Playtime with Riley and Garret

It was so wonderful having Garret and Riley back home over Christmas! I had missed them so incredibly much!! I took some time off work and enjoyed some low-key play time with them at Mom and Dad's.

Garret was having so much fun putting these beads on and off of each of us! I think he almost strangled Grammy by accident!
I can't even believe how tall he's gotten! He's such a boy now, and not just a baby. He took a couple days to warm up to us (well except for Pepere) but soon he was snuggling up and wanting a kiss and being his normally sweet self :)
Riley is just gorgeous! So smart and inquisitive. And did I mention-- gorgeous? :)
A big squeeze for her baby in front of the Christmas tree!
After some playing, Grammy offered to let Riley help make some cookies. A tough job, but she's a tough girl :) And she had a little help from her Auntie!
After the stirring got tough, she realized it was way more fun to just play with the dough, which was especially sticky and messy! But it was all in good fun!

Messy girl!

I think the kids opened presents every day! The fun of being home!!

Riley's favorite gift from Santa was her dancing baby. You actually plug an ipod into it, and it dances! And Riley dances too! Very very cute! Actually the best part was probably that once I took out my camera, Riley asked:

"Can you send that to someone?"

Me: "No, it's my camera, not my phone."

Riley: "Well, get out your phone then."

Me: "Ok, I can do that.. Why? Who are we sending this to?"

Riley: "Oisin!"
Even funnier than that? A couple days later she asked if Oisin got the video. He did, I told her. "How do you know? Did you go with him to watch it? No, I explained, Auntie Megg told me he'd seen it. "But he liked it???" Yes, sweetie. He did! SO stinkin cute!

Christmas Card Shoot

Kris asked me to take some photos of Will and Aila for their 2011 Christmas Card.

It wasn't the ideal day for these two rambunctious kiddos but we did ok.

And the other silly, fun photos we got were priceless.

Aila's face in this one kills me! :)

Big man, balancing on a log!

Aila showing off her beautiful jewels (necklace Aunt Diane brought back from Venice)

Big jump!!!

Cutie pie! (Lesson learned for next time- don't show her the giraffe until after we take the photos, though this auntie loves having photos of her with our favorite animal)

Little Miss Personality.

Making their way through the woods together. Doesn't get any sweeter than this.

An Enchanted Afternoon

Sunday December 11

This year was the first year I took Aila out for a Christmas adventure and boy did we have a good time. I picked her up after church and amazingly enough she said she was hungry, and since I hadn't eaten lunch we headed to Chipotle. Aila ate nearly her whole taco so I considered that a win for this amateur auntie! After lunch we drove to Jordan's Furniture in Avon to see the Enchanted Village. In typical fashion, my little protege fell asleep in the car on the way there. I drove around for a few minutes hoping she'd stay asleep for a little while (secretly hoping this very overworked, overtired auntie could find a spot in the parking lot, lock the doors and take a nap along with Miss A), but as soon as we got to the light to pull into plaza, Aila startled awake thinking she'd missed the whole surprise! I assured her that she hadn't and we made our way inside.

We had to walk through Jordan's Clearance Center to get to the Enchanted Village. Aila was already sold on how cool this place was! She oooohed and ahhhhed the whole way through "Seat!" "Seat!" "Couch!!" She loved it! If only the long, winding line went through the store, we'd have been all set.

That wasn't the case. It was a Disney World kind of line that took us at least 30-40 minutes to get through, which with a very energetic 2 year old wasn't exactly easy, but Aila did great. I brought her 2 favorite giraffes that live at my house so those kept her happy for a couple turns. Then she saw the ads for the Jordan's Polar Express Movie Ride and that got us through another few. By the time we got closer, she was about to lose it, and I broke out the big guns- my smartphone which was able to find the opening clip from Lion King. JACKPOT!!!

We finally got to the end of the line--- the big blue wall with the white silhouette of the enchanted village on it-- the houses that Aila called "The Castles!!" When we finally got inside, she was thrilled! She loved the figures, especially the scenes that had animals. She named them all "Puppy!" "Cat!"....

