Parade, Pasta & Parents!

The husbands were hard at work rolling out sheets of homemade pasta!

We had a really busy weekend!  On Friday night we went to daddy's basketball game.  Then on Saturday we headed out to the Tri-Town Winter Carnival Parade.  It was really cold but the parade was short and both girls loved it.  Stella had fun picking up candy and Claire just sat and watched and took it all in!

I took over at the cutting station at the very end.

Later in the day we headed over to a pasta party with friends where we made homemade ravioli.  I only helped for a few minutes but Randy was part of the assembly line with many others - it took a lot of people to put everything together and in the end there were over 300 pieces!  It was delicious!  The kids weren't really all that interested in helping make the dinner but they had fun playing.

On Sunday we had a family shopping outing to get groceries and then went to grammie and pa's for dinner.  Stella and Claire got to stay home with both of their parents today since it's mid-winter recess for the public schools!  It was great to have an extra day to relax at home after such a busy weekend!

Hannah helped occupy the girls with a 'picnic'!

Mid Winter

Football Dinner on Super Bowl Sunday!

Sledding in the front yard - so much fun!

This is fun!

Brrr... I want to go inside...

We missed a blog post so we have some catching up to do!  We were lucky to spend time with family last weekend when the Hooley's visited from Ohio.  It was a short visit but the girls really enjoyed playing together and the sleepover at Grammie and Pa's was eventful to say the least.  All four girls were still up around midnight - it was crazy but fortunately we went right back to our usual routine the next day - thank goodness!  Superbowl Sunday was fun at our house - we dragged the picnic table into the living room and all watched the first quarter together.  I'm sure this will become an annual tradition at our house!  These past two weeks we've had some fun in the snow and even had our first tea party with real tea.  Claire wasn't quite ready - she loved the cookies though!  Stella loved the princess cups and pouring the tea.

Growing Pains

Claire has joined us at the table for meals since she is getting to be such a big girl!  Moving the high chair to the basement is a great milestone to be celebrating but is also a harsh reminder that she's truly not a baby anymore.

Stella has officially moved beyond the 'terrible 2's' to a stage that makes those days appear seamless!  She is defiant, bossy and mean to Claire, but can also be such a sweet little girl - willing to help and cooperate and being a great sister who encourages smiles and giggles.

Our little ladies keep our lives very full.  Stella is starting to outgrow her naps which is allowing time for things that are sometimes easier when Claire's napping - like making cookies or visiting the playground (both things Stella really enjoys).  Claire is trying to use words but is definitely figuring out how to communicate what she wants even without words.

Next weekend gymnastics will start up again for Stella and family will be visiting from Ohio - we are looking forward to it!

January 2013

I realized mid-week that we forgot to blog last week - sorry for the missed post everyone!  January has been quiet for us besides basketball so there hasn't been a lot to report.  The few games the girls have been to went fairly well - they both seem to have fun at the gym! 

Over the last two weeks Stella had her 3-year check-up and Claire her 15-month and both went great.  Claire had the usual round of vaccines for a child her age and she only cried for about 3 seconds - she's such a tough little girl!  Stella has graduated to the stand-up scale - she's getting to be such a big girl!

Both girls are growing and changing which comes with highs and lows.  Stella is now asserting herself more, which gets her time-out from now and then, and Claire is fearless in a different way than Stella ever was.  She certainly is getting more bumps and bruises!  Claire is learning more words and is imitating some animal sounds, and Stella is getting better and better at using the potty but we're not quite ready to move out of pull-ups permanently just yet.  At times we really do have our hands full - they sure do keep us busy!

Happy 3rd Birthday Stella!

We had a great weekend that included celebrating Stella's third birthday.  This year we had a small gathering with Grammie and Pa, Aunt Mary Jane, Cousin Logan, and Stella's little friend Gigi and her family.  Daddy took the big girls on a Dora Adventure to find the pile of presents - through a spider web, collecting banana's for boots, and finding Swiper hidden in the couch.  Stella had fun and loved the bouquet of balloons Grammie and Pa brought with them and the Dora cake she told her Aunt Mary Jane she wanted a few weeks back.  We continue to feel so very blessed for our happy little family and the loved ones we get to share our lives with.

