Getting Ready for Christmas

We didn't put our tree up till the 12th this year! Sad, I know, but things have been a little bit hectic with Britain being born. We got it done though, and that's what counts! And...Eden has even been VERY good at not touching the tree. She does point to it and say "WOW" a lot, especially when we turn the lights on at night. So far she's only taken one ornament off! Much better than I imagined the tree going.

"Fluffing" the tree.

Eden got bored of fluffing and went to rock Britain in the swing. You know, because the swing doesn't rock her good enough on it's own.

Then out came the ornaments:

Luckily, they are shatterproof!

And we're done! WOW!

Then I had to go to Hallmark and get the girls ornaments for the year. I hadn't thought about it until we put the tree up!

A Little People Airplane for Eden.
(And thanks to Grandpa Flanagan for her new hoodie from Colorado School of Mines!)

And a first Christmas bear and cookie for Britain.
(Side Note: Britain looks EXACTLY like I do in my first Christmas ornament picture.)

And now we'll give Santa back his hat so he can come and visit us!

Grandma Leslie Visits

Russell's Mom came to visit for a week to meet Britain and hug on Eden. Eden is finally old enough to really remember Grandma's and Grandpa's and get to know them, which made it more fun for her this time. We had a great time while she was here just hanging out. And...Grandma brought a few surprises!

Grandma surprised Eden by buying her Tickle Me Elmo Extreme!


Grandma also bought a small Elmo.

Matching hats for Eden and Daddy from Grandma's store!

And...Grandma REALLY wanted Eden to play Playdoh, but Eden just wanted to use the containers as blocks.

Reading a story with Grandma.

Britain's Picture A Day

Just like I did with Eden, I will be posting a picture a day for Britain's first year over on Ahlstromology. Be sure to check it out.

13 Months

Eden turned 13 months old this month and she is getting so big! While attempting to get a picture of both the girls together for Christmas cards, I got some singles of Eden in her Christmas dress.

At 13 months Eden has started saying more words. She says "uh-oh," "oh-no," "oh wow," "car-car," and "gock"(sock). She jabbers all day long. In the last few days she has gotten very interested in her cabbage patch baby and will spend a long time feeding her a bottle and trying to wrap her up in a blanket.




She starting to get a little more interested in Britain and will show her a toy or come up and look at her for a few minutes. She can get down from the couch all by herself now, and LOVES to go outside. She would stay out there forever! Grandma taught her how to make a fishy face, and she learned how to make a slurping sound the other day.

Mostly she's a happy girl, although this new baby has really messed up her world. She makes us laugh all the time with the silly things she does. Here's a few more silly shots:




This is the face I get when I ask her to smile:

One Last Hurrah

Just before Britain was born I went to Scrap Mania with a few friends for one last hurrah before I would be not able to go for a while. I had a ton of fun and got a couple cute pages done for Eden's book.

Fun Shots of Eden

Here's some fun shots we've gotten of Eden lately that show what she's been up to these days:

VERY unhappy at her 12 month check-up....and this was BEFORE the doctor came in or any shots were given.

Being a teepee!

Being Davey Crockett with her fruit basket from IKEA.

One day, Eden played in this corner for a good half hour.

Eden LOVES big people chairs. Daddy put her in this one at the hospital and she was in heaven.

Britain has a nose!

A super-fun "hat" Grandma showed Eden.

Having fun pushing Stomp in the diaper box car.

Enough hair for a hairbow!

Playing on the couch is tons of fun! Especially now that she knows how to get down by herself!

Grandma made an Eden burrito!

Eden stole Daddy's sucker right out of his mouth.

Trying out a new hairstyle before combing it to put a bow in.

Britain Comes Home

Our experience having a baby was much better this time around, and we were excited to bring Britain home just 24 hours after she was born! We did have to take her back for bilirubin tests since she was a bit jaundice, but that was sooooo much better than sitting in the NICU! Russell had gone home to get some work done and play with Eden, but came back in time to get Britain all ready to go while we waited for the nursery to come and give us discharge instructions. It was about 7:30pm by the time we actually got to leave, and I had been ready to go home all day so I was quite excited but quite tired by the time we got to the house. After a stop at the McDonald's drive-thru for a cheeseburger and hot fudge sundae, we headed home to meet Aunt Rachel, play with Grandma and Eden, and Skype with the Aunties and Grandpa in Houston!

Starting to get dressed to come home.

I had to roll up her pants like 3 times!

Her outfit was quite big even though it's 0-3 months. She's just a tiny girl.

All dressed and loving Daddy.

A warm hat to keep her warm since it had been snowing the whole time we were at the hospital!

Meeting Stitch Bear. He forgot to get out of the suitcase the night before. Silly bear.

NOT enjoying the car seat, but ready to go out to the car.

Meeting Aunt Rachel. That's a big yawn, not a huge scream!

Grandma Flanagan helping Britain Skype Aunt Cooper, Aunt Cymbre, and Grandpa Flanagan. She's definitely a 21st century baby!