NYE 2009

We rang in the New Year with our college friends and their kids at the Wineberg home. It was very different from past NYE celebrations with the focus being on the kids rather than just a group of adults hanging out. Addie had a blast and stayed up until 10:00 - a new record! Even this morning when she was laying in her crib I heard her singing songs about all the friends she was playing with last night, it was so cute!

Love You!

Addie said, "Love You" for the first time tonight! How sweet!

Merry Christmas!

Santa and his Elves

We have been very busy lately preparing for Christmas and at the same time creating our own family traditions around the holiday. A tradition I had growing up was each year my mom would take me to see the Dayton's 8th floor display and then we would pick out a new ornament for our tree. We have continued this tradition with Addie and went to see A Day in the Life of an Elf last weekend. She really enjoyed the display and had fun running around to each of the different scenes with her friend, Ava.

We have also made two trips to see Santa - yes, two trips. The first time we went to Macy's downtown and anxiously waited in line with many other children to see Santa. When it was Addie's turn they brought us into a room and Santa was there waiting! Apparently seeing this large, old man sitting in this room was quite scary for Addie because she started crying almost immediately. She threw such a fit that they didn't even attempt to take a photo - not even a family photo! I was pretty upset at the thought of not having a picture of Addie with Santa, especially since we had been looking at last year's picture, talking about Santa, reading about Santa - I thought I was doing all the right things! So we decided to try again at the mall where it was more open and she could see all the other kids sit with Santa while she waited in line. When we got there Addie was so excited! She was waving to Santa, yelling "Hi Santa!" and talking about all the toys Santa had with him. When it was finally Addie's turn she ran up to him and asked right away to see his Elmo doll. He pulled it out for her and she grabbed it and ran away! He pulled out an Elmo book to lure her back, but it was still all over. She started again with the tears, screaming, and running away. The only time we got her back near Santa was to give back his Elmo doll and she quickly ran away again. Before we left, she yelled out "Bye-bye Santa!" loud enough for the entire mall to hear and that was it.

Snow!

Christmas Tree 2009

This weekend we picked out our 2009 Christmas tree. We got our tree at Pinehaven Farm in Wyoming, MN. I've never cut down a tree before so this was a first for both Addie and me. We were excited to go to Pinehaven because that is where Brian's family got their trees when he was a kid, but were sad to hear when we got there that this is their last winter being open. Addie had a lot of fun running around and looking at all the trees. They also run a hobby farm with many different animals that you can pet or just run around with. We all had a great time - even if it's not at Pinehaven, this will surely be a new family tradition!


































When we got the tree home Addie was very excited to "help" decorate it ("helping" is her favorite activity right now). It was so funny because each ornament that she "helped" hang on the tree was simply placed in the branches - she clearly did not understand how to hang the ornament on the tree!