Lizzie is crawling!

Random things

I can't believe our baby is almost ONE year old! She loves smoothies which is why this picture was taken! She doesn't want to sit still now that she scoots and is starting to CRAWL!! We hear a lot of "DA, DA" and "MA, MA" but not in reference to us...just anything that catches her eye...like teddy bears, balls, Ali's toys, food Ali is eating! I love this age...she is just so interested in everything and learning so much so quickly. We love you little Lulu or Boo (her nicknames change daily depending on which names Ali is rhyming!!)

Thank you Aunt Wendy!! We went to Build a Bear and used the gift card you gave Ali and she wanted 2 outfits for her bear...of course she wanted princess outfits! And I have started sewing a fin and seashells so that Ali can have an Ariel Little Mermaid outfit to match her bear!! And we are just so proud of her....she wrote the beginning letters of each word in a sentence today. She wrote, "W M G B T"....meaning "We make gingerbread today." Since some of my kindergarteners couldn't do that I'm pretty proud of her!! :)

I just had to tell everyone to READ THIS BOOK!! It is so amazing...I'm deliriously happy that we have such an intelligent president who wants such good things for our country and the world. His optimism and hope is an inspiration to me. I am an Obama FAN!!

Dorothy, there's no place like home!

Here's Lizzie's newest skill...giving us the evil eye! When she's frustrated she puts her eyebrows together and looks at us with a frown!

I'm ELEVEN months old now!! Here she is in a dress that my Granny made for me and the Raggedy doll she made for me also!

THANK YOU Nana for making me my Dorothy dress and for my new red shoes! I love them!

Sewing Annie

Here's what Ali has been doing the last week or so....fixing dinner for the Seven Dwarves wearing her Snow White dress. Her favorite dress up dress changes as new props are thought up...so the next few pictures are what she specifically asked for...

Hello ANNIE!! I finished the dress last night using my new sewing machine (thanks Nana!!) and when she woke up it was laying next to her bed. She put it on right away and wore it all day...we've been playing a mixed version of Annie/Ariel the Little Mermaid in a red dress!! :)

Christmas #3!!

My mom, Nana, came with my brother Peter and his girlfriend Sheila for New Years and we celebrated Christmas again!! (First with Grandpa & Grandma in early Dec, then with Chris' family, then with Nana and Peter and Sheila!) We like to extend the holidays for as long as possible! We were so lucky everyone could come to visit us!!

thanks Nana and Poppa for the cute matching outfits!!

thanks Nana and Poppa & Great Granny and Grandad for the trampoline!! Nana gets to try it out!!

I love my Cinderella dress!! Thanks Uncle Pete and Sheila! You guys are the best...now let's play Cinderella...you be the evil step-mother!!

Christmas presents!

Lizzie loved her new toys...thanks everyone!!

Baby things, mouse house, and dress up clothes...all of her wishes came true!! Lucky girl!

Cookies & milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer!

Neighborhood Christmas party!

The big girls...Ali and her friends on the wagon ride through Santa's Magical Kingdom of lights!!

THE DADS!!

THE KIDS!! (Pretty good picture for getting 10 kids together!!)

THE MOMS!! It's so fun to have such great friends in our neighborhood!!

Christmas Eve

Oma and Opa come to celebrate with us and bring lots of Christmas traditional foods (chicken kiev, cookies, fudge, coconut balls, and more...YUM!) They also bring one of Ali's favorite Christmas gifts...her Mouse House!! Here they are making name cards for Christmas Eve dinner...lots of glitter...FUN!!

Christmas Eve church service

Our family on Christmas Eve

Ali gets to open one present before church on Christmas Eve and then we all get to open gifts after Church. Then on Christmas morning we see if Santa has come and open gifts from Santa.

Thanks to Chris' brother Colin and his fiance Elizabeth for traveling from Maine to be with us!! It was so fun to have everyone at our house!

Pre-Christmas Preparations

Preschool party...Ali's favorite part was eating the sprinkles and frosting off the cupcake. It looks like that was Lizzie's favorite part too!

Elizabeth liked the bells on the Christmas tree and all of the decorations around the house. She kept clapping her hands and saying, "Da, da, da" so she could look at the snowmen and stacking dolls.

We made SOOO many Christmas cookies this year!! Ali was the best helper and cut out cookies and put lots of sprinkles on them! We ate lots and then gave them to our neighbors, family, and friends!

Lizzie's spice shop...she loves playing in the spice rack cupboard! She helped us bake cookies by finding all of the spices we needed! Ali says...."Lizzie, I'd like some cinnamon for my applesauce...can I have some from your spice shop?"

Ali was SO lucky to have 2 Christmas Advent calendars this year! One from Germany from Uncle Colin and Elizabeth....Ali LOVED opening the doors and finding the chocolates...what a treat! And one from Chris' Aunt Vicki, Uncle Jim, and cousins Kirstin and Kris that had stickers...she loved it!! Both calendars helped her count the days until THE DAY!