Decorating the Christmas Trees!!

I always LOVE when it is time to put up the Christmas tree! This year we had decorating parties at both my house and Kristin's house. Lucy really got into it this year. In fact she has been totally fascinated by the Christmas tree and keeps singing songs to the Christmas tree all day long! For example, "A, B, C, D, Christmas Tree, E, F, G, Christmas tree..." She calls it "her Christmas tree!" It is so fun that she can actually get into the whole Christmas experience this year! We are so glad to be near family so that we can experience these simple moments together, like tree decorating.

Lila was so tuckered out after all the decorating, so she took a little snooze on Grammy and Uncle Eric.

We also had a little decorating party at Kristin and Eric's new house. Lucy really got into the decorating and loved hanging ornaments on the tree. Poor little Lila, she pooped through her outfit and Uncle Eric dressed her in this crazy get up of Milo's. Doesn't she look traumatized? Thanks for the shorts in the middle of winter Eric!

Our first Thanksgiving in Oak Park

Don and I hosted Thanksgiving again this year. I always enjoy hosting, particularly when people bring things! We had a nice dinner with my family and Don's parents. We did miss having Thanksgiving dinner with Doug (Don's brother) and Susie who are in Italy. But hopefully we can do it with them next year. And hopefully Mom and Dad VG will make it an annual tradition to travel out to the Midwest for Thanksgiving!

Can you say "chunker?"

Visit with Grandma and Grandpa VG

Last week Don's parents came to visit us from the Pacific Northwest. They were able to meet Lila for the first time and joined us for our Thanksgiving celebration. We had a wonderful visit with Don's parents! We made many special memories and had great bonding experiences. One of the highlights of the trip for me was that Mom Vander Griend surprised us with a quilt she made for Lucy. I had no idea she was even making one. It is truly a work of art and Lucy has already taken to tucking in her baby doll and bear with it. What a thoughtful and lovely gift that is sure to become a family heirloom!

We took a trip down to the Navy Pier Children's Museum. It was a long, fun filled day. The museum was awesome and Lucy had a blast running around, sitting in the fire truck, playing with the dolls and dish sets. Afterwards we had to get a little Garrett's carmel popcorn since it is a Chicago tradition after all. We stopped to look at the Macy's window displays. In my opinion, Marshall Fields did a much better job of the seasonal window displays, but it was still fun to look.

In the above picture, Lucy and Grandpa were bonding on the train ride downtown. Lucy was pointing out everything she saw out of the window to Grandpa. She has been talking about her train ride with Grandpa since they left. It is amazing how little kids can get a thrill from something as simple as looking out the window of a train! The pictures below are at the Walnut Room at Macy's. We enjoyed a nice lunch there and took pictures by the big tree in the center of the restaurant. I had never been there before and didn't realize that part of the tradition was to dress your kids up in their Christmas outfits. So next year I am going to come prepared!!

Three Month Talkers

Today is Lila's three month birthday. Wow how time has flown! Lila is an absolute delight. She is much more serious and intense than Lucy was at this age. She is also quite observant and really likes to people watch. She is such a little sweetie and just lights up our days. She not only looks a lot like her father, but she also has more of his temperament. We continue to call her "little Don" because she reminds us so much of Don. I can't believe how well she fits into our family after only three short months. I feel so blessed to be her mom. What an incredible gift she is to us! As you can see from the video, she has really begun to coo up a storm. In fact when she has face to face time with us she just lights up and loves to make little noises.



This is a picture of her taken tonight where she is modeling the hat her Titi gave her for her three month birthday!

Lucy Feeding a Giraffe

Goebbert's Part 2

So I have been going to Goebbert's for years yet I never knew that there was the petting zoo of dreams there. I guess now that we have kids we are more inclined to do the whole zoo thing, so we decided to check it out. This zoo was like no ordinary petting zoo, the animals there were so exotic. There were bengal tigers, ostriches, animals I can't pronounce, crazy hybrid animals and zebras and giraffes that you could pet and feed. It was amazing to see Lucy actually feed a giraffe. I have never had that experience before and it was truly remarkable.

She is awfully close to the giraffe's mouth!

Such a little girl for such a big corn maze

Isn't this tree just glorious?

Lucy went on a pony ride with Puppy at the beginning of the summer and the ponies' name was Auggie. Well now every time she goes on a pony ride she calls the pony, Auggie. Since that first pony ride she can't stop talking about Auggie. In fact, she has recently named her froggie blankie, Auggie, as well.

Goebbert's Part 1

You might remember in my Fall Buzz Kill blog entry that the last time we went to Goebbert's it was raining and miserable out. So I decided to take the girls again since I didn't want our Goebbert's Pumpkin Farm memory to be one of cold and rain. So I picked one of the most beautiful, crisp fall days and we met my family there for some fun! Of course I had to take advantage of the opportunity to get lots of shots of the kids and pumpkins.