New Year's Eve

We spent the evening at Brad, Elizabeth and Lorelei's house. The guys watched football, the kids played with every toy Lorelei has and us girls chatted and ate :).

It was a wonderful way to end 2009!

Our New Friend

This is our adopted stray cat that we give treats to and an occasional meal. Lily adores him and this particular cat adores Lily right back. He is very gentle and loves the attention we give him when he comes by. Too bad right now our lives can't accommodate a sweet cat :(. (This fact makes Lily very upset every time we have to say bye-bye.)

My New Place

to do my business :).

Since Miss Lily has shown us that she CAN use the big girl potty on a daily basis she has decided that it is ridiculous to keep on doing it. SOooo....we've hit a roadblock or regressed, as baby books put it, on the potty training front. We will be working on this skill much more before Baby Emma comes in April, wish us luck!

Gotta Love Baby

Thank goodness Lily loves her new bath baby doll as much as Mike is excited to have new toys in the bathtub! She finally graduated from baby toys to toddler bath toys including a baby, letters, an Elmo boat and small Princesses!

Uncle Mark and More Traffic

Back to Va Beach we go, but definitely on the road earlier to try to miss some traffic.

On our way, we stopped to see Uncle Mark who lives in Springfield to have another mini-Christmas.

Lily LOVES her Princess Tea Set Uncle Mark got her. She even made us open it once we were done with presents to play with it. So while we ate lunch, she served us tea :).

Lily wanted Uncle Mark to help her with all of the unwrapping!

And, then she wanted to help unwrap his presents too. She even carried them around the apartment :). That box was heavy!

We spent about two hours with Uncle Mark before getting back on the road. We decided to go Rte 1 as far as we could to miss all of the bumper to bumper traffic on 95. We finally arrived home at 820pm. Mike unpacked our Hillbilly car and we're not sure where anything is...

Let the Clean-up Begin!

Cousin Kaylee was able to spend the night and spend this morning with Miss Lily. They were inseparable!

While we were getting ready to go out, Lily thought it was great that she could be on the landing above the foyer and call out, Mama..and I would come but also be looking up at her. I got a picture as she was trying to throw something over the railing, oh how happy I am that we don't have stairs yet!

Our trip out today was to Ikea to look for a few things and then out to a lunch/dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. We thought that we might wander through the mall but once seeing the madness, we quickly ruled against it :).

But, Mike did promise Lily and Kaylee a ride on the carousel before we left.

Calm before the Storm.

Not sure if you can see but, THE STORM.

Lily screamed the entire time and once the ride stopped said again.Go Figure.

Christmas Day

During breakfast, Lily played peek-a-boo with Grammy's tablecloth, she thought it was hysterical!

Lily was able to open gifts from Santa, Grammy and Poppy, us and Auntie I and Aunt Krissy. It was wonderful and they were very generous with Lily's gifts. Lily loved having her Aunts and Grammy to help her open her them. Once she was done with one, she would ooh and ahh but move right on to the next present. Again, very methodical about opening and where she put the paper but had a blast opening her gifts, so much so she wanted to open Kaylee and Corey's too!

The rest of our day was packed full of family, presents, food and good conversation. We had 11 adults(Grammy, Poppy, us, Uncle John, Aunt Sara, Aunt Irene, Dave, Aunt Krissy, Steve and Uncle Bill) and 3 kids (Lily, Kaylee and Corey) that rounded out our huge Christmas group and I didn't get ONE picture!! Too busy talking and eating I suppose!

Lily did take a much needed three hour nap despite the loudness of the group. We were able to Skype with my side of the family, Nana, Grampa, Mimi, Pop and Mark for a bit which was wonderful! Technology is so great that you can see your family, whom you miss so much during the holidays, anytime you want!!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve

This afternoon we went to Christmas Eve mass at 400 with Uncle John, Aunt Sara, Kaylee, Corey, Grammy and Poppy. This church is luckily right up the hill from John and Sara's house so we could walk, although with two pregnant ladies and two toddlers we didn't! Uncle John went an hour early and saved seats for all of us, can you believe that by 330 the church was FULL!

