dance class

Audrey started dance class this month and she is having a blast!! The first day she started, she was the only one in the class. Many more little girls have since joined, including her friends from church, Bella and Julie. It has been such a joy to watch Audrey, doing what she loves to do most...dance, dance, dance!!!

all dressed in her leotard, skirt, and tights

warming up with a few stretches

marching in her tap shoes

practicing pointing and tapping in the mirror with teacher erin

picking out the perfect accessory for the "freeze" dance

madison - 8 months

Madison is 8 months old! She has discovered her voice and knows exactly how to use it, especially when she wants to get our attention. Her happy squeals can quickly turn into very unhappy screams. Madison is also babbling sounds like, "ba-ba", "da-da", and "ma-ma", but we haven't heard any real words yet. We have added more foods to her menu such as yogurt, white potatoes, applesauce, kiwi, and cottage cheese. And, now that Mommy is working part time, Madison is drinking from a bottle at least once a day. She proudly holds the bottle all by herself! Something else that Madison is just beginning to enjoy is dancing, her own style of dancing. Whenever Madison hears music, she begins to lunge her torso forward then back, over and over again. She's pretty serious about it, until we make eye contact with her and her entire face lights up with a smile.

merry christmas...part two

Because my sister and her family were not able to celebrate Christmas with us on Christmas day, we had to wait until they came into town the following weekend. On New Years Day morning, dressed warm and cozy, we went over to the Koury's to have a second Christmas with Nani and Papa, and, the Tatums. Audrey had a blast playing with her cousins all day. Nani prepared a delicious lunch that left us all feeling very fat and happy. It was a special day spent with very, very special people that we love so very much!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

cousins

singing "jingle bells"...again

patiently waiting for presents to open

oh, how i love this man!

wrestling with their new sleeping bags

a purple purse with "bling"?...nothing better!!

happy girl

family pic

the girls with their nani and papa

merry christmas

Early Christmas morning, Audrey climbed into bed with us and waited patiently until it was time to get up. Together, the two girls walked out to the living room to see the presents that were left for them under the tree. Audrey knew just what to do with a present when it was handed to her. Madison was still learning how to open the presents that we put in front of her. We took our time with each gift and enjoyed watching the excitement in Audrey's eyes and the curiosity in Madison's. Later that morning we went to celebrate with the Loves and then the Kourys. A full day of family fun for sure!!

our sweet daughters

a new "big girl" bike for audrey

i love this face!

daddy with his girls

attacking the wrapping paper

buddies (only 5 weeks apart)

cousins

pop and audrey

matching aprons for all the ladies

audrey on her "big girl" bike

christmas eve

On Christmas Eve, we went over to our Aunty Cathy's house to celebrate with the Cirimeles. We really missed the family members that were unable to join us. It was a small, intimate group this year, but we loved the time that we had with those who were able to be there.

Merry Christmas Eve!

beautiful girl

our little family

Another fun tradition that our family has is that no presents can be opened until the children sing a Christmas song. This year, the song was "jingle-bells".

Madison preferred to suck on the jingle bells rather than shake them.

Audrey setting up her new tea set...Madison still sucking on the jingle bells.

Madison really wasn't into finding out what was wrapped in the paper, she was more into finding out what the wrapping paper tasted like.

yummy

she loves Cinderella

what a night

gingerbread

The week of Christmas, Audrey was busy making gingerbread cookies with Nani and a gingerbread house with her friends...

Both Audrey and my mom wore special aprons while they decorated gingerbread cookies. The apron Audrey is wearing used to be my grandmother's, and Nani's apron was given to her two years ago by her grandchildren. Each of her grandchild's hand print or footprint is on the apron.

Audrey's gingerbread cookie was decorated with purple eyes, of course!

Audrey's finished project. She wanted her gingerbread cookie to be wearing a yellow polka dot bikini. Creative!

Working hard on her gingerbread house...she was so focused!

All done! Mommy put all the icing on the house and Audrey followed quickly behind with the candies.

madison - 7 months

Our happy, baby girl is 7 months old! Madison loves to be tickled and she giggles so much when we play peek-a-boo with her. She is starting to reach for Mommy and Daddy. As soon as we have grabbed on to her tummy to pick her up, she quickly grabs on to our hands and smiles big, ready to be held. Madison is eating three meals a day. Sweet potatoes are her favorite. She is very strong when she sits up now, rarely falling over to the side. Madison mostly enjoys sitting on a blanket, surrounded by toys, and watching all that is going on around her. Madison has also been enjoying the bath more and more recently. She loves to kick her feet, splash with her hands, and suck on foam letters that float around her. We are enjoying the holidays with Madison, anticipating what her first Christmas will be like!

sitting up all by herself

grabbing her toes

bath time!

carrots...mmmmm

out for a walk

candy cane lane

Last Friday evening, we walked Candy Cane Lane with some of our great friends. We bundled the little ones up, grabbed our hot chocolate, and made our way up and down the streets, pushing strollers along the way. The lights were awesome!! Most of the time Audrey was out of the stroller, shaking her booty with the dancing Santa and walking hand-in-hand with her friends. Madison viewed the lights from the stroller, snuggled up in blankets. We enjoyed our walk, making memories, and we will be ready to do it again next year!

ready to check out some lights

audrey and madison with their buddies

such sweet "big girl" friends

audrey shaking her booty with santa

pausing for a family pic