Christmas Torture

We saw Santa last Sunday at the Children's Museum. Good thing Anna's still in diapers because I know she would've had an accident otherwise...just look at that face. Brynn was fine until I leaned over to hand her off to him. 5 seconds later she was back in my arms and life was good again. Anna was very good, though, and when asked what she wanted for Christmas, she quickly spit out, "Kitchensetandbabydoll" into the microphone. We were happy that she didn't cry this year but hopefully next year she'll actually ENJOY being with Santa!!

Sweet Pea Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Chatty Cathys

Both of the girls have developed new language skills lately. Brynn attempts to say "cheese", which sounds more like "chhhssss" and her lovey has been affectionately named "Bubba". The other night while giving goodnight kisses, she said, "mmmmmah" as she gave her kiss. SOO cute, I need to get it on video.

Anna has become quite the performer. She loves to sing songs and dance the Dora dance by shaking her hips back and forth. This morning I heard her singing a Laurie Berkner song, but not with the right words. Her version was, "This is me, this is me, this is me and my allergy" (the correct word instead of allergy is energy). I still laugh thinking about it. She's really putting things together, as this morning I offered her a "cookie" for breakfast (it's really an oatmeal breakfast cookie, but to her it's more enticing if I leave out the first two words), and after she said yes, I showed the package to her. When she recognized what it was, she said, "Mom, you're trying to trick me. That's not a cookie." GEEZ. I thought I could get away with stuff like that for a lot longer. Oh well!!

A very exciting day!

Yesterday was full of new things! Brynn took 5 steps, and Anna used the potty in public. Yay! Brynn is so proud of herself when she takes steps, and is getting more confident each time. She started standing up from the ground without any assistance on Tuesday, so I knew it wouldn't be long before she took off!! I know she'll be trotting after Anna soon!

We took the girls to the Mini Greek festival last night, and I was surprised and excited to learn that they both LOVE Spanokopita, greek chicken, and Yahni (greek style green beans). Of course the pastries were well liked too! While we were eating, Anna says, "I need to use the potty". At first I thought she just wanted to see the potty, but no, she really wanted to use it. Then I thought she would be terrified of the automatic flusher, but she just said, "That's REALLY loud!". I was really caught off guard by her request, but I was more than happy to see what she would do.

We are so proud of her!

HALLOWEEN 2008

Our "Surf and Turf"

Brynn 12 months, Anna 2.5 years

This picture below might be my favorite ever.

Neither one was sure what to expect...

Anna did really well saying Trick or Treat, Thank You, and Happy Halloween at every house. She was THRILLED about the candy in her bucket, exclaiming after every house, "Mom, Dad, Mimi, I've got LOTS of candy!"

This house did it right- fog machine, lights, witches coming out of the ground, spiders climbing up the side, and to top it off, passing out money instead of candy!!

Brynn was eager to climb up the steps as well.

Last stop, Grandma's house, the best place for trick-or-treating EVER!!!

Sorting through the loot

Steeler Sisters

More pics from Chesterfield Berry Farm

Anna's "happy" face

Brynn's unhappy face, signing "more" because she wanted to get back in the kernels. She wanted to eat them. Yuck.

"Let me in there, Dad!"

This is a contraption that takes goat feed up a ramp and dumps it at the top

Hanging out on the hayride

The Pumpkin Patch

We made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch yesterday after lunch, and we enjoyed great weather, no lines, and fun times!! Anna liked playing in the pumpkin patch, showing off some karate moves (thanks to Caillou's friend, Sara), and crawling around in the corn kernels. Brynn liked riding in the covered wagon to get the pumpkins and looking at the rabbit habitats.

Anna practicing her karate "Hiii-yah!"

The little pumpkin

State Fair of VA

We took Anna to the State Fair last week and she had a ball. She loved the rides, the pig races, the chimpanzee show, and her first pony ride. Such fun!

Feeling the difference of animal fur Meeting alpacas
Baby chicks!

Watching chicks hatch

Our sweet little ONE year old!

On Thursday, Miss Brynn celebrated her 1st birthday, and on Sunday we had an official birthday party, with a small group of family and friends. It was perfect.

Happy Birthday, Brynnie Boo!

Anna's a model!

Go here to see her modeling debut!

http://www.polkatotsandwhatnots.com/fc-sbp.html

Anna's first day of "school"

This year she's attending Trinity's Parent's Morning Out program for 2 days a week. The great thing about it is her classroom is the same room she goes to during church! She's very comfortable there and walks in without ever looking back. I even have to get her attention to tell me goodbye!

One of her favorite things to do is ring the "dingbell".