NYE 2011...Cocktails a flowing...
Pre-dinner picure.
Logan Square Christmas beauty.
3 story Christmas tree!
Another house in Lincolnwood..
Ella and Daddy Christmas dinner pic.
Chrismas dinner pic in our PJs.
Kayla and Ella at church.
Ella opening her presents.....too bad the vaccuum noise scares her or she is already boycotting chores? Hmmm...
More prezzies. Again, less than impressed. Tear.
Before madness ensues.
Christmas Eve dinner...
Ella and Kayla- Christmas Eve.
Mommy and Ella...does her thumb ever come out of her mouth!?
Posing. Love her.
Naked post bath admiration of the decor.
Christmas Eve dinner.
Breakfast with Santa at Macy's. LOVE.
Pre-church picture.....
Ella just loved Santa. Nightmare! She was climbing up my person to get away!
A little still freaked by the Santa experience. A balloon artist helped. A little.
So happy to have gramma and granpa in town for the breakfast with Santa!
Macy's....
Ella having a little breakfast. Do you love her bib?! I DO!
Loving on some cheerios.
It's 2011! Can't believe it. We cozied up, hunkered down, rested and ate all day yesterday. It was so nice. I am dreading the work week already as the last 2 weeks have been filled with Ella and Scott time. It's back to business with no long weekends in sight.
We have some fun trips planned to fill our winter but that's bittersweet, too. The faster winter passes, the closer my little girl is to turning 2 and that just makes my heart beat fast and feel heavy. I will cherish the last few months of her being a "baby"....I know, I know, she is kind of a toddler, but I feel like 2 is the official start of little girl-dom.
Christmas went by much too quickly this year! I feel like a broken record but jeez! It really did. We celebrated Christmas Eve with our neighbors full of food and laughs, and then woke up early on Christmas to eat gorilla bread, break open the presents and get ready for church. We couldn't take too much in at church b/c it was a full house full of noisy kids (Ella was one of them, oops), but it was nice to celebrate Chrismtas at church b/c really, that's what its all about. I pray that we instill the real message of Christmas in Ella as she grows...very challenging in such a commercial world but little traditions surrounding around church and family will hopefully do the trick! Speaking of commercial trappings of Christmas, Ella just didn't really get the hang of unwrapping the presents fully. She liked ripping a piece of but would get bored and play with our adult gifts to one another. I don't think she's paid too much attention to her presents this year, oh well, I am sure she will be more into it next year. She gets really excited when she sees Santa in print, real Santas, however, are not so appealing. She is not a fan of the man. This, too, will improve (hopefully!?) by next Christmas..
We ate a huge meal and wandered around Lincolnwood, IL, which is just north of the city and is so cute...close to Chicago but so many neighborhood amenities/feel. I really like it. It was my mission to find the 3 story christmas tree that is written up in the Chicagoist.com, and we did! It was glorious. Pictures of it, along with other pretty houses, above. We also visited the coolest, most ostentacious house this year again, and the owners added a few more lights, if that's possible. This house is off of Logan Blvd, just a 1/2 mile from where we live. Check it out above! It's hilarious!
NYE 2011 was seriously perfect. I really wanted to go "out" but like, low key "out". So, we made ressies with the Vajdas for dinner at our favorite restaurant, Rose Angelis. We rang in 2011 across the street at a little neighborhood bar, complete with a little dancing, bubbly and taking in the drunken 25 year olds pairing off. God, I don't miss that scene but it is fun to be silly and dance with good friends!
We have taken down the decorations, met a new friend for coffee and pastries, so I think we will spend the rest of today relaxing and gearing up for January. We are visiting my friend Sara and her little ones in a couple of weeks to celebrate Reece's big 3rd party! I cannot believe this little lady is 3! She's a doll and I can't wait to catch up with my favorite girls.
We hope you are having a fabulous 2011 so far!
No comments:
Post a Comment