Another Post...At Last!

Yay! A post from the brand new CASA! That's right - I'm a homeowner now!!! Well, technically, it's not really ours until the mortgage is paid off, but, well, ya know ;) I can hardly believe it, and just in time for Christmas, too. But moving in December is not easy. I'm trying really hard to enjoy being here without stressing out about squaring everything away - I just have to squint my eyes when I walk through a room decked out in brown cardboard - not the most attractive holiday decor! I guess you could say I'm a bit manic about having an orderly/clean household and the Christmas rush is definitely prolonging the settling process. Oh, well. Eventually we'll get it all done...and then there'll be something else to do, right?!

So, we've been busy over the past two months. There was so much to think about and do. But, home sweet home at last. We've been waiting nearly 8 years for this and finally, finally we're here! In a house I never dreamed I'd be able to buy. And I'm so grateful.

Of course, with a new house comes a housewarming gift. In this case, hubby bought one for himself and spent this evening putting it together. Cohen was in awe. I had to take a picture. Can you see him - the speck, there, on the floor? :)

Oh, and please excuse the mess!

BTW: Yesterday was the day Cohen took his first step - three or four times!! He's finally crawling all over the place - started doing this after we got him on some medication for nerve pain last month - and we can hardly slow him down now! YAY! :)

SO call me crazy, but despite all of the hectic stuff going on, I'm waiting for cookies to finish baking in the oven for my less-than-traditional, more "Fast-n-Easy" than "Martha Stewart" candy plates, which, sadly, will include brownies-from-the-box courtesy of Betty Crocker (even though they're the good ones with extra chocolate chips), chocolate chip cookies (recipe straight off the back of the nestle toll house cookie package), some peanut butter cookies (these from scratch, although I'm not sure how they're going to turn out yet - UPDATE, they're the BOMB!) and maybe some chocolate-peanut-butter fudge (this requires a watchful eye and I'm not sure I can muster it at this point, we'll see... UPDATE - yeah, this didn't happen...yet). I should have said forget it this year, but people kept sendin stuff home for my kids so I had to. Right?

I really miss being a kid and enjoying the holidays through a kid's perspective. Both girls have fun stuff going on at school tomorrow. Jenna is making a gingerbread house and Hannah has a PJ party where they are watching A Charlie Brown Christmas movie and eating pizza (Ummm, hey, can I come too???!)

Anyways, I'm so tired and there's so much to catch up on that I think I'll just post a few pictures...

Enjoy.

Finally, First B-day pics - only 3 months late!

Ridiculous how cute he is.  

And everyone helped blow out a candle for Cohen this year:The little artist again:

Ahoy there matey - our Pirate and Lil' Miss Camera Hog... Hey, I think Dad was supposed to be in this Picture?

Cohen, miserable in the hospital back in Oct. - I tried to walk him up and down the floor to calm him down:

And, below...

...tree hunting - at Lowe's. But if you focused on the rows of trees and didn't look around too much, you could almost - ALMOST - imagine yourself on a tree farm somewhere, cutting down your own eventual-bulb-bearing green...

And finally, the kids-at-Christmas picture:

The best shot I got. I'll take it. ;)

Merry Christmas!