amelia's first christmas...

i love seeing the wonder through their eyes.

the bus

so proud of my boy for taking the bus home last week for the very first time. we have been working on it and talking him up about it since we moved in. the bus stop is right in front of the house, but his nerves have gotten to him. his principal stopped me one day and we were talking about it and he even took him aside and talked to him about it. so sweet. so i finally figured that he would be much better leaving school with his friends and getting on the bus than getting on it with me standing with him in the morning. this way its in someone elses hands and not mine! you can tell by his face that mommy was right. he loved it!!!!

this little girl was being pushed around in her stroller by her sister for awhile while we waited, and then it started raining.

so amelia and i took cover on the porch and miranda carried on as usual...

visit with santa!

took the kids to see santa this afternoon. amelia and jack did great. miranda on the other hand... she was just as bad as she was last year!

notice how nervous jack is getting, as his hands go for the sweater.. starting to twist the wrists...
then santa starts asking why he wants an electric scooter instead of a regular scooter. he is telling jack why a regular scooter is better for exercise and things like that. jack looks down the whole time, smiling.. but you could just see the nervousness written all over his face.
and there goes the sweater...
a favorite of mine. this one was just amazed...
he asked santa is he was the real santa or just one of the many helpers around at other malls. as his eyes twinkled, santa sat and told him that of course he was the real santa, and invited him to pull on his beard. jack would hardly glance up and santa asked jack if he wanted mommy to try. so i did... and of course it was his real beard!! jack's smile was from ear to ear and he gave santa a huge hug when we left.

today was my birthday and i got a VERY big ring from jack... a diamond ring, he was calling it. (but it was peridot) and these "looovely" sunglasses that he picked out himself! miranda got me a plastic bracelet with "diamonds" on it. jack wanted to take a picture in the middle of the mall with me and my new glasses.
my homeless little eskimo girl...

we went to get our tree today after the mall. i brought clothes to change the kids into and then i decided i didn't feel like changing them after all. amelia had her tights and dress on so i put the pants on over the tights to keep her legs warm. then i put her jacket/sweater on over her dress. poor thing!!
laughing at miranda... (AS USUAL) ...

lunch dates, first time in a highchair, and exploring the neighborhood...

jack had off for teachers conference a few weeks ago and when i asked what he wanted to do, he said he wanted to take amelia and i to lunch. so cute he is! of course he wanted to go to friendly's (and of course we played hangman, as usual!)

amelias first time sitting in a high chair. big girl!!

when we got home, it was still nice out for a late november day so we took a walk to explore the neighborhood.

amelia sees "this" in her face 3/4 of the day.

walking back home... love love love the neighborhood!
had to take a picture of jack and mealsey in miranda's sweater that she had on, because i have a picture of him and miranda in the same sweater!

cookies!

i have terrific clients (now, FRIENDS.) i showed up last week for another session with a family i have worked with many, many times.. and there was a huge, gorgeous package with a christmas theme. it was filled with all kinds of goodies for me, and a gorgeous card. i was touched so deeply. what a sweet thing for them to do.

this morning on our homemade advent "calendar", the kids pulled the "bake christmas cookies" tag out of their mitten.. naturally i had NOTHING to make cookies, and then i realized i had 2 packages of different cookie mix and cookie cutters to go with it. the kids LOVED doing it.

naturally.. "fredward" the elf found his way into the cookie bowl. the kids were so excited.

love the face!! acting shy as usual, with her little elf.

jack stole the show as usual. he LOVES baking, and swore since he made a pineapple upside down cake by himself for nanas birthday that he was able to make the cookies himself.

a little impatient..

my boy

i had a photoshoot a few months ago at the beach. i brought jack with me for a jack and mommy day. he searched for treasures during my shoot. afterwards we sat and talked about them all. then we rented bikes and rode up and down the boardwalk for an hour. SO much fun. jack was shocked i knew how to ride a bike. (ha!) we ate homemade donuts, fresh out of the oven. (heaven) .. we played miniature golf, then we found a playground and played for a bit there before the long ride home. gosh it was so much fun. just being together. laughing.. talking.. and enjoying my boy.

my "gulls"

i'm happy for them. i really am. but i'm a bit jealous. i always wanted a sister. one that i was close to. a friend for life. these two are so cute together it makes my heart melt into a giant puddle. amelia is a great baby. she is VERY content, and rarely cries except when she wants to go in her crib. she does smile, however.. she's not smiling all of the time like jack and miranda were at this age. BUT the second she sees miranda, or she hears miranda's voice.. no matter where she is... she starts smiling. it has to be THE. CUTEST. THING i have ever seen. the love they have for each other is just the sweetest thing. miranda never ever wants to be away from amelia. when she is at school, i try to time amelia's naps so she is awake when miranda gets home otherwise miranda is begging to "peek on her" every five minutes. she can't bear to be away from her.

i hope they always love each other just as much.

