Holiday Plans

Poor boys, cooped up in the house to avoid the cold!

Uncle Dennis & Aunt Sue came for another visit and spent some quality time with Margaux.

Drew & Dennis kindly shoveling our entire sidewalk!

We had never seen her suck her thumb before...so cute!

It's been very cold and very snowy this past week! We were happy to have another visit from my sister and brother-in-law. I was able to accomplish some things around the house and finish my Christmas shopping thanks to their help! We are leaving tonite for northern Michigan to spend Christmas with my family and then we will head to Mason on Saturday to visit with Patrick's family. The bummer is that he and I are both sick and the weather looks like it will make for a tedious drive! We are going to head out at midnight and give it a try as long as we feel it is safe. We have been looking forward to having Margaux meet some more of her family. Merry Christmas to all!

Our Tree

The Stockings Were Hung By The Chimney With Care

Just a little over two weeks and it will be Christmas already...unreal. Time is getting away from me since the baby was born! We did get our tree this weekend, but not from a festive farm like last year where you cut your own. It's been frigidly cold here all weekend and so we ended up buying our cute but overpriced tree from a lot down the street. I went to decorate it tonite and realized that I didn't have any hooks for my new ornaments. So I will add tree decorating to my ever growing list of unfinished tasks including Christmas shopping and ordering holiday cards!

Still "Dog People"!

Jasper & his Sissy.
Buddy doing what he does best...getting into things! :-)

Margaux & Daddy watching Baby Einstein's Baby Beethoven.

Catching some z's.

I have always hated those stories where a couple are REALLY into their dogs, like madly in love, and then they have a baby and the poor dogs are pushed aside. I know people say they won't do it, but then it just seems to happen. Well, I am happy to report that Patrick and I still think that Buddy & Jasper hang the moon! (And hey, they were here first! Ha!) We are so proud of them for being so nice and gentle with Margaux, we especially see Jasper bonding with her. Buddy likes her too, but he's good with a few licks whereas Jasper is in it for the cuddling as well!

In Margaux news...she is such a sweet little girl! She has had some gas/poopy issues or possibly colic and so we switched her supplemental formula to soy this week and we are also trying some tips that were suggested to us by our pediatrician. It's probably too soon to know if the formula change has truly helped, but she seems to be having a good evening compared to the last few! I am not sure exactly how much she weighs now, but her eyes are starting to slightly change color from blue to a hazel color. She is very alert and today it seems we can coax real smiles from her! She's a gem.

Thanksgiving

Cousin Anna

Cousin Nick

Cousin Abby

Tuckered out from holiday festivities!

We were undecided how to spend our Thanksgiving this year. Originally, we thought we would spend it quietly at home just the three of us, well five, counting Buddy & Jasper! Then we had an incredibly kind offer from friends to spend it at their house. In the end, we made the drive up to Madison and spent the day and night with Patrick's sister Kim and her family. Margaux did great with her first roadtrip and we had such a nice time with family! The baby got spoiled with loads of attention and the holiday meal was DELICIOUS....thanks Kim & Mike! We are thankful for so many things this year...our beautiful & healthy daughter, one another, our families & many true friends and our stable jobs in a time of economic strife and uncertainty. Cannot believe Christmas is up next and we haven't ordered holiday cards or put up a tree yet! Oh yeah, still have to do the Christmas shopping as well! Yikes! :-)