Christmas Recap

We had a great Christmas, made even more festive with the loads of beautiful snow. We spent Christmas Eve at my mom's and Christmas Day at Uncle Mike's. Estelle had an...shall we say...eccentric Christmas list this year. It started with a laundry list of musical instruments, "a guitar, a trumpet, a french horn..." that kept growing and growing. At one point she added a harp and a tuba, prompting me to exasperatedly point out that both would crush her. I kept asking her what she would do with all those instruments and she said very plainly, "be an instrument teacher." She wrapped up with "a bumpy, bumpy racetrack, a real castle, a real pony and a real flying reindeer." Sigh. So, Santa brought a guitar and improvised a bit on a variety of other items.




Both kids crashed on the way out to Mike's house. It was surreal to me -- we were the parents in the front seat, driving to Christmas dinner with the kids asleep in the back. I had to snap photos.

Dirty Doggy Scrub Scrub

Estelle plays a lot of "Twinkle, Twinkle" with her Suzuki piano lessons. This particular version is "Dirty Doggy Scrub Scrub With Funny" (Estelle's title).

Veronica Ann Arrives

Estelle is a big sister! I went into labor early in the morning of Nov 23...Estelle took this picture of my belly so we could document exactly how big I was.



Veronica was 8 lbs, 8 oz -- a full pound heavier than Estelle but exactly the same length. Maybe that's why she's been sleeping so great!




Here's a few of her first photos...






We were discharged from the hospital on Thanksgiving Day, and came home to a phenomenal turkey day dinner that Bryan made...I'm not sure how he pulled it all together at the last minute, but the food was great and it felt like the perfect homecoming.

We are so proud and overwhelmed by Estelle's capacity to embrace the change in our family. She wants to hold, burp, kiss and hug Veronica and she's been a great helper so far. Because of H1N1 risks, Estelle wasn't allowed to visit us in the hospital, so here are some photos of the sisters' first meeting when we came home. Have you ever seen a bigger smile?

Bad Witch (2008); Good Witch (2009)

You may remember that Estelle was a witch for Halloween last year. She reprised the role this year, but was adamant about being a good witch...Glinda, the Good Witch, in fact (from The Wizard of Oz). She went trick-or-treating with Darien (aka Obi Wan Kenobi).

Even daddy got into the Halloween spirit...

I'm quite proud of her homemade costume. Grandma helped out with the skirt and poofy sleeves. I made the crown...and, truth be told, enjoyed every minute of my little arts and crafts project.

Hats off!

Our friend, Julie, knit the cutest gifts for Estelle and baby. Here's Estelle checking out her hat in the mirror...she's been wearing it all morning. Thanks, Julie!

Flower child

Estelle was the flower girl at her auntie's wedding last weekend. Got some great photos and even a video of her doing her job with some help starting off from Uncle Kenny -- you'll have to forgive the footage...I forgot I had the camera on, but fortunately that allowed me to refocus on my sister coming down the aisle.

With Darien, looking pretty sharp himself...

She also had a fabulous time at the reception, dancing the night away with all of my cousins. And, starting at the bar before the reception, she moved in on my cousin's boyfriend. Fortunately, Jessica is not the jealous type. I captured her first bar pick-up here...her beverage of choice? Lemonade, straight up.

Chicken dance...

And one more video (Uncle Eddie should love this one...) featuring Estelle and cousins Jessica, Monica, Erin and Kelly...

Baby love

Estelle adores babies...she's so excited when we have visitors with babies and is far more attentive to them than the adults who come to town. A few weekends ago, Amy and John came to see us with Baby Claire. Note the protective arm around Claire's shoulder and the blanket up to her chin (courtesy of Estelle).

She's about as obsessed with "Baby" Leah (now a toddler) but no matter...she's younger than Estelle and that's all that counts.

She can't wait to be a big sister, asking me, "Mommy, when is my baby coming?" Now she says, "My baby is coming on Nov. 17." I have to explain that it probably won't be on that day and she concedes, "Okay, 2 days later." In the meantime, Darwin will continue to be a surrogate infant. Anything look familiar in this photo?

'bout time

that I posted something about Estelle's 4th birthday, which happened almost a month ago now. We had a family gathering of the usual suspects plus a pinata (thanks to Uncle Patrick and much to my chagrin).



Gift from mommy and daddy...she's already asked to take the training wheels off but Bryan refuses.

Good cake!


Kids had fun whacking at the pinata, but not much luck busting it open.


So Bryan took a turn...



But it was great aunt Pegs who finally succeeded (note her triumphant dance).

Say what?

I have to capture a few of the things Estelle has come up with lately, before they slip out of my memory bank...

[Riding my bike up a hill very slowly, pulling her in the trailer] "Mommy, is your gluteus maximus tired?"

[Talking to daddy on the phone about her steadily improving bike riding skills] "I brake very well, daddy."

[After asking for and drinking a glass of water] "At last! I feel better."

[After I asked her why she squatted in grandma's yard instead of using the bathroom] "But mommy! I wanted to pee like an animal!"

[After thwarting her plans to eat chocolate chip cookies for breakfast] "Saboteur!"

Lake time with Max & Avery

Estelle hit the waves with her friends from across the street, Max and Avery. The three of them were feeling the need for speed pretty quickly, as you can see by big smiles and big thumbs-up...

Estelle's first wedding

Patrick's best friend James got married last weekend. James has been a friend of the family for a long time, and was even at the hospital when Estelle was born! (Photo below taken 8-18-05)

And on Saturday, 8-1-09...

So Estelle was pretty excited to see James get married to Miriam (or Mims, as she's more commonly known). The best part of the night for Estelle was the dancing (here with Patrick and Shannon)...

closely followed by the sparklers...

The next morning she woke up and said, "My legs hurt!" Dancing for 3 hours will do that to you every time...I know from experience. :)

Tubing with Annika

Wow! What a beautiful, fun day we spent at the lake with Estelle's friend, Annika, and her mom, Lindsey. Anni was a little nervous at first, but after a very short time, both girls were pumped about being on the tube. Here a few great shots from the day...

(yes, that's Bryan, chilling on the tube in the background)

Check out those brave girls!! By the end of the day, both girls were giving us the "thumbs-up" signal to "go faster!"

Rocky Mountain High

We recently returned from a great family vacation to Colorado. Bryan's family reunion was in Denver this year...the last reunion we attended was the one we hosted here, and Estelle was in the last throes of incubation (I was huge!). So we were very excited for her to meet the whole clan. She had a blast swimming and playing with her cousins and meeting aunties and uncles.

There was plenty of time for other activities in Denver -- we went to the zoo...

visited an enormous water park... and took some family photos at the Red Rock Park and Amphitheater.

We finished up our stay in the Mile High state with just a couple of days in the mountains, complete with a day long river rafting trip. The highlight was definitely Bryan and Patrick's jump from 30 ft. high Devil's Cliff. Estelle was disappointed we wouldn't let her jump from that height, so the guides let her jump from a shorter rock -- about 5 feet above the river. Here we are, getting ready for our day on the water...

July 4th festivities

We had a fabulous 4th, kicking off as usual with the local parade...

and then heading to Uncle Mike's for boating and tubing. Here she is on her very first tube ride with cousin, Delaney. My stomach was churning the entire time. After it was all said and done, she said, "But mommy, I wanted daddy to go fast so I would fall off!"

And finally, a boat trip to see the fireworks, courtesy of Uncle Mikey.

There were so many helpers, even mommy and daddy got a chance to kick back and enjoy the sunset.