An Ornamental Tradition...

One of the fun things about getting married is that you get to combine all of the fun Christmas traditions from both of your families. In Jared's family, everyone gets a new Christmas ornament every year. But there are a few rules that must be followed. First, it has to have the year printed on it somewhere. And my favorite is that the ornament has to have something to do with an event in your life in the past year. Tonight our little family exchanged our new Christmas ornaments.

Here is Tori opening her very first Christmas present!

This ornament was perfect for her. Not only was it a "Baby's First Christmas" ornament, but it reminded us of the booties she wore on her Blessing Day!

Jared decided to get me two ornaments this year. The first was my very own "Baby's First Christmas" ornament. Tori is our little peanut, so this one couldn't have been any better!

I started to giggle when I opened the second ornament. I would never have thought Jared would give me a Wonder Woman ornament. He went on to explain that I have been through so much this past year - being pregnant, having a baby, quiting my job, etc. - and that I was his Wonder Woman. Needless to say, I was in tears by the time he was done! It was the perfect ornament!!!

Right off the bat, I have to say that Jared's ornament was perfect! As soon as I saw it, I knew it was the one for him. If you look closely, the Daddy Snowman has his arms around the Mommy Snowman and the Baby Snowman. And that is exactly what Jared does with Tori and me. He is always there with his arms around us, making sure that we are safe, protected, and adored! It shows how much he shows his love for us everyday!

I have always loved Christmas time, it is by far my favorite holiday. But there is something extra special this year as we get to share in Tori's first Christmas! This will definitely be a Christmas I will always remember!!!

Farewells Are No Fun...

Sadly, Grandma Harrison and Anna had to go home today. Their visit flew by in the blink of an eye- like most visits do. Even though we only had them for a short time, we made sure to use every second!

Tori and I had a great time showing them a little bit of downtown Indy. We took them to see the canal, not realizing how cold it was. But, we all bundled up and enjoyed the sights.

Of course, we had to take pictures in front of the infamous mammoths:

There were also many naps that needed to be taken...

Many fun bath times!

And a lot of holding Tori!!!

A grand time was had by all!!!

But, I think Tori had the best time of all (p.s. this is my new favorite picture of her!)!!!

Happy Turkey Day

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays and this year was even better than usual. Jared was so excited to be in charge of making his brine turkey. For a three day process, it really was worth it. I have to say that it was the best turkey I have ever had - it definitely rivaled Uncle Geoff's!

We were able to go over to the Willison's for our Thanksgiving feast- and what a feast it was. All of the food was fantastic and the company was even better!
As it turned out, we all ended up wearing blue today - even Grandma Harrison and Anna - Jared and I had planned on matching Tori. The great thing is that it made for some awesome "First Thanksgiving" pictures!

Tori looked absolutely adorable in her new dress!

And in her First Thanksgiving pajamas!

I love that we got an updated family photo!!!

We have been so very blessed this year. We are so grateful for our home, our wonderful friends, and to have the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. We have the most amazing family and love being so close to all of you! But I would have to say that our greatest blessing this year has been welcoming Tori into our family! It is so incredible how much joy and love she has brought into our lives. She is definitely at the top of our Thanksgiving list!!!

We Love Visitors

Tori and I love spending so much time together. But we also love it when we have visitors. Molly (from Riley) came to visit us yesterday. Thank you so much for the yummy lunch and the adorable outfit for Tori! It was so nice catching up with you and on everything that is going on at Riley!!!

Today my Mom and Anna came out to visit us for Thanksgiving. They said they came to see Jared and me, but we all know the truth. They came out to see our little Tori!!! I am sure that we are going to have a great time this next week!

Anna had a great time feeding Tori and Tori sure hit it off with her Aunt!

I think that Tori was letting Grandma Harrison know how much she has missed her!

Mommy vs Daddy

I have always known that Jared and I would have differences when it came to parenting. I don't know if this shows up in other couples, but it has in ours. I have noticed that I tend to be the cuddler. Meaning, I love to hold and cuddle with Tori. I want her to grow and learn, but I also want to protect her and make sure she is safe. Then we have Jared. I have observed that part of his role is to push Tori. He is the one that will try things with her just to see if she can do them yet. I have to admit that this really scares me sometimes. As part of my evidence, I submit the following video:

With all joking aside, I am glad that Tori has both of us. Jared will be the one to give her wings, to let her know that she can go out and conquer the world. And I think I will be the one to let her cry on my shoulder when things don't go exactly as planned. Isn't it great that we have both Mommies and Daddies!!!!

