Merry Christmas

On Christmas Eve morning we rode the Max downtown so Belle could have her first photo with Santa.  She was a gem!  She blessed us by taking the perfect photo with him and was not the least bit scared.

Christmas Day was spent with my family and Belle was spoiled with so many generous gifts.  She even had her own stocking at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

We hope you all had a special day with family and loved ones and a Merry Christmas!

December is flying by...

Are there really only five more days until Christmas?  This month has been flying by for me.  We have been staying busy with Christmas parties, having friends over for dinner (flashback to Switzerland with fondue), meeting girlfriends for dinner and doing a little wine tasting with friends.  I am also counting down the days until I return to working full time (thirteen to be exact).

Belle has recently discovered her voice and "talks" to me all the time now, look out world because she has a lot to say!  I hope to capture a video of some of our conversations.  She also learned she has hands!  She makes fists and stares at them and makes herself cross eyed, she is so happy to have her hands.  We love her more and more and can't believe how much she has grown.

Our friend Wes Price and his son Ty were in town for one night and we were able to introduce Belle to her future boyfriend over dinner.  He is a mover and a shaker and beyond adorable.  

His reaction to seeing our gorgeous daughter.

As some of you know, I love stripes and I am enjoying dressing Belle to match me on some days. (Not really, it just worked out that way.)  Here we are with our serious pose together.

We were at Stoller Vineyards on Sunday for some tasting and a tour of their cellar.

She also loves sucking her fingers...

Our favorite was the 2009 Pinot Noir

We finished the weekend at a party hosted by some friends that live down on the Willamette River waterfront.  The Christmas Ship Parade was passing by and we tried to capture a few shots before heading home.

We are looking forward to celebrating Belle's first Christmas this weekend.  Merry Christmas to all!

Cozy

Christmas has come early to the Bulloch household!  Scott and I gave each other a gas fireplace for Christmas and it was installed this week.  I look forward to making lots of memories in front of the fire as a family and with friends.  Now we might just use our living room. 

Belle update:  She loves looking at herself in mirrors and I love watching her expressions.

Can you tell that she has a full belly in this photo?

I tried using my tripod and timer this week to take a few photos together and as you can see, Belle was NOT having it.  Oh well... hopefully we will get some shots together soon and she won't be as upset.

Beaver Believers & Our Little Helper

Okay, so we kind of had a hunch that the outcome of the Civil War football game would be a University of Oregon win, but we still had fun getting dressed up for the day and cheering on the Beavers.  Belle has been given quite a few Beaver outfits, so it was nice to have a reason to play dress up and that it actually fit!

Our Thanksgiving holiday weekend ended with some Christmas decorating (more photos to come), but this little helper was wiped out from listening to of the caroling that Mom and Dad were singing.

Double Digits

Miss Belle has hit double digits with her weight!  Her two month checkup was this week and she was a rock star.  She is in the 90th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight.  We call her our super model, tall and lean.

3 F's: Fall, Football & Fishing

FALL:  Beautiful colors seen on our weekend walk around the neighborhood

FOOTBALL:  Scott and I went to the OSU versus UW football game in Corvallis this past weekend.  Our first full day away from Belle!  It was so fun to watch them win a game, even if we were almost frozen by the end of the day.

FISHING:  Pierre, Raph, Scott and Kyle had a successful salmon fishing trip on Sunday.  Our refrigerator is now full of fish to be smoked tomorrow.  We really need to invest in a freezer for our basement sooner than later.

That Smile

Thank goodness for the iPhone camera!  I was able to capture two smiles this past weekend of Belle!  Her gummy grins make me feel so happy and loved and I need that reciprocation from time to time.  The second smile was captured while we were hanging out at Starbucks today and the patron next to us even had to comment on how happy she looked.

I can almost hear her saying, "Aww.. Mom stop tickling me."

Eight Weeks

Our baby is eight weeks old today.  I can honestly say we are starting to get the hang of things a bit more too!  We are going on more outings together, she only gets up twice at night now, I can sense we are slowly getting a nap schedule down and she is smiling and cooing, which melts our hearts.

This onesie was a gift from Grandma Bulloch

Scott usually finds us both napping on the couch when he gets home from work, I love my cuddle time

The first stages of a smile.  I haven't been able to fully capture a gummy grin yet.

Belle now has a play mat to spent quality time on.

She loves hitting that chicken

We attended our first wedding with her last weekend and she was pretty good.  Of course she let out a wale as the bride walked down the aisle and I was mortified, but we survived.

She was up way past her bedtime

And it is fall here in Portland, my favorite time of year.  It also means that leaves fall at a rapid pace in our front yard and each weekend we spend quality time outside raking, but we love it.

Laundry: Darks, Whites & Pink

I am noticing a trend in color with Belle's laundry...

Wiped out from her day

I love her baby blues!

Breakfast with the Hoffbuhrs

This past weekend we took Belle out to a restaurant for the first time on Friday night and then followed it up with breakfast out on Sunday with our friends Cory, Lindsay and Emerson.  Belle slept through both meals, so they were actually quite pleasant.  It seems like dinner time at home tends to be her "witching hour" so I was a bit nervous.

Proud Moms - Emerson is now 4 months old!

Proud Dads with their daughters

It is hard to believe that Belle will be this big soon.

Our Little Pumpkin



Tis' the season to visit pumpkin patches, corn mazes and drink apple cider.  We visited Baggenstos Farms as a family this year with our own little pumpkin and took all sorts of embarassing photos of her while she snoozed away.

Oh yes, she is propped up and fast asleep

Family photos

Walker and Amy were in town visiting from San Francisco

Joey and Hilary decided to go green with their pumpkins

Belle had a great time being held and fed by all of her aunts and uncles over the weekend.  Looking back none of them offered to change any of her dirty diapers though!  Oh well, next time...

Belle at 4 Weeks

What I see by my bed every morning

She loves bath time

And she still takes lots of precious naps