Tuesday, November 29, 2011

'Tis the Season!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! I am trying to cram as many holiday activities in as possible -- Christmas has always been my favorite time of year, but with kids, I just can't get enough! Ella is basically alternating between Christmas outfits, and we started off the season by visiting the B&O Railroad Museum and going on a train ride with Santa.

I walked into the room and Ella and Cooper were just sitting there, side-by-side, Ella eating her raisins. It was so cute! I had to snap a picture. Ella told me tonight that Cooper is her "best buddy in the whole world."





Ella got to decorate her own little "tree" (more like a bush, but hey, she loves it) to keep in her room.



Horton appeared! Originally, he was named Milton, but a few hours after he appeared Ella changed her mind, and insisted that he was named Horton. So, Horton it is.

We headed to the pool for Cooper's swim lessons. They were cancelled, so Daddy gave Cooper a private lesson.



Ella got to swim too!


Sitting in the Baltimore harbor, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather!

At the train museum.

Cooper LOVED the trains!



Cooper's first carousel ride.


Loving the big trains!



Train ride with Santa.



I feel so lucky every day that this is my life! The kids are growing up too fast. Ella is so witty and precocious -- she seems like she's 2 going on 20. We were trying to get her to eat asparagus the other night, and she looked right at Brian and said, "Dad, just let it be." Her expressions are priceless. She is also obsessed with rhyming. Constantly, she says things like, "Mom, book and look rhyme! And hook rhymes! What else rhymes with book?" And Cooper is all boy -- kind of like a sweet godzilla. I am pretty sure he is stronger than I am, but he has the sweetest heart. He has the biggest belly laughs -- they are contagious! And he is on the edge of walking. He is constantly climbing -- I think he could even scale the walls! He also started making these gremlin noises. It's hysterical. He is like a mini-spider-man-tickle-me-Elmo-gizmo all in one :) I just wish I could bottle up the kids at this age because I don't ever want to forget this!

Turkey Day

We had a wonderful turkey day! We were too busy eating to capture many pictures -- but here are a few from the day :)







Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Ice Skating!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving Eve!! Super-nanny-semi-pro-ice-skater Ingrid took Ella to her first ice skating lesson at the Sculpture Garden on the National Mall. And Daddy and Mommy were able to escape from work to watch Ella take to the ice. She surprised us all by quickly picking up on it! She wasn't scared at all. Go Ella!


The lesson begins!

First time on ice!




Daddy couldn't resist and also took to the ice!





Warming up afterwards with lunch, including hot chocolate!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Gobble Gobble

I absolutely love this time of year. It totally snuck up on me, but now, suddenly, it feels like Christmas! I would take the entire month of December off from work if I could. All I want to do is bake cookies, do Christmas shopping, make hot chocolate, go to about a zillion different kid holiday activities, and sing and dance to Christmas songs with the kiddos!

But first, yes, it's Thanksgiving. I'm pretty excited about that too. And so is Ella. She has already started getting ready. We have been talking about what it means to be thankful, and she told me that she is thankful for Cooper. Love!

Showing off the turkey rice crispy treats she made with super nanny Ingrid.


She picked out her own outfit this day. Super twirly. She did NOT want me to take a picture, but I got one of her trying to run away.

Early morning tea.

Jumping in the leaves at Mimi and Poppa's!