First week of January - Lily

The temperatures during the first week of January did not get above freezing so we planned some indoor activities. Here we are on our way to the zoo's indoor playroom.

We met Jack and Margo (not pictured) at the zoo. It was lots of fun, and even better, no one was there because of the Arctic temps!

On Wednesday we met our playgroup at a superfun playroom where all the kids enjoyed playing with the elaborate train set-up and enjoyed yummy pizza and cookies for lunch. (Great event, Molly!)

On Thursday, Lily was supposed to start school again, but of course it snowed and school was canceled. So we had some fun in the snow in the backyard.

Ready for some outdoor adventures!

Terra loves to romp in the snow!

It is a little-known fact that I am absolutely the worst snowman-maker in the history of the world. Somewhere along the line I missed developing this skill. Poor snowman.

Luckily, Lily thinks that it is the funniest thing ever.

After our chilly adventures, we had to warm up with some hot cocoa.

We spent the rest of our snow day rollerskating and...

cooking with our EZ Bake Oven.

First week of January - William

Thanks, Carolyn for the super-cute shirt. It served as the source of inspiration for our NYE party theme!

Just chillin'

"Hey, do you mind? I'm working here!"

"I know something you don't..."

I love this picture.

Thanks, Ali for the cute outfit (Lily's favorite) and super soft blanket.

Our sweet boy

So maybe I took a few liberties with the conversation between William and I that I posted earlier. Below is an example of our actual interactions....posted mainly for our distant relatives that don't get to enjoy William's coos on a more regular basis. We could not have asked for a more sweet, happy, content, interactive, cuddly little boy!

NYE Party

These are the pictures from our rockin' annual New Year's Eve countdown to noon.

Sara and I show off our pb&j mini sandwiches with jelly peace signs and ying yangs piped on top of the bread. Messy, but I can't resist tying the food into the theme. This year our theme was Peace and Harmony in 2010.

Julien thinks the food offerings represent balance quite well.

Lily and William enjoy a little peace and quiet away from the crowd while checking out some computer games.

Kate prefers to dig in and get messy while decorating and eating her cupcakes while Monica makes nice and neat designs (could have something to do with the age difference). :)

You scream, I scream, we all scream for....peace malas, of course!

Monica making a peace dove from a cutout of her handprint.

And everyone's favorite game....jump on Joe! Thanks to everyone for another successful NYE tot party! We can't wait for next year!

Hollywood lessons

Recently William and I had to catch up on some Hollywood gossip. Here is a little recap of our conversation.

"William, did you know that Tiger Woods had 8+ girlfriends while he was married?"

Really, you don't say? Tell me more.

"And then he got caught."

Ha! What a chump!

"And now his career is in the dumps, he's losing his endorsements, and he stands to lose half of his possessions to his wife."

Oh man. That stinks worse than my diapers.

"Come closer, William."


Yes, mom. I'm listening.

"Worst of all, he betrayed his friends and is losing his family."

Okay, mom. I got it...it doesn't pay to be a player.


Who needs Aesop's Fables? We can cover major life lessons just by tuning into Access Hollywood. :)

Me & the kiddos

Everybody loves to hold a William!

Aunts Suzanne and Angela lovin' on their nephew

Mary loves to hold her baby cousin!

The oldest grandchild with the youngest grandchild

Aunt Angela with some more cuddle time

Mom with William

Surprise! Mom has William again!

Mary is a great helper!

And Katie too!

A happy holiday season

We had a very happy (and busy) holiday season, and we are just now recovering from all the festivities. I guess you could say that it started way back with the Breakfast with Santa. Then we had our playgroup Christmas party with all the little ones which was a lot of fun but a little too busy to get any pictures. One of Carl's colleagues then hosted a department holiday party which was nice, and we were able to show William off to everyone there. We then had a grown-up (look out!) Christmas party without William and Lily. (Thanks to Ingrid and Ryan for babysitting.) A picture of Carl and me from that night is below.



My sister, Suzanne, and her family then came into town and from that point on, it was all about Mary and Katie! We met them at a mall near my mom and dad's house for some indoor entertainment. A few pictures from that day are below.

Katie and Lily take a break on the indoor playground. They look tired already, and the fun was just beginning!

Lily on the carousel

Katie and Mary spun around and around - Katie loved going fast!

The next day, we hung out at mom and dad's house, and the girls played and played some more. The following day was Christmas Eve, and we always celebrate Christmas with my dad's side on that night. Again, I didn't get a lot of pictures, but we got our first family picture including William!

After Christmas Eve, we had..

Christmas at home

Christmas at mom and dad's house

Christmas with the Pelleritos (Dec 26th - also mom and dad's anniversary)

Christmas with Ingrid & Ryan (Monday night)

So, all in all, we had a wonderfully packed Christmas schedule. We were not able to travel this year to see Carl's side, and we truly missed all his relatives, but hopefully, we will be able to make it up in 2010.

Just to get one more celebration in, we hosted our annual Tot New Year's Eve party in which we counted down to noon. We had a great turn out, and enjoyed celebrating the new year with all our friends. I'll try to get some pictures of the event up soon. Happy New Year to everyone! We are so very grateful for all the relationships with our friends and family that make our lives so rich!