Scary Santa

Our family santa suit has gotten pretty weathered throughout the years. It has gradually faded from red to pink and the pants are now knickers. This santa suit was worn by Emmy's Great Grandfather Fred over 70 years ago. The bells have a very distinct sound to them. Whenever I hear them jingle, it brings back so many memories. I remember being absolutely terrified of this santa when I was little. All of us kids used to hide behind the big puffy chair at my grandma Hazel's house & scream when we would hear the bells coming down the stairs.
It has now become very comical whenever anyone puts this suit on. Brad had never seen this santa before, so we had to bring it out and show him. We were all laughing so hard...grandma Linda peed her pants!

SOOOO BIG!

Emmy is learning "So Big" right now. I was saying it to her last night and she raised her little arms up. It was the cutest thing EVER! I thought it was just a fluke, so I said it again and she raised her arms up again. I yelled for Brad to come and watch and when I said it again...she did it for him too! We got a kick out of it...but I think she got sick of it after a while.

She is also learning Peek-a-boo! Which she loves!

She giggles when we jump too. It's so funny to hear her giggle. I can get her to giggle more when I press my face into her tummy & laugh.

Emmy's 1st Christmas

Last Tuesday evening we went to Hoffman to celebrate Christmas with Brad's side of the family. We went to Christmas Eve service in Hoffman. When we pulled up to the church, there were only a handful of cars there. I started to think...one car had to be the pastor, one car must have been the organist and the other the usher??!! When we got inside the church, there were a few more people... about 25. Everyone must have carpooled. The pastor wasn't there yet, so we just sang Christmas carols until she got there.

We had a nice time with the family and Emmy finally warmed up to Grandma Debbie right before we were leaving. For some reason, every time Emmy looks at Grandma Deb, she sticks her bottom lip out and cries really hard. I feel so bad for Grandma...it's so heartbreaking for her.
Thursday afternoon, we left Hoffman and drove down to Montevideo to celebrate with Grandpa Brad. We started a tradition with my dad last year by eating king crab for dinner. This year he got the colossal king crab. It was soooooo good!
On Friday, we spent the whole day with Grandma Linda. Instead of having a tree this year, my mom just hid our gifts throughout her house. We had to search for them...It was pretty funny. My mom forgot to make a master copy of where she hid all the gifts. We found all but one gift for my sister-in-law Rachel. After all of our gifts were opened, we played "Heartland Strategy."
Emmy received the cutest gifts from everyone and we'll have fun playing & reading to her.
She got the cutest potty training book for when that time comes. It contains 17 funny songs and rhymes parents can use to coax kids into the bathroom. Example:
(Sing to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star)

Tinkle, tinkle, little tot

Sitting there upon the pot.

Any second now, you'll see ...

Sprinkle, splash and you'll go pee!

OR

(To the tune of On Top Of Old Smokey)

On top of my potty

I sit and I wait

I know what I'm making...

Is going to be great!

Maya, Madi, Shelby & Emmy

Grandma Debbie, Papa Jerry, Shelby, Maya, Madi & Emmy

Tony & Christy, Shelby, Maya & Madi

Grandpa Brad
Grandma Linda, Emmy & TylerTyler & Emmy

Santa's Little Cutie

Isn't she cute!? Grandma Linda sent Emmy this adorable outfit in the mail this week. She'll look so cute for her first Christmas!

We wish you & your families a very Merry Christmas & a safe and happy New Year!! Much Love!

Holidazzle Parade

We had planned to go to the Holidazzle Parade this year, but never got a chance to go due to our busy schedule. We were going to go last night, but bitterly cold conditions led officials to cancel Sunday's finale of the 2008 Target Holidazzle parade in downtown Minneapolis. The Holidazzle parade is canceled if the temperature with the wind chill is 20 degrees below zero or colder. It's the ninth weather cancellation in the parade's 17-year history. Good thing we decided to stay home by the fireplace.

