Christmas

Leaving Santa Cookies and Milk


Santa Came!!!

Silly Zoe! That Pack'n'Play is for your baby!

Future Drummer???

Peek a Boo!

Peek a Boo Mommy!

Love the Cozy Coupe!!! (and of course a HUGE pile of new clothes too!)

A New Bike

From now on...no riding without a helmet.

Zach got a scooter because he already has a bike.

Zoe and Ryder

Zach and Zoe looking at Grandma and Grandpa's tree.

Jadyn wanted her big brother's toys.

Ryder

Hugs!

Zoe read to Jadyn

Playing Peek a Boo on Grandma and Grandpa's stairs

Showing off her new Puma outfit

Love the smile!!! (I am working on fixing up the rest of the pic on photoshop, not the best background :) )

Zoe loves to color, so Jeff and Wendy got her a Color Wonder Studio that plays music at the speed she colors.

It was such a fun Christmas and we are so grateful that Zoe is a happy, healthy little toddler. First, Zoe had to put out cookies and milk for Santa and she was so into it this year. Then we got her to bed at a decent time, so that we could have a great Christmas day. When she woke up, we took her directly out to the living room. In the dark, Zoe saw her car and said, "Wow". We let her down and she went right to her car, took one look, and climbed right in. Let's just say all else did not matter for quite some time. She helped open all her other presents and she got a HUGE stocking full of goodies again. This kept us and definitely Zoe busy all morning. She was so excited and in such awwww. It was so fun to see all of her reactions. We spent Christmas at my aunt's house in the afternoon and went back to my parents' house for presents and dinner. It was really nice to let the kids hang out and interact with one another. I got the best present of all...a new camera! All of my pictures are super clear now...I am so excited about the opportunities I am going to have to capture such wonderful moments! Merry Christmas to all and we wish you a Happy New Year!

Christmas Preparation and Fun!

Funny Face

Playing with Snow

It snowed in our house!

Decorating a Gingerbread House

Finished Product (Good job Zoe!)

Decorationg the Tree with Daddy

Finished Product

We had so much fun preparing for Christmas this year and it was even better once we were off of work. Zoe and I decorated a gingerbread house and Daddy and Zoe decorated the tree. We had so many days of rain and cold weather, so we tried to stay indoors for the most part. While trying to entertain a toddler, we made snow in the house. It is a non-toxic polymer that expands when water is added. We loved it...Zoe had to take some time to explore it, then she was all smiles. I also baked! That is a pretty new concept for me around the holidays because we are usually so busy anyway, but the rain helped put me in the mood. The best part of the holiday time is being able to stay home with Zoe and just enjoy our time together. She is a SPONGE right now! Her vocabulary, if I had to make a guess, is over 100 words! It is amazing to see her learn and grow. She is still a little petite thing...she is just moving into 18-24 month clothing, but still wears a lot of 12-18 month clothing. Dancing is a favorite and she loves Team Umizoomi. It is teaching her number concepts...I am not a TV fan for her, but it is a pretty cute show and we limit her to once a day, if that. We have flash cards for her with pictures and words and she calls it her "homework". It is pretty neat to see what she picks up from our conversations. Next is the count down to her second birthday (3 1/2 months)...we can't believe that almost two years have gone by already!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

This year we decided to cut down a tree at Hagle Tree Farm. It was during our extremely hot weather for December, so it was very difficult to get in the spirit of Christmas. We went out there with 2 of our neighbors and we all cut down a tree for our houses. Zoe loved riding in the wheel barrel as we searched for a tree. Shaun found one that was to his liking and began cutting away. It was hard work and the heat wasn't on his side. It smelled so good and survived all the way to Christmas with no problem...there was even less mess! Santa was there, but Zoe wanted nothing to do with him. Stay tuned for the Santa story...

