Long time no blog!

This year we have stayed really busy during the holiday season. We tried to do as many holiday activities as possible. It was really fun. Here are some of the things we did with the girls.


Santa came to our neighborhood the Friday before Christmas. It was really cute and the kids loved it! They ate cookies and drank hot chocolate, played, and sat on Santa's lap. It was so darn cute!

We also took the girls to pick out toys for a local children's shelter. We brought them to the mall where if you brought toys you could take a gingerbread house home to make. It was really great. The girls got to meet some of the kids they bought presents for. It is defiantly something I would like to do every year with them if we are able.

We brought them to Crystal Court to a holiday craft table where Claire got to make a nutcracker. It is something I will keep forever. I love it!

We visited the holiday toddler train at the mall. MANY MANY MANY times. It was a big hit. We are sad it will be gone on the first until next year.

This was such a fun time with the girls. I am sad Christmas it over and look forward to it next year.

Christmas Tree

Last Saturday morning we got up early got the girls ready and headed out to get a Christmas tree. We were all really excited to decorate the house and get our tree. We thought that it would be a fun family day!

We picked out a 9 1/2 foot tree put it on our car and off we went. Once we got it home and put up it, and got light on it we were so tired but Claire was still so excited to decorate. We decided to put up about 20 decorations and the angle and put the girls to bed. This was not a job for two under three years of age.

Over all it was a fun but tiring day! Best of all our house looks beautiful and festive. I will take a picture of the front of the house this week to share with you. We went a bit overboard.

The Girls

Today Addy got her 3rd tooth. YEAH! She has four teeth coming in up top in front and it feels like it has taken forever. Finally one came through today. Just in time because she has decided she will no longer eat baby food. YEAH ADDY!!!

On a funny note.... Claire told me this morning that she needs to tell Santa one more thing she wants.... A sleigh like his. She was totally serious. I said," What about the scooter?" She replied, "I want both." She is so darn funny! I LOVE KIDS!

No pictures today. I just had to share some things about the girls.

Stay tuned!

A Visit With Santa

Today the girls and I went to visit Santa Clause and the Christmas train at Crystal Court. Claire was so excited to see Santa and was not scared at all. Addy on the other hand was not a big fan.

Claire asked Santa for a scooter and he said, "will you be careful while riding the scooter?" Claire replied, "yes, I will not run over my Addy!". She also asked Santa why he came all the way from the north pole to be at the mall? (smart kid) Some of the other quotes consisted of......"my cousin Carter will be at my house for Christmas will you remember that?", "I will leave you cookies...do you like chocolate milk or white milk?", "hey, don't come to my house until it is all decorated." , "will you bring something for my Addy? She does not want to sit will you or she will cry again."

This was the first time Claire visited Santa without screaming. It was so cute. I wish I would have video taped it. She would not stop talking. Santa finally had so say, "ok, I need to visit the other kids.

We will have to make another trip with Matt. He will be sad he missed it.




Addy not a big fan this year.

More holiday festivities to come! HAVE A GOOD DAY!

HOLIDAY BAKING take 1

Today Claire and I started our holiday baking. Claire loves to bake and loves Christmas. Needless to say she was thrilled to help make these cookies.

We made these yummy cookies called "melt aways". I got the recipe from my friend Catherine's friend. They are soooooo good and EASY. We made them red (or tried but Claire liked it more pink then red) and then used red sugar sprinkles. I think it looks better with other sprinkles but they are still really good. Every time I turned around Claire was eating another one.

It was a really fun activity. I am sure we will have much more holiday baking ahead.

HAPPY TUESDAY!

THANKSGIVING

We are back from our Thanksgiving trip to Northern California! The girls had a great time visiting with there cousins, Aunts and Uncles and Grampy Paul (my Dad).
We had a fun but busy weekend. Tuesday night before we left my brother Chris and his family came over for dinner before we left (they live in Oakland). They have a little boy Eric that is almost 2 so Claire had a great time playing with him. She keeps asking when he is coming back to play.

