Merry Merry...

I think that this post is going to become an annual tradition, simply because I adore doing the "research" (to find just the right "holiday lights to music") YouTube video. Remember last year's? SO. FREAKIN. COOL!

So here is the 2009 video installment. For your viewing pleasure. Whatever you celebrate, hope you are with friends and family...and a great glass of wine.



PS -- much love this holiday season from Life with Lily and Anna!

Need I say more

This is, apparently, what happens when you leave your kids alone with your husband, unsupervised, for too long...

Sweet Child of Mine...

Although I'm sure I'll rue the day I said something so early -- this process took some 12 months with Lily -- Anna seems to be heading toward real live underpants at a break-neck pace.

Over the past 24 hours she's asked for, and subsequently used, the potty four times (as of 4:15 on 21 December). Each time she goes, her smile gets bigger and bigger. The last time I actually remembered to reward her, and while we don't have any M&Ms in the house, we do have some leftover Hanukkah gelt which did well in a pinch. Now that she knows chocolate is involved...well...she could be trained by week's end. She loves chocolate that much.

They say that the second trains faster than the first. And I know that we are FAR from being diaper-free. But I'm so happy that I could squeal. (a) I HATE changing diapers...hate, hate, hate and (b) being potty trained is a pre-requisite at just about every preschool to which we've applied. Countdown to fall has begun, and it looks like my baby is right on track!

All snowed in

Washington DC weathermen never -- and I mean NEVER -- get weather predictions right when it involves the white fluffy stuff. 9.9 times out of ten, they'll be calling for "the storm of the century" and, when all is said and done, a mere dusting of mush is all we're left with.

This time around I heard rumors on Friday morning that we'd get a few inches starting that evening. By late Friday afternoon the rumors were ranging from 8 inches to 20. Next thing you know, "snow-pocalypse" was the leading story on the nightly news. And, yes, this time they got it right. They predicted a lot of snow, and A LOT is what we got! Not sure of the final count, although I think it's just shy of 2 feet in our neighborhood.

My car might not make it out of the driveway before Spring; it completely disappeared inside of a snowbank. Thankfully Noah's SUV has 4 wheel drive as does our truck, which I hate 364 days out of the year...but am loving today!

During the actual "Blizzard of 2009":






Playing in the nearly 2 feet of snow with our next door neighbor Sophie:




Warming up after our snowy adventures:



Combating cabin fever (or trying to):



Our sad little empty house -- awaiting demolition whilst covered in the snowfall (let's hope the snow doesn't impact our demo date!):

It's beginnging to look at lot like....Christmas!?!

Somehow in the furry this fall of work, and work, the new house and, well, work, blogging has taken a major back burner.

Thanksgiving didn't make it online... It was fun. All three of our Thanksgivings that is. I'm sure that I have photos somewhere. Maybe. But take it from me, they were all fun. And highly caloric.

I feel like I blinked and it was the first night of Hanukkah. Thankfully we are Amazon Prime subscribers. Hanukkah sort of came at me out of no where, but with free two day shipping we were fully stocked when we lit the first candle on Friday night.

And because we're such great Jews, we hosted our annual gingerbread extravaganza -- far less blonde than last year, but oh so much fun. This was the second gingerbread house that Lily had decorated this year.

(as was the case last year too, apparently it's just not a gingerbread fiesta unless you're costume clad!)

Fear not, there are three more gingerbread house kits in our pantry. Seems as if it's the perfect activity to do on cold, winter days. Perfect "art project" for Lily. Perfect snack for Anna. Yes, she's the catcher as candy falls towards the floor. Turns out that the baby has quite the sweet tooth. Wonder where that came from...

Lily on Ice

Today we went to an ice skating birthday party for one of Lily's oldest friends...a buddy from back in the daycare days. And while my tush will be completely bruised tomorrow from the few spills that I took while trying to help Lily skate, it was so worth it to see her reconnect with a fun friend (whose parents are totally wonderful too...I'm all for this reunion!).

