Welcome Ariana Rose!

On January 6th Becky & James welcomed Ariana Rose into the world! She was born at 2:47 pm and weighed just 6 lbs 6 ozs and was 20 inches long. We all went down for a visit the following weekend to meet her. She's such an adorable little peanut!

 Sophie LOVES her new cousin. She was so excited to hold her, and kiss her, and hug her... She even brushed her hair, which she has quite a bit of. 

I get to go back down in a few weeks to visit again, and I can't wait! 

Snowy January

This winter has been cold and snowy. We had our coldest day since we've lived in Philly, with a high of just 7! Sophie has done some good sledding, but Lauren definitely prefers being in the warm indoors (just like her mama...). Here they are all bundled up and ready to go outside. 

 Our best mode of transportation on a few days has been the sled... 

Lauren 1 Year Check-Up

Lauren had her year check up just a few days after the new year. She's weighing in a 21 lbs and is 29 inches long. That puts her in 71% for weight the 58% for height. She's still not quite walking, but getting very close. She'll happily walk when someone is holding her hand...but still isn't confident enough to do it on her own. Here's the happy girl standing confidently.

Happy First Birthday Lauren!

Three days after Christmas we celebrated Lauren's first birthday. My parents came up from Virginia and the Sharps came in from New Jersey. It was a small family get together, which was perfect right after the big holiday. It also prompted us to un-decorate Christmas and decorate for a birthday party.

Here's the birthday girl in her special birthday hat

 This bouncer was a Christmas present, but she was still enjoying the heck out of it on her birthday. 

 Let her eat cake! Chocolate cake to be precise. She liked it too. 

 The birthday crew

Merry Christmas

We spent Christmas this year with the Sharps in New Jersey. It was a relaxing few days, with a lot of family on Christmas afternoon. Christmas morning was quiet with just Mom Mom, Pop Pop, me, Dave and the girls (and the dogs too of course). Sophie is very into Hello Kitty right now and got a matching pair of gloves and a hat from Lauren (what good taste at such an early age...)

Sophie's big present was a bike (without pedals, the "new" training wheels). She struggled with it a bit, so we'll need to keep practicing. 

My attempt to get a good picture of the girls together... 

Lauren in her new outfit from Nana

Sophie's favorite present was a box of dress-up clothes from the Boyles. She's a girl through and through. Here she is sporting one of the dresses, complete with gloves and clip-on earrings. 

Becky's Baby Shower

The family all came up this weekend to celebrate Becky's coming baby. I put together a shower at Figs, a restaurant just a block away from our house. Family from PA, NJ and NY all came. Despite the snowy weather, everyone came and had a great time catching up, eating and looking through all of the presents. 

Me, the mom-to-be and mom

 Becky and Yvonne, Jame's sister

 Becky and her loot

 The whole group

Snow Angels!

We've already gotten three big snow storms so far this winter. Last week school was closed early because of the snow, so Amy and I got the girls together to go sledding down a hill close to our house. However, Sophie and Claire were more interested in making snow angels than sledding. They had a blast, despite the freezing temperatures (which they didn't even seem to feel).