Thank You!

We want you to know that we are thankful for you, our family and friends.

We would have liked to send each of you real ones, but after the sixth turkey Eliza was ready to throw in the glue stick :) Happy Thanksgiving! Love you!

Ahhh to Zzzz

Just a glimpse at what they are doing:

How does she sing with all that noise?

Eliza, quizzing Ramona.

Finding the melody.

This game began when the girls were VERY excited to have the lunch that Mommy was making (too slowly).

She is absorbed with, captivated by, hooked on, preoccupied with, and really into PINK. Eliza was browsing through a catalog when a play kitchen caught her eye. She informed us that she needed a pink kitchen because it matches her ballerina dress. So we made a refrigerator and a stovetop/oven from a couple boxes, some pink construction paper, and the better part of a roll of packing tape. When she wasn't giggling and squealing with delight, she was pointing out the necessary features of her new appliances: a knob for controlling the stove and oven temperatures, an oven door and shelves and bins for her refrigerator. All pink, of course.

Pinky (as Grandpa calls her), with her refrigerator.

The next day she worked feverishly in her kitchen and was very careful to warn Ramona about the heat of the oven. She didn't waste any time putting in her order for a pink toaster, a pink telephone, and a pink bed. We'll be back with part two of the story...

Lately Mona has been... soo Mona. Yes. Makes me want to squeeze her too.
{Papers and elements from The Night Before by MK Designs and Winter Wonderfull by Cinnamon Designs. Template by Emily Powers.}

Moments Like These

Time for a new header and way past time for a new post! I've taken a different approach with the header. I always feel the need to update the look to the next season before I post. Maybe this will help me be better about blogging - we can hope! :)

{Credits: Metamorphosis by Emily Powers and Kathryn Wilson at www.wearestorytellers.com}

Today we watched videos we had taken the past couple of years and hadn't been able to view because we needed to convert the file type. [Thanks to Tom and some new software, we have included our first video in the post below. :)] We had so many laughs over the things we had all but completely forgotten... how Mona sounded as she sang and growled just months ago... the joy in Eliza's "whee" as she slid down the slide... I ran across video clips of Eliza when she was Mona's age and found I could barely remember what it was like when she was so little - only 2 years ago! I felt a tug on my heart as I thought about how the moments fade into years and the time has flown before I know it. I'm sure you know how that feels. As I created this header I found this word art. It seemed just right.

Here's a cute memory from this week:

After breakfast Eliza was wandering around and Mommy asked her if she is finished with her plate. Eliza answered yes and took it into the kitchen. Ramona was still eating and said, "Na na!!" She pointed at Eliza's napkin on the table and said again, "NA NA!!" I told Eliza that Ramona wanted her to throw away her napkin. Eliza said, "Oh, sorry!" She picked it up to throw it away and Ramona said, "Thanks!"

We've been busy the past couple of months. Tom finished two of his classes in the first two months of the semester. I have begun to dabble in designing digital scrapbook kits. Eliza has been going to ballet and preschool. Ramona has been trying some new foods! We discovered "The Whole Foods Cookbook," for families with allergies. Mona has tried many of her "firsts" this past week. It was so fun to see her eat bread! I enjoyed serving everyone the same meal. Now if I could just get everyone to eat it. :)

New Dresses

Eliza and Ramona received some new dresses from Grandma A. Eliza's favorite was the pink one, and they were both so excited they started dancing with them. Ramona dances while holding the dress with her chin. Thanks, Grandma!!

Two Birthdays

Eliza turned three in April, and Ramona one in May.

For her third birthday, Eliza began the day with pancakes, syrup and strawberries. She was eager to ride her bike, wear her princess dress, and of course, eat cake! Eliza first wore her princess dress. She rode her bike on the balcony - pedaling will come soon... Tom took the girls to the park while Jen finished the cake. Grandma and Grandpa called that afternoon. Eliza had ravioli with Alfredo sauce for dinner. Jen helped her eat each bite at the end so she could eat dessert... her birthday cake! We made the chocolate buttermilk cake. She loved the frosting the most! A busy and happy birthday!

When Eliza sees this page she says "That one's my favorite! Those bugs are getting my birthday!!" The first time she saw the page she said "I want to go to that one! Mom, can you get me that chair? I want to sit on that chair!!"

She looks so grown up... time marches on.

