New Year's Eve in NJ

We weren't sure if we were going to make it to NJ for New Year's Eve, but we eventually did. Uncle Jon and Eric arranged for Daddy to hunt for 3 days starting on New Year's, so we really wanted to get there! On New Year's Eve, we drove to JFK to pick up Mommom and Poppop Ladd. They were finally home from being in CA! Once we dropped them off, we ran back to the house and picked up Daddy and our bags. We hit the road at about 7:30pm. The traffic wasn't really bad, but we didn't notice because we both slept the whole way down! We got to Aunt Georgi and Uncle Jon's at about 10:30pm. Aunt Georgi had her house all decorated and even had hats, blowers, and necklaces for all of us. At 12:00am we ran outside blowing our blowers and banging on pots and pans. We hope you all have a happy & healthy 2009!

Christmas Chaos

This year we had 13 people in our little cozy house to celebrate Christmas! Aunt Jessy, Uncle Carl, Trey(man), Aunt Georgi, Uncle Jon, Emma, and Lexi all got here on the 23rd. That night we went to Stew Leonard's to pick out a Christmas tree. They only had a few left, so we had to have them cut down an 8 ft. tree to 4.5 ft. We brought it home and put on "White Christmas". Mommy and Aunt Jessy strung the lights on the tree while Daddy taught everyone how to string popcorn to decorate the tree. The next day Daddy had to work until 12, so Mommy and Aunt Georgi started the cooking for Kucios early. We had a beautiful Kucious dinner on our porch and then got ready for church. We were even early getting out the door for the Christmas Eve Service at our church! Once church was finished, we came home and the adults let the kids open 1 present. We all got matching Christmas jammies! We got all dressed in our jammies, called Norad to see where Santa was, and then we were sent to bed. It took us quite a while to fall asleep because we were so excited for Santa to come that night! The next morning, Aunt Jessy was the first one awake. I don't think she slept one wink (Mommy says she's always been like this!) because she was so excited! We woke up at 6am and couldn't believe our eyes!! Santa left us SO many presents!! After we opened all of the presents, we got to open our stockings. We spent Christmas day in our jammies playing with our toys. That night, after we went to bed, Uncle Drew & Aunt Maria showed up. They brought even more presents with them! Uncle Drew & Aunt Maria gave me and Trey BB guns, Emerson a nerf gun, and Emma makeup. We spent the afternoon having target practice in the back yard with our BB guns. They are so awesome! It turns out that Aunt Maria is the best shot out of all of us! The next day, Uncle Jon & Aunt Georgi, Lexi and Emma left to go home. We took everyone else in to NYC to see the Christmas tree in Rockafellar Center and Time Square. Then we went to eat dinner in Little Italy. Everyone finally went home the next day. There was a lot of love in our house this Christmas and we can't help but feel extrememly blessed!

Florida Vacation

This week we went on vacation to see Mommom Nijole and Rawy in Englewood, Florida. They have such a beautiful house right on the beach! It's just what we needed before everyone arrives at our house in CT for Christmas! We spent the week relaxing mostly. We fished, swam, and even collected sea shells and sharks' teeth. Mommom had a "Surprise of the Day" for us every day too! She even had a Christmas seashell ornament craft for us to do. One day one of their neighbors took us out on their boat. Emerson slept (like he usually does on a boat!) almost the whole time! We saw dolphins and a manatee while we were on the boat. It was so awesome! The day we were leaving, we stopped at the mall to see Santa. We told him that we have been very good this year and we'd really like a Wii for Christmas. I guess we'll see soon if we were good enough for one! Thanks Mommom and Rawy for an awesome week! We love you!

NY Train Show

Mommy and Daddy took us back to the NY Botanical Gardens this year for the Train Show. They were really surprised that we remembered so much of it from the year before! We really liked the butterfly train. After we walked through the exhibit, Mommy and Daddy took us to the snack bar where they got us cookies and hot chocolate (They had a glass of wine!). It is a really cool show and anyone who hasn't been before should really go! Thanks Mommom and Poppop Ladd for the tickets!

Advent Family Fun Night

Tonight was Advent Family Fun Night at our church, UMC of Westport-Weston. We did so many fun things! First we ate dinner together. We sat at the same table as our friends Sophia and Talia. Then after dinner we put on our coats and went outside to sing Christmas carols and light the outside Christmas tree. After we lit that tree, we came back inside and sang some more Christmas carols and lit the other tree in the Narthex. Then it was time for crafts. We made ornaments, an orange with cloves, and even a nativity scene with stickers. It was certainly a packed night!

