Merry Christmas!!

We're not doing Christmas cards this year, so here are our 'virtual' greetings!  Wishing everyone a very blessed and Merry Christmas!  Here are the cute faces you would see if we were sending some out...

Weekend

Jared took Friday off and we headed to Salem for the weekend, our first trip since Nora was born.  It was a nice long weekend and we saw lots of family. 
Jared's family has had a LONG week.  He had 2 uncles in the same ICUwith non-related issues.  His Uncle David Collier is still very critical in Mt. Vernon with multiple system failures but showing signs of improvement.  And his Uncle Edwin Phillips was taken to the hospital last week after suffering a major heart attack.  He has since had open heart surgery and is home recovering.  Thanks to lots and lots of prayers.  More prayers are needed for David and Ed's recovery at home.
Anyway, we had planned this trip to Salem before any of this happened, so it was good to be able to be there, see family and show our support.  So, Friday afternoon, we went to the hospital.  It was Nora's first introduction to most of the Collier clan and they were happy to meet her.  Ethan had fun in the waiting room playing with some of the cousins.

Darcy and Nora

Electronics are very entertaining!  Maci, Jadyn and Ethan

The rest of the weekend, we pretty much just hung out.  Libby and her girls, Haley and Katie were also in town.  And it was their first time meeting Nora as well.  Katie and Nora are 2 1/2 months apart.  We are sure they will be best friends!

Nora and Katie= BFF's!

Nora and Libby

They play so well together!  Ethan and Haley

Seriously!  Look how beautiful this girl is!!  Katie Sue- 4 months

The 3rd BFF...Abby

Smiling at her Aunt Abby.  Don't you just want to squeeze those cheeks!?!

The Collier Kids and The Mehrle Kids
Ethan- 2 1/2, Nora- 6 weeks, Haley 3 1/2, Katie- 4 months

Christmas Fun

It's been almost 2 weeks since my last post...sorry about that.  We've been busy with lots of fun Christmas-type things...

I realized after my last post, I didn't put a picture of Ethan's final project. Here is his baked Santa.

 



I LOVE decorating our house for Christmas!  It's my favorite time of year.  I've had fun decorating this year in our new home (and I haven't even bought too many new things)!

Bringing in the tree!

He likes to 'put them in order'.  Which involves him moving them all over the tree, and me vacuuming up all the needles that fall!

Ethan's 1st time to put the star on top

Our Living Room

  A few of my favorite ornaments...

This snowflake is from Noni (my grandma) from the year Jared and I were married

This is Ethan's silver ornament from my Mom and Dad

Nora's silver ornament from Mom and Dad for her 1st Christmas

The Elf (he doesn't really have a name yet...) hanging out in the kitchen

What is Christmastime without some fresh baked cookies!  I had help this year...

Such a good helper

Enjoying his chocolate cookie!

And I just had to share this one... They love each other :)

Randomness

Today, Ethan and I worked on a little Christmas craft.  It's one of those bead, suncatcher things that you have to bake.  Anyway, he was so excited about it.  I asked if he wanted to keep it or give it away.  He said he wanted to give it to Santa. 



Very Focused


 

Excitedly watching it bake

And I have to post a few of Nora just hanging around the house.  She is getting so big!  She's 5 weeks old today, by the way!

Enjoying bathtime

5 Weeks Old

And Ethan...telling me that he is a 'little tiny baby'...

30 Months

That's 2 1/2 years, just in case you need help with the math!  That's also how old Ethan was on Monday.  Since bringing Nora home, Ethan has looked SO big!  He is also independent, smart and funny.  Sometimes I can't believe the things that come out of his mouth.  I love to listen to him talk.  We actually have real conversations.  Aside from the whining episodes that (I hope) all 2 year olds display, this kid is the sweetest.  He loves to show us his affection with hugs and kisses.  He is an awesome big brother.  He still would rather be outside than anywhere else.  He is his daddy's boy.  Every night when Jared comes home from work, he yells 'Daddy' and runs to the door.  He is into just about anything that involves a ball and is starting to show more interest in cars and trains.  I guess he's just a typical boy!  He has been sleeping in his big boy bed for almost 4 months now and loves it.  I'm not sure how many times he gets up during nap or before falling asleep at night, but he's always asleep when we come in to check on him.  The last two and a half years have flown by and we aren't sure what we did before then.  We love you Ethan James!

