Merry Christmas from the Heacocks!

We had a wonderful Christmas season doing lots of festive things around town before we headed out to PA to celebrate (more on that later).  Hannah sported some very festive looks this Christmas season, thanks to her stylish grandmas!  We took the opportunity to get some fun pictures for our Christmas card this year.

We also tried to find time in between activities to rest and prepare to the celebrate the birth of our Savior.  I find Christmas to be particularly poignant when I'm pregnant - something about carrying a baby makes Jesus' birth story more vivid I suppose.

Her snowman "party shirt", courtesy of Grandma "Ma" Heacock

Her "Nana Bapa" coat, courtesy of Grandma "Nana" Kramer

Someone was SUPER excited to pick out a "kit-chee" (Christmas tree).

She was very interested in the ornaments but thankfully most of them stayed put throughout the whole season :)

She was less thrilled by Grand Illumination (a little nervous about the fireworks I think), but we enjoyed the fear-induced snuggles anyways :)

She was even less thrilled by the big man himself - it took a blankie, a stuffed Nemo, an assistant waiving a candy cane, and her dada hovering nearby shouting encouragements just to get this one picture.  Ahh better luck next year Santa.

We recovered from Santa enough to enjoy cookie-decorating/eating with friends!

Thanksgiving in Chicago

Thanksgiving capped off our Chicago travels, and wow, did we have a lot to be thankful for this year.  God was good and so faithful, as He has always been.  By His grace, we watched Hannah grow up into a chatty, funny, imaginative little toddler, prepared to expand our family by one more, celebrated four years of marriage and one year in our house, and continued to experience professional success and satisfaction.  I truly couldn't ask for anything more.

Our Thanksgiving trip was a blessing in itself, as we got to see lots of family and have a ton of fun.  We even got to celebrate my Grandpa turning 90 - what an incredible life and legacy of faith he has shared with us.  Yet another blessing.

Hannah enjoyed the chance to play in some snow for a change!

This girl loves her Dada...and he's pretty smitten too :)

Nana and Bapa introduced Hannah to the joys and trials of being a Bears fan with her festive shirt and bow, even teaching her to say "Go Bears!"

Since we wouldn't be there at Christmas, Hannah got to open some of her gifts from Nana and Bapa early, like this lovely rocking lamb - and boy, could she rock it!

She loves her "Nana Bapa coat" and three little pig puppets

We explored the zoo again and enjoyed all of the pretty Christmas lights

And we still had plenty of good fun around the house - Bapa became a human climbing toy :)

And lots of great snuggles too!

90 years old, and Grandpa (GG, as Hannah calls him) was still swinging Hannah like he did for me when I was little!

After Thanksgiving, the cavalry arrived - two of my aunts and uncles, two of my cousins and their spouses, and affiliated children - and we managed to grab some pool time at their hotel!

The boys were completely smitten with Hannah...and the feeling was mutual!  She still talks about Noah, Jacob, and Harry as her "buddies"

It was a lot of fun to be with my family, and to watch them be with each other - the original Milligan clan and their spouses (and Hannah...duh)

Sweet home, Chicago!

This fall, a combination of important occasions brought us back to Chicago for several visits, and Nana and Bapa were more than happy to host us!  First, we all made the trip for my 10th high school reunion (and sadly I have no pictures from it...but it was a lot of fun to see friends and reconnect!).  Then, being an election year, I had two trips back for work (Hannah tagged along of course), and finally, we all came back to celebrate Thanksgiving and my Grandpa's 90th birthday (more on that in a separate post).

It was a whirlwind of travel, and Hannah is officially a travel expert (if I'm counting correctly, she's taken 9 flying trips, several more driving, and has visited 8 states in her first two years).  We really enjoyed the chance to spend time with my family and Hannah enjoyed a plethora of activities that kept her busy and made for lots of fun photos!

We got lucky on a few flights and Hannah got her own seat! Watching Frozen got us through many hours of travel.

When she wasn't watching Frozen, we were armed with lots of snacks and other activities - coloring was a favorite.

On our first trip, Hannah (with Dad's help) got to ride her first pony, and she seemed to love it!

Scott and Stacy came for the weekend too, and we all got to enjoy a festive fall hayride.

