Happy Holidays!

Hard to believe Elizabeth's second Christmas is just around the corner!

There's a party going on 'round here. . .

Last night we had the family over to our house to celebrate Elizabeth's first birthday. (We have since decided we either need a bigger house or a smaller family!) Elizabeth was thrilled to have so many of her favorite people in the same room--she was literally shrieking with excitement as the guests arrived. She especially enjoyed playing with cousin Jordan!



After a light dinner, Elizabeth opened her presents. . .or rather, Holly opened Elizabeth's presents while the birthday girl crawled off to find something more interesting--like the discarded wrapping paper from said presents.



Once we had finished the presents, it was time for some birthday cake! Holly made a ladybug cake in keeping the with the theme of the party. And as per tradition, Elizabeth got her very own ("baby bug") cake. Something tells me she'll never go back to peas and carrots after that experience. . .

You're older than you were before, and now you're even older.

Happy Birthday, Elizabeth!

It's hard to believe that everyone's favorite baby (OK, fine, we can allow some exceptions--but I'm sure she's in the Top Ten for you all) is ONE YEAR OLD today! We just got back from Elizabeths 12-month checkup, where the doctor said everything looked great. Elizabeth continues to follow her heritage and is still a little beanpole, ranking in the 80th percentile for height and the 5th for weight.

Elizabeth is learning and growing so quickly! She's gone from using just a few signs to a "vocabulary" of around a dozen signs: more, eat, nurse, read, cat, dog, fish, Grandpa, baby, bath, and play. She also uses some actual words: "Mama", "Da" (dad or dog, depending on the context!), and my mom's favorite: "Nonna". :) She has yet to take her first steps, but she loves to crawl, climb, and explore. She also likes to play games such as peek-a-boo, pattycake, and her personal favorite of drawer-emptying.

Tune in this weekend for pictures of Elizabeth's first birthday party. . .including the classic "getting cake-faced" shots. :)

Who do you look like?

Okay, time to put the age-old question to rest: What celebrity do you look like?

Myheritage.com Face Recognition Demo

Elizabeth's face matched with Whoopi Goldberg, Lindsay Lohan, Shirley Temple, and Judy Garland. . .as well as Charles Darwin and King Christian IX of Denmark.

I ran 3 different pictures of myself--the one celebrity that came up all three times was Shirley Temple. (Gotta tell this to Uncle Rob!) Others included Eva Peron, Drew Barrymore, Rosalind Franklin, and Lindsay Lohan. Oh, and Matthew Perry.

I've always thought Jared looked like Ralph Fiennes or Harrison Ford. . .but they matched him with, among others, Viggo Mortensen, Hugh Grant, and Johnny Depp. For female celebrities he matched with Andie MacDowell.

I'm sure how reliable this thing is, though; it found Hilary Rodham Clinton's face in a tree in the background of one picture. . .

Anyway, now it's your turn--let's hear who you look like! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Elizabeth certainly enjoyed her first Thanksgiving! We went over to Grandma and Grandpa Olson's for Thanksgiving dinner with Jared's family. Elizabeth didn't care much about the traditional turkey, but she really enjoyed the rolls, sweet potatoes, and PICKLES. She also snuck her first taste of ice cream from Daddy. . . After dinner we played with Fiona, Bronwen, and Sinead for awhile before heading to the Quigleys for pie with Holly's family. Elizabeth got yet another taste of ice cream (Nonny just couldn't resist Elizabeth's sign-language requests for "more") as well as a bit of pumpkin pie.


Baby Sinead is getting sooooo big!



Here's Elizabeth enjoying a pickle. . .



Fiona, Sinead, Elizabeth, and Bronwen. (Yes, I know none of them are looking at the camera--but this was the only picture that didn't have Sinead crying, Fiona pouting, or Elizabeth climbing over Bronwen to get to Grandma's curio shelf)

Junk Mail

At least there's one person at our house who enjoys the quarterly newsletters sent out by our health insurance. . .

Om. . .again.

Elizabeth has learned a new yoga position: "Downward Dog"