I love this time of the year!

We did a lot this month (despite Lily being sick for2.5 weeks of it!). The craziest thing is that it is almost over meaning we are almost in December… my favorite month, all year!

The middle of November was spent celebrating Rachel and Zack’s wedding. Despite a cold, Lily made it down the aisle and the entire wedding went perfectly! Congrats Rachel and Zack!

After Rachel’s wedding, it seemed like a second later it was already Thanksgiving. We had a delicious dinner at home, which was really nice since have not really had a day off, that way low-key, as a family in a few months. We certainly have a lot to be thankful for!

I also was surprised with an early Christmas gift, a brand-new lens for my camera. It is super fabulous!

As many of you know, I have been taking classes online and have begun attending a monthly workshop on photography and camera lighting… so this was just what I needed to inspire me to get out and take more pictures. (Of course, sick kids have not really lent itself to that!) I have a few photo-walks planned for the next couple weeks, including the Christmas Street in Baltimore and Rockefeller Center.

Check back in soon… next weekend we have Santa coming to our house and then Hanukah begins!

It has been a busy one. I have been crazy at work with parent conferences and meetings, while the girls have been busy at home playing and learning. This week Lily went on her first field trip to the farm. She had a blast and I enjoyed seeing her in action with the other kids. I was especially interested in watching since we just had her parent-teacher conference where we “learned” several things… 1. Lily is academically excelling, 2. Lily shows strong leadership skills (yeah… teacher-speak for BOSSY!) and 3. Lily is very independent (cough, cough… doesn’t listen… cough, cough). Apparently she is already a part of a little clique of girls and they are best friends one minute and sworn enemies vying for ownership of the fabulous purple princess dress that apparently has lead to many an almost brawl. There is no denying these friendships… these girls are glued to each other (as you will see in some of the field trip photos) and I can only imagine poor Mrs. Laske trying to reign them in!

As for Emilie, she has been busy getting some new teeth and being quite miserable about it. She is feeling crummy and has not been sleeping well. Poor baby! On the bright side, she has continued to blossom with new skills every day… she now mimics any sound pattern back to you and has continued to use several words (baba, mama, kittycat, dada, Lily (which sounds like Laloo), byebye, and thank you) consistently. She has even added a few sign language words to her bag of tricks, including more, milk and all done. Her receptive vocabulary is even greater as she is able to identify all the people and animals in the house, as well as follow directions like stop, stand, come here, go get the tv remote (no joke!) and give me a kiss. The best part is she still is at age where she listens!

On the large motor skills front, she continues to practice her sit to stand moves but still no walking. She does sit and stand on command now (which she thinks is super funny) and can climb up on the two step stool and stand at the mirror.

This weekend we will help celebrate Rachel’s wedding, so check back in as Lily makes her second debut as a flower girl. Poor Em will be on the sidelines for this one… but hopefully she will get to be in one eventually, maybe even in a wagon if she decides she never wants to learn to walk!