Piper's Favorite Christmas Gift

Wordless Wednesday

The Times Are a Changing

It seems the theme for this year has been change. Christmas has not been an exception to that rule. For pretty much my whole life the tradition in my family was that we would go to Christmas Eve mass and while we were there Santa would stop by our home and drop off all our presents. I guess we were always one of his first stops. This year has been a bit different. My sister and her boyfriend will not be here until the 27th and Josh is working an overnight tonight. I talked to Santa and I guess he's not stopping by until Monday.

I guess I'm fine with the change it just feels kind of strange. Instead tonight my Mom, Dad, Piper and I all went to mass. We've been spending the evening watching It's a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story. My Dad told me this is the first year in his whole life that he hasn't opened presents on Christmas Eve. He tried to talk us into opening all the presents and the wrapping them back up. To me that sounded like more work than fun.

I always knew that one day when I had my own children that traditions would change. It will be interesting to see what traditions Piper will remember someday.

What ever your traditions may be, I hope you are all enjoying yourselves. Merry Christmas to you all!!!

Guess who's 9 months old!

Piper is 9 months old today. I can hardly believe she'll be one year in only 3 months!

She's doing all sorts of tricks and has become quite the little copy cat.
She army crawls all over the house and it's getting harder and harder to take pictures of her.
She's working cutting her top two teeth.
She can say hi, bye bye, momma, and every now and then we think she says dada.
Her favorite song is Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer and she loves puppies and kitties.

It's so much fun to watch her little personality develop. What a wonderful 9 months it's been!

Wordless Wednesday

sooc

North Park Blocks

I've been a little homesick for Portland lately. I think it's something about this time of year that makes you homesick for the places you used to live.

When ever I feel a little homesick I check out the Portland Parks facebook page. I few weeks ago they posted this picture of a playground in the north park blocks. The photo was taken 100 years ago in 1910.

Wouldn't you just love to play on that jungle gym!?!

Below is a photo of what the jungle gym in the north park blocks looks like now.

Christmas Play List 2010

1. Caro Gesu Bambino --Andra Bocelli
2. Little Saint Nick -- The Beach Boys
3. Same Old Lang Syne --Dan Fogelberg
4. Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer --Dr. Elmo
5. Happy Xmas --John Lennon
6. Silver Bells -- Relient K
7. River -- Sarah Mclachlan
8. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer-- Jack Johnson

9. What Child is This -- Garth Brooks
10. Baby, It's Cold Outside -- Sammy Davis Jr. and Carmen McRae
11. Ave Maria -- The Carpenters
12. Frosty the Snowman -- Fiona Apple
13. O Holy Nigh -- Weezer
14. Winter Song -- Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson
17. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town -- Mason Jennings
18. Christmastime -- Smashing Pumpkins

Christmas Gifts

I'm afraid that the Grandparents are going to be getting lots of photo gifts this year. I don't have a ton of money for presents but I do have access to a nice camera. I made a really cute Christmas ornament with our Christmas card picture. I'll try to make a post about it sometime around Christmas.

She's not the model she used to be.

Piper has become very interested in the camera lately. She crawls after me while I try to take pictures. The more she moves the more interesting things get:)

Yesterday my mom, Josh, Piper and I headed over to Blooming Prairie to visit my Grandpa and Grandma. My uncle and my grandma were leading a Christmas sing-a-long at the nursing home where my grandparents live. Piper also put on show for all the residents. She clapped, she waved, and she even sang. She does this crazy closed mouth singing thing.

Another favorite moment from the day was during lunch. Mom, Josh Piper and I went out to eat at a little sports bar near Medford for lunch. A woman came and sat down not far from us and started talking on her cell phone rather loudly. Piper of course thought the lady was talking to her. She started waving at the lady and finally caught the woman's attention. The lady waved back and continued her cell phone conversation but with an inside voice.

Wordless Wednesday

Baby Hattie

I was contacted a few months back my Hattie's mom Abby to see if I was up for taking some newborn photos. I was super excited! I have to say taking Hattie's pictures was such a great way to get my newborn fix. She was such a sweet little model and I couldn't be happier with the outcome of the shoot.

Snow Day

A blizzard hit south central Minnesota today. The weather people kept comparing it to the Halloween blizzard of 1991. We were all pretty cooped up but we made the most of it. Piper loved watching the storm and trying to catch the snow flakes as they flew past the window.

Mom and I baked some cookies, and mom made some really yummy chili.

Josh was the only one brave enough to venture into the storm. He went up to the gas station to bring us some bread and diet cokes.

Tonight he went out to see how hard the wind was blowing and how deep the drifts were growing. He threw snow at the window and that really scared Piper.

Though we enjoyed the easy going day I think we are ready for the storm to end and to get out of the house.