Look at those big blue eyes!

'Cheese' smile

Helping give Nora a bath (and working on what his crown says)

Baby Dedication

Sunday was the baby dedication service at our church and we chose to participate with Nora.  My parents, as well as Jared's came back up on Sunday afternoon to be involved.  It was a very nice service and definitely gave Jared and I something to think about.  We were given 'homework' to complete prior to the service and part of it was to 'Imagine the End', 18 years from now.  It brings me to tears just about every time I think about it!  18 years from now?!? Really?  My baby is only 5 weeks old!  But it was a very good exercise for us.  It was basically calling us to imagine the person/young woman we want Nora to become.  It's easier to make it on a daily basis when you have a target or goal to focus on.  It all boils down to, us wanting our daughter (and son) to know Jesus Christ and have a relationship with Him.  Whatever we do while raising our children needs to point them in that direction.  Period.  As a gift from our chruch to the families who participated, we all got free family photos taken by a professional photographer.  He also took a 'class' photo of all the babies who were dedicated that day.  It was a great afternoon and one that will be rememberd.

My snapshot of the professional photo

Grandma Karen and Nora

They took all the carseats and arranged them and then took the pictures of just a few babies at a time.  And with the magic of photoshop, he will combine all the pictures for one big 'class' photo!  I'm looking forward to seeing it.  I'll try to post it if I can get a hold of one.

Happy Thanksgiving...

I'm a little late, I know.  We hosted our families here for Thanksgiving this year.  And I must say, it was nice not traveling.  We had a lot of great help, so I wasn't stressed in the least!  Jared and I decided we were not going to do the traditional Thanksgiving meal, so we opted for some delicious pork loin!  Jared researched quite a bit for some pork marinade recipes and his turned out great.  I made an appetizer, pumpkin cheesecake and helped with the twice baked potatoes; the rest of the meal came with our guests.  We had my mom and dad, Abby and Alex, Jared's mom (his dad had to work) and Dustin and Amanda.  I forgot to take a picture of the spread, but it was all wonderful and we have delicious left overs to finish up.  Here are a few pictures from our day.

Nora finally got to meet her Uncle Alex.  They got along great!

Amanda, Ethan and Uncle Dustin

Gobble Gobble Boy (even if there was not turkey...)

Dessert plate!

Karen is a happy dishwasher! :)

Grandma Terri and Nora

Alex and Abby (with a moustache)

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are ready for a Merry Christmas!  I am!  Christmas decorations are up!  Pictures to come after we get our tree. 

One Month

Nora is 1 month old today!  And it has been one of the fastest and slowest months all rolled into one...if that makes sense.  Anyway, she is such a sweet baby and a blessing to our family.
A few noteworthy things about our Nora at 1 month:
* Sleeping... She generally wakes up once during the night somewhere between 3 and 4:30 am.  Which gives us 4-5 hours of uninterrupted sleep!
* Eating... Other than at night, she is pretty consistant at every 3 hours.
* She is starting to stay happily awake for longer and longer at a time (which I love!)
* She makes adorable faces, one in particular I call the 'Zoolander' (see below)
* The girl likes to poop (sorry if this is TMI).  I don't think I've ever been pooped on as much as I have in the last month!
* She loves her brother.  (And he loves her).  He will sit by her bouncy seat and talk to her and 'pet' her head.
* According to our scale, she weighs approximately 11.5 lbs. 

1 Month Old Nora

The 'Zoolander' Face

Our 2 Blessings! 

Nora Meets Her Cousins

My brother, Jim, and his family came to Salem yesterday for a couple days and they still haden't met Nora.  Since we are hosting Thanksgiving at our house on Friday we weren't planning on a trip to Salem.  Then, work schedules interfered and they were not going to be able to make it here for Thanksgiving, so I decided to make a day trip to Salem.  Ethan had fun playing with Josiah and everyone was able to meet Nora.  It was a quick trip and a long day, but worth it.  I didn't take enough pictures, as usual.  I wanted one of Paige and Nora, since Paige has been asking for a baby sister :).  I'm pretty sure Nora is as close as she is going to get!

Ethan and Josiah playing some pool

Jim, Pop (on his lunch hour) and Nora

5 of the 7 (soon to be 8) Cousins!  Ethan wasn't really wanting to be there. 
Oh...the 8th is coming in April from Sarah :).  It's a girl!