decorating for christmas

we got a new christmas tree this year! we've been needing a new one for a few years now, and we finally did it this year. i always love getting out the decorations and fixing up the house. my mom got me these new decorations for the mantel and i think they look so pretty. hannah was into decorating the tree, but libby was just fascinated with this one container of ornaments. when we were done with the tree the ornaments were all clustered together around hannah's eye level. i thought it was funny and charming, and left it that way for a few days before redistributing. 

thanksgiving

we had thanksgiving at walker springs this year. the girls enjoyed themselves where there was lots of room to run around. they got a kick out of seeing uncle dick's chickens. hannah ate about 8 desserts. libby enjoyed seeing lots of new faces and learned how to throw a frisbee.

libby at 2

what a spunky little girl our libby is. she always has me laughing over something. she totally knows when she's being funny and loves it. she could grow up to be a comedian! here are just a few little libby facts.

her favorite color is purple! she does know the color purple and seems to prefer it. it's the first she reaches for when coloring.

she gives adonis kisses. adonis is the neighbor's dog, and after spending some time around him and getting licked in the face... i guess she decided that might be a good way for her to greet people too. not my favorite new habit of hers!

four story roll. no one knows what this means, but she started saying this refraid a while back. or at least that's what it sounded like. we all thought it was hilarious and of course we started to repeat it. now if there's a lull in conversation we can just say four story roll and we all will laugh. it can even be said as a question. four story roll?

her favorite foods are pizza, apples, applesauce, corn on the cob and cereal. she's gone through a pizza phase where she asked for pizza every day at lunch. i put some tomato sauce and cheese on a pita and stick it in the oven, and she looooves it. eats it right up.

she can count to 10! this girl is smart.

when i ask her to give me a hug she puts her hands around my head and gives a big squeeze complete with a grunt. best hugs.

libby's 2nd birthday!

libby's birthday is on a monday this year. tim got up and made her his special birthday monkey bread, which has recently become our tradition. everyone loves it. then he went off to work and we got hannah off to school, and i took libby - where else? - on a photo shoot. dressed her in her pretty birthday dress, got a couple of balloons, went to my favorite path in the neighborhood, and we were set. our next stop was to party city. i wanted to get her one of these balloons that i'd seen back in the summer - a life-size minnie mouse for our family minnie party. i wasn't prepared for how big it actually was; it sat in hannah's seat on the drive home and waved to every car that passed. libby got a kick out of it, and so did hannah when she got home. for dinner, i made a pizza, since that's libby's favorite, and tim brought home a special minnie / mickey cake that he ordered for her. hannah helped libby open her gifts and blow out her candles - best sister! libby got a few little gifts - a couple of books, the lorax movie and an aquadoodle.

libby's birthday weekend, part 3

last night we had a pizza party at the hotel, and libby opened some gifts from my parents. they got her some minnie mouse stuff, which she is so into these days. they also got both girls some cute slippers. when we woke up and went downstairs to breakfast the nicest woman working there found out it was libby's birthday weekend and gave the girls balloons, colorings books, and crayons. then we went to the mcwane center. we first saw an imax film, which none of us had ever done before. the museum had a clifford exhibit this time, but we were most looking forward to playing with the bubbles again. we could've spent a lot more time exploring, but my mom wasn't feeling very well and we were all pretty tired. but i would say libby's birthday weekend was a mega success! tomorrow is her actual birthday and we have a little more fun in store.

libby's birthday weekend, part 2

next we went across the street to the zoo. first we had a picnic outside, mom and dad brought sandwiches, chips and sandwiches. there is nothing better than a good picnic outside on a beautiful day. i was excited to see the new african exhibit, which didn't disappoint. elephants are my favorite! my dad loved feeding the birds. he had about 4 different colorful birds sitting on his shoulders and eating from his hands. tim enjoyed that, too. hannah randomly liked a play area with a life-size termite mound. could not get her away from there! and libby's favorite was probably the monkeys, although she does always enjoy a good carousel ride.