Christmas...in Williamsburg

After a really nice afternoon at the Buehrig's, we took our annual drive down to Williamsburg to celebrate Christmas with the Carlson's. It's a nice easy drive since the girls usually sleep and there is absolutely no traffic on the road...which is unlikely for 95! By the time we arrived, the girls were geared up to go again for another round of presents and attention from Mamo, Pappy, and Aunt Monica! And although unusual for Williamsburg, we received a ton of snow on Christmas day which really made the holiday festive. We had a great time in Williamsburg and especially enjoyed having everyone there!

Out in the Christmas snow!

Caroline managed pretty well despite her cold little hands!

Mamo in the kitchen with Caroline...we enjoyed many delicous meals!

Pappy and Caroline

The original Carlson four!

Christmas...in Reston!

After so many fun events that led us to Christmas, the Carlson family had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas day. All Ella wanted for Christmas was princess stickers and princess scissors. Easy enough for Santa! Caroline of course didn't care either way but certainly enjoyed the festivities and tearing up the wrapping paper! After our traditional Christmas Eve mass and visit to McCormick & Schmidts for drinks and appetizers, we came home to leave Santa cookies and milk and open just on present under the tree...such the tease for Ella!
By the morning, both girls were quite excited and after we spent some time with the four of us, we headed to Erika's parents home to continue the Christmas celebrations!

Erika with her girls

Mommy's coat. Caroline is wearing a coat that Erika wore as a little girl!

At McCormick's - Erika and Caroline strike a pose!

Ella with her daddy

Caroline couldn't let go of the fries and ketchup!

Leaving cookies and milk for Santa

So very very excited! Christmas morning - let the fun begin!

Caroline opening up one of her first Christmas gifts...so intent!

Santa was good to us! Ella got her princess stickers and Erika got her iphone!

At the Buehrig's - snuggling with daddy

Ella with her Nani

Opa trying on her new ski helmet!

Erika and her bro

Winter Storm

We had our first winter storm that resulted in some snow accumulation and definitley got us into the Christmas spirit! Everyone seemed to love the snow, including Cooper of course, although it was hard for Caroline to hang with the "big" kids...keeping her mittens on is an art form, if she didn't throw them off herself! So, once her hands got too cold, she was ready to warm up inside! With two children and 4 mittens/gloves to keep track of, Erika is wondering why someone hasn't created a way to make it easy to keep little hands warm! For example, what about a shirt that has mittens built into the sleeves (imagine footies of winter PJs??

Taking a play break to enjoy a chocolate chip cookie!

Enjoying the snow!

Working on her snow angel!


Can you tell Caroline has a fascination with balls? And her enthusiasm apparently includes SNOWballs, too; however, the placement of them was purely candid but regardless makes for a funny shot!

Cookies and Friends

Ella had some of her favorite buddies over for a little Christmas cookie decorating party and all the girls had so much fun! After squeeking and running through the house in delight, they eventually settled down and decorated some beautiful (and rather very ornate!) cookies to take home and enjoy! Even Caroline was in on the action and Ella and Erika had a good time getting ready for the party! Of course Erika had planning on taking more than just one picture but with all the excitement, the camera got forgotten...oops!

Busy little chef; rolling out the dough and making cookies!


Girls and frosting and cookies, oh my! And, the picture is missing Isabelle and Caroline!

Sisterly Love

More and more these days, we've noticed a big difference in the way Ella and Caroline play together. It might be partly due to the fact that Caroline has taken an increased interest in what Ella does these days: they love to push the baby strollers around the house, they carry their purses on their shoulder, and they love to sit and read books together. Plus, while Caroline still plays well independently, she seems to be growing out of that typical parallel play phase. At any rate, and aside of course from the occasional pushing and "no, Caroline, you can't have that!", they are really entertaining to watch! Lastly, the two of them have started to develop little sisterly routines together; at snack time, they sit on the stairs and share their snack or when Caroline wakes up first from nap, she goes straight to E's room to get her up. Sometimes, they are two peas in a pod!

