Merry Christmas to all!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Laura was very excited to give us her present. She couldn't wait for us to open it.

Mom and Dad: Photo Courtesy of Laura


To Mom and Dad:


A snow globe! What a great present. A nice picture of Anna.


And of course, Laura.


Of course, there is the present from Mommy and Daddy. Santa came by later too, but this one was from Mommy & Daddy.


"I get good loot!"


We start 'em young in this house. Anna's mastering the mouse.


Sesamestreet.org, of course.


Little girls want to be good to make sure Santa has them on the 'nice' list. Here Laura is swiffering the floor:


The magic of Christmas morning

Happy Birthday Laura!

Laura had a wonderful 3rd birthday. It started off pretty low key with some yogurt for breakfast, but then she got to watch dad work on making the cake, and then it was time for some presents!

Hmmm, what could be in the big bag?


A DOLLHOUSE! WOW!


Laura and I are a little overwhelmed by all the parts & pieces to the dollhouse.


Daddy got her a kayak that goes along with the dollhouse.


A little lady in heaven.


It, of course, HAS to have a minivan.


Make a wish Laura!


2 out of 3 isn't bad.


Laura was emphatic to tell anyone who would listen that she's THREE YEARS OLD!


We asked what kind of cake Laura wanted, and she consistently said she wanted a Jellyfish cake (Yes, auntie Mandi, I told her you prefer 'sea jellies').

Somehow after last year, cake making has become 'Daddy's Job', so it was up to me to construct her Jellyfish cake. A trip to the craft store and some advice from the only marine biologist I know, I made a plan.

It started out with a soccer ball cake mold. Add some cherry licorice strings.


Put the frosting on the sucker... which was trickier than I thought.


Move it to the table.


Here you go, the final product.


Anna enjoyed the festivities. Here I dressed her up as Indy-Anna Jones.

Tis the season

Tis the season for holiday cheer. Laura is really getting into the Christmas spirit this year. She can remember some of the excitement of last year, and now the anticipation is really building.

Here is Anna elf.


Laura was really happy to help me carry the tree into the house.


"I'm helping daddy!"


Laura even mad a christmas card. "BUTQRM" is a word in 'LauraLand' that means merry Christmas. But she did do the "LAURA" herself, so I have to give her some credit.


She is quite proud of herself.


Laura even gets to decorate her very own tree with kid-safe ornaments. She'd had to have redecorated the tree 20 times by now, but it is a great distraction for us.


Can't forget the garland and tinsel.


Now you put on the ornaments!


Even a curious george ornament... which wasn't as drop-proof as we thought. Don't worry, George got glued back together and is with the rest of the breakable ornaments on the big tree.


A very, very proud almost 3 year old.

Anna celebrated her first birthday with all her Aunties (including Auntie Mandi who came all the way from from California)!

Here is the happy birthday girl. I think she could get used to all the attention and presents.


Where's this cake I've heard Laura raving about?


Ohhh, there it is! Yum.


Anna's going to be 1 year old already (11/24)!


Laura took a liking to Anna's boa.


The cousins just attacked the toys.


Anna must be happy... she's clicking.


Laura giving a nice smile to Auntie Mandi. Laura told Mandi all about her dolphin book.


I took Mandi to the Vikes / Seahawks game, so Anna and Laura helped her her in the cheering spirit.


Laura singing skol vikings.


Laura is just about done with her Halloween candy... Still some blue blow pops left however.

Pigtails!

It is swimming lesson season, so Laura wore pigtails to keep her hair out of her face.

Laura showing off her pigtails before swimming lessons.


After swimming, Laura made sure her baby got all cleaned up in the baby tub. She did it all herself, and not a detail was missed.

Let's made some bubbles with the soap.


Wash that hair!


Time to play!


Warm the baby up!


Baby is all squeaky clean.


Anna sitting like a big girl in the Dora chair.


Anna exploring the house.


Out of the tunnel! What fun!