Enjoying the holidays

We are receiving lots of Christmas cards from family and friends! Thanks-- we just love them. I am not doing a traditional Christmas card this year; I will likely do a fun email and save up for a fabulous card next year.

We are really enjoying this season. We have watched lots of movies so far. Last night we watched "It's a Wonderful Life." Chris had one little tear but I was full-blown crying. It really is such a motivating movie. It makes me appreciate loved ones in my life and contemplate how I may have changed the life of others.

This morning I had friends over for a Christmas brunch. We ate and sang Christmas music on our karaoke machine. Good food and friends makes for a very pleasant morning.

And onto our Hallie-baby...

Hallie discovered how to say "Ow!" But she uses it in the wrong context. In fact, she loves to sing about "ow!" and composes little songs going up and down the scale singing "ow" and will add crescendo and decrescendo at various times. Did I mention that she can also sing "Row, Row, Row, Your Boat?" She really only gets out the "Row, Row, Row" part but can hum the "gently down the stream" part fairly well.

Hallie's fifth tooth popped out to say hello today! Her greatest joy right now is stuffed animals of any sort. She calls them all "baby" and loves to hug them. In fact, she is so committed to hugging her "babies" that she does a pitiful crawl where she crawls with one side and dives to the ground with her shoulder as she hugs her animal. It is a funny sort of "hobble-crawl."

These photos were taken by my sweet friend Amanda. She did a photo shoot for Shanda's baby Talia and our little Hallie. There are also some gorgeous formal shots but I am saving them to be revealed at a later date.