Friends

Daniel loves his friend Abi. Abi and her sister Emma came over on Saturday evening and they had so much fun together. I'm glad Daniel has such good friends.

They took turns pushing eachother in the shopping cart.

This is when they found all of the play glasses. How can you pass up a picture like that?

Abi's stylin': She liked to have two pair of glasses on.

Friends

Eating dinner.

Sick Boy

Daniel has been sick for what seems like forever! He had two ear infections one right after the other. Poor kid. I caught a little something too - so we have both been layin low. Luckily his antibiotics have started to kick in so he's starting to feel better!

Sick Boy

Here are some pictures from before he got sick.

Watching the seals at the Norwalk Aquarium.

Daniel and Daddy

Daniel LOVES green olives. They are probably his favorite treat. If he sees them in the fridge there is no stopping him. He can't get enough of them. Green olives seems like such an odd thing for a two year old to love - but what can I say - he's got taste! Silly kid.

The Rachael Ray Show

Yesterday, I went to a taping of the Rachael Ray Show with a couple of friends. It was so much fun! My friend Lillian was so nice to watch Daniel all day for me so I could go! What a friend!
We took the train in and walked only a few blocks to the studio where we stood in line for an hour and a half or so. After that they took us in through security and up to a waiting room where they had bagels and muffins for you to eat. Then they started seating us. We were in the first group to be seated and even though we weren't the first in line by any means, they put us in the VERY FRONT ROW! It was so great. The studio is so small that you were really close to everything. The studio is a circle and the audience is on a sort of "lazy susan" so they rotate you to where ever they are taping that segment, which was kind of neat. Rachael looked so cute - it's neat to see her up close. They taped parts of two different shows while we were there. The two celebrities we saw were Mark Consuelos -Kelly Ripas husband and Ricki Lake. It was a blast! What an experience! You can probably see us in the audience when they air those shows - so keep a look out for us in the front row!

Darleen, Hillary, and me

They gave us all magazines.

We were trying to do our Rachael Ray pose like the one in the picture behind us, but it didn't really work. :)

Darleen and Hillary

Check out the super bright orange walls!

Fun at the Kollers

Even though Ruth is older than Daniel - Daniel is bigger than she is. Here he is holding her.

Playing Beauty Salon: Maya and Annie set up a salon in their bedroom. Emily and I got to go and have our hair done - what a treat. Nice hairdo Em.

Dinner time with the Kollers

Maya and Ruth

Annie and Emily

Birthday Party

Since Daniel's birthday is on January 4th, we had a little party with all of his cousins while we were out visiting family for the holidays. I can't believe his is turning 2!

Making his cake: A chocolate candy bar cake. It has Hershey bar shavings in the cream cheese icing.

Daniel and Seth.

An excited birthday boy!

Grandma Kathy and Seth.

Daniel and his cousins.

I think Daniel's favorite part might have been blowing out the candles. He said "Yeah!" and clapped after he blew it out and wanted to do it again. We let him blow out the candle probably five times in a row! Whatever makes them happy!

Mommy, Daniel, and Daddy

Christmas

Christmas morning. Daniel got the hang of opening his gifts pretty quick. It was so much fun to watch his reaction.

Grandpa and Daniel: Daniel thinks his mustache is funny.

Our Christmas buffet -yumm.

Christmas Eve

There is always so much going on at Christmas. Here are some pictures to try to catch up a bit. We drove to visit Jenny and Emily - one in Ohio and one in Kentucky. Luckily we got to see most of my family b/c my mom and dad both came out too. We missed Kat and Ken who were still in Utah - but they had a nice Christmas with the Ojuka's.

Daniel loved baby Seth! He couldn't stop giving him kisses.

Making cookies to leave for Santa.

On Christmas Eve the kids acted out the Nativity story. They did a great job. This is Leah as Mary.

Leah as Mary with baby Seth as the baby Jesus.

What this picture didn't catch was Leah shoving Seth into the "manger" which was a little wicker baby doll bed that he didn't quite fit in! Seth was not a happy camper after that!

Daniel was a shepherd.

Sam was Joseph.

This is the note the kids left for Santa.

Here is the note that Santa left them in return.

Me holding Seth.

Baby Seth after his bath. He is so adorable.

Daniel and Daddy getting a little rest.

Rudolph's Test Run

Daniel and I made his horsey into Rudolph for the day. We thought Rudolph needed a test run before the big night with Santa. He is obviously enjoying himself.

All smiles and giggles!

His snowman wanted a ride too.

Good job Rudolph, good job.

Baking 101

What's better than listening to Christmas music and making cookies? Answer: Listening to Christmas music and making cookies with Daniel. Whenever I am cooking - Daniel wants to be right there with me. He's going to be quite the chef someday! I love cooking with Daniel. He had so much fun. He kept tasting the flour saying "mmm...good." I don't even care that flour ends up all over my kitchen!

Any good chef knows that flour belongs on your face - not in the bowl. It makes you look like you've been slaving away!