Happy New Year!

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

A Happy Day for Daddy

Now that Jackson is one year old, he can ride in the bicycle seat. Up until today, he's ridden in the bike trailer that I pull behind my bike. But, today, we strapped on his little helmet for the first time, and Daddy rode around the neighborhood. Jack thought it was way cooler than the trailer. As soon as Dave rode off, Jack started laughing. The next time Dave rode by me, Jack was on back singing. It was very cute. I'm sure mountain biker Daddy is very proud that his second little man seems to enjoy the foot-powered vehicle as much as the first one does.

"This helmet feels a little funny, Mommy."

"Oh, wow, who cares about the helmet!? This is FUN!"

Happy Birthday Jack

We spent our day visiting Molly's school for her program and party, going to the park, and visiting Daddy at the studio for a mini Christmas party, where he had a birthday cupcake. Happy birthday sweet boy!

Two Smiles and a Scream!

He wasn't so fond of Santa! Poor little man. Cracks me up how Santa smiles so consistently with a screaming, wriggling baby in his lap. I wonder if he's deaf (or atleast has a little ringing in the ears at the end of the day.)

Weekend of Fun, Installment 3: Jack's 1st Birthday Party

On Sunday, we had Jack's Star Wars birthday party. It was a great time. Mommy spent a loonnng time making an R2D2 cake and a little Yoda cake for Jack. The kids all wore their Star Wars costumes and Dave broke out his old original Star Wars toys to decorate and play with. It was a good time. Jack was exhausted by bed time. After I dropped off Molly at school this morning, I couldn't wait to get home for Jack to get to play with his toys uninterrupted. They were all a huge hit. He's sitting behind me right now in between the ball popper and the drum having a blast.

Jack looks at his book from Nannie and GG.

Jack tries to climb in his Cars ride-on before Mema can get it out of the box.

He stares at the candle flame while we sing Happy Birthday.

Getting green with the Yoda cake.

Watch us sing "Happy Birthday!"

Weekend of Fun, Installment 2: Molly's Recital

On Saturday morning, Mommy, Daddy, Will, Jack, Nannie, GG, Grandad, Mema, and our friends, the Hairstons, came to watch Molly dance. She did a fantastic job! She was so cute and all of her ballerina friends looked adorable in their pink tutus. During rehearsals, she would spend a good amount of time playing with her skirt, smiling at mommy, and giggling with her friends, so we weren't sure how the recital would go. But, I think she knew she had lots of people coming to see her and she really tried hard to watch her teachers and dance the steps. We were very proud. When we were through, she received beautiful flowers from Grandad and Mema, and had juice and cookies with her class. Then, we all went out to lunch. It was a fun morning!

The ballerinas show off their tutus! (Molly is second from the right.)

Picture perfect ballerina.

Posing with her flowers.

Molly's dances...

Weekend of Fun, Installment 1: The Nutcracker

Well, I just watched Dave and Molly leave for their Nutcracker date and they made a beautiful pair. Even though I'm not going along, Molly and I had a great time preparing for it. I told her she was receiving the full spa treatment. She started with a bath at 4:30. Afterwards, she got a mani/pedi, complete with sparkling glitter nail and toe polish. Then, we did her hair. She was amazing at staying still for her extremely long encounter with the curling iron. After her hair was finished, we put on her stick-on "diamond" earrings and she borrowed a necklace from mommy. She also included her princess ring, of course. We finished up with a spritz of mommy's perfume and a little bit of lipstick. She thought it was very cool that she got to use some of mommy's things and she kept saying, "Daddy is going to be soooooo suprised!" And, indeed he was. When he opened the door, she ran to him and he told her how fancy her hair was and how beautiful she was. She was very proud to be daddy's date. The boys and I are staying in for an evening of pizza and Christmas movies. I still love the sound of that... "the boys." I love my two little men! I digress as usual! I took a thousand pictures of Dave and Molly and I could only narrow it down to these four. Here's my precious couple...

Big Weekend Coming Up

This weekend, we have so many things planned. On Friday, Dave will take Molly to The Nutcracker for her third annual Christmas Date with Daddy night. She loves to get dressed up in her prettiest Christmas dress and have her hair done every year to go see The Nutcracker with Daddy. Her Daddy is a very proud (and handsome!) date. On Saturday, she will have her very first recital, with a ballet dance to "Shine Your Light" and a jazz dance to some really cute song I can't remember the name of. Mommy got teary-eyed at the dress rehearsal, so I'm sure we'll all be crying through the real thing! Then, on Sunday, we will have Jack's first birthday party. I'm very excited to be celebrating this fun moment in my little guy's life. Somehow, the years always pass to fast and yet every new milestone is exciting. Next week should bring an update with lots of pictures and video of the dance, but here's a sneak peek...

Dress Rehearsal

He's getting so big!

Surprising Results

I've always thought my kiddos looked just like their daddy. I wasn't surprised that this Look-Alike Meter thought Molly was the closest resemblance to him, but I was very surprised that it thought Will looked more like me! I'm sure it's all highly scientific, you know!?

Home Movies

Well, we discovered that one our digital cameras has the capability to take video so here are a few of our latest captures...

First, we have our new little walker. Mommy thinks he's pretty cute. And, his big brother and sister are obviously very proud! He seems a little proud of himself too since you'll see him clap for himself at the end. He mostly enjoys walking between two people he loves, but he is getting more brave each day and starting to venture out for a few steps here and there between the furniture. Most of all, I adore the hugs I get after he's accomplished his little stroll!



And, then we have Molly, our interpretive dance student. She cracks me up. Here she is with the "Pokie Wokie Nightgown Dance." Every dance she does has a name and every name starts with "Pokie Wokie." She truly does keep me on my toes. Every day is a new day with her. One day this week, while I was trying to tell her something, she said to me, "Mom, you tell me that all the time... blah, blah, blah!" Isn't she supposed to be at least 13 before I get that kind of lip!? But, then the next day, I asked her to clean her room. She said, "Okay, Mom!" Then, while she was in there cleaning (and she did a great job), she was singing and the song went a little something like this... "I love my mommy. Cause she says nice things to me. And she's funny. I love everybody. Except bad people. I don't love bad people. But, I do love my mommy!" So, here's my little entertainer...