Frosty etc.

With the unseasonably warm weather we've had here the past day or two, it's made for perfect snowman-making conditions. Now I've never claimed to be an expert, but in the eyes of a 2 year old, I was a genius. See what you think!



He didn't have hair for the longest time, and then it just took off! Looks like he has his dad's curls!



And how often do you forget that there's a 4-legged member of our family? Here's poor, neglected Lola, looking as gorgeous as ever:)

Whew!!!!

Can you even believe Christmas 2008 has come and gone? All that hype and build-up and just like *that* it's over:( What a ball it was to celebrate Christmas with a 2 1/2 year old under our roof. She was just old enough to "get it!" So we had lots of fun with her- from writing a letter to Santa, to leaving out food for Santa and his reindeer, to sneaking into her room when she was fast asleep and leaving an overflowing stocking for her to discover when she woke up........it's something I'll never forget:)

Christmas eve we spent quietly at our house eating Mark's famous seafood chowder. Reese enjoyed hearing 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (a Murray family tradition) before bed. After opening gifts here on Christmas morning, we headed over to Mark's parents house where there were yet more gifts to open and more delicious food to eat. It was exhausting and enjoyable all at the same time.

Santa brought Mark a new external flash for his camera so he was busy snapping pictures through the day. Here are a few I thought I'd share:

Hunter, the cutest Santa's little helper you ever did see:)



Hunter and I. I'm sporting a new super-cool and comfy sweatshirt that my awesome sister got me for Christmas:)



New flash works well!



Ankle deep in gifts and wrapping paper. FYI, I have Xmas jammies too but refused to post pictures of myself first thing in the morning.



"Oh, let's open it!" I heard it one hundred times that day!



Christmas eve.....Santa's helpers left jammies for all of us.

Hunter's Christening

We had a busy weekend with a Christmas visit from Nana D and Boom-Boom (aka, my mom and dad) and Hunter's christening. As per usual, Reese had not a shy bone in her body and I'm quite certain she ran both grandparents ragged! Hunter was his usual charming self despite being sick with......well who knows.....a bug, or teething??? Who really knows?! We kept things low key for the christening with it being so close to Christmas, but here a few nice pictures from the ceremony.

Cathy, holding her new Godson:) And I know it's a faux pas to have a hat on in church, but come on, how cute is it?!




The *very* quick ceremony.....never heard a human being speak so fast in my life!



Nana D enjoying a quiet moment with her grandson:)



Yes, Reese was there and looked gorgeous, but she's going thru the "whatever you do don't you dare point that camera at me and take my picture!"- stage.

My little Santa!



One of many laughs over the weekend! I wish I could bottle up Hunter's laugh and sell it, it's just priceless!



I somehow managed to get her to smile for this one.

Ta- Daaaa!!!!

Finally! After threatening Reese for weeks upon weeks that I was going to get her hair chopped off, I finally did it! Yes, *I* did it. Myself. I made an appointment to have it cut but I seized the moment last night after her bath and thought, how hard could it be? It wasn't so bad. And since her hair is curly, I felt there was enough room for error that I'd be ok. And as you can see, it turned out beautifully! I'm still letting her bangs grow out, but this is a definite improvement.




And of course my always popular gold Christmas tree. As lovely as it is, I must admit I'm tiring of the gold after 4 straight years of it. I think purple or blue might be a nice change. But who in their right mind can afford to go out and buy all new decorations? So we will live with the gold for another few years:)

Sweater Vest

Just wanted to show off Nana D's latest masterpiece. It's gorgeous and fits him perfectly:)






Love it! Thanks:)

A "Blue" Day

And the moral of this story is......never leave a 2 year old unattended in a room with markers;-)

Family Photos

I thought I was so on top of things back in September when I booked an appointment to have Christmas pictures taken of the children. I booked for late November which would give me plenty of time to have Christmas cards made and get them all out well before Christmas. I carefully chose outfits for Reese and Hunter which would perfectly compliment eachother. I battled with Reese the night before to make sure her hair was just perfect. Naps were adjusted accordingly so we could be there on-time, and happy. You get it right???........ A LOT of preparation was put into this! I knew as I neared the counter at the photography studio that something was wrong. I was a half an hour late. A half an hour. My appointment was for 9 and we all showed up, looking gorgeous I might add, at 9:30. Tough luck. Nothing they could do. It was clearly my own stupidity. So rather than show my face there again, I carted the family off to the beach to try to get some worthwhile pictures. Mark deserves full credit here, he was the one behind the camera (or clicking the remote in a few). Although I'm not sure any of these will make a Christmas card, they certainly turned out well:



















Oh, and I now realize we don't pay professional photographers enough. To get a 2 year old, a 6 month old, a dog and 2 tired out parents to all look at a camera at the same time and look happy is NOT an easy task.....right Mark??? Mark took over 100 pictures and this is what we narrowed it down to.