Skiing.

Christmas day was a glorious, sunny, cold day and we spent the morning cross country skiing with Chris' brother Paul and his wife Ali. We simply walked out the front door after a warm breakfast and walked up the hill to the trail. We worked our way around the mountain and to Wasatch golf course where we got onto a groomed trail. From there we made our own tracks to the Homestead golf course trail and climbed the hill back up to our house.




It could not have been a more beautiful morning for skiing. Chris and I both really got a workout carrying the extra loads but it was worth it and I got a big nap later that afternoon. We will have to make this a Christmas tradition (along with the cranberry-orange bundt cake)!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Everyone was in town for Christmas--really for the wedding--but it was so nice to see the whole family around the holidays (yes, we missed aunt Camille who is in Brazil with her family). On Christmas Eve we had the family over for soup and presents and to give my mom a rest from all the wedding preparations.




Presley was of course spoiled again this year! Nama and Grandpa gave her a new doll with its very own crib (and a handmade mattress), Playdough and a Mr. Potato Head from Becka and Eric and Krista and Matt, a handmade princess apron from Gregg and Camille, a princess storybook from Paul and Ali, and a pink tent (complete with a tunnel) from Mormor and Grandpa.




Chris and I tried not to get too much for her but Presley got a new "truck", a tutu, and a sled from mom and dad. Presley loved opening the gifts and helped everyone with opening their own. If you ask Presley how her Christmas was or what she got for Christmas she will simply tell you "presents".

Thank you all for coming to visit with us--it really made our Christmas!

All dressed up!

Well, it is hardly Christmas if you are not dressed up in a fancy outfit. This is Chris and Presley all ready for church. Presley loved the long velvet dress, black tights, and patent leather shoes (all courtesy of Nama)--if you asked her to spin around she would dance and make the skirt twirl.

Presley also wore this dress to her uncle Brad's wedding (2 days after Christmas). Her favorite part was "smelling" all the extra roses and sitting by the warm fire at the reception. She was a pretty good sport at the wedding (it was a long, full day) but we all still can't believe the bride survived a cold December wedding with short sleeves!

Snow days!

Daddy is home (no more traveling until after the new year)! And that means lots more outside playtime in the snow for Presley. Dad loves the snow a bit more than I do so any chance I can get him to take her out for sledding or just playing in the snow I take it.

We will definitely have a white Christmas and Presley has a gigantic, red, plastic sled to look forward to. The neighbors have been lending us one of theirs but because she loves it so much I decided P needed her own. From all reports Chris says the golf course makes for a really fast sledding hill (the hill is even groomed for the cross country skiers which makes it faster).

Little Gym.

For now the only classes/activities I had enrolled Presley in were the Music Together classes (which we both LOVE) but a friend of mine asked us to come to a Little Gym class and Presley fell in love with it! We will do music classes again in the fall, with the new baby, but for now we will try a little active play.

Basically the classes consist of a bit of singing, group activities like the parachute (you remember playing with those in elementary school, right?), ball time, bubbles, and free time to explore all the different "gym" things set up around the room. Presley's absolute favorites are the balance beam (no pictures because she needs both of mom's hands to walk across it) and an octagonal block that has a hole in the middle (she calls it a "tent").

Presley is learning to do a somersault--for now she gets in position and then falls to the side and rolls over (like a dog). We are still working on hanging on the bars but this skill will happen soon enough--today while I was cooking I saw her hanging on the oven handle. We look forward to starting classes on Fridays in the new year!

Diva.

Presley is a little diva. She will pose for the camera, dance, and try anything on (glasses, purses, bras, mom's shoes, etc.). Here we have a few examples of Presley practicing for her future rock star days with the Rock Band set up. With Krista and Matt already in North Carolina we will miss all the Guitar Hero and Rock Band practices!

She actually likes to hit the drums with the drum sticks and she does it to the music (at least she is trying). What's more rock star than big sunglasses???

See you soon Krista--we miss you already!

Update.

FYI, my mom likes to know this kind of stuff so here it is. I felt the baby move about one and a half weeks ago. I don't feel it all the time yet just every once and a while (like after I get up to pee in the middle of the night and the baby is happy to have a bit more room again).

We go in on Thursday for another appointment (18 weeks along). I am sure Presley will enjoy hearing the baby's heartbeat. I am happy to be almost half way there--but I know the next half will start to get uncomfortable.

Big girl.

Presley just looks soooooo big to me lately. She is a parrot and will repeat anything she hear--strangers, the TV, voices that come on over the loud speaker at the grocery store. She loves to be outside in the snow. And she just never stops exploring.

Presley decided that it would be fun to wear mom's gloves inside even though they are way too big. She of course had fun posing for the camera.

Christmas decorations.

Everyone is in the mood and I have finally started working on purchasing the gifts on my Christmas lists. The other day we put up the few holiday decorations we will have this year (unfortunately no tree--it is just too messy/dangerous and with Chris gone so much this month there has been no time to even think about getting one).

I finally found stockings I like and with our first ever mantle I hung them up with lights and garland. The table is set and really that is just about it. I still need to find a way to do lights on my house--I really miss doing that. Merry Christmas!

(PS-I am trying bigger pictures because I am not too happy about the new way that Blogger has you download the image to view it larger. We will see how this goes.)

Found.

Well, I thought I had lost my camera but luckily after searching (and cleaning) the entire house, calling the restaurant I thought I last had taken pictures at, and searching the car I finally found it! It was buried in the glove box (which was the LAST place I looked).

