Uncle Bobby's Fan Club!

For some reason, MJ is just fascinated with my baby bro. Whenever Uncle Bobby is in the room, MJ just stares at him. I think they were having a very deep conversation about the purple exercise ball the MJ was trying to taste.

With Uncle Bobby being stronger then the average man, Lilly loves being tossed around by him. She actually finds it more funny when Uncle Bobby shows off and pick me up instead.

Look....he's a natural!

This was a Lilly/Uncle Bobby adventure taking the Barbies to the beach. He played along just as if he had been doing it his whole life!

Time to build towers or trains (I can't remember). I know Lilly is very glad to have someone else to play with, and for me I'm glad I get to spend some time with Bob-O since he will be in the desert for a year started early 2011! We are looking forward to spending all the time we can with him until he flies back to Hawaii next week!

Why it's Christmas!

We spent Christmas in NY with the Fitzula side of the family. We began our trip to NY at 830am and made it to Newark, DE where we stayed the night and got to see my Aunt, Uncle and cousins. I love visiting family, just wish we could beam ourselves there instead of riding in the car. The kids did well, but Lilly ended up watching a DVD player for a long while (most of the trip). We started the next morning to NY and made that by mid-afternoon. It was nice to be at our final destination!

Lilly did not want to get any closer to Santa , even when he had gifts for her!

MJ on the otherhand, loved Santa!

Aunt Betty, is Fitz's great Aunt on his dad's side. No one is sure as to how old she is other then that she is well over 90! She came for dinner one night while we were in NY, and the girls just loved her. They played with her for a while before the food was actually ready. At dinner Lilly informed us all "I love Aunt Betty." That is one of the first times Lilly has said that without being prompted, for someone she had just met.

Fitz and I had the chance to visit with a good high school buddy of Fitz's who lives in Bermuda. The last time we all saw each other there were no children and we were all newly married! Look how times have changed. We just wish her hubby was there too, he had not yet travelled from Bermuda!

Lilly and MJ had some matching pajama's from Eenie, they posed in front of the Christmas tree at Grandma's House. Other then having to leave unexpectedly on Christmas Day to beat the snow storm home, we had a great trip and a great visit to NY. We are happy to be home, and looking forward to spending time with Uncle Bobby before he heads back to Hawaii and then on to Kuwait.

Ginger Bread Houses

When we arrived at the church, we were given 6 pieces of gingerbread (real gingerbread...smelled so good), a bag of icing, and directions. Lilly was not so interested in this part of the building process, but lucky for her I attend NC State known for engineering so our house came together without a hitch.

Meanwhile, MJ was cruising around the fellowship hall with Eenie's help. He successfully said "da-dada-da-dadada" followed by a raspberry! Then later in the afternoon he mustered a "MAMA!" So excited!!

We had our house complete in record time so the candy table was not set up yet. I was put in charge of holding back the monkey's to the candy could be all put out. It was quite a job, but once they could be let loose they calmed back down!

The kids ate too much candy and then needed to run some sugar off. They ended up sitting on the stage giggling about nothing at all!

And here is the master piece....I put the dots of frosting, and Lilly added the candy (well the candy she did not eat). Hope this is just the beginning of the holiday crafts!

Lilly cleaning windows!

The MJ stare from Santa's lap (we could not get Lilly within 10 feet of him).

Lilly and her good buddy Gray at the Art of the Season at Church

Craft Time!

Teething much?

Flying time

Wow, the month of December is packed and we are just 1/2 way through! We have been staying busy and enjoying the upcoming holidays. We have been shopping, working on projects, traveling to see friends and trying to relax (ha)! The first weekend of December we got to do some crafts at church. Lilly loves crafts, and had a blast. She got to make a pine cone Christmas Tree, a Nativity scene in a seashell, wire decorations, and an angel door hanger. She loves to show them off to anyone who comes over to the house. MJ let us get his hand print, and then he needed a nap! Lilly is still not fond of Santa, she wants a 10ft space between them. She is very willing to tell everyone what she wants from Santa though...."another fish, and another fish, and another fish". We will see if Santa and swing that. Last weekend we were in Raleigh so I could get Zumba certified and we could see our Raleigh Buddies! It's always a blast to see folks you've known for a long time...like "coming home." Lilly loves looking at the Christmas light, so we usually take the long way around town to get to see as many lights as possible.

On the MJ front....he said his first word over the weekend.....drum roll please...."dada." He now says it all of the time and laughs! Fitz loves that both he and Lilly said "dada" first, so I'll let him think that it actually his to do with him! Also, MJ is pulling up on anything that will hold him. He wants to be mobile so bad, won't be too long now.

We still have a few activities before the actually holiday is here....so hope we can get it all done! Will post any cute photos before too long!

They can always make each other laugh!
Lilly girl, just being Lilly!

On an abnormally warm day, a Naked MJ was spotted in the backyard (getting his Vitamin D of course)

Christmas came early from Eenie and Commodore (MMA gloves for Mr. MJ)!

Beautiful Table set by the Coombs for Thanksgiving!

The gang gathered for to give thanks!

Craft time; me and the gals!

Two college best buddies; and their five kids.

Time to clean up leaves (pine straw) with Daddy!

Then it's time for a ride!