Lily is a bright child -- hey, her teacher said it so I'm allowed to repeat it -- who is naturally gifted at many things. Talking being No. 1 on the list. Seriously. Her teacher said that too (wonder where she gets that trait...)

And since she's so good at so many things, she's not always apt to try new things that may take some practice before she can master them (yes, yes...something we're working on). Last weekend's birthday party, at a taekwondo studio, saw Lily sitting on the sidelines observing; she wanted none "of that." I will admit that it was awfully loud; I can't blame her entirely for not wanting to participate.

So I wasn't sure how she'd take to the ice today. I supposed it helped that I donned ice skates too (not telling her about how I broke my wrist in the 4th grade while ice skating) and carted her around the ring. Literally. "This is so easy and so much fun!" uttered Lily more than once. Umm...you bet your not-bruised-fanny-because-mine-will-be it was easy....I was doing all the work!

Seeing as though the Kettler Iceplex, where the Washington Capitals practice, is only about a mile and a half from our house, if she likes it and is game for more, I'm happy! I hear that it's going to be a long and cold winter...

Not at all happy at first...

A happy camper by the end!

Bryn Mawr Babes

In 1995, never would I have thought that the annoying freshman girl down the hall would some day become like a sister to me. Never could I have hoped that her husband and mine would get along so well. Never, in a million years, would I have though that, some day, her girls would be like cousins to mine.

But all of the above came to be. Thank you Bryn Mawr College!

And this weekend we were all under one roof...for the first time since everyone became mobile. Four parents. Four girls ages 5 and under. Two dogs, both of which are completely crazy.

It was a little nuts...but boy oh boy was it fun!

We re-celebrated Lily's fifth birthday...and we got a jump start on celebrating the twins' first birthday (remember when they were born? Need a trip down memory lane? Click HERE or HERE!). We ate cake (and drank mojitos). We went to the park. We raged at the last day of Cox Farms' famous fall festival (and pumpkin smash). We slept. Very well.

Hard to believe how far we've come since those early days in college.

Higgins Family -- welcome to the "South!"

Twin A, Abby...

Twin B, Beth...

Twin Power -- munching on Anna's toys

Anna guarding a few legos...sharing was sometimes hard this weekend.

Celebrating 5 plus 1 (plus 1...they are twins after all)...

Happy (almost) birthday Abby and Beth!

Beth caught on to cake VERY quickly...

Abby, not so much...

Anna didn't let the fact that she had no birthday to celebrate stop her from diving head first in to the chocolate cupcake.

At Cox Farms...

Torturing babies with "sun in the eyes" shots. Lots of them.

Anna, Abby, Lily, Beth...

How many tries to get all 6 looking at the camera? 1...

2...

3...OK, so the third time wasn't the charm.

My oh my how time does fly...

Today my baby -- my first baby -- turns 5. I remember that day back in 2004 like it was yesterday.





My water broke while I was at book club, late on November 1st. Noah was NOWHERE to be found...

The ones...

Driving to GW University Hospital at 11:00 p.m...it was surreal. My speedy labor. My fantastic doctor. My beautiful baby...who didn't look so beautiful to me. At first. It took me a bit to bond with her. But when I fell for her, oh how hard I fell.

The twos....which were not nearly as terrible as the threes (only to then be outdone by the fours...)

Election day. Bush vs. Kerry. Uugh how much I wanted to vote. And I WOULD have voted but for the fact that I went in to labor 4 weeks early.

The threes...sort of a blur thanks to a strong dose of pregnancy hormones.

Amazingly that was five years ago. FIVE. For the first time, I look at Lily and see a child. A little kid. My baby is long gone. My toddler has disappeared too. I look at her face and see a big kid. Five seems so old.

The fours, where independence kicked in in full force (and where dressing herself started to become a trend)

Five was a big year for me. I went off to kindergarten. I learned to ski. I became a big sister; my brother was born when I was five. Five is the first year that I have very, very solid memories from. I can't wait to discover what real memories from the coming year Lily will remember 30 years from now.

Five.

My baby is five...

Five...and that story has just begun...

Her fifth year was welcomed with much fan fare thanks to her partners in crime at school, the totally adorable Tulip Class!