2nd Christmas Celebration

Becky's parents left on Saturday 12/26 and with more snow predicted for this week (it was a bust) we left in a hurry to my parents' house on Sunday afternoon. We would have never gotten on the road so soon without Beth. Aunt Beth pitched in again and kept Ally occupied so we could get the car packed and the house ready. We dropped her off at the bus station on our way out of town.

I don't know if its because she is getting older, or if its pre-school and all that socialization without us, or if its that she has seen my parents a lot this fall, but Ally was right at home - she got out of the car and ran over to see my mom (Ally slipped on the icy driveway - but the spirit was there). It was pretty neat. Usually she is extremely clingy when we get there and only warms up when its time to leave. This trip was the opposite - clingy to us at the end, which I think is b/c she was tuckered out from all the visiting and gifts and excitement. She was pretty happy to get home today. This picture was taken soon after we arrived. Its only a 3 1/2 hour drive but Ally was great - slept for about 60 minutes, played quietly and watched Clifford for about an hour. She also stayed dry in her pull-up the entire trip. 3 hours and 30 minutes and perfectly dry! We had her wear a pull-up so she could nap in the car and not have to worry. We were impressed. On the way home today she did it again - we stopped for Becky and I to use the bathroom but Ally said she didn't have to go, and she did not.

My mom got an i-pod for Christmas from Gruncle (her brother, Phil). We got her an i-tunes gift card and some headphones. Becky spent most of the past 2 days setting it up, downloading music, and showing my mom how to use it. Mom was pretty good at it. Way to go Barb!

My dad and I received matching oven mits. Becky got one too - hers was the Patriots, not the Giants.

Ally wore her new Pinkalicious pajamas to bed (yes with Woody from Toy Story socks - gotta love it!). My Aunt Martha found these - they are adorable. Tonight Ally demanded to wear them again. Good thing we did laundry as soon as we came home.

Tried to drop myself out of this picture - its a bad shot of me - but I had to show you what Ally was wearing.

And not wearing. We had a fire going in the family room and she was hot so she stripped down and proceeded to dance and jump around.

Ally got a really cool game from my bff Michelle and her family.

Ally loves this game - she and Becky have played at least 15 times today.

Another thing from the past few days that I have not managed to get a picture of but wanted to mention is that Ally has a new favorite stuffed animal - its not as special as Ernie, but her cat animal that Grandma Debbie and Poppi gave her for Christmas is with her constantly. We named the cat Clarice (for Rudolph's girlfriend) and Ally sleeps with it and insisted it come to my parents' house with us. And grandma - she even found a new "nest" for it!

Thank-you to everyone for the special gifts that Ally received. She is a very lucky girl and we are all so blessed.

Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas!!!!

This is a pretty quick post - I have more to say and more pictures to upload, but our Internet is pretty shaky this week and so I want to get something up today asap for all of you our faithful followers. We've had a great day - Ally is pretty wiped out from "opening packages" and being the center of attention. But we've been happy to have Aunt Beth, Grandma Debbie and Poppi here to celebrate with us.

Christmas Eve morning - Becky gave Ally a special ornament that Becky made (by hand - she designed an stitched Ernie herself, no pattern and no machine - just me encouraging her). Aunt Beth made Ally the cute snowman jumper!

During the week Debbie and Ally made reindeer food - they had to leave it out for them last night so they would have something eat when Santa stopped at our house.

We went swimming at the hotel pool yesterday and then ate our traditional tamale dinner. Its one thing we do to celebrate Ally's heritage.

Christmas Morning:

Christmas morning mama and Ally wore matching socks.

Stockings were laid on the sofa with care...

Poppi was a good sport as always

mama too

I bought Ally and Becky a Lego dollhouse.

Opening gifts

Ally was pretty excited with her wand and glow stick. We did not make it thru all the present opening, and its now 5Pm and she's still not interested in more gifts!

Playing with and putting together the dollhouse was a big hit!

Poppi and Ally played together.

Even Grandma got in on the fun.

Aunt Beth stuffed the turkey!

