Dress up time!

Introducing.....

Princess Stella Ross and Leprechaun Rafe

Stella Ross is such a good mommy!

Stella Ross started playing with one of her baby dolls this weekend and has NOT put it down since Saturday. Literally she has not put it down!! We take it everywhere we go, it sleeps with her, reads books with her and even eats with her. It has to be in her hands at all times. I don't know how or why she chose this little baby over her other dolls but she is obsessed with her. It is the cutest thing! She loves to give her baby a bite of food before she eats herself. What a good mommy!!

"What are we going for here?"

These are Cory's words just about every morning about Stella Ross's hair. It continues to grow and grow. We cannot believe how much hair she has at 12 months, especially in the back, considering Rafe had NONE for about 2 years! We just don't know what to do with it. Looks like Miss Priss will be visiting Bullock's Barber Shop pretty soon for a cute style. We just have to convice Pop of this!!

Another visit!

The tooth fairy made another visit to our house this week. Rafe lost his second top tooth and pulled it out all by himself! The tooth pulling does not come easy for Rafe. Poor thing, he stresses over it, even clams up and will not talk because he is so worried about it. He does not want it to hurt and he does NOT want to see blood!! This tooth was so loose that there was no pain and no blood. He pulled it while we were eating lunch at Moes! What a big boy! Rafe was so relieved once it came out that I don't think he has stopped talking since!!!

SNOW much fun!

We have had a VERY exciting week. We got an unusual amount of snow on Monday and have had a fantastic time playing and sledding. Monday morning we woke up to a winter wonderland and it continued to snow off and on all day bringing us around 8 inches total! HOW EXCITING!! I have always loved snow and it has not snowed like this since I was a child. Stella Ross is not a big fan of the snow yet, hopefully!! She does not like to be cold and since she has been under the weather this week she did not go out in it much. Rafe's favorite part of the snow has been snowball fights and "punching" the snow. He had a blast Tuesday morning after it froze over just pretending he was Hulk and the snow was bad guys. What a boy he is!! Rafe has not had school one day this week and we have really enjoyed staying up late playing games, watching old home movies and not having anything to do! One thing that we have accomplished this week, WE HOPE!!, is potty training Bowser. It could be that he absolutely hates to have his feet wet in the snow, but he goes outside to use the bathroom quickly and has not had an accident in over a week. YAY!!!

I LOVE this picture. Rafe and Stella Ross enjoyed

watching the snow fall.

SR was the happiest IN the house!

She takes her buggy apart and sits in it herself.

our "gummy" snowman. Rafe did not want

to use too many gummies on the snowman so

he could eat the rest!

THE Hat!!

Rafe finally got something this weekend that he has wanted for a LONG time - a flat billed hat. Cory gave in and bought him one and this made for one EXTREMELY happy boy. I have never seen him this excited over anything. Honest!! Cory and I do not like these hats and vowed that we would NEVER buy one for Rafe. Well, you see where that got us. I guess you choose your battles and Rafe won this one! UGH!!!!

showing off the airplane he built with his daddy

My BIG girl!

It is still so hard for me to believe that my baby is ONE. Her are some things about her at 12 months:

• Height - 31 3/4 in. 98%
• Weight - 25 lbs. 1 oz. 96%
• Has mastered walking. She walks more than she crawls now
• LOVES her food - her favorite food right now is yogurt. If she sees it you can forget getting her to eat anything else.
• Says Daddy, Pop, brother, Garfield, Bowser, Mommy, yogurt, cracker, bubbles, bottle, and Gram (Grrr)
• Does "pat-a-cake". Loves to roll those arms!
• Knows where her ears, eyes, teeth, mouth, fingers, toes, nose and belly is.
• Does the sound of an elephant, rhinoceros, pig, horse and cow (puff)
• Loves to dance - her favorite song is "5 Little Monkeys" and anything Elmo
• Likes to play in her ball pit with Rafe
• Goes to bed at 7:30 and you start hearing her talk around 7-7:30. Still takes 2 naps, but talks a while before going to sleep. Stella Ross loves to get in her bed because there she can have her paci!!
• Definitely a Mommy's girl, but starting to warm up to others.
• Has the CUTEST wave - it is sideways, but very cute!

Melts my heart!

Stella Ross and Rafe play so well together and it makes me so happy. I love hearing them talk to each other, laugh, and just have fun together. They are so lucky to have each other. (I feel pretty lucky to be their mommy!)

Our "white" Christmas!

trying out his Wii skateboard!

Elmo chair!!

walking in her pink cowboy boots

from Pop and Gram

Happy 1st birthday Stella Ross

their favorite place to play!

my adorable Harry Potter

a picture of my favorite gift!

Paper Jamz

Stella Ross LOVES her ball pit

These two had a serious dart tag war

Checking out their new toys. How fun!

"WEEEEEE!!!"

Ready to see what Santa brought!

We had an UNBELIEVABLE Christmas. Our FIRST white Christmas on Stella Ross's FIRST birthday. What a fantastic day! Santa Claus was EXTREMELY generous. Rafe and Stella Ross had a blast playing with their new toys. Christmas night we even had a birthday party for a special little girl. We are so blessed!

Christmas Fun!

We have had such a good time this week soaking up some much needed family time. Cory took the entire week off and we have had a blast gearing up for Christmas and a special birthday! Monday we went to our favorite restaurant, Kanpai of Tokyo, to celebrate Rafe pulling his tooth. (this had really been stressing him out for quite some time!)

Playtime!

Rafe's FAVORITE thing to do!

Oh no, he got me!

Ready for lunch!

I still cannot believe he is old enough to pull his teeth!

Calling Santa Claus

"I'm ready!"

Rafe was TOO cool for a picture!

This little girl LOVES a phone!

Last night we went to Moe's for dinner before heading to one of our favorite Christmas traditions, a trip to Hollywild Zoo. Dinner was wonderful until the jolly man himself, Santa Claus, made an appearance. Rafe remembered something he wanted to tell Santa Claus and had no trouble talking to him. Stella Ross, on the other hand, was completely distraught. She is still not a fan AT ALL. As soon as she saw him walking in the door she busted out crying. Oh well, maybe next year!

This is NO FUN!

Her meal is ruined!

Next we went to Hollywild Zoo and, as usual, it was not disappointment. Our favorite part is the open field where the animals are running loose. It is hilarious!! There are so many animals running around that you really have to be careful you don't run over anything. Then we got out of our car to roast marshmallows, feed the animals, even give them a bottle. What a fun night we had. I have a feeling we will be back with Pop before Christmas is over.

I NEVER thought I would see this from Cory!