Merry Christmas!

Remember when you were young and it seemed to take forever for Christmas to arrive? Every year I am more amazed at how fast Christmas seems to come and go. This year, Bob and I were exceptionally excited for Christmas and to celebrate with our little Anna's. We had a great Holiday. Anna loved her gifts, and while Bob and I know she would have been happy with just ribbons and wrapping paper, we were happy to spoil her on Christmas morning. Our Christmas celebration consisted of mass on Christmas Eve, lots of family time, eating wonderful holiday food, giving and receiving gifts, and one awesome Packer win on Sunday! One of my favorite gifts was one Anna gave Bob and I Christmas morning when we were opening Santa gifts at our house. We had jokingly set a goal for Anna to roll over from her back to her belly by Christmas. The past few weeks she has been so close I just knew she would do it soon and low and behold, Christmas morning she did! Needles to say, Bob and I were just thrilled! Only now, we really need to watch her close!

Bob and I both have this week off of work so we decided to take advantage of some of our free time and booked a night up in Door County Monday night. We had an absolute blast! Bob and I have stayed at the Homestead Suites in Door County quite a few times and were so excited to share it with Anna - it is such a great place to stay - the location is awesome, the rooms have giant whirlpool tubs, they have a great pool area, free breakfast in the morning and the rates are not bad, especially during the week. We took Anna swimming for the first time, went out to dinner at the Bayside Tavern, had a nice lazy morning, did some shopping, and had amazing pizza (homemade Italian sausage, goat cheese, and wild mushroom blend) for lunch at the Wild Tomato before heading back to Green Bay.

Later this week we are looking forward to celebrating our first New Year's with Anna. It is hard to believe how much as changed in 2010 - we had many highs and lows and are very thankful for all the blessings in our life and look forward to what 2011 will bring us!

Anna on Christmas Morning!



Opening gifts from Santa on Christmas Morning!



Anna with Uncle Brad and Aunt Ann!



Anna all ready to go swimmng for the first time!



Enjoying some time in the pool with daddy!

Anna's Christmas Photo Shoot

Last weekend, our good friend Kelly came over to take some Christmas pictures of Anna. Kelly took pictures for us when we were pregnant with Anna and we really appreciated her time and talent, so when she said she would be able to take some Christmas pictures for us, we were thrilled! We had such a great time taking the pictures, especially when at one point, as I was trying to pose Anna, I am pretty sure she said "no." The pictures turned out great and we are thrilled with the results. Of course, while I love the posed pictures of Anna in her cute Christmas outfit, including her red and white tutu, Kelly continued to snap away when we were done and just chatting and the candid ones turned out even better - great eye Kelly! My favorite are the ones the capture Anna's awe and amazement with the Christmas balls from the tree - she can't seem to get enough of the red shiny balls and her reflection in them, it is just too cute!

The tree is trimmed, the presents are wrapped, the Christmas cards are sent, and the cookies are baked (and eaten - thanks mostly to Bob, but I forgive him!) The Seidel's are 100% ready for Christmas, it cannot come soon enough! Bob and I absolutely cannot wait to celebrate Christmas morning as a family with Anna, Belle, and Oscar. We hope everyone has a wonderful and joyous holiday - stay tuned for more Christmas photos!

Baby It's Cold Out There....

So the blizzard of 2010 hit and it could not have come at a better time! Over the weekend we got close to a foot of snow, which ended up clearing out all the activities we had planned. While we were bummed we were unable to travel to Madison to celebrate Christmas with some of Bob's family, it was nice that we finally had a weekend where we were able to bunker down at home and enjoy each others company as a family. It was the perfect excuse to spend the day in our comfy clothes, watch movies and just enjoy being a family - I even made Christmas cookies! Anna got in on the cooking to - above are a few pictures of her helping mommy cook sweet and sour spare ribs in the crock pot and frosting cookies with daddy. We tried two new crock pot recipes this weekend and highly recommend both - super easy and super tasty!

Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs

4 lbs spare ribs
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup pineapple or guava juice
1 clove garlic, minced
2 TB brown sugar
2 TB cider vinegar
2 TB soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1 TB cornstarch

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place ribs in foil lined shallow roasting pan. Bake 30 minutes, turning over after 15 minutes. Remove from oven, slive meat into 2-rib portions. Place ribs in 5-quart slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients, except cornstarch.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Uncover and skim fat from liquid.

Combine cornstarch and 1/4 cup liquid from slow cooker, stir until smooth. Pour mixture back in slow cooker, mix well. Cover and cook on HIGH 10 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Parmesan Potato Wedges

2 LB red potatoes, cut into 1/2 in wedges
1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion
2 TB butter cut into 1/8-inch pieces
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1/2 tsp salt
Black pepper to taste
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Layer potatoes, onion, butter, oregano, salt and pepper in slow cooker. Cook on HIGH 4 hours. Transfer potatoes to serving platter and sprinkle with cheese.

