Many, Many Glorious Pictures

Ok - so I've promised some pictures for quite a long time and I've FINALLY been able to get them onto my computer so that I can get them to you! This first picture was taken way back in October when Aunt Rhian came to visit. This was the first time both she and Mortimer got to meet Sadie. Here's the adorable shot:






















Next is a shot of Sadie and her friend Parker. This was also taken in October. We drove over to Indianapolis for Butler's homecoming. I can't wait to take a similar shot of both girls next year to see how much they've grown and changed! I know it will be astonishing!
















Next is a Thanksgiving shot. It's not the greatest, but you can kind of see Sadie's cute little Thanksgiving outfit.


















Now we have a shot that I just can't resist. Sadie has recently begun to actually enjoy being on her tummy for longer periods of time. She's almost rolled over a number of times and if she's on any kind of an incline she will actually roll over. She's a genius, I know! :)




















The next two shots are also some favorites. There is one of me and Sadie and you can kind of see our Christmas tree in the background. I was dressed up and ready to go to the Orange Johnson House. This is a historical house in Worthington. The Worthington Historical Society gives tours of the house every Sunday. The house was built by Mr. Buttles sometime in the very early 1800s and has been in Worthington ever since. Obviously, Orange Johnson and his family lived in the house for a long time, which is why it is now named after him. Anyways, for the last 28 years there have been special Saturdays in December for children in 3rd and 4th grades (the years you study Worthington history in school) where children can pay a small fee and come to the Orange Johnson house and celebrate a 19th century style Christmas. They get to enjoy a meal that they help prepare. The meal is all cooked over the open fireplace. (My mom's the one who does ALL of the cooking over the fireplace - very HOT work!) They make a craft, sing some carols, play 19th century games, listen to stories, and get a visit from Saint Nicholas. This has all led up to the explanation of the other picture. This is Sadie and Saint Nicholas. If you look closely enough you might recognize Saint Nick (hint: at least thus far, Sadie has avoided inheriting his nose!).








































Next, here's a shot of Sadie opening her first Christmas gift. It is a tradition in our family that we always open one present on Christmas Eve. It's always the same thing - a new pair of pajamas. This is Sadie opening her new pair of pajamas!

















Then, there's a shot of my Dad's favorite gift that he purchased for Sadie. It's a Po-knee (pony). It actually makes horsey noises and both Grandpa and Sadie seem to love it. I will do my best to actually get the video posted. It's very funny!




















Finally, here's a family shot at the Columbus Zoo. Earlier this week we had an unseasonably warm day - 66 - so we took advantage and took Sadie to the zoo to see the Wildlights. She was captivated, but, as you can see, all that looking around was tiring work!

















Holy cow - I almost forgot one! Here is Sadie with Santa!




















Well, hope everyone had fantastic Christmas celebrations and are anxiously awaiting your New Year's celebrations. I'm definitely looking forward to 2009 and all of the wonderful things that are in store for us. Hopefully there will be as many wonderful blessings in our lives in 2009 as there have been in 2008. We began this last year by learning that we were pregnant with Sadie and this year we begin by celebrating with her! Adam, Sadie, and I all wish you much joy and happiness in the year ahead!

Catching Up - 4th Photo

Ok, I've had the luxury of catching up on some blog reading this morning and have seen a recent trend. Apparently, there is this "fourth photo" challenge going around. Below are the directions.

The object of the picture tag is to:

1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer
2) Select the 4th picture in the folder
3) Explain the picture
4) Tag 4 people to do the same

Here is the picture:




This is obviously a picture of me. It was taken in the Bahamas. It was taken the night that Adam and I arrived in Port Lucaya way back in December of 2005. We decided to go somewhere exciting to ring in the new year because (as some of you may remember), I had a particularly bad Fall at school that year. I had the principal from Hell and was an emotional wreck from everything that she had put me through. However, this picture does bring back happy memories. It was Adam's and my first big trip, only Adam's second time flying anywhere, and definitely Adam's first time digging on a beach. This particular photo shows me chowing down on some lobster. We had high hopes for tasty lobster, but that little fella was disappointing!