With each passing year this day brings mixed emotions along with it.  A vigorous trip to Trey's spot on Friday morning was definitely a trek - through snow up to your knees.  Stella and Claire bring so much joy to our lives but are also a reminder of what we are missing out on having Trey no longer with us.  Right now we are most grateful that Stella is unaware (and Claire too) of the piece of our family that will always be missing.

Christmas 2012

We had a great Christmas this year and have tried to begin teaching Stella the spiritual side of this special holiday - celebrating the birth of Jesus and honoring his love for us.  When she asked if there would be balloons at church we knew she was catching on!

Our girls were blessed to have their grammie and pa with us on Christmas day and we had lots of fun together opening gifts.  Claire became a little overwhelmed despite our efforts to give the girls a somewhat modest Christmas; once you add up presents from everyone there ends up being a lot!  Among their most popular gifts are a Dora couch, arts and crafts, a Dora Gymnastics video, a Mickey Mouse hide and seek game, and baby dolls.  They really are enjoying all of the gifts that were given to them though!

We are really loving having extra family time together.  There's been so much snow mom even had an extra day at home because getting off South Street to go to work was simply not possible on Thursday until late morning!

This week we look forward to celebrating Stella's 3rd birthday.  We can hardly believe it's here already!

Canada and Gingerbread

As Christmas approaches way too fast, our girls got to experience even more "firsts".  The artistic skills of Stella came alive when her and her dad made a gingerbread house.  Although she managed to sneak a bunch of the candy as we built, she was able to save enough to make the house look presentable!

On Sunday, the girls made their first trip across a US border.  We traveled to Ottawa, Ontario to buy a present for Beth at one of our favorite stores, IKEA.  It was an absolutely wonderful trip.  The girls were well behaved.  We were able to shop, and play in the store as we walked around the giant place that IKEA is.  We then had a nice lunch, and made our way back home.

We would like to wish all of you a peaceful and rejuvenating holiday season.  May the season bring joy and hope to each and everyone of your families!

Family Portraits 2012

Family Photo Shoot, November 2012

As we gear up for a few really busy days to celebrate Christmas we welcomed a quiet weekend at home.  The girls had dinner with Niece on Saturday so we could have a night out with some friends but overall we had some quality time at home together with just the four of us.  When we finished putting up our Christmas decorations we stumbled across the Mickey Mouse lawn ornament gift from the Hooley's last year that we thought we misplaced.  Stella's been super excited about the festive addition he's made to South Street! 

Last month we spent an hour at Forevermore Studios in Massena getting family photos taken.  Despite how challenging our girls ages are for this type of activity we were blessed with some great shots to cherish and share!

Hello Santa!

This weekend the girls got to sit with Santa at the annual VFW Christmas party.  They were both excited and weren't shy at all.  Stella told Santa she wanted M&M's for Christmas, and Claire was just fascinated by the bow on the present he gave her!  The four of us were given the opportunity to light the second week of advent candles at church this week, and we also put up our Christmas tree too.  Stella's at a fun age for all of these traditions and lucky for us hasn't developed the gimmies yet!  Claire is just along for the ride, intrigued by all of the hustle and bustle but sure to not miss out on anything!    

Party Time

This month we have a series of parties and family gatherings scheduled so we expect it to be a fun one!  The celebrations began yesterday with a joint birthday party for the girls cousins Brody and Maggie in Plattsburgh at the Imaginarium Children's Museum.  This was a really fun place for a party and it was great to see some folks we don't have the opportunity to be around all that often.  We're so glad we made the trip!

Playing in the Crawling Corner at the Museum!

And Going Fishing Too!

Relaxing at home...

Thanksgiving Break 2012

We enjoyed four days together in celebration of the Thanksgiving Holiday and we took advantage of having some extra time at home and just relaxed.  It was great!  In the spirit of Thanksgiving we tried to teach Stella about the meaning of this holiday and when we asked her what she was thankful for she said 'Aunt Mary Jane'.  Not only was this so very adorable but very fitting since Mary Jane hosted us for our Thanksgiving meal!  In addition to enjoying a delicious Thanksgiving dinner at Aunt Mary Jane's with Grammie & Pa, we were very fortunate to have some special time with family friends over the break too - we visited with the Mill's, and shared a meal with the Reome/Brown's.  While we thought about putting up our Christmas tree since we had some extra time we decided against it because we fully expect Claire will be trying to climb in daily.  We'll just wait another week or two but we sure wish we could have a four-day weekend more often! 

