Zoe can use chopsticks!

( We go to this local chinese american chain called Mama Fu's (which Zoe calls Mommy Fu's). The girls love the tofu and edamame there. It's the only place we can go where the kids actually eat a meal's worth of food. The way we got Zoe to eat even more was to let her eat with chopsticks. She would just stab her tofu and eat eat it that way. One day, the waitress used rubberbands and fashioned the chopsticks so Zoe could actually use them for real and she was soooo excited and proud of herself! For Christmas I got her "trainer" chopsticks and she will eat anything I give her as long as she can use them! So cool that my two year old knows what edamame is, likes tofu and uses chopsticks!

Christmas Eve 2011

Santa hooked our girls up! He loves making girly presents!
Putting out the reindeer food so Santa will use the back door.
(Daddy is wearing his new christmas jammies even though he hates them!)

Christmas eve the girls get new jammies and get to open one present.

Fia is just excited to rip the paper!

Happy Birthday Daddy - The Big 4-0!

As already stated in the previous post, Keith's birthday was a little side tracked by Christmas on Ice. He got to stay home with Fiona all day and she thanked him by throwing up all over him at the bookstore. We had to cancel our dinner plans and stay home and order in with a sick baby. Party time. We at least got to have cake and Zoe loved helping him blow out the candles:)
Happy Bday, Daddy - we'll make it up to you, I promise!

Christmas on Ice

Feeding the very friendly ducks at Broadway on the Beach
The biggest christmas tree EVER!

Three generations of happy girls!

Zoe and the Lion (and her cute little special outfit-she was so excited to wear tights!)

Gramma took me and Zoe to see Christmas on Ice at Myrtle Beach and it was so fun! We started out with some hot chocolate and a walk to see the ducks and get our wiggles out before the show. Once inside, Zoe was in awe with the people, the pretty decorations and the excitement. When the show started,she was very nervous because we were only three rows back, but she got into it once Santa came out. She loved the dancing, singing, and ice skating and thought the jester in between acts was hilarious (she kept asking when the "funny man" was coming back)! Afterwards we went to lunch at Planet Hollywood because Zoe was fascinated that the building was an actual globe shape! She fell right alseep from all the excitement on the way home. It was so wonderful to have such a memorable experience with my mom and daughter. I can't wait to make it a yearly event! This is what happy childhood memories are made of!

****Please note: this is an offical apology to my sweet hubby who's birthday was the day of our all day outing without him. He knows why and was such a good sport about it. He will do anything it takes to make his babies happy - that's why we love him!

Mommy's Little Angel/Devil

I am the first to admit that Fiona was an easy baby. And so far, a good early toddler too - most of the time. There definitely are days, though, when I feel the strong urge to jump out the stinkin' window. The other day was one of them. Fiona single handedly destroyed every shred of patience I had, even my extra secret stash. The morning was OK, other than the fact she dumped my coffee all over me (don't worry, it wasn't hot because I never get to sit down long enough to drink my coffee when it is actually hot). She didn't take an afternoon nap because she had a late morning nap (I won't even get into the crazy trip to the grocery store that caused the late nap) and that is when the oh-so-fun action took place. She was running around the house getting into absolutely everything she could reach. She tried to put her finger in every socket, eat every crumb on the floor, drink the dog water, pull the cats tail, and figured out how to get out the front door. Not to mention the above pictures which were just too much for words. Some of you may wonder how all this could happen if I actually watched my child, and trust me I do. She is never out of my sight for more than a few seconds, but that afternoon I was trying to multi-task way too much and she was not having it. So that is why, sometimes, just sometimes, mommy really needs a hole to climb in (because that is a way better option than the window idea I spoke of earlier).

Princess Fiona

Fiona is definitely a girly girl! She loves wearing jewelry, headbands and carrying purses. It's not like she's modeling after Zoe or myself, she just started doing it on her own. It is so adorable - she will find anything to carry or wear!

Nursing my Puppy - I mean, My Baby

I am still nursing Fiona. With Zoe I had to stop at ten months, so nursing at this age is a whole different ballgame. First of all, Fiona doesn't just lay there all cuddly like you see in some pictures. She is all over the place, going from side to side, forward and sideways, and every which way. She also has started panting loudly when she want to nurse. Yes, I said panting. Like a dog. I have no idea in the world why she would do that! I have been calling it "nummies" since she was born, and just assumed that was what she would call it. I cannot stress enough how I have NO IDEA why she does what she does. It is kind of embarrasing yet kind of funny at the same time. We don't really nurse in public much anymore...it's just harder for me when she is all over the place like that, so I doubt anyone will notice her "requests", but it makes me laugh. I'm not sure how long I will nurse her, my goal was one year, the World Health Organization says at least two years. She's eating all solid foods now, so it only happens a few times a day around sleeping times anyway, so I guess I'll let her figure out the details. Hopefully she's done before she can actually tell me why she pants when she wants her "nummies"!