Sunday, December 29, 2013

Cora's Birthday/Christmas Sunday

December 22 was a big day: Cora's birthday and Christmas Sunday! Sometimes I feel really bad that both of my girls have Christmas birthdays. But, if they ever complain, I'll just remind them that they both came six weeks early, so I couldn't plan that!

We had a great birthday for my little one-year old. She loved to open her presents and eat/play with her cake.


I was surprised that she didn't eat more of the cake. Cora LOVES to eat. But, she mostly squished it, played with it, and made everybody laugh by throwing it on the floor. She had a great time.

We tried to get a photo of all three cousins matching by the Christmas tree, but Aubrey was not very co-operative. Who knew three-year olds could be so moody? At least the birthday girl was happy.

I'm so lucky to be a mom to those two sweet little girls. Cora is a beautiful girl with a big heart, and I'm glad we were able to celebrate her birthday with so much family around. There are positives to Christmas birthdays, because if we were at home, it would just be our little family.

This is my favorite birthday picture. I love that big grin.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Snow

We are here in Canada, celebrating Christmas with my family, and it has been great. The only thing I wanted for Christmas was for my whole family to be healthy! Cora is finishing her ear infection antibiotics, and Aubrey is dealing with a cough, but other than that, we are healthy. I'll take it, and I am grateful.

Our family were complete slackers and did not do a Christmas card this year. We have it for a 2014 goal, but Merry Christmas from the Foote Family!

Since moving to California three years ago, we have not been around snow at all. Aubrey has seen snow in books and talked about snow, but never actually experienced it. So, of course the first thing we did when we arrived last Friday was go play in the SNOW!

All bundled up, ready to go... Aubrey is similar to Randy on a Christmas Story- "I can't put my arms down!" And, I just can't get over how cute Cora is in that little hat.

Aubrey thought throwing snowballs was pretty great. She also fulfilled her dream of making a snowman.



I'm glad that my girls can experience some of the fun of snow. I'm afraid we have turned into wimps after spending three years with Bay Area weather.



More Canada pictures to come!

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Cora is ONE!!!

I can't believe that it has been a year since all of this happened, and I met my sweet little Cora for the first time.

Cora is truly a joy and I can not imagine my life, or our family without her. She has gone from a calm, sleepy newborn, to a wiggly, happy beautiful little girl.



Here are a few things she is up to at ONE:

Finally got her consistently sleeping past 6 am. Months of 5:30 am wake-up calls were brutal. She never wakes up in the middle of the night, but that early rising was tough. We are at about 6:30 am now and I can live with that. 

She loves to eat! She eats everything, and her eating skills are impressive. 

The past month has been a hard one sick wise. She had a double ear infection that made her just miserable. Then literally the day after I took her in to get her ears checked to make sure that was gone, she got sick again.  Another ear infection. So we are on antibiotics round two, and hoping for a healthier next couple of months. 

SO close to walking! She stands pretty well and can get herself into a standing position. She takes a few steps at a time, so I think that full-on walking will be coming in the next few weeks. 

Says mama, dada, yeah, and hi (with a cute, little wave). Lots of random gibberish. 

Loves to cuddle and snuggle and be loved. 

Does not like when I leave her sight. Even if I do manage to sneak away, I always hear, "mama mama" as she comes down the hall looking for me. I'm definitely her favorite person, and I love it. 

Thinks her sister is hilarious and LOVES when she plays with her. She is also a typical younger sibling, always trying to get Aubrey's attention. Usually she does this by pulling Aubrey's hair, which gets her attention, but not the kind she wants :)

We LOVE our Cora. Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Here is Cora's first year of life in five minutes. What a year it has been!

Sunday, December 8, 2013

CluedIn

Last night was Steven's LinkedIn Christmas party. Again, LinkedIn does not disappoint. The party was held in San Francisco at the new Exploratorium. The new museum is over pier 15 and the views are incredible.

We were really excited because since Steven's accident, we have been on like.... 2 dates. Pretty sad. But, much thanks to Stephanie and Jimmy for watching the girls. And, getting ready to go out is much different than before I had kids. I'm getting pretty good at multi-tasking...

The party was titled, "CluedIn" like the game clue. They had a murder mystery, dancing, drinks, food, photobooths, and all the exhibits were open which was really fun. I felt a little fancy. I ate sushi, used chopsticks, and had a beet salad. But... I wasn't feeling fancy enough to try the kale and potato smoothies. I try to feed my family healthy food, but that is crossing a line.

Driving in San Francisco was as always not fun. We left at 6:30 and didn't get to the party until 8:00. But, once we were there we had a great time. I love spending time with Steven. We had our first date NINE years ago, and he is still my best friend.


I wonder what the next nine years will bring?