February

Ivy gets her own magazine in the mail now- and she likes to hop up on the kitchen stool to read it right away!





Our friend Eryn had her adorable baby in early January, so Ivy and I have been visiting them every couple of weeks. It's becoming really clear that Ivy isn't a baby any more and is swiftly turning into a little girl, so i love opportunities to hold baby Kaila!





I love this picture the most-- Ivy plays with this guitar at Eryn's house... She continues to love music of any kind. She dances and sings and especially enjoys singing along in the car! Only she understands the words, but still!

January at Fairytale Town

This is a picture of our exchange student, Miku, who was with us for 6 days earlier this month! She was 13 and visiting the US from Ichinoe, Japan! Ivy loved having her around! We enjoyed her company and hope she had a good time!

We've had a really good month so far! Staying busy continuing to plant stuff in our new front yard, organizing stuff in the house, and of course.... playing with Ivy!

She's been super fun lately, lots of tea parties and dinner parties in her new kitchen! She drags everyone who comes over into her room and pats the place she wants you to sit, and then starts prepping some food for you. You might get a sandwich, you might get some sushi-- its hard to tell! Ivy's really good about washing her hands and washing her dishes in between guests... in her play sink! It's hilarious to watch!

Ivy's getting ready for Dancing with the Stars or American Idol... not sure which!

Ah.... the holidays...

Ok, well, these are kind of mixed up and out of order... but rather than starting over and re doing it... it is what it is!


Santa came to our house this year! Here is Ivy's fun loot to discover on Christmas morning! Notice the cat making himself at home!

Christmas morning was fun for Ivy! She truly enjoyed playing with her stuff right away- she's been admiring kitchens for a while now, so I knew that it would be a hit! She got a lot of fake food too- but the stir fry set was her favorite.

Lovely felt fettuccini with marinara sauce that I got from the Etsy website! So delicious!

This lovely picture features Daddy reading to Ivy from a classic book that Ivy got for Christmas from Auntie V!

We finished celebrating Christmas on the 26th over at my parents house-- it was nice to spend the afternoon and evening over there and enjoy a delicous German meal together. Ivy got her own "laptop" from Mema and Grandpa!

I have to say that her favorite present from my parents was the Plasma car. She really loves it! We will leave it over at their house to ride in their nice ride driveway when the weather warms up!

This is Ivy and Daddy at the zoo a couple of days before Christmas!

We haven't been to the zoo since May... she's way more into the critters now and had a great time!

Awww, cute Miya and Ivy had a playdate a couple of weeks before Christmas! Eryn and I dressed them in their matching tutus and leopard print coats!

Here's Ivy all dressed up for her Santa encounter...

And here's the Santa encounter! It did not go well! She wouldn't even get close to Santa to get her present! Oh well, maybe next year.

These pictures are from a fantastic Christmas lights display in Orangevale that we have made a point of visiting with Ivy for her first 2 Christmases! She really enjoys Christmas lights and Christmas music!

Ivy and I travelled to Southern California to visit the Patterson family the weekend before Christmas! Ivy had her ups and downs on the trip== being a toddler-- but all in all was a pretty good tot! Several of these pictures are from "Pretend City" where Ivy and Camden had a grand time! Super cute place for toddlers to have a play date!

Who doesn't like Curious George?

We really enjoyed our stay with the Pattersons! Ivy and Camden are so cute together! Ivy definitely missed Camden after we got home- I know she wishes that we could hang out more often... as do I!

On the trip home, Ivy and I got stranded at the OC airport for a few extra hours- but she did an amazing job of charming our fellow stranded passengers with her singing and dancing... so it wasn't too bad!

When we got home, Christmas was in full swing! Packages on the doorstep, friends and neighbors dropping by with cookies!

Ivy is wearing the amazing tutu that Auntie Jill found for her... I think this one is my favorite!

A snowy Thanksgiving

All dressed up for the holiday parade on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Usually, the parade is in the morning and we have a brunch party to celebrate and a bunch of our neighbors come over to watch the parade pass our house. This year, the City of Roseville, in it's infinite wisdom decided to change the parade time to 3:00 pm. I was really annoyed by this, because it's a wierd time to have a party! We stuck with it, though, and despite the poor weather and poor turnout- the few of us watching had a pretty good time!

Here's Ivy debuting her latest tutu... a giant pettiskirt that is as big as she is!
All bundled up in her cozy coat watching the parade in the front yard. We are almost done with our front yard remodel- a few more plants to get in the ground, but at least the fence is in now!

The parade was pretty short- only a couple of marching bands- no miniature ponies- no shriners- not too much of anything, really.

The night before Thanksgiving, we hopped in the truck and headed up to the cabin for a long Thanksgiving holiday. A couple feet of snow fell before we got there and it just looked like a lovely winter wonderland when we arrived!
We cooked a turkey and all the stuff that goes with it! Ivy ate some, but was suffering with some serious molars coming in. The day after Thanksgiving- we went shopping in Carson City to enjoy the beginning of the Christmas shopping season- and then it started to snow!

All day Saturday snow fell gently from the sky and it was just lovely!

Ivy and the kittie cats cozy on the couch!

So apparently, Alpine county was issuing permits to cut trees from the forest for use as Christmas trees. We all thought this was a charming idea, and purchased a permit. While it was snowing, my dad and Brian and I headed out to one of the appropriate areas and began to search for a tree. I can tell you two things about this plan.... one: all of the trees look a lot better from the road than they do up close- and two: it's pretty hard to trudge through snow that is waist high (on me) when you are wearing a skirt and fashionable (not functional) boots.

It was pretty, though.

Dad cut one... just because- but it was pretty scrawny!

When we got back to the house, we suited Ivy up in a million layers and got ready to go for a sled ride! She looked like that kid from Christmas Story with her arms stuck out straight from her sides!

I don't get it- she doesn't enjoy the beach, but sub freezing temperatures and a couple of accidental face plants in the snow are perfectly all right for this kid!

My little snow bunny!

She dug the sled! She kept saying "weeeee" over and over again!

Big snowflakes at night made for a pretty picture! This is the guest house where we stay.