Christmas in CT 2016

Every year for Christmas we head to Branford CT and spend Christmas with the in-laws. This is Kaylee's 2nd Christmas going. She did well on the first trip but she was barely 1yrs old. Being almost 2 I was a bit nervous about how she would do both on the flights and around the rest of the family as I wouldn't expect her to remember anyone from a year before. Surprisingly she did very well on the flight and slept for most of the trip. When we arrived at her grandma and Pop Pops house she didn't cry or fuss about being there. She seemed to feel right at home and made her way around as if we had been there for awhile. She even was ok being around grandma without crying which was a first.

We got to Branford on Dec. 22nd to which we spent a few days visiting with extended family and friends. We went to her great grandmas place to spend some quality time with her since Christmas eve and Christmas day is always so packed with people. Her great grandma Paula gained her trust by giving her a bunch of candy and letting her play with her snow globes and cards. Then, we had a little party with pizza and cake for some family who weren't going to be with us on Christmas eve or Christmas to come and visit with Kaylee as well as give her gifts. There were about 15-20 people and Kaylee did extremely well with everyone. She even allowed me to spend some time with the adults in peace while she played with her cousins. She was obsessed with her cousin Alyson and followed her around everywhere yelling "Alyson! Alyson!". It was super cute and funny.

On Christmas Eve the tradition is to attend Christmas Eve mass at the Catholic church in the neighborhood and then to have everyone over for a 4 course meal after that includes 6 different types of fish and then open gifts after. This year we did a secret santa and white elephant gift exchange that ended up being a ton of fun. The kids didn't participate which meant they ended up getting all the gifts they wanted. Kaylee didn't eat any of the Italian fish feast of course but she didn't seem to mind. Her favorite cousin Alyson was there to make her happy. She did however enjoy eating the cookies and dessert afterwards.

Once dinner was over the kids changed into their Christmas PJ's that grandma bought them. That is when we gave them all of their gifts to open to which Kaylee actually seemed to understand the concept and enjoyed opening them up. She got so many clothes and toys it was all so overwhelming.

On Christmas Day we went to Kaylee's aunt's house where she was able to play in her favorite cousin's Ayson's room and with all of her toys. We ate Christmas dinner, did an ugly sweater contest and sang karaoke which Kaylee really enjoyed. She's a natural on the microphone and immediately knew what to do with it once she had a hold of it. It was really funny to see her sing and talk in it during our performance and then put the mic in our faces as if she was a talk show host. After Christmas was over we only had a few days left to which we spent it building a snowman outside, hanging out with old friends from New Jersey, and going to a trampoline park for her cousins fundraiser. Kaylee had the best of time hanging out in CT and she was a perfect angel throughout the entire trip. I can only anticipate a better time each and every year we go!

Oh Santa....2016

Everyone loves taking pictures with Santa....or not. Kaylee definitely not. Her first picture with Santa was her crying so hard she couldn't even breathe. This time around..pretty much the same thing. Dan's work had Santa to take pictures with and decorate gingerbread houses and cookies. We thought it would be a good time and that maybe if we took the picture with her she would be ok. She was fine standing in line but as soon as it was our turn and we started to walk up towards him she already started to fuss and point her way out of there. We forced her to stay of course and as I held her she cried and cried as we stood BEHIND santa to take a picture with him and she wouldn't stop crying until we were gone and away from him. We didn't even try to put her on his lap this time and she was upset about just being in the same area as him. So funny. She of course enjoyed the decorating houses and cookies and ate most of the candy and fruit so it wasn't a completely upsetting time for her. Maybe next year we will get a good picture!

Playdate!

On December 10, 2016 Kaylee had a playdate with my friend's daughter Alanna who is about 6 months younger than her. We went to her house in Poway and brought some toys to share and play with as well as a small Christmas gift for her. When we got there Alanna was napping so we hung out with the dogs waiting for her to wake up. Kaylee loves animals so she didn't mind at all playing with them while waiting. When Alanna woke up they didn't seem to care about eachother at first. Kaylee was also upset about her playing with the toys she brought and had a bit of an attitude. It wasn't until she saw Alanna had a desk with chalk to write on that she came out of her shell and relaxed a bit.

