Warm Fuzzy

This afternoon, the girls and I were sitting in my bed reading books. One book, Poems and Prayers for the Very Young, is a book from my childhood. Abby particularly liked the following:

God, we thank you for this food,
For rest and home and all things good;
For wind and rain and sun above,
But most of all for those we love.
(Maryleona Frost)

When we read the last line, she threw herself on me and said, "I love YOU."

Aww....

Shameless Plug

If you're interested in doing some other reading, feel free to check out my other blog:

www.imperfectliving.blogspot.com

It's Potty Time!

We're working on potty training this week. So far, we're (and by we, I mostly mean me) hanging in there. Abigail has adopted a certain "look" for the training experience - her dad's stocking cap, a t-shirt (today it's her favorite - the Floor Guy), underwear and socks.

For your viewing pleasure:

Role Playing

Lately, Abby's been into, oh, let's call it character acting. Here she is being Abby the ballerina, Abby the firefighter (my personal favorite and no, I don't have the slightest idea why she thinks this is what firefighters do) and the newest addition, Abby the robot.

Anni's First Haircut

On Sunday, we took Anni out for her first haircut. She still has baby hair, but it's finally gotten long enough to actually need a cut. Here are the photos:


Have you ever tried to eat a cookie while wearing mittens?
Sitting in the chair

Thinking...

The girl who cut her hair was so cute...she kept asking me if this much was too much or if it was ok if she did this...

Abby waiting patiently at the washing station where she parked herself

Anni being silly...again

Mohawk before the cut

During the cut

All done! And she didn't cry once!

Abby decided to let the nice lady cut her hair too

Christmas at the Farm

And for our final Christmas installment, we took a trip out to the farm. We went out the day after Christmas, so we could celebrate with Auntie Gigi, Uncle Jeff, Great-Grandma Schmidt and Arden.

Anni opening her new bear

Big hug!

Must eat crackers

Anni helping Abby open her present

Unwrapping

Some new furniture for the dollhouse!

Checking out the new furniture

And so we come to the end of our Christmas festivities. The holiday season was a busy one, but it was filled with love, family and friends. Thank you all so much for all your wonderful, thoughtful gifts. We'll have to do it again next year!

Christmas at Nana and Papa's

After our Christmas morning at home and naptime, the four of us headed over to my mom and Ken's for Christmas with mom, Ken, Auntie Erin, Pedro, Auntie Ellen, R.J., Great Grama and Uncle Craig. Once again, the presents were lovingly out of control!

You can barely see the tree for the presents!

The girls opening their Madeline dolls and books

Hmm, what should I open next?

Anni loving her Madeline

Abby being silly

Great Grama all decked out for the big day

Anni feeding baby Grover...her present from Auntie Ellen

Kissing Grover

Abby opening her and Anni's present from Auntie Erin - we love Sock Monkeys!

With all the toys and presents still to open, both girls headed over to their toy drawer

Anni "helping" Great Grama eat her pie

Christmas Morning

When I was little, Christmas morning was my absolute favorite. My mom, dad, Erin and I always had a quiet morning at home, opened our presents from each other and enjoyed a morning with just the four of us. Since we've had the girls, Dana, the girls and I now have that tradition at our house. We've added some new traditions to the old ones, and, if possible, I think I love Christmas morning even more now than I did when I was little.

Santa brought the girls baby dolls this year, per Abby's request. (Santa doesn't have time to wrap, right Nana?)
Dana brought the girls down to see their Santa presents

Abby got right into baby doll time. She named her doll My Baby Sister.

Breakfast time

Anni knew how to feed her baby right away, which really surprised me. She's never seen anyone feed a baby, as far as I know.

Good eating Baby!

Cuddling on the couch

Anni insisted on sitting on Daddy while she fed her baby

We love books!

A new bowling game

Anni got a new phone

Dana before he opened his present

Dana after he opened his present - I'm such a good present person

Relaxing after a tough morning of opening presents

Anni helping Daddy cook breakfast (part of the new tradition)

All hail the Cook!

Now this is the breakfast of champions

Schmidt Christmas

To take you back a bit, we last left off with Christmas with Grandpa Paradise. On Christmas Eve, we did Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Schmidt, down at their house. It was a lovely and mellow afternoon/evening, topped off with some delicious New Orleans style cuisine. Here are some pics from the Schmidt Christmas:

This was the big present this year - a dollhouse for the girls. According to Abby, "Grampa made it for me special!"

Anni checking out the dollhouse

Silly Anni face

Ahh, the presents

Hmm, what do we have here?

Abby smiling pretty

Abby's new duck for the bathtub