Winter "wONEderland"

What what a wild and crazy ride these last few weeks have been! It seems like we have shot through fall and landed right in the middle of winter. I have noticed with the shorter shopping season between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year it seems like the season is being thrown upon us!

Quick and belated update on Noelle's FIRST Halloween! It was a great whirlwind of a week and though at the end we could barely drag ourselves to bed we all had a GREAT time!

Trick or Treat Favors

Our Teeny Witch 

Aunt Sissy and Uncle Luke

2012 Pumpkins

2013 Pumpkins

Starting right around 11 months Noelle began to take a series of steps on her own but now she has been full blown walking/running for a couple of weeks or so and as you can guess  we are approaching her FIRST birthday this week! Stay tuned for a 1 year update soon!  So many exciting things are upon us right now and each day goes faster than the one before it! This past weekend my husband (aka Clark Griswold) spent a frosty afternoon on the roof getting our Christmas lights in order! Only a few more decorations to hang and the outside is done. Then after her birthday party and Thanksgiving we can transform the inside to our winter wonderland! On this years agenda in addition to our usual Christmas tree we will be heading out into the elements to cut down a REAL tree for the basement this year! Can't wait!

However right now on my mind is Noelle's first birthday party this weekend. While it will be relatively small gathering, it will be exciting to have everyone gather to celebrate her wONEderful first year!

As her birthday has rapidly approached I started the weaning process of nursing her and now just days from her first birthday she is only using a sippy cup and the bottles have been packed away. While I had tons of anxiety over our nursing journey ending the transition went extremely smooth! Coming soon to the blog, tips and tricks I found that led me to a successful first year of nursing and also my breastfeeding journey will be posted on Julie's blog: The girl in the red shoes! She does a wonderful breastfeeding diaries and it is so inspiring, look for that post in January!

The day after her party we are heading east bound to capture Noelle's first year and our family Christmas pictures with the extremely talented Courtney Katherine. Her work is so amazing and I absolutely love getting them done, it is always such a joy!

We have since finished our Financial Peace University series, it was packed full of great information! While it has taken some time and months to adjust our budget we are heading in the right direction of being debt free (only 1 car loan and 2 student loans to go)!

Today on November 12th we officially have our first blanket of white snow and its SO beautiful outside. A great day to make hot chocolate, turn on the Christmas music and snuggle up with my precious little one!

I have so much to catch up on there will be several posts coming soon in regards to nursing tips, Noelles first birthday and what I as a parent learned in the first year, our Thanksgiving adventure (including heading out to Harrisburg to visit family and the Hershey Chocolate World, Christmas including the great reveal of Noelle's homemade gift, and my breastfeeding journey plus many stories in between!