Christmas 2010

This year our Christmas was relaxing and wonderful. It was Aida's last year to be an only child and it was so much fun for her. She received so much love and so many presents not just by Santa but by all of her Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles who love her so much. She is one very blessed little girl and we are grateful. We celebrated Christmas here in Dallas and had a great time.


She wasn't much for having her picture taken while she was opening presents but you can see we were having so much fun.

Although -- this is one of her in her Dora helmet that she got with her big girl bike this year. She is already zooming around on the bike and refused to take the helmet off all day even for her nap! I love it....

My top Christmas memories of Aida this year are:



1. Watching The Grinch with Aida 42,000 times and listening to her sing all the songs.

2. Making a Gingerbread house

3. Singing Christmas Carols with her especially Jingle Bells which she is totally adorable singing

4. Going to look at Christmas lights and listening to her say "Oh wow!" every time she saw a house she liked

5. Her love of the Frosty the Snowman cartoon the original version

6. Watching her wake up on Christmas morning and "get it" that Santa had come to our house

7. Her pictures with Santa -- telling him she wanted presents and cookies for Christmas this year

8. Just experiencing the holiday with her and Alex. It was really special.

9. The fact that she LOVED her bike and bike helmet and wore the helmet to breakfast on Christmas and refused to take it off all day...we finally got it off of her to go to Mom's for Christmas dinner :)



I hope everyone's Christmas was magical. Here is to a happy and healthy 2011!



Merry Christmas!



Christina

Santa 2010...

So today Aida went with Grandma to meet Santa...she had a ball. This is the same Santa she had her pictures with last year. He is so nice and this year we had pictures to perfection...no crying!

Here she is telling Santa everything on her list -- she is too cute with the list this year she doesn't really say specifically what she wants except for presents and cookies :)

A quick hug finished the whole meeting off to perfection. Now that Santa has her list I am sure we are well on our way to having a great Christmas. I hope everyone has a happy and healthy holiday this year.

Merry Christmas!!!

Her Boogie Shoes...

So the video is a little dark and you will want to put up your volume to hear the music. Aida is cutting a rug! Too cute. I love it when she lets us video tape her doing the cutest things. She loves music and loves to dance although I think she loves to freestyle more than anyother kind of dance moves... We are having a great time this Christmas season, as you can see -- she is wound up and really enjoying every minute which is making it all so much fun :)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Maternity Pictures...

So here I am at 30 weeks-- 8 weeks to go before our sweet baby boy's arrival. I didn't do maternity pictures with Aida. But decided to try them this time around since I this will be our last baby :) Still Moments Photography was wonderful. Here are a few proofs from our session. I can't wait to see them all.

Giving Thanks....

This year I have a lot to be thankful for...I am thankful for my family-- every member near and far. I am thankful for my beautiful daughter, loving husband and sweet baby boy on the way. Most of the time during the year I feel like I miss out on the little fun things that go on at Aida's school -- due to work or work travel. But every year her school throws a Thanksgiving celebration the day before the holiday and this year I took off to attend with Aida. I had so much fun making some of the food for her class party and attending the lunch with her. She just lit up when she saw me in her classroom. Words can not describe how grateful I am to have these little moments with her. My heart is just filled and happy when she tells me how happy she is and how much fun she is having at school. Here are some pictures from Aida's school luncheon.

look at those two kids in her class eyeing her turkey...they had to eat the lunch their mom brought them...I think they wanted some yummy Thanksgiving food :)

A close up of the Turkey Bow her Aunt Re made her...

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone :)

Baby #2 at 28 weeks

Yesterday -- we had our 3D sonogram with baby #2. This baby has the most precious cheeks and lips. He only weighs about 2 pounds now but I am telling you that most of his two pounds are all in his cheeks! It is always so fun to see what the baby looks like in these pictures and to then see when the baby arrives if this what the baby actually looks like in person. We are still working on getting ready for baby -- working on his room, figuring out his name getting the things we need to be prepared for his arrival. The walls are painted. Today we got the carpet cleaned and his chair cleaned for his room. Slowly but surely -- it is coming together. Aida is also warming up to the idea of having a baby brother. Instead of calling him "shrek" she has at least moved to calling him "baby brother." This is better....

