Grace Dancing..

Grace loves the Backyardigans theme song and she usually gives a better reaction than this, but she must have been camera shy ;)

Opening the dollhouse

Here is Claire/Pete unwrapping the ("baby") dollhouse....

Christmas Cookies

Here is Claire decorating cookies and answering some questions about Santa Claus...

The ramp

After a successful downhill sled alone, Pete wanted to give Claire some extra speed to go down the hill.... but he didn't see the little ramp...

Claire's successful sledding

Claire went down a small hill a few times... I captured one time where she went down successfully

December 2010

December was another busy month for our family. We had another doctor's appointment and things are looking great - due June 25th but hoping for a C-section around June 18th. December also included a trip to Las Vegas for a friend's wedding - it was a lot of fun and great to get away but we missed our girls SO much! December of course also included the holidays - we spent the week of Christmas here and then the week after and New Year's in Ohio.

The week of Christmas, my dad went into hospice care. He has fought hard for 2 1/2 years and he will continue to fight as long as his body will let him. This decision was just in hopes of a comfortable and peaceful rest of his life. Our family is at peace with it, but of course is still a difficult time. The holidays were especially difficult with the recent decision. Continued thoughts and prayers are always appreciated...

On a lighter note, Claire is turning into a little adult. We started potty training and this attempt has been much more successful. She tells us when she needs to go potty and accidents are few and far between. Today we went out to lunch with a friend and I took her in underwear and she did great! She talks so much and has a great little imagination.

Grace has started walking and is walking everywhere! She also says mama, dada, juice, and no. When she says no, she also aggressively shakes her head - it is hilarious. She is going to start going to "school" with Claire in January so I can get a good 4 hour nap after work. It will certainly help the more pregnant I get....

It is so fun to watch the two of them grow up and grow together. They are playing together more and seem to hold conversations with one another... but don't ask me what they are saying because I don't understand a word!

Here are some pictures from December....

One snowy day, we took the girls out to play in the snow... Grace hated it but Claire loved it!

Every now and then we put rollers in Claire's hair and we thought it would be fun to try them in Grace's hair

Breakfast

Matching Santa PJs

Claire went to the dentist and was such a trooper...

One of our Christmas traditions is to have homemade pizza on Christmas Eve...

Grace like the shredded cheese

So did Claire :)

Here is Claire helping with a pepperoni pizza

Claire spreading the tomato sauce

Another tradition is to bake cookies on Christmas Eve...

Grace loved the cookie cutters

Claire was a big help

All ready for the snow

Before Christmas Eve mass

Here are pictures from our trip to Vegas

Getting ready for the wedding with an O'douls

(courtesy of Jackie and Josh)

Pete and I on our date night at the top of the Stratosphere

Pete and I at a yummy Italian restaurant

Jackie and I at the wedding reception

We saw a cirque show that was amazing

The four of us outside of Pampas - a brazilian steakhouse

Here is Claire's school picture

A family photo, taken in September

Claire and Grace with Santa....

Claire was scared to death...but check out Santa's face in this picture...

Can you blame her? :)

The following are pictures from our Christmas with my family...

Our freethrow tradition -got it on the first try!

Grandpa and the girls

Christmas at our apartment - Christmas morning

The only gift Claire actually opened

She loved her high heels that she got in her stocking

Claire's face is a prime example of the mood she was in Christmas morning - blah! :)

Grace's favorite toy - a laughing monkey

(She sleeps with it every night)

Grace giving her monkey a kiss

Claire and Grace sitting on their pillow pets

The following are pictures from our Christmas in Ohio...

Claire got lots of accessories for her Dollhouse- she loved it!

Grace snuggling with Uncle Tim

Claire and Grace helped Grammy make cookies...

Grace's face after getting a taste of cookie dough :)

Pete's gift from secret santa (Mike) - footy pajamas!

Claire also got a box of dress-up clothes from Grammy and Opa

Grace joined in on the dressing up

Pete's grandparents came in from Michigan

For New Year's Eve, we went over to Matt and Erin Miller's house - they had the entire Miller family, the entire Vandervaart family, and friends...

Beer pong in the basement