Christmas in Colorado and Turning 9 Months Old

Oh dear...it's only been like three weeks, and yet so much has happened. On the Saturday before Christmas, we flew to Colorado to spend Christmas with my family. Anna, Dave, Aunt Martha, Grandma Nichols, Madison, Sydney, and Jaxon all got there shortly after us. We spent some time catching up and just hanging out. I forgot what it's like to have so many people in one house. :D

All 3 stockings hung

On the airplane

This is how they spent the flight

The day after we got there (Sunday) everyone seemed to be asking me if Adaline had any teeth yet. After saying no all day, Adaline bit my finger and, sure enough, she had a new tooth. She always makes me a liar.

The Nichols/Headricks had to leave early Monday morning, but it was so fun to see them and especially for them to meet Adaline. The days before Christmas were spent doing last minute shopping, watching movies, and taking the Celestial Seasonings tour. I didn't think it could really be that cool, but I forgot how fascinating factories are and I actually learned some new things! On Christmas Eve, we read the Christmas story and the kids really wanted Adaline to get in the "manger" and pretend to be baby Jesus. It was like she read their minds, as soon as the right time came in the story, she climbed into the basket all on her own.

Christmas was lots of fun with a little one, even though Adaline didn't care too much about everything going on. She did okay at opening her presents and liked eating the wrapping paper. *Now that we're home, she LOVES playing with her new toys. Thanks everyone!!*

Christmas morning with her stocking

After Christmas, we had a shooting competition in the backyard. I'm pretty sure dad ultimately won. We also went to REI and Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory-YUM, and Noah took me to see Saving Mr. Banks and to get frozen yogurt for my Christmas present. The week after Christmas, my dad wanted to take Andrew on some intense rock climbing expedition, so while they did that, Mom, Chloe, Harris, Adaline, and I went on a hike. It was SO pretty! It's been a few months since I went on a hike and I forgot how great it is.

Watching daddy shoot

She LOVES waving to people

These two spent a lot of time together. Adaline sure loves uncle Daniel

Ready to go on the hike!

She looks up to me ;)

The little orange dot is my dad's head, and the little gray/blue dot is Andrew's head

mmm...mmm

After hiking/rock climbing, we went to dinner at a Thai restaurant. I just wanted to get a cute picture of Adaline, but she was too busy hamming it up for the camera.

Nice hair, Adaline...

She loves "drinking" out of cups. She's so good at it where there is
nothing in it,but as soon as it's filled with water, she throws it.

On Thursday, we flew back home and we finally got to give our gifts to Adam and Audrey's family. We were dying to watch them open them. It was awesome.

My parents gave us a HUGE tent for Christmas. So naturally...we had to set it up in the living room to try it out. There was barely room for it, but we got it to fit. We made a little bed and watched a movie.

Adaline was asleep when we set it up, so she got to play in it the next day

She has the most ridiculous bed head

Now that we're home and things have settled down, Andrew goes to school all day, and I get to stay home with Adaline. It's nice to have my license and degree, and although some days I wish I were out using it, I'm also really glad that I get to be with Adaline.

Adaline's favorite present that wasn't for her:

Taking our new ride for a test run

The mittens! Oh my goodness, so cute!

Trying to find dad?

Some of Adaline's favorite "toys":

The keyboard

The doorstop

The stroller

The straw from my water bottle

The end table

Some of her actual toys

Everything in the kitchen

Adaline was recently introduced to snow and...

She thinks it tastes great!

Andrew and I got to get out of the house to go to an "Honored Seniors" dinner for me.

Mrs. Claus waving to everyone

Her attitude about taking pictures with me hasn't changed

She often carries things in her mouth while she is crawling

We love to snuggle

And...the driving force of this blog...Adaline is 9 months old today! Holy cow, that means that in just 3 months, she will be a year old. She has been living outside of my body for as long as she was living inside of it. She's actually growing up. Make it stop.

But seriously, what can I say about you, Adaline? Your personality gets bigger every day. You can stand by yourself for a few seconds at a time. The clothes that fit you the best right now are size 6 months, but you have been wearing size 3-6 months jammies recently and you also wear your clothes that are size 9 months because they're so cute and I can't help it. You got your first, and so far only, tooth the Sunday before Christmas. You LOVE eating! Some of your favorites are fruit, bread, yogurt, peas, green beans, and graham crackers. You eat so much food and I can't figure out where you're putting it all because you're still tiny. Tomorrow we get to go to the doctor and see how much you've grown. You can play independently for a long time, but you also love it when mama plays with you. You love baths and you like to laugh when other people laugh. You wave to just about everyone, and the people at the grocery store really love it. You also like giving mom and dad high fives (I think we like it more though). One of my favorite things that you do right now (and I really need to get a video of it) is when you "sing" along while your learning table plays the alphabet. It is so darn cute.