Purple for Preemies!

Posing for a picture after Stella's final gymnastics
class of the year.

November 17 is World Prematurity Day so we all sported purple in honor of this important event to focus attention and raise awareness on the global problem of premature birth.  We have literally experienced both the best and worst outcomes resulting from babies being born too soon.  In the United States, 1 in 8 babies are delivered too early.  Visit www.marchofdimes.com to learn more.  We miss you Trey ♥

Mommy's Trip

This week the girls had some special time with their daddy while I was away at a conference for 3 days.  This was the first time I spent time away from everyone in my little family all at once.  Stella and I started talking about my trip last weekend and made a calendar for the week so she could keep track of when I was leaving and when I'd be back.  We all did great and surprisingly there were no tears (not even from me!).  This weekend we were busy with lots of fun stuff - Kristen's baby shower, Miss Katy's birthday celebration, and time with Grammie and Aunt Mary Jane.  We've been so busy so we are feeling very luck to have another day at home together tomorrow!

Precious Moments

This week the girls had fun dressing up for Halloween and Stella enjoyed trick-or-treating with her daddy.  Grammie and Pa came over to hand out candy with us and that was fun.  We had special visitors this year too which was a welcomed surprise!  When we spent time in Burlington we met a family from Brasher who also had a son experiencing respiratory distress.  Christopher had a room right next to Trey and his mom Sandy was famous for cooking and baking special treats in the Ronald McDonald Family room at the hospital and we were lucky enough to benefit from her kitchen talents often!  Sandy and her older son Xavier stopped by to trick-or-treat and shared wonderful news that Christopher will finally be able to come home this month!  Nearly his entire little life has been spent in care facilities so this is such big news.  We are so hopeful for Sandy and her family that Christopher's homecoming will be everything they've waited for and dreamed it would be!

As Stella and Claire continue to grow and thrive we are captivated by special moments: the two of them chasing each other around and giggling, Claire's warm snuggles when she's sleepy, Stella's new discovery of the words and meaning of 'I love you', Claire's hilarious yet deviant behavior - such as stealing Stella's cup and running away with it - on purpose!, and Stella singing along at church.  We keep reminding ourselves to salvage these moments - we know they will pass too quickly.

This morning when we arrived at Church and I asked Stella to
take her jacket off she made herself at home and took her shoes off too!

Halloween 2012

This year Halloween has been fun because Stella is starting to understand what the holiday involves and also because we've been to not one but two Halloween parties!  This week will be fun trick-or-treating on our street and handing out candy with Grammie and Pa which has sort of become a Halloween tradition!

Party & A Special Walk

This weekend the girls celebrated with their cousin Laila at her first birthday party.  They always have fun playing with their cousins who are close in age!  We also participated in a special walk with Aunt Mary Jane and Logan - the CROP Hunger Walk.  This initiative not only supports individuals in need around the world, but also here in our community as well.   Our girls are too young to really understand the importance of this philanthropic activity but over the years we hope to expose them to lots of things until they find their passions in life!  Thank you to all of the families who sponsored us on our walk this year: The Hooley's, McNamara's, Brown/Reome's, and Grammie & Pa!

Claire had her one-year check-up this week and is doing great!  She weighed in at 20 lbs, 9 oz, and is 29.5 inches long!  Her growth is definitely different than Stella's was but both girls are so very different this is really no surprise to us!

Stella decorating a cookie @ the birthday party.  I used the words 'paint with your finger'
when we were doing the project and then the next day I asked her if she was going
to eat her cookie and she said 'no Mom, there's paint on it!'. 
She reluctantly took a bite after I told her it was frosting.

Claire slept through most of the CROP Walk but woke up at
the end just in time to share a snack with all of the walkers!

Happy Birthday Claire!

To echo Sue's comment from last week, it doesn't seem possible that Claire's already a year old!  We had a fun birthday celebration on Saturday and then relaxed a bit on this rainy, lazy Sunday.  We're all tired out from starting our week out by visiting Rochester to trade our Mountaineer for a Van (through Enterprise Car Sales) paired with all of the excitement from the birthday party.  It was a great week - we are very blessed for all that we have!

It wasn't warm enough to be outdoors so we brought the ball pit in

!

 The big kids making Jungle frames!