Miss A and her babies taking in all the scenes.

(For the record:: yes, she tried 4 times to hike her tiny leg up and get inside with the characters! LOL)
Enjoying our festive afternoon...
...... with this silly little goon
A nice lady behind us saw me taking photos of the two of us and kindly offered to take a shot of us. I agreed. Why not right? Well, Aila just wanted to talk to the nice lady. "Did you see Sampa? Did you see him? He's right there. Go say hi! Did you see Sampa?!!" (pointing at the display we just passed, with the animated Santa Claus).

No longer pointing but still talking. Sampa, was afterall, RIGHT THERE! Didn't she know?! :)
Taking in the last of the sights before we made our way out.

The one thing they changed since the last time I went is that when you exit the village you end up right at Santa (no separate line, hooray! this 2 year old was done with lines). She walked right over, waving frantically "Hi Sampa!! HI Sampa!" He asked if she wanted to sit on his lap. She turned around and looked at me as if to say "Yeah? Am I allowed?" I gave her a big nod and told her to hop on up. Well, it being Aila- she did! She hopped onto the stool in front of his chair, and then bounded right up into his lap. He was totally taken with her. Aila was pulling on his beard and just saying "Hi Sampa" over and over again, ignoring his questions about what she wanted for gifts. We got a photo and made our way out to the car.

It was time for a treat for this well behaved little one. We went to Starbucks and she got a mini donut and a mini whoopie pie. Delicious!

It was a great day with my little munchkie! I wasn't sure if she'd had as much fun as I thought she did, but when I picked her up the next Saturday (for the dance recital) she wanted to leave the house as soon as I could get her dressed. When I got her settled into her car seat she asked "Are we going to the Castles??!!" I guess that's my answer. She was ready to go back. Line or no line. So I think we'll be going back next year (and next time it won't be based on my crazy work schedule so I can do her a favor and try to find a time where the line won't be so horrendous).

I can't wait! Love you baby! :)

All Aboard... the Polar Express!

Saturday December 3, 2011

This year marked our 3rd trip on the Polar Express and I think it may have been the most fun yet. I was a little worried that Willy's getting older and it may not be as much fun for him... he started asking why the train car wasn't the same as in the movie and stuff like that. But still, he was psyched to go!

We boarded the 2:45p train out of Greenbush and got a great seat! Willy took his spot at the window and was immediately enthralled with the rest of the engines in the yard.

Once everyone had boarded the train, the lady leading things for our car came on the PA system and enthusiastically asked "Where are we going today?!!!"

Every child on the train yelled excited at the top of their lungs "To the NORTH POLE!!!!!!!!"

And at exactly the same time, Willy yelled (with matched excitement) "NOWHERE!!!!"

I lost it! Full on giggles that it took about 10 minutes to fully stifle! But, he was just as happy as the rest of the kids, even if we were just going up a few miles and turning back around!

He enjoyed a chocolate chip cookie...

And some chocolate milk!
We sang Christmas Carols (here we are, mid-tune)....
"all is Merry and BRIIIIIGHT!"
Willy loves the elves (always pretty high school girls). This one had tattoos! She passed him by 3 times before I could flag her down and I think he thought he was going to totally miss out!
And then the big man arrived! Willy was so excited, waiting for him to come see us...
He asked for a Polar Express Remote Control Train and a Garbage Truck.... Santa asked if he'd been a good boy and shook his hand.
But the best part of all comes last. Willy got his bell!
I'm so happy that this sweet boy still believes, not just in Santa but in the "magic" of the Polar Express. I'm overjoyed that he still loves spending time with his Auntie, doing silly things, singing and sitting on my lap and telling me stories!

Merry Christmas Buddy! I love you to the moon and back!

random bits

I've still been seriously bad at blogging but I was going to jot down a few things and realized I had some pictures here on my computer that would add a little pizzazz so I plopped some in! Serious effort, really!

