For Granny Verna..

Itty Bitty Baby is a hit

And has been officially named "Sissy"

A whirlwind visit (Literally)

We were lucky enough to have my Aunt Jane spend the holiday with us. We tried to show her a good time, but anything we could have done was definitely overshadowed by her being stranded with us by the big blizzard! We didn't get hit here in DC, but planes couldn't get to Bradley in Hartford due to high winds so she got to stay an extra day..

She had Christmas morning here with us:

The next day we braved the fierce winds to go to the Air and Space museum annex right near Dulles Airport. It was VERY cool in that they have an actual space shuttle right in the giant hangar..

And on the final bonus day, we headed down to see "cousin" Megan Platenik and finally meet her, Josh and the kids for the first time. It was great to see their brand new house - I'm seriously impressed with how much work they've already gone, given they've only owned it for 10 days :) Thanks Megan, for letting us come and play for a while!

Christmas is here!

Putting cookies out for santa..

Finishing up the cookies Santa left behind - after all, Santa can't possibly eat ALL the cookies at ALL the houses. We'll just have to clean them up - for breakfast. What the heck, it's christmas :)

And away we go...

Daniel likes being a reindeer..

Wiped out - but loving his pillow pet and Thomas blanket..

Loving her bike...

Relaxing with her pillow pet and princess sleeping bag

and the mother asks, "How is it only 9am????"

Ready to go on Christmas eve

We believe in dressing according to one's life passions:

Daniel is passionate about trains

And Sydney is passionate about candy :)

Giving - from the 3 year old perspective...

Our babysitter has a new grandson - baby Isaiah.. And yesterday when I went to pick up the kids, the babysitter enthusiastically thanked me for the "radio" for baby Isaiah - saying that Sydney had given it to him earlier that morning..I said, "You are welcome" and didn't give it a 2nd thought.

Then we were getting ready to leave and Daniel had his radio in his hands. It was a toy he'd gotten for Christmas last year and I just figured he'd decided to bring it from home in the morning. Then the babysitter tried to take it, saying it was for Isaiah and it needed to stay at her house...

So I got very confused and said, "But didn't he bring that from home this morning?" and the babysitter got an odd look on her face. Apparently Sydney had decided that baby Isaiah needed a present, and had chosen Daniel's radio and wrapped it up and brought it to the babysitter's for the baby. There was a big presentation and they unwrapped it and everyone was excited.

Great idea - in theory - Except, she'd decided to give away Daniel's toys - so I had to step in. The babysitter and I cleared up the confusion and decided that Daniel could keep his radio, but we'd absolutely find something else of Sydney's that we can give to the baby as a present.

So on the way home, Sydney was very upset. And we started talking about giving, and how it's not fair to give away other people's things, that we'd go through Sydney's toys and choose something. She was quiet for a minute, and then says, "but why would I want to give away my OWN toys???"

Ahh, there's the 3 year old view. We're on the right track with the idea, but she definitely needs to learn a little bit more to firm up the execution :) She's a funny girl, my Sydney...

Just "writing this down"

I sing with my kids...in the car...loudly. We have a great time on our rides each day.

Sydney likes to make up her own lyrics. Today's song was "Christmas is coming, christmas is coming" to the tune of Fere-Jacues (sp?). She also likes solos, and often tells me to quiet down so she can start "her concert"

Not to be outdone, Daniel is getting into the act too. He's working hard on Twinkle, Twinkle, and loves "the cry song" otherwise known as Santa Claus is coming to town. We belt out Jingle Bells and Hey Diddle, Diddle..too. He likes it with a rock-n-roll, head banger kind of beat...

These are times I don't ever want to forget...

Santa Train!!!!

Huge shout out to Megan Platenik for telling us about this. It was a huge hit for our little guys!!

Everyone waiting at the station:

Our gang waiting patiently - it was COLD!

Here he comes! To be honest, the cheer from the crowd as the train pulled up made me absolutely weep. It was 200 kids just cheering with pure joy. I got emotional :)

In our seats and ready to go:

Daniel talked to Santa, but didn't want a picture on his lap (surprise - not!)

In an actual surprise, Sydney didn't want a picture with Santa either. Not sure why, she's usually up for any photo opp..

Christmas is coming!

We got our tree...

Santa came through the neighborhood on a fire truck.....

And our daddy made our house look truly beautiful.....

I LOVE the christmas season :)

The beginning of the end.....

of diapers that is.. Daniel tinkled in the potty for the very first time today.... Talk about a huge milestone!

For his sake, I'm not including a picture :)

The naked chef

makes turkey cookies for thanksgiving! Luckily her dad is good on assignments and went to several craft stores for a turkey cookie cutter and several other target stores to track down candy corn after halloween (not an easy feat) for the tail feathers.

Happy thanksgiving everyone :)

6 Years!

Today we've been married 6 years. When we got married, I had this brilliant idea that we'd come back to our chapel each year and take a picture on the steps. A "then and now" vision if you will. Well it's taken us 6 years. But I'm pleased with our little family photo shoot this morning.

Then:



and now :



Now plus two :)



And then just our two:



Special thank you to brother in law Andrew - I know it seems like taking these pics for us wasn't a big deal, but it was the realization of a vision, so it means a lot....We have so much to be thankful for in our lives, and these pictures capture truly precious moments...

Cooking, Cooking, Cooking

Since we had the whole weekend free, I somehow focused on food - I'm looking for neat new things to make for the holidays. So I tried a new cookie recipe and did a thanksgiving dinner dry run.

I'm lucky - I got help with the cooking:



And the cleaning:

Halloween, 2010

Posing on the porch:



Elmo tires out:



the witch, with vampire teeth :



Our kitty cat pumpkin :)



Daniel's first good look at pumpkin guts:

Daniel's birthday - Round 2! The real thing :)

Celebrated Daniel's Birthday yesterday with a visit from Granny and Poppy. Had a super nice day finished up with a walk around the neighborhood to see all the Halloween lights :)



Singing "Happy Birthday"




Hanging with Poppy - Daniel loves to hear him sing. I remember thinking the same thing about MY grandfather :)



Elmo cake. Original plan was elmo cupcakes but the red frosting in my dry run got a tad out of control. I decided I didn't want the 2nd birthday pics to look like a bloodbath!

Daniel's birthday - Round 1

We had a terrific day today with the Jones family, celebrating Daniel's and Bridget's birthday. Such nice presents and a lot of fun had by all :)

Birthday Boy!



Birthday Girl!



A slightly jealous, but still happy to partake in cake, big sister....



Halloween Cauldron Cake (Otherwise known as dirt cake)

A really great day...

5 years ago I joined an online support group because I'd had a miscarriage. Little did I know those women would turn out to be so much more than just online buddies to me. Yesterday I was lucky enough to meet quite a few of them in person at our own little "convention" in the DC area. It was an amazing day with amazing people. And now I'm lucky enough to call them "real life" friends..

Considering that we all started out having lost a baby, the pictures below make me really emotional. We've all come a LONG way since we came together so long ago.

10 little miracles - sitting in a row -

Happiness is :

Pumpkin Patch!

Beautiful day...

a little daniel focus

2 cute ones I can't resist -

1) The Elmo sweatshirt - the tradition continues :)



A very needed haircut!!!!