Baby, It's Cold Outside!

On Saturday, the forecast was calling for a high of 22 degrees on Sunday. Typically on a day like that, we would have stayed inside snuggled in pjs (Oh, who am I kidding? Most weekends--regardless of weather--we enjoy hanging out in pjs!). But, this Sunday we had to work the church nursery so we bundled up & headed out to the 11 o'clock Mass. It started snowing before we even left but I didn't have any high hopes for more than a few flurries. Turns out it was still snowing even after church and our Target run. Also turns out that this kid loves the snow!

I had every intention of taking her out to play for real in the snow after her nap until I realized all of her shoes are mary janes--not one pair that would keep her tootsies protected! Guess we need to go buy this girl some boots!

Anyway, the snow kept falling and we luckily had a snow day Monday. Hooray! And, thanks to the freeeeeezing temps, we've managed to squeeze out another one for Tuesday!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Last year at the holidays, we were in the middle of many a home project in the hopes of getting the house on the market and, consequently, opted out of the Christmas decorating :( I was pretty bummed about not having a tree for Ellen's first Christmas but luckily, she was none the wiser.

Last Sunday, JP was off so it was the perfect opportunity for us to go pick out our tree for this year! And, to top it all off, it was snowing! I wasn't feeling great, but couldn't wait for us to get our tree as a family.

Loading up in the car Ellen's best "Michael Jordan" impression--Daddy's favorite trick
Picking out a tree

Looking adorable in our red coat Ready to head home

The car carts at Home Depot were much more interesting than the trees!

While Ellen took a nap, our rock star Daddy took on the Christmas lights. Since the white ones we had weren't working & I wasn't feeling great, we decided to go with some colored ones we had in a new box.

Ellen's first glimpse of the tree post-nap.

Checking out every inch

Hanging the ornaments

A bird's eye view

Nothing beats a good box!

The final product!

First Haircut

As you may have noticed in recent posts, this kid's been rocking a mullet here lately. I had high hopes that the front of her hair would catch up with the back but finally I could ignore it no longer. Last Saturday, I had an appointment with Jennifer & she was kind enough to squeeze Ellen in too for her first haircut. A little lollipop, a butterfly smock & this kid was ready for the big cut!

Christmas photo shoot

WARNING--lots of photos to follow!

The peanut and I hit Warner Park to take a few photos for the Christmas card. Here are a "few" of the ones we got:

We even had time for an outfit change.

Don't worry--the one that made the card is not here, so you will still be surprised in a few days when your card arrives!

Opryland Hotel

The Opryland Hotel is definitely a Nashville landmark. The place is HUGE! Unfortunately, it was one of the many places around town devastated during the May flood.After many months of renovations, the hotel recently reopened. We decided to take a peek with Nana while she was in town visiting for Thanksgiving. From the moment we got inside, Ellen had one speed--running!
I did manage to snap a couple of photos before she was back to running around. (Probably because she only slowed down so she could climb!)

I knew it was bad when even Grandma Nancy asked someone else to take over the Ellen-chasing duties :)

Thank goodness, Aunt Jessica was there to take over!

The light/fountain show was a huge hit!