Christmas in February

I feel like Christmas was just yesterday.  I'm pretty sure this is because January was a total whirlwind.  Ryan was shooting events out of town for most of the month, which is the. fastest. way. to ensure the longevity of your marriage.  I've had a taste of single parenthood, and it is not for me!  (I did like stretching out across the whole bed at night, though.  And indulging in TV shows that elicit a hearty eyeroll from Ryan.  But that's about it.)  So, in the tradition of being eternally behind in all of my blog posts, I present to you:  Christmas in February.

Went for a little peacock feather flair this year.

Ethan and his friend made a lovely gingerbread house!

Christmas cookie party with Auntie Ingrid and the girls!

Too young to make cookies... but not too young to eat them!

Aunt Mary and her boys.

Present tunnels.

All elves make balloon snowmen.  It's a fact.

Ethan's first time seeing Santa!  He LOVED him!

Everett... not so much.

Santa's guard dog.  Do not open until December 25th... or else.

Cookies for Santa, made by Ethan and Aunt Mary!

"I like how you give me presents."  Cut right to the chase, kid.  

Some assembly required.

Ethan's incredible castle from Aunt Kelly and Uncle Troy!

This pretty much sums up his morning.

Unwrapping his gifts.

Ev's new ride!

Family game night with Aunt Mary and Grandma.

I'm pretty sure Ryan took *actual* photos with an *actual* camera, but all of his trips leave zero time for photo editing.  I'm going to chalk his shots up to archival relics.  Thank goodness for the iPhone!

Holiday Celebrations

Oma found a great gingerbread train for Ethan to decorate this year! He did a wonderful job of sticking the candies onto the frosting... until he realized 1) He had candy in his hand - CANDY!!! and 2) The frosting was also ridiculously delicious.

The play food from Mima and Poppa was a huge hit.
So was the fire truck from Pa-Pa!
Ethan soon figured out he could combine his two loves, and spent the better part of Christmas morning placing play food onto the ladder of the truck and pushing it around the house.
We celebrated New Year's Eve with the fabulous Hoke family. One of us had the brilliant idea to turn our babies into New Year's Babies. We made a little paper sash, broke out the cameras, and prepared for a productive photo shoot. The kiddos had a different idea. They both hated the sash and refused to wear it. Should have seen that coming. After about ten minutes and a lot of M&M bribes later, we managed to get this shot:

Not exactly what we were going for, but I like it all the same. Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

(*Note - Yes, we are partaking in a Christmas pajama theme. It's a lovely tradition that I'm stealing borrowing with permission from a friend. Next year, I may just order adult footy pajamas so that Ryan and I can be as comfy as Ethan!)

Snow Bunny

Whew - is anyone else exhausted from a whirlwind of holiday traveling and events? Ryan, Ethan, and I went to Dallas for Christmas, had a day upon our return to readjust to our time zone/unpack/decompress, celebrated my *first annual* 29th birthday (...because no matter what Father Time says, I will not be turning 30. Ever.) the following day, and then woke up the next morning and drove up to our usual spot in the Sierras for a wintery New Year's celebration. I'm tired all over again just writing about it!

Christmas in Dallas was literally a record-setter this year. For the first time since the National Weather Service began recording snowfall in 1898, the area received a measurable amount of snow on Christmas Eve. Three inches, to be exact. Now, yes, I am from the East Coast, and, yes, I am aware of the Great Blizzard of '09 that wreaked havoc on the Mid-Atlantic, but this was big news for Texas! Winds were gusting upwards of 50 mph, the roads iced over after sundown, and there was nary a snow plow to be found since they are never, EVER needed in that area. It made for quite an exciting trip to our candlelight Christmas Eve church service, that's for sure! Luckily, we were in a car driven by an experienced Michiganite-turned-Coloradan who could more than handle himself behind the wheel in a snowstorm, and did not end up in a ditch like several other drivers we passed.

Poor Ethan had a cold for our entire Texas trip, which turned him into quite the crankypants. As a result, we don't really have any photos postable photos of him or our festivities. However, we do have pictures from our New Year's trip. This has been a Notch Family tradition for the past five years, and we absolutely love it. The town we stay in has a population of less than 100 people, is right outside of Lassen Volcanic National Park, and has exactly four commercial buildings (used loosely... very loosely) - a lodge that can accomodate about twenty people, a restaurant that seats about the same, a gift and ski shop, and a general store. All of the buildings are owned and operated by one family. It's tiny, quiet, peaceful, idyllic, and relaxing. When we were there last year Ethan was just a wee little thing, making this the first year that he really got to experience playing in the snow. It took him a few minutes to warm up to the cold crunching under his feet, but he was a pro snow-walker in no time and really enjoyed running around.




