Here's the Diehl

Julia's first snow angel.

It was fun to get outside this morning and see how Julia reacted to the snow. She didn't seem phased by it. I'm sure this won't be our only trip out to play in the snow today.

Santa Claus must think Julia is the best baby ever. He brought her a giant snow cone for her eight month celebration. Wow, I wonder what he'll bring for Christmas!

After a busy day of chasing Little Miss Trouble, it's nice to settle down in front of our pretty Christmas tree. With Julia all snug in her bed, Mom and Dad can enjoy a nice glass of wine. Bella couldn't love this time any more. Can you tell?

As she has learned to crawl more and more, the favorite spot for Julia to go to is...for some reason...the TIVO box. I think it's the green light that is mesmerizing. I know I like it.

Standin' around and playin' with toys. This is what we do during the day.

The annual trip to Snickers Gap farm to cut down our tree.

I can't leave the room anymore. She's moving too fast! Fascinating objects include the TIVO box, the sunny spots on the rug, her chair, and Bella. Look at what happened when I left the room to go to the bathroom! I found her standing there when I got back in the room. And when I put her back on the rug, she was all for crawling over to the chair and climbing up it again.

It is the time of year for Festivus! Now those of you who are not Seinfeld fans, have no idea what I'm talking about, and it's just plain sad. Because the Festivus episode (Festivus, the holiday for the rest of us) is probably in the top five of all time. It's pee your pants funny. One of the traditions of this holiday, which falls around Christmas time, is the feats of strength. Here are Julia and Brian to demonstrate.

So, sometimes being creative makes life much more difficult. I always try and do something creative and different for mailed greetings. Holiday cards the last several years have always had Bella involved and I feel strongly about keeping that tradition. But photographing my two girls together is nearing impossible. And now, with increased mobility, Julia just does not want to sit still. So, here is a stab and some holiday card images. None of which I will be using. It's just another example of how many of my projects seem much better in my head!

Well, almost the speed of light.

By the time the Skins game was on Sunday, Jules was feeling mostly better. Except for the part when the Redskins lost the game in the last five minutes again. Drat.

For those that hadn't heard, Julia came down with her first fever the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Today, December 2, is the first day that I really feel like she's back to herself. She had a fever through Thanksgiving night, which was awful, except for the fact that it allowed Brian and I to run the entire 5 mile Turkey Chase Thanksgiving morning without interruption. She slept through the whole thing! We ran pretty well for not having slept in two days and pushing 45 pounds worth of baby and jogger. After the race we headed to my parents house for an, as usual, delicious meal. We ate and ate and ate. Julia got to try some acorn squash and I think Granma snuck in some turkey and gravy. Which, she loved. Because she was still feeling pretty under the weather we didn't take any photos that day. Oh well, there's always next year.

Julia had her first Fannie Mae walk for the homeless last weekend. she made it about halfway around before she wanted to get out of the stroller. I wonder how long she'll make it--once she's walking--until she wants to get IN the stroller.

It's just such an expressive face!

This was truly a great weekend. We braved the airports and flew with Julia to Cape Cod to visit Uncle Dave, Aunt Paula and cousins Alex and Anna. Julia was amazing on the plane. So well behaved. She slept during the car ride. We had a great lunch Friday with Dave in Onset and then met up with the kids and Paula at their house. Their AMAZING house. They moved into a new place a bit ago and it was our first time staying there. It is magnificent! Brian and I agree the hidden bar between the library and kitchen is probably our favorite feature. Julia liked the walk-in closet....and she said it's not just because her pack and play sleep area fit so well there. It is because a walk-in closet would provide enough space for her ever expanding wardrobe and accessories. We walked on Main Street in Falmouth, picked up some gear--including a Cape Cod tee for Julia. We were fed extremely well, courtesy of Dave. He even made Julia some of her first squash. Check out the video. We dressed up for ...

When we were at the beach in September, we had a great photo session for some portraits. Ginger, the photographer, took tons of photos! This is just one of about 400 images that were shot. Email me directly if you'd like to see all the images and order prints!

The Halloween Parade in Del Ray was yesterday. It was the perfect day for it. I was glad to not have to work Boo at the Zoo on the nice day...I just got the two rainy days. So getting outside was a great treat with the sun. There were all sorts of costumes for adults, kids and pets. We even saw a dressed up guinea pig! My favorite was the family of super heroes, complete with Wonder Woman in the invisible jet. Yes, there is a contest for the best stroller, costume, and decorated house. I have a feeling, we'll be walking in the parade next year.