...wef ol mi hrt

Last week, Kaitlin's preschool class went on a tour of the Post Office. In the days leading up to the field trip, the kids wrote "surprise" letters to their parents to mail at the Post Office.

One afternoon when I picked Kaitlin up from school, Ms Sandi stopped me and told me that Kaitlin's letter was so sweet and didn't need any "translation" from the teachers. She told me that Kaitlin said, "Ms Sandi, you don't need to write on my letter because I can read it."

I wasn't sure what to expect, but when we received this letter in the mail and sat down to read it with Kaitlin, my heart just melted. ♥
I'm definitely putting this letter in the KEEP FOREVER pile! ;)

"I luv uo Mommy Dady I luv uo wef ol mi hrt Luv Kaitlin"

Hooray! No More Diapers!

WE ARE DONE BUYING DIAPERS!!!! DONE, DONE, DONE!!!

Little Zoey filled up her first potty chart this weekend! She has 5 spaces left on her 2nd chart, so it's time to start planning her Chuck E Cheese Potty Party!

She tells us whenever she needs to go, and keeps her diaper clean and dry all day ~ even in the morning and after naps. She gets so much encouragement from me and Brandon and especially Kaitlin and she's totally excited to move from Pull-Ups to big-girl panties!

We couldn't be happier or more proud of our lil' girl! I feel like this happened a little quicker than I expected, but honestly, saying goodbye to diapers is one milestone I'm ready for.

On Saturday we went out to buy her a Potty Toy. She picked a Viewfinder! It was so cute when she looked into the Viewfinder and then looked across the room trying to figure out where the heck SpongeBob and Gary were. I explained that the picture was in the "glasses". She was totally amazed and didn't put the toy down!

YAY, Zo-zo!

Snow!

We were snowed-in on Sunday and the girls had a bunch of energy that needed burning. So, we put our snow-gear on and headed outside.

After the "work" was done, it was time to play.

First, they made snow angels. (I'm not sure what Charlie is making..haha!)

Then, it was time to get out the sled. After a few rounds, we decided that we need to train Charlie to be a sled dog!

After all the snowy fun, we came inside to make hot chocolate. As you can see, it went over well. ;)

What I didn't take pictures of this Christmas...

Here are some things I didn't take pictures of this Christmas...

~ bowling with the girls on Christmas Eve.
~ Kaitlin's new bowling move - "The Running Start" where she places the ball on the ramp, takes about 10 steps backwards and then runs toward the ball on the ramp and pushes it. Does it work? haha... no. But it's damn funny to watch!
~ Zoey copying Kaitlin's "Running Start" move. Even more hillarious!

~ taking the girls to the Children's Mass on Christmas Eve. Believe it or not, the girls were actually pretty well behaved. Okay, Zoey napped during most of it, but even when they were awake, our girls were WAAAAAAY better than the kids in front of us! :)

~tracking Santa on Norad.
~when Kaitlin saw Santa on the computer, she jumped up with such joy and exclaimed, "IT'S REAL!" Of course it's real, silly.
~about 11:20pm, Brandon and I decided to check Norad one last time. Since Santa was in New Mexico, we knew he was close. 12 minutes later he was delivering gifts to the Denver Metro Area! We watched as he finished his rounds and then headed to Wyoming. Believe it or not, right after Norad said Santa was leaving Denver, Charlie jumped off the couch and went outside to do his "bark at nothing" routine. Maybe.... just maybe..... he was barking at Santa's sleigh.

~ putting out Cookies and Milk for Santa. Sometimes you just have to step back and enjoy the magic of the moment instead of trying to get the perfect pose. Jus' sayin'.

~the tree with all the gifts after Santa dropped his loot. I simply forgot...

~Skype-ing on Christmas morning. (How do you take a picture of a Skype session, anyways?) We are very thankful that Skype's technology has allowed us to "spend Christmas" with our out-of-town family. We may not get to spend the entire day with them, but being able to open presents together is totally awesome!

~the unbelievable MOUNTAIN of presents under the tree after everyone arrived at our house. We had my parents, Aunt Louise, Kevin, Michael, Angelina, RJ, and Angelina's parents over. There were just too many gifts!

~Our little nephew RJ telling us that he "heard" Santa last night. You should have seen his eyes light up! He said he heard Santa's jingle bells, the noise on the rooftop, and he even heard Santa shout "ho-ho-ho!" (nice one, Mike!)

~the endless cooking. It's no secret that we make a lot of food every year, but for some reason, this year it seemed like standing in the kitchen is ALL we did ALL day. We had 2 turkeys and a ham and all the trimmings. Next year, my plan is to do something simple. There's no reason to be basting a turkey when ya should be visiting with an aunt or playing Hungry Hungry Hippos with the kids.

~the "My Auntie Barb Loves Me" onesie that I designed and gifted to Baby Nince on Christmas. I can't WAIT to get my hands on that lil' baby! Hurry up July 14th~!! ;)

~The girls and RJ playing....and playing....and playing....and playing....and playing...... until the very last minute. The energy of kids is absolutely amazing. One day I'm going to figure out how to bottle the energy and SELL it to adults. I'm going to be rich... just wait and see. ;)

~the whole crew. I meant to get big family photo of everyone, but unfortunately it didn't happen. Next year.

We truly had a great Christmas and hope everyone else did too! :)