~ SOMETIMES...IT JUST TAKES TIME ~

The other day Eddie comes to me and says, "guess who I want to marry when I grow up!", and of course, I had to ask :) And do you know what he said?

"MIA!!"

We have come a looooooooooong way to get to this point. When Mia was first home, Eddie had such a difficult time adjusting to being a big brother, being the middle brother and sharing the attention. I honestly felt guilty, worried and sad. I know this happens all time when a new baby is brought home; but when Mia came home she really needed extra attention because of her fears. Eddie needed extra attention...because of his fears and frustrations, etc. It was tough.

But sometimes... it just take a little bit of time -

and things fall into place :)

*Oh, I almost forget to mention the rest of our conversation. So, after saying he wanted to marry Mia, I said to him "boy, you must really love her!" and she said yes. Then, he said, "yeah, and she takes real good care of me!" Which is very true; if Eddie forgets to take off his shoes when he comes inside...Mia will go over to him on the sofa and take them off! She will accompany him upstairs when he's afraid to go by himself - they have been having so much fun playing "mom & dad" and other cute "skits". Very sweet :)

~ BITS & PIECES ~

It's been busy, it's been fun and of course, with my three kiddos; it's been a crazy time of year. We are all ready for Christmas ~ I do have more shopping to do and more cookies to bake, but we are all so excited for Christmas...

But, my husbands family celebrates Hanukkah and he was honestly never interested in celebrating, so I haven't pushed it in the past. Unfortunately, his parents are no longer with us and I can see how he misses them, the traditions they had; so in recent years I've tried to "make" a Hanukkah celebration.

So, on Friday I called him and told him not to pick up our usual-Friday-night-pizza (Mia was a bit thrown off - she loves routine :) Instead, Anthony helped me prepare a brisket and potato pancakes... to my GREAT surprise our Hanukkah dinner came out really good! Last year my pancakes were too...well, pureed - this year I shredded them to perfection! The brisket was on the small side...it was the last one left at St*p n Sh*p; and I changed around his mom's recipe to put it in the crock pot with the potatoes & carrots - yummy!

Yeah, it felt this good to do something for our daddy,

who does SO much for us!
Miss Mia will ONLY wear dresses these days :)
Something I always dreamed of...a real girly-girl;
but it's hard to have a dress for every-single-day!

Mia loves this dress and I love how she calls it
"Hell* Kitty-Cat"...she's been saying the cutest things lately!

Mia's speech is really booming now and I love how she can tell me how she's feeling. Now she is working on saying "I" instead of "Mia-My". I'm really going to miss hearing "Mia-my do a puzzle" or "Mia-my eat-snack-hungry"... just have to love the "eat-snack-hungry" ~ it really does say it all :) Another real cute phrase is "pee pee TOO bad" when she has to go to the bathroom!

Her speech therapist really seems to enjoy her time with Mia.
She said to me the other day, "boy is she f-u-n-n-y" and I
told her...you have no idea what a day with my little miss is like...

F-U-N doesn't even begin to describe it :)
She is just amazing
and
I
love
her
to
pieces :)

~ MY CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON WITH MEGGIE ~

Yesterday mommy brought me to P*nera Bre*d to meet my China sister, Meaghan Grace. We had lunch together and exchanged presents. I had a ball!

I am sooooo excited to see Meg,

I can hardly stand it!

I am such a happy girl :)

Meggie couldn't wait to open her presents!

We always have to pose for pictures

It's tough, but our mommies say we'll love to look at them one day...

Meggie and I gave each other K*i Lan tea sets and puzzles...

Meggie enjoyed her tea

Then, I told Meggie some secrets...

very important secrets...

she listened very carefully...

Then we cheered to the season

drank more and more tea

cheered some more

this is my mommy, she loves me So Very Much :)

Meggie & I had to pose a bit more...

then we decided to just run in different directions -

we were DONE with the photos mommies!

I was so exhausted mommy took this photo of me in the

car afterwards...

(I just loved this shot of Mia as she fell into a deep sleep,

and her thumb drifted out of her mouth - so sweet :)

~ OUR HOLIDAY PARTY ~

We had our party with our good friends on Sunday ~ it was fun as usual. The kids are really getting big and there were times us girls were sitting around talking by ourselves...and all the kids were playing ~ weird! It is so nice how everyone gets along so well - it makes for a good, good time:

We tells the kids, "if you want to open presents,

you have to take a nice photo!"

It works!

Mia, Maxwell, Madison & Eddie

waiting for their presents!

Ant with a bow on top!

Happy boy!

(This Gl*w Station is an awesome gift -

you draw with this glow wand/stick -

all the kids got a kick out of it!)

Lex is liking her game!

Another happy boy!
These building block where a hit :)
Look what Maddy got!

We had them open one at a time, in the past it's gotten crazy

and you couldn't tell who got what from whom!

This worked real well :)

The face of Christmas :)

Eddie with his Aunt Debbie

hugs for Aunt Michie

Hugs for Aunt Barb

Mia & Maddy both got these adorable

Str*wberry Sh*rtcake cafes, they are real cute

a great gift!

Eddie is So into the Cl*ne Tr**pers this year

this blaster is awesome,

you can take it apart and make it in different ways.

The kids table

Eating in style in the dinningroom :)

The dads playing with their girls :)

Mia LOVES being tossed around!

Too much!

Deb, me, Barb & Mich

Thanks girls for another great night!

~ CHRISTMAS TEA ~

It's that time of year again, for our Christmas tea at the cutest little tea house! My girlfriends and I had such a great time, as always. Thanks girls for a great night out together ~ it was a great way to kick off the season ~ love you guys!