Christmas 2009

We had a really nice, relaxing Christmas this year. We did not go overboard with presents, we stayed in MD (although we missed all of our cousins and in laws :( ), and Omi, PopPop, and Aunt Joc spent the holiday with us.

We opened our Christmas PJ's on Christmas Eve. We made cookies for Santa. Morgan made sure that not only Santa was fed but the reindeer, as well. She put carrots and reindeer feed outside for them :) Morgan was up until midnight! She checked on Norad.com to see where Santa was before going to bed and saw that he already came through MD. She was devastated. We assured her that if kids are still awake, he always comes back. She went to sleep right away, hoping for Santa to return. Bella was in bed by 9ish. We were having too much fun for a 7pm bedtime for Ms. Bella.

On Christmas morning, Bella was awake at 4am....come on, she is far too young to understand that you need to get up early on Christmas Morning...hehe. Morgan woke by 8am and came running into our room saying, "Santa came, Santa came...he brought the Julie doll!" She was so excited. Santa brought Morgan the American Girl Doll, Julie. The girls woke Omi and PopPop and we began opening presents. A very relaxing morning...relaxing day. We all stayed in our pj's ALL DAY!!!

Bella would have been happy with one present, as she played with her fork and spoon stocking stuffer all morning. She wasn't too into opening presents. But she had a lot of fun.

Here are some pics...great pics taken by sister, Jocelyn (check out her website www.eieiphotos.com )

Last Night of Hanukkah and Blizzard 2009!

Last night was the last night of Hanukkah. Morgan lit the candles and said the blessings so beautifully. Now it is time for Christmas. Since we are snowed in by the Blizzard of 2009, we are going to decorate the tree today. Pictures to be posted later.

So far, we have over 12 inches of snow....probably more like 18 inches and we have several hours more of snow to come. We are expecting a total of 24 inches!!!!!! Woooo! We havent ventured out yet.....with everyone getting over being sick, we may wait until tomorrow when the winds die down and it stops snowing. Should be fun to see Bella sink in and Morgan build a big fort!

Til next time....

Now we are all sick

I got sick from Bella, I think. I have strep. Greg woke up feeling bad. He went to the dr. but his rapid strep test came back negative. Morgan's school called today saying she was complaining of a sore throat and a head ache and had a low grade temp. She had a negative strep test but has a double ear infection. Her temp went up to 103! We are all on antibiotics.....UGH!

Sick baby :(

Bella started showing signs of illness on Thursday night. She had a low grade temp and then threw up. How a little body can throw up that much, I have no idea. She was miserable. On top of being sick, she has 4 molars coming in. Poor Baby :( Over the weekend, she was miserable, miserable, and miserable. Not sleeping well. Not eating well. A nose draining green like CRAZY. I felt like I was chasing her with a tissue every 2 minutes! Then yesterday she woke up with real puffy eyes. I assumed a sinus infection. Took her the pedi and sure enough, he diagnosed her with a sinus infection and gave her some antibiotics. Poor thing has such a bad sinus infection that she is draining from her eyes :( Hoping she gets better soon. She has given it to me and Greg. Hopefully, we can keep Morgan from getting it....let's hope.

Until next time.
Char

Great Santa Picture

Morgan went to the Olney Swim center to meet with Santa while scuba diving...how cool is this??? It was to benefit the Manna Food Bank.

HAPPY HANUKKAH 2009!

Last night was the first night of Hanukkah. We lit the candles, said the blessings, opened presents, and played dreydel. Here are some pictures.....

Morgan's Winter Orchestra Concert

Morgan's Winter Concert was last night. It had to be the most impressive 6th and 7th grade Orchestra Concert. It sounded beautiful. while you cant see Morgan in the video, listen to her and her classmates play.....so pretty

Fall and Thanksgiving

It has been a wonderful fall season. The weather has been great! There have been many outside playtimes, especially in the leaves. Bella and Morgan love the leaves. Morgan loves to rake them into a pile for Bella to play in. Too cute! Bella loves this mild fall weather. Everyday, when we come home, Bella wants to play outside for a bit. She loves walking around the yard, playing in the leaves, and playing with the rocks. Morgan loves just hanging outside :)

Thanksgiving was very different for us this year. This was the first time in 10 years that we did not travel to NJ or PA for Thanksgiving. Instead, we stayed home. Greg's family joined us for a Thanksgiving Feast. The girls had a blast with all of their cousins.

