at last, his smile has come along

gage teased us with a smile or two every few days for the first two 1/2 months, until this week. he is smiling non-stop! it is so precious.

when we were at home for thanksgiving, my mom pulled out one of my baby pictures and we were amazed at the resemblance. check it.

decorating

kind of an awkward/cute picture of gage.

LOVE the glade holiday collection - this one is holly wreath

overall view of the casa

i'm just really proud of this lamp.

Christmas tree!

up close

i took this a few days ago, since then i added some more sprigs of cranberries to the bottom. it's the centerpiece on our table.

i LOVE this r. love it.

i am cuter in my dreams.

one of the blogs i frequent is the rockstar diaries. she always has the best giveaways. and she makes these cute headbands, this is her:

anyway, i read this blog a few days ago and had a dream/day dream while i was rocking gage back to sleep about how wonderful i would look in one of those headbands.

i would become 30 pounds lighter instantly, and have the willpower to stay in jeans all day instead of wearing sweats. it's true.

anyone want to teach me how to make a cute headband for really cheap? i will pay you back with warm compliments and big smiles.

oh, esteban, i love you.

today is steven's 24th birthday. and may i say thank you to toni and poncho for raising him and then letting him be my family. it must be hard to share such a sweet son. (i promise i'm doing my best to take care of him).

i love this kid. a whole whole lot.

happy birthday steven!

sweet november

this is our wintery, cozy little casa.

i love this time of year. i don't think i can emphasize that enough. love it. i love halloween, i love dark mornings, i love winter-smelling candles

(burning cinnamon vanilla right now), i love wintery foods (soup, buttery pasta, hot chocolate....oh man), i love warm clothes, wearing my uggs in bed... not to mention thanksgiving and christmas (i could go on forever).

anyway, november really crept up on me this year, and i'm bummed. i haven't seized the fall. but i'm resolving now to do better.

our camera lens is currently being repaired by nikon (don't even get me started), so no new pictures of the gage :( but soon.

meanwhile... here's my gift to you. these songs will for sure put you in the winter mood.

little novembery playlist

giving up - ingrid michaelson

the fear you won't fall - joshua radin

fools in love - inara george

say - john mayer

live and learn - the cardigans