Staying Warm

BRRRRR!! The weather here in MN has been really cold. The high on Monday & Tuesday was 4 degrees below zero! We just walk fast and hold our breath around here when we're outside. Brad and I keep saying that we are moving to Florida. After this winter, we might be more serious about it. And yet, it's only December...we've got a long way to go until spring.

My commute to work is about 11 miles and it usually takes me about 20 minutes to get there. We just had a few inches of snowfall yesterday, so last night it took me an hour and a half to get home. Brad is lucky, he works from home a lot so he doesn't have to drive too much.

Our daycare lady has this week off, so Brad is home bonding with Emmy. They are having a blast and he is getting used to her daily routine.
On the days that Emmy goes to daycare, Brad helps me out in the morning by getting her ready for the day. We have a normal routine where Brad drops her off in the morning and I pick her up after work.

Here's a cute picture of Emmy all bundled up to go run errands with mom and dad.

M'm M'm Good

Do I have something on my face?

1st Picture With Santa

Last Friday, Sarah and I brought Max and Emmy to the Mall of America to visit Santa. The company that organizes it does a wonderful job. This year they were taking appointments to see Santa. It was great...We didn't have to wait in a long line. There were so many adorable kids all dressed up in their cute Christmas outfits!

4 Month Check Up

Emmy weighs 13 lbs. 3 oz. and is 24 1/4 inches long. She's in the 50th percentile for both height and weight. Her head measures at 41.6 cm which is in the 50-75 percentile. If you stood her in a row of 100 other girls & boys that are her same age, she measures right smack dab in the middle. :)

She got another set of shots at her 4 month check up. This time daddy came with us. She cried pretty hard for a few minutes when the first shot went in, but was okay when she started to suck on my finger. She doesn't like pacifiers very much. I made sure that my hands were clean before they started the shots because I knew she wouldn't take the pacifier and would only calm down if I let her suck on my finger. Brad said that it was pretty hard to watch her cry that hard.
Later that day, she was pretty cranky and didn't sleep well that night. She was up every hour.

Emmy's doctor said to keep doing what we are doing. She's doing just great. She mentioned giving Emmy some rice cereal before bedtime which might help her sleep a little longer during the night. She should start sleeping a little better around 6 months. When she starts to get sleepy, she rubs her eyes and it is so cute. A couple of months ago she was actually sleeping through the night. I'm not sure what changed.

Her pattern has been like clockwork lately. When I pick her up at day care, she usually falls asleep as soon as I back out of Dar's driveway. She sleeps for about an hour and then we have dinner/feeding. After that we play for a little bit and then she takes a nap around 7:00. She usually falls asleep for the night anywhere from 9-11 and then is up for a feeding at 2:30 and again at 5 or 5:30.

She loves to be held and talked to by anyone. However, lately she is starting to develop stranger awareness...especially with grandma Debbie. I don't know why. It's so weird because lately we've been seeing grandma & grandpa every week.

We have been giving her one new baby food per week and she loves everything so far. We've given/tried rice cereal, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, green beans & applesauce. So far, no allergies. She LOVES squash.

She is rolling over so well. She's rolling and rolling and rolling all over the floor. Soon we will be child proofing our home.

Mommy's Birthday

Brad, Emmy & I went to Pittsburgh Blue last night for my birthday dinner. They have the best King Crab. Emmy was jabbering away and got lots of attention from the waiters. She sampled the Red Velvet Cake too (just a little nibble of the frosting).

Emmy gave mommy a card that said, "Thank you for feeding me, changing my diapers, and for taking such good care of me. I love you mommy!" Along with the card was a gift to get my hair done next week. Brad gave me his own card with a gift card to Macy's. I'm excited to use this soon! I have the best husband!! :)

After dinner, our plan was to put up our Christmas tree. We were so full from dinner, we actually just relaxed and played with Emmy. I'm sure we'll get it done this week.

We have a neighbor who just decorated the outside of his house. It makes me think of the Griswold's. It kind of looks like this video. Note: You'll have to pause the music on the playlist above to hear the sound that goes with this video. :) Enjoy!