Garden pests

My garden fence keeps out rabbits, deer, and small children.

New Friends

Our friend, the johnston's added a new family member this week! Sydney got a sneak preview of what a little brother will look like.

Snow White

She does look a little like snow white...except with a worse temper.

Birthday Presents

Some good shock and awe reactions at this age.

Cupcake

...and the obligatory post haircut cupcake!

Haircut...finally.

A second haircut after we procratinated way too long. She warmed up after a while.

Multimedia message

And she's almost as crazy as Van Gogh too!

What?

I don't even know where to begin.

Colors in the Trees

I just love spring.

The Beach

For you Dee Dee, I'm back on the horse and here's the first picture from the beach...or well, aquarium. Sydney just could not wait to touch the horseshoe crabs. That is until she realized she might actually touch a horseshoe crab.

Three Footer

When there's this much snow, everyone pitches in to help! I wonder if Sydney will remember this crazy winter...probably not, but we've got the pictures for her.

Packing Up

This is why it takes us so long to get out of the house.

Christmas 09

We keep reminding Sydney of the true meaning of Christmas and there is nothing cuter than a two year old saying "Happy Birthday Baby Jesus" :) She's now recovering from days and days of family time, presents, and more hugs than she can count. Did we ever wear out this little girl. This was a cute picture at the top of stairs Christmas morning while they waited to run down stairs and see Santa Claus presents. Sydney was so excited she couldn't help but give her little cousin Lauren a big hug.

Buried

Sydney really enjoyed getting out in the snow this time. We had trouble finding a hill to sled on but managed to pull her along on a saucer and had a fun time playing with the massive mounds of snow. Our mailbox says it all and I think we can expect delivery to resume in June next year.

Christmas Decorations

I think we got the last decoration up and I risked life and limb to do it so of course I had to post a picture. It's the wreath on the railing over the door and I just tried not to look down while I tied it up there. I'm really looking forward to taking it down in 20 degree weather in January!

Sydney is really taking to the snow as well and we went out and had a snowball fight while Maggie was out of town this week. I'm slowing turning her into a cold weather lover! Here's another shot of her new boots and I think the reason she's content walking in the snow now.

O Christmas Tree! (part 2)

The snow couldn't have been better timed with our annual trip out to the tree farm where we do not in fact cut down a tree but watch the rest of our family do the honors. Sydney was cold but it was beautiful out in the forest of trees with all the snow. Some new boots, care of Poobah, came in handy.

O Christmas Tree!

In good old Christmas tradition, Sydney got dressed up as a princess and we decorated the Christmas tree this week. (ok, that was a first year tradition) Sydney loved it! She actually had the honor of hanging the first ornament...not because we asked her to but because she grabbed an ornament and ran over to tree and asked if she could hang in on the tree. Her favorite ornament was Elmo and she grabbed a big stuffed Elmo doll and brought it over to show Elmo the Elmo ornament. Very cute.

Just like Daddy

Sydney likes to be just like daddy and sometimes it's just too funny. She "put her feet up" the other day and the table is so far away she was basically laying down on the couch and working to hold herself up...but she wouldn't move and I give her credit for holding on as long as she could.

Holiday Time

With a little quiet time around Thanksgiving, I'm finally getting around to some of the pictures we've had stored up for a while, so I'll start to share those. Sydney and family had a wonderful Thanksgiving with lots of family in town and now that we've pulled out the Christmas decorations she is very excited about an impending Santa visit. I'm not sure that will translate into any picture with a mall Santa though as the fear runs deep from last Christmas.

Halloween 2009

Sydney really got into Halloween this year and showered us with "trick-or-treat" and "Happy Halloween" the whole night. Her favorite part was handing out candy to other kids and she loved going from door to door exclaiming "More presents!" after each house.

A Fun Night

Natalie and Sydney had a fun evening together this week that includes playing in the "fort", watching a little Diego, and then having a mock sleepover (Natalie had to go home 10 minutes later)

Watch Us Grow

Ok...back on the horse for blog entries. It's been a busy couple months. What a group we had over the other weekend. We're spreading around the country but luckily manage to get together here and there. Baby Gracie is getting big and Sydney talks about her frequently. She had fun putting on a show for this group including her normal set of ABC and Twinkle, Twinkle.

First Day of School

Well not really, but I couldn't help but be swept up in the excitement. All the parents waiting on the corners with their kids and I loading mine into the backseat for the ride to "school". When we got to Sydney's daycare, parents were lined up outside to watch the kids who arrive for early care board the bus that takes them to school and flashes were popping left and right. Sydney said "cheese" as we passed by. Upon entering, our lone signal that some imaginary bar had been hurdled was that she has now moved from page 4 to page 5 on the sign in sheet. What an accomplishment. I think we saw a page 4 kid on the way to our room and Sydney gave him the cold shoulder. I guess the page 5 kids don't associate with the page 4 kids. I have so much to learn.

The Problem...

The problem with taking so many pictures of Sydney is that she now considers herself quite the photographer....which is in turn creating problems getting some nice pictures of that smiling face :)

(and yes...one of these days I'll have the heart to tell her it's backward)

TV Time

We're pretty good about holding out, but sometimes in the late afternoon it's easier to have a happy little one than a screaming tired toddler. So we plopped Sydney and her friend Grayson in front on some Diego and enjoyed a quiet evening. It's cute when they both say "Go Diego Go!".