It's a Girl!

Welcome to the world Mia Elizabeth Conti! Jason and Beth welcomed their first baby into the world this afternoon. Mia weighed in at 7lb 12 oz and was 20 3/4 inches long. No pics just yet but the proud daddy says she has lots of dark hair and is simply gorgeous.

Lots of love to the new mommy and daddy! Mom and baby are doing great-everyone is happy and healthy. Madison is so excited to have another girl to play with :)

Our day on the Champs

Today was a fun day. Early in the day we finished Christmas shopping for Madison. We have yet to buy any presents for each other yet :) Afterwards we headed up to the Champs Elysees and had lunch at Laduree. It is a very pretty, old-fashioned French tea room. Even Madison's high chair was gorgeous. Madison again flirted with all of the waiters and had the entire room's attention the whole time we were there. After a yummy lunch of sandwiches, ice cream and tea, we walked the rest of the Champs to the Christmas village they have set up with Santa's village, shops and food stands.

Madison took her first picture with Santa. When she first sat on his lap, it definitely looked like she was going to start wailing...it was after a long day and she was ready for bed. But in the end she didn't cry and we have a picture of her and Santa and another of the 3 of us with Santa :) I can't post them because we don't have a scanner but they came out pretty cute.

Tomorrow I'm hoping on getting my gear to make Christmas cookies...I need a mixer and measuring cups and spoons. Hopefully I'll find what I need. Then we have to finish Christmas shopping for each other. We're headed to Disney when Kevin has off from work over Christmas week. The tree should be finished tomorrow...no lights on the tree this year b/c the Frenchies don't have stands where you can water the tree, so we just don't feel to safe putting lights on.

I hope everyone enjoyed our "Christmas Cards". Happy Holidays to everyone!!!

Happy Birthday Jenn!!!

We just wanted to wish Jenn a very happy Birthday! We'll have to celebrate in February :)

Couldn't leave out Angus...

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Merry Christmas

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Birthday Weekend

This weekend was full of firsts...Madison ate her first pancake and we got Madison's very first Christmas tree. It was also a weekend of birthdays....mine and Madison's 11 month bday :)

I've attached a short video of Madison eating her pancakes (all by herself) with a special cameo by Angus.

We'll post pics of our tree once it's all decorated. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes...now the countdown is on for Madison's big 1 year!!!

We're going to be doing a lot of fun Christmas things this upcoming week. Kevin has taken a nice long vacation for Christmas/New Year's Week. Last weekend we didn't make it to Santa or Disney, so that's on the agenda for this weekend. Then we'll be finishing Christmas shopping and just walking around town taking in all of the Christmas decorations. I'll be sure to post pics of our finished tree and Madison in her holiday outfits.

Also, we're going antiquing as my birthday present from Madison. We're on the hunt for an antique jewelry box (or something just as special) that will be passed down to Madison one day.

Reflection

I can't believe we've been here in Paris for 3 months already! With only 4 1/2 months remaining it is crazy how fast time is flying by. I guess what makes it most obvious is how much Madison is growing every single day. When we got on the plane in September, Madison had just started eating cheerios and now she's munching away on croissants and meatballs :) In September she was sitting up on her own and now she's standing up by herself and getting ready to walk! It's just so crazy all of these changes happened in 3 short months. Just imagine what she'll be up to in 2 months when we come back to NJ for a visit!

I posted some pics of Madison from September the week we left for Paris and some from this week...isn't the difference incredible?

Some video

Here's a very brief video of Madison pulling up to stand on her own. I know how much Lexi (and a few others) like watching the videos :)

It's Been a While...

Wow, I can't believe it's almost Christmas already! Thanksgiving was good. George and Sue visited and we had such a great time. We had all intentions of eating Thanksgiving dinner but were way too full from a long lunch of wine and pizza to even think about it. While they were here we did lots of sightseeing, eating and drinking. Madison and Angus both really loved having them around :)

Madison is getting bigger by the minute. I swear she wakes up from a nap with more hair on her head! She's pulling herself up to stand now and is attempting "cruising" on the furniture. She's eating more and more real food...today was her very first meatball. She's even mastered how to sneak Angus her leftover biscuits (he's very happy about that!).

This weekend we'll be celebrating my birthday by doing lots and lots of Christmas stuff! Saturday we're getting our tree and then walking around the Christmas village on the Champs Elysees (visiting Santa of course). Then Sunday we're headed back to Disney to see it decorated for Christmas (and to visit Santa again). Monday Kevin and I will be going to dinner for my birthday (restaurant not yet determined). We'll be sure to post pics of our Christmas tree once it's all decorated.

No videos this week but there will be some to come shortly. For now I posted some pics from tonight's bath and bedtime.

We have our dates set for our visit home! We'll be flying in Thursday, Feb 12 and leaving Sunday, March 1. We're really looking forward to seeing everyone!!!