Let me go back in time a little.. Thanksgiving and Baptism

In the busy season of preparation for the Holidays, I never really did give proper description of our Thanksgiving holiday that we spent in Pennsylvania, during which time Cecily was Baptized.

It is a very long trip with two young children from West Texas to Pennsylvania, but every minute was worth it to have the privilege of spending ten days with Greg's extended family (and some of mine too!)

We first arrived in New Jersey, where stayed overnight with Greg's youngest sister.  There, Geneva got a quick tour of the campus of Princeton University, where she was assured she could attend if she were to get lots of scholarships :)  She enjoyed the marching band that happened to be going by at the time.

After a quick visit in Princeton, NJ, we headed for Nana's house in the center of Pennsylvania.  We spent several days there before and after Thanksgiving.  Geneva relished in the loving arms and playful spirits of her grandmothers, cousins, aunts, and uncles.  Cecily met Greg's extended family for the first time and found many a cozy lap and shoulder to rest her head upon.  

Cecily's first time meeting her Great-Nana

Geneva was so happy to get to see her Nonna, Great-Nana, and Gram.  Uncle Nate and Great-Aunt Debbie drove from Illinois also.

Cecily had no problems finding comfortable shoulders.

While playing with Gram, Cecily discovered that her toes are delicious.

Cecily and uncle Nate

With Gram and Great-Aunt Debbie

Aunt Bethany is silly!

Bowling baby!

Cecily was passed from lap to lap.  With cousins Ashley, Christine, Stephanie, and Nicole.

What a special Thanksgiving!  So much to be Thankful for.

A little Thanksgiving Pumpkin.

After all of the Thanksgiving, we quickly transitioned into Christmas-preparation mode.  Santa Claus even made a visit to Nana's house!!

Cecily's first Santa photo

Nonna's girls

Geneva didn't want to say goodbye to "Uncle Mattie"

During this trip, Cecily was baptized at the church where Greg was baptized as a baby.  It was a really beautiful ceremony and a very special day.

The godparents dressing Cecily.  Uncle Nate and Aunt Mary Catherine.

How special to have so many loving family members to be present and part of Cecily's special day.

After the Baptism, we had a special luncheon at a local historical site/house.

Lemon baptismal cake- an Italian tradition.

Family picture afterward.

Besides the Baptism and Thanksgiving, we also travelled to see Greg's grandfather and my cousins.

We took the girls to Hershey, PA to have a visit with my cousin and her children.  The kids enjoyed spending the afternoon at Hershey World and we had a great time catching up.  There was even some hotel swimming involved! :)

WOW! Just remembering and writing about this trip makes me feel a little tired.  Since we don't make it over to the North East very often, we wanted to see all the family that we could.  We are so happy that we got to visit with everyone!  

Happy New Year/ Half Birthday

Happy New Year, dear friends and family.  I hope everyone had a Christmas season filled with the love of family and friends.

Happy Half Birthday, younger daughter.

On this first day of 2013, I want to express how thankful I am for God's many blessings in my life.  One of these blessings is six months old today.  At six months, Cecily is a curious and active explorer of her world.  She is our chubby, cuddly, little sweetie.  Her recent mastery of sitting alone and beginning to eat vegetables have made her all the more interesting.  We positively adore her.

Here are a few pictures of Cecily.  A blog post about her First Christmas will follow soon :)

Its a good thing she is so cute and kissable because we haven't slept in 6 months.

cecily's baptism photo book

Click here to view this photo book larger

The new way to make a photo album: photo books by Shutterfly.

12/12/12

12-12-12
This day is particularly significant because it marks the 77th birthday of my beloved grandfather.  Per tradition, many members of my family gathered at he and my grandmother's house to celebrate his birthday, visit with one another, eat delicious foods, and to decorate their Christmas tree.  I have so many lovely memories of this tradition.  Though sad that I was not there to celebrate, I am comforted knowing that it lives on.  I hope to one day get back to that part of the country at this time of year so I can once again share this day.

I love you Grammie and Pa.  Happy Birthday, Pa.

Here are a few pictures:

Grammie and Pa with Geneva when she was about 3 months old.

Grammie and Pa with Cecily when she was less than 3 weeks old.

