29 November 2009

old pics...












from thanksgiving... shell and laura with the babies...










last week... nora enjoying the most expensive toy in the house (a box...)
















how i found nora after her nap. i need to start walking into her room with a camera, so i don't have to tell her to get back in so i can take a pic, then get back out and never do it again!!!
















saying goodbye. don't mind the pants. i have tried everything. they don't. stay. up.











let me rephrase that. not goodbye. just see you later. (with tears in my eyes)
















enjoying the swings...











last of mom-mom's trip

















nora decided to read jamey a book. it was SO sweet! and, he listened!!

never been to boston in the fall...











again, in backwards order, because i forgot until they were uploading... BLACK FRIDAY!! we actually only braved david's bridal for my future sister-in-law, and then a little nordy rack. surprisingly, it was EMPTY! i have never seen nordy rack empty. especially on black friday!










did i mention we ran a five mile race on thanksgiving morning? i run so i can eat!! that's my new motto!! anyway... i ran with those clowns! and i was quite proud of my performance.
















another clown... found this one as they rummaged through their old costume bin!
















notice the new nordstrom shoes!! she might just be a cheerleader when she grows up!
















lily and her mom, sarah, came over for a visit. they live in new hampshire, but were friends with us in ohio. sarah and i went to a few years of elementary school together, then she and david went to church together. then, we reconnected again when i met david! small world. nora enjoyed "yi-yee", except when she got a little tired.
















getting ready to go outside in the cold new england air!

















playing outside with daddy...











playing peek-a-boo in the airport with jamey

















enjoying the game of peek-a-boo

















rocking out to some little einsteins.

okay, so there were too many pics to publish. i would have been favoring! so, i will put them in an album and email them out. we had a great time! lots of time with family. on monday night, david, the kids and i took the car and braved the wilds of boston (read- crazy roads with no road signs!!) with our navigation, and got to visit with probably my longest friend and her hubby. (shoot... forgot to upload that pic... see the next post!) we had a blast! i was in laura's wedding. we have been friends since 4th grade.

it kind of felt like we were this whirlwind that descended on their house, ate, and left in the same mad fashion. however, i think they enjoyed it. david asked me on the way home- "do you think when we leave like that the couple is saying "man, we aren't having kids for a LONG time."?" but, we had a blast.... and it's a bummer we don't live closer, shoney girl! wonderful dinner, even better company!

it was nice and relaxing to be with family. we got to sleep in, and stay up late. there were so many people to play with the babies. nora's new favorite was auntie dofy... (dorothy), a cousin-in-law from england. nora LOVED her! she enjoyed all the time with grammie, grandpa, auntie sarah, soon to be auntie rene, and uncle andrew. she loved coo-coo grandpa (for some reason, that's what she calls great-grandpa!), and all the cousins and great-aunts and uncles. SO MUCH LOVE showered on her.

so, a debate recently has been the child leashes. i am not a fan. i understand the point, but just not sure i could do it in real life. however, we may be rethinking that policy after yesterday. we were getting ready to go through security and i had jamey in the carrier. david and i were getting undressed and getting stuff unpacked (after so meticulously packing it... LOVE security at the airports...)... nora decided to go under a barrier then through security. at full speed. david went running after her. security went running and yelling after him. (typically not good to run through security when they aren't paying attention).

one more story. on thanksgiving morning, we got up early to run the race. in the early afternoon, we were all hanging out, and i was reading on the couch. in the other room, i could hear david telling nora that it was almost naptime, as i was falling asleep. i woke up about 45 minutes later. i went to david and asked if nora was sleeping. he said he thought so. so, i started asking who put nora down. no one knew. then, i started looking around. nora was nowhere to be seen. by now, my heart was beating a little faster. we checked downstairs, where she loved to play. no nora. upstairs. not in her room. not in the other rooms. finally, we found her, in jamey's crib, sleeping. either she was tired and wanted to sleep, or she got in to play and couldn't get out, but no one could hear her being sad. either way, she was sleeping and SAFE!! lesson learned!

so, that's about it for now.... stay tuned for pics

18 November 2009

my tofutti cuties!!

















nora enjoying her ice cream sandwich!! (special ones from trader joe's... tofutti cuties from mom-mom!!)

















james was playing in his room this morning... his sister taught him well. he pulled every book of his bookshelf!
















