Merry Christmas

We hosted Christmas for the Woolley family this year. Since we set up our tree in the front room instead of the family room (to avoid Hannah pulling it down), we had to crowd in a much smaller room to open gifts....nothing like family togetherness in a room that only has a couch and one chair!

Opening gifts

Josh, Sally, Ron, Rachel & Ryan

(Danila was passing out gifts, Gavin was in a swing in the playroom,

and Jon, Hannah & I were out of view)

Jon helps Hannah open her first gift of the morning
I'm helping Hannah open her (what seems like) 100th gift of the morning!

Boy, do grandparents know how to spoil a kid!

I'll post some more pictures of Christmas later...unfortunately, these 3 pictures were the only ones taken with our camera. We were more into watching what was going on than taking pictures. Hannah really enjoyed the bows and ribbon, but wasn't all that into actually opening the presents. And, like most kids, she enjoyed the boxes and packaging more than some of her gifts (at least initially).

We'd started our morning with a good breakfast once everyone arrived at our house (and the "boys" got up), and then opened presents for over 2 hours (I think it was something like that -- it was a long time). By the end of the morning, Hannah had enough and went to bed before she even got lunch. She was a tired baby! We were then able to get back to preparing Christmas dinner, which was served around 3-4pm, and hanging out while the ham and turkey finished baking. After dinner I took a much-needed nap while my mother-in-law cleaned my kitchen for me!! (I should mention that we were all sick for Christmas. Jon and Hannah were sick first, and it hit me Christmas morning...Blah.) Then, we went over to Jon's sister's house in a neighboring suburb for dessert. However, I have a feeling that we'll end up paying for getting Hannah off schedule in the days to come...

We had a wonderful Christmas and are certainly blessed. Merry Christmas to you!!!

Suprise - Uncle Daniel is here!

My brother surprised us on Sunday night. The doorbell rang as we were trying to decide what to do for dinner, and it was Daniel at the door. For those of you who don't know, my brother lives in New York City - we knew he was heading to WV for the holidays, but had no idea he'd planned to come to Ohio. We were able to spend a fun night hanging out and playing on the Wii Fit (where Daniel broke all of my records!) after Hannah went to bed.

Daniel told us that since he'd babysat for Liam (my sister's baby) a day before Thanksgiving when Karen & Brian had to work, he wanted to do the same for us. So Sunday night we took him out to dinner (great excuse to not cook!), and then on Monday while I was at work, Daniel spent the day with Hannah. Jon was able to use the day to run errands since Daniel was around so it worked out great. Daniel even spent part of Tuesday hanging out with Jon & Hannah.

Hannah loves her Uncle Daniel

Uncle Daniel had fun with Hannah

11 Months Old!

How in the world did our little girl get to be so big and so old?!?! Hannah continues to delight us every day. Her personality is about 10 times bigger than she is. She laughs, shakes her head no (usually after we've told her "no, no"), lets us know when she doesn't like a certain food, loves to eat Cheerios, smiles non-stop, climbs on everything, loves to "cruise" around on the furniture, and is a super-fast crawler. She is constantly on the move and we struggle to keep up! She loves to sneak down the hall and climb the stairs when we leave the gate open, loves bathtime, enjoys Abby (and I'll admit it...she also LOVES to chew on Abby's bones - I've tried to stop her and just can't!), and clapping. Hannah loves to wave, says "hi," "dada," and "dog."

We're getting excited for her first Christmas and combined her 11-month photos with a Christmas shoot. She is so much fun...and Jon and I both have a lot of fun playing with her. In case you're wondering where she is size-wise, she is almost 29 inches long, and about 17 pounds. Long & lean...

Look at all of the pretty bows!

Mom, I'm going to eat this camel....

I love to stand and play at my activity table.

Christmas Party

Jon and I went to my firm's Christmas Party tonight. It's a nice chance to get all dressed up an enjoy a good meal and night out (although the tux is a bit much, I'll admit). My parents came to babysit for Hannah, since last night was Jon's Christmas Party with the teachers at his school (which is much more laid back!). Last night they got stuck in bad weather, but fortunately we were able to take Hannah with us. We couldn't have done that tonight for sure.

I've discovered that Baker parties are a great use for bridesmaid dresses....fortunately my friend Sheri was in a number of weddings, so I can work through her closet as well as my own.

This year's party marked a big milestone for me -- it was the morning after last year's party that my life changed and we went to the hospital for the first time. Here was the picture taken after last year's party with a self-timer on the camera. Hard to believe I was 23 weeks pregnant at the time.

I think this holiday season is going to be filled with a number of reflections, as we think back to the first time we went to the hospital, my first week, getting discharged, getting put back in, and all of the events that led to the birth of Hannah. It's hard to believe that a year has gone by already.

Come out and play with me!

