another trip to highland orchard

we love visiting the highland orchards - a little produce store and farm, where we can check out chickens, ducks, a peacock, goats, pigs, and rabbits.

santa brunch

we had brunch with santa last weekend. so vera put on her santa dress.


there was plenty of ring around the rosie and peek-a-boo.

there was alot of laying on the floor. and cleaning the floor with a pretty santa dress.

this was as close to santa that vera felt was appropriate. maybe there will be lap sitting next year.

and a nice family shot.

cookie baking

Vera had a good time at the cookie baking party this year. a few of my girlfriends (and now our kids) get together to bake christmas cookies every year. Vera did a great job of decorating and tasting the cookies!

river walk

we've been having great weather around here. took vera for a hike and we threw stones in the creek.

buying a tree

it was a little strange buying an xmas tree without wearing jackets! we went this last weekend, and had fun running around the tree lot.

turkey trot

we did the turkey trot on thanksgiving morning again this year. it's a 5k in wilmington. vera and i speed-walked the whole thing this year, and actually came really close to our time from last year when i 'ran' it with vera strapped to my chest. my mom and auntie S did the 5k with us. nice weather, nice times. and it feels good to start a day of feasting with some exercise!

more thanksgiving wknd pics

the friday after thanksgiving, we visited my grandma's. some cousins were there as well. the kiddies had a wonderful post-thanksgiving feast of chicken nuggets and cheetos.



and it was a beautiful day for vera to check out the backyard.

thanksgiving pictures

what a cute family :)

what i'm thankful for

So, I don’t usually write much on here, but I thought I’d put together a little thanksgiving post of why I’m so thankful to have my daughter.

• Everything to Vera is worthy of a laugh. And her laugh is the most beautiful sound to my ears. Calling mommy “Bobby” is hysterical. Mom or dad burps? Oh my god, that is a riot! We jump around, dance, make faces, give her raspberries, anything to hear the sweet sound of her little laugh. And it makes me laugh with her. There is so much laughter in the house, and it really feels good.
  


• She ensures that our house is also filled with dancing and music. Every single day there is some kind of music playing, and some kind of dancing going on. Vera is a great little dancer, and she is starting to hum along to songs. Music and dancing makes for a happy home.



• She makes me enjoy the little things. Vera appreciates all the little things, and in turn makes me feel more appreciative for little things as well. Time to feed the dogs? Time to put the groceries in the refrigerator? She loves to “help” and finds such joy in the all the everyday things we have to do. It’s hard for that not to be contagious. Not that I love putting groceries away, but it does become a lot more fun with a little helper!



• She makes me want to be a better person. As Vera’s mom, I want to set a good example for her, and I want to help create a better world for her to live in. So I definitely try harder to be a better person and more productive towards society since having her.



• And lastly, having a little daughter makes me appreciate my husband and our families so much. It’s hard work raising a family, and I’m so happy to have the support network that I do. John Paul is such a wonderful husband and dad, I couldn’t ask for more.

Happy thanksgiving everyone!

and of course a post isn't worth anything without a picture... so here ya go:

my musicians

another tailgate

yesterday's homecoming post reminded me that we went to another UD tailgate earlier this year, and i never posted any pictures. (yes she is wearing practically the same outfit again... her wardrobe options in gold and blue are kinda limited)

homecoming

Vera went to UD homecoming last weekend. she's a great little tailgater!

trick or treat!

halloween was fun - Vera figured out pretty quickly about getting free candy from neighbors. and if you are cute, they will typically let you take two, no three, no FOUR pieces of candy. and then we move on to the next suckers nieghbors

halloween 'parade'

our neighborhood has a halloween parade the weekend before halloween. and this year it was cancelled on saturday b/c of snow (!!!) and then again on sunday b/c of mud.... ummm really?

so vera got dressed up and we walked around the neighborhood anyway. what a cute little monkey!