Over the holidays we took a short trip to Chicago to visit friends and revisit some of our favorite spots. But can I tell you a secret? We really went in the hopes of meeting our dear friends' new baby, Henry. He was due to arrive on December 19th, so we scheduled our trip about a week later with the hopes that he would be here by then. And he didn't let us down.

He is such a sweet little guy and I was thrilled to be able to do a newborn photo session while we were there.

Check out those eyes!

Look at his little hand in this last one! It's like he's saying "Lady, I don't have time for this."

Thank you for putting up with me Henry! I can't wait until you are old enough to come visit us in Omaha.

Are you ready?

As many of you know, I am from Peoria, IL. I met John while we were both living in Chicago and we lived there for about 4 years before moving to Nebraska last year. What I'm getting at is that all of my best friends live in Illinois and I miss them. So when one (or two) of them come to visit me in Omaha I get very excited. I am so thankful that they are willing to make the trip, especially in the dead of winter. Last weekend Amy and Leslie made the 6 hour drive and we had a great time catching up and reminiscing.

How beautiful are they?

Thanks for making the drive ladies! I had a great time catching up with my girls!

So I've been completely addicted to Etsy.com these days. If you've never been to etsy, it's "an online marketplace for buying & selling all things handmade." It can be a little overwhelming if you don't have something specific to shop for (which I don't), but I've started to learn some tricks to finding the coolest holiday gift ideas (or just random things I love).

Here are some of my current favorites:

Jewelry

I love everything in Elizabeth Scott's shop, especially the birch bark ring and petal earrings.

These Oregon Rustic Wildflowers earrings are so pretty and would match a lot of different outfits.

LocalLibrary has some really unique jewelry, including this wooden wings necklace.

I'm also diggin this bird necklace from Imogene and Dannie.

Art Prints

Of course everything by Sarah Jane Studios is adorable but I am loving this Winter Cheer print right now.

How cute is this Red Squirrel Print by Erin Zam?

And this Pink grapefruit owl and pussycat from SugarLoop.

And of course, my favorite of all, Steve Geddes Artworks. His prints and originals are colorful and full of charm. I have several of his originals hanging in my home and think they are lovely. And best of all he's a great guy...and just happens to be my dad ; ).

Accessories

I love how modern and clean these little bags are. Very sleek.

If you have a baby in your life, please buy them one of these adorable hats and then send me a picture of them wearing it. That way I can live vicariously through you since all of my nieces and nephews aren't babies anymore! These hats are made from recycled cashmere sweaters! Or maybe your coffee cup needs a sweater!

Here's a handknit adult hat that I LOVE. I personally can't wear wool near my skin because it's too itchy. : (

OMG this whole shop called Knittles is full of cuteness.

Random

Letterpressed coasters, cute!

Okay, I'm going to have to stop before get sucked back into shopping. But I will tell you that a lot of the stuff I find comes from the "hand picked items" on the home page. They change often and are picked by other etsy.com sellers. Go support handmade!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We drove to Peoria, Illinois to visit my family which was nice. Now it's back to reality today. I've got lots of little things to take care of after being unplugged for a good four days (including a little cyber Monday shopping).