Aunt Simone Visits!

I'm super excited because my Aunt Simone came all the way from California to visit me. She has been sending me cool outfits, toys and letters since I was born, but until today I never actually met her. My mom picked her up from the airport late last night, and so this morning when I woke up, she was here! We are going to have lots of adventures together during her trip.

My new easel!

My absolute favorite Christmas present was made for me by my Uncle Jon. He is a carpenter and he made me a beautiful easel that I can use for chalk, markers, drawing, and painting. So far, I have only used the chalk board side (my mom says it's the least messy), but I just can't stay away from it. I can focus on drawing for a full half-hour--longer than most activities I do. It is so special because my uncle made it all by himself--and he made it just for me!

Get-away with Brooke and Chris

My Aunt Brooke is a doctor, and she has to work almost all the time. But she had some time off the week after New Years, so she and Uncle Chris came to visit and we decided to take a trip to New Hampshire for a few days. We had so much fun! I was the only little kid around and I got so spoiled (my Aunt Brooke and Uncle Chris love me so much and play with me all the time). We built a fire and went out to dinner and went to the library and played in the snow (there was so much snow--almost as tall as me!) and just had so many adventures!


Aunt Brooke slept a lot because she never gets to sleep much when she's working. Isn't my aunt so pretty?


My mom brought my snowsuit, but forgot gloves so I had to wear adult-sized socks on my hands--they covered my whole arms!

I loved playing in the snow, but my snowsuit was so puffy that once I fell down, I was stuck there until Daddy saved me!

New Baby Arianna

My cousin Kim had a tiny new baby. She was born one week before Christmas, and was the best Christmas present we could have asked for. We went to meet her in the hospital when she was only two days old, and then saw her again on Christmas, and my mom took some photos of her and her parents (though the light was really low, so the photos are a little dark). Arianna is actually my second cousin because her mom is my Dad's neice (even though she is a few months older than him--pretty funny!). I can't wait to play with her when she gets a little bigger!

My Second Christmas

I was too little to remember my first Christmas, so I couldn't believe it when I woke up at Bubble and Beepie's and had all those presents to open! In fact, I was a little overwhelmed, and had to stay in Daddy's lap the whole time. We had such a fun couple days visiting with all of our many family units. We had Christmas Eve dinner with the extended Todzia family, Christmas morning with Samuel and Caleb, Christmas lunch at Aunt Kathy's with the extended Barrett Clan. We then drove to Woburn to do Christmas night with all my cousins at Papa and Grammie's, and even after that, we went to Uncle Butch's house to celebrate with him, Aunt Linda, Billy, Kim, Armani, and Baby Adrianna. We saw all our family members (and there are SO MANY) in a matter of twenty-four hours (you can't imagine the number of presents I had to open!).


This is a picture of us in our Christmas eve pajamas--we were SO full of energy and were running wild!

My mom gave me and Samuel little toy cameras. Here you can see Samuel making his Aunt Liz proud by trying his out on little Bubby.

Getting our tree!

My mom and dad brought me to this really fun farm so we could pick out our Christmas tree. The best thing about the farm was that we got to visit the animals! There were pigs, goats, chickens, and even a peacock! We found the perfect Christmas tree--it's so big, it almost touches the ceiling--I love it so much, and I wish we could have it in our living room always...

Snowday!

Last year my mom suited me up and brought me out in the snow, but I was just a little baby and I don't remember. So this year was my first time running and playing in the snow as a big girl. Though I have to admit, I really couldn't run--I couldn't really even move much because the snow was up to my waist! But my Dad cleared a path for me, and Ivy and I had such a good time playing while the snow piled up around us!

So Many Shoots!

My mom spent a lot of time trying to get the perfect photo of me for her Christmas card. The truth is, I've been modeling for her for so long that sitting in front of the camera is getting kind of old, and so I don't really cooperate anymore. Instead of smiling and posing like I did when I was a baby and couldn't get around on my own, I see that big black lens coming my way, and I run! So my mom had to keep trying to get that perfect shot. She took photos outside, in my room, of me dressed as an angel (that was fun), and me in the car secured to my carseat (so I couldn't escape) before she finally got the ones she wanted. Alas, such is the life of photographer's child--so much work!

I'm so Thankful

My Thanksgiving was really fun because I got to go to CT and visit with my Gram and Beepie. We had our first Thanksgiving dinner at their house with my cousins Samuel and Caleb, and then we drove back to Massachusetts to have our second dinner at Grammy and Papa's with all my other cousins. My mom only took a few photos when we went outside with Samuel and Caleb, so I don't have many to show, but it was such a fun day.

Uncle Chris and Aunt Brooke

Two weeks after Uncle Sam's wedding, we went to Long Beach Island in New Jersey for another wedding--this time it was my dad's brother getting married--my awsome Uncle Chris. The wedding was so fancy and beautiful, and I got to be a flowergirl and wear this really gorgeous white puffy dress. So many of my family members were in the wedding: Uncle Butch, Uncle Bobby, Uncle Gerry, my dad (he was the Best Man), and my cousins Billy, Armani, Rylan, and Tori. Even though she was really busy being the bride, Aunt Brooke spent lots of time holding me and cuddling me throughout the day. I had so much fun, and I'm so happy for my aunt and uncle!