christmas eve

Whoops! This is out of order. But I can't leave out Christmas eve! After celebrating with our little family, we went to Josh & Gretchen's house for Fettucine Alfredo (some with seafood, some without) & goodies. After dinner, Finn & I helped Gretchen & her boys decorate a gingerbread house. This was Finn's first experience with a gingerbread house & he was definitely more interested in eating the treats! We managed to get a few pieces of candy on the house, but most of them came right back off & into Finn's mouth! :)

Finn opening a gift from Memaw & Papa: jammies & a Peter Pan book!

Ronan & Griffin also got gifts from their parents.

Finn checking out Ronan's Curious George book.

Cute boys!
Ronan & Finn got matching football jammies & Griffin's had monkeys on them.

Memaw & Papa with half of their grandchildren
(the Chases had a family gathering for Aaron's side of the family)

more merry-ness

Christmas #1: We celebrated Christmas at our house on Christmas Eve. Very different from last year - Finn was really excited & totally into checking out each & every gift. He mastered the sentence "What is it?" as each person opened a gift. It was fun to see him appreciate each gift, even the jammies! :) Wall-E & Eve were a favorite though...

Finn gets this face from his dad! Kenton often makes a similar expression when opening an exciting gift. :)

See! :P

A gift from Mama.
I wanted to get Finn a little boy baby doll...to practice with. :) He was very sweet with his little baby: rocking him, covering him with a blanket, & laying him down to "leep."

Christmas #2: at Mummi & Pappa Henry's house on Christmas morning.

His big gift was a new tricycle! He also got a pair of bear slippers like dad's. :)

Christmas #3: at Memaw & Papa Hecht's house. Finn got a dancing Wall-E - also a big hit!

Kenton with a new game!

Only one picture from Christmas dinner back at the Henry's. I made a cranberry trifle that was very yummy!

Then today (12/27), we celebrated Christmas with my mom's sister Robin & her family from Portland. This was the annual Stoerman gift exchange - we draw names with the aunts & cousins on my mom's side.

Gretchen & Josh hosted in their beautiful new home!

The "Novemberists"
The 3 youngest boy cousins all have birthdays in November & Aunt Robin gave them all cool transformer cars!

Elle, Aunt Robin & Hannah checking out Hannah's gift: "Get Smart" on Blu-Ray

Happy Mom

Me holding my lovely maternity shirt & wearing the pretty bracelet from my cousin Melissa - Thanks Melissa! :)

Always a good time with family. I hardly even saw Finn for the 3 hours we were there. There is so much fun stuff to check out at cousin Griffin & Ronan's house! :)

merry christmas

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas with those you love. We're looking forward to our double Christmas celebration in the morning, with both of our families, all in one city! This season has been so fun with our two year old & it has been great to experience all of the excitement through his eyes. We feel so very blessed & we wish you great blessings in the New Year!

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A couple of photos of Pre-Christmas Fun!


Kenton, Finley (2) & Katrina (20 weeks pregnant or 5 months)
The Christmas service at church


Gretchen, Becca, Mom & Me


The family all together: Becca, Gretchen, Mom, Papa, Erik & Me

Carolyn & I have a long standing tradition of taking our picture while hugging the Christmas tree. It started about 10 years ago & we didn't make it happen every year, but we still try. :)

Carolyn, Jesse, Finn, Katrina & Kenton

This morning, Finn opened the last box from his advent calendar: Santa! Merry Christmas everyone!

signs of the season

This year, I was so excited to decorate our new house for Christmas. I couldn't wait to unpack the decorations & also planned a few projects to create some new decorations. It seems like each year I add a few homemade decorations to the collection. This year, I made the ribbon Christmas Trees (top middle) out of white ribbon & Styrofoam cones & the wreath (bottom middle) out of a grapevine wreath (bought at a craft store) & holly from my neighbors holly tree (it hangs over the fence into our yard). I made the stockings a couple of years ago & have extra materials to make a new one for baby#2. I'm still trying to think of how I want to decorate his...

decorating cookies

Our Bible study group met at our house last night for our Christmas celebration. We made yummy calzones & then decorated cookies! The pictures of the kids turned out much cuter than the pictures of the adults, so here they are. :) Ethan & Macey enjoying their Christmas cookies!

