Holiday Fun!

For turkey day we went to my Aunt Donna's house after we ate with Ryan's family.

This is what happened when we went in the door!

I found it so funny that everyone swarmed the door to see the baby, I ran and got my camera and took a photo from the stairs. Ella- you are a star!

I had a gift certificate for fondue, so I took the girls for a much needed girls night. It was GOOD! (besides Heather fainting at the table...)

Ella saw her 1st santa at the Coleman's Christmas party, she smiled and didn't cry. I don't think she even knew what was going on. Maybe next year?

Trying on her Christmas outfit at home. We (me) decided on a black bow for photo day- ahhhh the decisions you have to make as a girl!

Her Christmas photo at 3.5 months old. Cute stuff!

Ella on her first snowy day in December getting warmed up by the warm laundry from the dryer. I just kept piling the clothes on and she couldn't get enough.

Annual Friends Holiday Party- this year's theme- ugly sweaters. Ryan was sick and stayed home. :o( I took Ella and put her to bed in Candi's room.

Alison (8.5 mo pregnant), Erin (fresh off a cruise to Bahama's), me (tired, pale, and out of shape ha ha)

Another pic with Lindsay

Wreath party at our house- stole this idea from some friends of mine in Utah. Everyone loved how they turned out and was glad I put it together.

And we had fun in my "craft room/laundry room"!

Aunt Donna, Me, Lindsay (preggo), and Katie (Erin was there too but left earlier)

For the rest of the holiday season we have Christmas Eve at our house in 8 days with Ryan's family. We're making steaks this year! Christmas Eve we'll also go to Linda's house for the Swedish Christmas at noon. Christmas Day, we'll go to my mom's at 9 am, then Aunt Nena's at 2- Rob and Jenny are going to that also, so that will be fun. Pictures to follow. :o)

Ella is 3 Months old!

Your first time in your BUMPO seat! You are so cute in it, sometimes

if you're too tired though, you do fall to one side.

Mom modeling her new sling to carry you like a little baby kangaroo.

You look so tiny taking a snooze on the big couch!

Bath time- you LOVE your nightly baths! My little fishy!


One of my favorite pictures so far of you!

Ella- you amaze us every day with your smiles! You smile at everything and we appreciate everytime you do! You are starting to chuckle, but have not full on laughed yet. You're getting close though! This third month has been my favorite so far- you are learning so much- especially how to grab and feel things with your hands.

We love you lots!

COMPLETE!

After final inspections from three city divisions and only four things to fix that were very minor, we got our Certificate of Occupancy! We've been waiting for this day for over a year, and it's weird to think we've earned the C.O. finally! It's our house, we can live in it, and all the work is done- what an accomplishment!

***I personally feel like I schmoozed the inspectors into passing us quickly, I wore my old "City of Westminster" park ranger shirt, had the cutest baby in the world smiling at them, and I was chatting up a storm about how excited I was to move in this weekend. Go me!

We had the person at the city take a family picture of us with it!

I was a little disappointed that Ryan's name was the only one on the document... I did a lot of work at the house too! He's a male, so it just proves our society still isn't ready to recognize women in construction...errr.

We can finally relax, start packing, and MOVE IN!

Deck

The deck was the only thing we were waiting on to call in the final inspection. When it was done, the house finally looked completely finished- except for landscaping of course.

Rich Diggle, the owner of the framing company, that we hired did our deck.

Lights

The lights really made the house have a good feeling, especially at night. We've only seen it during the day for 5 months, so it was nice to hang out there at night- just Ryan, me, and Ella.

I didn't think about what these two lights looked like when I picked it for the master closet. Funny what you miss!