Too bad I missed taking pictures of Presley's first sled ride. We spent all Sunday morning sledding down the hill outside our house. When it was finally time to go to church Presley was so upset that we weren't sledding to church that the screamed the whole way there. She was read faced and tear stained the whole meeting. Luckily the polka dots on my sister's outfit kept her occupied (and the whole congregation knows she can say "polka dots").

Up to date.

Finally, I am "up to date" with the things that have been going on in our lives. Thankfully I am no longer sick (that ended about the time I turned 31, end of October) but I have picked up the second illness of pregnancy--constant tiredness! Any spare minute I have I am taking a nap or (this is embarrassing) going to bed not long after Presley is put to sleep for the night. I remember this feeling from last time . . . it will last for a while longer.

I almost to the half way point of this pregnancy and we will find out if it is a girl or a boy on the 3rd of January--more than a week later than normal because the original appointment was scheduled for the day of my youngest brother's wedding and had to be changed. Presley came to my last appointment and sat on my lap as the doctor listened to the baby's heart beat. If you ask her what the baby's heart beat says she will tell you! Wshwsh, wshwsh, wshwsh.

For Daddy.

Presley's daddy loves the snow. So it seems a bit sad that on the weekend of the first big snow storm he is in sunny Florida enjoying 80 degree weather. It snowed well over a foot just yesterday and with the sun out today we had to enjoy some time in the snow.

We went to Matt and Krista's to see how it was going with the shoveling at my parent's house (I am so thankful we have someone to come plow through the snow at our house). Matt got the job done with the snow blower but he did mention how thankful he was that soon he would be moving to a snow-free state (North Carolina).

After that we spent some time at home out in the snow with Roxy. Though the snow covered most of her Roxy enjoyed being outside in the sun and snow. She ran up and down our street stopping at every house to smell the snow and run around. Roxy was so fast we couldn't get any good pictures of her!

Presley was very toasty and warm in her snow suit from last year. We need to find some better mittens (purple ones to match her new coat, snow pants, and boots) but for now she was just happy to be outside in he snow! We are excited for daddy to come home and play in the snow with us!

Clothes.

Presley is definitely a girl (as if there were any question). She likes having her toe nails polished--they are purple right now. She won't let me put a coat over her blue and pink striped shirt--she likes it too much. And she now tells me which shoes she wants to wear--they all have different names (pink ones, flower ones, church ones, etc.)

Presley is now into looking at my clothes and wearing them around the house. The latest items have been a pair of her underpants on her head as a hat and one of my bras. She was so proud of herself wearing my bra around the house--I thought it was kind of funny how it looks hanging nearly to her little knees.

Turkey.

Our little family are now considered the black sheep of our larger, extended family. We didn't go the Thanksgiving with the rest of my family. My entire family drove to Idaho to spend the holiday with Becka and Eric and we just couldn't make the trip (Chris has been and continues to travel and we need some time at home). From the photos and the food it seems we missed out--however we had a lovely little dinner and a relaxing, no driving couple of days alone.

I cooked my first turkey which had I not smelled while it was raw I could have eaten--from all reports (Chris, Presley, Paul, Ali, and Roxy) it was moist and delicious. Everything else was easy and besides Ali's sweet potatoes Chris probably liked the last minute cranberry sauce I cooked up.

IT.

So, I have been "it" for a few weeks now (I was 'tagged' by a friend of mine). I suppose "it" means I need to share a few facts about myself--and not being a terribly creative person I am going to keep my list short (and the fact this h as taken me sooooo long).

1. I am a biologist. I have a degree in Conservation Biology and I love the outdoors--playing in it, camping, simply looking at it and enjoying the beauty that is this place we call Earth. I went in to studying this field simply because I was good at it but have since grown to realize that I have a simple love for the science and that was what really interested me.
2. There is this part of my brain (and I wish it were small) that likes to remember things--and not important things but just things. If you turn the radio to an Oldies station I will be able to sing to you about 95% of the songs that play. I suppose I picked them up from listening to the radio as a child while my mom was driving us around. I also can remember nearly any commercial jingle or slogan that I see on TV--this I know comes from a love of watching TV that I need to cut back on (and with my TiVo it has been easier to skip those commercials--good and bad).
3. I am an oldest child--ask any of my siblings and they will confirm the bossy, controlling, sometimes mean older sister that I am. I would like to hope as I age those tendencies are disappearing but I fear they aren't.
4. Some little known facts about me . . . I was a cheerleader, marching band member, swimmer, and yearbook editor in high school. I loved high school but the sad thing is I have barely kept in touch with one friend from my childhood (which consists of a yearly letter at most and an occasional visit every few years). If there was one thing I could change it would be that I was a better friend and could keep in touch with old friends and new friends better.
5. I used to be an avid reader--and this summer I was once again! I had never read any of the Harry Potter books and I had always said once they were all published I would sit down and read them all. Well, I did it in a week! They were great and I loved every page--it just meant a week of not much sleep and a messy house while I spent every moment Presley was asleep engrossed in the series.
6. And lastly, I never knew I would love being a mom so much! I remember thinking I wouldn't have minded being a 'working' mom but now thankfully my situation allows me to stay at home and I probably couldn't have any other way. We have too much fun together as a family and I love everyday.

Just to let you know, I am not going to "tag" anyone but I will tell you that Presley joined me in being "it" for the last several weeks. She has learned the word "it" means and adds it to nearly everything she says. Her list includes:

1. Like it
2. Have it
3. Touch it
4. Open it
5. Close it
6. Eat it
7. Play it
8. Love it
9. and my favorite, Stab it (referring to the food she is trying to spear with a fork)