Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Merry Christmas to ME!!!

I must have been a very good girl this year, because I was completely spoiled this Christmas!

Check out my new electronics!!!! (FYI... It will take me all of 2009 to read the instruction manuals for these!)









































I'll post more about the kids and their fun, new toys (after I figure out how to download the pictures from my new camera!!!)

On a side note, this is my 100th post! I have really enjoyed blogging, so thanks to all of you who have enjoyed reading and keeping up with what's happening in our lives!! With my new gear, hopefully the blog will only get better in 2009!

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas

Wishing you JOY this holiday season Matt, Kiki, Ben and Ella

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

All Aboard!

This past Saturday we hopped aboard The Polar Express and took a trip to The North Pole!

Some of the highlights of our trip included (in no particular order, although I think #1 is the funniest!):


1) The 12 Days of Christmas


2) Ben meeting Mrs. Claus for the first time (oh, how he looked at her with such adoration!)


















3) Ben and McKenna fighting over Rudolf















4) Seeing Santa! And getting a bell from his sleigh!






















5) Ben having diarrhea 3 times in approximately 5 minutes (no picture necessary)

6) McKenna breaking her finger (this is not really a highlight, but something to be mentioned nonetheless)



















7) The Pajama Parade



















8) Waving to the elves in the North Pole


9) Mommy getting pretend hot chocolate poured on her by Elf Larry



















10) Being together!










Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Surprise!

Two days after Erin's actual birthday, we went up to Canton to surprise her. Josh made reservations at Crave. My mom, dad, Matt and I headed up early and had a drink. Erin and Josh came later. Erin was totally surprised that Matt and I were in town. We had a great dinner.... good food, good wine.



































I had to include this picture in the post. It was taken earlier in the day when we arrived in Canton. Ella had fallen down (Ben probably pushed her) and she could only be comforted by her Papa.



Matt loves Caroline

And "Caroline" is one of the reasons I love Matt so much! See for yourself!


Matt wasn't the only entertainer at the Symposiarch's Christmas Party. Coleen, Stephanie, Beth and I put on quite a show too! (Trust me. You are GLAD that there is no video to go along with our singing!)


As you can see, we had a GREAT time! The boys may tell you that we had TOO much fun!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

My big sister's birthday!

Happy 33rd Birthday, Gorilla!

Sorry we weren't there to celebrate the big day with you, but we'll see you next weekend!
Lots of love!














(wondering about the name "gorilla"? I call her gorilla, she calls me gorilla. it's been so long I don't even remember why we started calling each other that)

Friday, December 5, 2008

Kiss me silly

When I was little I used to ask my dad to "kiss me silly". Now that I have my own kids, I just can't get enough of them! I kiss them silly all day long!!!

Princess Mommy

Ben has started calling me Princess Mommy. He used to call me Captain Mommy but has just recently changed to Princess Mommy.

He really has me wrapped around his finger. It is nearly impossible to tell him No when he starts a sentence with "Princess Mommy, can I......?"

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Ella's favorite things

1) Her zazzy (although she really loves Ben's blue zazzys more than her pink ones!)













2) Her blanket (the creators of Swaddle Designs blankets are brilliant! We have 4 of the exact same blanket!)

















3) SHOES! (my shoes, Matt's shoes, her own shoes, Ben's shoes, ANY SHOES!)













4) Her Daddy





























Update on Ella:
She had her 15 month check-up on Monday. Here are her stats:


  • Weight: 19 lbs 14.5 oz.(15th percentile)This is a gain of a whopping 4 oz from 3 months ago!
  • Height: 29.5 inches (25th percentile)

And, as you can see from the pictures, no haircut yet!

Monday, December 1, 2008

Black Friday

Let me set the scene for you....

Friday, November 28, 2008
5:30am
My mom, dad and I leave my house to head to Polaris for shopping
(Matt was on kid patrol, thankfully!)

Friday, November 28, 2008
3:30pm
My mom, dad and I return from shopping

10 hours of shopping!

And, boy, did we do some damage! My dad had to walk back to the car 4 times to put bags in the car! This is what the car looked like when we arrived home.














My mom is actually sitting in there! Can you spot her??














Ella received an early Christmas gift from her Gigi and Papa. A new bookcase! It fits so perfectly in her room! Thanks, Gigi and Papa!

To Mer

Today I received this letter - a poem, actually - in the mail from my dear friend (and one of my 12 college roommates!) Meredith.

















Mer got engaged to Jeremy on July 25 of this year and is busily planning her wedding for August 28, 2009 in Chicago. No doubts that it will be a FANTASTIC wedding!

The letter was sent to Mer's sister, Cara, and her friends Hallie, Nicki, Nicole, Robyn and myself. I won't re-type the whole thing here, but I want to share some pieces with you..

I find myself thinking about the dress, the invites and all the flowers,
"The" moment, the new family and even all the showers.

Wedding planners alike refer to this part as "assembling your team".
To me, this is the best part of the ongoing dream.

.......

To Kiki, my strong friend and mother of two
It seems like yesterday when you said "I do".

Your life is like a fairytale with Matt, Ella and Ben,
Your strength is a gift - you are really our mother hen!

I'll never forget our meeting freshman year.
Our laughs and inside jokes I will forever hold dear

.......

And so our journey begins after this ridiculous rhyme.
I have no doubt, through it all, we will have a remarkable time.

My promise to you is to never to stress.
You can be who you want and, more importantly, I hope you like the dress!

I look forward to adding to our list of memories that will never fade.
Each of you complete my world: my friend, my sister, my loves, my bridesmaids.

Did I happen to mention earlier how creative she is??? She is so great! I just love her so much!

So, to Mer, I want you to know that it would be MY HONOR to be your bridesmaid with these 5 other amazing ladies and share in this special day with you and Jeremy. I love you (and Jer!) and can wait for all the festivities to start!













(In this photo: my mom, me {with Ben in my tummy!}, Mer's mom, Mer, Hallie, Hallie mom @ Hallie's wedding)

 
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