Dinner at American Girl

While my mom was is town we had dinner at American Girl Cafe.  We've been wanting to check it out for quite a while but never did.  Julia and Chloe got all dressed up for a fun night out.

All ready to go.

Chloe even got her own seat at the table.  So cute indeed!

A fun girls night out!

Julia and Chloe waiting patiently for our dinner.  Even Chloe got a little plate and cup...can't forget about her.

I'm not sure who had more fun...Julia or my mom.  My mom loved it!

Then Grandma bought Julia a set of the little plates and cups for the dolls and an apron set...one for Julia and one for Chloe and it's pink of course.

Julia looked so cute walking the mall and carrying her bag...acting and looking so grown up.  Glad my mom was in town so we could share the experience with her.

More Gifts

Julia and Andrew opened their gifts from my mom when she came for a visit a few days after Christmas.  Andrew got this plasma car which is actually big for him now but he uses it anyways.

Julia got the double stroller she's wanted for a long time from American Girl.  Now she can push her two babies around.

Happy as can be!

Syracuse Fans

Since Thomas is such a big Syracuse basketball fan and so was my dad I thought it would be cute for the kids to have some Syracuse gear for when Daddy is cheering on our hometown team.  Instead of getting Julia just a shirt I decided to go with the cheerleader outfit since she's such a girly girly and loves fancy stuff.  Sure enough she loved it and wants to wear it everyday. And of course every good cheerleader needs some pompoms too.  Right?  Daddy even taught her a few cheers...I guess he's been paying attention to the cheerleaders too.  :)

And a cute shirt for Andrew with the Syracuse mascot.  Looks like Julia and Andrew are ready for the next Syracuse game.  Hope they win!

Walking up and down the stairs...

Just the other day I opened the gate and let Andrew play by the stairs.  Before I knew it he was walking up a few steps and then down and back up a few steps and back down again.  He kept doing it over and over and each time he would add a few steps until he walked all the way up to the top and back down.  He loved practicing walking on the stairs...look like we'll be able to remove the bottom gate before we know it....but I'll be leaving the top one up for quite a while.  The stairs just make me a bit nervous but he's done great.

Way to go Andrew!

Pizza Anyone

A little while ago we bought a pizza stone so we got Thomas a pizza cookbook for Christmas.  The day after Christmas he made us a great pizza.

The kids didn't really like it much but Thomas and I really liked it.  I'm sure we'll be making another one soon.

Christmas

We really had such a fun Christmas this year since both Julia and Andrew enjoyed it so much.  It was quite an early morning for us but we loved it since it was such an exciting day.  Since Andrew normally wakes up at 6am and Julia prefers to sleep until at least 8:30 we discussed how we would keep Andrew upstairs for a while to wait for Julia to wake up.  Instead we were waiting for Andrew to wake up at 6am.  Julia woke up and 3:38am to go to the bathroom and Thomas got her back in bed and a little before 5am she came into our room and said she was so excited and couldn't sleep.  She hopped into bed with us and we talked a little and then used the IPAD while we waited for Andrew to wake up.  Luckily he woke up at his usual 6am time and didn't sleep in because Julia was quite excited to go downstairs.  The only presents Santa didn't wrap was Julia's bike and Andrew's basketball set.

We're excited Santa brought Julia a bike and can't wait to start riding together.  Such a cute bike...I wish I had one like it when I was little. It has lots of daisies on it and says miss daisy.

Julia opening another present from Santa which was a princess tent...just what she wanted.

Andrew did quite well opening his gifts...Santa gave him some legos.

Julia also asked Santa for fairy wings and she was so excited about them.

Santa also brought Andrew a book to hold his hot wheel cars.

Opening some paint and paintbrushes from Mommy and Daddy.

Since Julia loves dressing up I thought she might like leg warmers with ruffles on the bottom.

We got Julia a microphone since she loves to sing.

Santa even brought Andrew a helmet since he'll be riding the tricycle that Julia use to ride.

Opening a truck from The Dennisons.  Both Andrew and Julia loved playing with this truck.

Stocking time.

Andrew got lots of fun stuff in his stocking too.  Cars, Toy Story DVD, fruit snacks, cars band aids and yogurt melts which he loves.

Julia and Andrew checking out the tent.

Santa even brought a matching set of fairy wings for Julia's baby.

Basket.

Checking out the bike.

This is what Julia wore all day on Christmas.

Santa ate all his treats and drank his milk but was a bit messy with the reindeer food.

Julia and her new baby from Nana and Papa are having fun in the tent.

Andrew even enjoyed riding around the house on Julia's bike.  He's going to be ready for his own bike before we know it.  We feel so blessed to have each other and hope you had a Merry Christmas!  Such a fun day spending time together as a family and yes we all got to take a nap.

Christmas Eve

This year for Christmas Eve it was just our family of four together since we like to stay home for Christmas now that we have Julia and Andrew.  We went to Christmas Eve mass at our church at 4:00 but since the church filled up early they began the mass early and we missed the beginning.  Actually when we got there they weren't letting anybody else in but we waited a bit and one of the ushers let us in.  I know you need to get there early but that's kinda hard with two little kids and then having to keep them occupied for mass in addition to getting there super early to get a seat but it all worked out.  Once we got home the kids were allowed to open one present.  As a kid I was always allowed to open one present on Christmas Eve after mass so we decided that would be a fun tradition to do with our family.

The present I picked out for Julia was Lite Brite since I thought it would be something fun she could do right away.

The first present Andrew opened were some trucks and I still can't believe how good he is at opening presents.

Since Julia had no idea what Lite Brite was I'm sure she wasn't all that excited but once I showed her what it was she was happy. We worked on it together for a bit and I think it's a great fine motor skills activity and so much fun.  We all loved going into the dark bathroom and seeing the picture she made.  I loved Lite Brite as a kid and I thought Julia would too!

Of course we had to get the food ready for the reindeer.  Mix together some oats, sugar and some sprinkles (hey that's all we had) or shall I say about half a jar of sprinkles. Hey reindeer like sprinkles, right?

Mix it all together!

And look what you have...a yummy treat for those hard working reindeer.  We hope Santa brings you what was on your wish list.

Gingerbread House

Another fun family tradition we like is decorating a gingerbread house. Thomas and I were telling Julia about when we made our gingerbread house last year and how she kept eating the frosting and this year she really wanted nothing to do with it.  Thomas had to make some repairs since our kit had a few broken pieces but we managed to repair the house and get it decorated and it was just like new.  And yes Julia is wearing a summer dress in December....she loves getting dressed up and looking fancy.

 Julia liked eating the candies and did a great job at decorating the house.

This year Andrew participated in decorating too but we kept him contained to only the gingerbread and the tree since we were quite confident he would knock over the already unstable house.

 He did a great job and he loved being a part of the action.

 Looks done to me.

Earlier in the day Julia painted a gingerbread house and apparently it was her inspiration for decorating our house.  I definitely see some similarities between the two houses...don't you?