Playing Catch up

We have been busy, and not all at the same time! Where to start; we had a very mild November so we got to spend alot of time outside. During one of the beautiful warm days I took MJ outside to hang out and he enjoyed it so much that I let him "run" around nudie. He seemed to have a great time and really enjoyed hanging on to the fence and chat with the neighbor dog. Before my folks left to spend the Thanksgiving Holiday in Hawaii with my brother, we had to open some of the Christmas gifts. My folks (my dad) got MJ a set of sparring gloves and some MMA apparel. For Lilly, my dad hand stitched a quilt....he always has to one up me ;)! We had all intentions of just laying low for Thanksgiving and potentially eating out of Thanksgiving day, but plans changed! My best buddy from college called and invited us to her folks house for Thanksgiving. We, of course, could not resist a home cooked meal that we did not have to make or clean up after....so away we went. Lilly had a blast with Meg's daughters (Ella and Grace), and MJ was able to nap while we took all the girls out running! Such fun.....it was great to be surrounded by such great people! Since the holiday, we have had more presents with the return of my folks from Hawaii, chatting with some good buddies from Australia (miss you guys) about their trip to Thailand, spent time with my bro on his birthday via Skype, and of course prepping for the next holiday!

This video sums up how life it going......GREAT! The kids love being around each other, and making each other laugh! What more could you ask for!

Lilly helping me feed MJ-such a good big sister
Laughing boy

Princesses in the making

MJ-oh my MJ!

Lilly taking a "nap" on her swing

Kids in Motion

My kids are constantly in motion...running, hopping, skipping, walking, crawling, pulling up, rolling over, and everything in between! They are all over the place and loving every minute of it. We are always on the go and trying to keep up with them. I am starting to plan for Christmas gifts, and it's exciting and stressful all at the same time. I have decided that if I don't know EXACTLY what to get you then, I will send a care package in your name to the troops on the front lines. I have never been an advocate of war, fighting, or the likes, BUT I do feel a need to help those away from their families and all they know for extended periods of time. So, we will see how many packages I can send!! Exciting times....love the holidays!

Lilly as a princess at Trick or Treating Under the Sea
MJ!!

Lilly and her turtle outside of the Aquarium

Lilly and MJ at the pumpkin patch

Tinkerbell trick or treating!

The Many Costumes of Halloween!

Lilly had a great this Halloween, we only had three costume changes; luckily for us we already owned them all so we could let her be a girl! We had a week full of activities; starting with Lilly the princess at Chick-fil-a kids night on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday, we did trick or treating under the sea at the aquarium. They do a great job with decorating, and having fun things for the kids to do. Princess Lilly got her face painted with a purple octopus! Then we did a truck or treating at our neighbors church on Friday evening with Tinkerbell Lilly. She was more excited about eating the candy then about saying trick or treat! On Saturday we had the first real night of trick or treating with one of Lilly's little friends! We thought they were going to just do a few houses, but they did the whole block (like 20 houses). They were very cute holding hands a running as Lilly the Cat and Gray the Spider! I did not have a camera with me due to having a MJ giraffe to keep track of as well! And finally on Halloween, we did some hiking in the morning and enjoying the weather! Lilly had a great time hiking in the backpack on Dada's back! MJ was very happy to look at the water next to the trail! I sure hope the kids are nature lovers. We managed to still get out a trick or treat on the actually, but did not do as many! What a week!! Looking forward to the next holiday season and get RID of all this halloween candy!

Lilly kite flying with her Dada!
Up close

MJ enjoying the sunshine!

Kids and kites!

Kids, adults, and kites!

Kite Fest and us!

We got the chance to go to the kite festival on Atlantic Beach, and it was a blast! Since the beach is open for driving, it was nice to be able to get up close with the kiddos! Lilly has recently taken to wanting to fly kites and since my Mom saves everything, she had kites from nearly 20 years ago that we got at the very same kite festival! Lilly is really good about flying the kite, we were not really concerned about being around the bigger kites. That was until Lilly let go of her kite and her string got caught around the string of the BIG sting ray kite. Lucky for us, we were able to get it untangled pretty easily. MJ enjoying being in the sunshine, watching the people and of course....eating some sand!

Bedtime dance party...she really gets into it....notice the closed eyes!
Face painting....oh, face painting!

Lilly in the pumpkin patch!

MJ in the pumpkin patch!

Finally both kids together!

Halloween is upon us!

We have been staying busy, and with that comes lots of photos! Lilly has taken to not napping anymore which means an earlier bedtime....7pm to be exact. On occasion we have had a dance party before bed and if Lilly does not end up in Hollywood I will be very surprised. She loves to sing the songs, dance to her own tune, and now close her eyes while "performing." Another evening activity that provides entertainment is face painting. Lilly loves to paint her face, and anyone elses face that is willing to let her decorate. She love to use pink and at the end of the painting most things are covered in pink. Luckily, the clean up is pretty easy!

MJ is now sitting up regularly, and enjoys being able to watch the world go by from his perch on the ground! He got to meet a neighbors dog this week, and he loved the dog. He would pet the dog and laugh; bury his face on the dog and laugh; just basically laugh at everything to do with the dog. If I could get a dog and it would turn out just like Shamrock, I would get two!

We managed to get one shot of the kids together and smiling and it only took two trips to the pumpkin patch to make it happen. We are looking forward to celebrating Halloween with the kiddos. We have a busy week planned; chick-fil-a, aquarium, truck or treat, rec center, hay rides, and then regular trick-or-treating! I hope our little kitty and giraffe can have the energy to enjoy the fun!