Dec 31, 2012

Christmas

We spent a few days at Grandpa and Grandma's, enjoying the company and camaraderie of family.  The kids played together -- inside, outside, in various combinations, and kept us all entertained.  Obviously the gift-opening merited the most attention.



Waiting patiently for her turn

"What's dis?"

Trying out the new carseat

Hanging with Grandpa

"Ooooh, let me grab that camera!"

Cousins figuring out the game

Dec 29, 2012

It's a new year...

Ready to ring in another year of "happily ever after"?





Dec 28, 2012

My first snowgirl

Thanks, Aunt Mara!


Dec 27, 2012

Tuba Christmas

We watched the free Tuba Christmas concert at a beautiful university concert hall.  The resonant sound of the brass, the standing room only crowd singing, the joyful festive atmosphere and the magnificent architecture combined to make for an amazing, awe-inspiring afternoon.



In the last row....

before the crowd found our nosebleed section



Dec 26, 2012

All abooooooard

Cousins playing at Grandma's house....

Dec 25, 2012

Happy Holidays!!

We wish you the best today, whether with family or not, celebrating or not, well or not... it is a wonderful day to think about those we love, those to whom we are indebted, those who are in pain, those who mourn and those with whom we share common bonds. We appreciate you.  Thanks for reading our blog and sharing in our lives.

Dec 24, 2012

You know who you are....

.... but I don't.  Someone sent a beautiful unsigned Christmas card with a gift.  Thank you!  You obviously wish to remain anonymous and I can respect that, but since I have no other way of thanking your generosity.... here is a heartfelt "thank you!"

Dec 21, 2012

Smother love



And, I stopped the video a few times... you can guess why!


Dec 20, 2012

Piano girl....

The batteries on this piano needed replaced for awhile, and finally we got around to that task.  The piano is now a new-found source of entertainment.  At least the music is classic and decent to the ears.


Dec 18, 2012

Milestones at 4 months

Phoebe started rolling over a few weeks ago.  She is holding herself up with her hands more while on her belly.  She also began picking up and holding items in her hands while attempting to chew on it.







Dec 17, 2012

Jump, jump, jump, jump

Phoebe loves to bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce and jump, jump, jump, jump.  So the exersaucer we borrowed from my friend has become a most excellent diversion lately. She actually jumps higher than she did in this video.



Dec 16, 2012

Another year....

HaPpY bIrThDaY, dEaR tRoY (Daddy)!!!!!!!!!

Making Daddy's cake

The result.... German chocolate cake

Dec 14, 2012

Fake babies

A puppy is Bjorn.

Kinda heavy...

Peek-a-boo!

Dec 13, 2012

Is there anything worse for Mom than a sick kid?

Well, being sick yourself doesn't help much.  We weathered another round of a nasty upper respiratory illness which was accompanied by fever and lethargy during the past couple weeks.  The girls both ended up with ear infections and horrible coughs.  And we found out that both are very good whimperers.  Poor things... Lucia laid down, slept a lot, and ate virtually nothing for a couple days. All better now, thanks to antibiotics.


Dec 12, 2012

2012 Accomplishments

Not to tooooot our horn too much being self-deprecating types (you can argue this one if you want) nor being very proficient at the humble-brag (you can argue this one too), I decided we needed a post about our achievements for this year, primarily because of accomplishment number one which you will discover if you read alllllll the way down the list.  This list will be inclusive of feats by all four of us.

10) Potty training -- hip, hip hooray... we now drop EVERYthing and RUNASFASTASWECAN to the bathroom at a mere utterance of certain words
9) Gaining 35#, surviving 5 weeks of bed rest with help from LOTS of wonderful people, and birthing a beautiful girl who, despite all warnings, wasn't too small at 7#
8) Learning the words "No, no, no, Mommy, I can do by mysef (no, that's not a typo)"
7) Putting two girls down for naps at approximately the same time so that Mommy can rest too.  Uh, right.  That happens maybe once a week.
6) Keeping up a blog despite minimal sleep.  Can I just say that pre-posting and scheduling posts one week at a time or so has made this remotely possible? Yes, darling daughters, this blog is written for you to read when you are grown up and wonder what you were like as a baby and toddler. You're welcome.
5) Passing written and oral preliminary exams.  YAHOOOOO... one step closer to having some letters attached to the back of our name.
4) Discovering sidewalk chalk, markers, paint, crayons, glue, play-doh, scissors, tricycles, high-climbing park objects, etc.
3) Growing a yard full of weeds.  Takes talent to ignore such a task, you know...
2) Producing massive amounts of laundry.  Amazing how a tiny little human being can go through so much laundry in a day, and add that to her sister's.... (Not complaining as at least I don't have to wash all that by hand).
1) Someone now likes to eat oatmeal. HINT-- he's the only male in the house.  YESSSSSS! My arm aches from patting myself on the back so much.

Dec 11, 2012

Whole-hearted helper at Whole Foods


She grabbed chose the pears, dumped placed them in the bag, swung carried the bag to the cart, and two days later, ate them up.

Dec 10, 2012

Annual sweatshirt photo

We are past due for this momentous occasion!


Previous photos 2011...      



2010....

Dec 7, 2012

The best part of autumn

... is jumping in leaf piles, of course!  Even better when your daddy is awesome and rakes up a pile for you, jumps into the pile with you, and will even do that at night with just a porch light on.... oh yeah, life is good around here for a lucky little girl.  Then, you share that leaf pile jumping experience with your buddies.









Dec 5, 2012

Whew!

Stretching out at the airport.....