Olivia Goes Skiing! (Well, not exactly...)

With my parents heading up to Montpelier to visit Jonathan - Tony and I thought it would be fun to head to Lincoln for a combo family ski weekend. Fortunately Jonathan was able to get the afternoon off from teaching his ski class at Sugarbush to join Tony, Mom, Dad and I for some skiing. Sounds great - but what to do with the little girl? Nonni and Poppi to the rescue! Mary and John were gracious enough to volunteer their babysitting services for the day. So, with Jonathan's assistance, we found a quiet, fairly unused room in the lodge and set up camp. It was a great set up - I could just stop in and nurse her and we all got to visit with each other on ski breaks. Thanks to everyone for a great weekend!

Visiting during one of our breaks from the trails.

Dad took this pic of Tony in front of a make shift tee-pee in the woods.

Stratton Weekends

Another winter means another great ski season with our buddies Jeremy and Tanveer at their family ski house near Stratton Mountain. This year we have the added excitement of two new additions, Olivia and Peter. So needless to say, being able to actually ski has been a little more of a challenge : )  But have no fear - Grandparents to the rescue!! On our first weekend up, Nonni and Poppi were gracious enough to come down from Lincoln to watch the little ones so all the mommies and daddies could have a little time away on the slopes. And then the following weekend Anees and Batul (Tanveer's parents) took over the babysitting duties - thank you to all the grandparents!!

Nonni and Poppi to the rescue!

Olivia loved playing with Petu's gym.

Look how happy she was!

These two are peas in a pod already! (note: Livvy is not
sitting up unassisted quite yet - though it makes for a great photo!)

Petu is quite the musician!

Happy as a clam with her Nonni

Peter is on the move! Tanveer takes a turn
walking her little man around the house -
crawling, what's that?? I wanna walk!

Jeremy and Peter are ready for a winter walk.

So are Olivia and I : )

Everyone is all smiles
(except O, who was working on a big burp!)

The boys and their babes!

My sweet rosy love.

2011, Here we come!

We rang in the New Year with some fellow new-parent friends. It was a night of yummy pot-luck food before putting kids to sleep in pack-n-plays to allow for some major Dance Central battles! Who new I could love an XBox game so much? But let's face it, anything with "dance" in the title was bound to float my boat : ) Then, on New Year's Day, Grandma and Grandpa Deerfield stopped by for a quick overnight visit on their way up to ski in Maine for the week. We stuffed ourselves with Tony's experimental super-thin crispy pizzas - Yum!! So here are a smattering of pics from New Year's as well as other recent shots:

The ladies are ready for New Year's Eve!

Aren't we cute? : )

Chillin' in her baby-gym
(man she likes this thing!)

Lula (thought the kitties could use a little blog time)

Olivia is already learning to jam with her Daddy.

Tummy-time, complete with drool.

"I love to laugh!"

Tummy-time, sans drool ( much better).

Mocha - who has recently decided to sleep
under the covers between Tony and I ever night
Could someone be feeling a little neglected?

Olivia's First Christmas: Part Two

After celebrating a wonderful Christmas in Vermont, it was now time to visit with her loved ones in New York. So in the early morning on Christmas Eve we headed to Long Island. We had a great time with everyone and even got a little more time at Grandma and Grandpa's courtesy of the winter blizzard that shut down the ferry and had Jon going 10 miles an hour on I-95  - ugh! Thankfully the kitties weren't too hungry when we got home on Monday - but they were definitely happy to see us!

Christmas morning in PJs from Great-Grandma Deerfield
and a new handmade blanket from Grandma.
Thank you to everyone for all the wonderful gifts -
Olivia was very spoiled!

With Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Santa : )

I love my Great-Grandma!

Olivia gets attention from Great-Auntie Barbara and Grandma!

"It's been a long day of present opening - I'm exhausted!"

Trying out her new baby-gym... Mack couldn't resist trying it out as well!

Christmas Baby 2010!

Olivia's First Christmas: Part One

"I'm as big as my stocking!"

Olivia was ready for Christmas... and her 3 month birthday! And so, on December 17th we packed up the car and headed out for part one of Olivia's first Christmas. This chapter: the Gemignanis! We were graciously hosted by Rebecca, Scott, Megan and Miles at their home in East Middlebury, VT. Saturday was filled with playing and visiting, a nice dinner with Uncle Jon and finally the much anticipated arrival of Chris, Zoe, Zachary and Noa, who finally arrived at 9pm after a very long drive up from Reston, VA.

Sunday was "Christmas Morning" - so we headed up to Lincoln first thing in the morning for a wrapping-paper-ripping extravaganza! The living room was much like the aftermath of a hurricane - however, some of us, namely Olivia, had no problem sleeping through the entire event. Still asleep in her car seat from the drive over, that little girl just snoozed while her cousins tore into their presents like ravenous beasts! After the presents we had a nice breakfast followed by an afternoon of sledding, snuggling by the fire and playing. At around 4pm we topped off the weekend with a Christmas feast before heading back to Providence.

Saturday morning at Chez Gemignani, Middlebury, VT

Miles isn't so sure about
Uncle Tony's fur hat!

Once again Megan was a great big
cousin - always so gentle with Olivia.

Dad posing with Megan and Olivia.

The chaos commences!

Olivia sleeps while Miles is concerned he'll be swept away!

Scott (Monster King) and Zachary (his henchman)
team up to kidnap Noa and tickle her.

Zoe playing one of many rounds of "Granny Apples" -
a great counting game all the kids enjoyed.

Megan draws a picture for Noa on her new art lapdesk.

Finally awake, Olivia snuggles with Nonni.

Olivia meets the Middlebury Gemignanis!

We were so happy to have Rebecca, Scott, Megan and Miles come down to visit this past weekend. There were trips to the Portugese bakery, the playground and a trip to pick out our Christmas tree. Olivia loved meeting her Aunt, Uncle and cousins and I think they liked her too : ) Here's the evidence!

Being cuddled by cousin Megan.

Miles plans his next move.

Megan enjoys the playground despite
the freezing temps!

Wheeeeeeee!

Getting' some sweet love from Uncle Scott.

Megan poses in front of the finished product!

The tree wouldn't have been complete
without Olivia's new ornament from
Great-Grandma Holthusen.

More snuggles from Megan.

Megan and I coloring in Tony's drawing
of Miss Muffet (what is a tuffet anyhow?!).