Christmas

Christmas this year was quiet for us. As we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Collin, most of the family decided to wait to visit once he decides to make his debut. It was however, no less special than any other year, as we filled the holiday with a few of our own traditions and lots of friends. We started by attending Christmas Services with some very good fiends of mine from high school, followed by cocktails in Old Town Alexandria (well cocktails for everyone but Paige and I). Once we got home, we decided that it would be a good idea to let Paige start opening some of her presents. The tree was full and they were mostly for her, as it was, it took us three days to get through them all.

Christmas morning brought new excitement. Paige knew that Santa had come to leave her presents, but got scared half way down the stairs. I think she thought that he was still in the house and wasn't too sure that she wanted to walk in on a stranger. Of course, once she discovered that there was no one there, she was overjoyed with everything she saw.

Santa was way too generous, he must have thought that she had been extra good this year.

Yes, that is a blue lolly pop that Paige managed to sneak out of her stocking before we had even had breakfast. Oh well, that's what Christmas is for. The only problem is that she had a blue mouth for the remainder of the morning.

After opening presents for the better half of the day. We had some other good friends of ours from college over for Christmas dinner. It was lots of fun and the food was delicious (I wish I could take all the credit, but Meredith and her mom helped out a lot!!!). Of course with all the excitement, I forgot to take pictures once they got here, but at least I got one of the table.

Since Christmas, Paige has had lots of fun playing with all her new toys. She definitely can't complain that she's bored or has nothing to do. Here she is painting with her new paints, and yes Popi, she did get a hair cut. Doesn't it look nice :)

Now that she is getting older, Paige got lots of games for Christmas. Matt and I both thought that this was a great educational activity that would be good for her, of course we forgot that we were the ones that would have to be playing the games with her all the time. It's only been two days since Christmas and I can't even tell you how many times we have played Candyland and Memory. This has to be my favorite though, here's Matt trying to figure out how to play her new Fancy Nancy game!!!

Lessons Learned: Part 2

Aunt Kendi came to visit for a few days after her finals before heading home to Dallas. The weather was really yucky, so we decided to take another stab at baking. This time the goal was to make Christmas cookies for Santa. It was a little more successful with two of us there to watch and help Paige, but as you can see the mess was just as big - if not bigger!

"I didn't make this mess..."

"Ok, yes I did!!!"

"But I promise that I didn't eat that cookie."

DC Sights

This month has brought lots of excitement and lots of visitors. Earlier this month, Matt's Dad and wife came to visit. It was the first time we have been able to get out and see some of the sights that DC has to offer as a family. It was a really cold day, but we were still able to see some of the highlights. Like the Capital:
We also spent some time at the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. Don't let the pretty blue sky fool you, we were freezing!

I'm not sure that Paige was as impressed by all the history. She had a really hard time standing still and just wanted to run all over the place. That would have been great, except for all the signs reminding you to, "please be quiet and respectful of the memorial". I guess, they don't expect you to bring your two-year old.

Deck the Halls

This past week, we finally put up our Christmas Tree. Paige had only been asking about it since Thanksgiving, but I guess that was our fault for telling her we were going to do it about a week before it actually happened. She had lots of fun though, putting the ornaments on. Of course our tree is very lop-sided. Most of the ornaments are right in front on the same three branches, two feet off the floor. Oh well, Paige is pretty proud that she did it, so that's what counts.

We finally convinced her to put some around the side.

And finally the angel on top.

Pickles and White Lies

Here's how the conversation went the other night at dinner:

Paige: Mommy, I need more pickles for my burger.
Mommy: No, you need to eat your dinner first.
(finished eating, two helpings of pickles later...)
Paige: Mommy, I need more pickles.
Mommy: There are no more, you ate them all.
Paige: No, they are in the kitchen.
Mommy: No, you ate them all, they are all gone.
Paige: I need to see the jar.

