Tender Tennessee Christmas

My favorite Christmas album always has been and always will be Amy Grant's Tender Tennessee Christmas. I have been listening to this song each Christmas for as long as I can remember. I was so excited when we moved to Tennessee and I realized I would have my own Tender Tennessee Christmas. And thanks to my sister Kashann and her family who made the 12 hour drive from Buffalo, NY to spend Christmas with us, it was everything we hoped our first Christmas in Tennessee would be.





Laura of course was too young to appreciate the magic of presents and so it was fun to have excited kids around on Christmas. We had a slumber party upstairs on Christmas Eve with sleeping bags on the floor. At 2:30 am, everyone woke up thinking it was morning already and I had to stumble downstairs to find a clock and then tell everyone to go back to sleep- Santa hadn't come yet.

We spent Christmas day eating a delicious Turkey dinner, thanks to my sister Kashann (you would think that after driving 12 hours to someone else's house you wouldn't have to do the cooking, too) and making dolls with my neices. What better way to spend Christmas than doing my two favorite things: eating and crafting.

Other highlights include playing the wii, (Peter is still mad I beat him and insists his side of the mat was broken) searching for Brent's dream house, listening to Caroline entertain us with her made up songs, and having 3 neices who took care of my baby all weekend.

Thanks, Casper family, for sharing our Tender Tennessee Christmas with us! We miss you and are hoping that Brent's dream house will be built somewhere close to Nashville.

Sitting Up

Laura has finally learned to sit up!

The 2 things I am most thankful for...

My wonderful husband and beautiful daughter.


Laura enjoyed her first Thanksgiving. And I enjoyed the cute Venezuelan family who was there and took care of Laura the whole time so I could help set up and clean up. She loves hearing them speak in Spanish. This is the 12 year old daughter, Denise, who carried her everywhere she went. Maybe a potential babysitter?

Happy Birthday to us!

Peter and I both celebrated our birthday last Thursday. I am glad that Peter is finally 24, but he is not catching up because I turned 27! We had birthday dinner and cake at our house on Thursday and then celebrated by going out on a date Friday night and dropped our baby off at a friend's. It is the first time we have been just the two of us since Laura was born.



My parents called and made reservations at a Korean restuarant and paid for us. The food was awesome and thanks to my parents, Peter didn't have to choose one thing and was able to order everything he wanted. The food was excellent. When we finished and asked for our ticket, the Korean lady told us to wait. 5 minutes later she came out with a Wal-Mart birthday cake with lighted candles and announced to everyone in the restaurant, in her broken english, that it was our birthday and everyone sang to us.
i'm not quite sure what my mother said or paid to that little Korean lady, but it was such a fun surprise.

Toys

I hate toys. I hate organizing them. I hate picking them up. And I hate finding them all over the house. Because of these reasons, I haven't bought any toys for Laura, even though she is getting to the age where she is starting to appreciate them. I always tell Peter that there is no reason to buy a toy when she has just as much fun playing with a piece of paper or a wooden spoon. Well, two days ago I caught her trying to swallow a big piece of paper and yesterday she poked herself in the eye with a wooden spoon. So I gave in today and bought her a toy to play with. I don't think she likes it anymore than the wooden spoon, but at least I am not worried about her hurting herself.

Happy Half Birthday

Laura is now six months old. She weighs 14 lbs 15 oz and is 26 inches long.

First Halloween

For our Halloween party, Laura was the only one from our family who dressed up. I confess, I am not much for cdressing up in costumes. I always feel a little silly when I am wearing some ridiculous outfit. I especially feel silly when I am at a party with a bunch of people that I just met in the last couple of months and am still getting to know. But, Laura doesn't feel silly. In fact, she could care less what she is wearing and enjoyed having new accessories to pull off and chew on. She dressed up for her first Halloween as a ladybug in a costume that I made. You can buy costumes for pretty cheap, but it was fun to make it.