top 10 of 2011

That's right 2011 is over already. Which left me to the task of trying to narrow down my top 10 pics of the year...

#1: Still BFF's -- The girls are closer than ever. I get teary-eyed every time I think of them being best friends throughout their life.

#2: "I can read the words on T.V. mom": If a single statement can make a mom feel awful and guilty, that's definitely one of them. Katie's world opened up this year with the addition of her glasses.

#3: Mo becomes a Papa's girl -- While Katie's been a staunch Team Papa member from the beginning, Mo turned the corner this year and discovered just how fun he is. Nothing like everyone squished on one side of the booth with dad while mom sits with plenty of elbow room on the other side...

#4: My babygirl goes to real school -- (cue violin) they grow so fast, what happened to my baby? Katie started Kindergarten this year, lost her first tooth and is doing so many big girl things it make me a little sad, but a lot proud.

#5: Nightly rituals -- Nearly every night we sneak in and peek on the girls before we go to bed. Sleeping kids are cute, but better than that are the wild and crazy positions they are always in. It's like sleeping Twister. What I love most is that they are always on their pillows, right side up and under the covers in morning when we go in.

#6: "I'm riding my own new big bike" -- Speaking of big girls. This girl can write her name (granted she writes "Mo"), rides a "big girl" bike and possibly best of all potty trained in record time... yes, she was almost 3-1/2 but it was a painful couple of days and that was about it.

#7: We heart music -- And, now in addition to singing in the choir and the at-home karaoke machine, we've added a piano into the mix. Perhaps lessons will be in store for 2012.

#8: Why did the chicken cross the road? -- Between the knock-knock jokes that make no sense to playing April Fool's Day jokes on them, they are as ridiculous as they are fun to watch as their sense of humor develops.

#9: My partner in crime -- Since Mo wasn't potty trained she didn't start preschool last fall which was honestly, fine with me. I love my Mo time. She can be so pleasant. She's my sidekick for everything from running errands to when we want boba drinks...

#10: Girl time -- I always thought I wanted a boy and a girl when I was, well, a young girl. But, I have to say even thought I'm not much of a girly-girl I love having two girls and have enjoyed immensely living in our predominantly girl world.

I hope everyone had a great holiday season!

Wishing you and yours a fantastic 2012!

snippets of xmas

Lots going on in the land of the Little Wickies.

Katie taught Mo about her mantra "more is better" when decorating our gingerbread house.

Because even in Candyland, there are hoarders...

Katie sang at the Christmas Eve service.

Mo slept through the Christmas Eve service.

We visited huge Christmas light displays.

In the midst of the melee of the weekend, Katie lost her second tooth.

And, then there was Christmas day itself.

There was the inevitable chaos of kids ripping into presents

And, smiling faces.

And of course, there were the surprise "big hit" gifts like the voice enhancers that no one seemed to be able to put down.

Hope you and your family had a Merry one!

a christmas greeting from california

It's been almost two years since our friends Ellie, Lara and Luca left for Italy.

Hopefully we can do a third one of these someday in the future...

ignore the man behind the curtain

My friend Jayne told me this morning she sometimes get mad when she comes over to my house because it seems "perfect and clean" (her words).

For those of you who might be disillusioned into thinking I am a neat or organized person -- above is the state of my dining room right now.

Other rooms in my house unfortunately follow suit.

I could make up excuses about work deadlines, holiday parties, etc. but the bottom line is I'm kind of a slob. I've always been one, and I'll probably always be one.

Thank you Song, for bearing with me.

mo and george

Mo this morning telling me about George...

"I love my Georgie the best. I want him to stay forever and ever and ever."

a charlie brown christmas

Mo was lobbying hard for a baby tree at the tree farm this year. We didn't get one, but she seems happy with the one we chose.

snow

...well not really.

We do live by the beach in Southern California after all.

The other night we dressed our kids up as if taking them to North Pole (realistically it was probably in the 50s).

And, waited for snow.

Which ended up being wettish foam.

But the kids didn't care. They thought it was pretty neat.

katie's wish list

Love that "chocolate" is on the list.

Apple didn't fall far from the tree.

What are you getting your little ones this year?

boys 2 men 2 dads

circa 1996

September 2002

November 2011

While they still act like teenage boys together at times, these boys have truly grown up and are dads to a pretty cute bunch of kids (yes, I'm obviously biased here).

We finally met the new addition Justin this month. Boy, I forgot how much they sleep at this age!

I took pictures of his sleeping feet, hands, etc. while I waited to shoot him.

I always love the tennis ball head baby fuzz...

Finally he woke up. What a cute boy.

Maybe someday we'll get all the 2036 crew and kids together, or at least a couple more of them.

Note to self: work on indoor night time photography...

man crush

Katie and I watched our team win the championship last night.

Katie: Which one is your favorite player?

Me: I'm going to have to go with Todd Dunivant.

Katie: How come? Isn't Landon Donovan the best player?

Me: Umm... well Dunivant is dependable honey.

Katie: How are you dependable playing soccer?

I then spent the next 5 minutes defending my choice, e.g., he is a solid defender, he has good positioning, etc. all while being peppered by my questioning daughter who was clearly skeptical of my decision.

Real reason: While he is dependable on the pitch, he's smart (Stanford grad), he's a professional athlete (my husband will make a joke here because he plays soccer), oh, and he's easy on the eyes...

introducing baby ariana

Visited my dear friend Lyndsay for four days earlier this month and finally got to meet baby Ariana in person.

She is a cute little thing, very smiley (like her mom).

Of course, I had to stage a photo shoot. The more babies I take pictures of, the more I lament not having a dSLR when my kids were babies. *Sigh*

what's the fair market price for teeth these days?

Katie has been hemming and hawing over whether to leave her tooth for the tooth fairy, or to keep it.

Last night she put her tooth in her tooth pillow along with a note.

"I wowa (would) like 3 dollars please."

Because apparently, the tooth fairy is open to negotiation.

Before bed she announced to us, "Okay, everyone line up to see my tooth one more time."

We each diligently fell into line, oohed and awed and said our appropriate farewells to the tiny tooth.

Oh, that girl...

first tooth

little hiatus

In the Bay Area right now sans Little Wickies visiting my dear friend and her new baby girl (pics of Ariana to come later).

Yesterday we took a walk through the cemetery in Piedmont which may seem odd with dog and stroller in tow but is apparently a popular place to take walks. The outing yielded some truly gorgeous panoramic views of the bay.

ideas please

I'd like to do an advent calendar this year with the girls.

Do you do an advent calendar with your kids? What do you put in there for each day?

I'm certainly not going to be sewing anytime soon, but I'm loving the look of these advent calendars...

Source: sundayinbed.tumblr.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

Source: inmyblessednest.blogspot.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

boo