Snow Bunny

We didn't go up to the cottage over Christmas (due to the logistics of rushing up and back with two kids in tow), so we decided to spend a week over New Year's to celebrate and enjoy the snow.

When we arrived, Caitlin couldn't put her snowsuit on fast enough! Today's activity was tobogganing :) All I could hear while I stayed inside to feed Adam, was her squealing in excitement. Once he finished up his lunch, I ventured out to see what all the laughter was about. I found grandma lugging her up the hill on the road...

And then watched her whiz by on a sled! Wee!

A few other creatures came to watch her luge down the icy track too; a mama and her twins :)

After about 15 runs, she decided she should brush off the gazebo table in case we wanted to have an emergency tea party.

That's when she realized that the fluffy white stuff was actually packing snow. But her best attempts to make a snowman were futile.

No matter, there's lots of other interesting things covered in powdery fun.

It's snowing again!

Caitlin even convinced grandma to climb on the toboggan so she could pull her. She might be a tad heavy for you love!

She was laughing so hard, I don't know how she would have been able to pull anyway :)

When grandma got up, Caitlin wanted to go down the hill again, and did her best to convince us she wasn't cold. She has such a poker face. Okay, time to go in and have some hot chocolate!

Smashy Smashy

We told Caitlin that Christmas had to pass before we ate our gingerbread house. This morning she got the green light! Good thing too; we had to put it way on top of our refrigerator because she - being a smart cookie - pushes chairs and step stools around in order to reach things. She was visibly elated when it made it's way down to eye height :)

Meat mallet in hand, she thought a little tap might do the trick. Not the case with the amount of icing she put on!

So we covered the house with a bag so the shards wouldn't fly everywhere, she wound up and... SMASH!

Gingerbread! Even after a big breakfast, she managed to gnaw on the biggest hunk.

This treat is my absolute favourite thing around the holidays - my mom has a mean recipe I always replicate. Apparently it's a favourite of hers too :)

Boxing Day Lasagna

Today was yet another fun-filled day of family and presents :) Once again though, we don't have any still pictures - just video. I'm so thankful that Mike had the camcorder out so we could capture the actual reactions, but now as I'm updating the blog, I wish we had taken even a few shots.

We went to Mike's parents house just after lunch for our 3rd day of Christmas, and the traditional Boxing Day lasagna dinner; we also had the added bonus of homemade spinach/ricotta cannelloni. Yum!

Just before our delicious meal, Caitlin and Adam got to open their gifts. And by gifts, I mean bags and BAGS of gifts! I'm convinced we'll be stocked up on baby toys and clothes until the kids are ready to move out! When we were done, we quite literally lined up 3 garbage bags stuffed full of things by the front door to bring home. Mike is suggesting we ration out the toys which is a brilliant idea. My guess, it will be next Christmas by the time we're through these ones!

We stayed until 8pm or so, but it was clear in the kids' moods that after another full day of excitement, playing with cousins and many holiday treats, that it was time to head home and tuck our little sugarplums into bed.

What a wonderful Christmas! Thank you everyone for making it so special for our sweet kids :)

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas morning with the kids, and Adam's first Christmas :) Caitlin was overtired from the late night last night and didn't last long while we opened gifts, but Santa was good to both of them. We recorded the whole gift-opening event on our camera so we didn't get any still shots of it to post. When she woke up, she was uber-excited; she patiently waited at the top of the stairs in anticipation for everyone to get ready, and once we all made it down together, she was elated to see the living room FULL of boxes and bows. Seeing her bright little face was priceless!

She really only wanted a dolly, and the big man delivered... and then some :) Santa hid the dolly at the back of the tree knowing she'd lose interest in the other toys once she opened it. Good thinking Santa... best for last! And Adam got a great floor activity centre - just what he needed - along with a big toy train that actually moves and plays music.

