Christmas Day

Christmas morning we opened presents, ate pancakes, and then played with all the new toys!

Preparing for Christmas

In the week before Christmas, Lily and Juliet decorated their own little tree, and undecorated it, and redecorated it...

We made Christmas cookies and, of course, sampled them.

Lily helped make a gingerbread house and then wanted to eat it immediately.

We had a hot chocolate party on Christmas Eve and left cookies and milk out for Santa. Lily insisted that he wanted chocolate milk.

Jules just watched and looked cute. At her 9 month checkup, she was in the 80th percentile for both height and weight.

Trimming the Tree

We have put our decorations up and are getting ready for Christmas. We can't keep the baby away from the bright and shiny tree!

Thanksgiving

This year my parents flew out to visit over the holiday and my sister and her family also came to our house for Thanksgiving. The girls had their first slumber party together in Lily's room, complete with a pillow fight the next morning! It was really great to have everyone gather at our new home!

Halloween

We all went out trick-or-treating this year, with Lily dressed as Ladybug Girl from the book series and Juliet as a princess. Lily was very excited about all of the candy and not shy about it at all. She actually went inside one house and Michael had to go in and retrieve her!

Jules and the Doorstop

Surfacing After the Big Move

We have been so busy with the move to Baltimore that I haven't blogged in two months...so here is a backlog of pictures and updates for you. We are slowly getting unpacked and settling into our new home. The house is great - we have lots of space and the neighborhood is filled with families. Michael's commute is about 35 minutes but well worth it to live in such a nice area. The kids are gradually adjusting and getting into a routine again but we do miss everyone and look forward to your visits!

Lily at Play

Lily is starting to play really imaginatively - she likes to dress up and role play. When she has her fairy wings on she says abracadabra and pretends to make things disappear or turn into frogs. Her stuffed animals, of course, are used as props. She also teaches them how to do things with her, such as use the potty. She tries to play with Juliet, too, and thinks it's hilarious when baby sister grabs her toys. They will make great playmates soon!

Juliet at Six Months

Juliet is already six months old! She is so fat and happy, we call her our Buddha baby. At her pediatrician checkup she was 75th percentile in length and 90th percentile in weight! She wakes up with a smile on her face and brightens up our days.

She said her first word "mama" to get my attention when we were all sitting around the table. She was looking right at me and said it very clearly, just the single word, and then grinned when I looked at her. Now she is working on her "da" sounds.

She is becoming much more mobile, already starting to crawl by dragging herself in an army crawl the way Lily used to do. She prefers her sister's toys to baby toys and will move across the room to get them! She has also (sort of) started to eat rice cereal and drink water out of a sippy cup. She doesn't actually ingest much but likes to feel like a big girl.