I gave Finn a little bit of frosting a lots of sprinkles to "decorate" his cookie. He spent a bit of time on it before devouring the whole thing!

And then he decorated himself!

Notice the snow on the ground outside the sliding glass door. We've been spoiled by a couple of inches of snow that has actually stayed for a few days! It usually melts right away but the temperature has been staying below freezing for 3 days. Today it might warm up enough to rain...or stay cold enough for snow or freezing rain. Then there's more snow in the forecast tomorrow! So we've been enjoying the lovely, white snow & staying warm indoors. :)

snow day

After waiting patiently for our snow (we had seen snow in the forecast a week ahead), we finally woke up to a blanket of white! Kenton left for work in our car, but after his meeting got cancelled & he'd driven at a snails pace partway to work, he turned around & came home! Yay! Time to play!

Two steps out the door, Finn slipped & fell on his tummy!

We walked to the school where I work & Finn had a blast being pulled behind on the sled.

Taking his turn pulling the sled. I love his pink cheeks!

So happy! Right before he noticed how wet & cold his hands were. :)

Snow baby!


I knit this hat for myself a few years ago & its always been a little small for me. It fits Finn perfectly & looks pretty snazzy too!

Dad got his work out pulling Mama & Finn, all the way home!

it's a boy!

Our little boy, laying on his back, looking up, with his legs crossed above him.

This morning, Kenton & I caught a little glimpse of the baby in my tummy! After some poking & prodding...& a bit of jumping around, he straightened his crossed legs, so we could see for ourselves that we have a little boy on the way! Kenton & I are both a little shocked. I guess neither one of us really thought we would have a second boy. It's pretty amazing to think about what it will be like to have another little boy who is different than Finn. We have no idea what to expect, but are very excited to meet this little person. I am planning to have another C-section & are working on scheduling it for May 1, 2009.

Finn took a long look at the ultrasound photo & really seemed to understand that he was looking at a baby. Whenever he sees a baby, he says "Awwww" & lays his head to the side with a cute grin. He thinks babies are so cute! It's going to be so fun to see him interacting with his little brother. I've been feeling baby #2 moving around in my tummy for about 3 weeks now & just recently felt him kick from the outside. Hopefully, soon Kenton & Finn will get a chance to feel him kick too!

We are so thankful for the healthy baby boy growing in my tummy & pray that my pregnancy continues to progress smoothly through the final 5 months. We can't wait to introduce you to the newest member of our family this May!

signs of a weekend...in december

We seem to be having very busy weekends, lately. Trying to tackle to-do lists that keep growing & growing. It's a little trickier to get things done around here with a very active 2 year old, who doesn't enjoy playing by himself. :) But he is such a good helper...when he wants to be. Here he is "working" with Dad, to hang his curtain rod.

We've been living in the house for a month now & Finn has had a thick, wool, Mexican blanket hanging over his window with thumb tacks...until now. But for some reason, Finn's new bedroom window is a little taller than his old bedroom window. So I won't be sharing any after pictures of his curtains because it's a little more ghetto than I prefer. :P I'll make him new curtains when he's old enough to decide on new decor for his room. For now, he's stuck with slightly ghetto curtains!

Our boy has such a great sense of humor. He thought of sticking these plastic googly eyes on his own eyes first...but needed a little help after they started to lose their stickiness.

And of course, I made him do it again so I could snap a picture. :)

Opening box #6 from his nativity set.

A close-up of the calendar

We keep it just out of reach, for good reason. He's always disappointed that he can't open more than one box each morning. But reminding him at bed time that he gets to open a new box in the morning has helped the routine go a little more smoothly. :)


In other news, Baby Jesus has been found! Hooray!

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Saturday was also Outi's birthday & Finn was so excited about cake. When Kenton called her in the morning to wish her a happy birthday, Finn got a chance to talk & told her "Happy Cake!" Anyway, her gift from us was a home-made apron...the first I've attempted.

I was pretty happy with the results. I'm excited to try different combinations of fabric & ribbon.

The main event - in Finn's eyes.

Pappa & Mummi - the Birthday Girl!

Being a big helper again!

Outi in her apron, holding a new cake stand from Marylee & Lew.