The Holidays are Here!

Sorry I have not posted in a while...so much has been going on, really! Since Halloween, here it all is in a nutshell (in no particular order, as I can barely remember what I did yesteday let alone everything that's been going on!): I went back to work, Katie spend the month of November hanging with Nana while Em was in school and then attending the afterschool program at Kids R Kids; Katie started at Kids R Kids full-time in Decdember, we've experienced the up-and-down emotions every week with the Packers and Longhorns; had our first official family portraits done, decorated the house (inside and out) for Christmas, got a tree, enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with the family, Matt and I had a "date night" with a fabulous steak dinner topped off by seeing my favorite comedian, Ron White, downtown; Christmas shopping, dinners with friends, got Katie a high chair and started her on solid foods and are now beginning the busy part of the holidays with upcoming parties and of course, Christmas!

I uploaded a bunch of photos onto Picasa, including all of our family shots, so check out the link to the left. Here are a few pics over the last month, but all are up on Picasa.


We are all so excited about Christmas, especially Em who we're not sure we can contain until then! This is the first year she seems to really "get" Christmas and Santa, and we're hosting the family at our house Christmas morning, which makes it extra-special this year. Matt had been doing the Advent calendar every day with Em so she can learn the entire story of Christmas, and she looks forward to it every night before bed.

Em continues to do well in kindergarten, and is really loving her reading and writing. It's amazing how far along she's come in just a few months! The girl is reading very easy books on her own now, and is writing much better. She continues to be a slight challenge for her teacher, as she still has not yet mastered "not talking" when asked - but what can I say, she gets it honestly from her mom!

As for Katie, she turned four months old on Dec. 1 and her personality is coming out more and more every passing day. She is nearly rolling over on her own, and is such a happy baby - she smiles, giggles and "talks" all the time, and is now getting into toys and realizing she can actually grasp them and grab for them on her own. She's doing great at Kids R Kids, and the teachers there just adore her, calling her a "baby doll" and that she is just so easy. At her last doctor's appointment right before Thanksgiving she weighed in at 15 lbs! The girl loves to eat!

Matt and I are, besides getting ready for Christmas, planning our upcoming adventure to Israel in March for Nicole and Brad's wedding!! Looks like most of the UT gang is going, too, so it will be even more special to be there and experience everything with everyone. We're planning to go over for about two weeks, and do the countrywide tour that Nic and Brad are organizing, with days in Jerusalum to the wedding in Tel Aviv. How cool!

Merry Christmas to our family and friends!