Friends.

We have been on playdates galore lately. It is really a wonderful thing, because little Maya is getting really great at playing with friends. She loves having people at the house, and she adores playing with toys at other kids' houses. I love to see her making friends. Jonah, of course, takes it all in stride, and really loves watching other kids and playing with his mommy and daddy. All in all, they are happily making friends.

"This is my friend Vanessa. We played on Sunday!"

"Like my princess costume? Vanessa loves it."

"We have fun together."

"My new friend Ainsley loves baby Joney. Her mommy is having a baby, too!"

"Jonah loves a good playdate."

"Ainsley thinks I'm so funny."

"I'm talking to Auntie Nora on the phone. I am ALWAYS talking to Auntie Nora on the phone."

"Ainsley and I are buds. I love her toys."

"Mommy made brownies for Tot Shabbat, and she let me do the licking."

"When you ask me if I helped Mommy bake the brownies, I'll tell you that I helped clean... with my tongue."

It's Cousin Time!

Cousin Dave and Cousin Jen came to visit us last weekend, from Virginia Beach. We told Maya they were coming, and she was basically as excited as humanly possible. She couldn't wait to play with Cousin Jen. Well, let's just say, she was NOT let down at all. She played with Jen, nonstop, for the entire weekend. Even when Jen wasn't there, Maya talked about her. Some cute Maya-isms:

"Wait! I have an idea! Maybe I could show Cousin Jen my shows!"
"Maybe Jen should cuddle with me on the couch."
"Mommy, I don't want to walk on tip toes. I want Jen to wake up."
"Jen, you look beautiful."
"Where's Jen? Where's Jen? Where's Jen?"

We had a great time this weekend. On Sunday, we invited some of Kevin's family to come over and play. We had such a nice time with everyone. Now that the house is empty, it feels pretty quiet around here!

"Mommy says this is her favorite picture of Daddy and Jonny."

"Daddy and Jonny realized they had the same shirt, but Daddy's is red, and Jonny's is blue. They were very excited when they figured this out."

"Mommy says these are Back to the Future references. Whatever that means."

"They found this hilarious. I like seeing Daddy laugh."

"Daddy and Jonny were really into this."

"Nana and Heddy love our little Joney."

"Jonny is very silly."

"He loves Mommy's food. We all do."

"This is my best friend, Cousin Jen. Isn't she pretty?"

"Jonah loves Aunt Heddy. Who doesn't?"

Snow Everywhere.

We got such an absurd amount of snow, in the past 24 hours. I mean, my deck is buried under several feet of snow, from both snowfall, and wind blown snow. It's amazing. Anyway, we've been keeping ourselves occupied this week. On Sunday, we visited Nora, Adam, and Shane, for a playdate. The kids had a great time together, despite the fact that Jonah seems to want to attack Shane. Don't worry - they love each other. Monday morning, after "Sticky Fingers," we had friends over to play. Maya, Sabrina, and Vanessa are a pretty cute little trio. Kevin and Maya also made it outside for a snowman-making fiesta. All in all, we are doing great. I hesitate to say this, but for the moment, both kiddos are healthy and happy. I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but after about 6 weeks of on-and-off sick Maya and Jonah, I am certainly not taking these healthy moments for granted!

"I love Joney's silly alligator shirt."

"Like our snowman?"

"Daddy really made this snowman, because I can't really move or do much of anything when I'm bundled up in my mitts, hat, and snowpants."

"Good morning!"

"Sabrina and I had chicken nuggies for lunch, on our playdate. She likes the dino nuggies, just like Jonah and me."
"That's Shane and Nora. Shane is wearing Jonah's outfit. He's a cutie, huh?"


"Oh no! Jonah is about to eat Shane's face! Hurry and rescue Shane! Hurry!"

Poser.

My little lady loves the camera. I think the cam loves her, too, don't you think?

I know I've been a blog slacker. My other interests have kind of taken hold of me. I love my kids to bits and pieces, but I am also enjoying focusing on my cooking/baking blog. It makes me feel so productive, outside my life as a mom.

We've had a nice week. We went to see Disney on Ice, courtesy of Dan's sis. It was so much fun. Maya and Jonah both loved it, even though they were up way past their bedtime. I love to see them having fun. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Today is a family day, and we are getting ready for our road trip to see Nora and Adam. Hopefully, I will remember to take a million photos!


"I loved Disney on Ice. We sat right next to my teacher, Miss Jill! What a shock!"
"Hi."

"Take more pics, Daddy!"

"After dinner, I play with my family, and I love it."

"This is the face I make, when I'm being fresh."

"But usually, I'm happy."

"Hey, everyone! Sorry we were MIA for a while. Mommy has been a slacker..."

Happy January!

We have a nice holiday break. I call it that, because we didn't have school for a week. Instead, we had a sort of eventful, yet relaxing few days. One fun thing, is that it snowed about a foot, here in New England. Kevin and Maya went sledding in our new backyard, for the first time. They had fun, but sadly, it ended with a visit from the neighbor's dog. The dog is a pup, and nabbed Kevin's glove. This made Maya extremely upset, so they had to terminate their sledding mission after about 45 minutes. As soon as Maya came inside, she saw a Hanukkah gift from Bubbe, sitting on the counter, and her tears abruptly turned to, "I feel better now, and I want that." Hmph.

New Year's Eve was a bust. We went to Paul and Irina's house, about 35 minutes away. We picked up a bundle of Indian food on the way, and hung out with Paul, Irina, Baby Sophia (4 weeks old), Moshe, Christie, and Eve (17 months old). Jonah was acting a tad "off" during dinner. He was fussy, wouldn't eat, and he felt very warm to the touch. At 7:00, he managed to vomit all over the floor of Paul and Irina's lovely kitchen. I'm sure they were thrilled, considering they had a very tiny baby there. We cleaned up and high tailed it out of there. We didn't want to spread any viruses. Jonah felt better on New Year's Day, and even better the following day. He really took it like a champ. Anyway, so much for staying up until midnight, right?! Anyway, so far the New Year has been good to us, and it's back to the daily grind this morning. Sticky Fingers, here we come!

"Mommy, Jonah is playing with a tutu and a bottle of fake mustard! I keep telling him he looks beautiful, but he's only interested in playing with the bottle."

"I love to dress up like a princess, Mom."

"I think we need some of these princess dresses at our house. Coming to the JCC to play with them is fun, but I want to take this home."

"I woke up from my nap, and Mommy and Daddy whisked me into my snow clothes. I was really discombobulated, but I took it like a big girl."

"I really love Mommy."

"Jonah puked, only minutes later. Can you tell he's looking a little green?"

"Mommy! You need a ponytail! You're hiding!"

"That's Eve. She looks like she's making her 'mad face,' but Mommy says she just doesn't know how to pose yet."

"It's a good thing they were playing in the kitchen, and not on the carpet. You never know when Jonah might explode."

"Oh no! Time to go home already?! Joney! You aren't supposed to throw up at someone's house, when I'm busy having fun! Happy New Year to all, and to all, a good night!"

"Bye bye, Christie and Irina! Oh, and Sophia! You looked like a baby zebra there! I didn't realize that was you!"