Christmas with The Smiths

The Smiths celebrated Christmas in style!  We enjoyed lots of family time during the week leading up to Christmas (and still some to come).  We were able to have a wonderful brunch at my mom's.  We enjoyed a day in Pueblo with Chris' family.  And on Christmas day we stayed home, relaxing as a family of three. We still need to celebrate with my dad, but he got his wish of Christmas snow so we will celebrate in a couple days.

With Micheal Buble playing in the background and the fireplace keeping us warm we began Christmas morning exchanging gifts. Eva was quite the champ ripping paper and putting it in her mouth.  Then, we proceeded to eat the day away.  We started off the morning with yummy baked french toast with a praline topping, mimosas, and bacon.  Mid-afternoon we enjoyed a yummy cheese dip and shrimp cocktail.  Our evening dinner was delicious prime rib, mashed potatoes, and homemade green bean casserole.

Throughout the day the TV played many Christmas classics...Home Alone, Christmas Vacation, Love Actually, and Frozen!  It was a wonderful Christmas and I look forward to many many more.

 

More great photos

Jessica,
Thank you once again for capturing our family so wonderfully.  We truly appreciate your talent.  We love and cherish each photo session we get to share with you.

Love,
The Smith Family

ick...no more kisses

7 months

Today marks the 7 month birthday for Miss Eva Joyce.  The past month has been spent anticipating the day Eva will crawl!  Alas, she is a mover, but not yet a crawler.  I feel like we have been waiting for this moment since she started scooting about around 5 months.  It seems she likes to take her time perfecting her craft.  She has progressed through many pre-crawling stages.  From pulling herself across the floor, to plank, and downward dog. Right now she can get up in crawling position and rock back and forth.  She then proceeds to plop down and repeat until she has made it to her destination! We have had just a couple moments in the past couple days where she has started to move one hand at a time. But, her favorite is to inch across the room like a worm and boy can she move fast!

note: I had to switch to the 7 block!

This past month has also been filled with tons of smiles! Oh, and tears :(.  First, smiles...she is just such a happy baby.  She loves to observe the world around her.  And, if she catches the eyes of a stranger she will just stare with amazement and then give them a big smile.  I see this as her way of spreading holiday cheer and bringing happiness to others.  With her smiles she has also brought on the tears.  We have been working hard to get her sleeping better at night.  With this we have been using The Sleep Lady's technique found in her book Good Night, Sleep Tight.  As tough as it has been to not pick her up when she wakes up crying in the middle of the night, but instead to just rub her back and reassure her, the results (although not perfect) speak for themselves.  After a couple weeks she is only getting up once a night to eat.  If she awakens before then, she usually has a few minor fusses and settles back into a slumber.  Keeping our fingers crossed she starts sleeping even better (I think she wakes up and misses us and that is why she cries!).

awkward picture "smile for the camera" 

Eva's milestones

• on the move
• spent a weekend with Grandma and Grandad (she wore them out, but they had fun)!
• had her first Thanksgiving
• met Santa
• goes crazy when she sees herself in the mirror or watches a video of herself!
• still loves selfies
• observes everything
• wants everything in her mouth (still)

Marlena and Chris's milestones

• traveled across state lines to California for a weekend without Eva (ahh!)
• Enjoy another great date day thanks to Auntie Rochelle and Aunt Karen
• made it through the first stages of sleep training

Santa

Check off another first...Santa!   Today we visited Santa.  Now, I wouldn't call us the outdoorsie type, but when looking into seeing Santa, Chris discovered Bass Pro Shops gave a free picture with your visit.  So, Bass Pro it was!  It was actually really great!  I remember standing in line and waiting FOREVER to see Santa as a kid.  It would get really hot and it would seem like your turn was never going to happen.  But, at Bass Pro it was relaxed and fun.  They have so many great things for kids to do while waiting...crafts, carousel, bows and arrows, etc... (we look forward to next year when Eva can actually enjoy them)!  Oh, and since everyone knew they were getting a free picture you could just feel the weight being lifted off parents shoulders.  There was no pressure to buy and no stuffy rules about not taking pictures with your phone!  It was just a fun family experience!

Now, the question I know everyone wants to know...did she cry????  Yep, she did, but not right away!  She took it all in and then decided sitting with Santa by herself wasn't her cup of tea.  So, mom and dad joined and we got a pretty great family picture with Santa!

Big Weekend Away

Chris and I traveled to California a couple weekends ago for a dear friend's wedding.  We made the tough decision to leave Eva here.  Although she wore my mom out I know they had fun.  I'm also glad they got to spend some time together and bond.  Eva just loves her Grandma, Grand-daddy, and Uncle Zach!

We missed Eva terribly, but we enjoyed our kid free weekend.  We engaged in some quality time with friends while wine tasting.  Feasted on a great Sushi dinner date night, where afterwards we watched The Sandlot and went to bed at 8:30.  On Saturday, I got a much needed and relaxing manicure and pedicure (I was long overdue).  Then, we hit up the wedding festivities.  The ceremony was breathtaking, the food was delicious, the photo-booth was awesome and the dancing was incredible.  It was such a great day for such a wonderful couple.  On Sunday we headed down the Pacific Coast Highway to take in the beauty of the coast.  We enjoyed some beach time and walked the Santa Monica Pier.  It was a great trip, but we were definitely ready to come home and see our sweet baby girl.

Thankful Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  I love all the yummy food and family time.  This year was even more special having little Miss Eva with us.  We indulged in delicious food.  Then, we spent most of our time playing and admiring Eva.

One of my favorite things about Thanksgiving is our exchange of ornaments.  It is even more fun now that Eva gets to start her own little collection!  This year Uncle Zach got the honor of getting her an ornament.  He got her the cutest snowman that says I <3 My Uncle.

So much to be thankful for this holiday season.  A healthy baby girl, a great husband, a new job I don't mind going to, and great family and friends.