Once the whirlwind of Christmas morning was over, we cleaned up and got ready for my family to come over. Instead of going to the cottage this year with two kids in tow, it just made sense to stay at home and invite them down. So much easier. Plus, both kids got a much-needed nap in before a second round of gifts made their way under the tree. What lucky ducks :)

When grandma, grandpa, Becky & Graham arrived, both kids were excited to see everyone. Merry Christmas everyone!

I know Adam is too young to understand Christmas, but it sure looked like he knew everyone brought more presents!

With the turkey roasting in the oven and the veggies all prepped and ready to go, it was time to shred some more wrapping paper. Caitlin went right to work :)

One of the best things about having family around when the kids are opening their gifts, is not only do they get to share in the joy of watching them open, but you can rely on someone else to take the memorable pictures so you can bask in the glee in their eyes!

Caitlin made light work of Adam's gifts first. Jamamas! Our boy is so long, he's just 4 months, wearing 6-12 month sizes!

Then she opened a special gift from my parents. Grandma made a sweet little Dorothy dress and found Toto in a basket and ruby slippers to match! (She's still very much on her Wizard of Oz kick). Once she was all dressed up, we pretended we didn't know where Caitlin went because all we could see was Dorothy. This is her trying to convince us she's really our daughter :)

Then Dorothy continued with the presents.

Although she got a cool toys, clothes and much more, nothing can beat the Wizard. Instead of playing with all her new items, all she wanted, was to watch the Wizard and see how much she looked like Judy Garland. Just like Dorothy!

With another round of gifts under our belts, it was time to loosen them for dinner :) Christmas crackers and table bonbons-a-go! I inherited a beautiful set of wine glasses and chargers from my mom, perfect for the occasion.

Not surprisingly, Caitlin wouldn't join us for dinner. Dorothy took her place instead... no convincing her to take off her new outfit! I always remembered wanting to bring the new toys to Christmas dinner too :)

We brought Adam's swing into the dining room so he could join us for the celebration.

After grace and the crackle and pop of the crackers, Caitlin dug right in :) She was two-fisting the soup I made; a hungry little bum!

We were stuffed after dinner and I am so proud of the great meal we made! It was delicious (save for the small interruptions of putting Adam down for his power nap mid-meal, and Caitlin wanting to twirl in front of the mirror). We managed to serve curried butternut squash & apple soup, poached pear & blue cheese salad with caramelized walnuts - all hand-made I might add... save for the blue cheese: I didn't milk the cows for that, and a traditional turkey feast with stuffing, chive mashed potatoes, brussels, cinnamon roasted carrots, and garlic beans. And no Christmas dinner is complete without the figgy pudding, doused in brandy, and lit ablaze while joyously singing :)

My family couldn't stay too long after dinner as they had a 2-hour drive north, and it was already pretty dark. So a few hugs, kisses and thank you's later, Caitlin and Adam said goodbye. Our dear Caitlin went to bed almost right away - it was an exciting day, and we have yet another set of festivities tomorrow with Mike's family: Christmas is never-ending!

Once she was settled and snug in her bed, we fed Adam and let him have a short playtime on his new mat. It was a hit!

The look of sheer wonder. That's what it's all about :)

Bleary-eyed mommy hugs!

One last kiss before bed my dear. I hope you had a wonderful first Christmas sweetheart; daddy and I love you and your sister more than you'll ever know.

Cookies and Carrots

So tonight's the big night!

Before we went to the farm for the annual seafood feast, we had Caitlin put out the cookies we baked and a glass of milk for Santa Claus... and of course a carrot for Rudolph. We knew we'd be back late and she'd most likely be asleep. So as Mike packed the van with Adam and all the gifts, I stayed to supervise her, and the eye-height chocolate chip cookies because I knew exactly what would happen...

After some negotiation, she was allowed one. Poor Santa will be hungry after his long trip!

