A Very Merry First Christmas!

Although our ride home yesterday was not very merry (we haaaaaate I-35 traffic between Dallas and Austin over the holidays), we did have a very merry Christmas with the Long family this weekend.  Brie and Ella were sufficiently spoiled by their grandparents and Auntie Reanna and it was just fun hanging out together.  It was probably my most favorite Christmas ever!  Brie even thought opening packages was one of the best things in the world and would grab the paper and hold on tight as I moved the package around to rip the paper off.  Then she tried to eat the paper.  Oops.  Oh well, I'm pretty confident she will survive!

We are looking forward to mom, dad and Reanna arriving tomorrow to spend a few more days with us.  Plus, we get the bonus of Ella as well.  Katherine turns 30 this year, so she and Justin are going to San Antonio for a little mini-vacation.  We are looking forward to listening to Brie and Ella "talk" to each other some more.  Can't wait to watch these two little gals grow up together!

I look lame in this picture, but my most favorite Christmas gift of all looks pretty darned cute!

 I love this picture because it captured the very first gift opening moment...she literally dive-bombed the package

And this is poor Justin on the last part of our ride home.  It took so long to get to Austin that we had to pick up the dogs at the vet in the fully loaded Accord with Brie in tow.  We were hoping to never ever have to have the dogs in this car...but thanks to Dallas traffic we had to do it...Sierra thought she should probably sit up on Justin's lap, rather than on the floor with Mozart...it was quite an interesting 30 minutes for sure!

5 Months!

 It is so hard to believe our little Brie is 5 months old already...time is flying by way too fast!  I remember this time last year Justin and I were on our cruise and imagining our life "next year at this time."  I couldn't have imagined a more perfect baby :)!  Here's some stats on our fabulous five month old:

• Weighs in at about 14 1/2 pounds
• Is about 25.5ish inches long
• Loves to chew on pretty much anything, but especially her favorite two fingers
• Is a wonderful, fabulous, amazing sleeper (she averages 10-11 hours a night...straight...yes, we know this is not normal and she is completely spoiling us!)
• Isn't laughing quite yet, but loves to give us lots of big smiles
• Prefers to roll from her back to her tummy....instead of from her tummy to her back...she likes to do things the more challenging way
• Loves to be out and about and around people...a go-getter for sure!

In other news, we celebrated our first family Christmas of the year with the Halvorsens/Schlafers last Sunday.  Poor Justin had a stomach bug, so he didn't get to enjoy much of it, but Brie and I had fun :).  We got a few pictures of the cousins, it's very interesting trying to do a photo shoot with a 6 year old, two 3 year olds and a 5 month old baby!  On Friday we head for Dallas, where we will spend Christmas with the Longs.  We are especially looking forward to spending time with Auntie Reanna, who hasn't seen Brie since August (poor Auntie Reanna!).

Here are a few pictures from the Halvorsen/Schlafer Christmas:

 Cousins: Hailey, McKayla, Abigail & Brie

 I love the expressions I randomly catch on camera...and I love that Brie seems to love hats.  She wore this the whole day, except for during nap time :)

 Brie with Grandma Halvorsen and the quilt she designed and made for Brie--such talent!

And, just because I love this smile so much, a picture of her in her new onesie from Grandma H

Happy Birthday Daddy & Jeans

Oops, wife fail.  Justin's birthday was last week and I forgot to do a Happy Birthday Justin blog.  However, in all fairness, Justin believes his birthday did not happen, so really, it was in an effort to help him ignore the day.  Anyhow, Brie and I wanted to say a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the bestest husband and daddy us gals could ask for :).  Here's a few pics of Brie "helping" daddy with his packages...

 Yes indeedy, that's Cars wrapping paper.  Keepin' it young in our household...

And yes indeedy, that's a Cinderella card for daddy (it's from his princess!)

And, jeans.  Baby jeans are super cute.  However, completely impractical as they are very hard to remove and put on with multiple diaper changes in a day.  But, did I mention they're SUPER CUTE?  So, I broke down yesterday and put Brie in her adorable jeans for the first time.  And, our July mommies group secret Santa sent us the adorable pink boots she's wearing.  I'm not usually a fan of shoes on babies who can't even walk yet, but I will admit these were pretty darn cute...and they kept her feet warm :).

 Just loves to have her fingers in her mouth these days...this shot shows her fancy boots :)

 'Sup blog readers?

Sophie

This picture of Brie with Sophie the giraffe just might be my favorite one I've snapped.  I have no idea how I got that expression, but it is priceless.  For those of you who don't know about Sophie, she is supposedly the bestest and most awesome teething toy in the world.  She's from France and is (in my mind) ridiculously expensive.  However, thanks to a tip from a friend, I got a great deal on Sophie and she arrived in the mail the other day.  Is she the bestest and most awesome teething toy in the world?  Well, I'm not sure, but I will say that it's the ONLY teething product that Brie has actually had an interest in so far, and she seems to enjoy nibbling Sophie's ears, legs and snout.  So, in that sense, so far it's great in my mind :).  Here are a few more pics of Brie and Sophie...

I'll never get tired of that adorable smile!

 Nom, nom, nom

Sophie...eh...fingers work just fine for this baby :)