Christmas Day

We had a great first Christmas with Chess! She made everything so much more fun for us. We are so thankful to have such a sweet and healthy daughter.


first present of Christmas morning






opening Grandma and Grandpa's gift






all her presents


She liked them.


Jared got me an Atari!


I love Chess's face, and the fact that we're wearing red, white, and green!


This is when we first arrived at the church for the big family get-together.


the nativity


some rocking entertainment


some elfish entertainment


enjoying the show

Christmas Eve

watching Elf


Chess is watching Daddy start our Christmas Eve fire.






We are carrying on the tradition of reading The Night Before Christmas.




Now the fire is really going.


bedtime bottle by the fire

Santa Baby

Christmas with the Turners

It wouldn't be Christmas without decorating sugar cookies.


modeling our cookies


Emma and Ellie opening some presents


My fairy dress-up gift was a success!


Chess opening her first Christmas present of the season


She loved this caterpillar!


Jared loves his new boomerang.


And I love my scrabble game and new book!


Mimi feeding Chess for the first time

8 Months Old

Chess is now 8 months old and has finally doubled her birth weight. Most babies do this in 6 months, but she started out a little heftier than most other babies! She now weighs a little over 21 pounds.

Someone is looking forward to her first Christmas!

Family Picture

This is the best one I got on my camera. Sorry, Ellie is on the ground.

Christmas-y

Last Saturday we had a very Christmas-filled day. Here is Chess meeting Santa Claus for the first time:



Bass Pro Shop gives you a free picture. He was a great Santa, too! When I first put Chess in his lap, she just stared up at him in amazement. It was so cute.

Here are some more pictures we took at Bass Pro Shop:













Next, we went to eat at a Mexican restaurant (not very Christmas-y, I know). But as we were leaving, they were starting a Christmas parade on the same street! We only watched for a minute because it was freezing, and we didn't bring any coats or blankets.





Last, we went to our little town's Christmas tree lighting.





We got to go on a free horse-drawn carriage ride!





And finally, we made it home in time for a few minutes of play before bedtime.