Yankee Doodle

Mia's preschool programs keep getting better and better :) Here is a cute version of Yankee Doodle.
Oh, and what exactly does "and with the girls be handy" mean anyway?? :)

Sleepyheads

I want to ride my bicycle

We finally got new bikes and the weather was decent enough to try them out over the weekend! Mia did such a good job keeping up and Ellie was adorable in her huge bike helmet. I'm looking forward to lots of riding this spring!

In other news, Ellie got her first ear-infection on Valentine's Day :( She seems to like to get sick on holidays. Sean and I even had reservations at a new restaurant that we had to cancel. But we hope to try again soon!

And, I took a great class last night called Parent Photography 101: All I want are great photos of my kids. I got lots of good tips although I realize that it is just a LOT of work--even for professionals! But I actually did finally grasp the concept of lighting! Light should always be on the face of the person you are photographing. So I am going to make myself practice some more, and use my new techniques for getting the girls to cooperate :) Wish me luck!

My first time getting the lighting right in the front foyer! And don't you just love Ellie's amazingly awful baby hair :)

Lollipops for Breakfast

Conversation at our house this morning:

Mia: Mommy, Daddy said I can have a lollipop if I ate all of my cereal. Look, I ate it all, can I have my lollipop?

Mommy: Hmmm, I don't think that is what Daddy said....

Mia: Yes he did, yes! I can, I can!

Mommy:  Well, let's just call Daddy and double check...

Mia:  Ummm... I know he won't mind if I have it Mommy, really!

Ha!

New and Cute Stuff

Because I kind of treat this blog as a "baby book" for my girls, and I intend to print it out one day, I like to use it as a place to brag about their latest and greatest achievements, or just some cute stuff they did recently.

Here goes: :)

Mia:  My girl is getting BIG! I think she had a major growth spurt recently. Her legs look so long and skinny and she just seems so grown up with that hair. She writes her name and loves to try to read (she has memorized her favorite books and will recite them along with us when we read to her). She has so many favorites but some are: Dr. Seuss-The Lorax, Horton, Fox in Socks, (oh the endless times we've read Fox in Socks...), Berenstein Bears Go to School, and Hug and Make Up, and Little Critter books. After we read her a book at bedtime, she loves to tell us her own stories. Usually they involve a princess who likes to dance (she is interested in Cinderella lately), but sometimes it is a crazy, meandering story about elephants who ice-skate and miss their friends and have fairy godmothers. It is very adorable. One day I will write one down word-for-word. She loves her little sister although can be a little too rough on occasion. She just wants to hug her a little too hard :) We plan on doing swim lessons this spring in anticipation of a fun summer at the pool!

Ellie: This baby is on a roll! She does something new daily! She is trying so hard to talk and I know she makes perfect sense to herself. Her first words have been Mama, Dada and Ball. I think Ball is the only one she actually gets right all the time. She will scream Dada at the cat and other animals she sees, and she says Mama anytime she is upset. She loves to hand you things and then take them back. She loves to drop her sippy cup off of her high-chair tray. She will stand by herself for a few seconds before falling on her bum. She is the most ticklish kid I've ever known and has the most delightful laugh I've ever heard. She loves to feed herself and is a great but extremely messy eater. Mia says she blows her kisses, but I haven't witnessed that yet :)

Now if I could just get a cute photo of the two of them together!!

 I love this picture.

I tried...

Bundled up in the backpack before brunch.

I just loved this. Mia said she was going to draw an owl and this is what she did. How cute!

Hairy

Well, after 3 1/2 years, Mia finally had her first hair cut. She's been asking for one for a while, and her (gorgeous, very long and curly) hair was really becoming difficult to brush/wash/do anything with. So I took her in Saturday and she lost at least 6 inches, including the baby curls. For some reason, she asked to have her hair cut "like Daddy's", but we kept it simple for now.

I know it was time, but I'm still a little sad. She handled it like a pro, just as she did at the dentist. As long as we prepare Mia for things in advance, she usually handles anything we throw her way pretty well.

After her cut and blow dry :), we went to Dairy Queen for lunch, of all places. She had been asking for a chocolate ice cream cone with chocolate sprinkles (whose child is this?? Sean and I don't care for chocolate at all!).

Anyway, here are a few photos of the new 'do!

And all we have left of the old hair are memories... sniff sniff! :) I know, I know it will grow. Mia actually tells me she can feel it growing already!

Is it Spring yet?

I have the Winter blahs. I'm sure we all get them this time of year. It has been so cold and dreary that today (40 degrees) feels downright balmy and I can't wait to send Mia outside to play! It is the time of year when I dream of summer vacation and weekend get-aways to someplace warm. But since that won't happen any time soon, I'm party planning instead. Ellie's birthday will be here before we know it, and I'm brainstorming themes (Spring flowers? St. Patty's Day? Little lambs?) We are also finally hosting a block potluck party. Fun fun!

Mia and I have been doing lots of "artwork" as she calls it (cutting up paper into tiny, impossible to clean up pieces) and painting many masterpieces :) I used to dislike Valentine's Day, but now I'm making little heart mobiles and garland with Mia and thinking about preschool party favors. Oh, how times change!