From our family to yours, here's to a happy, healthy, and peaceful 2010 filled with laughter and love!

Eastern Excursion & Western Winter

We had a great time visiting our East Coast family for Christmas! It was quite a whirlwind vacation - we had less than a week to make stops in Pittsburgh, Washington D.C., and Charlottesville. We did a lot of driving, but it was absolutely worth all of the time on the road. We were happy to be able to spend time with so many people we love, and introduce Ethan to more family members he hadn't yet met.

Here are some photo highlights from our trip:

Ethan had a lot of fun playing with his Grandma!

Not fun, however, was Ethan's first experience with Baby Orajel. Teething is yucky on so many levels.

An Emerson family tradition, Pa-Pa showed Ethan all of the bells and whistles on this year's Hess truck.

Our goofball with his Great Great Aunts Anne, Wanda, and Nancy.

We arrived home on the evening of the 29th, and turned right around the next morning and drove to a small town in the Sierras for New Year's. We've rented a cabin and spent some time in the wilderness for the past several years as a post-holiday travel decompression. It's so beautiful and secluded, nestled high in the mountains in a forest of Redwoods and Pine. Ethan got to see snow for the first time, and even tried sledding on Mommy's lap (down a very small hill).

When we arrived we discovered that our cabin was buried in a good amount of snow!

We bundled Ethan up and took him outside to explore the Winter Wonderland.







Ethan absolutely adores being up on Ryan's shoulders.




















Daddy is so much fun!
























It was so cozy on the couch in front of the fire, and we spent a lot of time cuddled up with Max. Ethan is learning how to pet the dog, though he still tugs on Max's ears and legs a lot. Max is so patient with him, and the two of them are fast becoming buddies.

We hope everyone had a holiday as nice and relaxing as ours was. Happy New Year!

Ho, Ho, Ho!

We got a really sweet book from Ingrid, and thought we'd share some of it in our holiday post. It's called, "Once Upon a Baby's First Christmas," by Anne McEvoy. It's a tale of a little bunny that has a lot of questions upon discovering a cradle in the woods that contains a strange, unknown creature.

"What is it?" Bunny whispered, on tiny tippy toes.
"A baby," came the answer, with a lot of oohs and ohs.
"A baby?" asked the Bunny - "so what are babies for?"
"For cuddling," said the others, "and to snuggle and adore."
"It's tiny," said the Bunny, "it can't be very strong."
"That's so you can pick them up and rock them all night long."
"And what's this baby thinking?" They all looked and stared a while...
"Must be something sweet to make that precious little smile."
Thinking hard, the Bunny asked, "What do babies do all day?"
"They fill the world with wonder and steal your heart away."
"A baby is like Christmas," the Bunny finally sighed.
"It makes the world seem brighter and your heart feel warm inside..."
The others nodded slowly as the snow began to fall...
And all agreed a baby was the sweetest gift of all.

We send our warmest wishes, and hope that your holiday season is filled with love, joy, and wonder!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

By the time you read this, we'll be on our way back East for Christmas (or already there!). As we write this, however, we're still in the Bay Area, frantically completing our last minute preparations. We learned a lot about traveling with a baby when we flew to Minnesota for Thanksgiving, and are hoping that this knowledge will serve us well on this trip. We'll be flying into Washington, D.C. to see Ethan's Pa-Pa, Oma, and lots of aunts and uncles. We'll also make our way to Pittsburgh to visit the Ventura family, and Charlottesville to see Ethan's Grandma. We're so excited about this trip, and are almost all ready to go. Thank goodness Ethan is around to help us pack!

Vegas, Baby!

Only one week left in our first trimester, an occasion which has been marked by a significant decrease in morning sickness! We're ready for all of the excitement of the second trimester - finding out the gender, feeling the baby move, and getting a REALLY big belly! After a quiet Christmas at home, Ryan surprised Sarah with a New Year's Eve getaway to Las Vegas. It was so much fun, especially considering that it is definitely a trip we won't be taking again for a long time after the baby arrives! Call us crazy (and many of the parents we observed there would), but we feel strongly that little kids and Vegas don't mix!

Mommy Update:
- Favorite new thing: Bella Bands - avoiding those scary maternity jeans for as long as possible!
- Least favorite new thing: The "is she pregnant, or just gaining weight?" phase (For the record: pregnant).
- Still all about the Mexican food, also loving anything with peanut butter or avocado (but not combined)!
- Shocked by how much the little one zaps her energy - walking around Vegas was tiring!



The hottest new show in Vegas? Cheesy 3D movie at M&M's World! :)