Thurs. Dec. 13, 2012 - our first snowman

 Micaela was very excited to wear reindeer antlers

 The girls reading in one of the cars of the train at the library

 I'm glad she loves to eat, but what a mess

 A super cute little lamb in an adorable sweater knitted by Grandma Cheryl

 On Saturday Riley and I went out for a girls lunch

 Our first real snow left our house looking very Christmas-ey

 What is this white stuff?

 A Riley snow angel

 So excited to play in the snow

 Micaela quickly figured out how to crawl around in the snow

 Of course we needed some hot chocolate after playing in the cold

 Our little drummer

 Sometimes Micaela uses a spoon to eat

 And sometimes she just holds it while she eats with the other hand

 Seamus had fun romping in the snow too

 We built our first snowman

 Putting on the finishing touches

 Look at our beautiful Frosty!

 Sadly, he only lasted about 5 minutes. Our resident engineer was out of town this week and unavailable to consult on structural integrity

 Best hat head ever

 I transcribed Riley's letter to Santa word for word.

Micaela loves checking out all the lights and decorations in our living room

This week we continued to enjoy winter and prepare for Christmas. Riley and I had some special time together on Saturday, choosing gifts for Daddy and Micaela and going out for a "grown up" lunch at the Olive Garden. It was really nice to have some girly time with Riley.

On Sunday we had our first really big snow. I haven't driven in snow or ice for 14 years so I was pretty nervous to be on the road. I was cautious and wished I had a big blinking sign that warned other drivers that I was inexperienced on the snow and needed a little extra room. My friend Joe said I should just put the CA plates back on the car, it would serve the same purpose. Genius.

Riley, Micaela and I had a great time playing in the snow. Micaela was a little timid at first but quickly learned she could crawl in the snow in her puffy snowsuit with no problem. Riley loved making snow angels, throwing snow balls and making tracks in fresh snow. But their favorite thing was making a snowman. Riley helped me roll the balls and Micaela watched with wonder as we piled them on top of each other. We had 2 eyes made out of coal but no button nose or magic hat (Riley learns songs very quickly) so we have some improvements to make for next time. Of course the biggest improvement will need to be structural. Poor Frosty was leaning and I frantically tried to pack in snow to stabilize him but he fell over soon after completion. Guess my snowman building skills are a little rusty!

Micaela has gotten much better at communicating. She often crawls over and grabs me and points at what she wants. She has been using "Mama" and "Dada" correctly for a while but now is trying to form more words. "Hi" and "up" are coming out quite clearly. And she loves to hear herself talk...loudly.