Emilia's first Christmas!

We just celebrated Emilia's very first Christmas! Christmas 2012 we spent in Idaho (like usual) and I was 28 weeks pregnant with our baby child!

This year we went to a different place instead of the usual McCall! We went and stayed at a condo in Coeur d'Alene. The condo was on the other side of the lake from town and up on the mountain! It was definitely a little out of the way and totally gorgeous!

We left home at about 5 morning so that Em would sleep in chunks of the 7 hour drive, and she did really well This is us at about 4 am and she was so exhausted!

About half way into our drive the sun finally started to come up!

 

The drive was pretty easy and we got to Coeur d'Alene before we knew it. The hard part was this: it was Christmas Eve and all we wanted was a stinking Christmas tree! We looked through out the entire friggin town and only one place had a tree! It was disgustingly over priced and 9 feet long! We drove in my car and there was no way that we could take a 9 foot tree! So after 4 hours of looking ( also the baby and I getting VERY cranky!) we settled on a fake tree! It was my very first fake tree... of my entire life. But at that point I was willing to draw a tree on a piece of paper and call it good!

 

Em was so helpful in putting up the tree! She just climbed right under and tried to help her daddy!

 

 

I mean look at those cheeks!!

 

We finally got it all up and it actually looked pretty good! The week before we went on our trip I had spent some time putting together home made ornaments. We had a few E's, some little feet, and a few h's and m's! It was a lot of fun but not something I want to make a habit out of!

 

 



She helped Hy open her very first presents (some were hers and some were not!) and loved tearing into everything!

 

 

Our little family before opening presents on Christmas morning

 

Me and our little sweetheart before opening presents and getting ready for the day! Super morning hair!

We were right on the lake and every night we had the most gorgeous sunsets! (sunrises I'm sure as well, but there was no way I was seeing any of those!)

 

 

Crazy mama and baby hair!

For the first few days, it was just the three of us and we had a blast exploring the town and just spending loads of time in the condo together. Emilia loved getting to spend all of that time with her daddy!

When we weren't driving into town or keeping the baby entertained (or feeding our faces like pigs) we built a gingerbread house! Before we left for our Christmas vacation, Hy had the great idea to make a gingerbread house instead of doing a puzzle like we usually do. When the idea started, Hy suggested using graham crackers and wafers. There was no way that the pastry chef in me was ever going to let that happen. So he made me a pattern and I made and baked all of the parts! We assembled the entire thing in the condo and it took FOREVER to decorate but we had a blast!

The day after Christmas my parents finally arrived and we opened each other's presents! We were spoiled and Em was SUPER spoiled!

Look at her baby feet! It wasn't too long ago that they were even tinier!

Hy and I were able to convince mom and dad to take Em for a few hours so that we could sneak away for a date! *It took zero convincing.

First we went out to eat at this great little Japanese place and stuffed our faces with super fresh sushi

It was sooo good.

After shopping around at all of the adorable little shops in town, my parents met us with our sweet girl and we did some more shopping!

 
We went out to eat as a family and Em loves eating at restaurants. So many things to look at and so many people to stare at.

A picture with my date after a fun filled day of being out!

After we got home that night, we decided to let the baby have at the gingerbread house! It was totally like a giant baby destroying a village. It was hilarious and adorable! She was growling and getting so excited!

She got soo messy and had a blast! We took this picture of a little candy cane chunk stuck to her thigh! I wanted to gobble her right up!

We had the best time ever and the views were so gorgeous!

This is my very favorite trip away every year and I can't wait until we go away some place else next year! Who knows what the year has in store for us, but I am excited to find out and hope that whatever changes are coming are for the very best!

Happy New Year!!

It's 2014!

Normally I am so ready to get a near year going and under our belt. But I can honestly say with out a question in my head that 2013 was the BEST year of my life so far.

We spent the first few months of 2013 getting ready for our bundle of joy and just enjoying being super pregnant! I loved it!

I finished up my last day at The Dessert Tray in February and said goodbye to my very favorite women on the planet (and Mark!)! I loved working there even while 9 months pregnant!

March 19th, we welcomed our baby girl into the world! She was born at 5:02 am and we have been obsessed ever since!

 

She was born at 39 weeks and 3 days and weighed 7 pounds 4 oz. She was entirely perfect and gorgeous! We are both so smitten and can't get enough of her little self! 

Most of our year consisted of taking a million pictures of Em, flying with Em for the first time (and 2nd, 3rd, and 4th) , going home several times, and having so many snuggles!

