This was Christmas Eve at my parents, we always get one present on Christmas Eve and even as an adult I LOVE the tradition! :)

My dad took Calli to church one Saturday night, while I went out with Matt and Annie and I came back and she had learned how to say Jesus in sign language. (Of course he was rewarding her with bites of banana-her fav) It is the cutest thing! A few days after this we were in the car singing a song about Jesus and she started signing it again, without any prompts from me. It was awesome! WHy is it that kids learn so much faster and easier with people who aren't their parents??

Matt is in town from Wash. D.C. and Calli has fallen in love with him. She wouldn't let him put her down when he was leaving the other day. It was so cute. She loves reading books with him. He was even nice enough to take her down to the museum this week when they had free carousel (sp?) rides. He said she loved riding the horse and was irritated when he would put his hands on her to make sure she wouldn't fall. She is so independent sometimes. Thanks for being such a good "uncle" Matt!!

December

Santa was not as traumatic as I thought it might be. She didn't scream but she didn't smile. She just kinda ignored the fact that she was sitting on a stranger's lap.

Snow Snow and more snow. This is the wonderful day that we got both of our cars stuck. The Escort ended up staying the night at the place I babysit, and the Tuscon we knew we weren't going to be able to get back to the house, Dan had spent all morning trying to get the Escort out while the driveway filled completley up with snow. It took me like 10 minutes to walk with Calli wrapped in Dans coat up the driveway in snow up to my knees. I was completley out of breath, and Dan was like "what took you so long". He could've carried Calli, after all I have to carry the other baby all the time right now.

Lowell Christmas Parade

Shy Girl

We had another ultrasound this week because they couldn't get some views of her heart a month ago. Again she didn't let us see the four chambers of her heart so we get to "spy" on her again in January. I kinda like seeing her every month, even though the appointments are so long-we were there 1hr45min this Wed. Let's just say my husband was falling asleep in the waiting room-the mommy magazines all around weren't keeping him awake I guess :) I like them!
We didn't get any pics of our girl this time and she kept putting her arms and hands in her face so even if we wanted some we couldn't get them. She was sucking her thumb part of the time, and then she had the hiccups, that was funny to watch and feel all at the same time!

Calli is getting soo big! She knows where her nose, feet, belly, mouth and sometimes her eyes are. She just amazes us everyday!! We can ask her what she wants and she will point to it, or if she wants her milk she will go to the fridge and try to open it. She will follow one-step directions like "put your milk on the table, go get me a diaper, give this to daddy/mommy."
She also carries around one of my old dolls and wipes his nose, and mouth with a kleenex, tries to give him her binkie and makes us swaddle him in a blanket. She will even rock him in the chair. She is gonna be such a big help in March! Now that she is getting more independent I am getting more and more comfortable with the idea of having another one in the near future.

Sorry no pics, but this just gives you a glimpse into our life at this point that pics can't really show.

SANTA

So it is official in Rockford. Santa Clause made his way down from the North Pole to be in our Parade and Calli loved it as she waved to all the people and got plenty of candy. We went over to Adam and Becca's and met the Ginacs there as well to watch the parade. We were too busy to get any pics of Santa or the parade but here are some shots of us all anxiously waiting for Santa

SNOW!!

So we finally got our first real snow of the year and Calli decided to check it out. She loes getting pulled around on her sled and waliking around on the driveway but is not so sure about touching the snow or walking into the yard where the snow is much deeper.