Decorating for Christmas

Karsten was not much into the decorating which was fine with us. We escaped her knowing how to pull everything out of every box and bin. But now that the tree is decorated and there are presents underneath, she is getting pretty interested. Should be a fun Christmas!

Mommy couldn't help but let her have a gift a bit early...Elmo's Christmas Countdown!

Christmas Tree Hunt

Yummy chili for Karsten!
Chillin' with Daddy

Don't cha just want to kiss those cheeks?

Silly Karsten!

Britt's family has an annual Christmas Tree Hunt when we all go into the forest and cut down our Christmas trees. They often times are less "perfect" than those on a tree lot, but they are free and fun family memories are made. This year is was SO INCREDIBLY COLD that we were barely outside to cut the tree down. Karsten and Mommy stayed in the car while Daddy and Hannah scoped out the trees. Thank goodness Karsten still fits in the Baby Bjorn and under Daddy's big coat! All in all it was fun but one to remember for the negative degree temps!

Turkey Trot

So the past two Thanksgiving mornings we have participated in the Oceanside Turkey Trot 5K near San Diego. The motto is "Move Your Feet Before You Eat"...and they are not kidding. The race starts at 7:00am so it makes for an early morning. But we are out of the house, out of our step-mom's hair and she has a peaceful few hours while getting the turkey and everything ready.



Karsten and cousin Abby all bundled up. It was pretty dang chilly on the coast at 7:00am.


Blake, Dad, Josh, Brook, Whit, Jen, John, Lizz, Abby, Britt, Karsten and Chris. What a crew-Dad with his kids, neice and husband and grandkids.

Dad with 4 of his 5 kids

Picture perfect CA coastal day. Oceanside pier in the background.
Note: all participants received medals...believe me, we did not break any time records or anything!

Karsten's excitement

In the midst of her rolling adventures, Karsten all of a sudden was filled with excitement! Who knew the floor could be so much fun!

New Adventures!

Karsten has started to scoot and move around a whole lot more these days. She is jabbering (da, de, da, de, de, de) and just so fun! These are pictures of her venturing out into the great room.

She is practicing her senior picture pose already!
Karsten just saw me scrolling thru these pictures and just smiled at herself!

Seinfeld

Karsten somehow always seems to get herself stuck under the chair in her playroom/office.

Do you think Kramer from Seinfeld is jealous of these luscious locks?

Peek-a-boo

Well let's just say that mommy needs to get a bit more sneaky if I am going to catch Karsten's milestone moments...I am a ROOKIE! We usually play peek-a-boo while changing her diapers and I never know if she "gets" it or not. Well low and behold-SHE DOES!

The past two nights at dinner time she has been in her highchair as we are talking with Daddy and she starts to play peek-a-boo by herself. I quickly realize that she is pulling her bib up over her eyes and say "Where's Karsten" and she pulls it down from her eyes and grunts to get our attention (her communication these days). I say "Peek-a-boo" and she just smiles and does it again.

Take two the next night, but that time it was with the place mat from the table. What a crack up! It is so fun to see her interact and respond to us :-) So needless to say each time I tried to get either the video camera or digital camera out she stopped playing. What a little smarty pants!

BUBBLES!!!!

Well today was Karsten's first bath with bubbles. She was a bit confused at first, but quickly learned how fun they could be! She even gave herself a little beard :-)

Whoa! What is more funny, the bubbles or the wicked hair?

Play Time

Hannah always wants to be right in the middle of the action.
Cheese! I love to dump over my toy basket.

A Little Trouble Brewing...

Thanks to Auntie Jenn I am "with it" this holiday season. I have new outfits to show how festive I am. My teachers at school LOVED my shirt that says "A Little Trouble Brewing"!