Overheard....

I lay next to liv to get her ready for her nap time. I roll on top of her to give her smooches and be in her face. She says, "No, I don't want you to be the pickle."

Background- One time when she was laying on ry and snuggling. (We call it a livi sandwich) I got on top and said "I want to be the pickle".

I guess that stuck.

Overheard....

"Hey daddy, do you want some chips and mockamoley."

Much has changed.

As I lie here on my laptop, in bed,after tucking the girls in bed, I reminisce. It is New Year's Eve and there is no place I would rather be. I am content.

It was ten years ago we were on magnolia street in West Chester throwing a college kegger and dancing to Prince (Party like it is 1999) on the coffee table (a typical party event). I can't believe it was ten years ago...I can remember so many specifics about that house. I even remember what I wore that night (ry bought if for me). I think it was the night the bathroom window just broken and poor Kelly and Stacy showered for weeks in a bathroom that was the same temperature as it was outside.....(k, why did we take so long to fix that?)

But then again, alot has happened in ten years. Graduate degree. Three houses. Five career moves (between ry and I). A marriage. Two kids.

It feels like it was yesterday...and it was ten years ago. I don't feel a day older then I did then. And I was 19 years old. Just a baby.

Ry and I have grown up together. When we met our only focus was each other and college life. We have evolved. Our love has strengthened. Because of our love, we now have a family. To think it all started at a party on gay street. Fate brought us together.

I have changed ALOT. But I still am the same person. Just with alot more responsibility and wisdom. Life experiences.

Kinda strange how I went through all of the schooling, to end up home with two kids. But I needed that. It is a big piece of my puzzle.

Being home, at 9 pm on new years..... And going to bed in an hour. May sound lame. But I lay my head down and smile. I am so blessed and lucky. At this very moment, I hear Charlotte call out in her sleep. And I watch Liv on the video monitor toss into a more comfortable position...... They are my masterpieces. They are my purpose.

And hell, I still can dance around in my living room and on the coffee table. Only now it is with my 3 year old beside me and my 5 month old on my hip.

Life is good!

Mommy and Charlie Bonding Time.

camera shy...

Previously a ham. Now camera shy. Must be a phase. I do take equal amounts of pictures of both girls. I usually take one of Lo, then one of Liv, and back and forth. However most of Liv's lately look like this one.

Happy.

Charlotte's morning didn't start out well, but she turned around in the evening. Here she is all smiles and flirting with me. In her new Toby Tiger hat I ordered from the UK. Love it!

Daddy and Lolo.

My sweet Charlie-Bear.

Poor little thing.....she has been out of sorts for awhile now with her skin itching. I can't even get into it right now because it is so upsetting. She just hasn't been herself. We are going to get her tested for allergies to see if we can find an end to this. My sweet,precious Charlie-Bean. Through 24 hours of discomfort and irritation, she still finds the time to smile.
I love her so much! She is just so precious. I can't believe she is going to be 5 months old this weekend.

Homemade baby food.

I made my first batch of pureed sweet potatoes for Charlotte. She had some and really seemed to like them. I froze two lidded ice cube trays for future meals. So far,so good.

overheard....

Liv went over to corriah while sleeping and sits on her back(ouch). She lifts her ear flap and says, "I love you corriah all in my heart." Then kisses her.

Camarote Christmas (our house this year).

DOMINICK IS HERE!

Congrats, to cousin Diana...... Dominick is here and healthy. He is coming home today.

CHristmasDay.

We went to Ry's family for xmas brunch. We had some yummy food and the three girls were in rare form. The combination of gifts and sugar kept their energy up. They had a blast. Charlotte was good and took a few little naps. Other than that she enjoyed watching the three older girls go wild.

Christmas Morning.

The girls had a blast. Liv helped Charlotte open her gifts but showed her all of her toys and explained what they were. Liv got the PINK POLKADOT PHONE that she BEGGED for. Liv's pace at opening her presents is different then mine. She would open a gift and then want to play with it before opening another. I just wanted to open them all in 5 minutes.

Santa ate the cookies off of the new plate and Rudolph ate some carrots.

Xmas Eve / Johnny and Jeanna ENGAGED!

This year was a special Christmas for the Family......it continues to grow! Johnny proposed to Jeanna before they headed to my mom's for xmas eve. We celebrated with some champagne. Then had fun opening presents and doing our "stealing gift" exchange (forget the name for it). Liv skipped her nap but was a champ.
The we headed to my grandmom's for dinner. Liv spent most of the night seeing Rudolph in the sky (she lives right near the air traffic path to the philly airport). Both of the girls fell asleep on the car ride home. We transported them to their beds. Then SANTA came.

Santa Plate/ Annual Ornament

The Color Me Mine pieces turned out so nice. We can't wait to put Santa's cookies on the plate tomorrow night. It will be the first of many.....
And the ornaments are so cute. We hope to go every year and paint a new one each year. That way by the time the girls move out (sniff, sniff),they will have a tree full to take with them.

Overheard....

While brushing her teeth last night and looking in the mirror, Liv says, "But daddy, I am missing a tooth. (pointing to the space between her two front teeth)." She pointed to our mouths (with no spaces)and seemed genuinely concerned.

Awww, we both chuckled. Then explained to her she needed that space for when her bigger teeth come in.

So sweet.

Happy 10th Birthday!

Our first born........is a decade old today. She has been through some pretty drastic lifestyle changes. Still hanging in there and full of energy!

Pretty in Pink.

Non-Edible Gingerbread house.

Well I learned the hard way......making a gingerbread house of candy means most of the candy doesn't make it to the actual house.... it all goes into Liv's mouth. This is our second gingerbread house this season, and this one was much more fun because there weren't any sweet tooth distractions.

Meme and Gpop Slumber.

Ry and i went downtown to Liz and Chris's for a Neiman Xmas Party. We had alot of adult conversing,cocktails, and enchiladas (and other gourmet mexican yummies). Meme and Gpop watched the girls, played, and tucked them into bed. Charlotte took 2 pumped bottles and cereal from meme. Meme and Liv made some crafty winterland snowmen projects. They watched Christmas classics. Had some takeout.....
The girls snugged up on Gpop and cuddled before bed and then went to bed right on time.

Good job girls! Thanks M & D!

Color me Mine.

I have been wanting to make a cookie plate for santa with the girls footprints on it. So we went to Color me Mine and met Sydney and Ava there. The plate turned out super cute and I will be posting a picture of it as soon as I get it back. It is two snowmen (that are their footprints) with their names on it. I can't wait to put it out every christmas eve with cookies and carrots.
Then the girls painted ornaments. They had Fun....

Build a Bear.

Every Christmas Grandmom and Grandpop treat the girls and their cousins to build-a-bear. Liv picked out a pink bear and a moose for Charlotte. (sorry for the lack of pictures, them all was quite busy and it was a little too chaotic to whip out the cam).

Brown Rice Cereal.

Charlotte had her first taste of Brown Rice cereal this week. She seems to like it. It is still pretty watery but she enjoyed eating from the spoon. Especially when Liv was feeding her. We used Liv's old Dinosaur spoons (the spoon bends up so the dinosaur is moving towards her face to keep her attention). She is a week shy of 5 months.
(I have videos but I am having trouble uploading)