bella's first christmas!!

around 9am marni, pepere, daddy, bella and i began the festivities. i made a german apple puff pancake and pepere cooked bacon... it was a yummy breakfast. then we headed over to the family room to start opening gifts. i helped bella open her stocking first which was filled with foam bath toys~ they immediately became great objects for teething! then we tried to begin opening other gifts~ but just as everyone told us, she was much more interested in the bows and tissue paper than the actual toys... so i was glad that jason & i didn't go all out this year... we did get her this "little hippo car/toy" which she LOVES... marni & pepere gave bella her first cd player w/ lots of great cds since she loves music so much... and they also gave her a stroller for her dolls which plays music and she LOVES, along with some other goodies. afterwards we all cleaned up a bit and enjoyed relaxing. then around 3pm jane & jim (marni's sister & brother in-law who also live in decatur) joined us for a steak dinner at our home... then a little later our neighbors eric, karen & dylan blue joined us for coffee & dessert. dylan was born one day after bella and they have known eachother since they were first born. they had lots of fun playing and we adults enjoyed eric & karen's company too! it was a wonderful christmas!

bella with her hippo car

greeting aunt jane
bella is wearing one of mommy's favorite outfits that she bought before bella was born
playing with her buddy dylan

wondering why dylan is eating in her highchair and hoping he'll share some of his snacks!!

christmas eve

christmas eve was a little different this year... our household seemed to be a bit plagued by the "winter cough/cold/sniffles" so marni wasn't feeling very well. she & pepere stayed back home and jason, mommy & bella headed to church. it was buckhead church's very first christmas eve service~ it was great... andy stanley was there live and the music was wonderful... and to top it off they had hot chocolate w/ whipped cream for everyone~ my favorite! yum, yum! we sat w/ our friends chris & ariel and their little girl, aubrey, who is bella's friend. afterwards all 6 of us headed to maggiano's in buckhead for dinner. while we were waiting aubrey headed for the stairs in the main foyer of the restaurant. ariel wanted to go over and keep an eye on her, so bella and i went too... before we knew it, bella was climbing the stairs~ apparently aubrey is a pretty good teacher! : ) we were seated shortly after and our meal was delicious... we are so thankful for such wonderful friends! afterwards we headed home and bella was more than ready for bed! then mommy (& daddy helped a little : ) put the presents under the tree and we watched christmas vacation w/ pepere.

loving the glass table at maggiano's~ bella could see her reflection
playing with her friend aubrey

hanging w/ pepere upon getting home
big smiles~ bella can't wait for christmas morning!!

date night!!

marni & pepere love spending every minute w/ bella and are also always so gracious to jason & me... so they offered to keep her so we could go out on a date... so nice!! we went to olive garden for dinner which was very yummy and then met our friends shaune & ella to see the movie "Four Christmases" w/ reese witherspoon & vince vaughn~ two of my favorites! it was definitely cute- jason & i didn't think it was the best movie ever, but agreed that it was just great to be out together and having "adult time"... then the 4 of us headed over to cheesecake factory for dessert & coffee... it was such a nice night... thanks so much marni & pepere! i love you babe~ thanks for a wonderful evening out on the town!

my sweet hubby!

priscilla the pink pig

marni & pepere came in town late saturday night. sunday we went to church and then out to lunch afterwards. we laid low sunday afternoon and then monday headed to the outlet malls. bella was great... she really takes after her mom & marni w/ liking to shop : ) tuesday we headed over to lenox mall to see priscilla the pink pig in all her glory (for those of you who are not from atlanta, this is a long-standing tradition here through riches/macys department stores)... marni & pepere, along w/ bella were great troopers b/c we all waited in line over an hour! pepere ended up getting to ride w/ bella on the train and they had a great time~ wonderful memories to share!

pepere & bella waiting in line
ready to ride!
coming around the bend!

mommy, bella & pepere after the ride~ bella is enjoying the big sticker they give to each of the "riders"

first santa visit

today we went over to marietta and hung out at teenie & poppa's house. after playing and taking a nap, we headed over to the marietta square. it was there that bella met santa for the first time. he was in a "little house/shed" so when we peeked in initially bella seemed okay with the idea of this big, hairy man all dressed in red. i thought okay we've got this covered~ no problems here~ our little one is going to be just fine~ there won't be any tears~ well, did she fool me!! we stepped into santa's shed and put bella in his lap and immediately the tears began! then for a minute bella saw mommy and thought maybe the world wasn't coming to a complete end~ but oh no, two seconds later the crying continued... maybe next year santa : )

after santa, we pulled ourselves together, took a few pictures with mommy and cousin emerson and headed over to marietta pizza company for dinner with teenie, poppa, staci, todd, christian, noah, emerson, mommy & daddy... that was definitely the highlight of bella's evening~ lots of kids to look at and some really good pizza crust to chew on~ did i mention her two top teeth are coming in??

our visit with nanni

bella & i were so lucky the other day... my sweet grandmother, who bella will call "nanni", was able to come over for the afternoon! she is on her way to oman to visit my aunt & uncle and their 2 children, but stopped in atlanta for an overnight before flying overseas. we had such a great time visiting. bella went right to nanni upon waking up from her nap and they enjoyed playing, laughing and "talking". how good God is that bella gets to know her great grandmother~ nanni!!

tour of homes holiday style 2008

i truly love this blogging world! a few weeks ago i was made aware of the holiday tour of homes... what could be better?!?! i mean, i LOVE looking at homes, decorating and especially decorating for Christmas!! so scroll below and see pictures of our home and then click on the link and tour other blogger's homes and their Christmas decorations.

a view of our front porch

candles we light for our holiday parties
a holiday arrangement compliments of my mom & santa compliments of lou ann & theresa mae
a "winter take" on a window box
our evergreen wreath on our front door
our kitchen island arrangement
the mantle on our oven's hood vent decorated for the holidays
our fireplace mantle... notice 3 stockings this year~ our daughter, bella's first Christmas!!
our Christmas tree
my creative way to display the Christmas cards we receive

hope you've enjoyed the tour!! now click here and see links to all the other homes!!

http://boomama.net/2008/12/15/christmas-tour-of-homes-2008/

tree time

the friday after Thanksgiving, we went with marni & pepere to lowe's and bought bella's first Christmas tree. we found a fabulous 7 foot tree for less than $60~ woohoo!! we bought a few other decorations and headed over to five guys for burgers and fries~ love their food!! when we arrived home we cranked up the Christmas music and brought all the decorations down from the attic. quite quickly- thanks to marni & pepere's help- it began to look a lot like Christmas!