Merry Christmas!

We had a busy weekend of Christmas celebrations!

Here are some of our Christmas creations:

Handprint ornaments for the grandparents

Cookies!

On Christmas Eve we went to Grandma and Grandpa Nelson's house, and also visited Great-Grandma.

Enjoying some oatmeal with Grandma Marilyn

Christmas morning

Opening gifts with daddy

What a haul--and this was only our first stop!

Jax enjoyed some snuggles with Maureen

Silly Grandpa Wally

 In the afternoon of Christmas day, we visited Grandma and Papa.

Mmm, bow

New book

Posing in mommy's old rocking chair with Gus, the world's most photogenic dog

 On the 26th, we went to Great Aunt Amy and Great Uncle Rich's house for another big family celebration.

Evelyn with her Grandma Jean, and baby Morgan with her Grandma Amy

2nd cousins :)

 Our family has been blessed with a baby boom of little girls! Below are Morgan (born in September), Evelyn (born in June), and Stella (born in November 2010)

Someone got all 3 babies' attention-no small feat!

Examining one another...

Stella lets us know we are all done with pictures.

 Finally, we returned home and opened one last gift from Ann, who owns the condo we are renting.

Phew! We loved seeing everyone and Evelyn is so lucky to have received all her wonderful gifts. Now we just need a little time to recuperate from all the holiday fun :)

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Evelyn has a blast at bath time! She has long since graduated from baths on the kitchen counter, and has discovered that it's pretty fun to sit up in her little tub. 

Mmm, comb! Tastes prickly.

She also loves looking at her cute self in the mirror, and after a bath is the ideal time to catch up on some self-admiration.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Christmas season is upon us! Here's how Evelyn has been preparing for her first big holiday...

We visited St. Nicholas at the Lincoln Square Christkindl Market. Evelyn was most cooperative.

On the 10th we celebrated an early Christmas with some of Daddy's extended family. Evelyn got a few fun new toys and some new clothes.

Yesterday we decorated our tree! Evelyn decided it was nap time, but she was quite pleased to find a newly decorated tree when she woke up.

And.... coming to a mailbox near you is Evelyn's first Christmas card! Here's a little preview from our photo shoot:

This one didn't make the card, but hopefully it made you smile :)

Bouncy Bouncy!

Here's how Evelyn keeps her girlish figure :)

Chatterbox

Here's a video of Evelyn doing one her favorite things: sitting in her bumbo, talking, and arranging her toys.

Half-Birthday

Evelyn turned 6 months old yesterday! At her doctor's appointment she weighed 18lbs 6oz, and was 27 inches long.

Evelyn loves babbling and singing, and has almost gotten the hang of sitting up. She continues to dislike the idea of rolling over, although she did manage to roll back to belly once while we weren't looking. Evelyn also loves snatching mommy's glasses off her face, as well as grabbing and trying to devour the forearm of anyone who is changing her diaper. She's also quite the smoocher!

Here are some of her 6 month shots with Snoopy... we know the sun dress is not exactly December-wear, but we couldn't resist showing off those arms and legs :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Evelyn has been enjoying her first Thanksgiving weekend. On Wednesday, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry. We saw the Christmas trees, baby chicks, and lots of other fun stuff. No Dr. Seuss though, the timing didn't work out.

On Thursday we went to Grandma and Papa's house and had a scrumptious holiday meal... Evelyn tried sweet potatoes and was not impressed. Maybe we should have tried giving her the kind with the marshmallows, nuts, and brown sugar instead of that boring puree.

On Friday Evelyn went to Ann Sather for the first time and watched her mother eat a cinnamon roll :)

We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Wisconsin Weekend

Last weekend Evelyn made her first trip out of Illinois to Madison, Wisconsin to celebrate LJ and Jemree's wedding. Evelyn stuck with the plan and took a nice long nap both there and back :) She only spent a little bit of time at the party, but she enjoyed a nice afternoon in Madison.

Baby's first protest! Little did we know we were heading right into the kickoff rally for the "Recall Governor Walker" movement. 

We had lunch with Grandma, Papa, and Uncle Dan at Great Dane Brewery. 

Can't decide if this sign is reassuring or frightening...

We relaxed in the hotel for a little while, and met Great Uncle Joe and Great Aunt Kim. 

Party time!

Evelyn and Stella and their Grandmas 

All the Janowski siblings

Laughing

Here's a video of a very happy girl:

Fun with Friends

This weekend we had a group of our college friends over with their families... this was the first time all of our kids have been together. It was great to see everyone. It's also amazing to think that just a few short years ago (10 years is short, right?) we were pretty much just a bunch of kids ourselves having fun (and studying VERY hard) down in Champaign.

Asher (4 months), Lola (2 1/2), Ryan (17 months), Anabelle (3), Evelyn (5 months)

Evelyn and Anabelle

Evelyn and Asher--born 20 days apart.