Time with Friends

The girls have had lots of playdates lately. It's so much fun to see them with their little friends - and fun for Mark and me too, since these little friends all have parents who are over too!

Here's Mabel - a new addition to the family. Her parents are my sister's brother and sister-in-law. Does that make sense? Well, Nora and Evie just love her!

Here you can see how much they love her! Poor Mabel.

Evie's friend Natalie was in town from Minneapolis and actually spent the night last week - the girls were up until 11!

We also had Evie's longtime friend Ellie over this weekend. Evie and Ellie met in their Mommy's tummies during prenatal yoga, and we've all been friends ever since!

When we weren't playing with friends last week, we were crafting! Evie and I made a Moose snuggle pillow from Nick Jr., but when it came time to make his companion, Zee the owl, we opted for a much simpler pillow with an E for Evie on it! Note to Nick Jr: These crafts are NOT for preschoolers! This Mommy was exhausted from all the tracing and cutting.

Snow Day

We all enjoyed a snow day today, building our first (though small) snowman and playing with neighbor and BFF Phoebe. Mark's school is already cancelled for tomorrow too, so we get another day with daddy!

A Week of Firsts

Both our girls are growing up so fast - this week, Nora had her first day of mother's day out, and Evie had her first dance class! Both made my Mommy cry, but the girls were amazing and loved every moment of their new experiences! Here are a few photos from our week:

On our way into school - both girls walked on their own so all I had to carry was Nora's backpack and lunchbox - hooray!

Nora made friends fast, pulling up her to dress to show everyone her tummy! Her teachers said she played really well with the other kids and "chatted" all day long.

Our big girl Evie was in her leotard and tights nearly 2 hours before her first dance class. She was so excited and thought she looked just like a princess.

 

No surprise, she loved all the mirrors at her dance studio!

We have a true performer on our hands. I watched from a little window during the class, and Evie really followed directions and loved, loved., loved all the little girls and her teacher. Poor thing fell asleep on our way home - before 5 p.m. and is still sleeping now at 7:21. I guess she may be down for the night - what an exhausting day!







Lovely Holidays

Our family had a wonderful Christmas and holiday break together with trips to Nixa, St. Louis and even a party (and night out for Mommy and Daddy) on New Year's Eve. There were so many great pictures from these last two weeks, it was hard to choose a few (or 12) to share with all of you. Thank you to everyone who helped make our 2010 holidays so special.

One of the sweetest - Evie with her Papou at our Nixa Christmas



Gotta love Nora - always up to no good!

Here, we managed a cute picture of our early Christmas morning in Nixa. Did you know Santa comes to Nixa an entire week earlier than he comes to Kansas City?!

Evie was so excited for the Polar Express train ride in Branson. Thank you Yiayia and Papou!

More pictures of Evie's excitement on the Polar Express ...



Evie and her daddy

 

I love this big group shot at a Starbucks in Branson. Everyone looks great!

 

The girls in their matching dresses Christmas Eve. Notice Evie isn't wearing tights. There are some battles you just lose before they begin.



The girls had so much fun with their cousins in St. Louis, including baby Mason!



The girls were watching for Santa out the window ...



My friend Jenna's chemo treatment in St. Louis - she is amazing, and her little baby girl (due in Feb) is a true miracle!



Mark and I ringing in the New Year at a friend's party in Kansas City