Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Davies. We have loved getting everyone's Christmas cards and hearing how all of our friends are doing. We are doing really well this Christmas and enjoying not having to travel anywhere. We are settling in and finally feeling ready for the baby to come, which is a good thing because it could be anyday. At my appointment on Monday my Dr. told me things were progressing and to make sure my bags were packed. That night we got everything together. I've had contractions on and off this week so who knows. My due date is Jan 16th so I could go longer. In the meantime, we are really enjoying our first Christmas in our house. The fireplace, stockings, and tree set the scene and the laughter of family and joy of Kate and her cousin Tommy fill the house. A great Christmas!

Surprise!

Brian's birthday is January 6th and he is turning 30. Brian's birthday often doesn't get its due because it's just after Christmas. I was nervous that this year would be especially so with our new bundle of joy arriving, and I didn't want to let this special occasion slip by. So with my Mom and sister's help, I planned a little surprise party at our house. With just moving in, Christmas upcoming, and being very pregnant it was a little ambitious, but so worth it! For cover Brian thought we were having an open house holiday party. I asked him to take Kate out to dinner and Chuck E Cheese so I could have two year old free party prep time. When he returned with Kate all the guests had already arrived, and we successfully executed the surprise. I think it took him half an hour to process that the party was actually for him. We made italian subs, dips, and desserts, and for a little extra fun and surprise, I rented a craps, blackjack, and poker tables with dealers. (Thanks Jason Gottschalk for the idea.) When our guests arrived they got players cards for $500 in chips. At 8 the tables opened and the guests started gaming. At the end of the night the guests "cashed in" their chips for raffle tickets. My Mom put together five beautiful wine, coffee, chocolate, baking, and man themed prize baskets that we raffled off. We made Brian a spice cake and he got some wonderfully thoughtful presents, including a new driver from Kate and myself. It was great night, and what I hope was a memorable Birthday for my wonderful husband who I appreciate so much!

CLICK HERE for Video of Brian's Party!

December Update

We have been just a little bit busy the last few weeks. With moving into a new house, preparing for Christmas, taking care of Kate, being 36 weeks pregnant, and Brian being in the middle of Advent its been a bit overwhelming. We are actually doing really well. We are out of boxes besides the basement and even have a tree up. It feels great to be in our house and we really love it. Kate loves her house and her room and sleeping great. We even managed to do something Christmas spirited on Saturday and went to the park district breakfast with Santa. Kate was very wary of Santa, but did good. Her favorite things were the games and getting to try a sprinkle covered donut.
Kate has changed so much in the last few weeks. She is chatting up a storm, counts to 20, and is singing complete songs. We can do our entire abcs, twinkle twinkle, itsy bitsy spider, row row your boat, and her repertoire keeps expanding. Some of her baby talk is disappearing which I'm kind of sad about. She used to say "Come on Daddy, tick Kate." Now she says "Come on Daddy tickle me." A slight change, but still very cute though. Kate has learned how to jump and shouts it as she leaps around the house. She exclaims, "reach, reach" when she wants something we have put above her grasp. We still limit TV but when she wants to watch something she says, "Mote, Mote, Ere are you?" (Remote, Remote, Where are You) and looks around the living room. When we find it she says, "Gotch You." or "Dere you are." She insists on saying."Bye, see you later (yater)," to everything as we leave a room. That includes all 8 of her Disney princesses before bed. My favorite is Snow White (Stow Whi). Somewhere amidst this crazy month our little baby has grown up on us. She is truly a toddler and just in time, because I'm not sure how many more weeks until we have another little baby in our house.