Merry Christmas!

We've had a busy last couple of weeks with getting ready for the Holidays and celebrating Christmas with our families. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with Laurie's cousins in Pleasanton and San Ramon. Kirk's parents and grandma joined us on Christmas Day. We all had a great time and Noelle had fun seeing all the other kids.

check out mommy's new haircut, cute isn't it

tearing into Christmas gifts with mom

hanging out with grandma and grandpa and chomping on new plastic fish

these plastic fish are cool!

wrapping paper is the best!

check out my new hat from great grandma Lola!

all dressed up and ready to go

I look good in this new Christmas dress!

I think the plastic lawn mower really completes the outfit.

what are the odds that all the kids would be looking and smiling at the same time, not so good...

Last weekend we all went to Merced to celebrate great grandma beas's 90th birthday. Great grandma really seemed to enjoy her party, and all the family showed up to celebrate with her.

great grandma looking good at 90! hubba hubba

On Tuesday evening we met up with Dillon & James to go to the winter wonderland festival in Pleasant Hill. It was a really cold night but there were lots of lights and Christmas decorations and fun things to look at.

katy, james, tracie, dilon, mom & me (santa in the background)

the three musketeers: james going headfirst in the styrofoam snow pool, me testing the waters a bit and dillon keeping and eye out for the moms & dads.

This weekend we went and got our Christmas tree. It was really cold outside so we had to get all bundled up tried and make it quick.

I'd point to the tree I like but I can't move my arms with all these clothes!

hey, is that a stick on the ground?

hanging ornaments, sort of.

how much you want to bet I can stick this whole thing in my mouth?

turkey weekend

We spent our Thanksgiving day in Modesto where Susan's brother and his family invited all of us to celebrate with them at their house. The food was great and we had a good time visiting with everyone. Noelle had fun hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa and warmed up quickly to uncle Eric, walking him around the house by the finger.

noelle posing in the leaves near uncle eric's

catching up on things with grandpa cliff

helping pick up leaves at home, a handful at a time

dad puts the leaves in the bag, noelle takes them out

woohoo, look at me!

Fall & other fun stuff

We finally got to see pictures of our newest family member Sydney. Here she is with proud big sister Allison.

Here I am rooting for Grandma (before the election)
Is it Fall? It was so warm that we went to the beach.
Mom & Dad have so many leaves to rake and it's just the start. I like to try to eat them.

congratulations to grandma!

Yesterday, amid all the election happenings, Grandma Ann was elected as the next mayor of Stockton. It was a long and busy road for her and we are all very proud of her achievement and celebrate in her victory. Woohoo Grandma!

great grandma bea, mayor elect grandma ann & noelle

(so do I call her mrs. mayor, or mayor grandma?)

trick or treat!

Noelle went on her first official trick or treat outing. We got together with her buddy Dillon and his parents and went to downtown Walnut Creek where the local businesses were giving out treats for kids. Luckily the weather held out and we didn't get rained on!

modeling the flower costume... is that a bee?

ready for some serious trick or treating!

monkey buddy Dillon going in for some crackers

how come mom & dad aren't dressed up too?

little wobbly steps

Noelle continues to get better and better at walking. This weekend she has been preferring to try and walk to get somewhere rather than crawling. Of course she tends to get excited after a bit and her giggles affect her balance. I know that if I fell down on my hands and knees every 15 feet or so, I would be pretty sore by the end of the day.

wobbly walker...

Fun Times

Soaking up the sun in Pleasant Hill
Clayton Pumpkin Farm with buddy Dillon
My new goofy grin
I race around the house with my new toy

Walking

Noelle has been busy practicing walking. She doesn't get too far before she plops down, but every day she does better!

First Steps

Noelle took her first steps on Sunday. It was completely unexpected and she did it a few more times that day. She knew she was doing something special because she had a huge smile on her face, started laughing and then rolling around on the ground being giddy.

Sydney Lynn Iida

We are proud to announce that we have a new niece and Noelle has a new cousin. Darren and Kelli gave birth to Sydney Lynn on September 18th! Allison is now a big sister. We are anxiously awaiting photos but we hear she looks just like big sister.

Pumpkin Patch

We stopped at a couple pumpkin patches in Half Moon Bay on our way back from Monterey (popular spot for pumpkins).

Why am I sitting on this orange ball?

Monterey

Noelle took her second trip to Monterey. 6 months makes a huge difference! As soon as we walked into the aquarium she got really big eyes and started making the sign for fish.

This was a big weekend for Noelle. She learned a few new signs - flower, more and ball. She also started saying baby and flower. She is also getting good at walking while we hold her arms.

Enjoying the slides at the Denace the Menace Playground


The sand feels nice...let's go for a walk

Mom's Group 1st Birthday Party

Our Mom's group celebrated our babies 1st birthday together. It has been amazing to watch the babies grow up over the past year. We met everyone when Noelle was 6 weeks old.

Mass chaos - trying to get a bunch of 1 year olds to sit still for a photo
Itsy Bitsy/Poly Poly group