Happy New Year

Awwww, my little guy Andrew.  He is just the funniest and happiest little boy who is full of laughs and smiles.  Feeling so lucky he's my boy.  Love his big hugs too!

 We had an enjoyable New Year's Eve and went to dinner at Maggiano's and home to enjoy some sparkling cider before bed.  Julia liked the cider lots as did Thomas, my mom and myself.

Andrew tried the cider but he didn't like it.  Looking forward to spending another great year together as a family.  Happy 2014 to all!

December Visitors

The kids were so excited to have Nana and Papa in town for Christmas.  Just Andrew relaxing with his Papa.

Julia went to the airport to pick up Nana and Papa with Daddy and that night she said the best part of Nana and Papa coming to our house was how they got here in the morning so they had all day to play.  Usually they get in on the last flight from New York and many times she's sleeping before they get here or go to bed almost as soon as they get here.  It's always interesting to look at things from a 4 year old perspective.

Despite Andrew having a cold and a low grade fever he was in such great spirits and full of life. He really is such a fun little kid.

Group hug with Nana and Papa.  I love it since we often do family hugs with the four of us!

Papa showing Julia how to play Candy Crush although I'm not quite sure how that happened since Nana is the one who loves playing Candy Crush.  Papa must have been a good teacher since Julia got to level 14 (I think).

Andrew loves his Papa.

A bike ride was in order since we had some warmer weather one afternoon. 

I got a new lens for Christmas so I was checking it out.  Love how it made the background blurry but I definitely need to learn how to use it better.

Andrew loved his excavator from Grandma.

Such a fun toy with lots of different buttons.

Julia got the Salon Center from Grandma so now she's all set to take care of Kimberly's hair.

Julia and her new doll Kimberly all ready to go shopping with the girls.

Julia doing a little dance!  Such a funny girl and so cute too.

Julia and Grandma being silly.  My mom came into town the day after Christmas and spent the New Years with us. It's always so nice how she spends her two weeks off over the holiday between our house and my sister's house in Texas.  We really had a great time with our visitors and the kids were sad to see everyone go.  We wish we had some family live closer to us.

Christmas Morning

Christmas Morning....getting downstairs as quickly as possible to see if Santa came and what he brought.  The kids got to bed a little later on Christmas Eve so we all got up around 8:00.  It was so nice to sleep in compared to getting up at 3:30 last year because Julia had to got to the bathroom and couldn't get back to sleep because she was so excited.

Looks like Santa came and brought lots of gifts!  So exciting!  

The first thing Andrew saw was his workbench from Nana and Papa which wasn't wrapped since it was so big.  He loved it and wasn't too interested in anything else for a little while.

Julia was so excited about giving other people their presents.  She was so happy to give Daddy his popcorn maker and popcorn.  She did such a great job of keeping other people's presents a secret.  

Julia's big gift from Santa was an American Girl doll that looks like her so she named it after her middle name Kimberly.  Thank goodness it wasn't named after the name Andrew picked which was Dora.

Julia got Andrew to open some more presents.

Andrew loved the fire truck book that Julia picked out for him.

Nana and Papa loved their special book of photos of them with Julia and Andrew over the years.  Julia was very excited about giving them this special gift and so was Mommy!

Andrew's big present from Santa was a Cars race track.  Julia has been enjoying it too.

Julia giving her new Minnie Mouse tutu pajamas a hug.  She saw them in the store and wanted them but I said maybe she could get them for Christmas.  She definitely loves tutu pajamas.

Daddy and Andrew checking out the new hot wheels race track.

A seat for her American Girl doll so it can sit at the counter and have it's own seat.

Stocking time...

Taking care of her new American Girl doll named Kimberly.  Don't they look alike?

Julia using Andrew's airplane which can be taken apart and put back together again using the screwdriver.

Time to check out the race track.

Andrew gives the race track a try once Daddy gets it all set up.

Julia wearing her new jammies and her doll Kimberly (who looks like her) wearing the outfit Andrew got her for Christmas.

Julia playing with Andrew's race track.

Andrew insisted on wearing his Christmas jammies for most of the day which is fine...hanging out in your jammies and playing with your new toys sounds like a good Christmas to me.

Andrew the fireman and Daddy the train conductor.  Fun dress up costumes for Andrew.

Cutest little fireman I know.

Another outfit change by Julia as she was trying to match her doll.  It's very typical for Julia to change about 3-4 times a day...especially if we're home all day.

Papa working on fixing Julia's umbrella.

Table all ready for dinner.

Andrew telling me he loves his work bench after his bath.  We had such an enjoyable Christmas at home with Nana and Papa.  It was a relaxing day filled with joy and happiness.  We hope you enjoyed your Christmas too!

Christmas Eve

We had an enjoyable Christmas Eve and loved having Nana and Papa in town.  Quick photo after mass as dinner was being prepared.

Of course a photo with Nana and Papa.  Julia and Andrew just love their Nana and Papa and were very excited to have them here for Christmas!  

Growing up it was always tradition that we opened one gift on Christmas Eve so we're bringing that tradition to our family.  It was always something small but enough to help with all the Christmas excitement.

Julia and Andrew opened up Mickey and Minnie Mouse Color Wonder coloring books with the special markers.

Checking out the magic of the new markers.

Sprinkling the reindeer food out on the lawn.

Want to be sure to add a little sparkle to our lawn to make it easier for Santa to find our house.

Frosting a few cookies to leave out for Santa.  Andrew likes adding the sprinkles.

Sweet, sweet Julia wanted to leave a present for Santa.  As everyone else was preparing dinner or getting the cookies ready for Santa, Julia wrapped a present for Santa and added a gift tag and decided to leave it with the cookies.  She is truly the most thoughtful little girl I know.

Andrew busy playing with the airplane Papa made with Legos.

Julia's present for Santa.

Gotta love her wrapping!  I'm always so touched by her kind gestures and just smile at how thoughtful she is...love her to pieces!