January 2015

We have had an insane travel schedule this January and I haven't been able to post as much as I would have liked.  So here's a monster update covering basically the whole month.  Here we go!

Rozzie sleeping on the plane to KW - one eye open.  Very creepy.

 We went straight from Orlando/Disney to KW.  Mollie had her face painted at the animal kingdom before we left and was still sporting her "Princess Kitty" face well into the evening on New Year's Eve.  It even survived the first of very many dips in the pool at Nana and Pop-pop's condo.

 New Year's eve snacks.  We truly failed at New Year's this eve.  We were all asleep by 9:30 or 10 pm.  Mostly because Disney had wiped us out but also because all of us were battling this sinus/respiratory infection - the first of many to plague our household this winter, unfortunately.

 Tropical napping.

 Enjoying the scenery with Nana.

 Water sports with Uncle Barty.

 New Year's baby - she was actually wearing her crown to celebrate Pop-Pop's birthday.  Mollie thought it would be more festive if we wore our tiaras.

 We took Mollie and Rozzie back to the butterfly conservatory in KW this trip.  It's such a nice place to visit.  The butterflies are great, but there are also tons of small birds and flamingos.  We all loved the visit.

 Some random pictures of the girls...

 Quick Rozzie update - she's 10 months old!  Cannot believe it.  She's eating all kinds of foods now - meats, she loves string cheese and cottage cheese and ice cream, and veggies....

 and spaghettios.  Or as Mollie calls it "the pasta from the can."

 Gramma Liz initially made this headband for Mollie but it now fits Rozzie perfectly!  And she loves wearing it (and chewing on it).

 We had an amazing trip to Seattle.  I had a work meeting there and the whole gang tagged along (despite stomach flu hitting the Lauter contingent of the family the night before we were supposed to leave).  We got to meet Auntie Megan and Uncle Josh's new baby (and our new god-daughter) Paige!  Paige is the sweetest baby, and it was so much fun to see our amazing friends as the terrific, loving, thoughtful parents we knew they would be.
We stopped at the Chihuly exhibit, great for kids!

Mollie thought this one looked like Elsa's magic ice, so we took this picture as though Mollie is Elsa making the magic.  Don't they look the same??

Riding on the big ferris wheel.  Not the best part of our vacation, but we had an incredible view of the ocean.

Disney!

Shortly after Mollie started school we decided we were going to surprise her with a trip to Disney after Christmas.  We figured with having a baby sister and starting her real school, she had earned something a little special.  So at long last, we packed up and headed out. 

 We got to the airport with plenty of time for hanging out and looking around, but...

 They didn't have seats for us on the plane!  Mollie Simone was not impressed.

Thanks to Louie's convincing, they found seats for us on the plane...in first class!  In the bulkhead!  It was so amazing.

 

Day 1 - we got up at 5:45 am and headed to the park.  Here we are at daybreak walking up to Cinderella's castle.  Both of my kids are typically late sleepers, but they got up pretty easily and we had a really amazing day.

 The ultimate celebrity sighting - Anna and Elsa in the Christmas parade.

 We did tons of rides - Dumbo, the magic carpets, Small World, and so on.  I was surprised at how many rides Mollie was willing to go on - she tried everything, even the Haunted Mansion ("the worstest ride ever" in case you were wondering.)

 Day 2: we spent a good amount of time at the Animal Kingdom Lodge in the pool and out of the pool snacking.

 Day 3: up at daybreak again.  Poppy JJ sent some money to Mollie for Christmas which she used to buy this Sleeping Beauty dress.  She has only taken it off to go in the pool, and even that was a struggle to convince her it had to come off if she wanted to swim.  Everywhere we go people greet her as Princess Aurora.  She's in for a rude awakening when we leave!

 Princess Aurora on the magic flying carpet ride.

 The 102nd Dalmation Rozzie on the Magic Carpet ride.

 Meeting Minnie Mouse.

 Enchanted Tales with Belle.  Louie was selected to play the knight.  The Liz Lauter Designs tote bag is our own addition.

Christmas 2014

Both Rozzie and I were sick on Christmas so I don't have many photos but here are the ones I do have.  Mollie LOVED picking out the tree and decorating it.

 Here it is in all its glory.  Unfortunately in the middle of the night, the tree fell over.  We suspect Santa knocked it down with his large tushie but we can't be sure.  Fortunately we only lost a few ornaments and I think only one present was destroyed.

 Mollie and Rozzie were mostly none the wiser.  They loved opening all of their gifts!

Chanukah 2014

December came and went in a flash this year.  I think partially because our house has been battling a cold that seems to just be going round and round, and I broke my foot, and we've just had a ton going on.  But I feel like it was just Thanksgiving and now it's already a month later!  Rozzie is 9 months old!  She still doesn't crawl!  I suppose she has no need to crawl because she can kind of scoot and grunt and Mollie brings her everything she needs. 

 We spent the first night of Chanukah with Nana and Pop-Pop.  It was really nice.

 Gramma Liz sent Mollie this super cool bedding set.  It's a big hit.

 Here's our Chanukah House.  I must say that this kit from Safeway included the most legit frosting glue I've ever seen and we've made a LOT of gingerbread houses.

 Rozzie getting down with some applesauce and potato latkes.

 Louie's birthday!  Mollie really wanted to get him a pirate cake but the Pirate's of the Caribbean cake was sold out and so he had to settle for this Sponge Bob Pirate birthday cake.  Ha.