Sneaky Peek

A preview of our time spent in Houston -- all smiles! Lots more pictures to come :)

Christmas Picture Overenthusiasm

Say Cheese

Yes, I am still taking pictures of pictures. Our scanner only works with the laptop, which Brad takes with him everyday. So if you are deeply offended by blurry pictures and flash marks, please avert your eyes now :)

Natalie's very first school pictures! The individual picture came out great...but she decided to go with the "deer in the headlights" look for the group pictures. I'll just give the photographer credit for managing to get 2 year olds looking at the camera at the same time...forget smiling!



For anyone keeping track of Natalie's preschool love life, Quinn is in the back row in the blue sweater. Such a cute couple :)

Merry (Early) Christmas

Santa heard through the grapevine that we were going to be out of town for Christmas, so he decided to visit our house early! What a thoughtful guy.

(This is a picture of a picture, so sorry about the poor quality). This was Natalie's first non-crying Santa experience. You can see she was nervous -- shoulders tensed up, hands ready to stave off any attackers, and fake/anxious smile. But she did it! And she was so proud of herself. She told Santa she wanted ponies and a Dora movie. I had heard her mention ponies before, but the Dora movie was a surprise to me. Fortunately, Santa happened to actually have a Dora movie on hand, ready to deliver! So that worked out well. After we were finished sitting on Santa's lap and were waiting to get our picture printed, Natalie was upset because she had forgotten that Santa brings the goods to your house. She thought she was getting her toys on the spot. Poor thing!
Here's the stash Santa left. He was stingy this year, but Natalie didn't care one bit.
Here's a view of our beautiful tree that I loved. Sadly, it has since been undecorated, boxed up, and returned to the store because the lights on top quit working. Brad spent time checking fuses, connections, and bulbs, to no avail. We just got a defective tree, apparently. Oh well, we'll try again next year!
Natalie coming down the stairs on "Christmas" morning. I can smell the anticipation!
The first thing out of her mouth when she got downstairs and saw her toys was "Is that a Dora movie?!"
And ponies!!
My parents had Natalie's gift sent to our house ahead of time since it was big. Glad we didn't have to haul it from Houston back to New Jersey! Brad and I spent an hour assembling it the night before (fireside, no less), and it did not disappoint. She LOVES it! No human residents yet, so she used her ponies. Good thinking, Natalie!

Garden State Smiths -- Plus One!

Due July 6, 2011 -- Baby Smith #2!

O Christmas Tree

We put our tree up last week, and it was a first for us. The first year with a fake tree. Part of me was a little sad to not go pick out a tree as a family, but most of me was ecstatic to click 3 metal joints together, plug it in, and call it a day! I have to say I am really happy with the way it looks...really not fake looking at all. Except for the metal trunk that I need to figure out how to cover. I am also bothered by the fact that our tree skirt is way too huge for the diameter of our new "slim" tree. I'll figure it out eventually :)

Merry Christmas!

Farewell, Sesame Place

We went to Sesame Place's Holiday Party yesterday, on the last day of the season. We had so much fun with our passes this year and are sad it's coming to an end! We got to do all of the dry rides one last time, see a couple Christmas shows, and watch the character parade.

Here is Brad and Natalie running through the Monster Maze this year:
And last year: