A few Christmas photos...

We had a wonderful Christmas morning...Julian was a little overwhelmed with everything, but seemed to enjoy herself and all her new clothes and toys. As you can imagine, with a 20 month old, you have to play with or try on everything as it is opened...it makes for a long morning :) Ava didn't seem to mind though!

Ava Clare

On Friday, December 19th, Rob and I welcomed our new little girl, AVA CLARE!

She was born at 7:07 am, weighing 7 lbs 6 oz and was 21 inches long. Below are a couple of pictures that my sister-in-law, Courtney, captured just after her arrival. We are truly blessed to have TWO beautiful daughters and are so thankful for our many blessings this time of year!

The last self portrait...

Here they are - the last shots of the belly. We are inside 10 days (until my official due date) and hoping that our new little one makes her appearance any day now!

Little Fashion Diva...

Just a couple of pictures of Miss Julian from Church the other day - sporting the dress her daddy bought her. She thinks she is hot stuff and who am I kidding, she is :)







And here she is with her new ski helmet - we figured better safe than sorry as ski season is here and we hope she really loves it!

Skiing...

On Saturday, Dec 13th, we took Julian skiing for the first time - I say that lightly; we just took her to a small hill outside our house but as you can see, she really loved it! We've had lots of snow and thankfully she loves to play in it! ENJOY!

Christmas Tree Lighting and St. Nikolaus

The first two pictures are from December 1st, the Garmisch Christmas Tree Lighting...Julian was still a little sick so she was not cooperating with the camera, and she did NOT like Santa!





The evening of December 5th is St. Nikolaustag...that evening, children leave their boots outside the door and if they've been good, St. Nikolaus brings them a special surprise. If they've been bad, Black Peter brings them coal and sticks. Obviously Julian has been a good little girl, so here she is getting her treat from St. Nikolaus on the morning of the 6th...

November and beyond....

As we begin to truly celebrate this time of year, I know thatI am so blessed with family and friends! My sister, sister-in-law, and dear friend threw me a surprise baby shower while my sister was here visiting! It was a total surprise - I still don't know how they managed to pull it off :) We also had our major snow fall of the year while Kat and Curt were visiting. Below are a few pictures, I hope you all enjoy.


Katherine, Courtney and I with my cake



My dear friend Claudia...we are both about to pop!



Julian playing peek-a-boo


Curt, Kat, Rob and I at the Reissersee in Garmisch


Enjoying the snow - boy was it cold :)

Sankt Martin

Tuesday, November 11th was the German celebration of Sankt Martin. The school that Julian attends (she's in the "mini mause" group) held a lantern walk through the downtown area. Each group had special lanterns representing them...as you'll see, Julian had a mouse :) As you can imagine, it was complete chaos - kids from 6 months to 5 years old running around - but it was fun nonetheless. Enjoy the pictures for our night...

The Lantern

Our 1st attempt at a family picture

Our 2nd attempt...

With Aunt C

Getting ready to walk in the park

Halloween

Well, it took a little coaxing and Aunt C's help to get her in this outfit - she was not doing it for me! Thankfully Courtney was able to get a couple shots where she seems pretty happy. I can't say that she had any idea what was going on with "trick or treat" but she definitely liked the idea that she would get to eat all that candy!

St. Elizabeth...

Last night, October 25th, was our monthly Generations of Faith meeting at Church. This session focused on All Saints Day and the kids were encouraged to dress up like their favorite Saint. Well, quite appropriate that Julian was St. Elizabeth, which is her middle name. Here are a few shots of her cheesing for the camera - she is such a ham!

With Killian, her partner in crime :)

Back from Barcelona...and other big news :)

We just returned from a long weekend in Barcelona - it was amazing! What a culture rich city!

And, we are so happy that Julian has successfully transitioned to her "big girl bed" and she used the potty for the first time last night...just shy of 18 months old. She is such a fun little girl, we are so blessed!

Below are some of my favorite shots from this weekend in Barcelona, enjoy!



Sitting with Daddy during the Gothic Barcelona walking tour.



Enjoying "churros con chocolat"...who wouldn't?



Lunch with our neighbor, Trish.



La Sagrada Familia



She loved the magic fountain show!

Fat and Sassy....

I know there are a few of you who follow this that want to see how "glowing" I am these days...well, here you go. These were taken at 29 weeks...hard to believe the new little one will be here in 11 weeks or less :) I am going to have my sister-in-law, Courtney, take some maternity photos soon, so I will put those up as well. For now, the self-portrait will have to work!






Also, here is Miss Julian - relaxing at the Alm Hutte after our hike this past Sunday.