Happy New Year!

2008 was an amazingly wonderful year for us. Happy New Year to all of our friends and family who made it so great! We are very much looking forward to 2009 and all of the excitement to come.

On the mend

Stephie and Daddy are feeling much better today and are excited to be on the road to recovery.YAY!!!

The Plague

Daddy and Stephie both have the plague which we hope is food poisoning and fear is the dreaded stomach flu, both of which do not amount to good blog pictures (Mommy can definitely attest to that!) Instead, here are a few of my favorites from Christmas 2008:

Taking a flying lunge toward the latest gift on the coffee table...thanks for catching me, Jane!Stephie loves it when Aunt Stephanie and David come to town...
This wrapping paper and bows thing is great!
Nice fire, Grandpa! Maybe one more log over there...

Bathtime just became a lot more fun...

...with the addition of BATH TOYS for Christmas! No more playing with only the wash cloth and toothbrush, yay Stephie!Also, our lives are about to change. See evidence of this here and here.
P.S. Liz is screwed. Just kidding, Liz, you know we love you!

The last day of Christmas

We ended our four-day Christmas celebration with a lovely time at Grandma Michelle and Grandpa Roger's house. Stephie must have been an extremely good girl this year...she got so many wonderful presents! The best gifts of all, though, included the bows and wrapping paper, and of course an old remote control from Grandpa Roger. Yum!

Neither Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor gloom of night...

Stephie battled all of the elements today in order to come to St. Louis: black ice, freezing rain, and dense fog. We made it, though, and are happy to be here!
Grandpa Don even shared some of his new Christmas candy with Stephie. She didn't get to eat any of the actual candy, though the box of candy cigarettes was particularly yummy.

Merry Christmas!

What a busy Christmas day! From trying on her first pair of Mary Janes...
...to playing with a new dolly...
...and hanging out with her buddy Connor......and new friend Marco, Stephie had a fantastic first Christmas.

Christmas Eve

Stephie celebrated her first Christmas Eve by having the family over to our house for dinner. She got a Tickle Me Elmo from Daddy and a Cabbage Patch Kid from Mommy.

In the buff

Stephie is increasingly hard to keep still during her diaper changes lately; she wants to be on the move instead.
Today she escaped and had a great time crawling around sans clothing.Hey Stephie, those p.j.'s are for wearing, not for eating!

Paging Dr. Stephanie...

Stephie had a lot of fun playing with Myles's doctor kit this weekend. Maybe she will take after Mommy in her career choice!

Happy Birthday, Grandpa John!

Stephie and Grandpa John had quite the eventful day together celebrating his birthday. First, Stephie had so much fun watching Grandpa fix Mommy and Daddy's frozen pipes under the kitchen sink (no wonder we got a good deal on this shack!) Next, we decorated cookies with Aunt Berta, Uncle Ken, Emily, Chaz, and Andy.
Finally, we devoured the worlds tallest (and prettiest?!?) cake. None for Stephie, though she did get to have a tiny piece of pizza...yum. Happy birthday, Grandpa John!!!Tonight also marked the unveiling of The Binkie Song! Written by Grandma Julie and executed by Aunt Berta, it is a performance not to be missed!

Crawling!

Stephie is on the move! The TiVo remote continues to be a huge motivator (second only to our cell phones). Watch a video of Stephie (and note the extreme grunting effort) here.

Sleigh ride

The winter storm was made a lot more fun by breaking out Stephie's sled this morning. We had a really good time...sleds and snowflakes are funny!

Two Toots diner

After music class today, Stephie and Julia went to the new Two Toots diner where their first ever grilled cheese sandwich (yum!) was delivered by train.

9 months old!

It's hard to believe that Stephie is such a big girl! She celebrated her 9 month birthday this evening by trying to pull up to a stand.

White Christmas

As is evidenced by the blazing whiteness from our front lawn, there isn't much question that Stephie and Julia will enjoy a very white Christmas for their first holiday celebration!

This crib tastes like chocolate.

Stephie recently acquired her top front right tooth! She is putting it to good work chewing on her crib rails. Good thing Mommy and Daddy thought ahead and installed the crib rail covers last weekend!
Later, Stephie and Julia enjoyed reading some books together.

Peek-A-Boo

"Who's under the basket?"
"Oh, it's Grandpa Allen!"
"I just love his hair!"