Painting

While we were in Texas we got three inches of snow.  I was not expecting snow and didn't pack any snow clothes for Sage to go play outside.  She wasn't happy that there was snow and she couldn't go out and play in it.  Luckily I brought a few crafts for the kids to stay busy.  One morning they made robot ornaments and painted.  It was a busy house with three little kids!

New chairs

Mimi and Pop-Pop got all the kids recliners for the ranch.  The kids had so much fun sitting in their new chairs.  They watched movies and their favorite shows, they also used the chairs to play Old Maid and Go Fish!  It was so fun to see the kids playing together!

Christmas Eve

Here is our sassy girl on Christmas Eve.  We went to a beautiful candle light church service.  Reese and I did the advent reading and Sage was supposed to be up there with us.  She decided she wanted to go sit with Mimi and play the piano instead.  A big thanks to Mimi for taking care of Sage so Reese and I could do the reading.  She looked so cute in her dress!

Merry Christmas!

We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!   I wanted to share our little tree with you!   I love all the activities Sage does at school and this just might be my favorite one so far!  A few weeks ago she walked out of school wearing this tree.  Merry Christmas!

Christmas at the Zoo

Yesterday we took Sage to Christmas at the Zoo.  It was a nice day - by the time we got to the zoo it was in the 40's!  We had fun walking around and looking at the animals and the Christmas lights.  We got to ride the train but Sage was  disappointed that the carousel wasn't working - maybe next time she will get to ride it.

Checking out the red pandas.  

We attempted to get a family picture and these two were the best.

She saw this ledge and had to hop up there to walk with Daddy.

The Elf returns

Chippy our Elf has returned for the Christmas season.  We have all had a lot of fun with Chippy but Sage has had the most fun.  Each morning she gets up she can't wait to look for Chippy.  We even have a DVD with the Chippy movie on it and we have watched it over and over again this holiday season.  Here is what Chippy has been up to this Christmas. 

Here he is taking a mini marshmallow bath.

Hiding out behind the TV.

Chippy put toilet paper all over the tree.  As soon as Sage saw it she had to take the toilet paper off. 

Taking in the Nativity scene.

Chippy got into the Cheerios the other day!

Christmas Book

Sage loves to get mail and she got a Christmas present in the mail the other day.  She was so excited to open it.  Thank you Aunt Sandy, Uncle Al, and Elizabeth for the new Christmas book.  She loves it!  We have read it a ton already!

Kitchen Update

We have had some craziness going on in the house the past few weeks.  With my surgery and then no countertops or water in the kitchen.  We are finally back to normal.  The countertops were installed on Monday and we both love them! The new sink is great too - it is a granite composite and it looks really good with the new countertops (good call on the sink Reese!).  We also had a new stove put in and that really completes the look of the kitchen.  With all those changes going on why not make more changes and we put in a new heat pump as well.  It was a busy Monday at our house.  Sage was in heaven with all the activity around the house.  I am so excited to have my kitchen back and to start making Christmas cookies!

From this to....

This!

More crafts

Now that I am feeling back to normal we have resumed our crafts and activities.  This tree was a craft that Sage had lots of fun with.  She had me put the small ornaments on & she put the big ones on.

Santa over the years

After we saw Santa last week I had to go back and look at the pictures from the previous visits.  Amazing how much she has changed in such a short amount of time.   Only took three years but she finally likes Santa!

2010

Really not happy about this guy dressed in red.

2011

Still not happy - but she came close enough to get her fruit snacks.

2012

Finally a smile with Santa!

Library visit with Santa

Sage was very excited when Santa arrived at Baby Jam last week, but when her time came to sit on his lap she wanted nothing to do with it.  She did get her treats from Santa but that was about it.  Later in the week I found out that Santa was visiting the library.  You sign up for a specific time and it is just you with Santa.  I thought why not try it again.  Sage did so good!  She told Santa that she had been a good girl and that she wants:  a rainbow wand, pixie-dust (so she can fly) and a dollhouse.  She was excited to ring the sleigh bells and her favorite part was getting a candy cane! 

Santa visits Baby Jam

This past week at Baby Jam we had a very special visitor - Santa Claus!  The kids loved it and most of them seemed pretty excited to see him.  Sage wasn't all that excited and Tracey had to carry her to see Santa and I had to go with her too.  We are so fortunate that Santa takes the time to visit with the kids - he brought each of them fruit snacks and a candy cane. 

   Allison, Sage, JJ, Ava, Ty, Case, Alise, Marshall, Andrew, Michael, and James

Skating

A few weeks ago there was a figure skating competition on and Sage was so excited.  All that night she was going around the house skating.  We managed to get a few action shots.  She then told us that Santa should bring her skates for Christmas!

Sage's Tree

I got a small Christmas tree for Sage's room and she loves it!  It is on her dresser in her room.  We put it out right after Thanksgiving.  On Thursday she told me she wanted a tree topper.  So while she was in school I went and bought her a red star for the top.  She was so excited to put it on her tree.  I love that she gets so excited for the holidays!  Here we are decorating her tree - notice she has her pajamas on.  This was right after she got up from her nap that day.  That girl would keep her pajamas on all day every day if we let her!

Lunch date

While Mimi and Pop-Pop were here for Thanksgiving we went out to lunch one afternoon.  We went to Sage's favorite spot - it is her favorite because they have a fountain and she gets to throw a coin in each visit.  Mimi snapped this picture during lunch and I had to share it!

The look on Sage's face is what I get every time I ask her to smile. 

Update

It has been a busy few weeks here.  First we had Sage's birthday party, then Thanksgiving and getting all the Christmas decorations out, throw in a few events I had to plan for the Town and then I had laparoscopic surgery last Friday.  As if that wasn't enough, we then had our kitchen countertops removed on Monday in preparation for our new Quartz countertops.  I am recovering well from surgery and starting to feel like myself.  The good news is that our fertility doctor didn't find anything but that is also the bad news - that he didn't find anything and we are back to square one.   We are almost 2 years into this journey of trying to have another child.  It has been a difficult one - trying on our own, working with our fertility doctor, having the miscarriage in January and the multiple failed attempts to get pregnant.  It is a hard subject to talk about and that is why I don't mention it a lot on the blog.   This year has been a tough one and I am glad to see it coming to a close.   As I sit here and write this I am listening to Sage through the monitor - she is singing herself to sleep.  I know we are very fortunate for our beautiful girl and I cherish each day I get to be her Mom.  That is what I focus on. 

Date Night!

We had a busy week last week and even managed to squeeze in a date night with Kelly and Jason.  We went to dinner and then to see Rachel Yamagata in concert.  It was a great night and we really enjoyed spending a few hours with Kelly and Jason.  A big thank you to Sharon for watching Sage - especially since it was a late night out. 

Christmas Activities

We have been working on tons of Christmas activities in this house.  These have been one of Sage's favorites.  Pre-writing activity sheets - she loves them!  This was the first time she did this one and she did such a good job I had to take a picture. And I was so lucky to capture such a great smile from her!!  When you say smile you never know what you will get.