Here are the pics of Baby #2 at 28 weeks...well into 7 months of pregnancy and looking forward to making it to the finish line :)

Look at his yummy cheeks!!!

Sucking his thumb...

A great shot of his precious face...

One of my favorites...he looks so peaceful here.

We cant wait to meet you baby :) We love you already.

Mommy, Daddy and your Big Sister Aida

Nesting and a Parascope

So as you know my nesting is in full swing which has resulted in closet clean outs, painting, a little remodeling, lots of donations to Good Will and of course many trips to Lowes and Home Depot. So, on our Saturday morning trip to Lowes, Aida heard what she called loud "baming." I had no idea what she was talking about but when she lead me to it -- Lowes was putting on their Kids Club class where tons of kids were working on their Para scopes. The "baming" was the banging noise of the kids using the hammers. After seeing all the fun, we sat down and made one too...here she is working with daddy on her Para scope. Too Cute...

We love you Aida...

Halloween 2010!

This Halloween was so much fun with Aida. Aida started many weeks ago deciding on her Halloween costume for this year. First she wanted to be a scary ghost. For those of you that know how girly and creative I am you know this was like a wound to my heart BUT I was willing to go with it. A few weeks later that changed to a witch...so we headed to the Halloween store and purchased not one but two witch costumes because Aida just could not decide. About 2 weeks before Halloween, she then decided she wanted to be a princess. Yeah! So she then picked out her Cinderella costume and we were in business. She had so much fun. She was able to trick or treat with both her friend Kiana and then a little later with daddy and her cute friends next door.

The classroom pumpkin carving contest at school. She wanted her picture taken with her class pumpkin.

I vote for Aida as my favorite pumpkin...

Here she was in the bounce house at the neighborhood block party. She loved bouncing around with her friend Kiana.

Look at that face...that is the fake smile she gives me when she would really like to be doing something else :)

Aida and Cami -- our babysitter next door who is beautiful and Aida loves her

Trick or Treating

Here she is posing with a random person who came to our house dressed as a werewolf. We were really impressed with his costume. She wasn't too sure of letting him touch her but she did want her picture taken...my brave girl!

Getting ready to go trick or treating with our neighbors. Look at how cute they all are...

Alex did a great job of carving pumpkins this year. Here she is posing with her daddy's handy work.

We loved every bit of preparing for Halloween and celebrating with Aida this year. It was spoooktakular!!!

We love you Aida!

6 months pregnant...

So I realize that you cant see my belly from this picture...so more to come on that. Alex and I went to the Boys & Girls Clubs Charity Gala on Saturday night and spent time with our friends the Riccardi's, the Zepps and the Ramsey's. We had a great time. I want to remember what kinds of things Alex and I did with with baby when I was 6 months pregnant. Here are we are having fun for cause.

Unofficial Official School Pictures...

This year Aida started in the 3-5 year old class at her school. Now that she is part of the primary school she has to wear this cute uniform everyday. The first day that she wore this to school was a really big deal in our house -- because she looked so precious. We snapped a couple of pictures outside of school before going in. The next day when she went to school in her uniform she asked to get her picture taken again :) She looks so grown up now...it makes me teary every time I look at her.
We love you Aida -- more than anything in the whole world...

Love

Mommy and Daddy

XXOO

Simply Beautiful...

So a few weeks ago while at one of our dear friends daughters birthday parties I was able to capture these shots of Aida...I think these pictures capture her spirit and she is simply beautiful. At 3 years old you continue to amaze us Aida...you love counting everything and can count to 40 on your own. You always say "no thank you" when you don't want something and you are working on "please," you love playing with other children and you are so excited to go to school everyday. Among your most favorite things are Minnie Mouse, playing in the bath with your bath toys, riding your bicycle, dinosaurs, and painting your toenails. We love you so much Aida and are so overjoyed at watching you grow up everyday.

Fluffing for Fall....

The pumpkins are out in the Alford house....Aida and I had so much fun decorating for fall. She counted all the pumpkins...and helped me unwrap each one and placed each one in the perfect place. We even found my Halloween witch hat in the boxes. We had so much trying it on and being silly.

Hope you are getting your house BOOTIFUL for Halloween...