Christmas Shananigans

We just got back from visiting Santa in DC. He was visiting all the way from the North Pole and was hanging out near the National Christmas Tree on the Mall. It was chilly today...brrrr...but we still went.

Making our way there...

Bundled up and waiting for Santa.

Addy was super excited!

There he is in his workshop.

Our picture with Santa.

Santa asked Addy what she wanted for Christmas. She really wanted to say something but couldn't get out the words. We practiced all the way there saying "tic tacs, horse, and princess". I jumped in and let Santa know what she wanted so Addy wouldn't be worried about not getting her request in. Now, tic tacs I'm OK with. A horse and princess? We'll have to think about that one...

Addy and Avery joined me at my work Christmas party this past week. When I came home to pick them up, Addy's hair was all done up for a party. Here's her party hair and her checking out our really cool Christmas tree at work.

OK, so I would have gone with a few less barrettes but she can get away with it cuz she's two!

Here are her and her friend Brooke posing with all the presents in front of the tree.

Addy took this picture of me and Avery.

I think Addy had a great time. She did a present exchange with Brooke, plus my boss gave her some playdough. They also had a blast coloring in my office.




My Mom had us over for a little Christmas party a couple of weeks ago...or maybe it was last weekend. This month goes by so fast I can't seem to remember! We had fun with Lani and her family and my Mom. The kids decorated gingerbread houses and opened presents from Grandma. And, Avery got a lot of quality time with her relatives!








And now we're almost headed out to Florida to my sisters and to Disney World. We'll be spending the holidays with 20 of our relatives...My Mom, my 3 sisters and 1 brother and their spouses and children. I am thrilled! On our way back to VA, we'll be stopping over at Doug's parents to celebrate Christmas with them and pick up our Monty. It'll be busy but very fun! We hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year!

Turkey Day

OK, so I'm a little delayed in posting anything about Thanksgiving. I must admit, it's hard to keep up with blogging since going back to work. I will try to get better, but that probably won't happen until after the Christmas holidays. Stay tuned cuz I'm sure there'll be some crazy posting come January!

We spent Thanksgiving this year at Doug's brothers home (Tom and Lorrie and fam) with Mima and G'dad and Lorrie's dad and brother and his wife and family. It was a big group and the food was Amazing!! I especially loved Mima's stuffing - Yummmmm!

Doug helped carve the scrumptious turkey!

Hey it's the kids at the kids table!

Mima was so nice to offer to sit with the kids so I could sit with the adults :)

And here are some of the adults looking mighty adult at the adult table!

Avery made an appearance after her nap, here with Mima and G'dad.

The kids played...

and played...

and played...ending up with the Wii rock star game (?) by the end. Tom looks very "rocky" here! :)




Cousins unite!! Isn't this an adorable picture?!

The Beginning of a Family Tradition

Pizza, Movie, Popcorn - what more could a family want? Every Friday, for the past few months, we've been having pizza for dinner. Sometimes we make little english muffin pizzas, sometimes we make a spicy chicken boboli, and sometimes we get carry-out from Stone Hot. Whatever type, it's pizza on Friday. Then we head downstairs with a big bowl of popcorn and hunker down in front of the tv for a good flick. We're looking forward to when the kids are a little older and we can watch movies like Harry Potter or Narnia or something. Our current list of recent movies consists of 101 Dalmations, Cinderella and just this past Friday, home videos from our last trip to Disney. It's a fun family tradition that we look forward to after a busy busy week :-)

Where Do We Live???

Ummm...yeah...sometimes we forget we live in Our Nation's Capital, home to some of the most beautiful monuments and museums around. So, when Doug had the amazing idea to take Addy to the National Museum of Natural History, I jumped at the idea!
The best part - it only took us 20 min tops to drive to the Mall, find a parking spot, and walk to the museum. So, we ask ourselves, why don't we do this all the time????



We invited G'ma Gurr to join us on our adventure. It was a fun day. There were tons of interesting exhibits, including a new ocean exhibit, home of a 45-foot replica of the new North Atlantic right whale. It is suspended above us in the pic below:


Addy went exploring in the hands-on kids discovery room. She thought the magnify glass was the coolest thing ever!


Looks like Daddy's having some fun too!


Look at these crazy amazing exhibits!


We also checked out the butterfly exhibit. For some reason Addy wasn't especially interested in it. There were butterflies everywhere and I think it frightened her a bit. One did land on Doug's shoulder and, as you can see in the photo, Addy was quite skeptical.



At least we got a pretty good family photo while in the butterfly exhibit!

This is pretty much Avery throughout the museum. She couldn't be less interested :)


The adventure concluded with hot dogs and lemonade on the Mall and a carousel ride with G'ma!


What a great day to live in DC!

The Artiste!

Addy just loves to do anything crafty like coloring, glueing, stickering, pompoming, cutting, glittering.....and she just LOVES to paint!

Kisses for the paparazzi!

Day Off Work

I'm home from work today. My work schedule is such that I get every other Friday off from work (typically, depending on the time of year). It was nice to sleep until 6:45am since, when I'm working, I set the alarm for 5:15am. The girls and I went to a "Time for Twos" storytelling class at the library. We had a nice time with about 20 other two-year olds, got a library card, and checked out a tongue twister book that Addy wanted. Here's Addy and Avery before heading out the door:


Addy and I read a couple of books and I put her down for a nap around 1pm. I came into the office to catch-up on blogging and emails etc and heard her singing herself to sleep. I LOVE when she sings - it's enjoyable! I just went in to grab her sippy cup and found her asleep on the floor between the rocking chair and the ottoman. Hilarious!

Could you spot her totally covered with her blanket with just her arms and feet peeking out? I tucked her back into bed and she's sleeping peacefully now :) Did you notice Addy's big-girl bed? She just got it and seems to love it. It's a twin that she has necessarily graduated to from her toddler bed. The last couple of weeks before getting her twin bed we were putting her toddler mattress (the size of a crib mattress) in the middle of her bedroom floor. She was constantly rolling off of it. She (and we) are very happy with this new purchase!

This morning I was snapping some shots of Avery in her crib. She is getting so big and is just so cute! She kept on falling over....


I just love my girls and am happy to spend the day with them :)