 Claire really enjoyed the cake Aunt Mary Jane made for her.  She dug in and when she was done she didn't hesitant to dig her hands in and start playing!  She literally ended up having a quick bath when she was finished!

Sleepover Fun!

Esme loving the swing!

Caleb pitching in once Stella couldn't
walk any further.  He carried BOTH Esme
and Claire to the top!

Auntie Caroline, Caleb, and Esme visited this weekend from Vermont and we had lots of fun!   All the girls enjoyed playtime together and despite being very young for a sleepover all three went to bed like a charm, probably from having such a busy afternoon!

On Sunday mommy and the girls joined them for a hike up Azure Mountain.  It was so wonderful to be out in the crisp fall weather enjoying the fresh air and beautiful surroundings.  Although Stella and I didn't quite make it to the top (we were so very close but just couldn't keep going) Claire-Bear did with Caleb's help, and Caroline and Esme were lucky enough to enjoy the view from the top as well.  We figured with the age of our group 4 out of 6 wasn't bad!  Stella's 15-minute rest about 80% to the top was just what she needed - she walked with Auntie Caroline just about the entire way down!  On the way she stopped to tell her 'this is a BIG walk!'.  She was so tired out she fell asleep before we even pulled off the Blue-Mountain Road!  We all had a terrific time and will definitely take on this adventure again!

We are so very fortunate to still have special friends from Burlington in our lives.  Trey truly still is with us in spirit and weekends like this remind us of how much he has enriched our lives despite not being here in person.


We have another fun-filled weekend ahead of us because Claire-Bear turns 1 this coming Friday!  It's hard to believe another year of our lives has flown by but we are excited about her growth and the energy she adds to our family!

Fall Fever

At one point or another over the past two weeks everyone at our house has felt a little under the weather.  Despite needing some extra R&R we've managed to have a little bit of fun by visiting the playground, making cupcakes, having dinner with grammie & pa, a reveal party (we learned our good friends are having a boy which will be so much fun!), and of course Stella's weekly gymnastics class!  As Claire's first birthday approaches we are trying to move away from bottles which she's strongly resisting at bedtime, so we are getting close to moving past this baby stage but we're not quite there yet! 

Catching Up

We've been without our usual computer so we're a little behind on blog updates.  Here's some news since our last entry:

Some of the Gilson Crew!

We spent a fun day with some of the Gilson family at a party last weekend.  There was a bounce house there and our girls just loved it!  It was nice seeing so many family members who we really don't catch up with often enough.

The girls are back into their school-year routine and have adjusted nicely.  They are both doing great and are growing up so fast!  Claire-bear is getting more teeth and is learning how to assert herself.  Stella is actually able to carry on a conversation with us and recall events from her day which is always exciting to hear!

This past weekend Stella started taking Gymnastics again and she had so much fun.  We were amazed at all she remembered from last April.  She did such a great job waiting her turn and trying all the different events.  We also tried to pick apples with Aunt MaryJane this weekend but were disappointed to learn that the season has ended early this year.

@ Brookdale Orchard with Aunt Mary Jane

Uncle Ryan and Courtney's baby arrived this past weekend.  Rylin Kay was born on Friday evening and although she came a few weeks early she weighed in at 5lbs. 3 oz. and is doing well!  Since we are all coming down with colds we haven't been able to visit yet but are looking forward to meeting her soon!

2012 Pig Roast

We had a busy but fun weekend with family which was a nice way to officially end our summer!  Stella really enjoyed spending time with her cousins and was very entertaining on the dance floor!  We wish we had captured more moments on camera but this time we'll have to just hold on tight to these special memories when the little ones rarely get embarrassed and cherish such small things like an Elmo pinata and a roll of smarties!

Randy has ordered a really nice monument to honor his mom so as we head into another season this will give us something to look forward to as we wait for its placement.

Summer 2012 Pics

As we gear up for another school year we look back on another summer which passed us by too quickly.  Since we've skipped the photos lately we are sharing some here.

The girls love the playground down the street
and Claire's favorite is the swing!

Taking a break from some shopping in Erie
on the way to Aunt Melissa & Uncle Dan's

Getting a few groceries with Dana

The carousel at the Columbus Zoo - Stella LOVED it!

Zooming around on the new 4-wheeler!

This weekend we'll enjoy company of family and friends at the Goolden's 10th Annual pig roast.  It should be a fun day so if you are local and don't have any plans stop by mom and dad's!