Santa Claus is Coming to Town

We've been busy getting ready for Christmas here at the McCoy house... from decorations and the Christmas tree to Santa and baby Jesus.

The doorway jumper came down from the rafters along with the Christmas decorations... Maddie has it all figured out now!

We got our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving from our usual "Christmas tree lot" at the grocery store. Because their space is limited and they're not really going for a fancy presentation, the store leaves most of the trees wrapped up in their shipping twine. You can pretty much assume that any tree that IS unwrapped has already been checked out and rejected by some other family, so I usually have Dan unwrap A LOT of trees before we find the perfect one. He's a very good sport (this year he at least had the forethought to bring a knife along so we didn't have to go through the usual twirling tree routine to pull all the twine off), and we did find a very nice tree.

Picking out our tree

Baby's 1st Christmas Ornaments... a new one to add this year!

Almost finished!

In addition to getting the tree up, we also took our annual trip down Christmas tree lane and met Santa at one of the local shopping centers. Norah was excited to talk to Santa this year, and Maddie was pretty unfazed by the whole thing.

 

Dan decided to put up outside lights this year, too, and he did a great job. Our whole neighborhood looks very festive!

In between all the craziness of getting ready for Christmas, we're having lots of fun watching Norah and Maddie get into the spirit of the season. They remind us to slow down and remember the true importance and joy of Jesus' birth. Merry Christmas to all!

Thanksgiving and Baptism

Thanksgiving weekend was quite a whirlwind for us - thanks to all of our family and friends who made it so special! We started with a trip to the beach (and a very full beach house!), then over to Uncle Tom's and Aunt Kelly's for a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. It was so fun to catch up with my grandpa and aunts and uncles and to hear the adventures of my cousins who are spread around the world! Maddie was too young to be able to enjoy the food on her first Thanksgiving, but she was very interested in watching all the activity going on around her. She's still a very laid-back baby and is happy as long as she's being held (i.e. part of the action).

We decided to stay away from shopping on Black Friday, and headed down to the beach instead. (When the weather is 75 degrees and sunny in November, it's hard to get motivated to be inside all day with the crowds, no matter how good the deals are!) The guys opted to go disc golfing instead (shocker!). Norah loved her time with her aunts and Jake, but was also a good sport about having to share them with her sister.

We came back to Fresno on Saturday just in time for a game watch (go Irish! - undefeated and heading to the National Championship game). Poor Maggie was a good sport about being surrounded by a bunch of crazy Notre Dame fans :) Even Jake is into football this year, so she just can't get away from it.

Sunday was Maddie's baptism day. We were thankful for the people who were able to celebrate with us in person, and grateful for the prayers from the people who were celebrating with us in spirit. God has truly blessed us with this beautiful baby girl, and Dan and I - along with her godparents Maggie and Matt - have the privilege of teaching her what it means to be a child of God.

Thanks again to everyone who made this Thanksgiving and baptism weekend so memorable for our family! Is it really almost December already?

Thankfulness

In this season of giving thanks, here is a week's full of things to be thankful for:

Monday... Norah, Maddie, and I were proud to recognize Dan and all his fellow veterans on Veteran's Day (observed). Dan doesn't get the day off work, but we have a tradition of taking him out to lunch to celebrate his service. Norah is now old enough that she's starting to ask Dan questions about what he did in the Army - at this point mostly about his uniform, the trucks he got to ride in, the helicopters he saw, etc.  We're thankful for the many freedoms that we have and the sacrifices America's veterans have made in order to preserve this.

Playing Army

The real thing... deployed in Iraq

Tuesday... Dan and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. What a fun day our wedding was... followed by so many memorable ones since then. I am thankful to have been married to such a loving, kind, and generous man for the past eight years, and for the beautiful family that has come into being during that time.

Wedding day...

...And now!

Anniversary pic... Norah took this one!

Wednesday... Norah had her Thanksgiving feast at school, and I was able to be a part of it. We are thankful that Norah is having such a fun time in preschool and that she has been blessed with teachers that she loves. I am also thankful that I can be there for events like these - now that I'm staying home with my girls full time. (I officially left my position with Fresno State MESA on November 1. It was a great job that allowed me to work with some amazing students and teachers, but Dan and I both felt that the time was right for me to be home with Norah and Maddie.) Also on Wednesday, Dan took and passed his broker's exam, which will allow him some additional opportunities at work. Not surprisingly, he waited until the last minute to study, but as usual it all worked out in the end. Congrats to Dan :)

Thursday... Dan turned 33! We celebrated with some nice family time at home, and of course, cake! I am thankful that Dan has let me be a part of his amazing life for the past 13-plus years, and for his family, who helped him grow into the man I love.

Friday... Dan and I had a date night. I am thankful for our usual tradition of family dinners, which give us time to tell each other about our days and spend some good family time together, but I am also thankful for the occasional times when Dan and I can have dinner alone. In addition, I am thankful for our Grandma and Grandpa babysitters, who Norah was probably more excited to spend the evening with, anyway.