Lily, with NO NAP, did wonderful!!! She and Kaylee were best buds throughout the entire service. Lily bounced around to family members too, to keep her occupied and she didn't make a peep. Well, until a the band would stop singing then she would clap, wave and say bye-bye.

Afterwards, we made our way back to John and Sara's house for dinner, cookies (yum, yum Sara!!) and cousin presents! Lily loved her time with her cousins and chasing their cat around the house.

Travel Day

We were on the road to Maryland this morning, well late morning, to spend Christmas with the Check side of our family. Above is the first sight of snow on our drive west on Rt 64. My plan was to take pictures along the ride to show how much there was up 95, but plans don't always come to fruition...so you only get one picture west of Williamsburg.

We did run into more snow but not as impressive as we initially thought we were going to see. It pretty much looked the same all the way to Baltimore. And since we hit so much stop and go traffic and took us 9 hours to drive, we had plenty of time to analyze the amount of snow on the side of the road.

The longest trip ever! Lily did amazingly well. By now, she's a road trip girl and happy as a clam with her dvd player in front of her. Since she doesn't watch that much tv during our days at home Mike and I feel it necessary to do whatever means necessary to keep the girl happy!

Travel time: left Va Beach at 1130am and arrived to the Check house at 835pm!

And only two stops, one for diaper change and the other for dinner!!

Wonderful Thing?!?

NOT SO MUCH!

Before you watch this video clip there are some things to know:

1. We have a small Christmas tree in Lily's playroom and until this weekend only had some beads on it.

2. I stumbled, finally, across mini ornaments that were already 60% off at Michael's this Sunday.

3. After nap yesterday and while I was cooking dinner, I suggested to Mike that he and Lily decorate her tree. 4. Mike had Lily stand on one of her blue chairs to help decorate it and then realized that it could cause a problem so he moved the tree to the floor and put her chair back at the table...

AND...This is where the video picks up:

Record Snowfall

in Virginia Beach.

This was Saturday at around 930pm and by the time we went to bed it had stopped snowing. When we woke up the sun was out, only a trace left on the cars and a very soggy yard.

Thanks Mother Nature for taking it easy on us, I guess?!?

Christmas Party

Saturday night we had a Christmas party with our friends and we had a wonderful time!

outtakes

The kids love playing together or I mean playing side by side and it is lovely. We did a kid present exchange and Lily adores her gifts! Her very first My Little Pony, a ballerina music box :), and of course a Princess book with stickers.

We had a wonderful spread of food and ordered pizza which the guys really liked :). We hope we can get together like this a lot more before spring when our friends Brad, Elizabeth and Lorelei move to TX. :( Now we'll have two reasons to take a trip south: the Stahls and Hertels!

Virginia Beach Christmas

Our morning began with waking Miss Lily up at 845! One, we just couldn't wait any longer to begin our Christmas morning here at home and two, if she slept any later it would jeopardize her afternoon nap. So, in we went with the good video camera that we have trouble remembering to use and also have trouble downloading video to the computer, so there will be a later post of our morning video.

Stocking and Santa gifts

After seeing Santa's treats along the way from her room to the family room and playing with Santa's big gift she tore into her stocking. She had no problem realizing they were her presents and going from one to the next.

We quickly realized that Lily is now an expert unwrapper and a methodical, orderly one at that. She would rip paper very carefully and be sure to give each piece to one of us to throw out. If we both had something in our hands then she would make a neat pile of wrapping paper on the couch.

Gifts from Mommy and Daddy

After going through Santa's presents we tried to take a break for breakfast but Lily had different plans. She recognized the princess paper, that she's been carrying around the house, was now under the tree! And so we went; one present to the next until we were done at 1030!

The biggest question in any parent's mind is, "How will this morning go?" Will my kid want to play with the toy as soon as she opens it or want to keep unwrapping? Well, Lily wanted everything unwrapped and then to play. It was wonderful to have the rest of the day to play with her new toys, have a late breakfast and spend time together.