On a totally different note, another quick update - my mom, Sadie, and I travelled to West Chester, Ohio yesterday to make a pilgrimage to IKEA. I bought a ton of picture frames for all of our new pictures and enjoyed the chance to just wander that fantastic store. Sadie was a GREAT little girl and enjoyed traveling around the store in her Baby Bjorn. She is now outward facing, most of the time, so she thoroughly enjoyed getting to see everything and have everyone coo over her when they saw her adorable little face. My mother got more of a chuckle out of the whole thing because she thought Sadie looked like some little alien trying to escape from my chest. We'll have to get a picture posted and let you decide!

Also, Aunt Rhian and Mortimer are now home safe and sound. This is very good since we're now having a bit of scary weather. Hopefully things will cooperate tomorrow, when Pam comes down for a visit, and on Tuesday when cousins Megan and Amanda fly in. I'm nearly jumping out of my skin with excitement at seeing all of these people. Woohoo!

Well, I'm going to try to catch a shower before my angel wakes up! Take care!

Happy Holidays!

Well, I have good news to report this morning, so I thought I better report it. Sadie has a place to go during the days beginning in January. She will be going to stay with a lady here in West Jeff. Her name is Amy and she is currently only watching two other children - an 8 month old boy named Blake and a 2 year old girl named Lily. Amy, Blake, and Lily all seemed very easy going and I felt very comfortable in Amy's house. Plus, Blake is a super cute little boy and if Sadie's going to have to have a boyfriend, I guess I'd be ok with it being him. :) Having this decision made has made me feel AMAZINGLY better and I'm quite glad to have Sadie be so close to me during the day. She's literally less than 5 minutes from my school. Amy is also not charging us an arm and a leg and will not be charging us if Sadie is not actually in her care for the day, which is a pretty unusual policy. So, I'm feeling pretty darn lucky at this point.

I'm also feeling really excited because my sister is flying in today. She doesn't get in until 10:30 tonight, so I won't actually get to see her until tomorrow, but just the thought that she'll be actually reachable in less than 24 hours is filling me with holiday giddiness. And, we're having our holiday potluck at school today and my mom is bringing Sadie out to school. So, I get to see my baby in only a few more hours!

Finally, our pictures are in from Penney's. I'm posting a few of my favorites, but you can follow the link below to see all the rest.

On another note, if you know Tiger and Megan, I talked to Tiger yesterday and they have learned the gender of their baby. Megan is due May 14. You'll have to talk to Tiger or Megan to find out, but they do know now. :)






Here's the link for the pictures:

Go to http://www.smilesbywire.com and enter the following:

Customer Name: KRYSTEN SMITH
Access Code: LTPP0741120209JCP

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Very Quick Update

Ok - this is my second time typing this.

Sadie was weighed on December 3, 1 day before her 3 month birthday. She weighed in at 15 lbs even.

I really don't enjoy being back at work. This year's crew is not particularly pleasant and that doesn't help motivate me to want to be here. Plus, it's super hard to work all day and come home to Sadie in the late afternoon. Like her mom, she's a morning person, and typically by the time I get home she's not in the greatest of moods. That just adds to the guilt.

We've also had a horrible time trying to find someone to watch her that I both like and can afford. I think we have this finally resolved, but I'll have to keep you all posted on that.

She's been staying with her Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa. I've been pumping like crazy and she's been happily eating from her bottles. She even likes to hold the bottle herself!

We spent Thanksgiving at Uncle Tim and Aunt Sarah's house. Sadie got to play with her cousins, Codey and Noah. They were GREAT with her, thanks to lots of practice playing with their little sister. We also got to see Grandma and Grandpa Brinkely, which is always a treat. We even got to see Grandma and Grandpa again this last weekend because they came down for a visit.

I'm very excited for Christmas. Aunt Rhian gets here on Thursday and then my cousins Megan and Amanda arrive on Tuesday. Pam is also coming into town, so Sadie will have many new friends to meet.

Well, I do actually need to get some work done this morning, so I have to run. We got pictures taken last week and I'll post that information as soon as I have it. Merry Christmas everyone!