Christmas

Jason and I had a wonderful Christmas!
This Christmas brought many firsts:

• Our first Christmas as husband and wife
• Our first Christmas in our new home (Jason and I celebrated at home early Christmas morning before heading out to my parent's house. It was so nice to have some time just the two of us to exchange gifts and be in our own home. I think we will make this a tradition!)
  
• Our first Christmas with my sister and her family back in St. Louis
  
• Our first Christmas spent entirely together. (In the past we have split up to accommodate the many family gatherings going on simultaneously)

Christmas Eve with the Griesenauer's. This is one of our favorite days of the year! We spent Christmas Eve morning and afternoon at Jason's parent's house, ate a delicious brunch, exchanged presents, and then napped before heading to church. It doesn't get much better! After church we headed to Jason's Uncle's house to celebrate with the entire Griesenauer clan. They always have the best food and I ate way too much but loved every bite!

The little girls in this family are too cute! It's so fun to watch them all together and I think it's so awesome that they have their great-grandparents still around to spoil them :)


Christmas Day with the Ross'
Christmas is getting more exciting at the Ross house with the addition of two little girls! Millie was much more into Christmas this year and was soo happy to get her red wagon (the rest of day pretty much revolved around this wagon ;))! It's so fun to watch her excitement. I can only imagine how the next couple of years will be as Merrill gets older and is able to join in the fun!


Jason got this very handy book. I'll have to get started on my 'honey do' list!

Christmas afternoon we baked Christmas cookies. One of my favorite Ross traditions!
Millie was not digging her chef hat, but it was so cute!

She decorated about two cookies and was over it ;) But she did such a good job!

So did Jason :)

We wrapped up Christmas with a delicious dinner and watched a movie with my brothers. It's hard to believe it's all over, but I can't imagine a better Christmas.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Thanks for all you have done for us this year! We appreciate it and love you very much!

Uncle Jason

Jason has been a part of my nieces lives since the day they were born. He was even given the important title of Godfather to Millie before we got married. Now he is officially Uncle Jason, although we aren't so formal in our family and he is just Jason to the girls. I love watching Jason interact with the girls. He is so good with them and they both adore him!

Now that Millie is 2, very active and quite the little daredevil, Jason loves to throw her around and her response every time? "Again!"

Every great uncle has to play horsie. Jason loves me for coming up with this idea one night ;) Millie asks to play "giddy up" all the time now! Millie is so tiny I have to hold her on his back!

Jason used to be a little hesitant around infants not really wanting to hold them. But he took right to Merrill as soon as she arrived in St. Louis at 3 weeks old! Merrill seems to like Jason just as much.

He is able to get her to sleep.

And stop crying. I was babysitting the two girls one night and Jason came over after he got off work. Merrill was not a happy camper and when I asked Jason if he would take her for a minute he was like 'oh great, give me the crying baby'. But she stopped crying almost instantly and was all smiles a couple of minutes later. He has the magic touch with her!

Jason is an awesome Uncle and I can't wait to see him be an amazing father one day!

A Little Sunday Funny

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Five Years of Love and Happiness

Five years ago Jason and I had our first date in Columbia, MO.

Five years ago I knew on some level that it would be my last first date.

Five years ago I learned what a real, healthy relationship was like.

Five years ago I could not get enough of this new person in my life.

Today we are married!

Today we still try to go on date nights once a week.

Today we are happier than ever and our relationship stronger than ever.

Today I still can not get enough of this person and am happy that I have the rest of my life to try and get my fill :)

What's in a (last) name

When Jason and I got engaged I was not sure that I wanted to take his last name. Let's be honest, Ross to Griesenauer is quite a change! My reasons for not wanting to make the change had a lot to do with losing my sense of identity. I've had this name my whole life, 27 years to be exact, and I really could not imagine going by anything else. I was so often referred to by my last name or some version of it in high school and college that it really was just as much a part of my identity as my first name. If I changed my name it seemed like that person would no longer exist. Changing it would mean I would no longer share a common name with my parents or siblings, but not changing it would mean I would not share a common name with my husband or future children. Jason never pushed the issue and said he would be supportive of my decision either way.

A month or so before the wedding I finally decided that I would change my name. In the end it was important to me that Jason and I share a last name and I thought it would complete our union and really make us a family. And although Jason never said one way or the other, I do think it was important to him too and I think he may have been a little dissapointed if I had decided to keep my name.

About a month after the wedding I went to the DMV and Social Security office and legally had my name changed. I was still a little hesitant to make the change, but as I was walking out of the DMV with my new license I looked at my new name spelled out and just got a huge smile on my face. I was actually really happy to officially be a Griesenauer! Jason was out of town for business at the time. Even though I had told him I was going to change my name, I'm not sure he really believed me. When he got home from his trip I told him I had something to show him and pulled out my new license. He also got a huge smile on his face and seemed really happy that I actually went through with it!

It's been a bit of a process to get everything changed i.e credit cards, bills, accounts etc. and there are still many things that are in my maiden name. But legally it's changed and that's all that matters. It's been an adjustment introducing myself to people as Lauren Griesenauer but I'm getting used to it. I have to confess that spelling this sucker is not easy. When Jason and I first started dating it took me a while to learn how to spell his last name. I thought I had it down, but the first time I tried to spell it out loud for someone I totally messed up! I was leaving a message for someone at work and had to start over and spell it again and explain that I had just gotten married. How embarassing! It's going to be a feat to teach our children how to spell their name someday!

I am happy that I decided to take Jason's last name and in the end I have found that changing my name did not change my identity but only added to it.