CLAIRE AND ERIC

Wednesday we left for Northern CA for a visit with my sisters family and my Dad. My sister, Dad and I made a yummy Thanksgiving dinner that we all enjoyed (even Addy). Friday we hit the malls for black Friday. Yes, we are crazy but we do it every year. It is a fun way to get into the Christmas Spirit. Saturday we went to Napa to meet Matt's parents and Aunt and Uncle for the day. Matt LOVES Napa so it was fun to fit it into this trip. Sunday we packed up the car and headed out. Apparently everyone else left that the same time we did because what should be a 6 hour trip took us 10 1/2 hours. Oh well!

ADDY AND CLAIRE SLEEPING IN THE CAR



CLAIRE AND ADDY AT THANKSGIVING WITH NATE BEHIND

We are now home and ready to decorate for Christmas. For those of you that don't know Matt turn into Chevy Chase (from Christmas Vacation) at Christmas. There is not a missing decoration. We are excited for the weeks to come and looking forward to another visit with cousins.

Miss Addison Taylor

Addy had her 9 month check-up today. She weighed in at 17 lbs (50% for weight), 75% for height, and 40% for head. No shots today so that was good news in her book. She was still terrified of the paper on the table. She has been scared of that ever since we had her in the emergency room for her fever. Claire was a great big sister and held her hand the whole time (I wish I had my ca,era it was so cute). Overall she is a healthy and happy 9 month old. YEAH!

Matt and I cannot believe that she is 9 months old. She is getting so big so fast. She has started playing peek-a-boo with anything she can get her hands on. She also raises both hands when you say "Addy is sooo big". it is so darn cute. I love this age.



"Is there something on my face?"

Here is Addy raising her hands for "sooo big". While covered in carrots that she insisted on feeding herself.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Busy Busy Busy

Now that Addy has started to crawl she has gotten so busy. She loves to play with Claire. It is like she became a totally different baby since she started moving.

The other day we were stuck in the house waiting for our new refrigerator to be delivered. The girls were getting cabin fever and I was starting to go crazy. I then decided to make a train for the girls to drive. They LOVED it. It was so cute. They played for an hour.

Addy has also started to ride in the little car at the grocery store with Claire. It is so cute. And it keeps her busy while I shop. YEAH!




Claire and Addy in the train. Choo Choo!!!

Claire and Addy in the car at the grocery store. SO CUTE!!!!

HAPPY MONDAY!!!!

Guess What???

Sunday was a fun day. It all started when I left for the grocery store at 6:45am to get milk for my much needed coffee. When I got home Addy was crawling (go figure that she starts crawling when I am gone). She is now a crawling machine. I have been scared for this moment to come for along time now and now it is here. I just hope that the walking does not happen very soon. I cannot imagine them both running away from me.

Soon after I returned home we packed up the car and headed to Sea World. Claire and Addy both love Sea World. Ever since they have added the Bay of Play it provides hours of fun for our children. We had the best time. It was empty and the weather was cool. We did so much in one day. The best part was that since it was empty Claire and Addy got time with both Ernie and Elmo. WOW what a treat!

We then headed home to have dinner with Matt's parents to celebrate Miami's birthday. Claire loves to visit with Mimi and Papa so they day could not have gotten better in her eyes. As the evening came to an end Claire decided to show Mimi and Papa her new dance moves. She got a bit carried away began to do a spin and hit her head on the granite coffee table. She now has a beautiful black and blue bump on her head. After a little Tylenol she was back dancing. Thank goodness.

Over all it was a really fun and exciting day.

HAPPY MONDAY!!!

This is Claire climbing the ropes at Sea World. She is sooo good at it. It amazes us.

Yeah Ernie!

Elmo caught bothe of there attention. Addy LOVES Elmo!

