Cooking with Nana

Ma B gave Annie her very own baking set with a whisk and rolling pin so Nana and Annie made some muffins today!

Harry and his Friends

Harry finally met his buddy Dillon who was born on September 5th to Alison and Corey in L.A. Dillon is such a happy little guy, he even smiles in his sleep! They had fun checking each other out.



















Harry also played with girlfriend Maddison who has finally started to grow lots of dark hair and is adorable!




I can't wait until they can all run around together - they'll be trouble for sure.

Sledding Day

Poppy made the sledding luge in the back yard again this year so we all ventured out in our snow clothes for some fun. Annie loved riding on the sled - "one more time!" She stayed out until her hands and cheeks were frozen and then came in for her first cup of hot cocoa . . . "mmmm, sugar!"

Merry Christmas!

We all had a fun, crazy and somewhat exhausting Holiday. The best example of exhaustion was Annie on Christmas morning. Once she saw the toys Santa left under the tree, she started to cry and say she was tired, which almost made mommy start to cry. It took about 10 minutes before she calmed down and started playing with her toys. Harry just sat by and took it all in. She was especially excited about the Thomas the train track from Nana and Poppy, the doll house from Santa, and her cash register from Omi and Opi. Opi taught her how to say, "attention shoppers, blue light special on isle ten!" Hilarious. Harry of course was most excite about all the wrapping and tissue paper, which he obstinately tried to put in his mouth over and over again. He did have fun playing with his giant stuffed dog from cousins Josh and Doug.

Having Fun in Utah

We've been having fun in Utah getting ready for Christmas. As you can see, there's a lot more snow here! Annie got to open some early gifts which included this snowsuit complete with boots. Harry's been in the spirit with jingle bells on his head. We had a big party at Ma B's on Saturday for Poppy's B-day and early Christmas. Annie had so much fun hanging out with her older cousins, Ashlie and Fish. She also entertained everyone by running around saying, "Yeah, Boy!" (rapper style) - something her dad taught her, unfortunately. And Harry had everyone in stitches showing off his new teeth (photo coming soon!). We'll be heading to Uncle John's tonight for another family party with more cousins, Aunts and Uncles which should be lots of fun.

Ma B

We've all been enjoying our visit with "B." Annie always has a willing participant to listen to her read her stories, play in her kitchen or color with her. Harry is relishing the extra attention too. Of course, B came loaded with lots of entertaining things - new books, craft projects and banana bread (Annie's favorite.) Yesterday morning Annie was watching B get dressed and when B put her stockings on, Annie said, "What's that?" Grandma said "my stockings!" Annie said, "They look like bandaids." We all thought that was pretty funny. Annie also tells B "go ask mommy" when B can't interpret Annie-talk (like her favorite cartoon character "Uniqua") so B has been getting her exercise. We resumed our cooking lessons and learned how to make B's famous potato pie and fat nannies last night. Annie thought it was pretty funny to call her desert a "fat nanny." We're getting excited for our plane ride to SLC this week - it'll be Harry's first. We are looking forwarded to seeing all our family and friends in Utah and we'll be thinking of those that aren't near too (like Seattle, Colorado, New Mexico, England, and India). Happy Holidays!

Saturday in the Snow!

So it DOES snow in Boise. Just not very much and it doesn't stick around very long, but we woke up this morning to a blanket of snow. There was enough to build a pretty good snowman. Annie had a blast with her snowman kit, sticking everything on and then making me take it off again so she could redo it again and again and again. Then we took a nice walk in the park with the whole family and had a snowball fight (Harry was exempt). Speaking of Harry, he had his doctor's appointment on Thursday - he's 20 pounds/28 inches which means he's back on the charts (90%/95%). However, his doctor did say that his cheeks are still "off the charts." We are all getting excited for Ma B to come and visit us next week and then to fly to SLC for the holiday. Annie told us tonight that she was "cited" and "can't wait." I asked "what for?" She said "Santa!" This was after a midday melt-down because I had to explain that Santa won't be bringing her a surprise for a couple of more weeks: "No Mommy. Now. Go to Nana and Poppy's house Now. Santa come now!" So we took a trip to Macy's to see Santa, who of course left 30 minutes before we got there, which meant a trip to the mall (mine and Grady's nightmare). Since the parking lot looked packed we parked far away only to find not one, not two, but three front row spots available after toting two kids all the way across the lot (of course we forgot the stroller). After literally walking from one end of the mall to the other to find Santa, his sign said, "back in 1 hour." We told Annie we'd have to wait until next weekend to see Santa and bought her pretzel as consolation. Although its fun to have Annie so "cited" for Santa this year, ignorance can also be bliss! In a few years both kids will be going nuts -- we can't wait!

Six Months Old

The last 6 months just flew by! We can't believe that Harry is already half a year old: He's sitting up and playing with toys - everything right into the mouth. He just started blowing little raspberries. He's very ticklish under his arms and on his back. He eats everything we give him, except avocados. He always tries to grab coffee mugs from your hands. He still pees in the bathtub every time and if your not fast enough, when you are changing his diaper (size 4 now!) too. We are still waiting for those darn teeth to pop out. His eyes stayed blue, but his hair seems darker. He doesn't like to read books like Annie did, but he LOVES his exersaucer. He is a very loved little boy, even if he still wakes up in the middle of the night to get his binki back!

I miss Santa Mommy

We got our Holiday decorations out this week-end. Annie had a great time taking down everything I put out and playing with it. Just as with Halloween, she's catching on to the up-coming holiday fast! She's already fascinated with Santa. I've explained that if she is a good girl, Santa will bring her some presents and then I ask what she wants: "fruit bars, and water, and some toys." Easy enough! Last night, after tucking her in bed, she said, "I love you mommy." My heart melt. Then, "and love Santa Clause too. And Daddy. And Baba (her name for Jelly). And Harry." This morning she told me Santa was coming to town! And she has mentioned several times that she misses Nana and Poppy or Omi and Opi and of course, "Santa too."

My Dumb Brother

I hardly ever read the paper anymore (no time), but a couple of Sundays ago I picked up the comics and read one that made me laugh out loud. A little girl asks her little sister if she would like her to read a book and then starts listing all the books they could read: "Snow White and the Seven Dumb Brothers," Good Night Dumb Brother," "Dumb Brother, Dumb Brother What do You See," "The Very Hungry Dumb Brother" and so on, and the last frame shows the little brother yelling, "Mom! They're ganging up on me again!"


Being an only child I've always been fascinated with the interactions between siblings. As you can see, Annie and Harry have started interacting more: Annie is very good to help me take care of Harry. On Friday she helped me give him a bath (dumped water on his head) and then lotion him up (put clumps of lotion up his nose). It was all good intentioned. Anyway, here are some photos of Annie feeding him mushy peas, giving him a kiss, and "playing" with him by balancing toys on his head. I can't wait to see what happens when Harry can crawl - should be some fun adventures in store!