Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with family and friends!

Happy Birthday, Zachary!

We celebrated Zach's second birthday yesterday with a pancakes and pajamas party!  All the kiddos wore their jammies and we had pancakes, hashbrowns, yogurt parfaits, and a super yummy donut tower ... the birthday boy got to blow out his candle on a special donut this year!  Zach had tons of fun playing with family and friends and he especially loved getting lots of help opening all of this presents.  It was a great party and I'm so glad we got to celebrate our little guy with our close friends Liam and Lucas, and new friends that just happen to all be our new neighbors : )  And of course it's always fun having family nearby to celebrate with!
Zachary is such a fun two year old, he loves playing trucks and trains, climbing all over everything at the park and sliding all by himself, playing with big sis, scaring our cats Chester and Posey and watching them run away, and he always loves keeping up with bigger kids.  Even though he's still not saying a lot words, he finds a way to let us know exactly what he wants or what he's thinking - in fact, he can be pretty bossy without saying a thing!  He gets really excited about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles but I have no idea how he discovered them.  When Jennifer is singing he likes to try to sing along, even after she tells him to stop ; )  He entertains himself by knocking down anything Jennifer is playing with and has started thinking it's really funny to run and make himself fall down and roll across the floor!  He's also super sweet, loves his blankie, and loves to cuddle, especially first thing in the morning.  He's growing into such a sweet and fun little boy, we're so lucky to have such a wonderful two year old!

Inflatable guitars and microphones are a must for birthday parties!

Two cuties!

Zachary's new bike - now he can keep up with Jennifer and our neighbor Noah when they play outside!

 Enjoying pancakes and donuts with Nana and friends!

He really wanted that present ... especially since Nana told him "Thomas the Train might be in this present!"

Getting lots of help opening all those presents!

Having a blast with all his new toys!

Our best attempt at a picture with the birthday boy!

Hanging out with Uncle Jeffrey!

Opening his present from Great Granny!

He loves it!

Jennifer wasn't getting as much attention as she would have liked!

Lucas enjoying his donuts!

The birthday boy and Papa!

Jennifer enjoying one of Zach's new books with Jill, Tammy and Grandma!

Uncles are the best!

The birthday boy with Uncle Scotty!

Granpa and Poppy hanging out!

Blowing out his candle ... and getting a little help!

The cutest two year old I know!!  Love you Zachary Mitchell!

Park time!

The weather has been nice the last few days so we headed to our favorite park with two of our favorite friends, Liam and Lucas!  Zach is keeping up with the big kids these days and can do so much at the park all by himself - he's climbing up ladders, running across bridges and sliding down slides ... he makes me super nervous but he loves that he can keep up with his buddies now!  And, of course, there were plenty of hugs between Jennifer and Liam ... they are so sweet!

Squishy faces are my favorite!

Super twinsies!

Just.Too.Cute.!

Ballet!

Jennifer loves her ballet and tap class ... and Zachary has found a lot of creative ways to have fun while Jen is in her class!

Jennifer doing pleas at the barre ...

 ... while Zach plays with playdough in the bushes ...

... and watches the other bored brothers do tricks ...

... while Jen finishes class with some tap dancing fun!

Happy Halloween!

We had a great time celebrating Halloween this year in our new neighborhood!  We went to a party in our neighborhood the weekend before Halloween - all the kids were dressed up and we decorated our wagon for a little costume parade in the neighborhood.  Jennifer wanted to be a pirate (Izzy from Jake and the Neverland Pirates) for Halloween so we dressed Zach as a pirate too ... of course by the time Halloween finally came around she decided to be Sofia the First (good thing she has a million different princess dresses to choose from!).  Zachary trick-or-treated at a few houses in our cul-de-sac but then decided he'd rather be at home passing out candy with Nana and Papa.  Jennifer got to trick-or-treat with her bestie from our street Noah and had tons of fun getting way too much candy!

Before our neighborhood party as Izzy and Cubby with our pirate ship wagon!

Before trick-or-treating!

Jennifer and Noah after trick-or-treating!

Big boy bed!

Zach had been falling out of his toddler bed during the night so we officially upgraded him to a big boy bed, complete with dinosaur sheets and a new red blanket.  I'm still not exactly sure how I feel about not needing a crib in the house anymore!  Either way, he loves it - and even though he still wakes up in the middle of the night, at least now he walks into our room and wakes me up rather than laying on his floor crying because he fell out of his bed!  Eventually we'll get him a cute comforter, but for now he still just likes snuggling with his blankies best of all.

Congratulations, Katherine and Michael!

