A visit from our best mates!

I was really trying to come up with something a bit more Londony and "brilliant!" than that title, but you can only spend so much time thinking of a title before it's time to just move on with what you got... anyway, Roberta, Matt and Lazo came to visit. Just look at how cute Lazo is. He was a really cute baby, but he's way cuter now! I wish we got to see him a lot more often!

Do you know how stingy Abby is with her kisses? Here's a little taste of your own medicine Abby!




Abby LOVES shoes and she made herself right at home in Roberta's boots.



Lazo really is a doll. Just look at those cheeks and those baby blues... can't wait to meet the next adorable little Markovina baby!

My little comedienne

I think she's loved an audience her whole life, but now she knows the word and uses it often. I have to be the audience, her dolls have to be the audience, anyone she can find has to be the audience, but it's worth it because she's pretty funny. Here she is combining her two favorite things, singing a song from the little mermaid and telling a joke. It's her only joke and I'll translate for you because it's pretty hard to understand.

What do you call a flower between your nose and your lips?

Tulips!!

Abby loves snow globes

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

We got our tree yesterday. Abby was so excited to decorate it. I love that she's getting into the Christmas spirit and really gets it this year, but next time I will put the lights on when she is sleeping. Who would have guessed that a bossy 2 1/2 year old wouldn't be a big help when putting on Christmas lights? Live and learn. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love my family and friends and I do try to be thankful for all of you every day, but it's so much more fun on Thanksgiving! We had a full house here. I have to admit I was a little nervous about hosting 15 people + 2 little monsters, but it was so much fun. We had a great time and I feel more thankful for all the love in my life than ever.


Peter made up a new and way more entertaining version of Strawberry Shortcake's Snow Dance on the fly. Abby didn't seem to notice and it was pretty funny watching my Mom and Rachel's confused facial expressions.



Abby may not look a lot like my Mom, but they have the same aesthetic when it comes to family photos - here are 2 taken by Abby:


And here's one taken by my Mom (I love you Mom). See, it must run in the family?

It's Time to Dance!

We went to Yo Gabba Gabba! a couple weeks ago and boy did we have fun. Abby danced and sang along until the world's longest intermission sort of ruined the fun and Abby wanted to go home. Oh well, the first half was super fun!
Abby had to change into some real dancing clothes for the after party.

Newest obsession? Climbing trees.

And she couldn't be prouder.



I think maybe Pollyanna made too much of an impression on me as a child, because I am terrified of climbing trees... I better have Abby watch that movie ASAP.

Baseball and Ballet

Pretty much all Abby wants to do is play baseball or ballet. She takes both of them very seriously and she sometimes combines them by swinging the bat so hard that she spins and then she calls herself a baseball ballerina. I love that she has managed to so effortlessly combine the girly and tomboy sides of her personality.



No more pictures! Let's play already!

Happy Halloween!

I love, love, love this little cupcake!






And how is it possible that my daughter feels this way about candy? I have to seriously question all that babies learn tastes from you in the womb stuff...

Pumpkin Patch

I love the pumpkin patch. Up until this year I've somehow lucked out and always gone on a gloriously sunny October day (probably my favorite kind of day weather wise) but this year we did have one trip in the rain and it wasn't so bad either. I honestly don't think Abby noticed that it was raining... I guess she loves it too!

Double Complete Rainbow

I saw one and the colors were so vibrant and it was so cool that I can kind of understand why that guy freaked out about it. Also, Eli came for a visit and it was wonderful. Abby and Eli play so well together and he was such a well behaved little love that it made me wish I could have him come over whenever I needed a break!

I'm back!

Watch out! Abby is growing up super fast!


I guess I took the summer off. Sorry about that. I am back now and here it is, a hodgepodge of pictures that 100% does not tell even half of what we did this summer. But it does give you a glimpse...

Let's see, Abby experienced a lot of angst at not being able to swim, wear goggles and/or water wings in a pool instantly, whenever she wanted.


We played ballerina, princess, photographer a lot and Abby used to word booooootiful a lot too.


Had boootiful parties with friends.


Perfected a very dramatic pout.


Discovered a new LOVE for tattoos.


Oh and bootiful ballerina crowns.


We had a lot of picnics.


And a few hikes.... and now I guess Summer is over.


It's also been a big Summer for Abby because she now sleeps in a big girl bed (actually this happened in the Spring, but I kept thinking I'd get and angelic sleeping picture of her to document it and it never happened). But she's pretty proud of her big girl bed, so here it is:


And look at the cool tent that Anne-Lise Hurn made - check out her amazing goods on her site here: http://www.littleorangeroom.com/

Also this little wonder is potty trained!!! Here she is with a celebratory lollypop.


And, last but not least, she started preschool! She LOVED her first day and is so excited to go back. She's been talking about it all week. Here she is on her first day. She picked out this outfit (I had to dig the 'telephone' shirt out of the too small pile - we haven't worn it in weeks so it must really be a favorite since she asked for it directly) and I told her to act excited for the picture and this is what she did. I'm not sure what to make of it, but just so you know, she was really, really excited - so maybe she's just a little confused on what the word excited means?