Exploring

Raeann has been exploring everything in the house lately. Anything she can take down or get into she will. At the end of the day our house looks like a tornado hit it. Here she is looking at the ceiling fan while making a mess of the stuffed animals.

Destroying a shelf of DVDs - and yes, that is the wooden shelf for the movies behind her. She decided to take that down as well.

In the laundry basket - forget about trying to fold it once she's in it. She gets in and out of it on her own as well.

And under the exersaucer. This new place she enjoys pulling toys in with her.

Running Away

Raeann's personality is a delight to discover. She loves to be chased by her daddy and runs to Mom for refuge. We do this several times a night and it never gets old. Even if she is right by me she will turn toward me as quick as she can manage and grab my lap or shoulders to get away from Mike. But she's not scared, she's just playing along. She loves it!

LOL

We cannot look at Raeann in this hat without cracking up! It is too adorable to not enjoy on her. It's actually the only hat she doesn't hate putting on, and she doesn't even play with the poms at the end of the flaps. The balls of fur are actually coyote fur, and she doesn't even eat them. Double wow! Thank you Kathy Huntley for making this hat for Raeann!

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Our tree ran out of room this year, all due to proud grandmas and grandpas that love to spoil their granddaughter. We didn't even bother to buy Raeann anything this Christmas. Over 20 of these gifts are for her.

This is her "meager" pile of presents. She liked Tom and Amy's package the best - it had a bow on top. That was all she was really interested in.

There she is, looking adorable, about to yank that bow off.

So I had the duty of opening the presents for her and letting her explore at her will. Trust me, by the time we got to the last one I think she was a little over-stimulated.

Here's my saying for the year: "Repeat the sounding joy!" May you all repeat the sounding joy of Christmas and the love God shared with us that day throughout the year.

Christmas cookies

I wanted to make some Christmas sugar cookies (the only time of year I like them - they belong at Christmas) and Raeann decided to help. Well...it was more like, she wouldn't let go of my pant legs so I gave up and put her in the Snuggli to make them. I think she enjoyed watching and trying to grab all the utensils.

Before...

And after...okay, so I'm not that creative, but they sure are yummy!

Too Cute!

This is one of my favorite outfits that Raeann has worn so far, and it was just thrown together one morning. I actually think that shirt is really a dress, but it's December in Colorado so...yeah, enough said.

Is this a sign of an early walker? Raeann has always known what she wants and has been determined to takes steps to get it.

Left Out

I ordered this play pen, or cage as Mike calls it, mainly to keep Raeann penned in while Mike and I both were doing something, but realized that for the first month we would have to keep it around the Christmas tree. I don't know if Raeann thinks this is fair, but Tadd certainly likes it (notice him on the other side of the fence to Raeann's left).