Merry Christmas and a Happy Move In!

This picture is pretty much the perfect way to describe what is going on here.
First and foremost there is SJ and me. As usual, we are spending all day, every day together and wishing there was a little more daddy in the picture.
Stella is such a fun joy these days. She is walking and running all over the place. Some days she doesn't fall at all and some days she seems to have her head on crooked b/c she plops down all the time for no reason. Either way, she is happy and often a lot less messy due to her new walkin' skills! Stella has been doing really well taking two naps or at least two rest times and still sleeping 12-13 hours a night!! We only had a minor blip (four wake ups in one night... ahhhh) when we moved in to the new house this week but she seems to be catching on that this is her new home now. She still says "this" alllll the live long day but I try and identify as much as possible (even if she can't have it) so hopefully she'll learn some new words soon. I can't believe what a big girl she has become. She is really smart and understands more and more each day. I love being able to discover what is wrong with her when she is fussy and try and deal with the situation as best as possible... it has cut down on our tantrums tremendously!
My favorite this about SJ right now is that she has started to request to sit in my lap to "read" a book. It might only last a second or maybe several minutes but I relish it each and every time. I am really looking forward to her being around our extended family for Christmas b/c she is so much more interactive and outgoing than she has ever been around them and I'm hoping she'll start recognizing people as family since they have been around more and more.
This picture is also perfect because it shows the Christmas tree in the background. We are in full swing of Advent and love listening to Christmas music and looking at the tree and talking about our Salvation coming to earth! Even before we moved in, I set up our tree in the "new" house right in front of the front windows. I just love seeing the light and sparkle shining out of our house.
The final thing you will notice is all the stuff in the background! We just moved in this week and we are still living between two worlds a little. We got about 90% of our stuff here but haven't had the time or motivation (in the snow and ice) to finish up. Also, we are getting the upstairs carpeted (finishing tomorrow yay!) and so everything that will be up there is in the living room downstairs. Thankfully tomorrow Drew is taking the day off and the carpet will be installed and we can get things a little more settled before we celebrate with family.
Recap: Stella is big, Christmas is here and "here" is the new house!
Merry Christmas!