It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I know it has been a while since I've posted, but in my defense, the last month has been busy. The primary reason is that we are attempting to sell our house. We don't have any news to report on that yet - we've just been been fixing things up and trying to keep it clean (which is near impossible with a mobile 1 year old around). But I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to talk about all the fun things that happen this time of year! Here are a few of the highlights:

1. Omi's birthday!

Omi turned 80 this year! What an accomplishment! And what a treasure she is to all of our lives! We got to celebrate with her in Charlottesville at the Omni hotel. We had a great lunch, got to see a gingerbread house display, and even got to meet Santa. Somehow I didn't come away with any pictures of the birthday girl, but here are a few I did get:

(family shot)

(Nolan kept trying to steal the fake Christmas presents that were under the tree in the lobby and open them. I guess he is starting to figure out what presents are all about!)

2. Christmas Parties!

We've gotten to go to several Christmas parties so far. Here are a few pics from Ms. Lisa's (Nolan's babysitter) party:

(Nolan with cousin Hunter - sporting some sweet reindeer antlers)

(Nolan with cousin Hannah Lovell)

(Nolan meeting Santa - he wasn't his biggest fan)

(Nolan and some of the kids singing Jingle Bells - Nolan didn't totally know what was going on but he was good at ringing the bells)

(Some of the kids singing Rudolph - Nolan is in front with the red shirt)

(Nolan showing his new toy to his friend Luke)



3. Food!

Nolan has discovered the wonderful world of SWEETS. You can attribute a large part of that to his Pops. The two of them can go through a bag of mini-marshmallows in no time. Whenever we visit Jack at work, Nolan finds his way to Dad's office and to the bag of marshmallows. As a result, this is what happened when I bought a bag of marshmallows to use in a recipe:

(Nolan climbed on the kitchen chair and helped himself... by the handful. That'll teach me to leave food within his grasp)

Recently I bought several bags of holiday chocolates to give as a part of a present. As I was wrapping the present, Nolan started helping himself to the Reese's peanut butter cups... again by the handful (Grandmommie would be proud! :). Unfortunately for him they weren't unwrapped. But he didn't care. He stuffed them in his mouth wrappers and all!

(Eventually I was able to pry all of the wrappers from his mouth. But now that he knows what tasty treasures are hidden in those wrappers he uses his stool or chairs to try to reach the bowl of them on the counter!)

4. Snow!

We got our first snowfall of the season (and hopefully not last)! We only got a few inches but it was good enough for a couple of days off of school. It couldn't have come at a better time! Those extra days gave me more time to work on Christmas presents (lots of homemade gifts this year) and more time to play with Nolan! He wasn't really sure what to do with the snow. Last year he always fell asleep when we took him out. So far this year he just seems confused about why it's so cold!

(Nolan with his friend Jackson - 7 months)