Ah-Ho, Oh No!

Us: Natalie, what does Santa say?
Natalie: Ah-ho!

Brian and Emily came to visit this weekend and yesterday we took Natalie and Calvin to see Santa Claus at Home Depot (no line, free pictures!). Surprisingly our little social butterfly was not a fan of the big guy in red this year. (Last year she didn't mind.) She is a big fan of her Santa DVD, pictures of Santa, and pointing out Ah-Ho anywhere we see his image. The real thing must have been a bit too intense though because she cried and wouldn't sit with him. Calvin cried too but he was hungry. :)

We got this picture by sitting with her alone and having Santa sneak in behind us before she noticed. She was still skeptical.


Natalie with Santa last year.


Today we attended our neighbor's 1st birthday party, a breakfast with Santa. Natalie said she didn't want to see Ah-Ho again. However, she was very brave and quietly talked to him while I held her. We were very proud of her and think Santa is going to be good to her this year!

Now Bring Us Some Figgy Pudding!

But what is figgy pudding even? And would it be good? It doesn't really sound very good so we made Christmas cookies instead while we were snowed indoors this weekend.

We made traditional Christmas favorites from each of our childhoods - chocolate covered pretzels with peppermint dust, peanut butter blossoms, and Innis Christmas cut-outs - and we were very excited to share the traditions with Natalie. With the amount of dough, chocolate, and frosting she got to eat I think she was glad we did!






More sugary sweet pictures from our cookie baking are on our Shutterfly site.

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful

We certainly had frightful weather this weekend with our first blizzard of the season! (Do you get more than 1 blizzard a season? Ummm, don't know. We don't learn about mystical things like that growing up in the South.) Winds were 50+ mph, we got about a foot of snow, temps dropped to the single digits, and wind chills dipped well below 0. The worst of it was to start Saturday afternoon so Saturday morning we picked out a Christmas tree.

Natalie and Dad choosing the best one

Reindeer made the tree lot much more festive

Saturday afternoon the storm rolled in but the snow had largely stopped by Sunday afternoon. We took advantage and went sledding - a first for both Natalie and her Texan mom.





Sunday evening we decorated our tree. Surprisingly Natalie hasn't yet tried to undecorate it!




We have many more pictures of our winter fun uploaded to our Shutterfly site. Take a look!

I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up!

A toddler + new clunky snow boots + a frozen lake = amusement for the rest of us. :)

Cousins Cabin Weekend

We spent a nice and wintry weekend at the cabin to celebrate Chris's brother Brian's birthday. He was kind enough to share his cake with Cake Monster Natalie.

It was also Brian and Emily's son Calvin's first trip to the cabin. He's 2 weeks old and adorable (all 10.5 lbs of him!).

He and Natalie are becoming fast friends. We have no doubt that they'll be into mischief together in no time and keeping us all on our toes.

I mean what ringleader who looks like this doesn't seem to have something up her sleeve?!

Welcome, Calvin Gerard Deschane!

This Tuesday morning at 10:17 am Brian and Emily welcomed their first child, Calvin Gerard Deschane. He weighed 9 lbs and measured 21 in. After a bit of a stressful arrival and some time in the NICU he's doing well. We're so excited about our new nephew and are honored to have been asked to be his godparents as well. Congrats again Brian and Em, we love you, and we can't wait to see you 3 this weekend!

Happy Halloween!

Natalie had a lot of fun on her first trick-or-treating outing. She was a Packers cheerleader. Halloween in WI though - it was in the 30s, so she's bundled up!

We went with the Olsons (our awesome new neighbors) who have adorable Ladybug Amelia (10 months). The girls loved riding in the wagon but seemed really confused about why people were giving them candy. Natalie said it was the strangest wagon ride we've ever taken. Amelia said her teeth work just fine for eating the candy through the wrappers!

At Least Someone is Getting Some Use Out of Them

Mom has been hiding all these pretty shoes!

Whoa, check me out - I look GOOD!

I'm heading out on the town for some fun...

Check ya later!

Anderson Genes

Proof that Natalie has Anderson genes. She figured out that they fit on fingers all by herself.

Dot is a Girl!

We had our 20 week ultrasound on Monday - our first long peek at our new little one. During the scan we found out that we have another very healthy little girl on the way! She was very cooperative and the doctor got all the info she needed. With 1 beautiful and wonderful little girl we know that 2 has to be twice as nice!

Silly to say at this point, I know, but I don't think her face looks too much like Natalie's. Her ultrasound pictures are here.

Full body - check out how clear the brain is!

Feet - thankfully there are 5 toes on each, we could see well enough to count

Arm - practicing flexing to wrestle with her uncles

Creepy 3D picture of face and arms

Not quite as creepy 3D picture of her back, spine, and ribs

Walking in the Woods

We've enjoyed our unseasonably warm fall weather quite a bit lately with some fun outdoor activities.

2 weekends ago at the cabin on a walk...




Last weekend at a local farm...

We went on a hayride into the woods and were dropped off in an area with lots of trails. There were animals to pet hidden along the way!

We saw miniature horses and ponies,

A reindeer,

Donkeys,

Baby goats (thinking of you Auntie Em),

A llama and an alpaca,

And bunnies, frogs, horses, dogs, cats, pigs, turkeys, even a snake! Of course Dad is whole different kind of wildlife.


After our exploration in the woods we went to the farm's pumpkin patch and picked out a few souveniers.

We're thankful for our little stretch of Indian Fall because we're pretty sure it's back to normal October weather here now. The high today is 50 and we all know what's coming later! But don't worry, our snowsuits are ready.