Saturday... While most of the day was spent catching up on errands and house cleaning, we did certainly make time to watch Notre Dame beat Wake Forest in football to go 11-0. We were all thankful for the victory! It's been a fun season to watch.

Sunday... Some of our neighbors organized a Christmas tree lighting party, complete with a crane to get the lights up in the tall trees. Norah was in heaven watching all the lights go up, and even got to take a short ride in the crane. I am thankful for the excitement of the holiday season, especially now that I get to watch it through Norah and Maddie's eyes.

It's been a busy week - with lots of blessings - with another one to follow. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Halloween!

We had a very fun Halloween... lots of trick or treating, lots of candy, and some very cute owls! 

Norah got to wear her costume to dance class this week for a costume parade and short recital...

Maddie wasn't quite sure what to make of her costume, but she was very interested in seeing all the other kids wearing theirs. We went to a Halloween party at a local children's bookstore, and she stayed very busy watching everything that was going on around her. Norah seemed like an old pro while trick or treating this year. We had quite a time convincing her that it was time to go home at the end of the night! I think she got enough candy to last for the next six months!  All in all, a very fun night.

I crack myself up

Maddie has learned how to laugh, and she finds herself to be very funny (you may need to turn up your volume a bit)...

She also finds her sister to be hilarious, and Norah is happy to ham it up.

Norah had her Harvest Party at school yesterday. She and her classmates dressed as farmers, played games (she won two goldfish... hooray!), and went to a pumpkin patch. I got to go and help out, which gave me a chance to see her friends and meet some of the other parents.  She was very excited to show me around.

And just for fun, a picture of Maddie getting ready for Halloween.  Yes, we are the kind of parents who dress our kids in silly outfits and take pictures.

Smiles, Pumpkins, and Baseball

So we're settling into a normal routine here in the McCoy household - or at least as normal as you can ever consider life with an infant and a preschooler. Maddie is growing fast - smiling and making lots of cute sounds now - and Norah is having lots of fun with her sissy. The first two pictures below are from her two month birthday, with the third taken a few days later.

We took Maddie's second trip to the coast a couple of weeks ago. She doesn't love to be confined to her car seat for more than a couple hours, but as long as we budget time for a stop, she's a pretty good traveler. We finally got to pull out our fall clothes for the trip over there - this time of year is beautiful at the beach.

Maddie loves being in her big sissy's room - something that I'm sure won't change for a long time. Luckily, Norah finds it endearing right now. Here we were getting ready for nap time - don't both girls look tired?

Last weekend, we headed to the pumpkin patch to get ready for Halloween. We've found a nice patch that's run by a family on their farm every year, so we keep going back.  Norah got to cut her own pumpkin off the vine, and we all took a hay ride and navigated a corn maze. Luckily, this year we went early enough that we didn't have to go all the way out to the far edges of the field to find our pumpkins.

Norah's pumpkin

Maddie's first pumpkin (she's impressed!)

Finally, we have a bit of a rivalry going on in our house with the baseball playoffs right now. The Giants and the Cardinals are facing off for the National League title, so Daddy and Grandpa are both jockeying for Norah's baseball loyalty. I think she's decided to root for both teams, so she'll be happy either way. Go Giants! Go Cardinals!

Visitors!

It's hard to believe it, but Maddie is already more than a month old! We've been lucky to have lots of visitors since she arrived, and Norah has had fun introducing everyone to her new little sister.

Grandma and Grandpa

Aunt Maggie and Jake

Grammy

Aunt Laura

Four generations of Klas ladies

Great Grandma and Aunt Sue

Norah is being so good about including her little sister in her play time, and even doesn't mind when Maddie comes to visit her in her big girl room.

While Grammy was visiting from Missouri over Labor Day weekend, Maddie got to "watch" her first Notre Dame game. (Since the game was being played in Ireland, Daddy and Norah even got up early to make green pancakes!) We've started the indoctrination process early. (Thanks to Aunt Laura for keeping both girls in Notre Dame gear!)

After the game was over, Norah took Grammy to the beach - a welcome relief from the Fresno heat! Maddie did very well on her first car trip, with just one quick stop for lunch. She, too, loved the cooler weather, and spent most of the weekend snuggled up in her sweatsuits fast asleep. We had a great visit with Judie and look forward to the next time she (and the rest of the Mangan and McCoy family) can see Maddie!

One month old today!

Laura came out for a visit right after Labor Day, and as with previous visitors, was scooped up by Norah and taken off to play. Thanks to all for making the (long or short) trip to see us and our new addition!

Norah is settling into her routine at school, learning letters, meeting friends, and doing lots of art projects. She also started dance class a few weeks ago, so she's busy practicing all her tap and ballet steps.

 

Happy fall to all!