Ballet, Temple, Party... Oh My!

So, for my birthday Tim surprised me with tickets to the Nutcracker! (I know, I have the best husband!!!) Since my birthday is in December, and I love the ballet (really I love any type of dance) my Mom would take me to see it. I guess I mentioned this tradition to Tim and he ran with it. I loved every second of the ballet! The music, the costumes, the dancing and of course the company ;) It was a great birthday!

Then on Saturday morning we went to the temple and took Lacey with us. Tim and I worked shifts of babysitting. While I was in the temple Tim watched her then visa versa. I love the temple and I'm glad we went.

And Lacey, well, Lacey loves the temple grass!

That night we had our Ward/Church Christmas Party and Santa stopped by! They say a picture is worth 1,000 words...

Christmastime with Lacey

So, I decided to share some holiday cheer...

with pictures of Lacey!

This picture was taken underneath the Christmas tree. She loves to eat the needles! I have to watch her like a hawk. I don't think eating enough needles to furnish an entire tree is healthy, right?

Tim was decorating the tree and I turned my back for a second and turned back to see this! Maybe she was just trying to help Daddy decorate :)

Here she having fun with my Christmas ribbon. Too cute!

Clearly, Lacey doesn't want to wait til Christmas morning to open presents. She gets that from me... I always thought it was too long to wait also!MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Tag... I'm it!

First off, I know that I'm suppose to list 6 quirks that I have and I'm sure I have way more than 6, but I can only think of 2. I'm sorry Jac, I just can't think of anymore, but when I do I'll be sure to post them!

1. I LOVE cereal (this love affair served me well on my mission) ! Among my favorite kinds is Lucky Charms or the Target brand Marshmallow Mateys. Anyway, I always eat the oat pieces first and save all of the marshmallows to eat last. Then I get 2 or 3 spoonfuls of marshmallow goodness! Mmmmmmm!

2. When I fall asleep I will always rub my feet on something, whether it be the blanket, the mattress or my other foot. Weird I know.

I'll have to ask Tim what quirks he's noticed, but that's all for now :)

Funny Daddy!

Okay, so before you watch the videos, let me set them up. First off, you can see our newly painted family room. But the subject of the videos is clearly not the walls. Last night Lacey was standing on the couch and watching Tim cook dinner, then he went behind the wall of the hallway and came running out toward Lacey flailing his arms everywhere and she thought it was the funniest thing ever. And to be honest with you... so did I! The first video was recorded by Tim as he ran towards her. The second was by me so you can actually see her face. Anyway... Enjoy!!!

I know it's still November, but...

I'm so excited for Christmastime! It is without a doubt my favorite time of year, hence my blog decor ;) Tim had the opportunity to play for a local Toys for Tots benefit for the third year in a row. He loves to play guitar and loves Christmas music, so he was as happy as can be playing with three other musicians from our stake.

I love going with him because I love to hear Tim play... and because they have really good BBQ ;) Lacey had a good time with Santa. Well, mostly with his beard. Lately, she's had a fascination with hair. In the picture you can see Lacey's little hand reaching for Santa's beard with a smile on her face and longing in her eyes and Santa pulling it away from her. It was so funny to watch. Mrs. Claus thought is was funny too!

It was fun to spend time with friends and their babies. Angel is holding all three babies.

From left to right Anastasia (6 months),

Lacey (8 1/2 months), Nathan (11 1/2 months)

Eventually, Lacey got sleepy. And yes, that is a nearly finished plate of desserts on the table... I need the extra calories...I'm a nursing mother!

And last but not least, here's our little family... aren't we cute?!?!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

From our lil' pumpkin to yours...

Happy Halloween!!!

Get ready for a couple costume changes. The above outfit is what Lacey wore throughout the month of October. Then on October 31st, a.k.a. Halloween Day, she wore this...
I know what you're thinking, "Rachel, you dressed her all in fleece! You live in Florida!" But in my defense, she was so cute! (And everyone at the store agreed with me.)

Halloween night our ward had a Trunk O' Treat and so our whole family got in on it! I was a witch (no smart comments please), Tim was very original...he was a construction worker... I know, it was a stretch. And Lacey was the most adorable fairy you have ever seen!!!

When I went to feed Lacey in the mother's room, I managed to get some pictures of her in her costume. One of the picture was taken before I fed her and the other was after.

Can you tell which is which?

I guess a fairy's gotta eat!

And here is my favorite picture of all...

Lots of firsts!

So, Lacey has had a few firsts lately. I found her first tooth on Tuesday the 14th. She bit my finger and it hurt more than normal, so I looked in her mouth and there it was... a teeny tiny tooth! I was so excited! I tried to get a picture of it. You can see it if you click on the picture and look closely.

Then on Saturday the 18th we were visiting my family in Jacksonville to go to a convention and I was looking at jewelry and then I hear "Da da da da..." I started flipping out! It was so sweet! You have to watch the video!



We also finally planted our orange tree last night. It was a bit rainy, so I put a hoodie and socks on Lacey so we could go watch Tim plant the tree. While I was holding her she was just very curious. Studying Tim's every move. When he was finished he took her and had her stand next to the tree. She loved that! I know the picture is kinda blurry but trust me there was huge smiles and some giggling when her feet hit the ground!