Out With The Old, In With The New

2009 has been a rough year for many people. Luckily for us, things have gone pretty smoothly, but I am still looking forward to a new year and a new decade. I have many wishes and hopes for this coming year and I have made them with loved ones, both friends and family, in mind:

I wish you GOOD HEALTH!

I wish you HAPPINESS!

I wish you LOVE!

I wish for ENGAGEMENTS!

I wish for MARRIAGE!

I wish for new BABIES! Lots of them!

I wish for TRANSFERS that will move us closer to our families!

I may have many wishes, but I HOPE that you realize that with you in my life, my year has been better!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

GOODBYE 2009!

WELCOME 2010!

Happy Birthday 2 You!

Today is Sophia's 2nd Birthday and we needed to have a little celebration for her, so we took her out to eat...

She gave me her "Sleeping Beauty" pose...
Enjoyed her lemonade...

Then posed for some more Birthday girl pictures. I wondered why she kept leaning her head to the side for pictures...

Then I remembered...
After our dinner, the waiters at the restaurant brought a piece of cake for Sophia and started singing to her...loudly. Sophia was slightly taken aback by it...

And had this look on her face for the rest of the birthday song...

When the song ended, she finally gave a little smile...
I'm sure she figured that anyone who brings her cake can't be all that bad. Then she dug in...
She enjoyed every last bite...
With full bellies, we went back to the house to open presents. Lily had to help...

Sophia really took the time to look at each card. I'm not sure I have ever seen a young child be so intrigued by her card as opposed to the presents...

When she was ready, she finally tore into them...
She got an Elmo book...

A tutu, which she had to put on right away...

She even received a gift from Christi and Sean that plays Elmo's Greatest hits...
Thanks guys!!

Sophia was delighted with it. However, I'm not sure I can say the same for her daddy...

Even though Sophia is going to have a party later on in the week, I still felt she needed a little something to put candles in so we could sing "Happy Birthday" to her. So I set the cake on the table before opening gifts and this is what I came back to when we were all done...
One candle missing and half of the chocolate cake gone. I am fully aware that chocolate isn't good for dogs, but try telling her that...

(Just in case you were wondering, she did not get sick and is still alive and kicking)

Sophia didn't mind the half eaten cake. She was just excited that it was "chockit"...

Happy Birthday my sweet, little 2 year old! Mama loves you!

Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday dear Sophia!

Happy Birthday to you!

Two years ago you came into our world and changed my world forever! Life is a million times more precious with you in it and I love you more than you could ever know!

Happy 2nd Birthday Sissy!

Christmas Morning

Finally, after 364 days of waiting, it's finally here! It's Christmas morning!!

The morning got off to a very exciting start, a very early, exciting start. I tried to do my best to capture these exciting moments, but found myself to be just as excited as the girls and just wanted to watch them and see the utter happiness that this morning brought them.

They discovered their stockings hanging on the mantle filled to the brim with goodies and had to see what was inside...

A Little Miss Chatterbox Doll for Lily...

and a Little Miss Naughty doll for Sophia...

There were socks...

and bubbles...

and toothbrushes and lip gloss...

I think they could have stayed and played with the goodies in their stocking, until they noticed the gifts under the tree that Santa left for them...

Let's just say that these two girls must have been VERY GOOD this year. At least Santa thought so.

Breaking Bread

I knew today was a special day, so I decided to do something different and I made some bread. After having homemade bread at a friend's house, I knew how much Joe loved it, so I figured it would be a nice treat.

I set it out last night so that the dough would rise and was pleasantly surprised when I woke up this morning and saw that it was ready to go. However, Joe also noticed the bread and before I could get it into the oven, he proceeded to "spank" the bread while saying, "Bad Bread! Bad Bread!"

Needless to say, the bread that once looked so nicely risen didn't look so nice anymore.

I still baked them and this is the result...

If you look at the loaf on the right, you can see where Joe "spanked" the bread. I'm sure it still tastes the same, however, next time I will be sure to do this while Joe is sleeping.

Countdown To Christmas

The time is upon us once again. Tomorrow will be Christmas and yet we still had so much to do. But with the help of my husband and two girls, we were able to accomplish everything and even had fun along the way. Isn't that what days like these are supposed to be about anyway?

I have been saying all along that this time of year is all about TRADITION and today was no exception. We filled our day with activities that I hope will become permanent every Christmas season.

I wanted to try to set the table in a way that made it stand out from every other day. This was my best attempt...

The past four years, we have had this advent calendar...

And the girls have looked forward to opening a new door every day...

All pegs have been filled and our calendar is complete...

Joe thought of a new, special dinner for us to eat on Christmas Eve. TAMALES!! He worked hard and I must give him all the credit for this yummy dinner...

The girls waited patiently to decorate our gingerbread house. A tradition that we started when Lily was a baby...

This was Sophia's first year decorating and she couldn't wait...

to eat the candy...

and part of the gingerbread man...

Lily chose her candies and strategically placed them...

While Sophia enjoyed the icing...

She finally took a break from eating to help Lily decorate...

and then went back to eating again...

and again...

While Lily and Sophia worked on the house, I made some cookies for Santa...

The gingerbread house was completed...

The girls moved on to the cookies next...

Just testing them to make sure they were good enough for Santa...

Once I got the ok, we set out cookies and milk for the jolly man in the red suit. A tradition many people do and one we will always do...

It was time to put the girls into their Christmas pajamas. Lily got the snowmen...

and Sophia wore some that I think were specially made for her. (Please take the time to read the wording on the front)...

Then, as was tradition when I was young, the girls got to open one present apiece...

and immediately fell in love with their new sleeping bags...

I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings...