Christmas

Dominic is one smart kid! I can see that Christmas in the future will be a tricky endeavour! Already he is pointing out the people "pretending" to be Santa. He won't go anywhere near them! Thankfully we found the real Santa downtown and he very happily went to him and took a picture. He even told him the gift he has been asking for since Halloween, a baby lion cub. (The coolest thing ever, check it out http://www.wowwee.com/en/products/toys/plush/alive/cubs:lion-cub)

He had a great time decorating the tree and was very good with the ornaments. Daddy and I have a penchant for blown glass ornaments and I was a little worried but the kids did great putting them on the tree. We only had one casualty which mommy really should have moved to a higher branch!

Dominic was very excited about Christmas morning and was so excited to open all of his presents. He opened Samantha's as well! He was thrilled to get the baby lion and was excited to see the presents at Gee & Papa's house. Now we're having a great week (mommy took vacation) playing with the new toys and hanging out.

The Polar Express

This year, we decided with Gee & Papa to skip the presents to each other and instead go to the Polar Express in NH. We had a wonderful weekend with snow, sleigh rides and a great trip to the North Pole. The kids were mesmerized by Santa and enjoyed the carols. Dominic is still dissapointed that the man didn't punch his ticket like in the movie but had a wonderful time!

Cooking with Daddy!

Dominic loves cooking and is really able to help out now!

Goofy Pics!

Soome goofy pics of my handsome boy!

YES WE CAN!!

God Bless President Obama! This is the beginning of something special!


America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we cant, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can. Thank you, God bless you, and may God Bless the United States of America

Trick-or-Treat!

We had another wonderful night for trick or treating! Dominic did a great job in his dragon costume although he was a little quieter this year with the "trick or treats." One house really spooked him out (the girl kind of spooked me out too standing very still with a creepy mask on!) but otherwise he kept saying "let's go get more"! We did a good 15 houses or so before Dominic said it was time to go back which was perfect timing since we all needed dinner and it was starting to get cold. We even got a goody bag from the police and a glow stick from the fire departmeent.

First Snow

We had the first snow of the year which I love seeing around Dominic's birthday. It snowed the day we took him home from the hospital and I love having that first snow around the same time. It makes me nostalgic!

A few day before we had VT Gas come to switch us over to natural gas. (It's been a long process, we signed the contract the 1st of June, but who can afford oil?) Anyways, when they were here Dominic saw our Christmas Pooh Bear and asked to take it out. I said no, we have to have Halloween first and then when it gets colder and snows around Christmas time we can take it out. So it started snowing and I showed Dominic and he said "Wow, snow! We can take out Pooh Bear now!" He remembers everything!!!

Daddy's Pumpkin

(sigh) This was daddy's idea. Dominic thought it was pretty gross that the pumpkin was "sick." Don't worry though, we did have some more traditional pumpkins as well.

Party Time

On the 25th we had a Harry Potter themed birthday party for Dominic which went great! We had lots of people, all the kids played so nice together. They had a great time playing in the leaves and decorating pumpkins. It was so nice to see Cole, Charlotte and Aidyn (and of course their parents too!) who we don't get to see much of.

I am so proud of this poster! I did it in photoshop and it came out great. We had them hanging up around the house for the party.
My attempt at a golden snitch!

Decorating pumpkins!


Playing in the leaves!


Presents!!! (Which the kids did very well with!)

Dominic loved all of his presents but his favorites have been the Diego play house (thank you Jorja!) and the Handy Manny truck and work set. (thanks Gee and Papa!) Occasionally, Godzilla or the Gargoyles have been breathing fire on Diego's house, I'm not sure why. (three guesses who gave him those) Our present to Dominic was a Cars bike which we haven't had a chance to take out yet but which Samantha thinks she can ride!

Dominic is 3!

To my baby on his 3rd birthday,

Three years old? How can that possibly have happened? I've loved every minute of being your mom and I'm so proud of you. You are so caring of others and are wonderful with Samantha. Your perception and empathy are your best features and they will serve you well in life.

I love you babe!

Happy Birthday,

Love,
Mommy

When you're bigger

We were in the potty the other day and Dominic told me that I could go potty standing. I said, No mommy can't do that. He said "It's hard to do. Maybe when you're bigger you can." LOL! I love the things he says!

Sometimes...

Sometimes I forget that Dominic is only two, soon to be three this coming week. He is so big and speaks to us so well. He's so creative and has started making up his own lyrics to songs and he is so perceptive that sometimes I forget that he is only two. In fact the other day Daddy was injured at work. Dominic asked what happened and I told him that daddy got a boo boo at work but he went to the doctor and he's ok. Dominic asked me if a shark ate his hand. I said no he just banged it. "With a hammer? My hammer?" I said no, nothing like that he just hit it on something. He looked at me very seriously and asked me "What?" I didn't want to tell him that it was on a person, I don't want Dominic to stress out but I'm thinking who knew it would be this hard to gloss something over to an almost three year old?! He doesn't miss a thing!

Getting Pumpkins

Dominic was very excited about getting pumpkins this year. He had a great time picking them out and now we have three giant pumpkins to carve as well as some little ones for decoration. Holidays are so much more fun with little kids!

Bronx Zoo

I was so glad that Daddy and the kids were able to come with me to my conference in White Plains. I don't think I would have gone if they couldn 't come. Well, on the last day we went to the Bronx Zoo. It was great! It was a huge zoo and we missed some things but the kids loved it. Dominic especially wanted to see the giraffe's and really enjoyed all of the animals. They both love the sea lions and feeding fries to the peacocks.

Harvest Festival

I can't believe how big the Adam's Apple Orchards Harvest Festival has gotten. They estimated they had 5-6 thousand people this year! I remember when it was just a cash register in their garage. Dominic had a blast playing on the bouncy castle and picking apples. We even saw a baby kangaroo that hadn't left the pouch yet, it was so tiny!

Dominic and Jorja

On Saturday we went to a BBQ at Lauren and Brad's house. The weather was pretty miserable but everyone had a great time anyway!

Labor-day BBQ

On labor day we had a few people over for an impromptu BBQ. It was a beautiful day and very relaxing. The kids played together with no real mishaps and the adults chatted in the corner. The kids had a blast and got absolutely disgusting! Needless to say, everyone got baths before they went in their pj's!

Pooping Worm

I am frequently amazed with the conversations you have with small children when you are a parent. One of these happened the other day while we were getting ready for daycare.

Dominic was sitting on the potty and I was trying to pull up Samantha's hair. She was wriggling everywhere and I said "You stop being such a wiggle-worm." Dominic asked "What happened?" I said "Oh nothing, Samantha is just being a wiggle-worm wiggling all over the place."

*silence*

Dominic: "I'm not a wiggle-worm, I'm a pooping-worm!"

(I love this kid!)

To Infinity and Beyond!!

Each time Dominic would swing from this rope he would yell "To Infinity and Beyond!!!"