The weekend before Thanksgiving Hannah got to see her Aunt Rachel, who was pregnant with a new cousin for Hannah. Hannah wanted to meet her new cousin and have another playmate. Hannah enjoyed pounding on Rachel's belly!

Hannah with Rachel (about 37 weeks)

Hannah's new cousin, Gavin, finally arrived and is home now. Hannah is quite interested in the baby, but doesn't quite understand that he can't play with her yet. This time next year they'll be quite the duo.

Hannah & Jacob

It is so much fun that our friends Curtis & Sheri had a baby 6 months after we did. It is so much fun to get together with them and see the kids "play." It's also nice that our best friends are in the same stage of life as we are.

Here is the Christmas picture we took on Sunday after church. We've finalized realized that going out for lunch is just too difficult right now, so we had lunch that Sheri had waiting for us in the oven....And we posed the kids since they were looking so cute in their Christmas finest.

It's hard to believe that Jacob is 6 months younger than Hannah, especially since he is already 5 pounds bigger than her!

Let it Snow!

Hannah's first snow came the weekend she came home from the hospital, but this snow was the first that she could enjoy. She loved looking out the door to watch the snow. It will be so much fun to play in the snow with her and Abby. Plus, Jon can always enjoy play days with her when he has a snow day.

Happy Birthday to our New Nephew!

Jon and I have a new nephew.....

Gavin Lucas Ely was born last night, December 2, 2008, at 7:05pm. He's quite a big boy, weighing in at 8 pounds, 2 ounces, and is 20.7 inches long. New mom Rachel (Jon's sister), new dad Ryan, and baby are all doing well.

Jon and I can't help but compare Hannah with Gavin -- Hannah was probably 3 months old before she was that big, and right now she's only about double his size (she's just under 17 pounds and 28 inches). When you see them together you realize how big he is (and the fact that he likely won't spend much time in "newborn" clothes!). He is a really cute little guy. Enjoy the pictures that we took last night when he was just a few hours old.

Gavin Lucas Ely

He was pretty alert last night.

Complete with a full head of hair...

(I couldn't figure out how to rotate this picture...

he was sitting up with some help from the nurse)

Rachel & Gavin

Hannah with Grandma Woolley, checking out Gavin.

Hannah was really intrigued by the baby in the room...she was looking at him, studying his cries, and then trying to figure out how to get into his bed to play with him! She doesn't realize that this cousin is a little smaller than her other one!

Let's Go....Mountaineers!

Grandma & Grandpap Folger make sure Hannah is outfitted in WVU gear. Here are some fun shots...

Hannah discovered that Mommy's BlackBerry is fun to play with....probably not the intended use, but she seems to enjoy it.

Hannah doesn't like it when it is moved out of her reach - our girl is a climber!

Folger Christmas

Since my sister and I and Jon's sister & brother all got married the same year, we were able to set up a good holiday schedule with our in-laws. We rotate Christmas and Thanksgiving every year. This year was a "Folger Thanksgiving," but we went ahead and brought the gifts that we'd already purchased for Christmas so we wouldn't have to ship them.

I didn't know it beforehand, but Mom went ahead and set up a Christmas tree so she could see Hannah & Liam open some of their gifts. It ended up being pretty funny because Mom actually hadn't done her shopping yet...she just wanted to see what Karen & I had gotten for the kids.

Hannah opening her first gift!

Daddy has to help a little.

Even Bogart likes to open presents --
and he's actually better at opening than the kids!

Grandpap Folger helps Liam open his presents.

Uncle Daniel got Liam and Hannah boxes of Cheerios!

Aunt Karen got Hannah some fun blocks.

Liam discovered Hannah's "snack trap" with puffs inside....

This Christmas was a fun preview for what it will be like in a few weeks for Hannah's first Christmas. I'm excited!

Storytime

Hannah & Liam enjoy storytime together.

Twice the Fun!

Bathtime is twice the fun with you bathe two 10-month olds at the same time. Hannah and Liam have so much fun together and have really started to interact. It is so much fun to watch them play. I wish my sister and I didn't live 7+ hours apart!

Liam is trying to climb in...
Hannah is trying to climb on Liam

Splish Splash!
All done....time for stories and bed!

Thanksgiving

Jon and I have so much to be thankful for this year...our healthy baby, a marriage that has grown stronger through adversity, wonderful families, and good friends. This year we celebrated Thanksgiving in West Virginia with my side of the family. We had 15 people spend the night at my parents house -- it was crowded, but certainly a good time.

Me, with my parents' first "grandchildren,"

Bogart & Abby

Hannah & Liam enjoyed playing together

now that they're both mobile.

Hannah's first Thanksgiving meal
She loves her green beans!

(Mommy's girl!!)

Liam ate a lot more "big people" food than Hannah did.

He's quite the eater!

Hannah & Mommy

After dinner (and naps, and an outfit change),

Hannah & Liam enjoy playing with second cousins Michael & Gary