NYC to see Bernie and Scott!

Yesterday Mommy got a phone call from our cousins Bernie and Scott from Rochester. They were in the car on their way to NYC with a friend of theirs. Mommy and Daddy decided we'd all go in to the city to have dinner with Bernie, Scott, & their friend. We went in a little early so we could go to FAO Schwarz and pick out each other's Christmas gifts. I picked out a Thomas the Train puzzle that came in a Thomas shaped lunch box. Emerson bought me a Rubix cube. After we shopped, we met Scott and Bernie in Grand Central Station. We took them to Little Italy for dinner. It was so great to see them (especially since Bernie is a Marine and we don't get to see him very often!)

Here Comes Christmas!

Today is the day after Thanksgiving and you know what that means! It's time to get out all of our Christmas decorations! This year we have decided to wait to put up our Christmas tree until after we get back from our vacation in Florida because so many are coming up to CT to celebrate with us! We want an "Old Fashioned" Christmas this year, like Uncle Jon says. Also, when we woke up this morning, we were happy to see our elf Shnelfie back from the North Pole. He comes every year to watch over us and be sure we are behaving. At night he flies back to the North Pole to tell Santa if we were good or bad that day. I hope I can behave while he's here so I can get lots of presents! Today Daddy hung the lights on the outside of the house too. They are so beautiful! Mommy even let us put the lights in the ceramic Christmas tree that used to be her Mom's! I love this time of year!

Thanksgiving in CT

We decided to stay in CT this year for Thanksgiving since we're going to FL just before Christmas. Aunt Betsey and Uncle David invited us over for dinner. Poppop Ladd came too! It was a really yummy dinner! Thanks for having us Aunt Betsey and Uncle David!

Thanksgiving Lunch at Em's School

Today we went to have lunch at Emerson's preschool to celebrate Thanksgiving. His class sang 2 songs to everyone. He did such a great job! Who knew he'd be such a crowd pleaser?! We are so proud of him!

Aunt Georgi's Birthday

We went to NJ this weekend to celebrate Aunt Georgi's birthday. I even made her a special birthday crown. Mommy and Daddy went with her and Uncle Jon and some friends to dinner at a Japanese Restaurant while we stayed home and made her a birthday cake with the babysitter. We hope you had a great birthday Aunt Georgi!

Happy Halloween!

We were so lucky to have our cousin here for Halloween this year! Mommy got me a new Spiderman costume and Emerson said he wanted to be Thomas the train again. Trey brought 2 costumes, Batman and a Ninja. He decided he wanted to be a Ninja, so Aunt Jessy let Emerson wear his Batman costume. It was a little big, so Mommy and Aunt Jessy had to adjust it some. We were the 3 Super Heros! We went all around our block trick-or-treating. We kept going until our buckets got too heavy to carry (that's how you know when you're done!). Emerson was so tired that Uncle Carl had to carry him back to our house. It was an awesome night!

Treyman's Here!!!

Aunt Jessy, Uncle Carl, and our cousin Trey (we call him "Treyman") came to visit us for the week from NC. Trey is 4, so we all get along so well! We did so many fun things while they were here. On Wednesday they went with Emerson on his 1st preschool field trip. They drove together to Redding, CT to a pumpkin patch. It was so cold that day that is actually snowed! We've never seen snow in October before, and they rarely get to see it, so it made everyone happy (even though it was REALLY cold!). When I got home from school that day we were playing downstairs and Treyman ran into the spiral staircase in the kitchen and split open his head. Mommy and Aunt Jessy took him to Norwalk Hospital where they gave him 4 stitches! (I've been there twice myself!) The next day, Mommy said I could stay home from school to go to the Bronx Zoo. The zoo was AWESOME! We saw so many cool animals and got to go in the butterfly room. We even got to ride on the bug carousel. Friday was Halloween! I had a party at my school and when I got home we carved our pumpkins! This is the first year that I would took the "gook" inside! Mommy was so proud of me! After we finished our pumpkins, we got all dressed up in our costumes. It certainly was a full week! We can't wait for Aunt Jessy, Uncle Carl, and Treyman to come back to CT for Christmas!