O happy day!

What a cutie pie!



Veronica was baptized today. My cousins Erin and Kelly graciously agreed to be her godparents and both made a special trip home from college for the ceremony.

Father Kevin introduces her to the congregation.





With her godmothers...

Snowmen and...BBQ?

So, virtually everyone who reads this blog knows about Bryan's infamous BBQ ribs and won't be surprised to read that when the mercury climbs above 30, the pit comes out. The last 6 days of 30+ degrees and sun has us all wishing for spring and thinking about ribs. The meal was great, and on top of that, Bryan took some time out of his BBQ preparation to build a snowman with Estelle. I helped accessorize but they did all the hard work.

Aren't they cute? And the snowman too...

Time for some one-on-one

With my maternity leave rapidly coming to a close (back to work on Mar 3), it's time for a post about Veronica. We're all pretty head over heels about this girl...she's a great baby. Of course, she has her moments of crankiness, but all-in-all, she's easygoing and happy. She's making great eye contact and gives me the biggest open-mouth smiles. We're in the process of making our bonus room (which used to be our office) into a shared room for the girls. My goal is to get it done before the end of February. I'll post some before and after photos when it's completed.

Ditto...the LA trip

Jc's post says it all...here are a few of my best photos...

Quarantined in the hotel room...


With Frank and Jc at the LA zoo...


Staring intently at Jenna, I think...


Happy kids hanging out...

Checking in on the new sibs

Overall, life with the two girls is going well. I've dubbed Veronica "Zen Baby" -- she is super mellow and observes everything around her quite serenely. Her primary subject is Estelle, who bounces and screams and laughs and makes funny faces to entertain her. V has started smiling and cooing with an occasional giggle.

I think Estelle has "Do Good" on one shoulder and "Be Bad" on the other and is struggling with the voices. One day she says to me about V, "Mom, I like her. She's a pumpkin pie." The next she says, "Sometimes when I kiss her, I really want to bite her." I tell her I understand that her emotions are very intense and that's okay. Perhaps the most candid statement of all, "Mom, when Veronica gets bigger, I'll probably be mean to her sometimes." Probably. But for now she's the sweetest big sister and a great helper for me.

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...