_________________________________________________

amelia learned to clap recently while we sing patty cake to her.

and then she spotted miranda in the window.
proof at how much she loves her sister.

her face lights up like this ALL THE TIME when she sees/hears her.

this face makes me laugh every time i see it.

"oh miranda. you are so funny. you crack me up"


and then of course miranda came out to take over..

and then while miranda was still outside, i planted amelia in the doorway. as long as she could see miranda, she was good to go.

trying to touch miranda...

thanksgiving 2009

went to aunt sis and uncle kook's for the day. was nice and relaxing as usual. just a bunch of us hanging out.... just the way we like it. no fuss.

amelia and aunt judy
the engaged couple!
me and my favorite boy
erin and her favorite boy

jack and miranda are sick of hearing me sing to miranda...

"blue eyes.... baby's got ... blue eyes... "

pretending to eat the huge disgusting turkey leg.
after we were done cleaning up dinner i go in to check on amelia and she's hanging out with michael watching tv..
she wasn't happy with football and clearly told him she would rather something more entertaining!
not sure who amelia was talking to... but here she is in her favorite place. .. with her sister.

the park..

it was so nice out a month or so ago.. we told the kids if they were good after school, we would walk to the park. as you can see from the pictures.. a certain little 4 year old was mouthing off and had to stay home with nana and grammy.

my cabbage patch kid!

crawling...

i feel sick.

how is she crawling already???

well.. more like... "secretly creeping," but still!!

she actually is kinda late with it.. 8 months. i know a few other babies younger than her who already have teeth and are crawling. all my babies were late with these things, which is FINE BY ME!!

"88"

we had nana's 88th birthday party at my house this year, since we now have the room! (yay!)

we just hung out all afternoon together. isn't that what family is all about?

amelia and ian.. cousins.. 2. 1/2 months apart!

amelia was loving michael's head!




miranda was telling nana to wish for a big diamond ring.

"fossils"

awhile ago at when we were at grammy and nana's jack was "soooooooo soooooo bored"... of course. so i told him to go find some "treasures." naturally "fred sanford" loved that idea and he set off to see what he could find. he gave up quickly and somehow finding treasures turned into "looking for fossils". i was getting ready to leave for a photoshoot and i spotted him on the front lawn looking in a cup, with a knife (yes, a knife!) a clothespin and some rocks. i went inside and gave him an old make up brush had and he was in heaven! he couldn't wait to use it to clean his "fossils."

mirandas boyfriend

miranda and kieran sitting in a tree....

the kids were invited to kierans birthday party last month and miranda had to make sure she looked "pretty" for kieran. she was so excited to celebrate with him. they are currently planning a "Wedding" for this summer.

magic show..

a few months ago, on a friday night, they had a magic show at jacks school. the kids loved it, especially miranda!

when mr stuart magician pulled a dove out of his hat...

this was miranda's response! (too funny!)
jack looks so old here. i can't get over it.

matching

miranda LOVES matching with her sister whenever she can. if amelia has pink on, miranda wants pink... if amelia has black with yellow stripes and green polka dots, miranda wants the same. its cute.. but at the same time... annoying on some days when we don't have matching clothes!!

i love the look on mirandas face in this picture and the way she is cradling amelias face in her hands. this is a regular thing around here and i melt every time.

apple and pumpkin picking...

we went with friends apple and pumpkin picking a few months ago. miranda and jack love "charlee-gull" and her brother brett who is amelias age. ( their mom and i met while getting non stress tests twice a week while pregnant. cool.. huh?? )

hay ride to find apples!!

mr. picky has to make sure the apples are good before we get any.

amelia liked them too!
love this one. i think i need it blown up for my house.
that face!!!! oh, so squishable.



also another one i love...

diapers..

miranda tells me tonight... mommy, i think you should have another baby and that way i can have this baby. i am amelias mommy. i hear this quite often and have to always remind her that she is NOT the mommy but she is lucky enough to be her big sister!!! tonight before bed she asked me if she could change amelias diaper because as a "big sister" this was part of her job SOMETIMES. (its not the first time she has helped change her) i told her i could smell a poopy diaper but that didn't stop her!! she was all into it and did a great job. i had to help her only one time. i couldn't get over it.

she was getting so frustrated because amelia kept rolling to try to get other things.
she tackled her at one point begging her to be still.

i finally suggested a distraction...
so miranda brought out bertha, her babydoll. (yes, she named her bertha!)


i got a thumbs up when she was done!!

she did a fabulous job!