Disneyland with the Wismann Family

Uncle Greg and Zach on Astro Blasters

Zoe and Zach in Minnie's House

Grandpa and Grandma on Astro Blasters

Zoe thought...If I hide my eyes, Goofy won't see me, right???

Zoe and Zach driving a car in Toontown

Grandma thought it would be nice if the WHOLE family went to Disneyland for the holidays. Grandma and Grandpa treated Greg, Heather, Shaun and me to a season pass. Thanks! Now we can take the kids back a few more times in the next year. The kiddos are still free, so that makes it really nice. I will post a whole group shot, once I get it from my mom. It was very successful with 6 adults and the 4 kiddos, Zach, 2, Zoe, 20 months, and Ryder and Jadyn, 9 months. It was my nephews and niece's first time, so that made it extra special. Zoe still loves the Tiki Room and Zach was tall enough to go on his first roller coaster! As you can see from the pics, everyone really seemed to enjoy Astro Blasters. That is one of our favorite rides...Shaun and I try to go on it every time we are there. Zoe LOVES Goofy from afar, but when we got in line to say hello to Goofy, she said, "No Goofy, no Goofy". I thought we could at least give high fives, but that was a no go, she hid so no one, not even, Goofy could see her :)...it was pretty cute! All in all it was a very good trip and we can't wait to go back again.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well...Zoe's second Thanksgiving came and went. We can't really believe that she has already been around two Thanksgivings. There is so much to be thankful these days. Thank you to everyone that makes our lives special! Zoe ate turkey (which she called chicken), a whole lot of turkey and she LOVES sweet potatoes. That morning Shaun woke up early with her and taught her what a turkey says, so she went around the house saying, "Gobble, gobble, gobble". We are blown away at how observant she has become and she is putting 3 and sometimes 4 words together in a sentence. And her latest is drinking from a cup. She knows that she is only allowed to drink from a cup when she is sitting in her high chair, so she says, "Mommy, chair. Cup please (which comes out more like, pease)". Her phrase that she has picked up at the sitter's house is "I don't want to". I guess that's what older kiddos teach younger ones these days. Zoe tries it out at home and knows that it doesn't fly in our household! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and the count down is on 'til Santa comes! (I would have posted pics, but I didn't even get the camera out of the diaper bag that day...I should be excused this time because I wasn't feeling 100%)

Kids Say the Darndest Things...

Zoe has become such a talker!!! We actually look at one another so much lately and ask, "Did she really say that?" So, just about a week or two ago, I had just gotten dressed for the day and I walk out to greet Zoe and she said, "Cute top." Shaun was close enough to hear her and we couldn't believe what we heard. Unbelievable!!! Then just today, she found a paper bag in our room that is from the Loft and put it on her arm like a purse and started to walk out of the room. As she left the room she waved and said, "Bye, see ya." We can't believe how much she is talking and connecting multiple words for sentences now. How time flies!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

Zoe survived her second Halloween. We carved our pumpkins earlier in the day and Zoe loved giving hugs to the ghosts that Wendy and I made. This one was a little harder to get enthusiastic about because we were expecting the worst, hoping for the best. Zoe is pretty timid and very cautious in new situations these days, but she surprised us both. She is getting over another cold and is teething like CRAZY! ( The molars are NO fun!) All of that in combination seemed like it would make for a pretty miserable time. BUT Zoe had a blast! She took a couple of houses to warm up to the idea, but when she realized that she was getting something from every neighbor when she knocked on the door, it really made her want to go to more houses. It was so fun to see her face light up with surprise and her run from house to house. Once she got to the door she would knock and say, "knock, knock". We couldn't quite get the "trick or treat" words...(I should have practiced with her more, but oh well!) She was pretty scared of any costume with a mask, she would say, "scary, uppie", but overall did great. When she was finished, she took each piece of candy/crackers out of her bag and thought it was the greatest thing ever. After we put her down for the night, I got rid of all signs of candy in our house, so that she wouldn't ask for any. (It worked! Since Sunday, she has not asked for any candy.)