Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family! We had a nice, quiet Christmas in St. Louis. Our friends invited us to church and dinner for Christmas Eve and we spent Christmas Day watching "A Christmas Story," Miss P opening her gifts from Santa, and a little snow falling. This was the first year that our peanut understood the concept of Santa Claus (though she still wouldn't get closer than 20 feet to him at the mall) and she went to bed on time to be sure Santa had plenty of time to bring presents before Christmas morning. Santa brought a little toy kitchen and a tea set and we spent most of the day having tea parties. Here is a pic of Mommy and P in our matching aprons and a video of P playing with her new "band in a box" from Granna and Aunt Erin. There's a new slideshow of the season, too. More video in another post.

Playdate with Miss E

Miss P and Miss E recently enjoyed a playdate and they decorated gingerbread cookies! They also enjoyed dancing around together. Check out the pics and video:

Christmas Tree Decorating

Miss P really enjoyed sorting the ornaments and helping decorate the tree this year. She knows who Santa is now and that he bring presents (bad news for Mom and Dad). When asked what Santa's going to bring her, Miss P says: "Straws. Pink straws and blue straws." (good news for Mom and Dad). Looks like the Christmas budget will survive after all!

Cheeky Miss P

Here are some recent pics of Miss P showing her goofy side.

Dancing Queen

Here are some of Miss P's latest moves and grooves.

P Grooves Pt. 2

Here are some more of P's moves:

Dancing Queen

Lately P has really found her groove! She loves to dance and twirl and boogie and shimmy all over the house. Her favorite type of music seems to be melodic, crossover, chick-soft-rock (if that's a genre). Think Jewel, Sheryl Crowe, the Pretenders, Taylor Swift,etc., though she will pretty much get down to anything. Here are some recent videos--check out these moves (oh, and there's an extra video that I forgot to include with the previous Halloween entry where P declares: "Light up pumpkins, now!":

Leaf Madness

Our 1000 year old tree shed a whole heck of a lot of leaves this year. Paige really loved playing in the piles and sorting them. We also like to spend time at a local nature trail to see even more leaves! Here are some pics and videos of this autumnal adventure.

Happy Halloween!!!

This was the first year when Miss P really "got" what Halloween is all about. From carving pumpkins and baking cookies to wearing her costume and practicing "Trick or Treat?," she really got into the holiday spirit. Check out the pics and videos of our purple flower princess! I don't know why some of the pictures are pixelated--I must have a camera malfunction :( Hope you enjoy them anyway!

South Dakota Summer Pt. 2

The second cousins met up at Storybook Land for an afternoon of fancy and fun. Four generations were also able to bake cookies together! Lots of fun!

Waubay Summer 2009 Pt. 1

Here are some pics and video of our recent vacay to see family in South Dakota. We had a blast! Paige is really a country girl at heart and truly enjoyed working great-grandma Irene's garden and visiting her cousin's farm.

Watermelon Montage

Universally, one of the best parts of summer is this sweet, juicy treat--enjoy the feeding frenzy pics!

Get Your Motor Runnin'

P is getting used to her new bike this summer. She insists on wearing her helmet and really enjoys toodling around the driveway. Check out how she negotiates some obstacles!

Painted Toes!!!

We recently painted toes at our house and Miss P had her first "pretty toe" experience. She sat as still as a statue and then quickly prompted Mom to paint her toes, too. She also convinced Daddy to get a toe painted. P loves to try on Mommy's shoes and she's a big fan of dresses and sunglasses. Enjoy the updated pics!!!

"OK" "Open" and "Two"

We shot this quick video tonight because Daddy loves the way Miss P says "open" and wanted to get it on tape. She shows remarkable patience as we prompt her several times to say "open." Then, we have the nerve to ask her to say "please." Geez. We also caught her flashing her new "OK" sign and telling us how old she is (complete with fingers). Note the kiss at the end. Check it out.

Dancing to "Hi-5" Video

Soccer, Dancing, and Boys

Three of Miss P's favorite things these days are soccer, dancing, and boys (not necessarily in that order). We recently setup a little soccer net in the backyard (for Rich, too) and P loves to kick her ball from one end of the yard to the other. We also discovered a kid's music show on Discovery called "Hi-5" and P goes nuts for the dancing and music. We've captured some pics and video below. You'll note that her nonchalant method of guarding the goal was no stop for Daddy's kick :) She also likes messing with Mommy's hair during shoulder rides. Oh, and the little guy in the pic with P is our next door neighbor. Our neighbor was mowing when the soccer video was taken. The video of her saying "Boy, Boy, Boy" is in response to her favorite dancer on the "Hi-5" show. The dancing video will be posted later this week as it is too long to upload to this post. Enjoy and Happy Mother's Day!