In October, grandpa Max passed away. That basically sucked. He was amazing and I still think about him every day. I get reminders of him all of the time. In Costco, while cooking dinner, while playing the piano, while snuggling our baby.

His funeral was beautiful and heart wrenching and funny. We still miss him.

 

All gorgeous pictures are credited to JLD Photography.

 

That was definitely the hardest part of 2013. But from hard things came many beautiful things. Just like grandpa would have wanted. How funny.

 

We celebrated Emilia's first Christmas in Idaho with our family, but that will be a whole other post!

 

2013 was really just the best year I can ever remember. There were definitely some challenging moments: colic,  more than a few sleepless nights, and missing family. But there were so many amazing moments this year! I know that every year is just going to get more and more amazing with my little family by my side!

 

 

 

I hope that everyone had an amazing Christmas and New Year and that your 2014 is just as amazing!

9 months... holy crap

Emilia Grace is 9 months old tomorrow morning, just after 5 am. That is really hard for me to believe! Here are some tid bits about our little love:

-Her top two teeth are coming in right now! The one on her right has already broken through the gum and is currently a sharp little white nugget! The second is shortly behind it!
- She is a speed demon and loves to explore independently! She will explore around the house and then look for me to make sure I am close!
-After she explores, she likes to poke her head around the couch and catch your eye. She bursts into a HUGE smile and starts crawling towards me super fast! 
- She loves to play the piano pedals! If I am playing the piano, no matter what, she is right there under me playing all three pedals! She also will randomly play them during the day when she is exploring!
-She is still madly in love with her daddy! She gets so excited when he calls us at lunch, or when he walks in the door at night. He gets huge smiles and big old hugs! He loves it!
- She is still nursing every 3-4 hours during the day and on a good night every 5-6 hours. She sometimes likes to talk with her mouth full. It is kind of naughty behavior, but pretty darn cute!
-She is pretty adventurous when it comes to food! She likes just about anything! Sliced avocado, sweet potatoes, toast, simple pasta, you name it!
- She has been doing this thing lately where she acts like she wants a big kiss. She will come at you with her mouth wide open and at the last second she will stick your nose in her mouth! It's pretty slobbery and pretty hilarious!
- When it's time for her to go to bed, after I have nursed her, we rock in the rocking chair for a few minutes to get the air out. She wraps one hand around my neck and the other holds one of my hands. We sit like this and just rock. One of my favorite things about our day.
-She experienced her first snow fall about a week and a half ago! She was a little suspicious of it and VERY curious!
-We put up our Christmas lights a few weeks ago and she loves looking at all of the twinkly lights!
-Her eyes are currently a mix of hazel and grey. Unless you go outside. Or she wears blue. Or looks at anything green.

I  fall more and more in love with this sweet and spicy little girl every single day. She is my side kick and pushing force!

On Friday ( December 20th) she will be 39 weeks and 3 days old. Which is exactly when she came out. I can't believe it. It's hard to believe that time has really passed that quickly! The day that I gave birth to her was the most magical and spiritual day I have ever experienced.

And NEXT WEEK is her very first CHRISTMAS!! I am so excited to celebrate her first Christmas, especially in Idaho with my husband and my parents! Going to be an amazing time!

First Thanksgiving!

This is late (of course) but we celebrated Em's first Thanksgiving! We didn't make nearly as much food as we normally do (it's only the three of us!) but we ate a feast!

We pulled out and washed all of Grandma Zola's black china and made lots of food. I didn't really take any good pictures of the food, but just know that it was SOOO good.

Big bird. Amazing stuffing. Home made rolls. Mashed potatoes with half and half and BACON FAT. Yes. Green beans and bacon. And more bacon fat! Pumpkin pie. Tons of gravy that even had a little bit of... YES bacon fat!

( The weird thing is that I lost weight over Thanksgiving! Think maybe there is a connection between bacon fat and weight loss?! A girl can dream right. )

 

Our little family. Well it would have been if Em had looked in the Camera and not at my face! All 8 times we tried to take this picture around her high chair! Haha

 

My plate!

 

Up until Thanksgiving, Em had been on a vegetarian only diet. I wanted to get the go ahead from her pediatrician to give her a little bit of meat. She loved it! We still don't give her red meat or anything too out there, but she did love the turkey!

 

 



And this is our little family once we (all three of us!) stuffed ourselves full of food! We called this look Turkey stoned!