Christmas [in photos].

For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

^ I found her just sitting in the living room playing with an ornament...completely happy and content.

^Germain Braid Bread, Orange Rolls, and Champagne.  The best Christmas fare.

^Before Midnight Mass!

^Orange rolls and Evangeline's snowman Christmas ornaments from Grandma.

^Late Night Feudal...

O, Christmas Tree.

This year we got our Christmas tree relatively early (if I'm remembering correctly we got our tree only a few days before Christmas last year...), but I'm so happy that we did!  Each year my excitement and anticipation for Christmas grows exponentially, and this year I really had to steel myself to wait to completely immerse myself in everything Christmas until after Thanksgiving.  I made it.  Barely.  

Picking out a tree from a city parking lot sure is different than what I grew up doing.  I remember my Dad would take us out to the woods every year, and we'd walk and walk and walk until we found a tree we all liked (usually a 30 footer...no point in cutting down all the little trees!).  Then he'd climb to the tippy tippy top and lop off the top, and that would be our Christmas tree.  It was also so dreamy to walk through the glittery snow on those freezing cold days...

I love our mini tree.  So perfect and charming.  And, obviously, Evangeline's a big fan.  

Advent Calendar.

I just love preparing for Christmas.  There is really nothing I love more than cozying up in our apartment, turning on Christmas music, and wrapping pretty packages, making wreaths, or doing some holiday baking.  One of the things I especially wanted to make this year was an Advent Calendar.  My family had always had one when I was young and I remember the excitement it afforded me as a child--there's nothing like a countdown to build anticipation.  I deliberated a lot over what kind of calendar I wanted to make--many of the ideas that I stumbled across were just far too complicated and elaborate for me this year (I'm just not organized enough to buy and wrap 25 different mini presents...!).  Ultimately I ended up inventing my own out of some beautiful birch bark coasters my brothers had made for me last time we were in Maine.  

This calendar was really so easy to make.  Since they were already cut, I just sanded them a little and then used a simple ink pen (I'm sure there's a better way to do that) to write the date and the corresponding Bible verse.  (Alex helped me paint the boughs, and drilled the holes for the string...thanks Al!).  I hung each day from string on a branch I found outside, and then wrapped some eucalyptus to make the whole calendar a little more festive.  Every night during the lighting of the Advent wreath we read the verse for that particular day!  The best thing about this?  We can reuse it next year! 

Happy Christmas Preparations! 

Giving Thanks.

Our sister-in-law Sara's family invited Alex, Evangeline, and I to spend Thanksgiving with them up in Michigan this year.  We were so happy that we did!  It was such a lovely Thanksgiving, filled with delicious delicious food, a heavy, exquisite snowfall, wonderful people (and plenty of little ones!), and lots of card games--all things to be very grateful for.

So grateful for these stunning views...and for a warm house and a roof over our heads! 

We are extra grateful this Thanksgiving for this beautiful, beautiful little lady who fills our lives with such grace and happiness every day!  (She loved looking out the window at all the perfect snow.)

Happy Thanksgiving, a little late, to all of you!  xoxo.

5 Months.

Though our beautiful Evangeline has been in our lives such a relatively short time, it is impossible to imagine life without her.  I feel so tremendously blessed that we have been given such a beautiful gift in her; that we are allowed to watch her grow, help her learn, observe her as she studies the world around her is so amazing to me...She delights us in her completely new, unadulterated perception of things--Even a ketchup packet is fascinating to this little lady!

She has made incredible leaps this past month!  Her greatest achievement is being able to sit up by herself!  At times she becomes a little wobbly, but usually she will be able to sit for at least five minutes unassisted.  Because of this she seems so much more socially involved.  Last week she sat on our bed and watched me clean the bedroom, and we just chatted and it was so lovely. Ever since her swim lesson in Phoenix she has been a huge fan of bath-time.  We fill up the tub nice and high and one of us will get in with her and float her around--she loves it.  It has become part of her pre-bedtime routine.  We usually give her a little bath, a massage, put her into cozy clothes, read a book (usually a chapter of Pooh Bear), and then she's off to sleep by 10 or 11.  She's so good to us.

We love you, sweet Evangeline!

Current Baby Stats:

Skills: Being super cute (always); actually laughing!; using her pointer finger and thumb to pick up smaller objects instead of just "fisting" them; sitting in a highchair; drooling. 

Dislikes: Tummy time yet again makes it on this list.  The only thing worse than tummy time is car time...which is the absolute worst.  

Loves: Being tickled (we've discovered she's super ticklish!); being tossed up in the air; when Mom makes up silly songs and does silly faces; sitting up by herself; cozy time; grinning at herself in the mirror; paper, or anything crinkly; when Dad finishes work for the day; walking around with Mom or Dad; the wrap (yay!); chewing on her pointer finger.

Snowy Sunday.

