it's the most wonderful time of the year

We woke up this morning to an unexpected snow.  It was beautiful.  I carried Luca to the window to see it.  He said "Snow!  Mama, I'm gonna throw a snowball to you!"  After which we ran downstairs, threw on our winter stuff and headed out.

Mike had the idea to tie our sled to the 4 wheeler which was an instant hit.  Mom and dad came over later in the morning to play too and we had a pretty walk in the woods.

Then we headed inside to relax by the fire and make brownies.  My favorite time of year...

happy birthday big boy

We had a big day on Monday...Luca turned "older". Our big boy is now 3 to be exact. He won't tell you how old he is though, every time he gets asked how old he is he just says older. We had a family party Monday night with Nana, Papa and auntie Rhonda.

Luca loves his drumset and plays it all the time. He likes to put on music so he can play along. We're now 3 days in and have lost one drumstick, broken one drum and broken the cymbal off. Thank God for gorilla glue and spare drumsticks (thanks auntie Rhonda)!

Luca also loves his dinosaur costume. He has worn his tail almost non-stop since Monday night including to the library and grocery store yesterday. He couldn't understand why he needed to take it off to get in his carseat.

We had a good time celebrating with Luca and even got to skype with auntie Tina, uncle Bill, Emmy and AJ. Thanks to all our friends and family for the cards, calls, texts and emails to share Luca's day with us. We love you all!

So here's to another year older, my love. May it be a blessed and happy one!

cabin fever

After getting about 17 inches of snow on Monday and Tuesday we've been snowed in for a couple of days. It has also been really cold so we haven't gotten Luca out to play in a few days and he's starting to get some cabin fever!

We've been playing with "doh" a few times a day. Always in short bursts as it is still difficult for Luca not to sample the play-doh. Today he started taking it into the closet and hiding while he sneaks bites because he knows if he gets caught eating the play-doh it gets taken away. Somehow the temptation remains.

Just before the storm Luca got a big box to play in. It didn't attract him much until he got stranded inside. Now it has become a comfy hiding place and even more fun...a slide.

We've been spending time playing downstairs running and exploring. Luca found a new hiding place in the dryer. He thinks it's really fun to climb in and out but he got very frustrated that he couldn't close the door on himself. Being the obliging mama I shut the door for him and we had fun playing knock knock.

We have also spent a lot of time painting. Luca is starting to like using a paintbrush. Although we usually end up using hands to paint, Luca doesn't love the feeling of paint on his hands now and stops frequently to ask for help wiping his hands clean before plunging them back into paint again. I tried to get a picture of Luca and his latest masterpiece but he deeply involved...

in a conversation with his Auntie RaRa.

more snow

We've been getting a lot of snow this winter and Luca is having a great time playing outside in it. This week it got warm enought to get back out and the snow was right to build our snowman.

Luca stole the snowman's hat but he gave him hugs in return...

just before he stole his nose for a snack.

Then Luca thought he saw a sled in the garage that was just his size. This is actually his old baby bathtub but it's actually a pretty good size for him.

Luca ended his afternoon by helping daddy cut some more wood. Looks like we'll have more chances for snowmen later this week as we're supposed to get more snow on Monday and Tuesday. Hope you are all staying warm.

new neighbors

The birds have finally found our feeder. It took a couple of months and a good snow but we have new neighbors.

At least until Luca knocks on the windows to scare them away.

snow much fun

We had a beautiful snow on Monday so we bundled up and headed outside for an afternoon of snow angels and sledding.

Papa brought down our old sled and we found a great spot in our front yard for Luca to go sledding for the first time.

It was a hit, we made lots of trips up and down the hill and then mama showed Luca how to make a snow angel.

We had little angels all over the yard...and one on the driveway!

Then we bundled up our cold little angel and headed inside to have cocoa by the fire.

catch up!

*Disclaimer: Normally my pictures would be spread out through the post but as you know it's been awhile since i did this and i forgot that my computer won't let me move my pictures once they're uploaded. I was too lazy to redo everything!

