It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

We spend all day Sunday putting up the christmas tree. Hannah of course helped some, but was more interested in climbing on the ladder.
I love decorating the house for Christmas. Music playing, cookies baking in the over. Very cliche, but I love it.

I think I over do it on decorations and gift because we're so far away from our family on Christmas.

I've never been a believer in Santa, but I am atempting to give it a try with Hannah. Mainly because of all the "cutesy" stuff that comes along with it. I was so excited to find a "Elf on the Shelf" it sat on the shelf for all of 3 seconds before Hurricane Hannah got ahold of her. She will watch from above for now.

After the house was decorated we spend some time playing with Hannah in her room. The toys have always taken over the entire house and now are confined to her room. She's a tiny bit upset. So we try to spend time in her room playing with her.
I think this picture pretty much sums up how she feels...

Thanksgiving 2011

Wednesday afternoon, we loaded up the truck, found the motherload of suckers and additional snacks, loaded the DVD player and headed to St. Louis. I was more than excited to see everyone. We usually make our trips at night, but I was up for the "daytime challenge".

Thanks to an early Christmas gift, the dvd player made this trip possible.

We had a ball with everyone. Hannah of course love all the attention she was getting from everyone.

I loved loved being with my family for the Thanksgiving. It was like old times. Chatting around the table while enjoying food and wine, the guys were upstairs with their eyeballs glued to the football game. It was a house full of laughter and loved. I truly feel blessed and thankful for my family. It was so sad to say good bye.

A TuTu and a Camera

So...I found this adorable tutu at the holiday house today. It practically jumped in my bag, I had to buy it. *Thats my story and I'm sticking to it*
It was a beautiful day outside and I thought.."Let's get some good fall pictures of Hannah"

One minor detail...Hannah hadn't had much of a nap (since we were out shopping all morning) so she was a little cranky...ok a lot cranky.
I think we managed to get a few good shots.

The only way I could get her outside was to tell her we were taking out the trash. Boy does she take her duties serious. She would not let that bag go.

And then she was done...

Halloween

I was so excited for Halloween. I couldn't wait to take Hannah trick or treating.

What a difference one year makes.

Hannah was in good spirits all night, I'm not sure if it was the abundance of suckers that she was hoarding..

or just the excitment of all the people..

She was a big help handing out candy. I was really surprise, she wasn't scared of the "scary" costumes. She was really funny. She didn't want any of the candy in her bag. She wanted to hold it all.

She even took a little dance break.

October

Boy, Where did October go?
Mike celebrated his 30(+ a few years) birthday. Every year I spend hours and hours trying to find the best gift for him. What do you buy a guy who has everything? He is so hard to buy for. He works hard and I feel one day out of the year, he deserves to watch what he wants on T.V, eat whatever he wants for dinner, leave stuff laying around without me nagging...blah blah blah..
We'll he got that, a day of no nagging, football, food, drinks and by his request a homemade ice cream cake. Plus a paid trip to New Orleans this February.

Hannah helped.

We were also excited to have Devin with us for a weekend.

It's so fun when Devin comes. I love seeing the two of them playing.

I love love love this picture.

We also went to "Benton Boo Bash". I do have to say, it was a lot of fun. Definately a benefit of living in a small town.