em and libby at the museum

libby takes the wheel

in matching pink vests

libby drives a smart car

painting pottery on friday

libby had a BLAST

she painted a hot chocolate cup with a heart on the front. and lots of polka dots.
(she takes after mama)

xander climbing in a drawer at ikea

aaaaaaaaah, i don't think so mom.

checking for approval...

digging in. happy thanksgiving!

now that's a mouth full

cheers!

grandpa larry carves the turkey

lucy and dan, our gracious hosts

aunt em reads her thanksgiving story at lunch

libby quickly learned that helping with food prep means snacking all morning

thumbs up to the cheese tray, mom
(she arranged the crackers all by herself, and found that she really likes goat cheese)

munching, again...

altogether silly


so, this one is funny. since libby insists on looking at the photo after every single shot i take, i thought this time i'd surprise her and get her giggling by being silly. well, i had no idea she was being silly too. so we each had a good laugh when i revealed the photo. (neither of us is looking at anything off to the side, it's purely conicidence.)

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Belated Thanksgiving to all! We celebrated in Chicago with our dear family, and had a very blessed time. I'll be uploading pictures to show you some highlights at a later time. This time, I only took time to change the background. Can you tell I like polka dots? :)

buds

xander and his little buddy joshy had fun playing together last week.

This and That

I suppose it's time to post more pics of everyone's favorite Libby and Xander. The past couple of weeks have been quieter than those of October and I have been loving it. So, these are pictures from day to day life, growing and playing and even just eating...

Yes, this is yet another example of mom photographing baby's bad habits. Xander's favorite pastime is climbing, particularly onto chairs and then from chairs to anything higher than chairs. He loves it. He's gotten speedy and efficient and is no less thrilled with his accomplishment than he was the first time he conquered it.

No, Xander is not the only one who likes to climb onto chairs. Of course for some, it's not so much a challenge.

Mama's challenge is keeping her little shopper seated properly in a cart (or buggy, for my southern gals). This particular evening, Xander felt a bit more comfy reclining backwards. Oh, and you surely can't help but notice the winter coat and bare feet. Yes, it was a chilly evening, and yes, Xander removed his socks and shoes. His toes need to breathe.

We got to spend a day last week playing with our best friends, and as they headed home Libby asked that they pose for a photo. Let's face it, she takes after her mama... and her grandma... and her great-grandpa.

Sitting on a chair, rocking or not, is sooo last year.

hudson at lunchtime. lovin that grilled cheesey grin.

the crew.

i love barnabas, the big brown dog!

this is my little guy.

this is another little grinning climber.
mares inspired xander to confidence.

get out to vote

What is "vote"? What is a "ballot"? hmmmm.

in the end, it was easier to describe the voting process with an illustration.
and as you can see: she spoke, her voice was heard, and she felt pretty good about it.

Making Believe

What a holiday! This year Libby and Xander attended 4 Halloween celebrations and treated around our neighborhood, in costume each time (mama even attended one without the kiddos!). As you saw before, Princess Elisabeth made a stunning appearance, dressed in her gown of pink and purple, jewels upon her head, real make-up, glitter in her hair and on her eyes, and sparkles in her eyes as she gratefully accepted much, much, too much candy. She actually told us after the first night out that she had too much candy and didn't need any more, but I think she sort of changed her mind at the other events. :) Oh, and I should mention and I think you'd otherwise notice, she didn't let her royalty go to her head. The little lady preferred her crocs or bare feet to princess heels every time. Often, she would start out in her sparkley princess shoes, but quickly shed them for something more comfortable. (If only crocs made a loud clunky noise on a hard floor. That's the mark of a truly fabulous shoe.)
Meanwhile, Itsy Bitsy Xander (who's actually quite huge these days!) dressed as a spider; this was his first costume. He didn't get any candy, but did stay up way too late 3 separate nights, and wowed the crowds when he crept across the floors on all legs. Enjoy the pics!