It's Beginning to Feel a lot like Christmas!

Well, the air is chilly and the trees are bare. The winter coats are out and so are the Christmas decorations!
Last friday while everyone else was out shopping with all the crazies, Emma and I spent the day listening to Christmas music and decorating the house. We've got some presents wrapped under the tree and my willow tree nativity scene is up. It's such a cozy feeling having the house all "Christmasy":)
We got to share our home with some special family this weekend. My Uncle Wyatt and his family came up to visit from Missouri for Thanksgiving weekend. Saturday night Ria & Andy, Katlyn, Curtis, and Miss Addi came over to hangout for awhile and we got to spend some special time with them. And Katlyn and her family stayed with us Saturday night, and although it was a short stay, we had so much fun! It was so great to see our Missouri family that we don't get to see near as much as we'd like. And it was the first time we got to see Addi in person, and what a sweetie she is! We hope you come back again soon guys!!
Life with Emma continues to be crazy and wonderful. She just gets more and more fun as time goes by! RJ and I are completely loving being parents and enjoy watching her grow and change and learn. I don't think there's any way I'd be able to keep up with all the new developments in her life everyday. But she is starting to sit up for much longer by herself and taking better naps than she used too. She still is a great sleeper at night, and my only complaint is that she wakes up just a bit earlier than I'd like. She typically rises about 6am, occasionally sleeping in until 7. We have tried putting her to bed a little earlier or later but she is a stickler about her 8 o'clock bedtime. And it's a good time in the evening for us to put her down also. So I've just been counting my blessings and enjoying our little catnap together in the morning:)
This week we've put away most of Emma's 6-9 month clothes as they're getting quite snug. She mostly wears 12 month now and I like them being just a tad big so that we can layer in the winter. She also got her Christmas present from Grandpa and Grandma Van Dyke early, as she was getting pretty big for her infant carseat. So Thanksgiving day when we were in Carroll with RJ's family, she got her big girl carseat:) We picked out the Britax Marathon and so far we are LOVING it! It is comfy for Emma and is one of the safest seats out there. We like that it is so easy to adjust and it reclines also so it's great when she sleeps. And she sleeps MUCH more in this carseat than she ever did in her old one. Which makes car rides with her so easy!
Well my hubby and I are going to watch some Monday night football now, so I will leave you with all our love and wishes for a great end to your November!