Day trip to Sedona

So, Scott and I had the day off and we took a day trip to Sedona. The main reason was because I broke my most favorite coffee mug and needed a new one that they sell at an amazing breakfast place there. Off we went to the Coffee Pot to enjoy a fabulous breakfast and buy me a new coffee mug. While we were there we went and checked out the red rocks and took some photos. It's so beautiful there. We will definitely go back again when it's a little warmer for a nice hike. We will likely go in the Spring.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I just love Christmas and though decorating is sometimes a pain, the end product is wonderful! Scott put up the outside decorations over Thanksgiving weekend, but we didn't get our inside decorations done until the week after. I love to keep them up as long as possible. We had to do a little re-decorating and moving some toys around but we did it. So now the tree is up and there are presents underneath. It looks so festive inside. The dogs have been fabulous again this year and haven't messed with the tree or presents once. I can't say the same for Keira as she continues to go to the presents and attempt to open them. We're working on that, but she is only 8 months after all. My favorite is when she sits in front of the tree, points at it and smiles, and then she turns and looks at me or Scott and smiles. She is loving the tree even though she doesn't really know what it's doing there.

Helping put up the treeClimbing over displaced toys to make sure they're all there

Checking out what's in the Christmas tubsMaking sure this strand of lights work

Helping daddy put up the stockings

Keira's friend's 1st birthday

The birthday girl, Bradley!

Keira has so many friends now that we have many birthday parties to attend. This first birthday was for her friend Bradley. Bradley's parents actually went to high school with Scott and Keira and I hang out in the mommy group she started every month. It's a great group of ladies! Here are some highlights from Bradley's party.

We participated in all the activities like coloring......and bobbing/eating for duckies with the star

And just chillin' with Bradley for a bit

Thanksgiving!

Keira and her Papi

Keira and her cousin/uncle Kris

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving this year not only hosting my family at our house, but also some of Scott's family. It was so fun to have a full house and the food was delicious as always! Keira had a wonderful time socializing with everyone as she is quite the people person. My mom came over early to help me cook (i.e. she pretty much made everything and I supervised). Not only did we cook all day, but I also had to set my game plan for Black Friday. Big day! The house was quite chaotic throughout the day, but we all made it out in one piece and after two hours of washing dishes I was able to relax and get ready for bed to prep for shopping the next day.

My mom and I didn't do the midnight shopping this year like we normally do as we weren't in need of any big ticket items, but we did venture out at 3:30a for our shopping adventure. We were finished by 7:30a (no lines and awesome sales) and were able to get back home so Scott could go into work. Seriously though, Home Depot opened at 5a and there was a line there at 4:30a! How is that possible? We also ventured out later in the day as well, but we needed a little break to get our second wind. Also, Keira is not quite a fan of shopping yet so it's not quite the fun time expected when she tags along. Though at Macy's she was chatting with this woman behind us in line. She's quite the social butterfly.

So, all in all, it was a successful Thanksgiving and 75% of my shopping was complete. I love this time of year.

Furiously prepping the Black Friday game plan/supervising the cooking

Keira scouting out the toy catalog to fill out her Christmas wish list.

8 months!

So, Keira is continuing to get bigger every day and continues to amaze us with her curiosity and her strength as she is all over the place. If you look away for half a second she's on the other side of the room. She just had her first ear infection so when we took her in for a diagnosis she weighed a whopping 16 pounds. I'm looking forward to her 9 month visit for her official stats. She loves to eat and would eat 24/7 if I let her, but she keeps those calories down with all her activity. She now doesn't really care to crawl as she would rather be pulling herself up on furniture and walking along it. She will actually pull herself up and fall down on purpose just so she can pull herself up again. It's a fun game. It's hard to believe she's already 8 months old! Time sure does fly.

This is how we play at our houseSnuggle buddies!

Halloween!

We absolutely love Halloween in our house! It's so fun to have a home that we can decorate outside (even though it is kind of a pain in the butt), but it's so fun to see how cute and creative all the trick-or-treaters are. This year since it was Keira's first Halloween it was even more fun. Of course she goes to bed early, but she still got to enjoy the night. She was the cutest smurf in town, and of course Scott and I got in on the action. You're never too old to dress up. Plus, I trick or treated at one house because they were handing out candy apples (it's what they do for a living as well). We then just walked the neighborhood and met some neighbors (finally) and then came back home to put the little missus to bed and hand out candy. Overall, it was a good night!

7 months!

Look who's 7 months old! Okay, so it was a couple weeks ago but I just got around to posting this picture. She just loves her Spongebob. They are best buddies.