas party

The stockings & lights are hung, the wreath is decorated (no tree for us...small crawling babies and cats and all :), our 84 Christmas cards are off and mailed...and this weekend we attended our first Christmas party of the season! Yep, the holidays are in full swing. Hadley had so much fun at her first ever family Christmas party in Walla Walla. In perfect Christmasey fashion, we got a few inches of snow prior to the party which was just the icing on the cake to Bruce & Vicki's beautifully decorated house, all the sugar cookies and sweets we could ask for, a secret santa gift exchange, the traditional family card game "31", Hadley opening her very first Christmas gifts and getting to play with all her big cousins!

10 months, the time flies

December 12, 2009
Height & Weight: Somewhere around 17 lbs and 28 or 29 inches (no appointment until her 1 year check up)

Latest words: I know this is early, but I'm starting to wonder if she's actually putting "dada" with Andy now...I've noticed she saves the dada babble for when he gets home. This could be me thinking my child is advanced though :)

Favorite Things: Puzzles (mostly chews on them), books (same as puzzles :), wine corks - this is hilarious. We have a huge tub of wine corks from our time in Europe and Hadley loves to dig through these and put them in her mouth and at most times of the day, our living room is covered in wine corks. She also recently got her own tupperware drawer in the kitchen and she loves digging through this and dumping it out all over the kitchen floor! In my tiny kitchen I didn't really have a drawer to spare but it's so cute to watch, it was definitely worth it.

Favorite Foods: Newest food is cheerios, she's a big fan!

Dislikes: Being in a stroller or carseat or basically sitting anywhere for too long - she's a mover, that's for sure.

Accomplishments: Stands on her own (can also get into standing position without holding on), dances when music comes on (seriously, so cute!), walks pushing almost anything…the bucket we keep our corks in is her favorite, she’ll walk this all over the house now, waves bye bye and hello, clicks her tongue at Grandpa Bruce (we used to be able to get her to do it for us but she seems to save it for him as he’s always clicking at her), drinks from a sippy cup (the kind with the straw), and still sleeps like a little angel (except when she’s teething), speaking of teething, she now has 4 teeth on the bottom and her 2 front teeth!

Highlight of the month: The family Christmas party in Walla Walla and opening her very first Christmas present!

In the name of Men's Health - we present....Bill's MO

Happy Movember 30th! Great job in the stash Bill.

A Walla Walla Thanksgiving

While Hadley was being entertained to the hilt in Grandma & Grandpa Maughan's fabulous playroom - the rest of us were enjoying a very delicious and very American Thanksgiving feast (with 21 guests to boot)! Vicki cooks a mean turkey (and stuffing...and potatoes...and gravy...and pie - don't even get me started on the heavenly pie!) It was also Great Grandpa Maughan's 87th birthday so we had double the celebrating to do.

It was so wonderful to be back in Walla Walla for the holiday, and it is only one of the things we are thankful for this season. Here are just a few others:

*Each other - from moving across continents, traveling more than the average bears, and raising an amazing little girl :), we are very lucky to have one another and to be such a great team.

*Hadley - there are just not words to express how much we love our little person. She makes our life!

*Baby Dos - we can't wait for the newest addition to join our family. We are very thankful to be so blessed in this department!

*Our family - it goes without saying that we are surrounded by a lot of love and some really amazing people.

*Health - it's no secret that a few of our family members have been hit with quite a slew of illnesses in the past couple of years and we're really thankful Hadley still has all eight of her grandparents and six great grandparents to play with. (It just occurred to us that she has 14 grandparents in total....wow)

*The little things - friends near and far, my mom's help during my 1st trimester, Oscar's new windoor, peppermint mochas and eggnog lattes, Greenlake, the pass when it's clear, American grocery stores, ice cubes in abundance, amazon.com, our new hybrid, Andy's carpentry skills (and our new pantry), and last but not least Mr. Bobo (Hadley's bff).

Play Time with Daddy & Grandpa Bruce

Grandma Vicki & Grandpa Bruce have one serious play room (Hadley is grandchild #9 so they have a lot of experience :) Bruce is especially amazing playing with his newest granddaughter - at one point I believe he pushed her around the play room in the back of a dump truck for nearly an hour. Both Hadley and Grandpa were covered in sweat by the time the dump truck bonanza was over, but boy did they have fun! Here are some great shots from the weekend.



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