I love, love, LOVE my grandparents!!

Between then and now

I am about to post a large Thanksgiving post, but before I do that, I wanted to put these pictures up.

My dad came to visit the weekend before we went to Pennsylvania for the long holiday.  I was out of town that weekend, so he and Greg co-parented the girls.  I heard he was a pretty good stand-in mother.  Check out Cecily's skunk stripe- Love it! :)

Geneva has been taking a ballet class for 3 year olds.  So as not to distract the children, we never get to watch, except for the last class.  During the last class, the little ballerinas get to show off their moves.  It was kind of the opposite of a "recital" type event.  Mostly, the children demonstrated elements of body awareness (like knowing where the arches and heels of their feet are) and ways they can isolate and move their shoulders, hands, etc..  There was a little galloping and a touch of sashaying, but it was very low key.  At the end, the girls all got a rose.

Many more pictures to come soon!

Cecily 4 Months, Geneva 3.5 years

The first part of November means that Cecily is now 4 months old and Geneva has hit the half-way mark between three and four.

 I'm not very clear on the details, but somehow, Cecily made her way into Geneva's babydoll stroller a few days ago.  It was pretty cute but not long-lived.

We tried Cecily in Geneva's old exersaucer.  She was interested in putting some of the toys into her mouth, but was still a little small for it.

A few posts ago, I mentioned that Cecily sleeps from about 10-7am.  At the time, this was largely wishful thinking on my part.  That was more like the time between her last and first feedings of the day.  HOWEVER, now that we have tried her in this side position, she has slept for 7+ hours three out of the past four nights.  She is positioned between two rolled-up beach towels, swaddled, has a pacifier in her mouth to get to sleep, and is sleeping on our bed sheet.  And, her travel crib is beside our bed and at a sharp angle.  If this sounds fussy- I promise it is exactly what she needs right now.  Anything less, and we would be up all night with her.

                                                       

 Over the weekend, one of our friends' daughters turned three and they had the party at a really fun novelty farm.  There is a huge slide that Geneva went down with Greg.

 After going down once with Greg, she decided she would do it herself.  She wouldn't even let Greg walk up with her.  In the above picture, that is her, walking up the stairs by herself, holding her potato sack.

 Here she is coming down.  It is a really fast slide and she liked it so much that she did it again by herself.  Check out her face!

 Here she is, jumping around on a giant bouncy pillow/blob.

 In a perfect height-stairstep, here Geneva is with her very sweet friend and her little brother.  These babies have grown up together and love one another :)

 Over three feet tall this year! :)

 Today, while both girls were in the backseat, Geneva saw Cecily pop her pacifier back into her mouth.  Geneva said, "Cecily put her paci back in her mouth.  She is getting so big, like me!"  I suppose that sums up how quickly these two are growing.

My Friends from the Hundred Acre Wood

We had lots of fun this year for Halloween because we had TWO little cuties to dress up :)  The girls got lots of use out of their costumes and wore them several times over a five day period.  Poor Geneva is a little confused though- thinking she can eat candy at all times of the day.  I also think she has candy stashed all over the house.  I am a little biased, but I think this pair of sisters is pretty cute. 

HALLOWEEN 2012

 When I asked Geneva what she wanted to be for Halloween this year, she rattled off about 10 different things.  When she said, "Winnie the Pooh," I jumped on it and immediately started daydreaming about coordinating the kiddos and how perfect Cecily would look as a little "Piglet" sidekick.  A few minutes of looking around Etsy for the crotched hats (so practical for our cool nights!) and it was done.  A little sewing and a dye job later, and Viola! Easy, mostly homemade costumes :)

It was a cool morning the Saturday before Halloween and we had fun celebrating our Farmer's Market's 5th Birthday.  I loved wearing my cuddly little Piglet :)

Geneva scored a Winnie the Pooh balloon animal.

And played her first game of Twister, which she was surprisingly good at.

Later that night, she added some kind of fairy paint job to her costume...??

On Halloween night, we took the girls out walking in the neighborhood and ended our evening at "Uncle Trae and Aunt CC's House."  

HALLOWEEN 2009

{FLASHBACK}

{Geneva 6 months}

Now: Side by Side

  

Cecily 4 months                                           Geneva 6 months