Little Poser

These photos were taken a couple of weeks ago - the same weekend my parents visited.  It was also a few days after my post of her Christmas photo with her crying.  You know, the one where I said she had no interest whatsoever in posing.  Apparently she was in a special kind of mood this day and she was a little ham for the camera.  I haven't seen a repeat of this mood since. 

If I could have, I would have chosen the Christmas tree for her to pose in front of.  But instead Hope makes the rules, and she chose to sit on the dog bed.

Updated Baby Photo

I had a sonogram last Wednesday and here is the updated baby pic at about 24 weeks:

Christmas Ballerina

Hope likes to twirl around in her Christmas dress:

Merry Christmas Day!

We had a very Merry Christmas Day.  While Hope had no expectations, she certainly was excited to take it all in.  There are a lot of photos in this post which makes it plenty long enough, so I'll try to keep my words to a minimum.

After Santa's visit.  The wrapped gifts under the tree are gifts from me, Joe and Hope to each other.  Santa brought the fully stocked kitchen set to the left.

 Christmas morning, Hope jumped right in and played with her kitchen.

 The first step to unwrapping was for Hope to remove all of the bows from all of the packages.

 Every little girl needs a new baby doll for Christmas.

 My favorite photo of the day:

 Hope got me a portable DVD player for the car.  This will make my trips to see my parents much smoother when Hope refuses to sleep.

 Learn to Dress Monkey.

 The kitty keyboard was certainly a hit.

 Christmas afternoon, Joe's family came for Christmas Part II.  Here is Hope laughing with Aunt Chele.

 The sled was a hit.  Now she begs for me and Joe to pull her around in it.

 A new princess tent.

 And, yes, this is a car from Joe's parents.  Oh boy.

We hope your Christmas was as merry as ours!

Visit with Santa

This past Saturday, we took Hope to visit Santa.  He made an appearance at our local Amish market (thanks for the heads up Carrie).  It ended up being the perfect place to take her.

When we first arrived, she was excited to see him and ran up to him, but she had no interest in staying there.  She ran up and took his bells, then ran back to me.  She ran up to take a candy cane, then ran back to me.  She ran up to see his reindeer, then ran back to me. 

 We decided to eat a little lunch, and we sat at a table right in front of Santa.  Hope watched as other kids went up and sat on his lap and talked to him.  Eventually, she got brave enough to try it herself.  She was courageous enough to sit there, but not enough to smile.

 She checked him out, then after about 45 seconds on his lap she wanted down.   It was just long enough for a couple of photos.



Steelers Bandwagon Fans

I have really tried to not talk too much smack about the Steelers this season because I believed that the division could go to either the Steelers (hopefully) or the Ravens (hopefully not).  But the Friday before the Ravens/Steelers game on Dec 5th, I had certain co-workers that made it rather difficult, because they couldn't keep their Ravens mouths shut.

I challenged them to a bet - to put their money where their loud mouths were.  If the Steelers won, they would by a Chipotle lunch for our group at work, and wear Steelers jerseys while dining.  If the Ravens won, I had to sponsor the Chipotle lunch, but without the Ravens jersey since I wouldn't be splitting the cost as they would.

Who won?  I think this photo says it all:

 This is Jon-Michael, aka Doller.  Admittedly, he didn't talk too much smack, but when asked if he wanted in on the bet, he said, "Why not - it's a sure thing."

 This is Jim.  His smack talk seemed to be pretty politically correct, probably since I do have some say over his career path.  But when he talked about the game, the Ravens purple blood running through his veins made his face turn Ravens purple and his dislike for the Steelers really came out. 

 This is Rick.  He has a reputation for being a smack talker.  He insists that he wasn't talking that much smack, and by his standards it probably was a little low key, but it certainly wasn't silence that I heard.

 And Mike, aka Schwartz, aka The Quitter since his last day was yesterday.  He had the loudest mouth.  I think the term "Ravens blowout" was even said.  Yeah Schwartz, I'd hide my face too, but not because I was wearing a Steelers jersey.

Weekend with Grandma and Pap Pap

My parents came to visit last weekend,  Yes, even my Dad came east past Allegany County.

Before I get to the pictures, I first want to make a plea.

Please pray for my Mom.  Today and everyday.  She was diagnosed with breast cancer last week.  But looking forward, the plan is to get right into chemo on Wednesday, Dec 22th.  She has to take care of this and get on with life and spoiling her grandchildren.  Not to mention she has a granddaughter to welcome in April.  She has been welcoming grandchildren into this world pretty steadily since 2005, but this April baby has the potential to be the grand finale (although never say never, Miss).

I was already looking forward to their visit this past weekend, but with everything else going on, it was especially nice to be able to give my mom a hug (and to get one from her in return).

Now on to the pics:

My Mom delivered a gift from a dear family friend, "Grandma Barb" - a fluffy white teddy bear. 

 Hope fed her new bear some chocolate.

 Grandma brought some antlers for Hope.

 The true gift:

 Hope was wiggly as usual, which made it hard to hold her.

 Showing Grandma her favorite Christmas tree ornament.

 Isn't it usually the adults that are looking at the camera and the kids that are looking elsewhere?

 Hope loved swing time with Pap.

 Yes, that is my dad putting a bib on a teddy bear.

 Hope shared her milk with teddy.

 Then with my dad.

 More swing time.

 Then Ring Around the Rosie.

 If you look closely, my mom is wearing a bib.