Merry Christmas

A white Christmas in Tahoe

Well getting to Tahoe was a bit of a chore with the weather but we made it and Carmella got to see the snow for the first time.

 

 Not so sure what she thought of it....

 A closer inspection with Daddy

 Ok well this is a little more fun with my cousin Sophia

 We had the whole family together for Christmas this year, even Stephen and his wife Whitney flew in for some Christmas fun!!

Tyler, Jenn, Mom and Stephen

 

 Everyone put on your holiday aprons its time to do some baking!

 We even got to celebrate Aunt Whitney's birthday 

 Merry Christmas Eve!

 On Christmas morning we dressed all the little ones in matching PJ's 

(Sophia was so excited about what she saw under the tree she couldn't sit still for the picture)

 Daddy and Carmella just taking in all the fun

Christmas evening we headed over to mom's house to have a yummy dinner together.

 Mom, Tyler, Carmella, Jenn, Sophia and Me 

(Grandpa Silky got in on this one too)

 Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!

Toddler Car Sear

We are so excited to spend Christmas in Tahoe but we weren't too excited about the four hour drive. No to mention the weather man was predicting a lot of rain and snow.

Since Carmella has outgrown her infant seat we thought we better get a new Toddler seat for the long drive.

Someone likes it already, too bad she didn't sleep for the whole drive

well at least she was a happy baby the whole trip!!
Man I just love that smile.

And the good news it only took us a little over four hours to get there!!

Ferraro Christmas

We celebrated Christmas a little early with the Ferraro's since we would all be out of town.

So we gathered at Nana and Papa's house for fun Christmas.

Ready to open some presents!

Great Grandma and Julio with all the grand children and great grand children 

 The Ferraro Family ready for Christmas.

 Carmella figuring out how fun Christmas really is.

9th Tooth (First Molar)

After lots of drooling and fingers in the mouth all the time we have our first molar but of course she wouldn't let me feel it or get close to take a picture. So you're just going to have to take my word for it. And if I am not mistaken I think she is beginning to cut the next molar on the top this time. She has always cut two teeth at a time, so it doesn't surprise me.

Here come the chompers!!

Meeting Santa

Carmella got to meet Santa this year and I have to say she wasn't to sure what to think.

As we walked up to him she held on to my shoulder a little tighter and as I handed her over she looked at me like I had betrayed her. But she didn't cry, however her lower lip did quiver a bit and she was sure not to look at him. She just held her hands in her lap and looked a little scared. 

I told Santa's elf to keep shooting because I knew something was about to happen. Santa kept talking to her and before you knew it she looked up at him and was curious to hear what he had to say. And snap we got the picture.

I love this picture and how she is just looking at him like she is saying  so tell me your story....

 Such a sweet moment. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Someone is all dressed up for Thanksgiving.

Carmella put her pretty dress on and wanted to show off her cruising skills but first she had to get snuggle out of the crib.

Then it was off to Nana and Papa's house to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Ferraro's.

And it was the perfect time to take a family portrait (Christmas Card photo)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

This year we had our hands full with the little mobile girl so I wasn't able to take as many pictures, 

uh oh maybe next year!!

Cruising

She is Cruising...

As you can see she likes to have her snuggle with her at all times but can't figure out how to carry her and walk around the table.

Eating her Peas

Since I've been having a hard time getting Carmella to eat her vegetables I decided to try mixed veggies so I could figure out what she actually likes.

And the winner is..... PEAS

That's right the girl that didn't like smashed peas (baby food) likes peas now.

Funny thing is she picks through all the other veggies just to get to the peas and she likes to throw everything else on the ground. She is not a fan of food on her tray that she doesn't like.

Watching Cartoons with Dad

I am not sure who enjoys this more, Carmella or Chris? Often Chris will tell me on the days that I work that he and Carmella spent the morning watching old school cartoons. I have yet to see it until this morning.

All snuggled up on the couch watching cartoons, too sweet!

Time to bundle up

The temperature is changing and it's time to bundle up. Our early morning workout has left us very chilly in the morning. Mommy gets warm with all the running but Carmella has to stay bundled in the stroller. So we pulled out some winter clothes. It sure is a good thing that cousin Sophia lived in Utah for a few winters because we have some nice warm jackets and hats to thank her for.

 All snuggled up and warm ready for the workout.

Thanks Sophia for all the warm clothes, see we did get some use out of them in California.

Downward Dog

Carmella spends a lot of time with me at our workout class, Stroller Power and I think she is starting to pick up a thing or two....

Practicing her downward dog pose.

Nice job baby!!

Halloween All Over

Oh no say it isn't so......

Halloween is all over and the costumes have to be put away.

But I didn't get that much candy and my mom and dad said I can't eat any of it!!

I guess you're going to have to wait until next year when you have a few more teeth.

Halloween

This year for Halloween Carmella started the day off dressing up as a Chicken 

for our stroller workout class.

Lazy Chicken.....

uh oh someone is say cluck, cluck cluck!

Later that night we headed over to Nana and Papa house

 so we could do some trick or treating with our cousins

The girls getting ready to go out.

Carmella as a Zebra, Madison as a Gypsy, and Gigi as Minnie Mouse

And Gavin joined us too, as Darth Vader

Looks like these kids are ready for some fun!!

Here is a quick snapshot of Carmella's 2nd Halloween costumes.

First a Chicken then a Zebra

Shaffer Boys Visit

The beloved Shaffer boys dropped in for a visit and this little girl was pretty excited.

Bryce and Dylan just couldn't get enough of baby Carmella and she was so excited to see the boys too.

Even Auntie Sara got to get some baby loving.

I sure do love these boys and they are just the sweetest,

and look at how much they love each other too.

Thanks boys (and Sara) for a great visit and I hope we can do it again soon!!

Pumpkin Patch

This year we headed back to the pumpkin patch in Morgan Hill
and Carmella was old enough to really enjoy it.

Although she wasn't so sure about the large orange objects at first...

But then she discovered the hay and she was amused.

Our annual "pumpkin hill" picture

(with a sleepy girl)

This year Kourtney came to visit and got to enjoy the festivities at the pumpkin patch too.

Daddy and Carmella getting ready to pick out our pumpkin.

Our happy girl hanging out with mommy

Mom and Dad just taking a break and enjoying the fun.
(and no we didn't get a pumpkin that big)

A few days later we decided to carve our pumpkin.

Last year Carmella was fast asleep but this year she wanted to help daddy.

She is thinking come on already, enough with the pictures I want to carve this pumpkin.

All finished!! We can't wait for Halloween!!

Learning to Walk (Assisted)

Carmella hasn't really shown a lot of interest in walking yet, she sees how fast she can get around crawling. But today mommy decided to show her how the musical walker can help her. She seemed to like it and who knows maybe she will be walking soon!! 

Check out the video

Update: She now hates the walker and cries when we bring it out. So I don't think she will be walking anytime soon. We might even need to get a new walker, this one makes her mad.

New Jogging Stroller

Since mommy and Carmella have been working out at Stroller Power for about a year now we decided to get a running stroller. 

Mommy found a good deal on Craigslist and Carmella approves.

Loving her new ride!! Can't wait to take it out for a run.

My New Chair

Carmella got a special new chair for her birthday from auntie Jenn, Uncle Mike, Sophia, Tyler, Auntie Cindy, Uncle Mark and family.

She has figured out how to slide in and out of the chair.

And since mommy wasn't feeling very well today Carmella sat in her new chair and watch some Baby Einstein so mommy could rest.

She looks like such a big girl yet still so small sitting in her chair

So happy and content.

Thanks for the great chair, looks like Carmella likes it too!