Roll Over Beethoven!

Renae did end up giving us a Christmas present this year! On Christmas morning, Jesse and I were getting ready while Renae laid on her play mat. She has been able to roll to her side for quite awhile now, but as I was watching her that morning, she looked like she was going to roll even further and as I starred in amazement, she did it! Jesse caught the tail end of it, and saw her roll over later on that day. Tonight she has been rolling over like crazy so I think she has it down. However, I've quickly learned that my life has changed yet again. I was just writing an email while Renae was on her blanket in the living room. I left her in the middle of the blanket. After awhile I heard her fussing and when I went to check on her, she was facing the opposite direction, and was completely off of the blanket. I guess the days of leaving her on the bed and walking away for a few minutes is out of the question now. Wow! We have a somewhat mobile daughter!

Merry Christmas!

We would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Have fun celebrating our Saviors' humble entrance into our world!

For fun pictures of our trip to CR, click here.

The One That Made Jesse Say, "Awwww . . ."

When Jesse returned to work after lunch, he let me know that Renae was sitting in our red chair in the living room and kind of fussy. I was finishing something up in the computer room. When I came out to feed her, this is how I found her:


And here is a video from last night. Renae has definitely found her voice and we are hearing it more and more!

Renae's Ramblings Part III

I had my first photo shoot today! I kept hearing Daddy complain to Mommy that he needed a picture of me to put up at the office-whatever that is. So I begged and begged Mom to make me perty and take some pictures of me. She said I did a great job posing. Sometimes I went for a serious look, and sometimes I tried to growl like a tier. But most times I just smiled. (Little does she know that I wasn't smiling because of her . . .) Sometimes I got distracted because I kept finding these skin colored things with 5 long fingers. Every once in awhile they flew in front of my face so I would play with them. Mommy is printing the pictures and then we are going to take them to Daddy so he can finally have pictures of his favorite little girl. Let me know which ones you like the best! And if you want a copy for yourself you have to pay 50$. Mom says it will help pay for my college tuition.

Our Little Angel . . .

We have never had an angel on the top of our tree but we finally got one this year. We think she is so pretty and really makes our tree stand out. The only bummer is we have to hold her there . . .

She's not always this angelic . .



But she is always this cute . . .



Our little Elfina . . .


(P.S. Can you tell our internet is working today? Yay! I finally was able to call someone and he walked me through how to fix it if it happened again. Yippee for tech-no-lo-geeeeeee!)

t9w

Yep. We Are Still Internetless. I Am Currently Typing And Viewing This Page On A 1 In X 1.5 In. Screen. At Least T9word Mode Makes The Typing A Little Faster. Anyway . . . Its Snowing Here Again And It Is So Pretty. Not Everyone Thinks So Because Of The Ice Mix That Has Fallen With The Beautiful Snow. Plus It Is Kind Of Nice Since This Year I Dont Have To Drive To Work In This Weather. I Still Enjoy Checking To See If My Old School Is Cancelled. I Dont Miss Waking Up To Tons Of Snow And Hoping We Were Cancelled Only To Find Out We Ere The Only District To Not Cancel. Well This Has Taken Of Quite Awhile To Type And I Must Move On With My Morning. Have A Great Day!

We're Down Again . . .

It's official. Our internet connection IS a woman. Out internet hasn't been working since Saturday so we are stuck having to use our phones to check email, or go to my parents, or check it at work for Jesse. Having internet on your phones is great, but it's no fun trying to respond to emails using T9W to type your messages.

So, I do have some pictures to post, but of course they are at home on the computer sin el internet. I made Renae's stocking yesterday along with 3 batches of homemade chex mix. That stuff is SO good. Hopefully we'll figure out our internet soon and we will post pictures again.

We Are Up and Running Again!

I've decided our Internet connection is of the female species. One day it is functioning fine, and the next it's completely unresponsive and I can't get anywhere. Fortunately, our Internet decided to work today so here I am catching up on emails, blogging and facebook. It feels good to reconnect. We had a fun week. Penni was here last weekend and we celebrated her 21st birthday-again. On Tuesday, Jesse received free tickets to an Iowa State basketball game. Then on Wednesday, we baby-sat for a family we are friends with and took their 3 kids plus Renae to Iowa State's beautiful campus. Every year they have things you can do on campus-decorating cookies, making crafts, drinking hot cocoa, sleigh rides, listening to carols, watching the big tree light up . . . I love it. So we braved the cold and bundled up all the kids. I don't really have any pictures of us there so you'll just have to imagine us in the moment. Today I have been cozy here at home because we've had freezing rain and snow all day. Jesse did have to go to work for awhile but because there weren't very many people shopping for cars, they drew straws and sent half the employees home. I was glad Jesse came home to hang out with Renae and I. Well, I'll leave you with a few pictures from our week. Have a great rest of your weekend and keep warm if you are having the same weather we are!




At the game where we enjoyed expensive popcorn and ice cream.


I TOLD you she has big feet!


Out to eat for Penni's birthday. We missed you Kevin!