Cousin It?

Or Miss M. I found her, entertaining herself like this the other day. She seriously walked around like this for a good couple of minutes. She even walked into a wall, but giggled and kept going. Ah, to be one again!

Heeheehee

Miss M is so silly! She is constantly clowning around and making both us and herself laugh. She is learning so much right now too. I love this age! They are just like a little sponge. She knows so many words and puts them into little sentences now. "Where did he go?" "I don't know" "Cup please!" "Where's Daddy" I left for work the other day and she yelled "have a good day!" Amazing to me! She also has learned quite a few songs and can sing a good portion of them all by herself. He current favorite is "I'm bringing home my baby bumblebee." She also loves "Jingle Bells", the ABCs, and "Wheels on the Bus." I just shake my head in wonder at all that she knows, same as I did N at this age....and now for that matter.

One of my favorite things to do is to read my baby book and see pieces of me in my kids after reading what I was like at their age. For example, my book says that at 15 months, when told the word "no", I would throw myself on the floor and cry like my heart had been broken. Anyone that has ever told Miss M "no", knows that she feels the exact same way about this word! :)  She is also a little bookworm. Will sit on the floor for lengthy amounts of time and read book by herself.

And then there is her father in her! Haha! Oh man, are we going to be kept on our toes with this one. She is such a clown! I always say that no one can make S laugh like he can. Exactly the same with Miss M! She cracks herself up many times a day! Such a great personality. She is getting to be a bit more of a stinker lately. Testing her boundaries. Good thing she is so darn cute. She is into everything that is not hers. Even N says, "she is just so fast!" And when she gets ahold of something she shouldn't, she runs as fast as those chubby little legs will take her, giggling loudly on the way.

She's also very loving and sweet. We all get many hugs a day. She will just walk up and hug your legs. Too cute. Tonight, S and I were making dinner and she stood between us in the kitchen and patted one of each of our legs with her hands for awhile. Love you too, Sweetie Girl!

We love you M and all your sweet and silly ways!

Family gathering? Music extravaganza? J's bday party?

Well, maybe it was all rolled into one. We all went to my Aunt CJ's house partially because J & B were here, partially because it had been my Cousin JN's bday the day prior, and partially because my Aunt CJ wanted to do a "show" with N for everyone. She had bought him some tap shoes a couple months ago and they had worked out some routines. Heehee. Many pics to follow!

Buds!

Our Princess of the Day!

Sharing her juice

Hi B!

Apparently J was being amusing here

And the show begins! N and his Jingle Bells.

My cousin's kids, J and K were quickly incorporated in that night and all three did so great!

Fancy footwork

The crowd loved it!

He had it all, but the button nose! Grancy even made him eyes of coal.

There's a button nose! Way to cheese it up J!

Happy Birthday to J! She turned 29 this year. One more year until the big 3-0!

We made it our mission to try to get a good, "normal" picture of these two while they were here. This was the best I could find, though J still looks a little psycho here. Pretty cute though! B is never the problem....

Having some dessert

The N ladies. Way to go E! Tongue in the mouth!

Little K with Aunt C

Miss M playing with my Uncle P

So much fun! We sure were sad to see J & B go. N cried and said that he would like them to live at his house. It would be a bit crowded, but sure why not!

Happy 85th Birthday Grandma C!

We celebrated Grandma C's birthday a couple weeks early so that J & B could be there too. We had a yummy brunch at Grancy's house.

N declared my Cousin B his friend of the day. They played trains, and games, and read books. Thanks for being so patient, B!

Grandma C and B, having a chat...turns out that was the only shot I got of the birthday girl!

My cute hubby :)

Playing with Grancy's "noman" that she isn't supposed to touch

Little stinker, making a run for it. Being naughty is so fun!

A visit from J & B!

J & B came to visit us a couple weeks ago. They brought along a new friend this time.....her name was Kevin. Yep! She got her name prior to joining their little family and them knowing she was a she. :) She is pretty cute though and our kids loved her!

N was fascinated by Kevin...the hedgehog :o)

The kids chasing her, doing her favorite thing....running around with her head in an emtpy paper towel tube. Miss M was a little less than gentle and tried to step on kevin a few times,but N was very good with her and was so sad that she is actually nocturnal and play time was pretty limited.

Reading Walter the Farting Dog

N & B were reading all about how the body works

Oh what a day!

So, as you saw, N got himself a Lightning McQueen, big boy bike for Christmas from his G and G. On New Years Day, we went over to Grancy's to put it together and try it out down in the garage. I have to say, definitely one of my top moments so far in parenting! I don't know who was more proud....me, S, little M, Grancy, or N himself. We all were so excited. Way to go N! Such a big boy!

N's Uncle J gave him a two-wheel bike, called a Strider, awhile back that had no pedals, but no training wheels. The theory was that he would learn to balance on this by propelling it with his feet and then gliding. Then, he would never need training wheels when he got a big bike. I definitely had my doubts on this theory, but as it turns out, it works! It really took N only moments to catch on to the general idea of pedaling while balancing. Don't get me wrong, there were some crashes, but overall, he did so well! It is without a doubt his favorite thing to do these days.

All put together....just shaking with anticipation!

Dad, giving him a push

And he's off!

Loving life right now! He had this grin on the whole time.

N's cheerleader. She would clap her hands and yell "yay!" as he rode by.

What a way to start the year! Wahoo!

Grandpa's Little Buddy

While G & G were here with us over the holidays, Miss M, decided that Grandpa was definitely her new buddy! She was a little under the weather here....and managed to bruise up her face the day prior, but i still thought the picture was cute. Maybe they bonded during all that screaming on the buses at Disney! :o) Heehee

Some more holiday pics

The Sunday after Christmas, we had over the immediate V family. Here are a few pics from that night.

Two Grandma V's

Cheeeeese!

Heeheehee

Hangin' out, waiting for dinner

N is singing Jingle Bells to J, through the stethoscope. It was pretty funny.

Kisses from Daddy

This is N "playing his banjo"...something he started in Disneyworld and makes us all laugh soooo hard.

P, trying to catch some banjo playing on video

Outfit #2! We had ribs for dinnner. :)

Little Miss S

Clutching her Elmo that she got from Uncle D for Christmas

N could NOT be more excited about this present from G & G.....a Lightning McQueen bike!!

So much fun, so little time. We love you all!

The V's