Ella's Nursery

Since the nursery was painted while we were gone, and Matt has been home this week, I decided to get the nursery in order!  Here are a few pictures.  I still need to put up the name above the crib and some wall decals!

Finished!!



Florida and Christmas

Well, our Christmas trip to Florida to visit my parents started out a little rough.  The night before we left, just before Katelyn went to sleep, she got sick.  We thought maybe it was something she ate or drank, and quickly put her to bed.  Little did we know that we would be up every 2 hours changing sheets and pajamas.  Luckily Katelyn literally had everything out of her system by 4:30 a.m. and we were able to fly to Florida without any problems....Unlucky for my mother-in-law who had 5 huge garbage bags of laundry to do! 
  We all had a great time in Florida.  The weather was in the mid 70's, we went and visited Santa at the mall, Katelyn and my mom rode the train around the mall, we visited Sugar Sands Park, another local park, Matt and I were able to go see a movie, went to the Palm Beach Zoo on Christmas eve, my mom and I went to an interesting mass on Christmas Eve, and had a nice Christmas eve dinner as well as Christmas morning breakfast.  Katelyn was also excited to see that Santa made it to Florida as well as our house!
   Luckily, our flight home on Christmas day was uneventful and we actually got in earlier than expected.  From the airport we went to have Christmas with Matt's family.  The kids had a great time opening presents and we had a great dinner.  After leaving his parents, we finally made it home to see what Santa left under the tree for Katelyn.  She was excited to find her doll house (which took hours to put together the next day) as well as many other toys "she always wanted". 
  We had a great Christmas this year, and are looking forward to Christmas next year with the addition of baby Ella!
  The day after Christmas we got together with my Aunt Sue and Uncle Keith who took us to a nice brunch at the Dearborn Inn, then spent the rest of the day putting the doll house together and taking all of the toys out of the annoying packaging.  After completing a list of "to do" items that was a mile long, we are finally at the end and able to spend the rest of the week/end relaxing and visiting with friends!

Busy December

As always, another busy month!  In December, we had lunch with Santa at the K of C Christmas Party, had breakfast with Santa at Lakes of Taylor Golf Course, visited the museum with friends, and every one's favorite, visiting Fantasy Land in Lincoln Park.  Here are a few pictures from the month of December.

    Happy Holidays!!

Would you like some cookies with your frosting?

On Saturday Katelyn and I baked and decorated Christmas cookies.  Katelyn loves to bake and especially loves to decorate sugar cookies.  Luckily I am no longer worried about the finished product, rather the process Katelyn takes to make and decorate the cookies.  Needless to say, the cookies are quite heavy on frosting and decorations this year!



First Christmas Concert

On Friday night Katelyn was in her first Christmas concert at St. Sebastian.  The preschool classes, Kindergarten and First Grade students all sung Up on the House Top and Jingle Bells.  Katelyn had been practicing very hard and was very excited for her first show.  The kids did a great job!

Links to video of songs performed...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi5NrEGbQMU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6WMw2bSH8s

The making of Katelyn's Gingerbread House

Katelyn loves decorating a gingerbread house each year and she was excited to do her tonight..I just hope it is still standing tomorrow morning!!

Ready for Christmas!

Friday we visited Santa at the museum for our annual day after Thanksgiving trip.  We do think he is one of the best Santa's around.  He takes a lot of time with each child and reminds them to be good, glean up their toys, share, as well as everything else kids seem to forget.  This could also be the reason why the line is so long every year.  Luckily Matt waits in line for us each year!
  On Saturday we went with Blake and Tyler and painted clay ornaments for gifts and for our Christmas tree.  The kids had a great time and we can't wait to go back!

First Visit with Santa

Although I am still not feeling well, I braved 12 Oaks with Matt and Katelyn for our annual visit with Santa.  We waited in line for what felt like forever, and it isn't even Thanksgiving yet! It didn't help that there was a terror of a kid in line behind us, well technically pushing in front of us, that no one bothered to discipline.   Katelyn took a great picture and was really into seeing Santa again this year!  After we visited with Santa,  we went to Build-A-Bear and let Katelyn make a reindeer...she had a great time!!