Thursday, December 20, 2007

Santa's Tiniest Elf

Last year during the pregnancy, we found a Santa hat that reads Baby's 1st Christmas. Well, we dug it out of the closet tonight and were able to get a few good pictures....our faves...

First trip to see Santa

2 nights ago, Gillian was accompanied by an entourage of people to see her sit on Santa's lap for the first time. Aunt Amy rode along with us to Crown Center and we were met by Shaun and Lisa and Sara and Jason. We had a great time, and Gillian didn't cry one time. Since we had to wait around an hour to visit with Santa, I'd say that's a pretty big accomplishment for her (especially since I forgot to pack toys in the diaper bag!).

While patiently awaiting her turn to sit on the big guy's lap, she decided (well, we sat her down, but who's keeping track) to take a seat in the Crayola playhouse.
Here she is with Santa Claus...

Here is a great picture of her with Sara and Jason...

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

2 posts in 2 days???

I know, I know...you looked outside this morning and there were no pigs flying, so you thought there was no way that I could POSSIBLY post today.....well, I've somehow defied logic and decided to post again. I put together a little montage and wanted to share it. I had planned on emailing it to the Smith family, but it was around 30 MB when I was done, which far exceeds any attachment size limits that I've seen. So, I was relegated to sharing it this way. Thank you to Abby for taking the pictures at Grandma and Grandpa's...they lent themselves well to a montage :)



Also, I know this may be cheesy to some of you, but it humbled me a little bit. I heard about this site on the way to work this morning. After they talked about it for a bit, they played the song that you can find on the website. Just a reminder about all of our troops serving our country who will not be able to be with their families this Christmas. The site.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Life at a breakneck pace

I am so sorry it's been so long since I've written. I last posted on Thanksgiving; which seems like just yesterday, but somehow we're only 8 days away from Christmas. In the past few weeks, Gillian has grown so much. She can sit on her own for a little bit and is doing her level best to crawl. We still think she's a few weeks away from being mobile, but it won't be long...

We have been dealing with quite a bit of weather over the past 2 weeks, and luckily everyone that we know here in Kansas city has avoided the worst of it. Unfortunately, 2 of Michelle's siblings and their families were hit pretty hard with the ice storm and were without power for a time. You can see more pictures and read a narrative of the storm on Don's website. Mother Nature is truly amazing sometimes; I just wish we could have the picturesque scenes without the hardships that are endured as a result of the storms.

This past weekend, we spent our time in Iola at the Smith family Christmas. This is my mother's side, and all of her sisters were present with most of all of their children present. Gillian was able to visit extensively with all kinds of people. She was especially excited to see her second cousing Caitlin. They had not seen each other since cousin Eric's wedding.

I keep thinking of things to write about, so I apologize if this doesn't flow very well....last week, Gillian was at the babysitter and her friend Campbell decided that Gillian was being a pest, so Campbell bit Gillian on the face, directly below her eye. We took some pictures, but the pictures really didn't do it justice in hindsight. Other than the initial shock of being bitten, Gillian is showing no ill effects from the incident...however, that being said, you should see the other kid :). Just kidding, no retaliation was taken in this incident.

On a much more serious note, the family of the girl who bit Gillian experienced a great loss this morning around 3 am. Their house burned in Kansas City, KS. At this time, I do not have any more information, but please keep their family in your thoughts and prayers, especially during this special time of year. I will post any more information that I may receive.

In addition to all of this, I saw something today that deemed worthy of posting. George Martin, former NFL defensive end for the New York Giants is walking across the country. Unlike so many other efforts, this is not to gain notoriety for performing such a feat. He is doing it to help raise money and awareness for the heroes of 9/11. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of individuals who are suffering from the toxic combination of dust and airborne particles that accompanied the Twin Towers' collapse in lower Manhattan 7 years ago. You can read more about George Martin in Peter King's column for SI.com; or you can visit George's website. An extremely interesting read....