Catch the Cuteness

Another attempt to catch the cutie girl on the move...mildly successful. She's wearing one of her new outfits from Mimi, a hand-me-down sweater from Samantha (see the little mouse attached to the sweater...he goes in the pocket), and skid-proof slipper shoes from Santa.

She Loves pulling and wearing my purse. It's innate (she does this all on her own)- so fun!

Merry Christmas!

Whoa. Again this year all of the presents under the tree look exorbitant. Honestly, we do not spoil our kids. But both of their birthdays are close to Christmas and they have wonderful, incredibly generous relatives who send presents for both occasions for both kids (thank you Mimi, Grandma/Papa, Great Aunt Marianne, and Aiyee/Cue/Josiah!). There are also a few gifts for the "big kids" (Mommy, Daddy, Mimi, Grandma, Papa) among the mix as well.

The kids' first view of the tree on Christmas morning:

Merry 1st Christmas Sleepyhead!

It snowed just a dusting while we were getting breakfast ready and eating...the perfect white Christmas!

One of the first gifts Brady opened was his new car seat. ha! I love little people's Christmas. He was excited b/c it was a big fun box and I was excited b/c he really needs a new seat (and Sylvie needs the convertible one he is currently sitting in). win win.

I loved this "truly traditional" scene. She's playing with her baby doll. He's playing with his Tonka toy. ;p

I didn't take all the pictures I intended to. (told you I was off my game this year!) I have no picture of all of us together (like last year's dinner picture). We did have a really enjoyable dinner...because we ate while the kids were taking their PM naps- ha! It was peaceful and leisurely and Yummy!

Sylvie's an awesome walker, but gets tripped up when she's wearing shoes. Santa brought her pink boots and fun pink Mary Janes. Here she is trying them out.

All season when asked what he wanted for Christmas, Brady would reply "a silver bell" (b/c that's what the boy in The Polar Express wants). Like the boy in his favorite book, he got what he asked for.

In reality, we could have just given him the Tonka crane (a $3 steal at a consignment sale) and this indoor hockey set (including a mini stick, puck, and ball) and called it a day. They were his favs this year.

He's also pretty excited about candy canes. I think it's b/c they are like lollipops to him. So he got a super size one in his stocking. :)

We attempted a fam foto, but it was night time already and this was the best we could do. We didn't even get Daddy in the picture but the little people were "done" before we even started. I love my "Who socks" as Brett was calling them...aren't they so super fun?!

Can this count as our family Christmas picture? :)

Christmas Eve Gift

We've decided to instill the tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve. Somebody told me that in their house this gift was always new pajamas...she later learned that was because her mom wanted everyone to look cute on Christmas morning. I think this is a brilliant idea! :) Sylvie was in bed before I remembered that I wanted to do this. btw, I have been so "off my game" this holiday season- so "unprepared."ugh. Brady had his choice of new jammies- Spiderman or dinosaur. I sort of pushed him to choose the dinosaur ones, b/c this mask was so stinkin' cute! Merry Christmas Eve!

The Gingerbread Man- 2010

The tradition of decorating a gingerbread house with the grands was revisited this Christmas Eve. There was much more independence this year as our 3 year old insisted on "having a turn." :)

Little Miss Claus

We pulled out Brady's Santa suit from Dec 2008...

and discovered it's just.as.cute on the little miss!

Growing tired of this photo session...not even her pal, the Abominable Snowman with his song and glowing star could excite her.

Teleworking

If I'm being honest, there's not much work getting done today b/c of this cute face peeping through the finger/noseprint laden home-office door: