Christmas memories

The tree was all decorated and the stockings were hung with care...


In hopes that SANTA CLAUS soon would be here!


Come Christmas morn, we arose bright-eyed, of course!


To see that Santa had brought Miri a fun ball pit and a rockin' Rody horse!


The holiday was spent with family we love,


Every day with Miriam, but especially Christmas, is a true blessing from above.

We hope that all of our friends and family had a Christmas as beautiful as ours. XOXO

Chicago, Chicago

(sing to the tune of Chicago, Chicago by Frank Sinatra)
Chicago, Chicago, a toddler's town
Chicago, Chicago, we'll show Miri around-- we love it!
Bet your bottom dollar you'll lose the teething blues in Chicago, Chicago
The town that Miri's bedtime couldn't shut down

On State Street, that great street, I just want to say
We enjoyed the Macy's Christmas window display
We had the time, the time of our life
Miriam, Jason, and Alli his wife
Chicago, Chicago, Miri's hometown!

We had a great time on our whirlwind 26-hour trip to Chicago! Jason and I have made it a tradition for several years now to go enjoy the Christmas decorations and displays at Fields/Macy's on State St. Last year, we took Miri for the first time. Remember this?

Well, this year was just a *little* bit different! Here are some pics from Macy's:

And out on the city streets:

And hanging in the hotel:

Our hotel room (Homewood Suites on Grand, right across from Nordstrom) had amazing views:
Other trip highlights:

Taking Miri to the Disney store and laughing hysterically about the fact that she selected the only redheaded doll in the store and put it in her stroller...


Checking out the awesome Chicago skyline made entirely of Legos at the Lego store...


Pizza at Gino's East (in this picture, Miri is telling Mommy what toppings she wants)...


Eating at Panes w/ some Illinois Masonic friends (notice the gray scrubs in the background-- that would have been my mandatory uniform if I still worked there-- darn it, I missed out! How easy would that make it to get ready in the mornings?)

Overall, it was an awesome trip! I love that we have this special tradition, and I am confident it will only become more and more fun as Miri grows up!

Weekend report!

We had another great weekend! On Friday night, I went out for a girls' night with my friends Erin, Gina, and Krysten. GNO are always a blast, and this one did not fail to live up to that expectation. I am so lucky to have amazing girlfriends; I really really am. We talked husbands, kids, career, closet envy, home design, the real estate crisis, tank tops that look perpetually dusty, thyroids... hmmm, what DIDN'T we talk about? We even closed out the restaurant. That said, I was home before 10:30... a little different from a couple of years ago when GNO meant getting home at 2:30 OR 3AM! While I was out with the ladies, Jason was home with his favorite little redhead. They had pizza night together... Hawaiian pizza for J, black olives (her new fave!) and mushrooms for M. Jason said when he dressed her in her new owl jammies at bedtime, she pointed at an owl and said "hoo, hoo!" Our little lady is a real hoot!

Saturday started out with swim class. Miri continues to love the water and is steadily working towards mastering the basics. She did a great job kicking with the kickboard, climbing out of the pool, and blowing bubbles. When we got home, two of Miri's favorite people came over for a visit... Uncle Adam and Aunt Rochelle! The happy couple just got back from their honeymoon in Hawaii (they had an amazing time, naturally) and were briefly in town to collect their daughter and pup before heading back to MN. We were so happy to have a few hours to hang out, as we haven't seen them in almost 3 months. I am really looking forward to Christmas to have more time with my brother, sister-in-law, and my sweet, silly niece! Later in the day, we got out for a little Christmas shopping and the day was wonderfully capped off with a Big 10 championship for my Wisconsin Badgers!!! Rose Bowl, here we come again!

On Sunday, the main goal of the day was to get our outside Christmas lights up. This was Jason's first time hanging lights, and he did an awesome job! While he was working hard, Miri and I played outside for a bit to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't come catapulting off the roof. How cute does our little girl look in her new winter coat, hat, and mittens?
When the sun went down, we went outside to admire Jason's hard work. Look at our beautiful house (minus the handful of bulbs that ALREADY burnt out, despite having worked before hanging them-- guess we learned our lesson on why you don't buy inexpensive lights-- grrrr!)
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend too!

The holidays are here!

The holiday season is now upon us! We ushered it in with a wonderful, relaxed Thanksgiving at my parents' house. Miri enjoyed her first Thanksgiving meal this year. She was most enamored with my mom's raspberry jello mold and pumpkin pie, so I guess it's safe to say that she inherited a sweet tooth from her mommy! We also belatedly celebrated my dad's birthday that Friday with a happy hour at Silver Creek-- yes, we brought our baby to the bar!-- and then pizza, ice cream cake, and board games at Mom and Dad's house. Miri didn't get to stay up for the cake or board games, so my dad sent his last remaining slice of ice cream cake home with us for Miri to have later. Now THAT'S what I call a grandpa! On Saturday, we were lucky enough to get to spend some time with our friends Erin, Erich, and Jennifer to cheer the Badgers on to their big win over Penn State! If only the Buckeyes could have managed a win over Michigan too... evidently the Buckeyes didn't get a memo that their cutest fan (Miri) was wearing her Ohio State cheerleading outfit-- maybe they would have played a little harder had they known! At any rate, it was a very fun afternoon spent with friends. That evening, Jason and I put up and decorated our Christmas tree. I was really nervous how Miri was going to do with the tree this year. Would we need to gate it off? Would she try to eat the lights? So far, no problems! Yay!