Merry Christmas!

It's been a wonderful day and we've all had fun.  My next post will share more details, but for now, I'll just share a pic of Evie's first visit to Santa.  She was so excited and loved every minute!  She wouldn't talk much, but she did whisper "thank you" to Santa for the jingle bell he gave her.  Santa must have known she was a good girl because he brought her lots of presents.  Evie is one happy girl!

Mama's Little Helper

This past weekend, I decided to make Chex Mix and this year I had an extra special helper…Chef Evelyn!

She was so excited to put on her apron, stand on the step stool and help.  She helped pour all of the ingredients (besides the spices) into the roasting pan and she helped me stir everything up.  I think her favorite job was being the official taste tester though…yummy!

Ta-da!

Evie loves to color and constantly asks for her coloring book.  Evie is very proud when she colors.  She spend quite of bit time scribbling when I made dinner last night, then ran into the kitchen with her coloring book shouting “Ta-da!” to show me her picture.  Not sure where she got that, but it’s kinda cute.  She’s getting better at her colors too.  She knows most of the basic ones, but her favorite color by far is purple.  If she can’t remember what a color is, she’ll just say it’s purple.  Now we just have to work on staying in the lines, not putting the crayons in her mouth and not coloring on the floor, walls or cabinets.  Thank goodness for Magic Erasers!

Christmas Parties!

We celebrated Christmas with both sides of Pat’s family over the weekend.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get very many pictures.  There were a couple of reasons for this.  1)  My kiddo would not sit still long enough for me to take her picture and 2) I wasn’t feeling well at all that day and didn’t have the patience to run around after her to try and take her picture.  Regardless, I did get a few pics and we had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas.  Evie got to hang out with Stella at Marker Christmas and boy did she have fun.  Stella was so good with Evie, let Evie follow her around and even read her a book.  Evie loved it!  She also enjoyed meeting Baby Lucas and playing with all of his toys.  She also loved all of the delicious Christmas cookies that we had there…YUM!  We had such a nice time seeing everyone and catching up, and although Evie was shy at first, she warmed up after a while.  She even hugged everyone and told them ‘thank you’ for her gifts.  After a brief trip home for Evie’s nap, we headed over to Grandma Rita’s house for another party.  Evie had a ball playing with all of the toys and hanging out with Andrew and Jonathan.  She had fun exploring her grandma’s house (even though it made me a nervous wreck that she was going to break something).  And she loved playing with Mickey the dog.  She loved him so much that she decided to try and give him an entire bag of saltines in his food dish…geez!

This year Evie’s Uncle Dan and Aunt Nicole were in town for the Christmas parties.  It had been over a year since we’d seen them and I think they were impressed at how much Evie had grown.  They brought Evie a present all the way from Prague!

We had so much fun celebrating Christmas with Pat’s family this year!

Just to make you smile...

A trip to pet store

Last night our plans to go to Wildlights at the Columbus Zoo were foiled by rain.  So instead we went on an adventure to the pet store!  Evie’s eyes lit up the second we walked in the door.  Bunny rabbits, puppies and birds – oh my!  We held a puppy and Evie showed us how gentle she could be.  She kneeled down to see the puppies in the cages and said “hi puppy”, and giggled like crazy when a puppy would jump up to try and lick her fingers that were pressed against the glass.  The parrots and frogs were intriguing to her and she adored the kitties.  She didn’t seem too impressed by the fish though.  Not that I can blame her.  After going to the aquarium at the zoo and seeing sharks and big, bright tropical fish, these seemed a little boring.   Outside of the puppies, she kept going back to see the giant turtle that they had there.

Our trip to the pet store was definitely a success – although Evie looked very sad when we left and she had to say bye-bye to the animals.  Don’t worry Evie – I have a feeling we will be going back there this winter!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

… in the Marker house!

 We’ve been Christmas shopping, baked cookies and decorated the house and the tree (thanks for helping Kiki, Pops and Aunt Sha-Sha!).  Evie just loves the tree!

We’ve been watching Christmas specials on TV, singing Christmas carols and reading our Christmas books.  Evie two favs are Pete the Cat Saves Christmas and Christmas with Rita and Whatsit.

We love this time of year!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love this time of year.  The festiveness, without the pressure of gifts.  The warmth of my home and the delicious smells from the kitchen.  The way that everyone comes together to just share a meal and be together.  I look forward to Thanksgiving every year – and yes part of this has to do with the fact that I married a chef who does the cooking that day!

This year I have so much for which I’m thankful.  I’m thankful for my husband.  He is patient, kind, generous and such a wonderful father to our daughter.  I’m thankful for my little jumping bean Evie.  She bring so much joy and laughter into our lives, and her wonder and imagination remind me to slow down every once in a while and just play.  I cherish my time with her and I am so thankful to be her mama.  I’m thankful for family and friends.  Their support and love means so much to me and I don’t know where we’d be without them.  I’m grateful for my parents who would (and have) dropped everything to come to Columbus if we need help.  I’m grateful to my mother-in-law who has babysat for a sick Evie more than once because I have to go to work.  I’m grateful for all of the love, kisses and snuggles that my baby girl gets from her grandparents, great-grandmas, aunts and uncles.  I’m grateful for friends who have visited me in Columbus and all of the good times and laughter that we share.  I’m grateful for our home and good health.  The list could go on and on.  Today, I’m grateful for this time to be thankful because all too often I get caught up in what I don’t have and I forget to be thankful for my blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours!