Holidays

Christmas was wonderful! We got to spend time with both of our fabulous families, and I think that was the best part of the month of December for us. Here we are at the Wistisen family party, which was so fun. The entire family was there, and we had good food and played games and told the Christmas story and the kids had a pinata. Grandma gave us ornaments and a new Christmas book. We look forward to this fun party each year.Here is Rebecca eating her first Abelskiever (puffy round pancakes with apples inside). She devoured it and Grandma declared her a "true Danish baby!"
Here is Rebecca's new pink rocking chair that is just her size. She loves to drag it out to the living room if we are in there, or out into the hallway last week to wait for Daddy when he was in the bathroom cutting his hair. She loves having a chair just her size and I walk by her room sometimes and she is in her chair reading books and babbling. So cute!

My wonderful parents came up for a visit a few days before Christmas and we had such a good time together. They came at a perfect time, it was snowing a lot and Seth was gone plowing all the time, night and day, and I would have been so lonely! They helped me with so many things and my mom and I got some good scrapbooking time in! My dad set up my Christmas tree for me on the 23rd, and I am so glad he did. It really doesn't feel quite like Christmas until you have the tree up. I'll never not put it up again! Rebecca actually did pretty good with it...I was worried I'd spend the whole month keeping her away from it. Thanks for the fun visit, mom and dad!

Seth built this bookshelf for all of Rebecca's books. It is a cute little shelf, I thought that was a sweet Christmas gift from him. Rebecca loves to read sooooo much!

I find her like this a lot.

We went to the mall to see Santa Claus for her first time. I prepared her by showing her Santa in books for a few days. She could say Santa, and when we went, she was so cute, and said "Santa" over and over. She was happy to see him, I knew she would be. She is such a friendly baby, not afraid of anyone. I am so glad she is that way!

We sure did have a white Christmas! Lots of snow in December. The first time it snowed, Rebecca was in awe. It was adorable, she pointed out the window and said,"What's that, mama?" I'll never forget that sweet little voice saying that to me. She loves to stand at the window and watch the snow fall.

I got all crafty in December, and made these (and many other) cute hair clips for my nieces for Christmas. They were fun to do! I can't wait until Rebecca's hair is a bit longer and thicker and I can make some for her.

And I got together with a friend and made these cute Nativity blocks for Rebecca. What a fun project this was! I really want a Cricuit!!!! Someday.....

Rebecca and all her loot on Christmas day!!! She sure was spoiled!! Thank you to all of her sweet grandparents and her fabulous Aunt Jenni!

Pretty baby in all the wrapping paper.

Doing Karaoke with her cousin Emilee. Emilee is quite the little rock star!

Seth and Rebecca on a typical Sunday. Daddy's little girl, they are such good friends.

I put Rebecca's hair in curlers and..WOW, it worked! POOF!!

Then, I put her in her Beautiful new Christmas dress and tried so hard to get just ONE good picture. No cooperation from Rebecca though. By the end, she was crying and I wanted to. I wanted to give her grandparents some cute pictures for Christmas. But no such luck. So take my word for it, she was adorable in that dress!!!

And last but not least...THANKSGIVING!!! I'm really catching up here! We went to my Grandma and Grandpa Nelson's house in Utah, and it was so much fun to be there and see a lot of my aunts and uncles and cousins who we don't see very often. My parents took us to this awesome aquarium while we were down there too. I loved it!

Rebecca was a bit hungry....not in the mood for a picture, can't imagine why!

And this was so funny, we were looking through the black Friday ads, and Rebecca was licking her fingers and turning the pages. She was cracking us all up, especially her great grandma!

Our Christmas Miracle

SHE WALKS!!!!!!!!!! Many of you know, we have been waiting for this day for soooooo long!! Ever since September when she started standing up all by herself, we thought, "any day now she'll be walking." BUT NO!! She would stand, but she would NOT walk. I guess she was just mastering balance before she decided to take off. Anyway, it all happened on Christmas Eve. She waited for her Daddy to get home from work so he could see her first steps too. She walked from one side of our living room to the other, right into my arms. About 12 feet and she never fell. We are two proud parents!! She is 17 1/2 months old. What a great Christmas present she gave us. The look on her face was priceless. We could tell she knew she was doing something great. And now it's been a week, and she NEVER falls. She is such a good little walker. And in other Rebecca news....I am a big fan of this website, starfall.com Anyone with little kids should know about it. It goes through the alphabet and teaches kids the sounds each letter makes, sings songs, etc. Really cute. I've been doing it with Rebecca for months, every day. She could look at this website all day. I can't believe how still and attentive she is. And she throws a fit when I say it's time to be done and do something else. She repeats the sounds the letters make and has many things memorized like what picture comes next. We are constantly amazed at how much she knows and remembers. Today she pointed to the letter B and said "B." Then again at the letter R, and O and X. It's so fun to watch my baby learn things, she is SO SMART!!
Today while I was making lunch, Rebecca unloaded all her diaper wipes one by one and put them on my rocking chair. Oh boy. So when I found that little mess, I picked her up, set her on my lap, and said, "Rebecca, what is this mess?" She looked at me so solemn and said, "wipes." I just had to hug her and laugh. I didn't expect her to answer me...I didn't know she knew that word!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

WOW, December was a busy month, and I can't believe it is already over and we have started a new year. Happy 2009 to everyone!!! Dec. was a fun month, I will put some Christmas pictures on here soon, so our parents can see...this was the first year since we've been married that we didn't spend Christmas day in Utah with my family. We missed you, Mom and Dad!!

New year's eve was fun, I took Rebecca outside to play in the snow. She was so cute in her little snowsuit and hat and gloves and boots. She was excited to go outside, we haven't really gone anywhere in a while-we've been sick and it's so cold. Anyway, we got out there and little Rebecca could just stand on top of the snow. Needless to say, it was not the best day to play in the snow. I'll have to try it again another day and not wait so long after it snows!

She loved the boots (which are a few sizes too big for her, she doesn't care!) and had to wear them all night. Funny baby! We decorated to surprise Daddy when he came home from work. We blew on our noisemakers and threw confetti. It was a fun night!

Then on New year's day, Seth's parents came up to spend the day with us. We had a great time! Seth's mom made these curtains for Rebecca's room. They are the perfect finishing touch, and I love them! She quilted around all the flowers and it is so cute. Seth and his dad put up the blinds on two of our windows, and everything looks so good. I just love to go in there and look at her room, it's so nice to have it completely finished!

I'm excited for this new year, to set new goals and try a little harder. Seth starts school on Jan. 7, and we are excited/nervous to see how life will be for the next while.