some maggie-isms:

Tycoon=Cartoon
But=Button
and I will add more as I remember.

a little more christmas...

a little tea party with frog. she also had her baby and gorilla bank at the table.

Christmas dinner. Right before we had a big orange juice spill.

We had a great Christmas. It was just the three (almost 4) of us, and was a nice, relaxed day. Maggie was so excited for everything, but was especially excited for the chocolate. She really liked opening presents, and it was fun for us to watch her. We mostly just relaxed during the day. We had a ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, fruit salad (with whipped cream) and rolls. I was excited to use as much butter as I wanted to, and I did.

We missed family, but hopefully this baby will be here soon, and we will see them then.

Maggie was looking out the window this morning saying "baby sister? where are you?".

Yesterday we took all our Christmas stuff down and totally cleaned the downstairs so that we will be ready when baby sister decides she is ready to join us. So now we wait...

christmas

christmas morning

Raggedy Ann and a baby quilt from Great Grandma Marilyn.

Opening a present.

The chocolate is hitting her system

talking on her lip gloss, sparkly cell phone.

a cool flashlight

chocolate!

CHRISTMAS!

Gingerbread (graham cracker) house

Christmas dress and a snack before church

39 week belly with apron

Maggie and baby sister

Maggie is starting to talk more and more about "baby sister". When we were at Costco a couple of weeks ago, she was talking about how baby sister would sit next to her in the cart, and there are other times when she is talking and it takes me a minute to realize what she is saying, and she is telling me something about baby sister. It is really sweet.
Speaking of "baby sister" I am anxious for her arrival. I am occasionally terrified at the thought of having two children, but mostly excited. We only have a few weeks left, and I feel it...

Latest Happenings

Well, we had a great thanksgiving split between the Creason and Olps families, with some Miltenbergers and Fergusons thrown in...

We drove up to Helena on day 1, and got to spend a little time with Uncle Rich and Aunt Katrina and Addie and Jeromy and kids. Check out Lucille's blog for pics. The drive was great. We have a van now (with a dvd player), and plenty of room in the back to pack without restrictions... The weather was beautiful both driving days, and we were entertained by listening to Harry Potter on CD while Maggie watched movies in the back.

We had a wonderful time, but it was too short, and we wish we could have seen more friends!

Unfortunately my camera ran out of battery power (sometimes I miss the old days of film...)

So this is the only picture I have.

GO BENGALS!

nesting

I am like a squirrel this fall. I have been cooking and baking to fill up our deep freeze with ready to heat meals for after this little one arrives. I only have 2 months to go.
Today I made a huge batch of cinnamon rolls.(http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/)
These are the best I have ever made. And I have tried quite a few other recipes.
Some other things in the freezer are: macaroni and cheese,
chicken and rice casserole with peas, carrots and cheddar
taco meat
spaghetti sauce (with meat)
And a lot of other foil wrapped packages. It is a good feeling to store up food for the winter.
I just hope I don't give in to the temptation of using them before I really need them...

for comparison:

The little piggie of '08

The ballerina of '07

my little monkey

Family shot with Maggie's Great Grandma Patty.

We went to Aberdeen last night so Maggie could show off her monkey costume to some of Sam's family, and join in the festivities of their Fall Carnival. We had a great time, and Maggie loved the games and totally caught on to getting treats...

Here is Maggie with Sam's cousin Abbie.

Showing off her loot to Aunt Sarah.

Ready to go!

at the park

Maggie likes to swing.

She also really likes to slide.

Our Place:

Dining Room

Kitchen

Living Room

There are still things that could be done, and that have been done since these were taken, but here is what we have so far...

All thanks go to Sam for taking the living room wall from flat green faux suede to "tomato red".

girl's trip

Maggie and I went to Moscow while Sam was in San Francisco for Clerkship training. Our flight there was great-Maggie sat in her seat the whole time and kept pointing and saying "guy", "boy", "two boy". I was just glad she didn't add any adjectives... She also kept saying "It's fun!"-that made flying more fun for me. The trip home was not so smooth (delayed baggage, high pitched wails from the kid, and tiredness).
But, we had a great time in Moscow. We got to stay at my parent's, and visit some friends and see the cousins. We went down to Lewiston one night to visit the Creasons, which was also a lot of fun. Maggie no longer has a fear of Duncan (Auntie Kayla's boxer), unless he tries to lick her, and every once in a while she will say "Duncan" out of the blue- I guess he made an impression on her.
We got home, did laundry (once our luggage arrived) and headed to Boise for Sam to be sworn into the Idaho State Bar. He is an attorney now, it is official! We had a great time there, and appreciated the quickness of city drivers. Here in Pokey the people are real slow to go at a green light, so it was nice to be able to move.
We have had snow, and it is chilly and sunny today, so I am officially in Fall mode, and bought canned pumpkin at Costco, and have my candles going, and am ready for the cool weather. I have some pictures of our place, but they will have to wait-I hear a baby upstairs.

our trip to moscow

Trying to get a picture of the cousins is definitely challenging. They were so excited to see each other.

Maggie helped Pop Pop wash his car...

And the cousins formed a little trio.

(minus Amelie-they can make it a quartet once she can sit up.)

maggie was right:

She is going to have a little sister!

We had our first doctor's appointment here yesterday. Sam and Maggie came along, and everything went great. We weren't expecting to have an ultrasound, but we got snuck in! Our little girl looks great, and is measuring right at 24 weeks (except for her legs which were at 25 weeks, and her head which was 23 weeks), so the due date of New Year's day stays the same. We got to see her stick her tongue out and her little hands right up by her face. It was a really good machine and tech, so we got to see a lot, and it was nice to not have to wait and wait to get an ultrasound.

So, I get to keep all the girl stuff, and I think I am ready to get crafty with some girly things...

Tumbleweed...

Sunday evening we were looking for something to do, so we were going to go to Costco. They close at 6:00, and it was 5:58 (or so). So then we were going to go to K-Mart, they close at 6:00, too. So we headed to American Falls. On the drive over we passed through a dust storm, and tumbleweed was blowing across the highway, and then some blew straight at us. It was pretty exciting. You don't get anything like that down South, or on the Palouse.
American falls had a grocery where we got some ice cream bars, and a park where Maggie played. It is a tiny town, but it was somthing to do, and we had a good time.

Eastern Idaho State Fair

Here we are.

Pop Pop and Nanette came to visit us and we all went to the fair.

No rides for us (maybe next year), but we saw a lot of animals, ate fair food, saw a hypnotist, and saw a lot of local color...

Ice Cream with Nanette.

Cattle Barn!

This cow was not happy, and was letting everyone know it.

Maggie was not happy with all the angry noises.