After a great meal and visit with family, we left for home. Caitlin fell asleep crying her eyes out in the car because she was so over-excited/exhausted; it was WELL past her bedtime (she's usually in bed by 7:30pm and we left around 10:00pm), plus she didn't nap today. But she transferred fine and once she was in her bed, we had some play time with Adam downstairs before his last bottle.

The sheer wonder in his eyes is so sweet :)

He wasn't up for very long; it was a later than normal day for him too, so we were happy to have him finish and go to bed. It's a big day tomorrow - Adam's first Christmas!

And luckily he went to bed when he did. Santa came!

Surprise Party

Caitlin, Adam and I secretly planned a little party for daddy once he was feeling better to celebrate his birthday. We dressed up, decorated the kitchen with balloons & streamers, got birthday hats, and invited grandma and nonno over for dessert. Daddy had no idea! Surprise!

Goofing around with birthday hats :)

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Earlier in the day while Adam had a nap, Caitlin and I made and decorated a cake. She did such a great job sprinkling the candy stars on the top. I think her tactic was 'one for it, one for me'.

She's also a pro at singing Happy Birthday and even better at blowing out candles :) Birthday parties are so much fun! Glad you're feeling better daddy :)

My Turn

Well the stomach bug is still running rampant in our house; the last couple days I've had a rocky stomach. Its been difficult trying to finish up the Christmas shopping and I had a close call tonight at the LCBO/Shoppers Drug Mart. I dropped everything I had in my cart, left and came home, barely making it to the bathroom. This sucks!

I think we've all lost a little weight leading up to the holidays which is good considering we usually binge on sweet treats. None for us this year...

Family Pictures

The day we saw Santa, we also went to the Superstore to get some family Christmas photos done. We decided to do the family photos first and Santa afterwards as we weren't sure how long the kids would last, and these were way more important!

They took a couple of days to process, and today we got to pick them up. It was so hard to decide which ones to pick, but these were our favourite :) I love this picture of the four of us; I'm so happy with how it turned out!

We then tried to get a close up of just the two kids, but Caitlin was upset that we weren't going to be in the picture and decided to cry. The girl taking the photos tried her best to make the kids laugh for a nice shot, but it didn't work. Neither were impressed. Frankly, Adam looks terrified!

Caitlin wasn't settling so daddy took her for a walk through the store to 'walk it off'. So I got a cute solo shot of Adam instead. Maybe when she returns, she'll be willing to cooperate.

When Caitlin was wee, I took her to the Superstore too and got some sweet shots of her when she was a babe. Considering that I had some time to kill during our appointment and half our family was missing, I decided to get the same style shots done with Adam.

He's so strong now and holds his head up nice and steady :)

Such a cute little guy...

There's a sweet shy smile :)

Just as we finished taking these pics of Adam, Caitlin returned with a pack of Skittles and a big smile. Good thing you can't see how red her teeth are in this shot from the candies, but you can make out a pile of them jammed in her cheeks and a few in her hand. Whatever works!

This is the closest we came to having a nice shot of the two of them.

I even tried suggesting she put her arm around him to get in close but he tickled her face and she then thought that was funnier.

The appointment came to an end and I was sweating like a pig. Corralling children is no easy feat!

Daddy's Big Day

With a rocky stomach but the worst passed, daddy opened his birthday gifts from Caitlin and Adam. Or rather Caitlin opened daddy's gifts :)

Wow a box!

Hope you like my present daddy :)

It was actually a DVD box set I thought Mike would like. Can't wait to get into it; have heard only good things of Band of Brothers.

Considering how sick the household has been, the gingerbread house got put on the back-burner. Tonight's as good as any, so once we were done dinner and presents, we busted out the gingerbread kit.

Caitlin quickly got the hang of shoving sweets into the icing... and ending up with deliciously sticky fingers!

Except she thought that once we were done decorating, we were going to smash it and eat it right away. I'm sorry sweetie, you are sorely mistaken! But that didn't stop her from trying to get her chompers into the finished product. She's so strong!!