Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas!

Looks like love at first sight!



Enjoying the "short" (liv's word for little) books!




Yay! Music toys!




Jeff's comment:
"10 years ago, if you had told me I'd be building doll furniture, I'd have called you crazy."
 
 

Li'vs loving the "Little Mommy" gear.
(a good sign, I think.)

 

 The three-mile hallway is perfect for strolling. :)

 

oooh, pretty butterfly wings.

 

 a little fairy princess at the chalk board! LOL


The 85th time strolling down the hall.



basking in the loot!
and figuring out the new matching game.



Great big thanks to everyone who helped make this such an incredibly fun experience for all of us!
Hope Santa was good to you, too!

Christmas Eve Pics

 Merry Christmas, All.

We went out to play this morning before our fabulous family phone call!  Liv hasn't been riding her bike for a while and it took a while to figure out where all the "parts" go and how they work together... she still isn't peddling, but getting closer, I think.

 


 then we went for a little walk and did some tree sitting. Found some mistletoe? is that what that is?? white berries, soft green leaves - growing in clusters in the oak trees when nothing else is? Cool!


 


Hello, Tree!
She says to me "bar...??" "Close. BarK." "bark."
Funny, the stuff that she remembers! 

 

Admiring the tree, the presents underneath & showing "baby."
She'd ask me (many times) "Open This?"
"Not yet. On Christmas. or in this case ... Tomorrow."
and the wonder of very young kids - total acceptance.
hunh!






another funny story:
Liv can climb out of her crib now. I saw her do it a couple days ago - I was on the floor (pretending to nap - hoping she would...) and she braces her hands on the corner & swings a leg up onto the side, pulls the other leg up then drops down feet first onto the floor - still holding the top rail.

Later that same day, I was on the phone and heard her wake up from an actual nap - but figured, she has a couple books and animals in bed with her, she'll be fine for a couple minutes - usually she is! But a minute later I hear ~shuffle, shuffle, shuffle~ then Liv comes around the corner and says "Good Morning, I Wake Up!"

Now, we knew it was almost time, and have been talking about it for a while, plus with baby sister coming, Jeff and I ordered a big bed for her last week. but its not here yet...

But the bedding came! So we've been warming up with the idea of "Liv's big bed and new blankets" by putting them on the couch in the LR.- I think she likes it!



Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Still Preggers





With one more month to go! 

Keep sending those happy thoughts!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!


Probably should have thrown a bash... but had a nice day nonetheless.

Happy 40th, Jeff!












mmmm... Gingerbread House!

I couldn't quite seem to come up with a good reason WHY you're not supposed to nibble on the cookie house with candy decorations.

anyone?










Sunday, December 13, 2009

A Good Day

Liv shared breakfast with a Rainbow!



Our good friends, Leo, Carlota, Leo & Adriano came over for a visit.

Jeff let them drive!



There was a holiday party at the club house & Miss Sparkles the Clown performed for the kids.



Everyone enjoyed the show!!



Liv got to pick out her accessories before bed. Gotta love the lizard!!



Hope you had a good day, too!

Gingerbread House

Call me crazy... but this is a favorite Christmas tradition from when I was growing up! And we're have this beautiful new kitchen and are enjoying building up to Christmas in our new home this year!

So, I found pattern peices and recipes and notes from my Mom and Dad - which was a real treat! And my Aunt Carol sent me photos of her family's Gingerbread Houses -- a true inspiration -- Thanks Guys!!! And we were off & running:

First the cookie dough.




Then decorate the pieces.



Liv was impressed with my progress when she got up from nap.



Then construction and final decorating touches.



Happy Holidays, Everyone!!