2012...and we're off!

We started 2012 in Plano with the Vivier's. I love watching Jake, and now Allie, with their cousins. We had such a great time, as always, hanging with the whole family! Talia was particularly excited to have Jake and Allie visiting and she's great with them both!


At least they weren't on at the same time but both the Ducks and the Dawgs played their bowl games on January 3. Jake and Allie found a way to support both teams!

The cutest fans ever!

We were sad for the Dawgs but had to turn our focus on to cheering on the Ducks. For the first time since 1917 the Oregon Ducks, my beloved Duckies, won the Rose Bowl! It was an exciting game and I give credit to Wisconsin and particularly to two of their biggest fans Rachel and Warren. Yes, Becca's team played Rachel's team. Or as we liked to call it, "the battle of the Diller sisters!" Despite a little smack-talk on twitter, we made it through the game and everyone is still talking!

January weather was pretty crazy. We had sun, rainstorms, and freezing cold within days of each other. One day it was nice enough to go to the park after school...

... and then the next day it was really cold out. The day after that would be warm again!

January was actually quite relaxing and we happily really didn't have that much going on. With the weather being crazy but mostly nice, we spent one weekend almost entirely at the park. On Saturday Jake, Allie and I hung out before going to meet Alex for dinner at Phil's Ice House and then the next day repeated the whole day but this time with some friends.

After the park Allie and Ben chill out while their mommies have beer and their older brother and sister hit the playground! An awesome Sunday!

I must admit that dressing a little girl is pretty fun. Before school cuddles with daddy!

One of the best things about January is that we celebrate Alex's birthday! We had a lovely birthday dinner with just a few friends on Friday night and then on Saturday night we went to a private screening of the first few episodes of the TV show, "Cougar Town". If you haven't seen it you really should check it out! Ignore the silly name. It is a great show! A couple of actors and writers were there to answer questions and to talk about the show. It was a perfect birthday event for Alex!

Also celebrating his birthday in January is Uncle Phillip, celebrating 40 years! Adding to the January family birthdays, we welcome two new baby cousins. We can't wait to see Allie play with Felix (Congrats, Ashley) and Raphael (Congrats, Josh)!

This week Jake's class held a bake sale. I'm fairly certain a good portion of the goodies were consumed by those kiddos. They raised $200 for their tzedakah project.

Better late than never, we finally got Jake's school pictures back! Love this boy so much and his sweet smile!
Allie continues to be the best little baby! Who doesn't like a squeaky clean and smiling baby!

My most favorite Allie picture of the moment! She's so pretty!

She must have learned all that cuteness from her big brother!

And the two of them together...there are no words for the cuteness!

So in a somewhat last minute but exciting development Bubba is coming back to Austin for February and March! He found a great apartment close to us and we're excited that he is coming and to have a little extra help with these kiddos.

I realize that since Allie's birthday is on the 1st I've neglected, for the most part, to include her monthly birthday pictures. So here you are, months 1 -4. You can clearly see how quickly she is growing!

December Down-Time

After such a busy November we were really looking forward to some quiet time in December.

I'm officially back to work. I was part-time for a couple of weeks but am now back full-time. I don't mind being back, but I hate leaving Allie so soon. That said, Allie doesn't seem to mind at all. For a number of reasons, we are trying a new school for her but it is right down the street from Jake's so drop-off and pick-up aren't terrible. We're please so far and have also scored an awesome new babysitter as well. Dressed and ready to go to school!

While I was still part-time I managed to fit in a few more school events for Jake. The first was his SuperSports awards presentation. When Alex and I walked into the gym that day Jake could not have been more excited to see us and especially to see Alex. The kids showed us all the different sports they had been working on and then had an awards ceremony.



I was also lucky enough to make it to one more field trip with Jake's class, this one to the zoo. It was a cold day (for Austin) but the kids were so excited about seeing the animals and especially about the train at the zoo that it made it totally worth it.

It is always kind of fun when Hanukkah falls over Christmas. We had a nice Hanukkah and Jake loved lighting the menorah every night and of course the presents!


Of course this Hanukkah was special because it was Allie's first, as her onesie indicates. Below she and her new friend from New Zeland, Woolly! Woolly came as part of Bubba's big New Zeland presents package. Good gifting, Bubba.

Alex attended Jake's Hanukkah party at school. I love this picture of my boys! All the different 3/4 year-old classes came together to sing Hanukkah songs and eat fried goodies!


Stan and Dorothy gave us this stuffed singing dreidel when Jake was born.

Allie - 11 weeks

Jake - 3 weeks

Jake's class went to Ms. Lucy's house to make latkes and learn about the holiday from Rabbi Langer who also happens to be Ms. Lucy's husband.

Jake decided that we should make cookies for Hanukkah. Thankfully, Dorothy had sent us a Hanukkah cookie kit (are you sensing a theme here) which was awesome! Jake wasn't all that interested in baking the cookies as he was in eating them but then we started the decorating process and he loved it!



We spent the last night at a Hanukkah party at our friends Noa and Eddy's. Their son Jack and Jake were in the same class last year and they're always fun to see. Noa manages to include all the kiddos in lighting the menorah without anyone or anything getting burned!

Jake was out of school the last week plus of December and enjoyed lots of daddy time. They went to the movies, the JUMPoline, had playdates and more. Below, Jake at JUMPoline.

I couldn't resist this picture! What a doll!

We're heading to Dallas tomorrow to spend New Year's weekend with the Viviers. Jake is particularly excited and this will be Allie's first road trip. This has been an amazing year that brought Allie into our family! I'm thankful for being able to capture Jake and now Allie grow up through this blog!

Happy 2012 and love to all!