Happy New Year

So we decided to count down the New Year with the nursing homes at 8pm EST. There was no way we were making it to midnight.

Claire has 2 New Years resolutions.

One is to give up her pacifier by the end of 2009. She was a bit iffy on this resolution as you all know how much she loves her pacifier. But she took the first step by taking it out herself for this photo.

The second is to gain more weight. She's well on her way by the looks of these cheeks.

Mommy's New Years resolution is to enjoy life more. This means getting healthy and making sure she gets quality time with the kids, her hubby and family.

Anthony's New Years resolution is to quit smoking.....ha ha, he thinks he's so funny.

We'll have to ask Isaac what his New Years resolution is when he gets home.

Happy New Year everyone!

A visit to Barrie

We went to visit my cousins in Barrie today. The new restaurant looks great and the food was tasty!

Here's Isaac holding Claire in the restaurant.

Claire finally meeting Sean and Seang. We had to make sure we got this photo for her as we don't know when we'll see these guys again....they are soo busy!

Christmas with the Kongmany's

We celebrated Christmas with my side of the family today. This year we went to my brother's house.

Claire hanging out with cousin Ben.

Isaac hanging out with Baby Ben.

Grandma with all the grandkids. She's just in heaven!

The whole family with Grandma.

And since Daddy wouldn't get Claire a pony, her cousins decided to get her one. She really enjoyed it.

Christmas 2008 is now officially over for us!!!

Power Nap

With all the Christmas activities this week, Claire's nap and sleep schedules are all messed up. This was too funny. We just finished feeding her and she was passed out cold.

And then after the flash from the camera, she was wide awake again, just like that.

Guess all she needed was a little power nap.

Christmas with the Clemente's

We spent Christmas Day in Whitby with Anthony's family. Here's Claire in her Christmas jumper hanging out in the swing.

For a day trip we had at least a week's worth of things. Here she is in her high chair that we brought from home so that she could sit at the dinner table with us. Cousin Ryan sat right across the table from Claire and was telling her to eat. I think they had a staring contest throughout mealtime. It was very cute.

Claire spending some quality time with her Zio Marc and Zia Joanne.

Here we are beginning to open our gifts. Claire played nicely on the floor among the chaos and Grandpa couldn't resist but take a few shots. Her happy feet made him smile.

Our Christmas Morning

Mommy got her wish!!! Claire slept all night. She was very festive when she woke up.

At around 5am, Isaac swore he heard noises on the roof. Guess he was right because some of the milk, cookies and carrots were gone.

All the stockings were off the fireplace and loaded up with goodies.

Isaac checking out the new Bone books he got in his stocking.

Claire got some rattles in her stocking. Here she is enjoying her new hand rattle.

She also got some wrist rattles, but her wrists are too thin so we put them on her cankles.

A picture of all the goodies Daddy got in his stocking. He was very happy with selection especially the Tim Hortons and Subway gift cards. We've got Daddy covered for breakfast and lunch for a month!

Thumbs up for Santa! He brought Isaac what he asked for - Madden 09 for his PS3.

Santa brought Claire a board book - The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Hopefully this will inspire Claire to fatten up for her next Doctor's appointment.

Isaac posing in front of his new ipod music station.

Isaac wants to keep his Mommy safe so he got me an Emergency car kit.

Daddy posing in his new sweater Claire got him.

And after all the gifts were opened, Claire chowed down and fell asleep.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Our Christmas Eve

Claire has just been so excited about her first Christmas that she refused to sleep all day...hopefully this translates into Mommy's only Christmas wish of getting a full night's rest without any nightime feedings!!!
We thought she would sleep through mass, but nope, she was wide awake and loved to listen to the singing and watch all the lights.

Daddy holding Claire after mass....still awake!

After dinner we got ready for Santa. Cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.

Daddy and the kids hanging the stockings by the fireplace with care.

Daddy and Claire in front of the tree.

Mommy with the kiddies.

Our most prized presents ofcourse.

Claire's present on her Christmas pyjamas.

Too cute for Claus.

And the whole family getting ready to turn in.

Here's to a good night's rest!! See you in the morning.

Hidden Gems

Isn't it funny that with the introduction of the digital camera, everyone stopped printing their photos!! You just stock pile everything onto your computer now. It's amazing how I can sift through them from time to time and suddenly find a photo that I don't even remember taking. Here are some hidden gems I found that brought a smile to my face.

Right from the get go, Claire showed she was a deep thinker.

How did we survive those first few weeks???

Looking at this I am reminded that the sleepless nights (which still continue by the way) are worth it!

Tummy time!!

Claire was showing Isaac how much she's improved with tummy time.

Just a few weeks ago she didn't like to be on her tummy for too long. She's really getting the hang of it.

And here's a photo of her first try at tummy time at just 1 week old. As you can see, she could barely lift her head.

Isaac Rewind

So after posting Isaac's first christmas photo in my last entry, it inspired me to do a walk down memory lane of how he's turned out to be such a handsome young man.

Grade 5, 10 years old

Grade 4, 9 years old

Grade 3, 8 years old

Grade 2, 7 years old - my second favourite picture!!

Grade 1, 6 years old

SK, 5 years old

JK, 4 years old

3 years old

2 years old - this one reminds me of Ryan's current school year pic except Isaac is not wearing the tie...he would have got beat up for that (an inside joke played off of one of Ryan's Papa's comments on his school pic). Note also the sultry look too. Perhaps it's required when one is wearing a sweater vest.

1 years old....This is my favourite picture!!!

And finally, 1 day old

They sure do grow up quickly!!!