some Christmas snaps

Just a few from Christmas. I only took pictures Christmas morning, so we missed all the other nice visits we made in the three day Christmas marathon, which is a shame. I'll do better next year. I hope to have lots more Charlotte and Grace pictures next month, especially the Florida/Disney trip. The past two months has been so busy, I definitely neglected shots of the kids. I suspect they appreciated the break.

Grace rooting around in her stocking. She got all red lollypops, which she LOVES. She goes around saying "Wed lollypop! I yike it!" Say "lollypop" outloud to yourself replacing the "l" sounds with "y"s and you'll get how she sounds when she says the word. Adorable. Say "lullaby" the same way and you'll pass out from the cuteness, I guarantee it.



Grace playing the the Thomas the Train that Grandma brought. She got a little saturated with all the presents and sort of hid in there for awhile Christmas morning.



Charlotte stirring.



Grace playing with a combination of toys and the new kitchen



Just a cute snap of Charlotte.

Cookies at Nana's

The girls and I joined Allison and Nana this past Sunday and decorated Christmas cookies. Charlotte was very excited about it, but she only lasted for about 5 cookies. She was really just trying to get to the eating part. Grace kept it up for quite awhile. She really liked shaking the sprinkles on. Allison baked the cookies and they turned out great. They let me take about 6 pictures, so here they are. I should try to scan in the pictures Nana has of me and Alex when we were about this size.

First Snow

Charlotte was excited to make a snowman last weekend with our first snow. It was great snow for packing. She specifically asked for a picture of her with the snowman, and then she posed with it like this. Very cute.

Louisa

Some Christmas portraits of Louisa. Web size doesn't really do her cuteness justice. She did great. I just love her so much :)

A quick costume change

Her hat...

Just a few

An attempt at a family portrait that I had in my head. Do you like it better with the full bodies or just the reflection? Unfortunately, only three of us were willing to cooperate.




Charlotte playing basketball. I think she is so cute running around with the ball.




Grace watching her big sister.

The Zoo

Some Halloween snaps. We had a great time trick-or-treating and the kids got quite a haul. Then, they really enjoyed passing out candy at our house when we got home. We are still dealing with the Halloween hangover. Charlotte went to bed tonight with a Tootsie Roll. She claims she is "saving it for morning". We shall see if it still whole and in the wrapper when we get up tomorrow.

Here's the group. Shawn changed his costume at the last minute to his elephant from last year, so it could be like a zoo.



Grace ran up with the bigger kids to get her candy and then ran back to be carried by Derek to the next house. She was so pleased with herself. She kept saying "Me too! Me too!" I know it is cliche for the little sister, but I swear me-too should be her self-declared nickname.



Shawn held Charlotte's hand as they went around.



Grace, moments before she covered her face with both hands and screamed "No pit-per me! No pit-per me!".



My sweet niece.

Some fall pics

little knit sweaters from Baby Gap...$100
new Ariel doll promised as bribe...$14.95
camera and studio lights...nevermind
a new favorite picture of both girls (in the same frame!)...priceless



This was our second try at the photoshoot. The first didn't go so well. We all got really cranky and called it quits (probably about 10 minutes later than we really should have, my fault). Miraculously, after dinner we tried again and it was all smiles.





I have a whole jumping series.


This one kind of reminds me of the one with both of them sittin gin the kitchen sink that I like so much. Something about the way Grace is looking up at her sister.

Been a long time

Busy month. I will try to post some new pics of the kids soon. I have big plans for some mini session with them, but I need both the girls and the weather to cooperate at the same time and it hasn't happened so far.

Here are some of my little friend Lauren who visited with her big sister and brother last week. I don't think her mama even knows I took these.

More Gracie

This first one is a classic Grace look.

Some cute shots of Gracie

with her new kicky little haircut.





This last one shows the back, and how her hair lies so perfectly always. It hasn't been washed since last weekend. It hasn't been brushed in days. It has been blowing all around in the humid evening air. She wakes up in the morning with it all matted and sweaty against the side of her head and ten minutes later I swear it just falls right back into it's little shape. I remark to Derek about it all the time. I can't tell you how many hours of teenage angst I would have been spared with hair like that.