Luca's 2nd birthday party at Whistle Stop Park in Temple.

He had a great time hanging out with his girl friends!

Luca and Rachel made friends with a puppy.

Just what we'd been waiting for! Luca couldn't walk when we listed the house.

Having fun playing in the leaves at Nana and Papa's house.

Luca's family party, Nana made him a choo-choo cake with all his favorite snacks.

Luca loves his train hat and anything he can get dirty playing with!

We took Luca to the Halloween fair at church and he had a great time playing games with Papa and jumping in the jump houses.

Luca loves playing in the woods with his daddy and Papa.

Daddy "go bang bang"

We headed over to Calleo (I think) to see the Christmas lights.

We headed to Boston for Christmas and Luca had a great time with his cousins. He's still adjusting since we got home and asked to see Emmy and AJ this morning!

Papa Mike took us to see the Christmas parade in Lynn. Mike and I couldn't believe how scared Luca was by all the sirens but he rallied for the candy and afterwards he said he liked the parade!

Christmas morning...

The clear winner of Chrsitmas 2010 is the guitar. Luca loves his guitar and dances while he plays it. Now he runs to grab his guitar when he hears music so that he can play along.

We had a huge snowstorm while we were in Boston and the kids had a lot of fun playing in it!

The snow was almost as deep as Luca is tall.

Luca loves his cousins!

Luca styling with Emmy's pullup for his hat.

Helping Nana get Christmas snacks ready.

Luca directed Christmas and Nana and Papa's and helped everyone unwrap their presents.

RaRa gave us all TX flags (haha) in our stockings but Luca thought his belonged on the tree.

Nothing says Merry Christmas like ammo!

Luca's new keys that he calls RaRa's keys.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted. The end of the year really got crazy for our family. Our house sold in October, Luca turned 2 and we moved to MO. I found the timing to be devine. Since Luca was born I had been praying that by the time he was 2 we would be in MO and one week after his 2nd birthday...we were. We squeezed in a birthday for Luca with his friends before we left. I didn't realize until later that he had all little girls at his party, what a lucky boy! My parents came down to help us with the move which was greatly appreciated. Luca got a second 2nd birthday party when we got to MO since Auntie RaRa couldn't come to the first one. Mike and I went back the first week in November to close on our house in TX.

So, we are officially Missourians! We are currently renting a home just down the road from nana and papa. The 1.5 minute commute is much better than the 13 hour one! Luca is having a great time and his first words each morning are usually for his nana and papa. We got here just in time for winter and have had a few snows already. But our biggest snow of the year so far happened when we were in Boston for Christmas and got 18+ inches in 2 days. Luca got to spend his 3rd Christmas with his cousins and Mike's family. It was a great time, a house with a 2yo, 4yo and 6yo can never be boring! We still hear a chorus of "no hit Emmy, no hit AJ, no hit Whitey (the dog)" every morning although it has now had the additions of mama, dada, nana, papa, rara and this morning...knife. I have to agree, not a good idea to hit knife.

Christmas was fun, Luca is just starting to understand. He loves to play with the nativity and can recognize Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Baby Jesus gets carried around quite a bit in addition to being rocked and fed, yesterday it was peanut butter. Luca also learned who Santa was and that Santa says "ho, ho, ho" but he thinks that Santa lives at the mall and anytime we go now he asks to "see santa". Seeing Santa was ok but sitting with Santa was not. Although he didn't cry, Luca's Santa picture has a look of panic on his face like a deer in the headlights. I'm still trying to locate it since we got home.

Speaking of deer in the headlights. Luca also got to take part in deer season this year. He learned that papa and daddy go to the woods to "bang bang deer". I think he will be helping before long!

Well, that's a quick catch-up to now. Things have felt so busy but I'm determined to get back to our blog with the start of a new year. We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and wish you and your families all the best in the new year!