Bella continues to amaze us with her language. She knows so much and has so many words in her vocabulary. She looks through her vocabulary books and names things like "jack," "eagle," "refrigerator," and "yo-yo" to name just a few. She blows our minds. He is our little terror, though. She is into EVERYTHING! She climbs on EVERYTHING! She touches things she is knows she is not supposed to while saying "no no." She takes things she isnt supposed to and runs with them and hides in the corner. She is NOTHING like Morgan was :) But we love her to bits! Oh, she has 4 molars coming in at the same time!

Morgan is doing great, too! She made honor roll her first quarter of school. We are so proud of her. She continues with her violin and has her first middle school orchestra concert this Friday. Look for a video soon :) She is taking a break from swimming until after the first of the year due to an injury. She was diagnosed with Severs Disease which is a disease that will pass but is quite painful for her right now. It is an injury to the growth plate in her heel, causing pulling on her achilis tendon. She continues with karate, in moderation. Oh, while Bella has teeth coming in, Morgan is losing teeth...2 in the past week!

Happy Halloween!!!!

A rainy night for Trick or Treating but we made the best of it. Morgan dressed up as a pirate (so cute...she put it together herself...mostly :) ) and Bella was a ladybug...too cute for words. Bella lasted about 4 houses then was done....screaming and crying to go home. Morgan lasted, well, til her pillow case was 1/4 full! Here are some pics from last night and from the other day :)

Oh Boy...are our hands full!!!!!!!!

Bella, Bella, Bella......you sure do keep us all on our toes! You are busy little girl, into everything!

Let's see all of the silly antics you get into:

you like to strip your clothes off when you come home, even removing the diaper!

you do things you know you arent supposed to do...and look at me and smile while doing them.

when you are doing something you aren't supposed to be, you look at us and say "hi" in such a sweet voice with a little bitty smile.

you dump EVERYTHING!

you think everything is a hat. you put everything on your head.

you are a climber. you climb the couch, stairs....pretty much anything that can be climbed.

Cute things you do:

you still suck your bottom lip and rub your lovely when you are tired.

you get your lovey and blanket from your crib at daycare when you are tired and say "ny-ny"

You hide behind your stage toy from us when we try to get you to come here.

you dance so cute, swaying from side to side

you still love baby signing time DVDs.

Bella, Bella, Bella.....you sure do keep us busy. We love you so much and are loving watching you grow :)

MORGAN
Morgan is doing well in middle school. So glad the transition when smoothly. She is getting all As and Bs and her teachers say she is a great self advocate. Go Morgan! She is taking a break from swimming this school year. She has already been sick with asthma issues twice and is having problems with her foot. So we decided to cut back. Morgan will swim one day a week come February through the Spring. She continues with karate, although has missed recently due to illness. Hopefully will be back in soon :)

Morgan has decided to be something different for Halloween this year...a pirate! Come back to see pics. Morgan loves Halloween. We decorated the house and carved the pumpkins the other night. Morgan is getting pretty good at carving. I will post some pics of the pumpkins.

Morgan continues to make us a proud. Both of our girls do :)

Quick update

I have a few minutes so I thought I would do a quick update...
Morgan just returned from Outdoor Ed. For those not in this area, it is a 3 day 2 night field trip that all 6 grade students take in our school system. The kids sleep in cabins and spend time learning outside...Morgan had a lot of fun.

Bella now knows herself in the mirror. When she looks in the mirror and you ask her who that is, she says "Bewa." It is too cute. She has tons of words she says regularly, and really likes the word "NO." She started answering "YES" today. She is so smart :)

Many Faces

Another page I scrapped. I just cannot stop :)