Connor's Christmas Concert

This week Connor has his Christmas concert at school. We were a little nervous since last year he basically cried through the whole thing. But since he is a year older, we were hopeful. And he did a great job! We got some pictures and video of him (below). We are so proud of our little man!

Here is a picture of Connor with his teacher, Ms. Marie.

And today it snowed, a lot! David took the kids out to play after he got home from work. Fiona got all rugged up in Connor's old snow gear... and they went sledding together :) Not that there are a lot of hills around here :)

What we're up to...

We've been waiting for Fiona to start saying some words. She has been saying Mama and Dada and 'juice' for a while now, but she has finally really started to say some other things. This week she started to say 'baby' and for the past couple of weeks she (unfortunately) has started to say 'my' which translates to 'mine!'. I include the exclamation point because that is really how she says it! She tries to say 'cracker' which comes out as ca-ca and also she tries to say 'cookie' (more like cook-cook)... She makes the 'k' sound when she tries to say Connor. And last night she was saying 'poon' and I think she was trying to say 'spoon'! What a big girl!


Here are Connor and Fiona with Lauren, their babysitter. They just love her. She watches Fiona every Wednesday afternoon.



Tomorrow is Connor's big Christmas Concert at school. Fingers crossed that he doesnt have a meltdown like last year! Hopefully we will get some good pictures to post!

School Photos and Visit to Santa

so funny!

Danielle and Joe's Wedding

We had a great time at Danielle and Joe's wedding! It was a fantastic event and the bride and groom were so happy and beautiful!


Here is the beautiful bride walking down the aisle with her dad (my Uncle Tom)

Me with my cousin Samantha (my brother Ben in the background)

Fiona, Daddy, Mommy, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Benny and Connor!

October is SIDS Awareness Month

Even though October is almost over, it is/was SIDS awareness month. I tried very hard to have both of my children sleep on their backs as infants, and I am so happy that Connor is past that stage (he's almost 4). Although I did read that they are still suceptible to SIDS until they are 5!! Fiona now just flops and turns and sleeps however she wants. It is getting colder here , and I'm starting to worry about her being cold at night, especially since she doesnt really use a sleep sack (like most of the kids do here). But maybe the Merino one they are giving away on the Baby Sleep Site would work for her? Check out this link to information on SIDS awareness month...
http://www.babysleepsite.com/safety/sids-awareness-month-helping-reduce-the-risks/

Happy Sleeping!

Visit from Grandma Deidi

Photo of 'Lady Writing a Letter with Her Maid' (Vermeer) taken from http://www.glyphs.com/art/vermeer/pics.htm

We were lucky enough to have Grandma Deidi visit us this past while while Daddy has been away. David is away for another week... but it was great to have another set of hands and eyes for this week! The kids had so much fun. We really just stuck mostly to our normal routine...

Here is Connor at 'Playball'... the picture is through the glass of the squash court, so didn't come out so great... but you get the idea...

Here is Mommy posing at the Vermeer Center in delft... you can put yourself into the painting... Grandma and Mommy had lunch and a little time without the kids (thanks to the babysitter).

Connor at swimming lessons...

Fiona at Little Gym

The kids! So sweet!

Summer in Massachusetts and my parents 40th Anniversary

The kids and I spent three weeks in Massachusetts this summer and we had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa, and with cousins and friends. We enjoyed being back in the states for a while. David came to join us near the end of our trip and we celebrated my parent's 40th wedding anniversary... here are a few of the pictures... Its been a LONG time since I posted, I know!

Uncle Benny with little Fi and her shoes! This girl cannot get enough of shoes! A little diva!

The girls - Fiona, Mommy and Grandma!

Here's a shot of the cake from the party with the cardboard cut-out of my parents from their wedding! The cut-out was a huge hit with the party go-ers :)

The lovely couple!

Connor in his party outfit :)

The Masellas :) David is taking the picture (and besides, he's not a Masella :)

Fifi posing for the camera. She just loved her little gold shoes... and so did everyone else!

My Baby Girl is One!!!

Has it been a year? Where has the time gone? My tiny baby doll has grown into the cutest one year old I could imagine! What a joy she is! She smiles so much... its just unbelievable! We've had such a wonderful year! I can't say that Fiona is a great sleeper, but she has definitely improved from 6 months ago! My baby has her own little diva personality already. She points and lets us know what she wants to eat, and shakes her head and tells us if she's all done. She tries to copy everything that her big brother does. I'm just so proud of both of my kids. They get along better than I could ever have imagined (in large part due to Connor's great attitude with his little sister!). I'm truly the luckiest woman in the world. Great husband, and beautiful, funny, and loving children!

Here is my little girl on the day of her birthday having a little cake with just Mommy, Daddy and Connor.


And here we are opening her presents...

Connor is helping Fiona play with her new house... so cute!

And here is Mommy frantically trying to finish the cake before the party...

Its almost done...

Here are some of the decorations...

And my little lady eating her cake :) What a cutie-pie!

Here we are opening presents with all of the guests.

And, finally, my favorite photo... my little love-bug! Isn't she the cutest! Look at that tutu and the little ladybug hair clips! I got everything off of Etsy! Thank you to Cara for turning me on to Etsy! What an awesome site! You blogged about it a while back... It's my new obsession!

Malta!!

Needless to say, we had a fantastic time in Malta. 10 days in warm weather with David's parents in a great hotel and a wonderful setting! We took some days to just relax, and other days to explore. We rented a car for 3 days and drove around the main island and took the ferry to Gozo. One of the days we chartered a yacht and sailed to Comino (the Blue Lagoon). We celebrated Grandpa's birthday as well. A fun trip! Here are the photos...