We ventured over to Alanna's room to play and that's when they both seemed to get along much better and show some enthusiasm towards the toys and eachother. They both had fun playing with her blocks and books and pretty much made a huge mess.

3hrs later we packed up and got ready to head home. It was a fun playdate for both of them and we can't wait to do it again!

Thanksgiving 2016

Every Thanksgiving we participate in the Turkey Trot and run a 5k as a family. This is the 2nd year Kaylee has participated. The first time she cried the entire time but today she did extremely well. She actually enjoyed it and didn't cry a single bit.

After the Turkey Trot was over we rushed home to finish cooking our Thanksgiving meal. This is the 4th year in a row that we have hosted Thanksgiving at our place and Kaylee's 2nd year being with us. She was excited to see Nana, Tia Karim, her cousins, and Uncle Yashin. She had a blast playing with her cousins Deztinee and Desiree and even let Deztinee pick her up.

Although Kaylee only took one bite of a biscuit and didn't bother to eat any of the food we cooked, she enjoyed sitting with everyone at the table and feeding me and her Nana the food instead. I think she ended up eating cereal or carrots for dinner. Oh well. It was a lovely time with good food and family and Kaylee didn't fuss or cry or seem to mind that there were so many people in her house. Happy Turkey Day!

This is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!

One of my favorite times of the year is Halloween and this year (2016) we all dressed up as Pokemon characters. Kaylee was Pikachu, her brother was Ash (Pikachu's trainer) and me and my husband were Team Rocket which are the bad guys.

In addition to going to Seaworld's Spooktacular to trick or treat, we also went around our new neighborhood after carving our pumpkins. We invited Kaylee's cousins to join us and we spent a good hour walking around our own community before making our way to Caleb's grandparents house. Kaylee was a little scared to see her cousin Deztinee because her face was all painted. She was also scared of a few houses that were dark and creepy looking with scary monsters sitting out front. But once she saw what they were putting in her basket she couldn't wait to go to each house and collect her "happy" (Kaylees word for candy)

After visiting our neighborhood, we went to Caleb's grandparents house as we do every year for pizza and more friends/family to join us trick or treating. Kaylee loves pizza and loves her happy so this was probably the most fun she had. Not too mention there were so many kids running around her and hyped up on "happy". We spent another hour walking around their neighborhood collecting more "happy" that by the end of the night Kaylee had more "happy" that she knew what to do with. It was a fun and memorable night for sure. Happy Halloween!

Annual Camping Trip

On October 28-October 30th, 2016 we took our annual camping trip with our friends to Joshua Tree. The drive was long but beautiful and when we arrived it was awesome. Kaylee enjoyed watching us set up the tents and then enjoyed playing in them when we were done. Her, Cadel and Cam Cam had their own play tent where they colored and played with toys while we were setting up the fire and getting food cooked. Intrigued by the fire, Kaylee kept running around it which made me nervous and then kept running around by the fire ants which made Caleb nervous. She had no problem falling asleep and sleeping through the night which gave me a nice break. We took her on a hike through the desert trails and walks through our campsite to which we all really enjoyed. Our friends brought their dogs so she was even more excited to have fur pals to play with on top of Cadel and Cam Cam. It was a wonderful time filled with good friends, good food, and happy babies. We couldn't have asked for a better experience and can't wait for next year's camping trip!

Surprise from Sweden!

On October 23, 2016 we had a surprise visit from an old friend from Sweden. Lars had told me he was coming but Kaylee had no clue. ;) She was extremely shy and hesitant to have him in our house at first but in no time she was able to be around him without a fuss. He was only with us for a few days but in those few days we went to Torrey Pines and hiked the trails alongside the beach, went to Solana Beach and Encinitas for some pizza and drinks and shopping, went Downtown and Seaport Village and ate at the Cheesecake factory, and had a party filled with friends (both Kaylee's and ours)Phil's BBQ and a fire. Kaylee had an eventful few days hanging out with "Uncle" Lars and hope to one day go visit him in Sweden!