I Love this Face

6 months tomorrow! Time is flying too fast.  Loving cuddling and playing with this little joy.  Lots of errands, visits to the new house, visiting with friends, and M is (usually) a joy all the way.  Smiling at folks, wanting to touch e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. & playing are her favorites.

Another darling shot...

What's that you say? One more? Ok, if you insist...

And, I'm done:)

Quick update on the house: painters have painted the main living area (we weren't ready to tackle 20 ft ceilings!), Jason is ready to start painting M's room, some furniture & boxes have made the move, and we're continuing to pack up and clear out here.  Hoping to make the official move and start living over there in about a month.  Would like to get the bigger painting jobs & a few odd jobs done before moving in.  Cannot wait!!

As of today, it's ours.

Jason and I are homeowners.  We weren't sure if we'd ever take the plunge, but when this amazing house came on the market, combined with low interest rates, we knew we had to jump on it.  I'm sure I'll post more pictures of the inside once we get moved in and set up, but it ticked all the boxes for us.  It's a 1 story ranch with (very) high ceilings, laminate floors (necessity with a kitty & a kid!), 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and the main living area is nice and open to the living room, dining area, and kitchen.

We are working on painting and fixing a few things and plan to move in by March 1. We still have our rental until March 31, so plenty of time to make the move.

Side note, here are a few pictures of Miriam.  We're closing in on 6 months and she's still growing like a weed.  She's so long that I've started buying 18 month sweaters and tunics and using them like dresses with tights, so much more cost effective as she can wear them later as intended!  As far as eating, she's tried sweet potatoes, carrots, avocados, bananas and isn't really a fan of any of it. I learned she's really not a fan of being fed, but rather will eat a few bites with her self-feeder.  She rolls a lot to her side, but not much onto her tummy.  She'd much rather sit or stand with our help.  From lying down, if I hold her fingers, she'll pull herself up to a seating position, and just this morning pushed herself to stand.  She's so proud of herself and absolutely loves it.

Asleep @ Home Depot. Apparently washer / dryer shopping isn't that exciting for a 5 month old!

Smiles in one of her long sweatshirts & tights get up

Still a chronic finger chewer. Alas, still no teeth.  You can see how much her hair is growing in this one too.

Using her feeder to taste carrots

Looking cute to go sign some loan documents!

Her new highchair toy.  It's suction cup, so at least there is one toy she can't  launch off the tray.

Eating madness...

xoxo

My 1st Christmas

I took a ton of pictures of Miriam over the past few days.  I think I was afraid of forgetting little bits of her first Christmas. She's wearing lots of super cute Christmas outfits thanks to her Auntie Cindy and cousins; hand-me-downs are the best!  We bummed around the house, ate food, skyped with family, played, and watched silly Christmas movies.

Skyping with Grandma and Grandpa Hemmer. 

Wearing her first Christmas Cracker party hat. Christmas Crackers are an English Christmas tradition. You crack them at Christmas Eve and Christmas day dinner and all have to wear the silly party hats.  These are synonymous with Christmas to me.

Waking up Christmas Day; Santa Came!!

Doing some Jane Fonda crunches in her cute reindeer top and Hanukkah slippers. And one, and two...

My how a year changes things!  Christmas breakfast with mimosas and a sippy cup.

Christmas breakfast.  Finished my oatmeal, now on to the finger chewing!

Miriam's 1st Christmas haul...not too bad for a 5 month old. Thank you mom & dad, my Kitty Madeline, Grandma and Grandpa Bailey, Auntie Cindy & Uncle Erik & Emelie & Juliette for my gifts!! She also has some more books and a Pottery Barn book rack coming from her Grandma and Grandpa Hemmer, some Amazon money to spend from Uncle Kurt, and a few surprises coming from her Uncles Tim & Richard.  She is one lucky little girl to have such wonderful family!

Whew, what a day! 

Posing with her stocking and the cookies and scotch we left out for Santa before going to bed Christmas Eve.  What can I say, Santa likes his scotch!


