Where did my playmates go?

When it comes to having fun our little girl knows how to show everyone a good time. She had so many playmates over the past two weeks. Jeff and Wendy for starters, then we travelled up to Michigan for a few days and hung out with some of M's school buddies and their families. When we got back, M's parents came to visit for a week. So little C had a constant audience for almost two solid weeks.

One of her favorite tricks is to show everyone how talented she is at climbing in and out of buckets, boxes, baskets, trays...oh just about anything.

She also enjoyed getting outside as often as possible, even in the cold weather and snow. We had a few days of temperatures above freezing so mommy said it would be okay to get out for a little while.
Mommy and Daddy had a chance to get out on their own too. M planned a whole day in Chicago that included Garrett's popcorn, Avatar at the Navy Pier IMAX, and dinner at Carnivale. Wow! What a special treat.

We also took a trip into Chicago to see the Field Museum. C loved the children's section where she had the opportunity to make a crown, play in the music room, and discover all sorts of stones, masks, bones, plant life and other items from all over the world.

We all had a wonderful time with Grandma and Grandpa V. They left early this morning to fly back to Boston. C was slightly confused today. We asked her where Grandma and Grandpa were and she couldn't find them anywhere. She looked all around and returned her gaze back to us looking quite sad and disappointed that she couldn't find them.

Christmas Eve, Day and Day after

It was just the three of us this Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This was the very first Christmas that we didn't travel anywhere. We put up a tree, had stockings hanging from the mantle, went to our own church for Christmas Eve service. We even put out presents for little C to discover in the morning. She is still a little young to understand what's going on. But she did notice the gifts and couldn't stop herself from sorting through them as soon as she had a chance.

This is our sweet baby in her pretty Christmas dress.

On Christmas morning we exchanged a few small gifts and had the joy of watching C discover her new toys and books.

The very next day Grandma and Grandpa V arrived and we had a second Christmas. We exchange gifts while C and her grandparents spent some precious moments together. C quickly discovered that both Grandma and Grandpa wore zippers on their sweaters!! How fascinating.

A Bit of Boston in Chicago

Jeff and Wendy, dear friends of ours from Boston, came to visit the weekend before Christmas. M had a break from school and work so we were able to live it up and spend some good quality time together. We spent the first two days in Chicago checking out the sights, eating great food and seeing all the Christmastime sights we could. We also went to the zoo over the weekend and saw all of the pretty lights and decorations there too.

Thank you Jeff and Wendy for coming all the way out here to hang with us. We love you guys.