Christmas Pictures 2006

Wishing you a merry christmas. Hope you had a great one. We had a very sweet celebration at our new home in New Jersey. The girls were very into the festivities. And they are really enjoying their time with Grandma and Grandpa P. They also enjoyed opening all the presents that arrived from afar. We told the girls that Santa delivers his gifts through the United States Postal Service. They were so excited by all the boxes that came to the door. I hope to post pictures of the girls having fun with all their presents. Everyone was so thoughtful to remember us. The girls are at an age where everything is so exciting. They really enjoyed everything.



Elsa and Lily sitting under the tree in their pretty dresses. This was the day the girls got all dolled up to meet Santa at the library. But, the line was so long that they decided to get "nudie tudie" before they met him. So, we never did get a Santa picture.


A very happy Elsa with her Winnie doll. Lily's in the background holding Bunny, her primary security object. Lily actually sleeps with a whole pink entourage of stuffed animals. But, bunny is still #1.


Having some special time with Grandma and Grandpa P. They came all the way to Indiana to visit with us. We had a very relaxed holiday just sitting around the house and playing with all the fun new presents.


Elsa and Grandma P snuggle on the couch back at their hotel.


One of the girls' gifts from Grandma and Grandpa was a pink flashlight that they really enjoyed on Christmas Eve. They took it to church and then to the evening caroling over at Palmer Square.


Lily making breakfast at her play kitchen set. (The big gift from mommy and daddy). The girls love it.


Lily showing off her new purse from Aunty Vicky and Uncle RT. Aunt Vicky sewed the girls and I all matching purses invented from one pair of jeans. Very cute!


Our "official" Christmas card picture for this year.

More pictures to come . . .

Congrats Uncle Erik!

Uncle Erik is a college graduate today. Welcome to the real world little brother!


Lily is so excited for you!


And a lazy high five from your niece Elsa. She wasn't into posing for pictures on a Saturday morning. I was getting in the way of her cartoons.

Big congrats to Grandma and Grandpa, too. 3 kids through college in ten years. You are d.o.n.e! What a feat! Go out and have a party.

Party at my house, too. Mark's coming home tonight. I've survived 7 days/6 nights with two year old twins. I'm feeling like a rockstar today. Tomorrow, I'm taking a nap.

Little elves

I have been informed that the twin fan club needs to see more pictures. Sorry for the less frequent postings. We've been so busy doing our holiday projects. (baking gingerbread houses, decorating the house, making top-secret presents). Just haven't had the time. Rest assured, Lily and Elsa are happy and healthy. They are really getting into Christmas this year.


Here's Lily decorating both the Christmas tree and herself. Lily found my holiday shirts in the box and insists on wearing them all the time (even my matching jingle bell socks which she wears on her hands). She told me she's a princess. They've been on a Cinderella kick lately.


Here's Elsa and her little Christmas tree. She has slept holding the Xmas tree every night for two weeks now. She lets Lily hold the stuffed ornaments at night. (Baby Jesus and a collection of little animals). The girls are getting quite attached. The other night Lily couldn't find one of the ornaments. She woke up in the middle of the night screaming "Baby Jesus! Baby Jesus!" Mark and I cracked up. Usually, she's yelling for mommy or daddy.


Two little girls with fuzzy bedheads brushing their teeth. (L,E). They are quite independent little girls. They insist on doing most things by themselves like brushing their teeth, picking out clothes, and getting dressed. They even like to eat on grownup plates with silverware.

They are so verbal that I can't believe it. They narrate the entire day. They like to keep me on track by telling me which things to do next. "Mommy, I want to eat." "I need a bib." "Where's my pink plate." "We need to clean up this mess." Lately if I don't do things to their satisfaction, Elsa says in a very serious voice. "Mommy, that's NOT good enough." I have no idea where she picked that up...hopefully, that's not something Mark and I have ever told them. We're still working on our pleases and thank you's. They are getting a lot more polite, but sometimes they forget. On that subject, every time Lily sneezes she says "God bless you, Lily." She says it to herself which I find so funny.

I keep forgetting to mention another funny thing they've been saying. They like to call Mark "Mark" instead of Daddy. I'd say they do this about 50% of the time. He'll go to work and they will say "Bye Mark, see you later" or "Thanks Mark." I found this quite funny until they started calling me "Emily." I think they're just really interested in names. They've figured out that everyone has one. The other day I told Elsa she was a little cutie-pie. She told me "I'm not a cutie-pie, mom, I'm Elsa Claire Panning." Priceless.


Lily and Elsa washing dishes. They wanted to clean up after we made cookies this morning. We've been trying to keep busy while Mark's away at a conference this week. Thus far, they've been going pretty easy on me. But, I know they miss their dad. They keep telling me that "dad's at work on a train." They kind of don't get the airplane, California, conference part. They take things very litterally. The last thing they remember is dropping Daddy off at the train station. Poor Elsa woke up crying for her Daddy last night. She kept sobbing Daddy's at work. I think they're ready to have him home. Me too!



Cute picture I took of the girls this morning. They had a blast stomping in puddles. In this picture Lily had just dipped her finger in a puddle and wiped it all over Elsa's face. Elsa thought it was hilarious.