Happy New Year!

We had a wonderful holiday season in 2009 and are very excited for all that 2010 has in store... We eagerly await the arrival of "baby boy" in early February and look forward to watching our family grow and reshape itself as the year goes on. Thanks to all for taking the time to look through our photos and reports!

Second Christmas (Dec 31st)

Our Second Christmas (on Long Island) was filled with a number of excellent new toys! Two highlights were the fully-equipped easel, given to Ella by her aunt Deanne and uncle David, and the doll house from her Grammie and Gop (for which she also gives credit to Santa and Momma, though I'm not sure how I earned that honor!).

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas!

We were treated to yet another snowfall for our Second Christmas (Dec 31), and a wonderful gathering with the Morris clan in Locust Valley. Here's our best attempt at Frosty (N.B. he's winking at you, can't you tell?), which was a fun project. Ella adored playing with her aunts, uncles and grandparents. Here she is jumping with aunt Cassidy.

22 in 30?

At this point, we boarded a plane to head back east, which was, luckily, quite uneventful. As I traveled at 34 weeks of pregnancy, we calculated that our little Ella, in her 30 months of life had taken a total of 22 flights. She is quite a little traveler. We just hope that "baby boy" will be as amenable to our dual-coasted family schedule.

Team photos

We have certainly learned that the more people you gather for a group photo, and the greater the range in ages, the more flexible you have to be about your outcome. This first group shot is a favorite for its mayhem. The second isn't much more polished, but it still represents an accomplishment for our crew!

First Christmas (Dec 25th)

The biggest thrill of First Christmas (at Whidbey) was definitely the colorful, ribbony tu-tu that Ella received from her grandparents. She immediately put it on ("all by me-self") and started to twirl. I can now report that our collection of tu-tu's (gifts and hand-me-downs) includes six very different, very twirly tu-tu's. Ella loves them all.

A Whidbey Christmas

With a driftwood Christmas tree (thanks to Poppa's creative flair) and a sandy beach for digging, we had a very northwestern Christmas on Whidbey Island.