A Rose by Any Other Name...

Ever since our Victoria Mae was born, she has been accumulating a wide variety of nicknames. Some of them are very random and others pretty self explanatory. Not wanting to forget any of them, I have been keeping a list for the last month or so. I am sure that Tori is going to wonder where some of them came from - I wonder the same thing!!!

Tori and Tori Mae are her most common nicknames. Jared and I both call her Miss Tori. Every once in a while Jared calls her Miss Mae -I think that one is so cute!!!

While not very creative, we call Tori our Baby Girl and our Angel Baby! Honey Bunny would probably fit in the not very creative category as well, but I use it all the time!

All of the rest are rather random and interesting, so I will explain them as best I can!!!

Squirmy Wormy: I started calling Tori my Squirmy Wormy almost right from the start. Whenever she was eating and would get a bubble, she would squirm all over the place until she could burp it out.

Puke Head: In Jared's defense, he has only used this one once. But it had to go on the list! This came from one night when Tori decided to turn into a fountain and spit up everywhere.

Cuddle Bug: This is a great nickname since Tori is such a cuddly baby!

Fuzz Head: Jared started using this one when Tori's hair started to grow longer.

Bobble Head: Another of Jared's nicknames for Tori. This one came about when Tori started to hold her head up a little better, but would still bobble around a bit.

Short Round: Personally, I think this is her most random nickname that Jared has given her. I really don't know why or where it came from, but this is what they were doing when Jared first used it:

Maybe you will be able to see Jared's inspiration!!! (P.S. Tori's pineapple pajamas are my favorite - we have her wear them whenever we watch an episode of Psych!)

H1N1 Free

The past week and a half has been absolutely crazy for our family. Saturday night (Nov 7), Jared started to come down with something. By Sunday, he had a fever of 103 and would oscillate between that and having chills, sweating , and being freezing cold. When things were still the same Monday evening, we had our Home Teachers come over to give Jared a blessing. Thanks Drew and Sean for dropping everything to come help us! After the blessing, Drew offered to take Jared to the emergency room. At that point, I was so scared. We both knew that Jared needed to go, but we really didn't want to take Tori with us. I am so glad that Drew pushed us a little and was there to take Jared. The diagnosis was exactly what we were hoping it wouldn't be, H1N1. This started our quarantine. Jared basically lived in our bedroom, while Tori and I hung out in the living room. Whenever Jared came out, he had to wear a mask and he couldn't hold Tori at all. As the week progressed, we kept thinking he was almost better, and then his fever would come back. Then he started getting a really bad cough and a scary rash. So, Aunt Paula took Jared into the insta care on Saturday. Luckily, Jared did not have pneumonia! But they did put him on some really strong cough medicine. Yesterday his fever was finally gone and his cough on the mend. I am happy to report that we are now H1N1 free and Jared was able to go back to work today! Even though this has been really scary, we have been very blessed as well. Tori and I could have so easily gotten sick. I know that Heavenly Father was watching over our entire family, and especially our little Tori!!!

We Blinked...

And now our little Tori Mae is 3 months old! It is amazing how quickly the time has gone. It is also incredible to watch how Tori is growing and developing. I think she has been going through a major developmental growth spurt the past week or so. She has started to turn her head to follow rattles and toys. Up till now she would only follow them with her eyes. Tori is also starting to use turn taking with her coo's and goo's. It is so fun watching her start to develop her communication skills!!!
We took Tori's 3 month pictures this morning. Grandma Allen made her adorable dress, the onsie, and her bloomers! Thanks so much Grandma, they fit perfectly!!! Thanks for the super cute Scarecrow as well, he looks great in the pictures (and in our living room)!

As always, she looks so cute in her napper!

She has recently discovered her hands!!!

She is getting so big!!!

Tori loves her bear!

She is all ready for fall!!!

I love her bloomers!

Happy 3 Months, Tori!!!

Random Fun

I have been looking through all our many pictures of Tori. Here are some of my favorites!!!

She has been so smiley lately, I love it!!!

I love how she sleeps!

Tori had so much fun when AJ came to visit!

This is when I know she is really tired - the pacifier is resting on her nose!!!

These are from tonight as she was waking up - what a crack-up!!!

Once she was fully awake, she got so excited!!! (Sorry for all of the background noise, I didn't realize it was so loud)

Football Fan

Much to the dismay of Grandma Allen, Tori loves to watch football with us! It totally cracks us up, but it is true. For all of you doubters, here is our proof!!!