Oden Adventures

Our second part of Christmas was the Sunday before Christmas; we had our own little family "Christmas morning" before leaving for Oregon the next day.  And although the photographic evidence does not support this claim, Patrick & I were both physically present at the occasion.  Seems I've heard before that holidays get a bit kidcentric...;-)

Full stockings hung by the chimney with care...

 Baby treats & a French CD!

 Time for presents!

 "What do I do with this?!"

 Enlisting help from Daddy

 New blocks!  These look like fun!

 Now for this big one here...

 This looks like fun, too!

 And so does the box it came in!

This week, the week heading into the weekend before Christmas, was another low-on-the-snapshot week as we prepared for all the festivities.  Even still, December was all in all a blessed month as our little family navigated the societal pressure to go crazy about Christmas by opting to avoid stores & limit outings as much as possible. Patrick was often hunkered down in the office, nobly finishing his dissertation to send off to his mentors before the holidays began, and Vianne and I had very sweet, quiet, slow mornings together with the fire & the Christmas music going.

A moment of cuteness on our way somewhere...

Trying out her crocheted crown, a gift from my Fuller boss' mother-in-law

This year, we had a Christmas-In-Three-Parts, celebrating with the Oden family, our little trio, and the Gustafson family.  Christmas Part One took place on Friday & Saturday, with a festive meal and gifts on Friday at our house and a fun outing in gorgeous Lake Arrowhead on Saturday.

The next day, we drove up to the mountain for more family time & hoping to glimpse a bit of snow to increase our Christmas-y feelings! First we bundled V up in her little lamb coat...(again, may need to shield the eyes...you've been warned...) 

 Then we had a lovely afternoon, enjoying the wintry beauty of Lake Arrowhead and a lovely meal at the waffle restaurant in the Village.

Already nine months old!  Our little clapping, crawling, preaching Wonder Girl continues to delight & entertain us all day every day.  At her nine month checkup, she was 17 lbs, 7.5 oz and 28 inches long, a bit on the lean side these days (13th percentile for weight to height) - so we've already begun adding a 3rd meal to her day and trying out some new foods.  She's such an adorable little person these days, with so much personality, and she is growing so quickly, it is often hard to conceive that we have only a few months left of her as a baby!  If she didn't keep getting cuter and funnier and sweeter with each new development, I would be resolved to keep her just as she is. :-)