We have had more snow in the past week than we had all year last year! It's fun! Connor LOVES it and Briella is getting used to it. The day after Christmas we were in a blizzard warning and it actually happened! We got about 6 inches within 12 hours! Everything shut down so we were 'snowed in'. We dug out all our snow stuff and went outside to play. It was Briella's first time in the snow. It was hilarious getting her ready. She could barely sit up with everything on and pretty much just laid on the floor or rolled around. It was so funny!
We got her to sit up for a picture. :)
Getting ready to go out.
Fun in the snow!
She didn't last too long. It was pretty windy. But we all had a lot of fun playing. Connor and I had a good snowball fight. :)
Briella and I enjoying the warmth inside. :)
"Hi Daddy!"
Matt and Connor were hard at work outside.
They made a snow witch instead of a snowman.
Love the hair and dress!! :)
Then they had a snowball fight!!!
This was our 2nd snow storm. Not a lot of wind so Briella enjoyed herself a lot more.
Connor helped me shovel the driveway while daddy was at the youth temple trip.
(We wanted to surprise him!)
The snow has been a lot of fun!!! And it's still around, not going away anytime soon. Connor keeps saying this is what Colorado is going to be like. He may be right. :)
This is our beautiful Briella first thing in the morning. She has the best hair in the morning, it reminds us of that Pampers commercial of all the babies waking up with awesome hair. (I think it's called "Beautiful Mornings" with the song "I feel pretty") Every time we see that commercial we think of Briella and chuckle. :)
Here's the commercial
This is Connor and I breaking the wish bone. Yes, we forgot about it. So it was VERY dry. :)
He knew exactly what to do and knew he needed to make a wish.
Guess who won??!!!
Our dear friend, who we claim as family, Linda Kuck joined us for the evening festivities. We had our traditional Italian Christmas dinner of manicotti, Christmas jello (red, white and green), homemade rolls, broccoli and homemade apple pie for dessert. (Yum!!) Then we read the Christmas story and acted out the Nativity. Connor was a wise man, Linda was a shepard, Matt was Joseph, I was Mary, and Briella was an angel. It was fun! Then we each opened one gift.
Christmas morning
Briella LOVED her baby she got from Santa. It makes sounds and everything - I don't think Santa realized that beforehand. :)
The kids got a fort making set from Santa. It's pretty big - it will be great in our new (spacious) house!
Connor and Briella playing with Noah's ark Briella got from Grandma Jan and Papa Steve. They both love it!
Briella and Daddy taking a morning nap.
All that fun tuckered them out! :)
Later that day we went over to the Kingery's house for some games and to let the kids play. They have a great backyard for the kids to run around in. It was fun getting together with friends especially since we are so far away from family. :( I missed our extended families this year.
Briella is not quite walking yet at 17 months old. At her last doctor appointment the doctor really wanted her to get into physical therapy to see if that would help. Honestly, she has the strength she just doesn't seem to want to walk. We're trying all different kinds of techniques, per the physical therapist (who is fantastic!), to help her but she is just taking her time. I really need her to walk because with my belly getting bigger, I can't carry her for very long (my back is letting me know!).
In late November she took her first steps by herself (as you'll see in the video) and we thought she would just take off from there but she's doing her own thing. :) (Connor was our fabulous camera man!) :)
Then she had a walker (from physical therapy) that gave her more independence and the therapist thought this would jump start her. Not quite. She and Connor both thought it was pretty cool though.
So we've put the walker away for now and we're on to another technique. It reminds us of 'walking the dog' - you'll see in the pics. This is suppose to help her with her balance and get the feel for walking without holding on to something or someone's hand.
She's getting stronger and better each day! She's doing great. It's interesting how different every child is. :)
At the beginning of December I was hosting a baby shower at the house and so Matt took the kids to 'Brunch with Santa' at the club on base. They had a delicious '2nd breakfast', as Connor likes to call it, and then were going to get in line for Santa but the line was ridiculously long so they decided not to wait and went to see the clown instead. :) Connor got a sword from him and loved it! Briella was a little nervous so she just watched.
We went to Lowe's and got our real Christmas tree. I can't do artificial anymore. What can I say I'm from Oregon!
Here's Santa's Helper!
We went to The Greene a week before Christmas and had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then we were going to ride the horse drawn carriage but they weren't there that night. :( So we just walked around the HUGE tree.
The ornaments were as big as Briella's head. She thought they were pretty cool!
Santa's helper with his rosy cheeks (from playing outside in the cold. Crazy kid!)
Pretty Baby Girl!!
This is the Christmas outfit my mom sent. It was so cute on her and she loved having her picture taken!
Matt took the kids while I was in Colorado to see Santa at The Praries (where we live) clubhouse. Apparently Briella was freaked out by Santa and when Matt went to put her on his lap she cried and cried. I wish they would've gotten a picture. (Connor did the same thing at that age.) :)
This is just a cute picture! Connor came downstairs one day after Matt got home from work with his uniform on. So cute!!!! I love it!!!
We got new family pictures in late November. It was pretty cold outside but a nice bright sunny morning. Our friend from church Keara Barnes did the pics. Thank you Keara!!!