Phil, Jennifer and I spent this past weekend in NYC celebrating my very best friend Katherine's wedding to her perfect match, Michael.  The whole weekend was so much fun - we drove to NYC on Thursday and got in late, but that didn't stop Jennifer from checking out the lights of the city!  We started Friday off by meeting another one of my besties, Lauryn, for coffee and then headed to Central Park where Princess Jennifer got the royal treatment - a horse drawn carriage tour of Central Park!  Needless to say, she loved it.  We explored the city and then met another bff, Lisa, and her husband Will for lunch.   Jennifer was pretty exhausted and it was time for us all to head back to our hotels to get ready for the rehearsal.  After a little down time and some primping, Jen took her first cab ride to The Plaza.  There she met Julia, another flower girl, and they became instantly inseparable.  After the rehearsal, we all went up to the lounge for a drink and Jennifer got another first - her first Shirley Temple!  She took a quick power nap on Lisa's lap before we met up with Michelle, who is a good friend of Lauryn's and who was super awesome and offered to hang out with Jennifer while the adults headed to the rehearsal dinner.  Michelle met us at The Plaza, Jen was excited to have a night out on the town (with a curfew of 8:00pm!) and Phil and I jumped in a cab to Storico, the super posh restaurant located in the New York History Museum.  Dinner was amazing, we all got to celebrate the night-before-the-big-day with two of our favorite people, Katherine and Michael.  Phil and I had a great time, and we knew Jen was having a great time too when we got a picture from Michelle showing Jen getting her first manicure!  When we got back to the hotel, Jen was fast asleep.  We got up Saturday morning, I got my bridesmaid paraphernalia ready, and we headed to FAO Schwartz.  Jennifer had a blast checking it out and got to dance on the big piano from the movie Big!  Then we parted ways, I headed to The Plaza for hair, makeup, and hanging out with the girls while Phil took Jennifer to the Museum of Modern Art.  Before we knew it, it was wedding time!  The wedding was amazingly gorgeous and Katherine looked stunning!  Jennifer, Julia and the other flower girl and ring bearers did great walking down the aisle.  Katherine and Michael had a traditional Jewish ceremony and read their own vows.  It was all so beautiful, and the love on the faces and in the voices of Katherine and Michael was overwhelming.  After the ceremony it was party time!  The reception was a blast, the food was amazing, and Jennifer, Phil and I had so much fun dancing the night away.

We drove home Sunday and when Jennifer woke up Monday morning I asked "isn't it nice to be home?"  She answered "no, when are we going back to New York City?"

Zachary also had a great time with his Grandma, Grandpa, Nana and Papa!
These pics are all out of order but I can't stop looking at them, we had such a wonderful time!

Flower girls Julia and Jennifer hanging out while the bride and bridesmaids do their final touch ups!

Jennifer and Julia exploring The Plaza before the ceremony

Jen sneaking in a power nap at the reception ... it only lasted about five minutes before she was up and dancing again!

Primping in the bridal suite

The girls are ready!  Heading down to the ceremony from the bridal suite

Before the ceremony began - it was crazy gorgeous!

Flower girls and ring bearers doin' their thing in the ceremony

All the kiddos had a blast dancing the night away ... they danced from 8:30-midnight!

Princess Jennifer's place setting at dinner

FAO Schwartz salute!  This soldier was made of legos!

Phil, Lauryn, Jen and me at the rehearsal on Friday

Flower girls looking cute before the ceremony began

Cocktail hour!

Dancing on the Big Piano

Getting a manicure with Michelle Friday night

Striking a pose at MoMA

A princess carriage ride through Central Park

Another shot of the carriage ride

Striking a pose*

The perfect way to travel around the city

She got a lot of practice with her supermodel poses while checking out the city

At the rehearsal at The Plaza

At the rehearsal at The Plaza

The Plaza was so elegant, I couldn't resist taking a million pictures!

Shirley Temple at The Plaza

Jen got to sign the statue in The Plaza - can you find her name?!

Another one at The Plaza

Eloise at The Plaza

She *loved* the city!

Out and about

Lauryn and Jono at the rehearsal dinner at Storico

The happy couple!  The night before becoming Mr. & Mrs.!

Phil and me at the rehearsal dinner at Storico

One of the many nostalgic pictures at the tables at Storico ... this pic of me in my wedding dress is almost 10 years old!

The best friend a girl could ever ask for!

The beautiful bride before the ceremony - we all had so much fun in the bridal suite Saturday afternoon getting ready!

Auntie Katherine had all sorts of presents waiting for Jennifer when we checked into our hotel!

Zach had a great weekend too!

Checking out the sites from our hotel room

The view from our hotel room ... surprise - another hotel ; )

We sure did miss this cute little face!