Pretty Pretty Lights Everywhere

Every year, WPS sponsors the Festival of Lights at the Botanical Gardens in Green Bay. Also, every year they pick one night where the gardens are open only to WPS employees. Given Anna's recent love and fascination for sparkly pretty lights, we decided to bundle up and headed to the Botanical Gardens tonight. It was a great event and we think Anna really enjoyed it - especially the lit up caterpillar tunnel you could walk through. We loved watching her eyes get bigger and bigger and take it all in!

On the Christmas front, we finally picked out a Christmas tree, put it up and decorated it this past weekend. It has been quite an adventure. Bob and I both love real trees and this year decided to chop one down ourselves. We picked one out from Bob's parents neighbor's (that's a mouthful!) land. When we got there, both Bob and I realized the trees weren't really our "style" but we didnt want to hurt his feelings so we did our best to pick one out we liked. By the time we got it home, we realized we were in over our heads - considering this one only cost $5.00 - we got a lot of tree for our money - it is HUGE! We decided to make the best of it and are proud of our tacky tree! While it is a little awkward, it certainly has character and we know it is a tree will never forget! Every time I look at it I can't help but laugh, and it smells amazing! We think Anna likes it as much as we do:)

Anna Rae - Four Month Update

A little about you…..
> Your official nickname is now Anna Bananas - surely you will hate that some day!
> At four months you weigh 13 lbs and 2.5 oz
> You wear 6 month clothing (you are so long!) and size 2 diapers
> Eating - Eats about 20-25 ounces of Target Up and Up brand formula each day + one serving rice cereal at night
> Sleeping – still likes to be swaddled when you sleep whether you are down for the night or taking a morning or afternoon nap. Not the best napper, an hour in the AM and an hour in the PM if that. Can and most often does sleep through the night, wakes up around 7:00 am most morning. We start the going to bed process usually around 8:00 PM - Can be tough to get you to stay down (darn acid reflux!), but once you are down you sleep like a champ. Wakes up in the morning a very happy camper….and in all different sorts of positions…upside down, sideways, how do you do it little girl?

A FEW OF YOUR FAVORITES….
-Loves to jump in your jumperoo from Papa Paul and Grandpa S – figured out how to bounce and loves to do it!
-Enthralled with the TV, especially watching football – all those colors and motion, oh my!
-Loves to play with the simplest things – a recent favorite – banging on a can of formula with a wooden spoon and singing jingle bells – bring on the holidays! Ho Ho Ho!
-Loves music, lights, and motion – especially when mom and dad dance around you!
- Puppies Belle and Oscar have really taken a liking to you – especially Belle, she has started to “cuddle” next to you when you are on the floor – so precious. Oscar watches and protects from afar (the top of the brown chair, his favorite look out spot!)

AND NOT SO FAVORITE….
-HATES your bath!!! We try so hard to make it a fun experience – doesn’t matter of the water is a little cooler or a little warmer…we do not like! Hope one day soon you will!

We love that each day you do something new - you are always keeping mom and dad on our toes!

Anna Rae - Three Month Update

> At your 3 month well check you weighed 10 lbs 12 oz and were 23 inches long – Clearly that height comes from daddy!
> Eating – you are eating anywhere from 4 – 6 ounces of Target Up and Up brand formula each feeding and you are GOOD burper. That too must come from your daddy!
> Sleeping – you are good sleeper at night – not so much during the day. You love to be swaddled and rocked to sleep (mommy’s favorite thing to do!) You go down really easy at night and are starting to sleep through the night. If you do wake up it is typically around 3:00 AM and go right back down until 6 or 7.

A FEW OF YOUR FAVORITES
> You love to flash that adorable little grin at just about anyone who talks to you in a high pitchy voice – and it amazes us what we will do to get a giggle out of you!
> Love to lay on your back and kick, especially on your play mat
> Love to go out and about – seem to get a little stir crazy when we stay home during the day (just like mommy!) – shopping seems to do the trick and you have an amazing wardrobe as a result! – Mommy just knows you will be a great shopper one day!

A FEW OF YOUR NOT SO FAVORITES...
> Your carrier, you simply just do not like to be in it. We hate when we have to strap you up so tight!
> Napping – I think you are just like your mother – you just don’t want to miss a thing, no matter how tired you get

You have stolen our hearts little girl – We love you to pieces!!!!

Happy Holidays

Thanksgiving has always been a favorite holiday for Bob and I – it officially marks the start of the holiday season and is accompanied with family, good food, football, and shopping. We were especially excited this year to celebrate our first Thanksgiving with our little Annas. Above is a picture of her all dressed up for her first Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with the Seidel family - our Thanksgiving meal was excellent and we were very blessed to be surrounded by family. While Anna didn’t get any turkey, she was lucky enough to start eating rice cereal last week. We are pretty sure more ends up on her face, her bib, the high chair, her hair, and her hands then her mouth; but we are told she really is doing well with it and it is always an adventure to feed her some – one of my favorite nightly activities these days. We were both fortunate to take some time off of work last week and enjoyed being home with Anna, got some Christmas shopping done, and started to decorate the house for Christmas. We pretty much have everything done with the exception of picking out a Christmas tree which we look forward to doing this weekend. We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and wish you a healthy and happy start to the holiday season!