domestic diva

Helping out in the kitchen is her newest thing. We made bread this past weekend while Cory was out of town....lots of flour made its way to every nook and cranny of our kitchen.

working the salad spinner

mixing up something good for sure

wiping up the condensation off of the glass...an every day occurrence

we're back!

Hiya friends and family! Life is just trucking along down here in H-town. We're busy, Lilly is BUSY, and the weather is good...for now. Just finished out a string of sunny days in the low 70's....I know that many of you are enjoying a snowy, cold winter. Must admit, the fact that Madison is having the snowiest winter in a while makes us sad not to be there.

Not much new to report with Lilly other than she is picking up words at a rapid pace and eating with utensils, at least some of the time. She's also really starting to act inquisitive, test her limits and give us an inkling of the terrible twos. Imitation is big on her list--dancing, football referees and house chores are pretty high up there. Our most recent purchase for her was a small plastic broom which she wouldn't let go of all weekend. Literally, it came to a friend's barbeque with us where she tried to sweep the lawn.


looking like a girl...at least when she is patient enough at school to get piggies

strapped in tight! we're not the worst parents ever, we swear! Lilly has recently figured out how to wiggle out of the seatbelt and stand up in the highchair. note that these are our belts.

workin' the spoon

the broom in action!

someday I'll eat with chopsticks

We went out for sushi the other night with some friends. Lilly joined us, behaved relatively well and was the hit of the place when she picked up the chopsticks like an old pro. Thank goodness for cell phone cameras...

papa!

The language explosion has begun! It seems like every day Lilly has a new word she is blurting out. We are up to 14 now.

Before the family came out for the holidays, we were looking at pictures trying to teach Lilly everyone's names. This daily lesson usually occurred before dinner. Scrolling through the pictures, Lilly burst out with "papa" when she saw a photo of my dad. We were impressed. This was repeated upon their arrival, to much delight. However, just today, I walked into Lilly's classroom to see her on the toy phone ordering "papa". Confused, I asked her teachers. "Papa" turns out, doesn't just mean dad or grandpa, but food. No wonder she would persistently say "papa" when snacks were about.

Sorry Dad, but you and food hold an equal footing in Lilly's mind.

happy new year!

We spent a decidedly boring, LAMP-esque New Year's Eve at home. Friends out of town, overcooked beef stew for dinner, bottle of good wine finishing with a typical 10:30 pass out. I woke up at midnight hoping to see the ball drop in NYC, only to realize that we are in the central time zone and that I had missed it. Oh well.

Today we watched Wisconsin blow the possibility of a win despite hanging our Bucky flag proudly from our porch. Even Lilly got into the action sporting her "Sconnie" t-shirt. Boo. At least she looked good.

christmas madness

As you might imagine, it was nutty here at Christmas. Lilly didn't quite get it...yet...but it didn't stop her from tearing into the gifts. Like last year, the packaging held her interest more than the goodies inside; but with a little help from us, the toys were revealed and everything changed. Many thanks to everyone for the gifts!!

Next year will surely be the first of a string of those typical Christmases where all we want to do is sleep in while all the kiddo wants to do is see what Santa brought. That is why they invented eggnog and mimosas...and irish coffee...really any "morning-appropriate" beverage that can have alcohol added.

The family was here for the week, which was wonderful. Our first Christmas in H-town. Endless entertainment for Lilly. Virtually non-stop good eating. Lots of hanging out. It is such a bummer everyone lives so far away, because it was so much fun being with everyone.


reading with Grandma...

with Auntie Jenn

modeling her new shades

reading her current favorite "Little Pea" with Papa...for the 3rd time that day

Christmas morning

Lights in the Heights

Each year our neighborhood hosts a big holiday event called Lights in the Heights. Basically, three entire streets worth of houses have been decorated with lots of lights and luminaria every 10 feet. Every so often, one house will be hosting a band, group of carolers, elementary school string quartet, etc. and put out homemade cookies to add to the liveliness. As one of our friends said, "it is one of the things that makes living in Houston seem OK". Very true. It was really neat.

We had a bunch of people over before to kick off the evening and then headed out around the corner to take it all in. Our trusty red Radio Flyer wagon was adorned with lights and garland and full of beer and wine. A rolling spectacle, but matched in coolness by many others with the same idea.

Seeing that it was the 20th anniversary of the event, they had a cookie drive of sorts, the goal of which was to bake 10,000 cookies. I did my best to contribute, and ended up baking around 250 cookies. Our freezer was full of baked goodies that we couldn't eat.