Does anyone need a doctor???

Happy Birthday, Stella Ross!

I cannot, cannot, cannot believe my little Christmas baby is already TWO years old! It is so bittersweet. I don't want her to grow up, but we sure are having lots of fun along the way. Here are some of my favorite things about Stella Ross at 2:

• Stella Ross seems to be following in her Mommy's footprints of being a singer and entertainer. She sings ALL THE TIME and it is adorable.
• she loves, loves, loves her brother. When she is "having a moment" he is the ONLY one that can make him laugh. Her favorite part of the day is when he comes home from school
• Favorite toys are: playdough, Elmo doctor kit, keyboard, tea set, drawing board and, of course, her Pooh bear!
• Favorite things to do: Gymboree, drawing, listening to music, dancing reading books, singing, playing dress-up, CLIMBING on the kitchen island (UGH!!!)
• Favorite foods: blueberries, oranges, olives, broccoli, rice, pepperoni, Hershey kisses, M&M's (LOVE the way she says this, Moes and Kanpai!
• Goes to bed at 7:30 wakes around 7:30. Takes one nap each day 1:30-3:00 or so
• Enjoys watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Choo-Choo Soul, Dora and Elmo
• Favorite books: Pat the Bunny, Elmo Busy Day, Biscuit books, Hand Hand Fingers Thumb

Happy, happy birthday to my funny, adorable, full-of-energy baby girl! We love you SO much!!

Christmas at Lu Lu's house!

Christmas at Grandmother Lu Lu's was Saturday night and it was blissful chaos. There are 8 great-grandchildren, 7 years and younger (2 more next year!!) running around her house, with lots of love and laughter all around! Stella Ross and Rafe were completely spoiled, as usual! Rafe received a new wrestling ring and Stella Ross a keyboard with microphone! Thank you, Lu Lu, for always making Christmas so special.

1, 2, 3, JUMP!!

Rafe and his friend, Riley, explored the woods beside our house on Sunday. We looked outside to find them doing this:

It looks like a lot of fun to me!

Decorating our Gingerbread House

**not bad considering most of the candy was consumed by two excited little children!!!

Jingle Bell Rock!

Gram and Pop have a life-size Santa Claus and Stella Ross is obsessed with him........ from a distance! He sings and dances, so we make a lot of visits to their house to dance with him. This is about as close to a Santa Claus that she will get without screams and tears!

Class Christmas Parties

Rafe and Stella Ross kicked off the holiday season this week with their class parties. Stella Ross' was on Wednesday (her only day at school!). The children enjoyed a lunch party and ate quickly so they could get up and play!

Rafe's party was Friday and the children filled the room with A LOT of excitement. First grade did various activities that coordinated with The Polar Express so on Friday the children wore their pajamas to school. We made candy trains, read Christmas stories and had yummy treats.

Rafe headed straight from school to the barber shop so his favorite barber could give him a fresh cut for Santa Claus!

Yay for Christmas break!!!!

Hollywild Zoo Holiday Lights

Tuesday night we visited one of our favorite places to go all year long, Hollywild Zoo. I don't know what it is about riding around in an open field full of zoo animals that excites us, but it is SO much fun. This year we had a zonkey decide to take a nap on the hood of my van. Cory tried to back up and drive around him so the zonkey helped out by pushing us. Rafe and Stella Ross thought this was GREAT!! Inside Santa's village they enjoyed feeding and petting goats, horses, cows, reindeer, camels, and bison. Rafe, Stella Ross and Pop went inside the feeding area and this is where it got really interesting. Rafe fed a goat a baby bottle. Stella Ross enjoyed the freedom of being able to run around with the animals. (Pop was struggling to keep up with her!!) Unfortunately Stella Ross tripped over a resting animal and fell face down in ?????????? Her coat, boots and HANDS were covered!! UGH! Needless to say that marked the end of the feeding session. We loaded up headed home for a nice cleaning!!!

As usual Hollywild did not disappoint. We are already trying to figure out when we can visit again!!