Like Father, Like Daughter

Brad and I spent some time this afternoon looking at family pictures from when he was a kid. A lot of them were from when he was about Natalie's age. Tell me...are these two related or what?!


Brad, circa February 1978

Natalie, circa May 2009

Trampoline Fun

What's better than bouncing 'til your hair stands up?

Merry Christmas!

We have had so much fun being in Houston. I'll post plenty of pictures soon, but for now here are pics from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

The Garden State Smiths are back in Texas!

Natalie got way more into opening presents this year than she did last year. Which I guess isn't saying a whole lot since she was totally clueless last year...but she really enjoyed it now that she's older! She got some sparkly red shoes (ruby slippers, of course) and wouldn't take them off for the rest of the night or next day.

Mousie helped Natalie open some of her gifts. A baby! A girl can never have too many dolls.

And a mixer so she can cook like mommy!

It was so fun having 3 little girls together on Christmas Eve! Emma (2 years & 8 months) in the blue dress, Indie (1 year & 4 months) with the curly hair, and Natalie (1 year & 10 months) sitting in Indie's new chair.

The little girls laid in bed and watched Sleeping Beauty together.

And by the end of the night, Natalie was worn out!

Good morning! It's Christmas! This is the lovely new "realistic" smile I get when I take out the camera now.

We opened presents at Mousie and Pop's house...

...and played with new toys for a while before heading to Mamaw and Papa's.

Natalie got some sweet new glasses in her stocking at Mamaw and Papa's...

...and she wasn't seen without them for the rest of the day!

Jillian got a scooter from Santa, and everyone took their turn riding it...

(Notice the glasses still firmly clutched in her fist.)

Who doesn't love scoring some deals during the after-Christmas sales?

Merry Christmas!!

Santa, Take Two

I took Natalie to see the same Santa in Houston we saw last year. This picture is actually a better illustration of how she really reacted when I took her to the mall in New Jersey (see here). Santa doesn't look too thrilled either. Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like an angry Santa Claus with a screaming toddler.

We're Missing WHAT?!

It's Friday night in Houston, in the mid-60s. At home in New Jersey it's in the teens, and we will be missing about a foot of snow over the course of the weekend. It's a good thing our flight was this morning instead of Saturday or Sunday...who knows when we would have gotten out! We have to admit that we're sad to be missing what might be the only big snow of the season, and playing in it with new friends. But, we are SO excited to be in Houston with family and old friends!

A Year of Pies -- Month 7

Here it is. The worst so far. Peach Parfait Pie. The flavor actually wasn't so bad...it was that I used frozen peaches. Obviously, there are no fresh peaches to be found this time of year. I have never used frozen peaches before, but read online that they can be a good substitute in the off-season. Unfortunately, they were really firm even after thawed. I think with nice, soft fresh peaches this pie would be yummy. Don't know that I'll try it though. It certainly isn't pretty either. Oh well.

A Few Random Pictures

Nothing very noteworthy going on here, hence the lack of blog posts. Our snow from last Saturday hung around a good while. The last few puddles of snow finally bit the dust around Tuesday evening. It is definitely too cold to play outside, so Natalie and I are learning to get creative in finding ways to be entertained inside.

Order up!

Wearing Mommy's huge winter boots and ready to hit the road.

It's beginning to taste a lot like Christmas!

It is imperative that there are no tree needles on the rug. Natalie has made it her personal mission to move any stray needles back on to the tree skirt (thanks, dear). For some reason this chore also involves standing on her head.

6 days until Houston!

Let It Snow

We had our first snow of the season this afternoon and evening. We're still a little jealous that Houston got snow before we did, but we'll take what we can get!

The first few flakes are falling! Being the giddy Texan that I am, I took a pic.
What is this stuff?
I don't know, but it's FUN!
Lily wasn't sure what to make of the whole snow thing.
Coming down a little harder now...
...and 1.5 hours later, we were covered!
A snowy evening isn't complete without homemade cookies and hot chocolate!

This is a view of the front yard from our bedroom window. Good night, snow!