Christmas 2009.

Christmas 2009 had its ups and downs. Poor little Emma was sick for her very 1st Christmas. She started with a fever on Christmas Eve around 11:30 and then it just got worse after that... Not the nicest present from Santa Claus. Christmas Day was so chaotic with Little Em being grumpy and sick that we didn't take any photos :( We have video but it was taken on our video camera.

Christmas Eve, we had Shari and Terry over as well as our friends Mark, Chris and Megan for our Austrian Christmas dinner. We served schnitzel, potato salad, 'fridaten suppe' (crepes julienned in homemade chicken stock) and homemade apple crostatas for dessert served hot with ice cream. After dinner our friends Sharon and Warren joined us for dessert.

Ryan and Emmas tree. Decorated with all non-breakable ornaments and keepsakes from both of their 1st Christmases.

Our front living room.

Ryan and Emmas visit with Santa.

Greg and I planned for the worst. First, wake up early... real early. Second, have enough coffee in us to keep us sane, but not insane. Third, wear layers. Forth, get to the mall when it opens at 9:30... even though Santa only arrives on his sleigh at 11:00 am (is that so the Advil can kick in after all his rum and egg nogs from last night?), Fifth, try not to walk too much slower than the mall walkers and Sixth, don't panic when you see someone already waiting in line at 10:00 am. WTF?

End result... Ryan was exceptional and only tried kissing about half the girls in the lineup... Emma blew raspberries and didn't break down even though her nap time was at 10:30. Greg bought the best char sui bau he's ever had... EVER... From Saint Germaine. They just came out of the oven... Too hot to even eat right away... So Greg was a happy camper. As for me... I got an awesome shot of both Ryan and Emma with Santa Claus. Merry 1st Christmas Little Em!

The Stanley Park Christmas Train.

The Vancouver Park Board and the British Columbia Professional Fire Fighters' Burn Fund had their twelfth annual "Bright Nights in Stanley Park." Over two million lights, animated displays, music, candy canes, hot chocolate, fresh popcorn, roasted chestnuts and even Santa Claus was there.

It was awesome. It was even more awesome seeing the wonder and excitement in Ryan's eyes. He loved every moment of it. I think if he could have stayed there all night he would have.

We went with our friends Michelle and Steve and their two daughters Katie and Sarah.

Can we not all look at the camera just once? Pretty please?

Ryan loved the massive Nutcracker display.

A happy little camper.

Katie and Ryan with Frosty.

Emma was wondering why loud Christmas music was playing instead of Mozart and why it was 5º when it was suppose to be around 18º.

Whoo, whoo!

Michelle and Katie.

Ryan and the Grinch.

Napping with my Daddy.

Other than her crib Emmas favourite place to nap is with her Daddy.

Ryans 1st Gingerbread House.

Ryan decorated his very 1st gingerbread house this past weekend at his buddy Coles house. Coles Grandmom is a very experienced ginger bread maker and made this house especially for Ryan.

Avocados and Bananas.

Exactly the same as Ryan. Damn! We thought that Emma was going to be the foodie in the family. She couldn't give a rats ass about anything but breast milk and the occasional Baby Mum Mum cracker. Maybe it's because both Emma and Ryan got their teeth in so darn fast. As of two days ago Emma is now the proud owner of four brand new teeth. Mushy cereal, fruit and veggies don't make sore itchy gums feel any better.

And yes, she dumped the entire bowl of avocados and bananas and then proceeded to dump another bowl of museli wheat cereal. We love you Em... You messy, messy little girl :)

Emma Sitting Pretty.

Emma totally sits like a little lady... Always with her two legs bent and off to one side. Thanks Auntie T for my super cool ROXY hoodie!

Chubby Cheeks.

Emma's First Meal (hopefully, not the last).

She didn't like the oatmeal so why not try yummy organic broccoli?

This was not staged...

This is how Ryan fell asleep tonight... It was pitch black in Emma's area of the room but I just had to take one of her too. They are so damn cute when they sleep :)

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...