New Years in South Carolina

After celebrating Christmas in California, John, Molly and I headed off to South Carolina to see John's mom and sister Gayle. We had a lot of fun, ate a lot, visited Beauford, went swimming and had a great New Years Eve celebration. Unfortunately Molly and John were both sick, but we didn't let it spoil our fun. It was so nice to see the family and we had a great visit overall.

Molly opening some presents with a little help from Dad.

Enjoying the beautiful weather in Aunt Gayle's backyard.

On the way to lunch with Grandma. If you look over Ruth's right shoulder you can see a blue heron, one of the many beautiful perks of the area.

Our New Years Eve Extravaganza! The food was delicious, it's too bad John didn't feel well enough to enjoy it. Thanks again to Ruth and Gayle for being great hostesses and taking such good care of us during our stay.

Christmas At Last!

We just returned from a long trip so these pictures feel very old but it was such a great Christmas that I needed to post pictures. We visited the Christmas Carousel at Tilden Park which has been a family tradition for years, then we baked Christmas cookies for all our friends and neighbors, and of course, we topped it all off by opening lots of presents.

Molly made a friend watching the train.

Looking at all of the lights is always a lot of fun.

Our tree looks a little barren on the bottom because Molly kept taking off all of the ornaments. They sought safety at higher levels.

I could not turn my back for a second without turning back around to see Molly diving into a fresh batch of cookies. I guess she was our quality inspector.

And she took her job very seriously!

We wrapped up our cookies in colorful paper and put them in decorated bags for our friends and neighbors. Each bag had samplings of our homemade fudge, Hershey kiss cookies, peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies and, of course, sugar cookies.

Delaney and I were partners this year and she was a big help taking full control over two recipes!

Christmas morning present opening was fun. Molly decided to model Delaney's gift immediately and she looked great.

Everyone was happy to open gifts, even Ginny got in on the action and she's Jewish!

Delaney's enormous PJs.

Molly was a great helper, I would give her a present for Darby or Deleany and she would happily walk it over to them. After she got her own gift though, and realized how fun it was to tear open presents, she started trying to open all the presents herself and I lost my helper.

Blue dog was pretty pooped after all the excitement.

Molly's favorite gift!

Christmas Tree Trimming

It was an exciting Christmas this year with Molly. She loved all of the holiday lights on houses, the festive music and, of course, the tree! It is magical to experience Christmas again for the first time through Molly and remember how beautiful and exciting a time of year it is. Thank you Molly for reminding me how lucky we are and to appreciate all that we have.

Molly loves to be a part of everything and was so excited to help hang decorations.

Everyone was getting in on the action, except for Darby that is. In true teenager form, he ate pancakes and slipped back into bed when we got busy trimming the tree. He did make an appearance, but it was long after the camera went away.

Molly was mesmerized! Sadly the bottom half of our tree still looks like this because all of our decorations are crammed onto the top two thirds of the tree out of the way of chubby little fingers!

Topping it all off! Delaney and I bought this tree topper in Orient Point over the summer so we were excited to see how it would look.

Tic Tac Toe and Dress Up

Molly loves getting into Darby's old stash of Lego's. Even though she can't put the pieces together yet, she can pull some of them apart and loves putting the little hats on her fingers and laughing. She really is developing into quite the comedian these days. Here she is playing with Delaney's tic tac toe board which we bought on a family trip to Legoland years ago.

So many hats to choose from!

Molly takes a shower with Daddy every morning before he leaves for school. John bought her this robe so she could stay warm while he dried off and she loves it! She walks around the house and smiles and laughs and, on this particular morning, she even coordinated with a pair of my black sandals. What a fashionista!

My second attempt at being a cake boss! This was for a friends Bat Mitzvah, so we designed a cake where the first tier represented her childhood and family, the second represented her now, and the third represented her future hopes and dreams. We created symbols for each family member and phase of her life. She is also a huge ice cream fan so I added some buttercream frosting to look like ice cream scoops between the tiers. All in all, it was a great cake even though I wasn't particularly crazy about the color scheme. All that matters is that it was a big hit, Emma loved it and it was a great addition to a wonderful celebration for an amazing girl.

Dog Park

A friend recently e-mailed these pictures of John and Molly up at the dog park. Molly and John walk Blue up here every afternoon and it is our neighborhood's hidden jewel. There are views of the city skyline, Golden Gate Bridge, Mt. Tamalpais and the Bay, it is truly gorgeous and the sunsets are phenomenal, but the best thing about having an off leash park in walking distance is how much of a community there is at the park. Most people know each other and live within walking distance, so we get to know neighbors we might not otherwise.

Of course Molly and Blue are celebrities at the park. Any time I walk Molly everyone stops to say hello to her and check in on her progress. She loves all the attention, especially from the dogs. A lot of the time Molly carries Blue's leash and she seems quite proud to do it, it is adorable. Molly really loves spending this special time with Daddy every afternoon and I am so glad someone got some pictures of them during their daily ritual.

Make sure you click on the second picture to see the expression on her face.

Mama's Little Helper

Molly loves to help out these days. Although her help is usually not particularly helpful, I love to watch her try to figure everything out. Mostly I love to see her pride when she finishes a task. She is so pleased with her accomplishment and is positively beaming when she is able to do something for herself. Here she is helping me bring in some bags after we went grocery shopping.

One bag isn't enough for Molly, she likes to push herself.

Oops, there go the eggs! It's not always easy, but she is a determined little critter and doesn't give up so easily.

Of course, everyone needs a break now and then. Good thing she has Blue dog to help boost her energy before the long trip inside.

Molly flipped over this classic toy. She is a bit of a daredevil on it and rides with reckless abandon.

It is so incredible to watch Molly changing every day. She is definitely not a baby anymore and as sad as that makes me, I am so proud of how she is growing. I realize how lucky I am to be able to be home with her every day and watch her transform before my eyes. I love Molly more and more each day and cannot wait to see what happens tomorrow!

On the Move

Molly is on the move these days and cannot be stopped. She is exploring everywhere and wants to get her hands on, in and around everything. Molly is no longer satisfied to be an observer. She wants to do all the things that we do and needs to be a part of the action.

Here are some shots of us out and about running errands.

Molly loves Jamba Juice!

Trying to get her hands on the camera, these days nothing is safe.

I know it's wrong to torture animals, but Delaney and I couldn't resist!

Molly loves to smile, share and show you everything she has discovered.

I love the expression on her face in this one.