Happy New Year... our 2009...

The best year of my life has been 2009. We welcomed Anya Elizabeth into our lives and our hearts. Here's to 2010.. a year that will be filled with memories, laughter, first words, first steps and lots of love and hugs.

I wish you all a wonderful year full of good health and love.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! <3

Dolly

I feel like a young girl again dressing up my little doll :-) Anya's grandma gave her some adorable outfits for Christmas...
My sister put her hair in a little bow this afternoon :)

Christmas continued

On Christmas day we headed down to my parents house where Anya was spoiled wonderfully with gifts from my parents and sister. She received a bunch of toys, a new coat, hat & mittens, clothes, and more.. and she loved it all especially the tissue and bows!

In the early evening we always walk across the street to the Milligans house to celebrate with them. It was great to see them and watch Madelyn walking around and opening gifts :)

My dad was in his glories all day holding and playing with Anya. He carried her on our walk and was very careful to not slip :)

Dwight, Anya and I spent the rest of the weekend at my sister and Martys house. We had a great time and the guys went to the Pats game on Sunday while Jill and I took Anya out to lunch. On Monday we all went to the Bass Pro shop so that the guys could use some gift cards. We showed Anya the fish tank and the moose. She was so exhausted but hung in there for lunch afterwards. It was a packed weekend of fun! Today my mom and sister are coming up to go out for fondue and wine with me while Dwight gets some daddy time.. hooray :)

Christmas Morning

Today was our first Christmas morning as a family. Dwight woke up with Anya and I slept in while he cooked breakfast. We laughed that this is probably the last year we can cook breakfast before gifts are opened. Next year we may be able to but probably not ;) We gave Anya her stocking first and then gifts. She loved the wrapping paper and picked up each gift to taste it. She is napping right now and once she wakes up we are heading down to my parents house to celebrate with my family. More pictures and stories to come! Here is Anya with a bunch of her gifts ...

Anya's birthstone is Emerald and I got a beautiful ring from Dwight to celebrate this special year!

Christmas Eve

We had Dwight's mom, grandma, brother and aunt Kathy over today to celebrate the holidays. Anya's grandma spoiled her with adorable outfits and the rest of the family contributed to her college fund.. yay :) We had some yummy food and it was so nice to spend time together.

After our company left we headed to Christmas eve mass. Walking into church the walkway was lit with candles.. it was so simple yet amazing. The inside was decorated with candles and wreaths in the windows and a beautiful Christmas tree up at the front. The mass included many carols and pieces from the Bible. Anya was dressed in her holiday outfit complete with her Santa hat. She had smiles and coos as she looked at the lights and listened to the music. Dwight looked over at her and smiled and I knew he understood how great it was to share this moment with me. The end of the mass included everyone singing Silent Night as the lights were dimmed. I will never forget how I felt being there with Dwight and Anya on our first Christmas as a family. It was simply magical and probably the best moment I will feel in a long time. Thank you God.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Birthday Dad! We all love you so much! Because of you, Jill and I knew what to look for in a spouse. We view your lifelong of love for our mother as something that we want to have as well. We don't look at birds the same.. or the tress or the sky. We enjoy science museums and art museums. We believe in ourselves because you have always been proud of us, and have never been too shy to say it. We know more about cars and hold the flashlight well ;) We feel comfortable with painting any room in our home by ourselves. We appreciate Simon and Garfunkel, The Rolling Stones, The Rascals and most bands out of the 60s and 70s for that matter. Our children will grow up with dancing around the living room and the quick humor you have taught us. Now I get to share you with my own daughter and call you Grampy. You have been the best father to your girls and we are all so lucky to have you in our lives. Love you and have a wonderful birthday! XOXO

Hibernation

Tonight Dwight was wondering where Herman was. He went looking for him. I heard him call to me to go upstairs to see where he found the cat. Hoping Herman was NOT in the crib, I grabbed the camera. Thankfully, he was nowhere near the crib and this is what Dwight had found... a big lump in our bed. I took a picture and then we lifted the blanket to see if he was okay. What a silly cat, he must have been cold.



Anya loves to look at Herman so I have been pointing to him and saying 'cat'. I swear she has repeated 'd-at' after my 'cat'. Wouldn't it be funny if cat becomes her first word winning over dada and mama? Anya does say dada now but we aren't sure if she understands what she is saying or if she just likes to hear herself say 'dada', 'dadadada'.. sometimes it sounds like 'daddy'. She has spent the past couple days repeating it all day, sometimes loud and sometimes in a quiet little whisper. I love the little whisper and I usually whisper 'dadadada' back at her. We do love her dada so why not share our little secret together? :)

Here is a picture of Anya playing with her new penguin friend. She loves to hit him to make him play music.