Finding her wings. Within a week of turning eleven months, Ramona began taking steps. She had been walking along the furniture and walls. On April 14th, she put her hands up and stepped - and her face was full of joy. I think she felt free... Tom tried to get her to walk that evening. She took a few steps and cried out with glee - walking was SO fun! She laughed and shook her head, we think it was because she was amazed, and thrilled, to be walking. A day or two later, Eliza took Ramona by the hands and the two of them walked. Ramona giggled and squealed and Eliza laughed and praised her. Almost two weeks later Ramona was trying to walk all the time. Eliza was always yelling out that "Ramona is walking!" and cheering her on. Jen heard someone yell, "YAY!" and looked over to see Ramona walking. Ramona had said, "YAY!" because she was walking - free as a bird.

It's remarkable to me that Ramona is already one. We tried to have portraits taken. One of Eliza's did turn out perfect. None of Ramona's did. She had a hard time being any distance from Mom and Dad at the portrait studio. At one point we had Ramona laughing and smiling. We asked the photographer to hurry and take the photo, but she was standing there trying to decide which photo of them frowning she should delete from the camera so she would have room for more... We took this photo of Ramona at the National Arboretum a couple weeks later.

Tom and I are so thankful for these two!

Welcome Spring!

Here we are for our monthly update... as the trend currently stands. We also have a new blog look, to replace our Christmas header, and just for spring in D.C.! We are so excited for spring! Earlier this month Jen went into the living/dining room of our apartment one morning and flipped on the light. Eliza said, "Thank you Mommy, for turning on the orange light." She was very sincere in her appreciation, but Jen thought, "She's right! We're ready for spring!"

As you can tell from our header, we visited the cherry blossoms, which were beautiful! It was pretty windy; Ramona was grinding her teeth because she was so cold. Eliza didn't want to look at the camera, she would rather huddle up next to Tom for warmth. We only stayed about a half hour, but we're glad we took at least this peek after seeing them when they were mostly gone last year.

This year spring brought a nice surprise... our first spring break ever! Tom is in school full-time this year and free of school and work during spring break. March 5th we went up to Gettysburg, PA. We were four of the handful of tourists exploring there that day. At the visitor's center we purchased a CD and book guide that we enjoyed very much. It brought to life these events that had passed and we are thankful to have had this experience. It was cold and windy the day were were there, but we did jump out of our car a few times for a better look and some photos. This is the battlefield:

Here's the view of the battlefield from the other side, on Little Round Top.

After we completed the tour we decided to eat a a little place we saw near the cemetery and visitor's center, Tommy's Pizza. With a name like that, it must be good. The pizza was yummy.

That weekend, Jen's cousin Jodi came to D.C. with her family. Ryan had a work conference here and they had a week to spend sight-seeing here again after living here for a year and moving to Alabama last year (we've missed you)!! We had fun seeing how Joshua and Marin have grown and loved meeting sweet baby Jared! We went to the National Zoo with them one day, here they are in the fantastic panda habitat. Jen thinks these walls are too cool.

Eliza had a ball with Joshua and Marin! Here are a few photos of the kids.

That same week we had a couple days with Carlos, Tom's brother-in-law! He had spring break and some business here in D.C., and nieces to see! :) We had fun catching up with him and enjoying his company. He took some time and gave us a fabulous violin lesson too!

We have some Easter pages, but we'll have to do that later.
Thanks for the visit!! HUGS!

Happy Valentines Day!

So a little love, even late, never hurt - Happy Valentines Day!! We love you bunches!

This was actually Mona's 9th month - she's 9 months! I did a page summarizing the major things that happened this month. Basically, she has been talking, singing, standing (and falling), she has long hair, and eight teeth!

Ramona hasn't wasted any time putting standing to use - she has made her way into the cupboards, is finding a better view, and is reaching the things Eliza can reach.

Eliza loves being independent and one of her new favorite ways to do this is by dressing herself. A little while ago she squeezed into her sister's dress, yes a two-year-old in a 6-12 month dress! The day I took these photos she put her shirt on (sticking out the back) and did the buttons. She zipped her dress up (backward), and put her shoes on (the wrong feet). Then she came to me and said, "Mommy, Eziza did a wonderful, good job!" She did, and we had to get photos of it.

By the way, Eliza loves to wear dresses. She says she wants to get dressed and she means it. To dress, is to put a dress on.

Milk, Wheat, & Nuts!

A couple weeks before Christmas we finally made it into the lab to get blood work done for Mona. We found out that she's allergic to milk, wheat, cashews, almonds, and hazelnuts. The allergy scale is 1-6, and she is a 4 for milk and wheat. She's at a 2 for nuts. We're working toward eliminating these foods from Jen's diet. It's proving difficult, but it's worth a try!

