This year, Ryan and I packed up the kids for the long trek to get our Christmas tree... and then an hour later we were home!  We still got to cut down our own tree, but it didn't take a three hour drive to Utah and a half a day walking through knee deep snow.  Don't get me wrong, that has it's perks... but this was SO GREAT!  Especially with two babies!  We went to a Christmas Tree farm and walked up and down rows of trees that were made just for the purpose of being put in your living room.  Oregon is the number two state in the country for christmas tree production (I'm sure that statistic is at least close to accurate!), so they definitely know how to make em' up here!  We spent the day decorating and listening to Christmas tunes.  We also tried, unsuccessfully, for the PERFECT picture for our holiday cards.  This proved to be fairly difficult so we called it a day and spent the rest of the night inside!

This weekend Ryan and I got to go on our first date since moving to Portland!  We had some friends come over and watch the kids and we went to a play.  It was fantastic and wonderful and so nice to get out of the house by ourselves.  We even spent a good portion of the night talking about things besides kids!

Olivia is getting so loud now that we have trouble having conversations when she is around.  When we put her on the floor, she rolls over almost immediately to her stomach, but then realizes she doesn't actually like it there and starts to whine.  She lifts her head and her feet (imagine the boat pose in yoga) and rocks from side to side.  It's quite a predicament for her as she obviously likes to roll over just because she can only it is just not the position she wants to be in long term! I will post some videos of her doing this soon.

We have talked to Santa about all of the necessities for this Christmas and while the magic hasn't faded, I understand a little bit more about the stresses of being one of Santa's elves.  As I type, Ryan is diligently working on some decals for a toy for Cooper.  I think maybe we'll look for things that are already assembled in the future... I mean, that exists right?!?!  Cooper was eating dinner last night and he looked up and said, 'Trick or Treat is all gone... now it's Happy Holidays!'  The best was the other night when our friends were over, he picked up his drink and said, 'Cheers! Happy Holidays!'  If only we had a video camera constantly going at our house, we'd edit the boring parts and just let people hear what he says!

~Ahna

What a week we had!  We won't be in AZ for Christmas this year so we had to make the most of our time while we were there for Turkey Day.  We left Portland in the snow and woke up to 75 degree weather in Phoenix the next day!  We drove to Tucson for the first part of our trip.  Our first night there was a special dinner with just the five brothers and their better halves.  We spent the whole night eating, drinking and enjoying ourselves; we even got a game in!  The picture above is the table that Emily decorated (my newest sister!), she did such a beautiful job!  Ryan has a great relationship with his brothers and it is always so awesome to watch them together and know that I get to be a part of their family forever.  Thanksgiving was wonderful at Gran's house as always.  We helped her set up and had the whole family over.  Then we got to spend some time at my sister in law's house with her parents.  We tend to overdo while we are in town, making the most of our time and trying to see as many people as possible.  Ryan even had the opportunity to go flying over Tucson with his friend Matt.  


We said our goodbyes and headed up to Phoenix for a second Thanksgiving and some time with my family.  We did the obligatory family picture, which is getting bigger every year!  This year we had a hard time fitting everybody in the photo!  We decorated Christmas cookies with Auntie and Uncs and had some great food at Mom and Dad's later that day.  Luckily Cooper got some much needed Brody time in.  Brody was battling a cold and we weren't sure if he would make it over, but Dad took one for the team and wore a mask for most of the day.  There was some McKiernan/Smith fun to be had and what is a holiday without that?!?!  We also got to see our friend Laura and her new baby girl, Jocelyn.  She is about seven weeks younger than Olivia.  I spent a lot of the Thanksgiving holiday remembering being around all these people when I was 12 and 14 and feeling like it was yesterday and now we are all married and having babies of our own.  


We were lucky to be able to take as much time as we did especially because we won't be down in AZ again for many months.  By the time we go back, Olivia may just be walking!  She's a really strong baby and is spending most of her time talking to us with shrieks and rolling around on the ground.  We have already gotten out of the stage where we can leave her on the couch to go get things done.  Within minutes, she is teetering on the edge and dangerously close to falling.  Lack of movement... it was fun while it lasted.


~Ahna   

Cooper loves to lay where 'baby sister' is.  I sent him out to the family room this morning while I went into the office and I heard him say 'good morning baby sister' and give her a kiss.  It's 
adorable.

~Ahna