Winter Sing

Friday 12/18/09 was the Winter Sing at Ally's preschool. They don't celebrate Holidays at her school so it was not holiday related or themed at all. Ally's class sang "One finger in front of me" The words are:

1 finger in front of me...what do you think of that

1 finger behind me...what do you think of that

1 finger above me..circling round and round

1 finger above me...that I put down

Then you sing as many verses as you want with the 2 fingers, 3 finger etc. It was pretty cute and I have a video - but they are so hard to upload.

Ally was pretty cute in her dress my mom bought from England and wearing a Rudolph & Clarice Christmas bow in her hair.

Singing along to the all school sing-a-long song Peace like a River, one of my favorites. (One of Ally's friends was on my lap - but I don't like to post pics of other kids on this blog)

I wish the program has been a little more organized, but it was pretty cute and I was glad I went. Ally and her classmates seemed to really enjoy it and that is what really matters.

Lots of snow

We got a lot of snow this past storm - about 8-10". Ally was a sport and made "snow castles" again, and cleared off the patio furniture while we cleared off the car and shoveled.

See how deep it was - over her boots!

In the morning when it was still snowing she said "snow its like rain but its snow"

Light Tour

We went on a "lights Tour" with our neighborhood group over the weekend. The local Arts organization rents trolleys for the tour and it was about an hour long ride around town in the trolley looking at lights. Ally's favorite one was Herbie (from Rudolph) all lit up! One of the first things she said to me in the morning when she woke up was "I saw Herbie in lights yesterday".

The 3 of us waiting for the tour to start

Lights - its hard to get a good picture in the dark from a moving vehicle thru a window.

After a while Ally was a little bored and was pretty happy to smile for the camera.

Gotta love the cheesy grin. - Yes its a smile she is not in any pain.

Grandma Debbie is here

She was on the only train running from DC to Boston yesterday and the trip took 2 hours longer than planned and the train was over-crowded, but Grandma Debbie arrived safely. We were so excited to see her, and of course Ally danced around showing off her "tricks & moves". Grandma Debbie is here for a whole week. She's going to spend the next 3 days with Ally while mommy & mama work. Poppy & Aunt Beth come on Wednesday. Then we'll all have a couple of days off together to celebrate Christmas!

Debbie was telling Ally about making magic reindeer dust.

"Grandma Debbie is silly" telling poems about germs and sneezing. Anything to get Ally to eat some noodles!

Santa Visit 2009

This year's picture with Santa was a family portrait. Ally refused to sit on his lap or on the rocking horse next to him. She would not even stand next to him. Santa was a good sport and tried pretty hard to coax her but she would have nothing to do with touching him.

And just so you can remember Santa 2007:

Santa visit 2007 she refused to get out of her stroller.
Oh well - maybe 2010 will be different!
It was fun anyway.

TV with mama

Sundays when the Patriots are playing Becky and Ally watch the game together after Ally's nap.

I love how serious they both look. Becky sat down and put the pillow under her own arm, so then Ally did the same. I have to admit I think its adorable still that she imitates us.

Reading with mommy

Lately Ally has been very clingy towards me. She always wants to know what I am doing and to be with me. As nice as that it is, sometimes its tough to be the chosen one. This night I was trying to get some personal space by reading a book in our bedroom. Ally came in and asked what I was doing. When I told her I was reading, she selected a book off my nightstand - its tear-jerker by Nicholas Sparks to read to herself. Then she went to get a blanket for herself. To my surprise she then posed herself just like me and proceeded to read. Sigh - sometimes personal space is over-rated. What beats this?

Saturday Dec 5

It has taken me all week to get this post complete.

Ally might be having a hard time getting asleep, but I have been having a hard time staying asleep. Last Saturday I was up at 345AM. I watched some TV, called my mom and finally around 6AM I went to Dunkin Donuts. How could I resist a pink frosted with sprinkles donut for Ally?

She loved it!


I think her smile says it all.

Later in the day Ally and Becky did Arts and Crafts. Ally had been asking for glitter. She wanted to re-create an Art project she made last year at her playgroup.

Lots of fun squeezing the glue

sprinkling the glitter

then we figured out that it worked better to pour the glitter

glitter was all over her hands!