Happy Birthday Evelyn!

It is hard to believe that my little peanut is two years old. Her birthday is Dec 26th -- we had a small party for her that night at our house. Here are a few pics:

Evelyn was a little concerned when everyone started singing to her... I don't think she enjoys being the center of attention:

She received a doll from her Nana. I have to admit I am a little shocked by how much to enjoys her... she took her out and started feeding her a bottle right away -- it was adorable!
Here is the link to the rest of the pics on Snapfish.

Merry Christmas! Here are some photos from the past couple of days...
After church on Xmas Eve:Making a snowman Xmas morning: (don't laugh at our outfits -- we are still in pjs) Noah enjoying a ride in his sister's new car (we had to put him in it during her nap though -- she won't let him ride in it when she is around)family before dinner (minus me and my dad) Family photo after dinner:Here is the link to the rest of the pictures on Snapfish if you are interested.

Christmas card

Here is a preview of the kids (& Cocoa) in their Christmas outfits...This is the picture that we used with our Christmas cards this year. Not much else going on here... just praying that my parents' will be able to fly in tomorrow morning (there are snow storms both in Michigan and in Seattle tonight/early tomorrow)

Clam Lights

After dinner tonight we ventured down the hill from our house to a waterfront park on Lake Washington. They have "clam lights" every year (I'm pretty sure it is sponsored by Ivar's - which has a little restaurant down there, too) . It was a brisk night (around 25 degrees) -- but we all enjoyed walking around and looking at the light displays. Have I mentioned before that I LOVE Christmas and all that comes along with it!!?!
Here are the dancing clams -- their little feet move, so it appears that they are dancing - but you can't really catch it on camera. Only 5 more days until my parents arrive -- Yay!! Only 6 more days until Christmas! Only 7 more days until Evelyn's turns 2 :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

It is definitely looking a lot like Christmas at our house... we got a snowstorm early this morning (it snows once a year or something like that in Seattle) The bad part is that nobody knows how to drive in snow, so it was basically impossible to drive anywhere without it taking forever to get there (Trav's typical morning commute is under 30 minutes, it took him over three hours!)

There was no way I was going to sit in traffic for three hours to get the kids to daycare so I took a "snow-day" today -- here is a picture of how Evelyn amused herself for probably over an hour (this is why I tell people that she doesn't need a lot of new toys)We all bundled up to play in the snow when Travis got home from work. As you can see, Evelyn wasn't very impressed - she almost immediately wanted to go back inside

As for the boots, yes, I bought her the green frog boots instead of the girly pink/purple ones. My practical side told me that her brother can wear them next year when she is done with them :)

8 months and another busy weekend...

Here is our big guy at 8 months (well, a few days past his 8-month birthday -- things have been busy!!)
Here is Travis and I last night before his work's Christmas party. He was ready to go and already had on his jacket -- but still looking pretty cute :) He looked even cuter at the end of the night... he was more than a little tipsy! We have another busy weekend ahead of us... a party tonight at my favorite customer's house (we are bringing the kids with us), church Sunday morning, and then Handel's Messiah on Sunday night (I just learned that not only is my friend Brianne extremely crafty and creative, she also plays the violin in an orchestra, too!)

Busy weekend...

Our weekend started with a trip to find the perfect Christmas tree... Saturday morning I dressed the kids in their little sweater/hat outfits (I couldn't resist buying these on clearance after last winter) and to the tree farm we went. We had a fun time and ran into a few friends who were there getting their tree, too.
The remainder of Saturday was spent getting decorations out of storage, putting up the tree, making the house look festive, etc. We also went to Mass on Saturday night because we had a fun run to do on Saturday morning. We all took part in the Canine Candy Cane Run -- Cocoa had a blast!! She loved being around all the other dogs, and like her mommy she loves a little friendly competition :) We didn't run, but I think we might have been the fastest stroller/power-walkers there...

After the race there were granola bars and chocolate brownie bites. Evelyn decided to have a brownie... good thing Travis was holding her! I am loosening up quite a bit -- I let her indulge and enjoy herself without worrying about the mess too much, but I did get out the wipes as soon as she was finished.

We had a few friends (and babies) over for dinner on Sunday night. Whew... what a weekend!

Pics from Sacramento Trip

Well, we had a great time in Sacramento for Thanksgiving... both Evelyn and Noah caught a little bit of a cold right around the day we left Seattle, but they both did great on the flights and were pretty happy kids the entire time we were traveling. Here are a few pictures that I thought you might enjoy:
Noah loved this little activity thing that Sally borrowed -- it was perfect!

Evelyn loved this turkey. It was really light -- almost a paper mache type -- and she started carrying it around, hugging and kissing it, it was so cute!Here is Evelyn kissing Noah. Notice we have to kinda hold him up -- she is pretty forceful sometimes with her hugs and kisses, she would have probably knocked him down :)Family photo:

Bath pic:This one was taken when we were back at home. Noah has started to use the duck tub that Evelyn used -- I think he likes it!!

We took a ton more pictures, here is the link to the Snapfish album if anyone is interested.