Life

Recently, we've added "Tell Me What I did Today" to Ella's nightly ritual, per her request. It all began when Erika, while tucking her in one night, just generally commented on the busy and fun day she had just had. Well, apparently Ella likes hearing what well, what Ella did each day. So now, after story, kisses and hugs, and extra water, it's "tell me what I did today." And tonight was no different. Unfortunately for us, "what I did today" has developed into a very detailed play-by-play string of events. Erika's been corrected several times about pieces she left out; even tonight she was interuppted by Ella who said "no, wait Mommy. Remember? You forgot to tell me that I spilled the yogurt at lunch." (Oh right! How could Erika forget THAT mess!) So, 5 minutes into her "story" tonight, we'd only just gotten to the breakfast segment of her day:

Erika: So, we were running late for school so mommy put some cereal in a plastic bag for you to eat on the way to school. You also wanted your vitamin (red) in the bag too in addition to your choice of two different cereals: Kix and Life. You also had a clementine...(interruption)....

Ella: Wait. Life? But I don't need a life.

How does one continue the "tell me what I did today" story after that!?

Christmas Preparations

We definitely got excited for Christmas this year, mostly because having children really brings the magic and fun back in this all-time favorite holiday! As is the tradition, we attend Wolf Trap's Christmas Caroling with Opah on the first Sunday of December. And yes, it's been bitterly cold the past few years! With hot cocoa, doughnuts, and bells in hand, we enjoyed an hour of caroling and jingling as we sang some classic and favorite tunes. Ella was great, despite the cold although Caroline found it hard to enjoy the night. Even though we had blankets to bundle up in, she sat through a few songs before finding that it was more enjoyable to walk around! For the second year now, Sparkle, our little elf came back for his morning visits and challenges the girls to find his new hiding place. Ella was totally into it and even Caroline eventually understood the new tradition; wake up and "where's Sparkle?" It was very cute to watch them scan the house looking for him! And finally, the stockings were hung and the tree went up!

Caroling at Wolf Trap...it was cold!

Ella with her Opah

Caroline "helping" with the tree decorating...more like "un"decorating....one ornament on, one ornament taken off by Caroline!

Decorating the tree!

Christmas is alot of work...taking a car snooze...

Watching Tim light a fire for tree decorating...

...and the stockings are hung!

Thanksgiving in Tulsa!

This year, we headed out to Tulsa for our annual family reunion with Erika's family and it marked Caroline's first experience on the plane and luckily, she was great - no aisle pacing was necessary! But best of all, it was wonderful to see everyone and we had a chance to meet the newest addition to the family; little Marin is the sweet little girl to Kristin and Dirac! The long weekend was spent with family combined with lots of good shopping, delicious meals, and good laughs!

On the plane with the girls..just about to take off!

All the cousins with their GIRLS!

Little Caroline with her mommmy

Cousin Cory with his niece Marin.

Ella is all smiles when she's with her cousin Anne-Perry.

The whole gang....as good as it's gonna get!

Thanksgiving Day...Ella does not look amused one bit!

Ella Goes to the Dentist!

We started prepping Ella for the trip to the dentist several weeks before her visit and even had her accompany Erika for her last visit, too. Given her resistance and apparent lack of enthusiasm, we decided to drop the whole dentist thing until we were one day away from her first teeth cleaning. Despite her obstinate attitude however, she was absolutely perfect during the entire visit. Of course the dentist and dental hygienist were absolutely wonderful and did a great job with Ella!

Looking a little glum and not at all excited about this dental visit...

Doing great!

Teeth are clean and look good!

Just a typical day...

After looking through some of the random pictures that were taken, they seemed worthy of a blog post as they sure do sum up some of the typical days Erika experience's at the house!

Having fun with a toy basket!

Look at me, Mommy!

Hmmm, turn around for a minute and she's into something! Apparently, something caught Caroline's eye on the console but a failed attempt to reach it left her stuck! Erika had ran upstairs to grab something only to come downstairs to find Caroline in quite an unhappy predicament!

Someone is sleepy! On the way home from a birthday party.