I heart 7 months

Can it be true? Anya is 7 months today! When I look at the birthday counter on the left I just can't believe it. We are closer to 1 year old than 1 day old now. I am in love with 7 months. She sits up and plays and doesn't get into everything around the house. I trust her to sit there independently surrounded by toys (with pillows behind her just in case) while I get things done around the house. She is silly and gives us laughs and says dadadadadada. We can sit her up in highchairs in restaurants and the front of the grocery cart. She loves to look around and I love knowing she isn't in her car seat as long. She can play with more toys now and hits buttons to make things play. She will rock back on the couch to music or jump in her jumper to music. She is pretty good at standing up now if you are holding on to her. This morning I sat her in front of the computer on my lap and we went to the Sesame Street website. She smiled and watched Elmo sing a Christmas song. She tried to touch the keys like I do. She tells us what she wants a lot more now. She will make noises if something she wants is out of reach. She shows anger by making a face and noises if you take something away that she wants. She loves cups, shopping lists, sunglasses and the remote control. She is wearing some 9 month clothing already. She fits into 6-12 months, and still fits in most 6 month clothing. I am putting away her 3-6 month clothes. She is becoming more of a picky eater. She would eat almost any pureed food I gave her but now she makes faces and wont eat much of it if it is too tart or if she doesn't like the taste. I am hoping this is a stage and I am going to continue to keep giving a large variety of foods. She is still either sleeping through the night (12 hours) or waking up after 9-11 hours for 2 oz and then going back down for the rest of the night.
I sat her up in her crib to play with her rain forest toy and her mirror. She loved it.

Watjus Christmas Party

Yesterday was the annual Watjus Christmas party and we had a great time at Deb and Matt's house. Anya loved seeing her cousins. The Watjus girls are great at producing more girls ;-) Santa came to the party too! It was a priceless moment to see Anya on Santa's lap. The last photo shows a new bib that we got from my cousin Christine and her family. It says, "Finnish girls are best"... so cute! She got a lot of cute new toys that we are going to play with today while it snows out. It was the first time that she ripped wrapping paper off of a gift. She loved it and wanted to eat the bows. :)

Her father's daughter

In the morning when Anya wakes I change her diaper, bring her downstairs, she gets her breakfast bottle, and then I prop her on the couch surrounded by toys while I make coffee and my breakfast and/or Dwight's lunch. Around this time Dwight is getting up and coming down the stairs. Anya hears him and stares at the stairway waiting to see him. When she sees him there is a huge smile and happy kicks. She looooves him.
This morning Dwight had left for work before we had gotten very far into our morning routine. I was making coffee and I heard the TV go on in the living room. I go in and Anya is holding the remote control watching TV! She is definitely Dwight's daughter :-) Once in a while I will put a Baby Einstein video on for her and she loves it. I showed her how to put PBS on. ;-)

On other topics.. she is going to cut her 4th tooth soon (top left). Her gums are swollen so I can't wait for that stinkin' tooth to pop through and put us both out of agony. I hate knowing that she is in pain. She is a trooper about it but I can tell when she isn't herself.

White Chocolate Party Mix

I have had some requests for this party mix recipe so here it is...
I have to add that it's from Annie B who I used to work with in Bow.. thanks Ann!

4 cups honey nut Cheerios
4 cups rice Chex cereal
3 cups unsalted peanuts
16 oz bag plain m&ms (red and green for Christmas)
1 lb white melting chocolate

Mix everything together in a large pan except for the chocolate.
Melt chocolate and slowly add to mixture as you stir.
Mix until well coated.
Spread on wax paper until cooled.

Enjoy!

Message from Santa

If you have a child you should try this out... Santa sends your child a message from the North Pole! He knows what your child wants and if they have been good or bad.
Click on this link: Message from Santa and fill in the blanks for your special message from him.

You can have Santa send an adult a funny one as well :-)

6 month appointment

We had Anya's 6 month appointment today. She will turn 7 months in one week so it should be called her 7 month appointment. She weighs 17 lbs 2 oz (60%) and she is 27 inches long (78%). She is doing wonderfully and developing nicely. I love her pediatrician. She doesn't rush us and stands and talks with me for a long time before she even does her exam.

There is a questionnaire that you get while you wait for the doctor. This questionnaire asks new questions each visit pertaining to developing milestones such as sitting up, rolling over, what she is eating, etc. The last question is always the same, "Has having a baby added stress to your life?" Each visit I laugh at this question. Today I wrote "haha" under it and checked off 'yes'. Anya's doctor got a kick out of that and laughed with me. I can't imagine anyone checking off 'no' ... it's worth every bit of stress.. but 'duh'. ;)

We got her immunizations and she made a 'yuck' face for the oral, and whimpered for the 1st shot.. cried for the 2nd and 3rd. I hate that part but it's over with until 12 months (none at her 9 month appt) yippee! I decided to make an appointment for the seasonal flu shot. I figure she is getting enough shots for one day. Her pediatrician is very open to spreading out vaccinations and I love that about her. I feel that we have control over when she gets these administered instead of being told what we have to do. So far we have gone with the regular schedule but I may spread out her vaccinations starting at 12 months. We are not going to give her the H1N1 vaccination.
I hear the little cutie pie waking up from her nap now.. gotta run :-)

You bet your pierogi we had a good time...

Here is the annual family photo at my mom's side Christmas party. We counted and there are 31 of us.. 32 if you count Evan who is in Nicole's belly! We are missing 2 people in the picture due to a sick Brian and his dad. The next photos are of the kids. My nana now has 9 great grandchildren.. next year it will be 10. It was such a wonderful time as always. We enjoyed the company, the kids loved the gifts (Anya got some great ones!), and the food was delicious (pierogies!). The adults had some laughs during the yankee swap game.

Pollock Lunch

Today we went to my aunt Bettys for lunch with the Pollocks :-) My moms side is 100% Polish. It was a fantastic time and Anya loved looking around at everyone. I loved talking with my cousin's daughters, Ashly and Jessica. I love these girls. Here are a couple pics..