Legos from Auntie - she was so excited, and is playing with them right now.
The second of so many birthday celebrations for this child of mine that I have seriously lost count. We had a very nice family party yesterday. Well, I think we did - I spent most of it in the kitchen doing the cooking thing - but it seemed as though people were having a nice time. Their plates of food mostly came back empty, so I guess the food was good too - pasta, meatballs, salad and garlic bread.
I think everything should be personalized. This dip - made by my Mom - was awesome. Not a drop left. Dill dip, in case you are wondering. So yummy. Almost spoiled my appetite for dinner.
And the cupcakes. Doggy cupcakes of course. They were pretty simple to make. That's butter cream frosting - colored light brown, a whopper nose, oat bran flake ears, chocolate frosting eyes, and a strawberry starburst tongue. The tongue was a later addition. Eric felt it needed it. The dark chocolate dogs are there because I ran out of the butter cream frosting - and was WAY too tired to make anymore. I have to say - I am pretty impressed with myself.
The brown and pink girls - Paige and Emerson. Who is growing up way too fast, I might add.
Emily LOVES balloons. The house this morning is just covered with them. Emily and Paige made me take them all down so they could play with them. They had a blast chasing them all around. And now they are everywhere. 
Emily's "friends" birthday party was last night. We invited a few of her closest neighborhood friends - Jenna and Noah, Olivia, Dominic and Salvatore, and Nina. They all had a blast playing Pass the Dog (hot potato with a stuffed dog instead of a potato), Pin the Tail on the Dog, a Scavenger Hunt and a Dora the Explorer pinata filled with candy. We had pizza and ice cream sundaes for dessert. We partied until almost midnight - mostly because Eric and Noah broke out the Wii. Emily says it was her best party ever. She was asleep about ten seconds after her head hit the pillow.
The Dora pinata. Olivia - the last one - was the lucky one who pulled the right string.
Pin the Tail on the Dog - They were all pretty good at this one. Dominic won, but I liked that Jenna put the tail on the kitchen table.
Paige partied right along with everyone else. She was up until 9:30 last night. A real trooper.
Just a cute shot of Paige from a couple days ago. She is really getting into hamming it up for the camera.
Emily helping out with her birthday cupcakes today. Did she actually get any in her mouth?
Hard to believe that it has almost been six years since this glorious thing entered our lives. 
I have a confession to make....I have not taken Emily to see Santa because of some very silly childhood traumatization that I had. Poor child. So, this weekend I sucked it up and took her to "Story Time with Santa". It was very cute. Santa read to the kids - who got to come in their PJ's -they sang songs, got to do a couple crafts and of course, got to sit on his lap and tell them their Christmas wishes. Emily was all set to tell him she wanted her front tooth. I told her that her front tooth was pretty much a given, and she had to ask for something a little more FUN. She was completely at a loss - so I reminded her that she wanted roller skates. She was good with that. Only my child would not come prepared with a HUGE list. 
In case you are wondering, Paige stayed home with Daddy. I wanted Emily to have fun, and not have to share the whole thing with her sister who would either be a total crab apple, or totally wild. Or, let's be honest, I am taking baby steps with this whole traumatization thing....one kid at a time.......maybe next year Paige.......
She got these super cool antlers and a snowman cup as a parting gift. She wore them all day today. There's only a couple of those jingle bells left.
Emily and her buddy Jenna got chosen to be one of Santa's reindeer during a song. Emily's antlers kept falling off during the whole song. She was a trooper.
My big girl Paige. This is her new thing. She LOVES to sit at the big table and have her snack. She thinks she's Miss Big Time. She is growing every day. Her size 18 months PJ's are all small on her. Her vocabulary has increased too: yes, baby, heart, up, down, help, cracker, dog, thank-you (my personal favorite), pretty, socks, shoe and a bunch of others that I am not able to remember at this moment. Hopefully this whole word explosion thing will alleviate some of her communication frustrations she has been having. Let's hope!!
It is finally here, the first big snow of the season. It started just after we woke up this morning, and as I type this, is still going pretty strong. I told Emily that we could go out and play after we ate and showered - she could barely contain herself. It only took about ten minutes to get the girls in all their gear. Emily was such a big help - she got her pants and boots on all by herself. Paige was super excited, and had a little tantrum while waiting for Mommy to get ready.
It's very cold outside - mid twenties, and very dry, so it's not very good packing snow. No snow chicks today. I don't even think Eric needs to fire up the snow thrower to clear the driveway.
We only spent about 15 minutes outside - not because it was too cold or anything - more because Paige got a little snow inside her mitten and threw a rather large fit about it. I am going to have to go and get her some other kind of mittens that stay on....if there is even such a thing. So, even though they only enjoyed it for a bit, it was still fun, and we are looking forward to many more adventures this winter. And of course, there was hot chocolate with whipped cream afterwards.
I remember when Emily was Paige's age. She was OBSESSED with Elmo. I ran around looking for anything with Elmo - clothes, toys, books, videos, cookies, you name it. Now, it seems as if Paige also has the same obsession. She's still not into watching Elmo, but bring her an Elmo toy, Elmo book, stuffed Elmo, and she is all about it. I found the above toy - a Sesame Street buttons and switches toy, complete with an Elmo - in the toy box downstairs. When you press the button for the second box, out pops Elmo singing, "This is the song, la la la la, Elmo's song. Hehhehehehehe." Her eyes light up like a Christmas tree. So here are both generations of Elmo lovers in this house playing with it - and not sharing very well I might add. About two seconds after I took this picture, Paige hit Emily because she doesn't understand that it was Emily's turn......why Emily needed a turn playing with a toy for an 18 month old, I am not sure.
About two weeks ago, when we went out to eat, I introduced Paige to crayons. I really didn't think she would be all that interested in it after her normal five seconds of attention span, but WHOA! She totally loved it. She giggles when she makes a mark on the paper with the crayon. She likes to look at all the colors, makes a very careful choice, and then goes to town. I have also noticed that unlike her big sister, she is pretty much using only her right hand. She does use her left some, but she starts out with the right, and usually goes back to it. So, I am thinking that she is probably a "rightie".
