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.

Delaney's Birthday and Kate's Visit

It's hard to believe, but Delaney turned twelve on November 3rd. We celebrated with this delicious chocolate cake with buttercream frosting topped off with a huge mound of strawberries. It was a new recipe and was very well received. I have a feeling I will be making many more of these cakes in the future. It's hard to believe I met Delaney when she was only three! I am so happy to be her step mother and so proud of the person she is becoming.

The birthday girl! Molly is pretty focused on the cake, or is it the candles?

Delaney and the girls opening the gifts as the dogs look on.

We had a great, but short, visit from Katie who was in town for work. Unfortunately, these shots of Katie and Molly saying goodbye at the airport are the only pictures I took.

Parting is such sweet sorrow... a final hug and smile. See you again after Christmas Aunt Katie!

Halloween

Ah, the hippy costume, a classic. I'm glad to see these are still a hot Halloween costume. I remember how much I used to like to dress as a hippy during spirit week in high school for 50's and 60's day. Delaney couldn't decide between a zombie or a hippy so I was pushing for a zombie hippy costume and came up with great lines like, "Peace, love and BRAINS!!!", but in the end she went with a hippy.

Molly and I crashed John's Halloween classroom party and had a lot of fun. The parents went all out and made some amazing food. Then all the kids marched in the Halloween parade. Yes, that is a second grader dressed as Micheal Myers in the front row!

I think Molly was a little freaked out by the costumes. She usually ditches me when we get to John's school because she gets so much attention from everyone else, but this day, she stayed close to me and didn't want to go to anyone else but daddy. Looking at the girl on the left, I can understand why Molly would be a little freaked out!

Our masterpieces. First is Delaney's scared pumpkin grabbing his face, then my swamp monster, John showed his support for the Giants and Darby opted for a scary Jack-O-Lantern.

It is impossible to keep Molly away from shoes these days. She loves to try to get her feet into any size, type, or style of shoe, she is not picky. Her favorites though are Delaney's slippers because they stay on her feet the longest. She takes a lot of time to balance herself so that she can get her foot or feet into the shoe, no easy task for a toddler. She is very serious about the procedure, and then loves herself once she had completed the task. Here she is showing her pride at getting into one of my slippers while she was getting ready for bed on Halloween.

Molly absolutely loved opening the top of the pumpkins and taking out the candles (thank god for flame less candles!), then putting the top back on, then taking the top off again, putting the candle back in and putting the top back on again. She must have repeated this procedure five or six times with each pumpkin before we could get out of or into the house.

This is our neighbor Verna who carved this amazing Tim Lincecum pumpkin. It took her two days and a lot of time, but it looked awesome. I dubbed it Lincepumpkin and it might be what helped lead the Giants to a World Series victory.

My favorite little duck flapping her wings.

Trick or treating at Verna's. We didn't really take Molly trick or treating this year, instead we let her greet our visitors. We did give her a piece of candy or two which she thoroughly enjoyed so it was a great Halloween.

Long Overdue Shots of New York Trip and Others

Our trip to New York seems so long ago that I can't believe I am just getting around to posting these pictures. We had a great time at Lauren's wedding and Sharon's shower. It was so great to see everyone and catch up with family and friends. For some reason all of my pictures are backwards but I was not about to start from scratch, so start at the bottom!

Here is Lilah feeding Molly peas at our going away luncheon. It was so cute. Molly was refusing to eat peas all week and then all of a sudden they were deemed acceptable since they were coming from Lilah's hand.

Mmmm, more peas please! Lilah was happy to oblige.

Four out of the five siblings enjoying some family time.

The result of a day at the Bronx Zoo.

I always visit the elephants whenever I am at a zoo to remember my Uncle Denis.

Checking out the animals at the zoo gift shop.

The real animals in the gift shop!

The Bronx Zoo has the coolest carousel of insects. Molly had a great time and really enjoyed the ride.

The three cousins enjoying the Halloween decorations.

Lilah was enthralled by the snake witch's hat and in most of the pictures she is turned around touching the snakes tongue.

A close up of Molly and I on our camel ride.

We had a lot of fun on the ride and Joshua, the camel, really took a shine to me. He was giving me kisses and smelling my face for a long time before the ride.

Nana and Lilah took the first trip. Finn refused to go near the camel!

Camel rides at the Bronx Zoo, what an amazing place!

Finn fell down and broke his crown and Molly came tumbling after! Finn sat on this rock and slid down and plopped on the floor to great laughter from my folks and I prompting Molly to do the same. What a ham!

Nana and Lilah on the train at the zoo. What a great day!

Molly and I visited Kristen and her three kids. It was a nice afternoon and I am so glad I finally got to meet all the Malone's! Plus it's nice to know that there is a family out there that is whiter than us!

Mama Kristen, middle Braedan, oldest Joseph and baby Feile.

Molly was introduced to peanut butter and jelly on an english muffin by Nana and there was no looking back! It immediately became Molly's favorite delicacy.

One more muffin for everyone!

Hanging out with Nana.

Here are some of "The Spawn of Scranton" kids making a mess of Casey's house.

Like mother like daughter! Here is Ali's oldest, Morgan, trying to read a story to tame the unruly bunch.

C.J. and Molly doing some serious playing.

Molly also got to catch up on some reading with cousins Finn and Lilah.

Blue was sad to see us leave for our trip.

Molly loves music these days and enjoys making some of her own.

Singing along to her favorite tune.