"Muddy Puddles"

Our little London girl loves the show "Peppa Pig," and she has the British accent down to a tee. Occasionally, she likes to pretend that she is Peppa, and Andrew is her little brother George. Today they imitated Peppa and George splashing in muddy puddles. They're just too cute together. Poor Andrew had been pretty sick, since Sunday. He had a fever, runny nose, and cough. It felt good to see him energized, and he was so happy to test out his new rain boots!

4th Celebration!

We had another wonderful celebration in honor of Grace's 4th birthday at Nana and Grandpa's house tonight. I can't believe my baby is 4! I've actually been a little weepy about her turning 4. Time is going way too quickly, and she is such an amazing big girl! Aunt Dana bought her Goddaughter a beautiful PINKalicious cake from Riviera Bakery, and we had Grace's favorite meal tonight... Nana meatballs! Due to the fact that Kate and Andrew are a bit under the weather, we kept the party small, because we didn't want to share any germs. 4 parties for our 4 year old just isn't enough! Her birthday party with all of her friends is scheduled for the end of the month.

The Party Continues...

We had quite an eventful day, and we did a lot of celebrating! Dan, Kate, and I went to Chase Eller's Baptism, and Grace and Andrew had a fun afternoon playing at Nana and Grandpa's house. Afterwards, we headed to Aunt Debbie and Uncle Ronnie's for the "Colonna Cousin's Christmas Celebration." The children had a great time opening presents, and the adults had lots of laughs during our "White Elephant" gift exchange. Aunt Debbie threw in a couple of doozies, which will be remembered for years to come:-) We even celebrated Grace's birthday tonight! She is a birthday superstar!

Four & Fabulous

Grace chose to have an Ariel themed birthday party tonight. She enjoyed seeing her favorite princess on the table cloth, dishes, noise makers, and birthday cake, and we enjoyed seeing our favorite princess enjoy her party from start to finish! She looked beautiful in her new "London outfit," which was perfectly suited for our London born babe. It's crazy to think how quickly these last 4 years have flown by. I guess it's true when they say that "Time flies when your having fun!" A BIG Thank you to my sunshine, Bernadette Grace, for bringing so much joy and laughter into our lives! Happy 4th birthday, sweetheart! I love you high as the sky and higher... more than words can say! xoxo

Grace received so many fabulous gifts tonight including a Leap Pad (with games and accessories), a beautiful American girl outfit (with a matching outfit for her Bitty Baby), Precious Moments, gorgeous Lilly Pulitzer & Hanna Andersson outfits, and a ballerina Ariel doll!

Grace was so happy to have Terry at her party!

3 Generations!

Grace had so much fun playing with Andrew and her cousins!

Class Celebration 4 Grace!

I can't believe my baby is 4 years old!!! Bernadette Grace brings us so much joy! Her smile can light up a room. She still loves all of the Disney Princesses and plays with all of her dolls on a daily basis. She loves dressing up her princesses and Bitty Babies. She's also an expert at dressing herself from head to toe! Grace is a fabulous dancer and loves going to ballet/tap class every Thursday. She also enjoys having dance parties at home and showing us her newest "moves." Grace loves going to Lollipop School Tuesday through Friday mornings, and she has made many new friends this year. She focuses on a new letter and number every week, and she has begun writing. We're still working on having her G's and C's pointing in the proper direction. Grace is crazy about her cousins, and she loves having playdates with her friends. She is an amazing big sister. Dan and I love watching how she interacts with Andrew and Kate. She and Andrew play so well together, and they love sharing a room. Grace is so gentle with her baby sister. There has never been a moment of jealousy. She is such a little sweetheart, and I LOVE being her Mommy! I have the best job in the entire world! I love watching her grow and discover new things. I love hearing all of her questions and having conversations together. I love singing songs, reading books, playing dress-up, and baking together. I love saying prayers and tucking her in each night. I love her hugs and kisses! I love my baby girl so much, and I am THANKFUL 4 my 4 year old!!!

Andrew, Kate, Shane, and I were so lucky to be a part of Grace's class celebration this morning! Grace loved her special number 4 donuts, and she was happy that Andrew didn't blow out her birthday candle:-) Her class party was a wonderful way to kick off her birthday festivities!

Special Donuts 4 Grace

I love this picture of her holding up 4 fingers!

Birthday Preparations

I can't believe my baby is going to be 4 this week! I feel like she's growing up so quickly, and I'm a little weepy about it:-( She received the best homework assignment today! Miss Heather sent home a birthday crown, and we were instructed to decorate it! Grace had so much fun glitzing it up! She used sparkly stickers and glitter glue. She even let Andrew and me help her a little bit! We left it to dry, and she can't wait to wear it to school on Thursday!

Happy New Year!

We rang in the New Year in Southampton with the Remetta's (our dear friends from London). We were so happy that Loren and Noelle invited us to celebrate with them! We used to see each other all the time when we lived in London. We loved going out for dinners, traveling, and celebrating holidays together. So much has changed since our London gatherings! We met their two sweet little boys, Rafael and Matteo, and they met Andrew and Kate for the first time! The weather couldn't have been nicer. We took a short drive to Copper's Beach yesterday and today. Grace and Andrew had fun playing in the sand, and Kate enjoyed her first trip to the beach. We had a great time catching up and meeting some of Noelle's family members. All of the children got along so well. Grace played with their niece, Claire, Andrew and his new buddy, Rafa, had a blast, and Kate and Matteo were little angels! 2011 was very good to us... Dan got a new job at UBS, Katherine Rose joined our family, and we were able to spend lots of quality family time together! I look forward to the surprises that 2012 has in store for us! Happy New Year!