Now, we're trying to tell her that Santa hasn't visited Maryland yet :) and she seems excited to have another Christmas in a few days!

Our Christmas Eve

Since we are spending Christmas this year in Baltimore with the Check side of our family we decided to have a mini-Christmas here at home. Tonight we acted as though it was Christmas Eve.

Lily and I made sugar cookies.

Daddy and Lily decorated the cookies after her bath.

We put the cookies on a special Santa plate, left an apple out for Rudolph and a very special note from Miss Lily. Oh, and a glass of water; so Santa and Rudolph can share :).

(If you zoom in, I obviously wrote the letter but afterwards Lily took a crayon and tried to write over her name!)

Wonder if Santa will come visit Lily??

Winter Wonderland

Last night we went to Hunt Club Farm for their Winter Wonderland display. This was a family event for the Mom's Club but just ended up being us regulars! It was extremely cold, a mere 27 degrees, but the kids were bundled up and we had a lot of fun.

First we went through their shed full of animated displays which opened the kid's eyes as wide as they could get them. Then off in the cold we went to see Christmas tree displays and all the animals that were trying to sleep!

Lily even gave the candy cane maze a shot. Pretty impressive Miss Lily!!

But, by the time she finished, she was cold and ready to go home! So off to the car we ran!

Nutcracker

This morning we attended a ballet performance of the Nutcracker!

Our friend, Miss Trisha's daughter, Leah was the young Clara in the beginning.

AND SHE WAS WONDERFUL!!!!!

Lily, Trish, Mrs.Greene (Trisha's mom) and I sat up in a balcony to watch. It was so nice to be able to sit with them during Leah's first show! Lily had a blast too! She sat in her own seat, stood in her own seat, sat on Ms. Trisha's lap and was entertained the entire time. She clapped when she was supposed to, she said bye-bye when people left the stage, and was totally enamored by the snowflake ballerinas! I can see it now...Lily as a mouse bouncing around the stage, and only in a few years too!!

Since Leah wasn't due out again til late in the second act we left at intermission. I also didn't want to test Lily's stamina in sitting for an entire second act either! Next year, we'll give it a try though!

Leah,

CONGRATULATIONS!!! We're so proud of you!!!

Dreadful Pics and Fun Gift

We now have to sneak up on Lily to take her picture or do it really, really fast because she darts for the camera every time she sees it. Her computer has now become a fascinating toy, even though she's had it since July! We've tried to get her to sit at the table and play but would rather kneel?!?

Here is our Christmas present from my parents...a laundry sorter!!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Yes, we actually requested a laundry sorter for Christmas and preselected it too!! With so much laundry always piling up this is something that was LOOONGG overdue!! Only if we had enough room that I could have one for Lily and Emma's laundry!

Visit with a Good Friend

Mike was able to visit a good friend, Shawn and his little boy Evan!

Mike traveled to Philly yesterday for work, a short trip Mon afternoon to Tues afternoon, thank goodness. Instead of staying in a hotel like he usually does he stayed with his very good friend, Shawn, in Delaware.

Shawn, Peg and Evan lived in Hawaii for about four years and just moved back to the East Coast in August. They had a wonderful time catching up and taking care of Evan while Peg was on duty with the Coast Guard.

Lily and I can't wait to meet Even and spend some time with Shawn and Peg!!

Lily's Morning Read

When Lily wakes up, her routine is to get a cup of strawberry or chocolate milk. Lately, she wants to either sit at the kitchen table by herself and look at catalogs or on my lap while we snuggle. I just hope this doesn't turn into her wanting to sit like this during meals!

**I have to give Lily milk first to wake her up because she wouldn't touch it if I gave it to her during or after her breakfast. So at least she gets about 4 oz of milk a day...

Surprise Gift!

Thank you Nana and Grampa for Lily's first ever backpack, and a Sleeping Beauty one too!!

She'll be set for her first day of preschool in Sept :)