Yesterday was Evangeline's first snow!  So exciting!  (She is quite pleased about it, can't you tell?) It was a super cold day out, so after Mass we went downtown and spend the rest of our Sunday at the Field Museum (unfortunately, our timing heading down was not ideal--we were stuck in the rush of thousands of Bears fans going out for the game!).  I'd never been before, and it had been forever since Alex had gone, so it was super fun for both of us to just wander around.  It's huge!  I cannot wait to take Evangeline there when she's a little older and able to appreciate all the cool stuff.  

We really loved the Animals of Africa section; there are so many creatures in the world that you have no idea even exist, but each one is necessary in its own right and perfectly suited to thrive and play its own part in its respective environment.  It's really incredible to think about.  We learned about these monkeys, called Gibbons, who mate for life (unlike most monkeys).  The mates (sometimes along with their babies!) sing songs together in the tree-tops to mark their territory--the songs can be heard up to a mile around.  I just think that is so cool.  

Our most favourite section was Ancient Egypt.  It's unreal to see these papyrus scrolls, sarcophagi, and tomb hieroglyphics that have lasted thousands of years.

I love the beautiful white atrium--and of course, seeing a T-Rex skeleton is pretty neat...

This photo doesn't quite capture how freezing it was last night.  I know we're probably in for a long winter again, but there is something so invigorating about these first truly cold days that I just can't complain about just yet...Happy Sunday!

P.S.  Alex helped me last night to FINALLY figure out how to make my photos line up right against each other (something I've been trying to learn for the last six months...).  From now on hopefully my photo arrangement won't be so confused and annoying.  Thanks, Al. 

Vegan Donuts.

Note: I usually spell doughnuts "doughnuts," because I really feel like the "ough" is so rich and decadent, just like doughnuts ought to be.  But there's something just so...non-vegan about the spelling of "doughnut".  Therefore, these deserve to be spelled "donuts".  Not because I'm slighting them, but because they're of a rather different category than the traditional doughnut. 

My sister-in-law Emily went vegan for about a month or so and insisted that I go try Lux's vegan donut.  Honestly, I was a little wary, but it turned out to be quite the enjoyable experience.  

It was definitely a very different type of donut--it was a very similar taste and texture to a donut muffin: light, fluffy, crumbly, not dense or doughy. (Apparently these donuts are covered in vegan butter and then cinnamon sugar--after barraging Emily with a thousand questions, I still really don't know what "vegan butter" is supposed to be...but it was pretty darn tasty on these donuts.)  

I asked Alex what he thought and he said they were "good" but that he didn't pay too much attention to them.  I suppose I don't have the most solid definitive review either.  Basically, I enjoyed them.  In no way were they gross.  In fact they were very yummy (like everything Lux bakes).  But I'm reticent to give a more glowing review because the taste wasn't the most memorable for me.  In fact, the most memorable part was that they were vegan.  

But gosh, were they pretty.  And overall, very delicious eaten with an almond milk latte and sweet potato egg bake...Thanks Emily!    

Phoenix Wedding and Some Horribly Arranged Pictures.

Last week we were in Phoenix to celebrate the wedding of some wonderful friends and to visit Alex's family.  It was so lovely to see Mary Elizabeth and Danny tie the knot; the wedding was just dreamy and it was such a  pleasure to spend some time with many of our college friends!

Mary Elizabeth was just the most beautiful bride; the definition of glowing.  The ceremony was lovely (I may have shed a few tears...), and the reception was a blast, just as it should be.  The reception was held at the Ice House, an awesome old, industrial building in downtown Phoenix--it was such a fun venue for a wedding: elegant without being stuffy (perfect Mary Elizabeth).  Of course, there was plenty of delicious food, dancing, and good friends to celebrate such a joyous occasion.  We had such a splendid time--it was over too soon!

We were so happy to spend time with Alex's family while we were in Phoenix.  Evangeline just loves GG and Bop and her cousins so much, and had such a great time hanging out with them all (especially Baby Frances!).  She even got a swimming lesson from Uncle Ed!  It was awesome!  She really loves the water--we are thinking about possibly enrolling her in a swim school here in Chicago after such a cool experience.

Some other fun things:
-I discovered an amazing white cake recipe making mini cakes and cake pops with Emily.
-We visited the Phoenix Art Museum with Pete and Emily and their kids.  I'd never been and have wanted to go for so long, so that was really exciting for me.  We went to the "Firefly Room" which was completely amazing.  I'd have spent hours in there!  
-We tried a vegan doughnut at Lux.  Review to come.
-Evangeline was Princess Leia for Halloween.  Definitely one of those costumes we threw together 30 minutes before leaving for the halloween party at Pete and Emily's.  (Here are some more cute Burch Halloween Costumes from this year...)

Now that it's in the 30's here, we'll definitely be missing that warm Phoenix sunshine.  We won't be away for long....