This was a different Christmas for Jason and I this year not being with family, but we didn't want to travel with Miriam at Christmas and think it's important to start establishing our own traditions for Miriam to have the type of Christmases we grew up with.  There is nothing like sleeping in your own bed waiting for Santa and waking in the morning to see the tree full of presents!  Obviously she doesn't remember this year, and won't really know what's going on a awhile, but it feels really nice to enjoy Christmas in our home together.  We missed our family a lot, but thanks to the wonders of Skype we can still see them whenever we want.   

Miriam is absolutely the best present we received this year.  She brings so much more meaning to not only Christmas, but everyday of the year.  I'm not sure if it's hormones, recent tragedies in our country, or the simple joys my daughter shows me everyday; it's likely a combination of the three, but I find myself more reflective than usual, and I am so abundantly thankful for our health, family, and each other.  We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas season and look forward to new joys and adventures in 2013.  

Firsts

We just got back from our long trip to Phoenix and South Carolina.  My house is an absolute disaster, laundry and mess up to my ears, but I wanted to enjoy some coffee and share photos from our trip.  Miriam turns 5 months this weekend and she had MANY firsts over the past 2 weeks. First road trip to Phoenix, first hotel stay, first swim in a pool, first plane rides, first graduation, first outlet shopping trip, and many more!  Turns out Miriam is a traveling champ and was a total dream through the airport, on the plane, and at my mom's house.  She's surprised us with her flexibility, and not surprisingly, baby girl is a total social butterfly / flirt / people watcher / party animal.  She adored the attention everywhere we went.  I think I need to hire people to come over daily to entertain her!

We met my mom in Phoenix and stayed over a few days.  Jason and I got to go out to the Bruce Springsteen concert. It was our first time out since her birth and it was such a great concert. Did some shopping, swimming, & relaxing.  Jason had some work in Scottsdale, so it worked out well for all.

All packed up and ready to go!

Another first: first IKEA trip. Can you see the overwhelmed look in her eyes?  We all feel you , Miriam.   Grandma bought her a new friend too; his name is Biff.

First swim!  She LOVED the pool.  Not surprising that she's a water baby; she screams if we are like 5 minutes late on bath time at night!

We left for South Carolina on December 10. Miriam was a dream in the airport and plane, we had a really positive travel experience.  So thankful that Grandma was with us though! Funny faces on the plane...

We were in South Carolina to watch Uncle Timmy, my youngest brother, graduate from college, but we did a lot of other fun things too...

Meeting my friends from college.  Angileigh & Caroline's sons were  born 1 day apart and are 1 month.  See Miriam wanting to socialize? 

"Over the River & Through the Woods to Grandmother's House we Go".  Riding in the car with her friends Biff & Eleanor.

Taking a walk in Grandma's pram. This is the same pram that Grandma used with  mom.

Hanging out with Grandma.

Kisses!

Napping with Uncle Tim.  I love this picture...

Napping with Grandpa. Also love this one...

Baby Angel...

At Uncle Tim's Graduation. She did AMAZING.  His graduation was at night and it was WAY past her bedtime, but she was loving it.  Barely a peep, watched graduation and looked around at people in the audience.

Trying to get some pictures with mom and grandma.  This was the end of the night and Miriam was finally losing it...so tired!

With our graduate.  So tired she's literally falling asleep in my arms, haha!  When we got to the door I put her coat on and gave her her paci and she was asleep in my arms in about 30 seconds.  Slept all the way to the car and home.

Grandma!

Snapped some pictures for Grandma's Christmas card.

One with Mommy.

Grandma & Grandpa

One with my Uncle Richard & Timmy.  Can you see in her face she's ready for this to be over?

Play time with mommy now...

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Big smiles!  Miriam is SO smiley now. She giggles and smiles at everyone, is super friendly and generally happy.  She will still bring the house down though if she's hungry, tired, or wants her mama. 

We got home last night after a pretty smooth trip. Miriam did have a massive blowout on the flight to Phoenix; she had heard the inside of airplane bathrooms were pretty exciting and it did not disappoint.  Christmas is at home in Flagstaff this year; it is actually the first time Jason and I have spent the holidays at home.  We are looking forward to relaxing and creating some new traditions for Miriam's First Christmas.  I know she will have zero recollection of this Christmas, but it means so much to us to have her and will have some wonderful memories of this time in our family life.  Have a Merry Christmas & safe holiday season.