Counting Down to Christmas...

A couple of weekends ago, we took the kids to see a Christmas parade, but it wasn't the type of parade you may think of when you hear the term "Christmas parade."  There were no traditional floats, though there were festive Christmas costumes and parade participants passing out candy.  Santa was there, too, but there were no local bands or many of the entries you might expect.  There were lots and lots of marchers though, both two-legged and four-legged in fact.  It was a local favorite, one we attended this year for the first time, the "Reindog Parade."  We all agreed the parade was quite funny!  I think it's safe to say attending the Reindog Parade will now be a December tradition in our family.  (For the humans in the family, not our dog!)

Some highlights~~~~~

our ballerina

My favorite part of this was how Hope kept smiling throughout the dance.  I could just watch this over and over!

p.s. Grandparents and special family friends... mark your calendars... the recital will be May 30th.  :)

O Christmas Tree

Cheesy title, I know... But, hey, it's my blog, so I can be cheesy if I want to.

It's hard to believe that it's been almost two weeks since Steve & I decorated our Christmas tree with Geoffrey & Hope.  I have been slow in taking the time to share some photos, so here I am to do just that.

not a baby...

Hope is having a very proud day today!  Little Miss Independence has let go of something which has been very important to her... her binky.  See, she has been very attached to her pacifier, and we have been patiently waiting for her to be ready... ready to not need it anymore.  We knew she would arrive at the moment on her own, and purposely did not rush her.  Though she was only allowed to use the binky at bedtime, she was always insistent each night that she have it.  She wouldn't go to sleep without it, and some nights she would wake up and cry when she could not find it.

See this happy girl?  This is Hope getting ready for bed tonight, knowing that (for the 3rd night running) she would be going to bed without her binky.  She was so proud!

Hope's fun idea was to leave out her binky for the "Binky Fairy," who she hopes will take the binky and, in exchange, leave her a surprise.  :)

Here's Hope's "Bye-bye Binky" song:

Inspired by Elmo of Sesame Street:

So, you may wonder why this moment has made it onto this blog... after all, it may not seem to be a very big deal to anyone else.  That's okay.  It's a big deal to us.  Hope is really growing up, and this is just one more step in that journey.  For whatever reason, this binky was important to Hope.  So, now that she is ready to let it go we're just reminded of how she really is not a baby anymore.  

But like I told Hope today, she will always by my baby girl.  Love you, Hope!

'Tis the Season

Ho!  Ho!  Ho!

And how cute are these kids?!?

lots of love

not my usual hair post

I don't get to see my parents as often as I would like, but when I do one of the things I love to do is braid my dad's hair.  Yes, I said my dad's hair.

When my dad began growing his hair, it seems that a lot of people had a hard time accepting that.  His new image somehow didn't fit in with their expectations of him.  Myself, I love it!  I am happy to see my dad being exactly who he wants to be (long hair and all).