Oh, Ellie started walking with her push toy this week. I'll get video up soon. I'm just kind of in denial that my baby is so big...

Ice Skating is Nice

Since we have 2+ more months of this crazy cold weather, we decided to take advantage of a winter sport opportunity. Mia and I tried our hand at ice-skating last weekend and it was fun! My girl is brave! She fell plenty of times at first, but pulled herself up and kept trying. After a while we were both skating (very slowly) hand in hand around the big rink!

Auld Lang Syne

Does anyone really understand what this means? The song is beautiful but it always makes me a little sad. In my mind, it has something to do with old friends and not seeing them as much as you'd like. Hopefully we will see old and new friends plenty during 2011. Anyway, we had a low-key New Year's Eve (watched CNN coverage again-love Anderson Cooper giggling at Kathy Griffin). And had our traditional Polish "white" meal with the Conley clan :) The pork was slightly more juicy this year--one of these years we will get it right!

I remember New Year's dinner with them last year and we were both expecting little ones in 2010. It was so sweet to celebrate with the babies this year!

Happy New Year to everyone! May you have health, happiness and friendship in 2011.

Because I've been too distracted with keeping Ellie from putting random stuff in her mouth, or drinking the cat's water, or climbing on chairs (etc. etc. etc.), I haven't taken many pictures :( Here is a lovely one a friend took of me and Shana and the best things we did in 2010!

And so this is Christmas....

Another year over...

Highlights of Christmas 2010:

• Mia's reaction on Christmas morning. This is one of the defining moments of childhood and parenthood! She came down the stairs and stood wide-eyed, staring at the living room. She had a silly grin on her face and said in a hushed voice "Santa came!" And my heart grew 3 sizes, at least. What a fantastic moment :)

• The day after Christmas snowfall! Norfolk got 13 inches of snow that day! The most in over 20 years. It was so peaceful and calm and bright.

• Neighbors again make my list. From the last minute Christmas Eve gathering, to "secret Santa's" running around the street delivering presents, and the lone snow shovel that was shared from house to house, I again am so thankful for my amazing neighbors.

• The McB family SKYPE event on Christmas day! A 5-way Skyping episode with lots of McB family members was one of the funniest things I've seen in a while :)

• Watching Baba (my grandmother) hold Ellie. I get teary-eyed just remembering it.

• Huge family dinners in Johnstown! I love that everyone was together. Even if it was chaotic and Ellie was all over the place and Mia insisted on wearing her princess dress, it was just so great that we were all in one place.

Soon we'll put away the decorations and haul the extremely dry tree out to the curb. I'm ready to start the New Year and organize and get into our routine. But we certainly had a memorable Christmas 2010!

 Santa's gifts were a scooter and a kitchen play set!

 Winter wonderland!

It was a very Princess Christmas for Mia too! She was in heaven!

Just some of our photos... More to come!

Christmastime Catching up

A mini "Christmas letter" update on our lives the past few weeks!


Mia is finished with school for the year. Her Holiday program was so sweet and adorable. She is counting down the days until Christmas and reminds me every morning about opening her advent calendar. She talks about her friend Joseph from school all the time, so we invited him over for a playdate last week. When he got here she proceeded to ignore him the entire time and play with his baby sister. She is something else.

Three year-olds wish you a merry Christmas!! Please excuse the shaky video. Ellie was lunging for the camera the entire time.

Ellie is 9 months old! Her check-up was today. She is 17lbs, 14oz (25%) and 27 1/4 inches (25%). I thought she seemed a little small but the doc thinks she is just perfect. She loves to eat and feed herself! I am struggling to find things to give her. She's very busy, crawling, pulling up, exploring. She waves "bye-bye" and we are working on blowing kisses :) Best of all, she started sleeping from 8pm to 8am last week!! We haven't had a full night's sleep in 9 mths! This is heaven! (Of course, I know I just jinxed it by typing this). We also have some more travel coming up, which always messes things up a bit.

We had a quick visit with family and friends in Md last weekend. We've been having an annual Christmas gathering with good friends for many years now. When it started, I don't even think anyone was married, and now there are 11 kids between us. I love this tradition of getting together with good, old friends!

I still have some minor things to do--stocking stuffers, neighbor's presents, last minute things as always. I'm going to attempt to make Grandma Weller's sugar cookies this year. We'll see :) 

 Oh yeah, it SNOWED! :)

and we drove through some pretty Christmas lights at the Botanical Gardens.

 

Merry almost Christmas!

Taking a Breather

It is my annual "panic and feel overwhelmed with all of the stuff to do, run around like a crazy person for two days, get a lot done and feel slightly better on Sunday night" weekend. We have been busy, busy, but now I'm just watching the Redskins lose again, and watching Sean obsess over the fire while it rains outside and the girls are napping. Sigh.

Still have lots to do--want to take them to see Santa at the mall, have a short visit to SoMd for the Xmas party this weekend!, and plenty of wrapping.

But for now, I'm taking a breather and picking some of my favorite photos over the past week to share.

Oh, if you are having trouble viewing the blog lately, try refreshing it once you are on the page. I think the snowflake background takes a while to load.

Hugs from us!