Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo!

Christmas Rocks! 'Nuf said!

Hmmm, do you think she likes the kitty cat?

Retro Kitchen and.......

...lots more! What a lucky girl! Thank you for all of my presents!

Getting into the Holiday Spirit...

....with COOKIES!

A Strictly "Quality Control" taste test. Mmmmmm, that's good!

Carrie and Jack doing the "icing squeeze". Cookie time allows for great bonding time between family and friends.......

....but mostly it's just an excuse to eat a lot of frosting right before bedtime. That's my girl!

Frantic, last minute Christmas shopping, in sweats and rain boots, of all things!

Hmmmmm...what to buy for mama and daddy?

Some like it HOT after a long night of shopping! This girl LOVES to eat bell peppers like an apple!

"Stay at Home" Moms--Get Your Office Holiday Party On!

Just a lil' bit o' something here, and a lil' bit o' something there! Perfect!

Ella and Currier make their first attempt at a domestic decor partnership.

Delightfully Tacky! Think Hansel and Gretel would be tempted by this concoction?

"What do you have there, Ella?" asked Currier. "Might I take it off your hands for you?"

As we sipped on mimosas and supervised the kids' decorating a gingerbread house yesterday, my good friend Coleen pointed out to me that this was our office holiday party, since we technically work mostly out of our homes and are responsible for our children 24/7--Cheers!

I love my Mama and Dada so much!

Couch Potatoes!

Give me a hug, please!

Give me the camera, Dada, and there won't be any trouble!

All in a Day's Work

Ella arrives at her "office" at 9:00 sharp every morning.


Then it's right to work on the household budget.
She has to keep Mama and Dada's spending in check!

Now it's on to the park for some R & R.

She feels an inspiration to write, so....

...she takes immediately to pen and paper!

Voila! It's all in a day's work for Ella Louise!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sure, she looks cute and innocent in those pigtails, but.......

....Meet Ella, the great yogurt bandit!

Beware, she will grab your grocery bag out of your hand to get to her beloved yogurt and then leave a trail of gooey destruction all over your house!

We spent our Thanksgiving surrounded by close friends, one of which was a 26 pound Sicilian turkey who we referred to as "Giuseppe Grasso" (Fat Joe)! Yes, we decided to pass on the ol' Butterball brand this year and instead supported our local poultry farmers, and it tasted buono!

Long time coming.....

Look at how big this girl is becoming! I'm trying to put more pics on our Dropshots page, but we'll see if the computer will cooperate. Check it out just in case it works! I believe the site is www.dropshots.com/ajaandre. Ciao!

Well, it's already Halloween! Hard to believe! As you can see, Ella dressed up as Genevieve the Giraffe (ala Aja's old dance costume) for the Autumn Fest held at our base last weekend. Phil and I attended a costume party where we proceeded to win the "Best Couple" prize as the devil and a Mormon! No offense, we just think Mormons are funny!

Ella is One Year Old!

It's official; I'm one year old now! All hail to the Birthday Girl.

I loved all of my presents. I am now a one girl band!

I also loved all of my party guests, especially Ellis.

I don't know if she feels the same about me though!

Thank you to all of my party guests!

How sweet it is to be one year old and allowed to have cake at last! I love birthdays!

Hanging out with my cousin Cooper on the farm in Michigan

Buon giorno from Napoli!

Ella in the baby pool in Naples. She is quite the water lover and likes to walk around the pool in her lily pad floatie.

Is that Ella or a gondolier?

License to Drive--watch out for the duckmobile!

Ella is 11 Months Old!

Ciao! I'm 11 months old!!! I now have 8 teeth, still detest sitting still for anything, love to eat pickles, say "nana" for mama and "dada" for daddy, and prefer to crawl (walking's overrated anyway!).

















I really like to push and pull things like chairs, doors, and stolls.

















Hello there! What's for dinner?

Chunky Monkey

Okay, so she wouldn't make a great monkey, but she's cute, isn't she?

Happy Birthday, Nonni!

It's my Nonni Linda's BIG birthday today! If you see her, wish her a great one!

I love and miss you, Nonni!

Memorial Day Weekend in Scoglitti

Last weekend we headed south to the beach town of Scoglitti with our friends, the McKowns, for some much needed R&R. At this time of year the beaches are not crowded at all, so we pretty much had the area to ourselves.

It was a bit windy, but Ella still loved going to the beach! She got to sample sand for the first time!

Ella and Phil at our secret beach.