My new desk space at work! I'm the most senior member on my team (in terms of Project Specialists anyways- Kim has technically been working at MGH longer than me), and so I got first pick of the 4 desks in my office space. I chose this beauty with a gorgeous view of the Charles River!

In the excitement of moving I took about 20 minutes worth of crafting fervor and decided to make a small canvas as the start of my redecorating of my space. I love this little guy!

And what always makes me smirk when I look at it is the fact that when I originally painted it, I forgot the "to" so it read "work hard and be nice people" more of a command than a reminder to myself! funny.
i've been knitting up a STORM lately- doing really well in the 'handmade Christmas gift' department this year. my percentage should definitely be up from last year which was one of my 2011 goals! and i've just got the knitting BUG now that its been cooler. i finished some baby stuff for and a hat and some other things. working on another hat now, and geeez i wish i could share every last one of them, but alas that would ruin the surprise so you'll just have to wait until december 26th at the earliest!

i've also gotten into knitting podcasts. its a nice compliment to my knitting obsession! i didn't think it would be interesting to HEAR people talk about knitting since (to my way of thinking) knitting is such a visual art... but, i like it! a lot! the only one i've listened to so far is called knit knit cafe- a mother/son team who are really interesting. i'm learning some new things and linking to new patterns and books because of their podcast. and best of all, its free! i love it!

yesterday kris sent me this gorgeous snapshot of my babe, Aila Grace! isn't she the sweetest thing. I can bet you $1000 that she picked out this outfit- the vest I think I gave her for Christmas last year but since she's just barely out of 12 month clothing I'm guessing she's just barely fitting into that stuff now! Little peanut!

She really is the sweetest! And such a girly girl. I babysat for her last Saturday night so Kris and Matt could go to the movies and Willy could have some quality time with Nanny and Grandpa. I brought her 2 purses, a giraffe zipper pouch and a giraffe beanie baby (after a massive clean out of my own stuff in the basement). She went nuts for them, carrying all 4 everywhere she went, even wanting to bring them to bed with her (mean-old Auntie Jen forbade the purses in the bed but she forgave me). All things pretty and all things giraffe interest this little one. Her fascination with these things is just pure joy to watch.

And now its time for yoga! Namaste.

4 times the fun

April 12, 2011

Tuesday afternoon usually means hanging with Willy & Aila.

But this particular Tuesday had twice the fun in store.

My parents had Sox tickets and Melissa had to work,

so I picked up Riley & Garret at school and headed over to see Willy & Aila.

The afternoon started out like any other- Aila occupying my shoes as soon as I vacated them.

These 4 get along so well. Garret is a year younger than Aila, but she thinks he's fascinating. She dotes over him as if he were a newborn.

The two bigger kids set to trains and building towers.

Of course its never all-smiles all the time.

Aila's faces crack me up. I wish I knew what Riley had said to her!

So much to keep track of when following the 4 of them around the house....

Garret always getting into something and the others are usually glad to help him!

Again with the faces. I think I asked her a question.

Either that or Garret was trying to take her princess cup (for the 8 millionth time) :)

You tell him, A!

Gosh those cheeks are priceless!

And even more yummy up close!!!

"The Face" makes a reappearance.

Followed by a sweet face from this little princess who wanted her own portrait taken after Willy got his turn.

But this is my favorite capture of the day. Aila. So focused (a rarity).

And so ironic considering what I cropped out of the rest of the photo- the 3 other hooligans who were in a state similar to that shown below---

Love it! They so wanted to take pictures but trying to get all 4 of them in order. Impossible.

But this is real and I love it even more!

Willy's sensitive side.

I can't believe how grown up he's looking lately. Less and less baby each passing week.

Speaking of getting big- this peanut is getting longer and longer. But she's still got a baby belly and is glad to share!

It was a whirlwind afternoon. We stayed for dinner since Matt offered and since Riley was obsessed with the idea. It was a great spring afternoon with 4 cutie pies.