Christmas in Virginia

We had a wonderful Christmas dinner with the Smith clan from Pennsylvania & Mom Smith from California!

We had a great day filled with presents, family, food and friends!

Abby actually chomped into her stocking apple and ate about a quarter of it! I thought it was just a filler.....apparently not.

Dad putting together her Princess table/chairs from Aunt Amy!!! The hit of the day!

Okay, so I didn't know she had scissors in her hands when we took this photo....but I swear she was walking them over to Mike so he would open a gift for her! All was safe!! Anyhow, this is a cute dress Aunt Amy bought for Abby!!

Abby & Emily eating Christmas dinner at the Princess table!!

Dan....showing his excitement for Xmas dinner!

Our friends Dan & Julie Mitzner and their daughters joined us too!

"Le Chef" posing for the camera! Mike and I had a great time in the kitchen cooking all morning! I think that was the first time we'd done it together and it turned out great!

Smiths everywhere!!!! Dave, Mom, Matthew, Emily, & Jen

The girls playing in Abby's room while we finished eating!

Bath time for Maddy

Oh sooooo sleepy on daddy's lap

Baking away

I've been trying my hand at some baking the last week or so, and thought I'd document (here Angela!!) some of my tasty results!

Sugar cookies with royal icing, Lemon Raspberry Thumbprints, Rugelah, Butter Balls & a Lemon Meringue Tart!

Mike deemed them all edible, so I was pleased nothing has ended up in the trash so far!

Snowflakes are falling.....

Well, it finally got cold enough for some short-lived snowflakes to fall here in Virginia Beach!

These are photos of the morning after, so much of it had melted already, but here is a little bit of our dusting from the night before!

Maddy @ 6 Weeks

Our little girl is 6 weeks old today! Wow does time fly! Some days I can't believe I had another baby already!

We are enjoying her so much. She is a wonderful addition and is growing so big already, I have to keep reminding myself to find time to grab the camera and take pictures!

It really is true that the 2nd child gets less photos! I think Maddy is already behind by like 500!! We were a little over zealous when Abby was born, so we have a lot of catching up to do.

She already has better control of her head (not 100%, but she's getting stronger!), and better control of her arms! She loves sitting in her chair and often falls asleep in it!

She really responds when Abby gets up in her face and tries to entertain her, especially during diaper changing time, Abby is my little helper.

Playgroup Cutie

This was just a cute shot I took of Abby drinking her juice box at playgroup last week!

I love her!!!

My little sleepyhead

So this was a priceless video moment I caught yesterday of Abby sleeping upright in her booster seat at the kitchen table.

She and I are both fighting a little head cold, so after some persuading to get her to try to eat as opposed to her other option of taking a nap, she opted to just sit there quietly while I fed Maddy on the couch. Not soon after I looked over my shoulder and saw her sitting there with her eyes closed, and her head bobbing back and forth! Abby RARELY falls asleep in the car, and has never fallen asleep at the table, so this was a funny moment!

Click on the play button above to view the video!!

The Tree is Up!

The tree is up, and Abby has enjoyed pointing out all of the ornaments...over and over!!

The morning after we put it up, she walked in the room after waking up and said "Where did the lights go?" With a very worried look on her face!!

Hanging her ornaments!
Mommy & Maddy

"Look!!!"

Hannukah time 2009

This year is definitely one of many firsts for Abby, and our family of four!

Hannukah came early this year, so I am having fun celebrating each night with Abby.

Of course I'm sure she is more interested in the burning candles and opening presents, but its still a nice celebration to share with her this year now that she can appreciate it a little more, and I can see how the years to come will mean more and more.

Playing with the felt Hannukah menorah.....very safe!!
Opening her first Hannukah present from Grandma Donna!!!

Its a "Living Room" set to her Grand Family Dollhouse! With doggies and all!!

She loves it!

VAW-120 Holiday Kids Party

Saturday morning was the squadron holiday kids party! It was a lot of fun, and Abby wanted to do everything! I love this age now that she is more outgoing and loves to try new things.....at least once!

We did arts and crafts (made a colored sand-filled penguin & a foam xmas ornament), Abby got a gift to open, jumped in the bouncy house, and had a balloon "Elmo" hat made!

It was FREEZING cold....as the party was held in the airplane hangar the hangar doors were open so we had to stay bundled up as we played! I think it was under 40 degrees when we left the house that morning!!

Dress up mania

Dress up confusion....she's got the princess shoes, shopping purse, and halloween witch hat! She's all mixed up, but it is cute to watch her create these outfits!

I left the witch hat out for year round play because it used to be my Grandma Fran's, so I love seeing her in it for a nice reminder.

Brushing sissy's hair

Abby watched me brushing Maddy's hair after her bath the other day and just had to give it a try. So I gave her the soft baby brush and let her try. She loved it!

Big Sister Trouble....

I turned my head for 2 seconds to send a few emails this afternoon, and when I looked back, this is what I saw!!! Abigail is notorious these days for putting stickers on Mike and I. Now she took it upon herself to decorate her sister. It is a yellow fish! Maddy was asleep, and amazingly stayed that way. A few more minutes and I'm sure her cute face would have been covered!!

"Look mommy......the moon!!!!"

Abby came running into the living room saying "Mommy moon" to Mike and I and grabbed our hands to drag us to our bedroom, and at first we had no idea what she was talking about. She had been in our room and saw the moon out the window shutter!

We were so proud of her eager observation we opened the window and shutters for her to get a better look. She then pointed out every other thing on the street that she could see including the "mommy" and "baby" airplanes in the sky that were blinking as they flew by. Thats how she differentiates big and little things of the same nature. One is a mommy and the smaller is the baby.

Then of course Roxy was wondering what all the commotion was about and had to take a look for herself!