Zoo Trip

Yesterday I decided to take the girls to the Santa Ana Zoo by myself. I felt like we needed a new activity for the day so off we went.

Claire loved seeing the monkeys and birds but was very disappointed when she found out that this zoo did not have any elephants. Ever since watching the movie Jungle Book she loves elephants. About an hour into the trip the girls began to melt down. We stuck it out for another two hours then headed home. Over all it was a fun trip. Next time we will have to go to the big zoo to see the elephants (but not without another adult).

Have a great weekend!

Halloween

Halloween this year was so much fun for all of us. Our new neighborhood was crazy. All of the houses were decorated and a ton of kids filled the streets.

Claire and Matt had been practicing trick-or-treating for a few days so that by the time Friday came Claire was a pro. Claire dressed up as Sleeping Beauty and Addy was a lady bug. They were so darn cute! Claire and her friend Peyton darted from house to house said, "Trick-or-treat" followed by, "thank you, happy Halloween". Claire only took one unless they turned away then she went in for another hand full.They had so much fun. They hit about 30 houses. Then Claire's shoe broke so they had to return home. By that time her bucket was fill to the top.

It was a really fun night and Claire is still talking about it.






CLAIRE AND PEYTON

CLAIRE ADMIRING HER WAND

TRICK-OR- TREATING

ADDY THE LADY BUG

ADDY HELPING TO CARVE PUMPKINS

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!!

ELECTION DAY!

Don't forget to vote today!

Stay tuned. I felt that the voter message was of higher importance today. I have great pictures from the weekemd that will be coming. Stay tuned and don't forget to vote!

Play Date

Today Claire and Addy had a play date with my friend Erin and her two children Taylor and Cole. I love that so many of my friends have children the same age as ours. Claire and Taylor had the best time. We started out with a picnic in our backyard (I love having a BIG back yard), played with bikes, and ended the day with some time with Claire's play kitchen. Wow how things have changes. Erin and I used to go to coffee and shop. Now we make coffee and chase kids. It was such a great time and Claire and Addy were wiped out.

Oak Glen

Sunday we went to Oak Glen apple picking. This is something that Matt used to do as a child that we decided to pass along to our children. We started going when Claire was about 9 months old. Usually we go in November but this year we decided to go in October hoping to see some fall festivities. We also decided to have our good friends the Bennett's go (they have two girls the same age as ours). Much to our surprise it was totally crowded so we could not do very many things. We did however pick loads of apples. They are so yummy! overall is was a great day. The girls had a fun time and so did we. I think we will go again in November when it is a little cooler and not as crowded.

Claire and Peyton

Claire and Matt picking apples

Happy Monday!!!

Thanks Auntie Jane!

Today we got the cutest package from Claire and Addy's Auntie Jane (aka Auntie Janie). She sent spider hair ties, witch hair ties, and talking pumpkins. Since Addy does not have hair yet we put both spiders in Claire's hair. It was so funny. Oh.... and by the way she will not let me put hair things in her hair so the spiders were a first. They were so darn cute we had so share with everyone. Below are pictures for you all to see. Addy was sleeping so we only have pics of Claire. Thanks Auntie Jane!


"Oh I love these pumpkins so much!"

"look at the spiders in my hair!"

Are these funny or what?

Here I come world!!!!!

HERE I COME WORLD!!!


Addison just turned 8 months old on the 19th. I cannot believe how fast the time has gone. Things have gotten easier in the sense that she is eating solid foods, she is starting to communicate more, and most of all she is able to play with Claire (this makes having a little sister all worth it for Claire. They just love each other). Some things are also more difficult.... she screams when she wants something (not crys but screams), and she has started to discover that she wants to move on her own (she has places to go and people to see). Addy is now standing holding on to things and is on all fours ready to crawl. Baby gates here we come AGAIN!!!. I cannot imagine what life will bring with two little people in things and running away from me!!! AHHHHHHHH!

Oh, one more thing.... Addy started saying MaMa. Yeah!!!