sledding with sister

supermodel pose? her idea for the picture

E pulling C in the sled

hanging with friends after a day of ski lessons

supervising the ski lesson from afar. kids going up

before the lesson started. so proud of C, out of her friends she is the only one that went to the lesson with no problem and no crying. she was eager to start which was great!

waiting for mommy to officially become a frenchy. my cheering squad!

C and mommy before the ceremony

playing in mommy's blanket box :)

Merry Christmas/ Happy New Year

Father Christmas gave us a new camera this year. Yay, what a surprise! We spent the week at Alex's parents house and then celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. Great food (lots of food) and great company. It was great for the girls to play with their cousins as well.
We decided to leave the girls at Alex's parents for New Years and we headed off to ski with some friends which was so much less stressful just having to plan around the two of us. I haven't skied since before I was pregnant with Emilie and even then I think it was for one day so it was nice to get back out and try again. I was so scared as there were soooo many people on the slopes but it was ok. I just followed behind the 3year olds that were skiing with such grace. Ha! Wish I was joking, but no, I really did follow behind the kiddies :) Have decided that I must give it another try again soon though otherwise I will never advance.
Resolutions for this year..have decided that I will be more patient with my children. Hopefully this one sticks. Have also decided that I have completely lost myself with living here, being married and having children and will work on finding what I really like and want. Gaining confidence in myself!  I think I will have better luck with the first one but hopefully they both can be works in progress.

Merry Christmas

somebody found a new hat. cousin fun

all the girls!

end of night on new years. 5 bottles of champagne for 4 people - not bad!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving and Early Christmas

We just got back from an amazing two week trip to the Dominican Republic and Miami. And then we got home to snow :( While it is beautiful, it is freezing here. We had such a great time!! I would love to go back again and I highly recommend the hotel. We stayed at the Melia Caribe Tropical wich was all inclusive and right on the beach, 7 pools, kids club, golf, 10 restaurants, and peacocks and flamingos walking around. The only down side was that our camera broke after 3 days of being there so we don't have that many pictures.

And Miami, oh Miami. We made our trip to stay 4 days but really it was only 2 as we arrived so late and left so early. We need to stay longer next time. I really miss my friends there. I love how we can pick back up like nothing has changed even though we may not talk every day. And the weather, oh I love the weather this time of year there. But the traffic is a nightmare! Poor Emilie got car sick anytime we went anywhere because of all the stop and go. I am going to have to talk to her doctor about that. I don't remember the traffic being so bad when we lived there, but then again we lived on the beach and never drove anywhere. Again, Alex got to play golf a few times which was great for him and we saw so many amazing friends. I miss you all so much and am already looking forward to the next time we can meet up again.

 

 

 

burning energy before the long day of flights

 

 

here our the monkeys on the plane. you can tell charlotte is zoned on the tv.
 

walking to the pool with grandma

beach babe

girls at the beach. cousin yvette was fabulous with the girls. she must have been exhausted at the end of the trip as the girls played so much together. a big thank you to yvette.



this was my burger at one of the restaurants. HUGE!

frozen drinks on the beach

 

even the girls had to have a frozen drink from a coconut

view of the beach on the windiest day. the hotel staff is setting up a beach wedding.

trying on mommy's clothes

what's more fun than a cardboard box and my sister?

Cheese!!
 

Happy Halloween

Fairy princess. She loved her costume, thanks grandma!

Jungle cat. Amazingly, she let me put her headband on. I think it is because she saw Charlotte get her hair done that day and wanted to be the same. She kept pulling her skirt up over her chest, not sure why.

Trying to get a picture of the two of them together is impossible

 

 

CANDY!!!!   :)

Here is an example of Charlotte's art. She wrote her name forwards and backwards.

Dressing up is soo much fun! Silly ballerinas

Mimi's first ponytail :)

Here is a small video of Charlotte at ballet. You can see her teacher demonstrating which looks so good and the kids are adorable trying to do the same. I had the biggest smile on my face watching C during the open doors and cannot wait for the recital ( yes, I know, it is not until June, but I still cannot wait!)

recent

building a village with clothespins. the many faces of C

Emilie is playing with crafts but in her own way, with her devil horns on.

Boo!!

C in ballet. Her teacher looks amazing! I am pretty sure she doesnt eat whole pizzas for lunch like I do :)

Boo

A little early, but look who's getting ready for Halloween!

Reading / Writing

So Charlotte is starting to read and write. The main thing she concentrates on is her name. Writes it all the time on all her pictures. Very proud of her. My only concern is that she used to write her name correctly and now she writes every letter backwards. And she starts on the right side of the page. Is this how everyone learns?

Ballerina Girl(s)

The many faces of a ballerina :)

Emilie at Kiddie Club. Dancing to her music.

16 months

And we're talking....sort of*
bird
spoon
book
moo
meow
bac bac (chicken sound)
sss (snake sound)
sshhh with finger on mouth
eye
please (sounds the same as peas but we know what she means)
peas
mommy
papa
bye
hi
au revoir
quack quack
baby/ bebe
tractor
cracker (sounds the same as tractor but we get it)
bus
ball
car
cheese
pain
night night
dodo
ribbit (frog sound)
poo poo
pee pee
go

*so this is the list of things that emilie can say at the moment. maybe a few more, not sure. but just to be clear these are things that I as her mother understand and probably not many other people (if anyone)
if you ask her where eyes, nose, mouth, ear, hand, foot and cheek are she can tell you.
she already knows when she has gone poo and can get a diaper for you.
she loves shoes and tries to put them on her feet.
does not like to be told no.
definitely has her own opinion and knows what she wants (will be great for future, not at the moment)
loves babies. i catch her all the time giving kisses to her babies or see her making the farm animals kiss.
enjoys books but can never sit still for more than 2 stories without having to pick her own book to "read" at the same time. find her multiple times in the day flipping through her books "reading"
LOVES music! sings and dances all the time. the girl has rhythm. crazy how that is just in you from the beginning.
loves her pacifier and bunny. unfortunately so much so that i have to hide them during the day and only bring them out for nap and sleep. but on the positive, she will happily go to bed when needed so she can be with thise things.
gets the biggest smile on her face when she sees Alex.
tries to do everything that Charlotte does. (which Charlotte loves for the moment)
doesnt understand that Charlotte leaves for school now and that she isnt going with her.
very shy around new people. no smile, hides her face and sometimes cries. greta at first impressions :)
has the best dimple smile that lights up a room.

"merry go round's are the best,"says C . And to think we avoided these things until Charlotte was 2 and a half. I still don't pay for the little cars at the grocery store though. I wonder when she is going to figure out that money goes in them.

watching the ducks and swans in Lake Geneva. I loved feeding the ducks wen I was a kid and hope to share in this with C and E.

super star on a pedal boat or pedalo.

"Mommy don't bother me for a photo, I'm relaxing." She didn't really say that, but I thought she looked so cute like this pretending to be like mommy and daddy. I think she really enjoyed her mommy/papa day without her little sister. She is soooooo good when she is all by herself. How easy having one child is now.



pretending we are in Miami on a boat (and that we are on a date. notice C didn't get invited in this photo)

who wants to go swimming?

how many children can fit on one couch? and of course emilie saw the camera and has given her cheese face:)