Mona loves food. She would love to be eating more table food, as Eliza was at this age, but Mommy is being cautious. She is allowed one table food: Rice Krispies. Here she is, enjoying them.




Ramona has always been very active, a go-getter! She is eight months old and quite comfortable with crawling.



The past couple of weeks she has been really exploring instead of just going around eating everything she could find. She loves "Sojiki," our iRobot vacuum. We hear Eliza yelling "uh oh" and then Mona squealing as the vacuum backs out of the charging dock. Mona is also very interested in the kitchen and the cupboard in particular. She's pulling chips and hot chocolate out, already!

Mona is also very interested in standing. She's always pulling herself up to the couch, to the toy baskets, and to our chairs at the dining room table. If she's not eating her Rice Krispies when we're at the table, she's down under Eliza, tickling feet.

We are really enjoying all Mona has to say! The past couple of weeks she has been so eager to say "Hiiiiiiii!" and wave to everyone! She used to only say it to Daddy ("Hi da, I love you"). A few days ago Eliza said "Hi, Mona!" and Mona said, "Hi da da!"

She also loves to say "I do," "ssss...ttt... (strawberry)," "guh, guh (good girl)," and "ba, ba." We heard "ma, ma" repeated the other day when she was calling to us from her crib.

We can't believe how grown up she is!!!

Christmas In D.C.

The past two years we've gone to Utah and Arizona for Christmas and haven't made it to the Christmas sights here.

We enjoyed seeing the Christmas lights and Nativities at the D.C. Temple and going to the special displays at the Botanic Gardens.

A couple of the Nativities:

Tom and Eliza at the Botanic Gardens:

The trains!!

Here are some photos of Eliza inside the gardens:

The Botanic Gardens have a mini version of the mall made from mostly plants! I'll show you a few, in case you've yet to see them. Here's the Jefferson Memorial, made from a GOURD! Jefferson has moss hair!

Here are the girls, in front of the Smithsonian Castle... CHOCOLATE, YUM!!

Tom and Eliza in front of the Supreme Court.

I did manage to scrap one of all of us in front of the Capitol!

On the way out, Daddy was holding both girls. This is too cute!

On December 26th, we visited the Air and Space Museum in Dulles. It was very cool, as D.J. said! Here are Tom and Eliza in front of Daddy's cool, sleek, favorite!

Ramona and Mommy, in front of Jen's vintage favorite. It looks like a cartoon plane!

We also saw the Enola Gay and the Concord. After seeing the planes we went to the IMAX theater and saw a fighter pilot show. We thought it was fantastic!

So we had a few memorable adventures around D.C., had fun with ward members who also stayed here, did some reading, organizing, and relaxing!

December Details

While Tom was studying for finals, we did get a bit of snow!! Since he was home studying we bundled up, made Daddy take a break, and enjoyed it together. This was Ramona's first snow!

Here she is, enjoying it with Daddy!

Eliza really enjoyed walking around in it... she loved the crunch beneath her feet.

Ramona hit another milestone in December - crawling! She was army crawling around for most of the month, then on Christmas day she crawled on her hands and knees into the kitchen!

That's it! She's mobile at 7.5 months!! :)

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year!!!

Is it still better, when it's this late, than never? I guess I'll take the risk! :) We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year! Here's our card this year:

This is Ramona in her Christmas dress:

We took Ramona and Eliza to the mall to meet Santa (thanks Shane, for all your research!). Eliza wouldn't stay near him long enough for Mom to snap a photo. We did get a few with Ramona, which I believe, she'll treasure. I love the "who is this" look on her face, and the photo where they're looking each other in the eyes.

We stayed in Virginia this year! Although we enjoyed being here, we missed being with friends and family (our first time). I made this page for all you that we were away from this year.

Eliza loves the movie, "The Polar Express," (aka the Train Show). We thought she would like to meet Santa, but as I said, kept her distance from him. She did get close enough for him to give her a sheet of stickers. When she talks about Santa, she says, "Eliza no sit on Santa lap. Mona sit on Santa lap." When anyone asks her what Santa gave her for Christmas, she says "Daddy gave Eliza stroller. Santa give Eliza stickers." I still have to do a page explaining all of this. Here are two pages I did before I realized how Eliza actually understood Santa. :)

I Believe

'Twas The Night

Here's Eliza decorating the tree!




I'll post an update on more recent topics now...