The Best Surprise!

Erin received the best surprise yesterday - she got to see her cousins. Joe's sister, Aunt Michelle, was in town for a funeral and she, Uncle Mike, and their girls, Ajah(15), Elisha(13) and Jasmine(11) stopped by afterwards to surprise Erin and meet Baby Anna. Erin loves these girls and doesn't get to see them often since they live in Northern Virginia. It's so neat to me to watch her with all her cousins - she somehow knows there is something different in their relationships - she knows they are family and she loves them abundantly because of it. Of course, Erin went right to work giving the girls a tour of the house and then directing them as a Marching Band. Aunt Michelle got lots of Anna squeezes in and said she reminded her of their middle daughter Elisha. Anna enjoyed all the attention and excitement.

We only got to spend a short time with them, but it was the highlight of Erin's month. This morning she said, "I don't feel so well, my tummy hurts, I miss my cousins; but Uncle Mike said that next time they come they can stay with me!!!" I'm afraid she'll have to fight Baba for that one, but she will be grateful for anytime she gets to spend with her wonderful cousins!

Okay, everybody - let's boogie!

Baba, Papa Joe and their 5 granddaughters!

The Maggiore/Courts Family

from the top Jasmine, Uncle Mike, Elisha, Ajah, Hidden Baba, Papa Joe, Jen, Joe, Aunt Michelle, Anna, Nana and Erin

Growing Up!!!

Anna has embarked on the world of real food and has had cereal for the first time this week. As you can see by her rice covered smile - she loves it. She took right to it and is ready for Chick-fil-A now!!!!

As for Erin, she has been working very hard at writing her name lately. She is so close to being able to do it by herself. So everything is about spelling. This morning she asked Joe for a waffle and he forgot to put it in the toaster so he asked me to get a w-a-f-f-l-e. I don't know why he spelled it, but he didn't fool Erin - she chimed in, "that spells waffle!" Where did she learn how to spell waffle?

Riding in Style

We took a limo ride to see the Holiday lights at the Beach last night. One of Joe's friends/business associates gave us a certificate to go down there. Erin was so excited and took to the high life quite well (she's like her mama!) I will say that it doesn't quite make sense to look at Christmas lights through tinted windows - but it was an experience! Erin enjoyed one more taste of Christmas and we did too! Oh...Anna wasn't concerned with the whole thing and fell asleep on the ride!

Meeting G.G.

We took a trip to Charlotte, NC on the Friday after Christmas to visit my grandparents. They had never met Anna so we wanted to see them while we had some time off. Anna did great on the trip despite being sick and Erin enjoyed staying in a "show and tell" which is what she thought we were saying when we said hotel. G.G. was thrilled to get to hold Anna, they share their birthday(July 27). We had a great time and are so glad we made the trip. Erin enjoyed playing Grandma's organ, which is something Kim and I always loved to do growing up.

Breakfast with Santa

The Maggiores treated us to Breakfast with Santa at the Founder's Inn again this year. We had a yummy breadfast and then Erin got to sing with Santa, hug Rudolph, get her face painted with buddy the elf, and get a Dalmatian balloon hat. She had a great time and got one last request in to Santa for the 2 items she really wanted. We had a blast watching her have so much fun.

Christmas Fun!

We had a wonderful Christmas celebration. We started with Christmas Eve service and then everyone trecked to our home for appetizers and desserts. It was nice to have our whole family here and my sister's family too. Erin enjoyed getting to open presents early!

Christmas morning was so much fun since Erin was really anticipating it this year. Of course, we had to wake her up to get it started. Anna didn't know what to think about everything, but she really liked the paper. We had a great day starting with breakfast at our house, lunch at my parents, and then dinner at Joe's parents. We came home with our bellies stuffed, and our car!

A Good Report!!!!

Anna went to the Cardiologist today for a 3 month post-op checkup and we got a wonderful report. She had an extensive ECHO which showed no residual hole in the heart at all. He couldn't hear the slightest bit of a murmur. He is very pleased with her weight and says she's doing great! It was so nice to hear good news and that we don't have to return for 6 months! Praise the Lord!

Hope you all had a blessed Christmas - we sure did and the girls had the best time. We are off to Charlotte for a couple of days, then I look forward to catching up on the blogs. Happy New Year!