Happy Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving, we stayed home. With Collin set to arrive in just over a month, a big trip just wasn't in the cards. Although we missed being with some of the family for the holiday, Matt's mom came in for the big day and helped us cook and eat turkey. Of course Paige was ready to eat even before the turkey was cooked.


She was a big helper too, she started cooking in her own kitchen...

And then decided that it would be more fun to watch the grown ups cook...

And finally, she had to get in and really help. Here she is helping her Gigi peel celery.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Wilders!!!

Is is time to eat yet???

Finally, bring on the food!

And now my belly is full, nap time anyone?

Happy Halloween

Halloween for Paige started on Thursday night when we decided that it was time to carve her pumpkin.

hummmm...what's in here?


"ewwww, mommy, I need a napkin!"

Time for dad to step in and speed the process along.

Of course, what house with a two-year old, doesn't know who Dora the explorer is. Aren't you impressed with our carving skills?

And here it is all lit up!

Then on Friday night it was time to Trick-or Treat. Paige was a rose for Halloween, complete with a bumble bee trick-or-treat pail.

"One more house daddy!"

Time to check out the loot

Thanks for checking out our pictures, hope you all had a happy Halloween!

Lessons Learned

I decided as a special treat on Halloween, that Paige and I would make homemade cut-out cookies. Here are some things that I learned:

1. When Paige begs to "let me do it myself" resist the urge to let her - nutmeg and flower will be dumped on the floor.

2. More dough will be eaten than actually baked into cookies.

3. Little fingers cannot resist the temptation to poke holes in freshly rolled out dough.

4. "I want a bite" translates to "I have already taken a bite of flour, dough, baked cookies, icing, sprinkles, etc..."

5. One bite out of multiple cookies tastes much better than eating one whole cookie.

6. Do not expect that anything of nutritional value will be eaten for lunch after the above activity.

7. It will take five times as long to clean up the kitchen as it did to make the mess.

8. The back deck will look like it has just snowed after brushing Paige off.

9. I will learn a lesson in patience, although Paige will not (two-year olds cannot wait for anything).

10. I will have great memories of our first real baking experience.

The Great Pumpkin

Paige had her first movie night last night. We let her stay up late (and by late, I mean until 8:40pm) to watch the Charlie Brown Halloween special. It was lots of fun, we made popcorn and the three of us sat on the couch together. Paige thought it was pretty neat to watch cartoons late at night and of course she loved the popcorn, she kept saying, "it's a nice treat!"

Little Star

Even though we have moved to the DC area, we are still huge Stars fans (that would be hockey for those that don't know). This past weekend, the Stars played the Washington Capitals in their only game of the season, so of course we had to sport our favorite team's gear. Paige's Popi had this jersey made for her the day he found out he was having a grandaughter, complete with her name and birth year. It only took about two and a half years for her to grow into it, but she sure looks cute in it now. For those who like to keep score, I'm sad to report that the Stars lost to the Capitals, but hey, it's still early in the season.

Cox Farms

We've had lots of visitors since we moved. This weekend Aunt Kendi came to visit and we spent the day at Cox Farms. There was so much to do, including a 1007 lbs. pumpkin. Check it out, it was bigger than Paige.


We had fresh apples for a morning snack. Paige was a sticky mess after that.


We saw lots of animals while we were there including lots of piglets, cows, sheep, and turkeys!

Paige loved climbing the hay stacks. She's such a show off.

Paige's favorite part of the day was slides. There were all kinds and after every one, she would jump up and down and say "again"!!!

WEEEEEEEEEEE!

We walked through this big corn maze too, but don't worry, we didn't get too lost.

Paige wanted her face painted like all the other kids, so mom put on her artistic hat and painted a big orange pumpkin.

Before it was time to go, we had to pick out our pumpkins. First we picked out some little ones.

Then we went to find a big one. Paige really wanted one that was as big as her.

She even tried to hug the one she wanted and pick it up herself.

Finally, she and daddy picked out a perfect one.

We had a great day and soon it was time to go home. Thanks for visiting our site, come back soon!