My 2nd Favorite Cookie

I made my second favorite cookie this week, oatmeal butter scotch cookies. I love eating these, they remind me of my childhood. I would love when my mom would make me these cookies.
They are also pretty easy to make

1 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ½ c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp soda
4 c. oatmeal
1 pkg. butter scotch chips

Mix together. Bake 12 min @ 350

I mixed up the dry ingredients first and then added the eggs and butter. This recipe you really need to dig in and mix with your hands. Unfortunately as soon as I was all nice and gooey from mixing the dough Piper found Taco the Cat's water dish. By the time I washed the dough off my hands Piper had made a nice little puddle around the dish and was pretty wet herself. I had to wait until Josh got back from the store to finish making the cookies.

Even though the little baby kept me on my toes while making the cookies they still turned out great. I had to share them to help prevent me from eating them all.

Wordless Wednesday

An Early Christmas Gift

Piper received a Christmas gift from our friends back in Oregon today. They wanted her to open it right away so that she could get the most use out of it.

As you can see above Piper's first Christmas gift ever was a University of Oregon coat. It is so cute and so nice and warm. I know she is going to get lots of use out of it:)

Prune Face

One of the many things I swore I would never do before I had kids was post a picture or video of my child with food all over their face. I'm sorry but this video cracks me up. I hope you get a kick out of it too.

Thanksgiving Video

I was reading through some of my favorite blogs and I came across this video. I think it's so beautiful! It makes me want to invest in a DSLR with video capabilities and video editing equipment.

Why do my hobbies have to be so expensive?

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Birthday Josh!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful Husband!
I'm so glad I get to spend the day with you!

Happy Thanksgiving

I love family get togethers. The thing about my family is it's a mismatch of people, some of them are blood relation, some of them are step-family, some them are just friends and some I've never met before. It makes for a fun and interesting time. Today was a wonderful example of one of those get togethers.

Today Piper also had her first taste of turkey.

We all had our fair share of wine.

We had a surprise visit from one of my favorite aunts.

Piper got to meet a cute puppy.

And to top it all off Piper decided to officially start sitting.

I'm Thankful

I have to admit that this year has not been the easiest but I really do have a lot to be Thankful for.

1. My beautiful healthy Baby Girl
2. The fact that we sold our house
3. The love and support of my family
4. The roof over my head
5. A wonderful husband

I have been truly blessed with love and support from so many people in this past year. Though I may not love relaying on my parents for a place to live or being separated from my husband I know that it's all temporary.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!!

Wordless Wednesday

My little sisters here,

and I couldn't be happier!!!

Grandpa the Stylist

This Weekend Piper and I went to the Mall with my parents. My dad decided to shop at The Children's Place and found a pink vest that he thought Piper must have. Of course he couldn't just buy the pink vest, he had to get the whole outfit.
I have to say that Grandpa is a pretty great Stylist!

Perfecting the army crawl

Time to start baby proofing, she's on the move.

Wordless Wednesday

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I've decided to get on the blog bandwagon and start posting a picture each week for wordless Wednesday. I've done a project365 in the past and I miss it but I can't commit to a photo everyday. Instead I'm going to post my favorite photo from each week. Not my best photo, my favorite. I hope to use this as just another way to grow and improve my photography!

Trina

I recently had the pleasure of taking a few senior photos for my little cousin. We had to work fast because we didn't have much time to take pictures before I lost my light .
I loved taking pictures of her and I hope we can get together again real soon for another shoot!

Piper Will Not Sit

It's not that she can't she just wont.

She wants to be on the move but I want her to be able to sit. How is she going to open up Christmas presents?!?

I tried a little experiment today. I read somewhere to put her in a round laundry basket with some toys and a blanket for practice. We played peek-a-boo over the side of the basket and I put on a little puppet show. It was fun for a little bit and then she was ready to creep and roll around again.

What I need to do is find an incentive big enough to get her to sit.
Let me know if you have any ideas!!!

On the Hunt

I have now spent the last two weekends house hunting in Sioux Falls. It's been a lot of fun!!!
Josh and I are not positive if we are ready to buy again this soon. We've been trying to explore our options and when it comes to homes in our price range there are a ton of options.
Each time I drive through an new neighborhood in Sioux Falls or walk through a new home I become more confident that we made the right decision!

The First Snow

Mapleton was one big wet sloppy mess today.
I stayed in, ordered a pizza, listened to tons of This American Life podcasts, made some baby food and relaxed.
The first snow is always the best!

The Anderson Family at Seven Mile Creek

I had the opportunity to do a quick family shoot last week at Seven Mile Creek Park. It was really windy so we found a cozy little picnic area and got some cute shots.
The Anderson's wanted wanted some family shots and some photos with their 2 year old with his tractor. It was a fun little mini shoot and I'm happy with the results!