Christmas Day

the camera!

The morning of Christmas we all miraculously slept in. Everyone except my om. I told her that we would be up by 6.30 no problem. So she dove all the way here form Gloucester to find the house locked and the lights off. She rang my cell, but Rich did not hear it and neither did I because i fell asleep in Ava's bed at 5.30. She resorted to throwing snowballs at the window to wake us up. She finally got Rich's attention and he let her in. They actually let us all sleep in too!

Ava and I were chatting in her bed when we heard Clara wake up. As we went across the landing to go get her I did a double take as I saw my mom walking up the stairs! Ava was so excited. Ive got a video of her Christmas morning that I will have to update once I can get videos off my phone. GRR!

Christmas donut

Rich's awesome helicopter that I got him. SCORE.

Christmas Eve

Just a nook in the living room.

My parents and my grandmother come to our house on Christmas Eve every year. This year was especially exciting with the completion of the living room....sorta. The girls were besides themselves with all of the presents and seeing grammy, grampy and grammy great!

We topped off the evening with our friends Amanda and Josh stopping by for the second year in a row! Luckily this year we got to relax more than me putting Amanda to work! I actually had it together. ha!

This was my doll crib when I was little. The wooden casters are toast, but its darn cute! My dad cleaned it up for the girls.

The popup play tent my dad got the girls.

Yes, she is picking out all the strawberries!

Grammy the Great

The month of christmas

(Santa at CBC)

Its an exciting time with many partys, shopping trips, lists, threats to call santa (though now i can video with him on my iphone), christmas tree trimming, eggnog, fires and well repeat.

Ava has totally been into Christmas this year. I think we threatened her with Santa way too much and it totally stopped working as Christmas got closer. What she really wanted was a slide and a camera. Santa of course brought her those 2 items, however, the slide was for BOTH her and Clara. Its been a real hit set up in our living room now. Perfect for winter days. I also ordered them a vintage 1973 sit n spin from ebay. It got here late, but it definteily serves its purpose on cold winter days. Clara got a cool microphone that plays music and records and fridge barnyard animal magnets from leapster. This has been very entertaining for all of us! They really got so much stuff from family and friends that its even hard to keep track....but it was a very nice Christmas for them. Ava does ask everyday where her presents are...I think shes finally figuring it out...i hope.

Christmas Tree Cutting

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we went out to Shrewsbury with Rich's sisters and their families to chop down some good ole Christmas cheer! Aside from actually picking adn chopping the tree, the kids had a great time running around and playing. It was also a great photo op as it was a BEAUTIFUL day!!!

We all then headed out together for a giant family lunch. I LOVE this time of year! So fun.

Thanksgiving....

Came and went. It has been a long time since my last post. Someone told me this would happen with two kids, but i think it has more to do with working than having two kids or the combination. So much has happened.

Clara had her weight check in and she had gained 2 lbs! yay! No more concerns on her erratic eating schedule - just about 25 lbs. We weighed Ava yesterday at Dr Ferbers office, she was 32 lbs! WHOA! They are getting so big I cant stand it. Ava has officially graduated from Ferber, thank god. Those appointments pretty much killed me, always being around lunch time and all with the 2 kiddos.

We officially have the kids back in school 3 days a week and one day that we are desperately trying to figure out on a weekly basis. ugggh. This new change has brought about no naps in Ava whoch will contribute to her going to bed earlier, which i think will be pretty awesome - for mom and dad. hehe. However, this requires a hard wake up at 6.30 everyday to maintain her sleep cycle. Clara is an early riser, so I guess it will all work itself out.

Clara has been talking much more, though its only distinguishable by us, i think. ANd that girls love to dance! Doesn't matter where the beat comes from, she just gets up and moves! its pretty cute. Ava has to get in on the action too and shes got some serious moves. Ive got some great video on my phone that ill post if i ever figure out how to get it off.

We finished our living room and I took a bunch of picures of the girls for the holidays. Ill be sure to post some here. We also cut down our Christmas tree, Ill show those in another post.

Does anyone still read these? Am I doing this for myself now? And no one else......sigh.