We caught up with some good friends at a park - it's been so fun to watch our families grow - 2.5 years ago, it was just grownups!

Around the house, Nana introduced Hannah to the wonders of sparkly jewelry - these clip on earrings were a big hit.

She even got her own Frozen necklace - this girl likes her bling!

The slide might have been her favorite activity - she spent hours climbing all over this treehouse! Well worth the years of storage by Nana and Bapa :) 

Our little prodigy noisemaker on the piano - she does love music, but it sounds better when Nana or Scott play :)

We even got to celebrate my birthday while we were there, and Hannah helped blow out the candles.

Nana and Bapa have a small zoo within walking distance that we explored several times...Bapa gave her the best view.

Hannah rode all by herself on the "choo choo"!

And she even brought her own purse to carry the essentials - hairbrush, sunglasses, and a toy or two

We spent a day exploring a local children's museum and it was super fun!  The water activities were her favorite, and even with the smock, she required a quick wardrobe change afterwards :)

Hannah got to join in the festivities as we celebrated another successful election with Congressman Roskam

Halloween

Halloween is a whole new experience when you have a little one who enjoys it - it becomes WAY more fun!  This year we went with a family theme - Alex and I were Phil and Kay Robertson from Duck Dynasty, and Hannah was a duck :)

We had a great time grabbing pizza with several families in the neighborhood, and then using the walk home to trick-or-treat with our friends.  Hannah couldn't really say the whole phrase, but we did get her to say "Treat, please" when she walked up to our neighbors' doors, so we'll call that a victory.

The funniest part though may have been the next morning - Hannah comes downstairs for breakfast, races around the corner, spots her pink pumpkin on top of the fridge, and starts yelling for a treat!  She would not be persuaded to eat breakfast until her request had been granted...so she had a mini Milky Way at roughly 7:30AM.  You can't win them all.

Our Duck Dynasty-themed costumes

The neighborhood bunch - Zeke, Eleanor, Hannah, and Amelia!

Check out the side view - that fluffy duck belly was too cute!

Ready to collect her treats!

I just like this one...her face, those cheeks...love her so much :)

We're back...but where have we been??

I am finally ready to rejoin the blogosphere!  Last time I posted we were announcing the arrival of another little girl this February, and now we are just a few days away from her due date!  The months really have flown by, as we filled our fall with lots of fun activities, travel, work, and preparing our family to grow once again.

Just because I wasn't blogging didn't mean we weren't taking tons of pictures to capture the memories.  And there were lots of good memories :)  Here are a few of favorites (in no particular order...not even chronological) from around the town...lots more to come from our travels and other adventures!

We introduced Hannah to Tribe football, and she was a great fan!

Got to spend some quality time with Dad at the track

Hannah was really into coloring this fall - we filled a whole composition notebook with her finest work!

It's become our tradition to eat afternoon snacks on the kitchen floor - pretzels and hummus are always a favorite.

We headed out with friends to pick pumpkins, and we came home with four - one for every (human) member of family!

We took the plunge and bought a minivan...and we have never looked back.  It is awesome.

Hannah has discovered the joy of "selfies" because she can watch herself on the camera - love her cheesy grin :)

We spent lots of time visiting the "neighs" in CW, one of Hannah's favorite things to do.

We enjoyed spending time with good friends, especially when they unintentionally sport matching jammies!

Alex and I spent lots of one-on-one time with Hannah on "dates" - this is from my date with her to the Virginia Living Museum to see the owls...although the highlight was clearly the chicken nuggets.

Occasionally Hannah gets to visit Dad at work, where I'm told she is a great little assistant doesn't cause too much havoc.

Hannah spent the fall developing such a fun, chatty personality - we can't believe how much she talks these days!

I got a bike trailer for my birthday so we could explore the trails around our house! In this picture, I am carrying the baby in my belly, the dog on my back, and dragging Hannah in the trailer...we were quite a (slow-moving) sight.

W&M had a petting zoo on campus, so of course we took advantage of a chance to pet some "neighs" up close...and get a sweet balloon hat.

More selfie fun with Dad!

Hannah didn't actually love carving the aforementioned pumpkins, but she was curious once we scooped the insides out. 

Lots more to come from the fall!  Gotta catch up before Baby Girl #2 arrives!