Like Father, Like Daughter

Anyone who knew Donald in highschool will understand this picture completely. As a smitten 14 year old, one of the things I thought was "cool" about my future husband was his ability to wear a hat backwards and look so cute doing it. When I saw Coco wearing her hat this morning (which she put on all by herself; apparently she thinks they look better backwards too) and saw the look on her face, I was instantly taken back about 15 years! As the adage goes, like father, like daughter. She even has the "old school Donald attitude" down. Scary, huh?

Maybe next year...

As is very evident from the picture, Coco was not a fan of the "big guy in red." Luckily, Santa didn't take it personally and promised to visit her Christmas Eve anyway. I'm optimistic that one day we'll get that oh-so-sweet picture of our little girl smiling in Santa's lap...maybe next year?

Our December flower

Wow! How quickly 2 years flies by. Coco's birthday was Saturday and I feel like we just brought her home from the hospital. I can remember as if it were yesterday what our sweet nurse told Donald as we were loading up in the car. She said, "You know why God gave you this little girl, don't you? He gave her to you so you would always have flowers in December." This post is dedicated to our December flower, without whom our lives would be so empty.

Having a Christmas time birthday is tough so this year we decided to keep it low-key and have an old-fashioned family party complete with cake and cheesey decor. Coco loved it. Jansen did too. Since he & Coco were born 6 days apart, we had a together party featuring none other than "Dora and Diego." There were lots of presents and lots of cake...what more could you ask for? I do have to mention that Coco's favorite thing was the giant Dora balloon Namps delivered. Donald and I have been working on getting her to say "I love you" for quite a while. It looks like we didn't make the cut but Dora sure did. She is still carrying that balloon around saying, "I wuv it!"

First Place!

Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm a bit competitive. I try to keep this trait silent but occasionally it rears its ugly head. Our Sunday School class spear headed a Christmas float for our church this year. The main goal was, of course, to celebrate our Saviour's birth. The secondary goal was to show community involvement. And the tertiary goal was to win! And win we did! After several "kinks" coming in the form of pomp shortages, a crooked cross, busted lights, a precariously low and dry rotted trailer tire and 6 bags of balloons that nearly blew me away, we made it to the parade line up without a second to spare. It was eventful, but as my theory goes, isn't it the "eventful" experiences that give us fun stories to tell?

P.S. The pictures really don't do it justice.

Oooops! It's a boy!

Well it looks as if our sweet Phoebe is actually a 'he.' We went to the doctor for our "official" ultrasound today and got a surprise we weren't expecting. The ultrasound tech asked us if we wanted to find out what the sex of our baby is and (playing dumb) we said, "Absolutely!" So, she scans and looks all around at our precious baby and then asks if we have names picked out. When we told her we had a girl name chosen, she laughingly said, "You may want to choose a boy name." After a little interrogation and anatomy lesson, she assures us that she is 100% positive this is a boy. We are still getting used to the idea of a little man but are super excited. So, I guess it's back to the drawing board with a name...ever heard of a boy named Phoebe?

Griswold moments

Okay, so I have to admit I'm a total cheeseball when it comes to Christmas and I look for every opportunity for what we call a "Griswold" moment. We got one last Saturday when the whole family (including Grammy, Namps, Aunt Jaime, Uncle Cory and even his "friend girl" Shelby) went to Lowe's to get our Christmas trees. This is our modern-day version of trampling in the woods to cut the biggest tree. While we don't physically cut it, Donald and I do our best to get our hands on the biggest one on the lot! The pic of Coco and I gazing at the star is another "Griswold" moment that dates back to my childhood. Every year when Dad put the star on the tree, all of us kids proudly raised our hands toward it in awe. It's funny to see the facial expressions evolve in the photos over the years....happy as child, mortified as a preteen and happy again once you realize it's really not that bad. It's a cheesey tradition Donald and I plan to continue in our own family. After all, aren't the "Griswold" moments what you think about to get that warm and fuzzy Christmas cheer?