he wasn't getting enough attention in the high chair. but, he's so cute!!










sweet babies and their mom-mom. happy birthday to my mom-mom. she would have been an awesome great-mom-mom. i miss her. and wish she could have met my kids!
















despite the picture, nora is actually happy. she just didn't want to be forced to stand still for a picture! but she looked too cute in her new uggs!
















a cute hat picture... she really was in a good mood that day! so, we have had mom-mom here all week. it's been so much fun! the kids are loving her, and i am getting so much done. last night, as i was leaving for Bible study, nora said "are you leaving again??" oops... guess i have left a lot this week. but, it's been nice to get a bunch of stuff done! and, there is a laundry fairy in my house, along with a food fairy. it's awesome! i am not quite sure i am ready for mom-mom to leave. thanks mom. it's been a great week! i do think that my favorite part has been having another adult in the house in the evenings. david has been gone all week, so it's nice to have someone to talk to!

16 November 2009

the second happiest place on earth...

















nora got to go to the second happiest place on earth last night. we have been there before, but never for her. nora got to go to the nordstrom shoe department!! and get fitted for shoes. it was the first time she actually got fitted for shoes. (her favorites right now were shoes that were 2 sizes too big. mom-mom decided that needed shoes that actually fit...)
















nora was so excited when we walked into the store. she said "this is my store!!!" ahh... my little girl.











it was a gorgeous day outside...











of course, we had to get some photos!
















cheese!!! we decorated for christmas the other day. i had a second opinion here and we got it done before we leave for thanksgiving. nora got a fiber optic tree for her bedroom (it was the one i had in college). she is obsessed with the christmas trees. she keeps going into her room and climbing into her bed to look at her tree! and she loves mine. she walks up to it and says "it's so pretty. it's soooo beauuuuutiful". love it!
















we enjoyed playing dress up the other day. she asked for her raggedy ann that grammy made










and, this is how we found her the other morning... dressed and ready for the day!!!

13 November 2009

last post...


okay, my last post got posted in a funny way... pictures got deleted and the flow doesn't make sense!! so sorry...

here's the pic of nora and brayden.

sorry for the craziness!

12 November 2009

drinking...









these are my running buddies. there are actually a few more, but they didn't hang around for the picture..








we had our friends, brayden and kensley, over the other day... they have had nora and james quite a bit, so we returned the favor. nora loved playing with brayden...

















nora got a princess wand...

















james was snuggly in his stroller...

















we got to see julia for dinner...

















nora thought she was SO STINKING FUNNY... so, did i mention we went to disneyland for the day? who do you think had the most fun?
















daddy and his boy...

















the whole family!!











that's right... mom-mom had the MOST fun!

















we all had a pretty good time, too!











nora loved seeing the castle.












and james loved snuggling. that's nora behind us on the up and downs. (carousel)
















cheese....

















in pooh's honey...











on the winnie the pooh ride.











james really liked all the lights and sounds.











enjoying the ride.












smiles all around!!!
















on the jungle cruise. she wanted to ride it again... but didn't understand that we had to get off to ride it again...

















more of us...











nora did toon town while we did space mountain! thanks mom-mom...











i think it was nap time... for both the boys!











nora got thirsty... so the princess got a drink! seriously, it was a great time! we had so much fun. we picked up mom-mom from the airport and drove up to anaheim. we spent the night and the next morning, we went to breakfast then over to disneyland. it was a blast to see the kids enjoy it so much! nora loved seeing the characters, but had no desire to get close to them. she enjoyed them from far away. on the pinocchio ride, she kept saying "watch out, watch out". and she told me there were crazy drivers on that ride. there didn't seem to be anything that scared her or that she didn't like. there were definitely rides that she loved. jungle cruise and pooh she asked to go on again. i took her on the up and downs late in the day (she had done it once in the morning, too), and she saw dumbo. if my translation was right, she told me that she really, really wanted to go on that one or she would be really sad and cry and cry all day tomorrow. it was cute. so, she went on it! and she loved that she could make it go up and down with a joystick.

tonight, james grabbed nora's drink. he finally realized how to drink out of it (sidenote... i bought these cups for him a few months back, and nora discovered them and decided to use them). and he was SO PROUD of himself. listen to him drinking it... he was SO loud! it was so cute to watch him.