A Very Merry Christmas and Seven Months

Margo has gotten progressively more wiggly. As soon as I take her diaper off she's like AND NOW I MAKE MY GREAT ESCAPE only she doesn't get far because her range of mobility ends with rolling over.

She is such a happy kid

And look, two tiny teeth popped through at the beginning of December! 

She started sitting up sometime before Christmas, but toppled over a little too easily. Not so sturdy on those rolly legs.

THIS face.

While we were visiting Redding Aunt Micci introduced us to the sleep sack. Margo never ever liked being swaddled, in fact she HATED it. The minute she came into this world she was like "I'm free!" and only ever wanted her arms and legs to be flailing about, as wide as they could go. It made bedtime tricky, because we wanted her to be nice and warm and cozy but we also did not want her to choke and die on loose blankets floating around. Insert: Sleep sack. It is my favorite invention.

She looks like a little worm when she wears it and all I want to do is snuggle her whole body. 

We went on a date with our friends Spencer and Kelsey to Cafe Rio (my favorite food in the world) and to go see the Mesa temple lights

Here is Margo hanging out at Cafe Rio. 

Here we are:

Our friends, Spencer, Kelsey and Colby

The Mesa temple is so beautiful! I had never been before so it was really fun for me to go see it.

My view during lunch more often then not

As Christmas came closer the present pile under our teeny tiny tree expanded exponentially

I love Christmas so much. I get high from wrapping presents and decorating the tree and running Christmas-related errands and wearing red and green together because if you do it any other time of the year it is the worst.

Also, this rocking poodle came in the package sent from my mom and dad. LOOK AT IT

Her name is Francesca and Margo is obsessed. She holds on to the ears while I rock her back and forth and she laughs and laughs. She also buries her little face into the fur because it is super soft. Might be her favorite toy.

Here we are at Christmas Church

Look at her tiny teeth! Oh man she's cute.

We got to spend Christmas with the Williams' this year and it was so much fun! We went to Cafe Rio for Christmas Eve dinner (again, my favorite food) with a ton of their family and then went back to their house for Christmas Eve festivities. JR and I spent the night, along with Rachel and Zach and Lolo (on break from BYU) and it really made me feel like a kid again. Christmas morning came early (Margo wakes up between 5:30 and 6) but I was so eager to begin!

Hi it's early.

One of the highlights of the morning was this fabulous kitchen set that Santa brought for Ruby. Zach worked late into the night setting it up, with a little help from JR.

Margo with Grandpa Williams

Isn't Ruby so dang cute?

JR making his famous Christmas Morning Eggs Benedict

We had such a good stay with JR's family. We opened one million fantastic presents and hung out and Sharon even babysat all the kids so we could go see Les Miserables (which was amazing!). SUCH a fun Christmas.

A few days after Christmas we met up with Zach and Rachel and Lolo and the babies at the Phoenix Zoo and it was the best day

Hi, I have my purple squeaky shoes on and I'm ready to go

We saw some zebras

And some pelicans. Flamingos? Flamingos. Birds. Whatever.

I love Margo's ears. They stick straight out and they are uneven and I want to nibble on them. One day when I was in Costco this not-old-enough-to-get-away-with-whatever-she-wants woman came up to Margo and pinched her cheeks and said, "Oh, tuck my ears mom!" and I was like "heh." and then she walked away and I was like WAIT WHAT come back here, I will slap you! What a bully.

Ruby got to ride a camel

Aunt Lolo and Charlotte

The whole gang

See the lion above Margo's head?

For Micci: Aslan!

Optional caption: Tony face. 

There is a tiger above Margo's head in this picture, completely spread eagle. Livin it up.

These are two of my favorite Margo faces EVER

Haha those teeeeeeth. Gets me every time.

JR had two wonderful weeks off from school for the Christmas break and it was so magical. He had to study the second week, but we still got to see him so much more then normal. We ran silly errands and watched a lot of Big Bang Theory and ate tons of food and it was great.

By the way, Margo LOVES this shark. Of course she does, she is my kid. JR and I bought this shark from FAO Schwarz in New York on our honeymoon a year and a half ago (seriously? only a year and a half ago?) and Margo got a hold of it one day and now she can't get enough of it. She chews on the tail and hugs the whole body and plays with the little shark teeth.

I can't believe how fast this time as flown by. Margo is getting more fun every single day. She is understanding so much more and she has such a feisty, stubborn personality. I don't know where she gets that, it sounds nothing like me. I love being a mom. I'd rather have this job than any other in the whole wide world.