Hello, everyone!
Happy New Year! Ariel is now 17 months, and she has added another word to her vocabulary—the all too famous “NO.” But we must say, she’s so cute when she says it with her little lips puckered out that we ask her questions just to get the “no” response, such as “Do you want to get your diaper changed?” or “Do you want to take a nap?”
We had a great holiday season. It was a lot of fun celebrating with both sides of our families, & we also received packages from the Sands family, Granny, David’s Uncle John & Aunt Linda, & the Jenkins side in New Zealand. Ariel had so much fun opening presents this year---so much that she tried opening other people’s gifts too! You’ll notice she has her zipper half-way down in many of these photos—she loves trying to undress herself, & zippers in particular are fascinating because they’re so easy for her to use!
I cooked dinner for my family this year to give Moma a break. We had a non-traditional meal of lasagna & salad with a relish dish on the side too.
David & Steven, Angie’s boyfriend, played “Santa” this year & passed out the presents. David & I got some gag gifts—some pretty tacky slippers for me & downright ugly boxer shorts for David! ;) We always get a big laugh from those gag gifts in our family!
We had a lot of fun on Christmas with David’s side too. Ariel really enjoyed seeing everyone & opening her presents.
David’s birthday was December 28. He turned 28. We went to see the movie, “Avatar,” which was fantastic! And then we ate at McGrath’s Fish House—delicious! Ariel wanted to help him open his birthday presents—I got him some loose leaf tea & a tea infuser; those darn New Zealanders have made us tea fanatics!
We had another birthday celebration—this time at David’s mum’s house—to recognize both our birthdays. It was a lot of fun! Great food, great company & wonderful gifts too! Ariel had a blast helping us open gifts, running around, & being silly.
Nathan took a photo of her from outside with her face pressed up against the window—some pretty funny looking faces were caught on film!
She also wanted to get on the treadmill, which she loves. There’s a short video attached at the end of the blog.
And later she had a ball in Nana’s tub splashing around & being silly.
We didn’t do much for New Years….actually, we were in bed by 10p! Life is sure different with an extremely energetic toddler to care for! But we didn’t need a formal celebration to know that it’s been a great year with challenges & lots of rewards. And we’re enjoying 2010 so far!
We hope you all had a very merry Christmas & a happy new year as well!
Lots of love,
Tammy, David & Ariel
