Well we are finishing our last minute Santa preparations. Today we made our cookies for Santa and of course enjoyed a few ourselves. Maggie is getting very excited for Santa to come, she was very eager to make cookies for him and wants to know if he will take them back to the North Pole with him.

Today Wisconsin winter really hit, with the wind and cold. With the wind chill I believe we were below zero, not bad for baking cookies. A little rough for sitting in a football stadium. Justin and his Dad braved the cold to watch the Bears beat the Packers. And for that win Justin says it was worth it.

Tomorrow night Santa comes so I’m sure we will be busy but we will try to get Christmas pictures on as soon as we can!

Today I decided to venture to the mall with both girls and try for another Santa picture. Not too bad for the second time around, Maggie was actually excited to see Santa and after the picture she stayed on his lap and talked to him. Layla on the other hand- well you can see how excited she was. Hey, I figure only 1 crying were getting better, maybe we should try one more time. No thanks, we will wait till next year and hope for the best!

Maggie and I made our first Gingerbread house the other day and it is quite interesting. Of course I made it with Graham crackers because I was not about to attempt the baking and construction of a big one. It ended up being a lot for fun her, of course I think that had something to do with the M&M’s. She keeps asking when we can actually eat the house itself but I think we will skip eating that this year. There is a lot of frosting holding it together and fixing any cracks we made.

Christmas is only 6 days away!! Are you ready?

Just a couple of pictures from bath time tonight. Obviously Daddy was helping out and couldn’t resist some great pictures.

Well the weekend is over and believe it or not the tree is done!! YEAH! I wasn’t sure it would actually happen but we did and I think it looks beautiful. Maggie was a huge help and loved putting her special ornaments on the tree, she hasn’t moved too many as of today. I don’t think she likes that some needles fall off when you take them off. So that should help her leave them there. We will get some pictures soon. Now maybe tomorrow we can get the lights outside.

Layla has a tooth! It has taken forever but 1 tooth has finally come through. We had no idea she was teething she is still such a happy baby who makes lots of noise. We thought that since Maggie was such an early talker maybe Layla would be our quiet one. We were wrong she babbles all day and is already saying a few words. As far as crawling she still doesn’t get it, but that does not slow her down. If she wants something she will get it.

Playing with Dad

Our first Wisconsin Winter- and we are really enjoying it. Today has been full of SNOW. Well it actually started out as sleet but quickly turned into snow and it has been beautiful ever since. Lots of big fluffy snowflakes! Justin has done lots of shoveling and I’m sure will be doing lots more before the night is over.

He had off this morning and got to play outside with Maggie and they both enjoyed the time together and the snow. The shovel sled was a big hit! Hopefully Justin will be working a short day and we can enjoy an early night at home.

It seems like a great day to decorate the tree and get our house in the Christmas spirit!

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We had Breakfast with Santa, and the girls loved it!

They may be traumatized but we think it was worth it for this great picture.

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Originally uploaded by justin_slife.

We received our first significant amount of snow overnight. Maggie could not wait to get her new snow pants on and go play, Layla as you can tell was not as excited. Most of the time she stayed in her carseat all cozy and warm I took her out just before going in the house to get some pictures. As you can tell I had great luck getting both girls to look at the camera without any tears.

Maggie loved the snow!!!! We made snow angels and she had a blast just falling in it over and over. It was not good for making a Snowman or Snowballs but she had fun just throwing it at me. As adults we view snow as an inconvenience and think how cold it is and horrible it is to drive. Then you watch a 2 year old play in it for the first time and forget all about the nuisances and remember how much fun it is.

Today was one of those days that I am so grateful to be home. After our playing in the snow we came in and had some Hot Chocolate (another 1st) with lots of Marshmallows of course. And we ended our day watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. This was one of those days that make all the hard days worth it.

If everyday was like today would we truly appreciate them!

Maggie & Layla

Originally uploaded by justin_slife.

Halloween is finally over we started celebrating last Thursday, and I took this picture that night before the Hartland Business Trick or Treat. It was the only one I could even get them in together. On Friday we went to Midwest Twisters for a Halloween Carnival. I have a couple of pictures from there but it was hard to take them with it being so dark.

We really celebrated Halloween on Saturday, we walked in the Oconomowoc Parade with friends from Mom and Tots and then went to Luanne’s and Lucie’s to do some Trick or Treating. What a chore that was, Maggie was the slowest walker ever, but it was fun. We decided not to venture out tonight for Hartland’s Trick or Treat time. Maggie has a cold and seemed more excited about people coming to our house and giving them candy, unfortunately not many people came though. I think if I tried to put Layla in the Bumble Bee again she would have thrown a huge fit. Maggie did answer the door in her Lady Bug.

I have added some other fun pictures from the last few weeks. Hope everyone had a great Halloween!