Happy Holidays!

We have really been enjoying the holiday season here as Elliot has become much more interested in what Christmas means and how Santa works. He's really loving the Advent Calendar, pictured below, because it shows him exactly when the "present days" are. It is very hard to wait to open presents so occasionally we will have Pretend Christmas and give each other random things around the house. I most recently gave him a couple of pens from our home office and he thought they were the best gift EVER. Stella just loves all the new toys (ornaments) hanging around to touch and shake and jingle. She has been practicing her "Thank You's" with everything she gets her hands on. Here are a few more highlights from Christmas preparations at the Meents home this year...

A new Advent Calendar from Great-Grandma Neva and Grandma Echo (assisted by Auntie Hannah):

A tasty gingerbread house from my friend Lisa's annual holiday get-together (Elliot was more than happy to help take it apart):

Outtakes from the holiday card:


There are so many more just like this.

And finally, I've had lots of help from Elliot while wrapping presents... Someone very lucky is going to find this under their tree this year:

Hope you all are having as much fun as we are!

Talking

I need to hurry up and make a list of all the words Stella is saying before I can't keep track anymore! I keep thinking that I'll be able to catch them all on video but every time I try the result is usually a video of Stella either crawling away, crying, or trying to grab the camera from me. A good old fashioned list will have to do...

1. "Uh-oh" - this was her first word (if that counts?) and started around 9 months old

2. "Hi" - ALL the time. Hi to strangers at the grocery store, Hi to toys she hasn't seen in a while, Hi every morning when I go into her room. Hi. Hi. Hi.

3. "Mama" and 4. "Dada" - I think she only started using them on purpose just recently

5. "Knock-knock" - she does this while knocking on doors, walls, toys, her tummy, Elliot's head, etc.

6. "Bye-Bye" - usually says this and waves only after daddy has closed the door behind him, but she's starting to catch on

7. "Tickle-Tickle" - or at least her version of it, which is a high-pitched "tictictictic" followed by her giggling; she does this whenever you leave your feet near her and unattended

8. "More" and 9. "All Done" - these are accompanied by the 'baby signs' for each word so it is a little easier to tell what she is trying to convey when she says "mo, mo, mo" and "ah-da".

See, this would have been better on video.

Birthday Girl

This past Thursday marked Stella's First Birthday!

Needless to say, she LOVED the cake.

Dentist

Elliot had his first trip to the dentist right after Matt and I returned from Africa. He showed no fear and was very calm during the whole cleaning. I think it helped that the dentist mentioned a 'prize' basket for him to pick something out of when he was done.

Halloween

A little out of order here, but I had to put up some pictures from Halloween. We were at the Annual Reside-oween office party (Matt's office).

Chief Executive Ironman

Matt as Slash (again), helping Penguin with her bottle

I was Little Dead Riding Hood (again)

The "noooooooooooo! don't take my picture!" picture

Africa!

Matt and I had an unbelievable trip to Africa in the beginning of November! We went for the EO Global University - a conference for an organization that Matt is a part of. It is impossible to pick one favorite part from our travels, or for me to accurately recap all of the details, so here are the highlights...

First stop: Livingstone, Zambia

The view from our hotel - Victoria Falls

Matt 'living on the edge'

Some of the wildlife that was within reach

Maveric and Iceman taking a helicopter tour of the falls

We also did white water rafting down the Zambezi River (at the base of Victoria Falls) and took a swim in the Devil's Pool... both were unbelievably terrifying and exciting at the same time!

Next stop: Jao Camp Safari, Botswana

The road to camp

We were lucky to be there at a time of year when almost every animal we saw had babies with it

Leopard that came right up to our trucks and rubbed his whiskers on the bumper!

The King - we also ran into him on a night drive and got thisclose

Typical sunset

There are just too many great pictures from Safari - I will have to upload them to a different site and link to them from here!

Last stop: Cape Town for the EO conference, South Africa

Opening night featured a concert from Gold Fish

While Matt was in conferences, I signed up for "Spousal Events" which included getting a baking lesson from a head pastry chef, sushi lessons from a head sushi chef, and a tour of the Dylan Lewis studio... from Dylan Lewis! Yes, I was in heaven.

This was an incredible trip for Matt and I. We learned so much about African while there and have nothing but great memories - and TONS of pictures!

Must. Update. Blog.

I am attempting to catch up over the next couple of days with several posts about all the excitement of the past month!