Leah's first Wigilia!

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve this year. As every year, we spent this special evening with our close friends Ania, Jason and bunch of other friends who joined us. Babcia Ewa and Ania's mom were also present so this made everything even more special. Couple days prior to Wigilia babcia made a fantastic Polish pierogi, mushroom soup, mushrooms and beans and cabbage side dish, and of course we fish (since we don't eat meat on Christmas Eve). I almost forgot about the most delicious cheesecake on the planet only babcia knows how to make :)I tried several times to make it myself to no avail. My sernik is not even close to that of babcia's. She brought her "special" ingredients all the way from Chicago, where there are a lot of Polish delis. Ania's mom made other awesome dishes so everybody was literally stuffed when we finished our dinner. After the dinner we had a special visit from Santa so all the kids awaited him in great anticipation. Santa's visit this year was especially significant to Noah, because in order to get his presents he had to give all his passys back to Santa. It wasn't easy at all and Noah had second thoughts but with everybody encouragement he DID it and is now passy free :) Way to go Noah! You are officially a big boy now! (i just need to figure out something about his two blankies he carries everywhere with him :) Anyways, everyone loved to see Santa besides my little girl Leah. She was not happy at all :) As a matter of fact, she didn't want to be near him at all. LOL. every time i brought her little closer, she would just start crying. Poor thing was just terrified of Santa this year. Nevertheless this was a very special Wigilia and we are blessed to have some good friends around to share it with.

Leah's first Wigilia. She looked so pretty :)




With babcia Ewa before our dinner.

With daddy.

All the kids looking at Santa.

Noah sitting with Santa :)

Noah giving away his passys. I just love his facial expression here :)



Noah opening his first gift- he wasn't impressed :)

Yeah this was much better gift :)

Miss Leah sitting with Santa :)

Noah thanking Santa for his gifts. Soo sweet.

Babcia rescued Leah's from Santa's laps :) Leah's new toy cabbage patch doll helped to sooth her tears :) I love these dolls. They look awkward at first but then they can be very lovable.

Happy Leah.

trying to walk.

On our way home, we went to see the Christmas lights in our neighborhood. Some of our neighbors have incredible Christmas decorations. The street is always completely decorated for Christmas and all the kids love it! We go every night and admire the lights. My picture is just a glimpse of this Christmas magic:


Here is our humble Christmas decoration. Believe it or not i decorated it half of the day :) Next year i will add some more decorations.

Leah and the tree.

Took these pictures of Leah today before I gave her a bath. She look soo cute in her little Christmas outfit that I had to pull out my camera and snap couple pictures. I didn't take any of Noah (although he wanted to be on the picture with Leah) but he was running around naked so i thought it wouldn't be appropriate to include him in the photo :) Anyways, Leah has grown so much lately and it's hard to believe that she is almost 11 months old (she is exactly 10 months and 6 days old). She is standing on her own and couple days ago she took her first unofficial little step with babcia Ewa. Soon she will be chasing Noah around the house. Leah is the most wonderful and happy little girl. She has 8 teeth already (four up front and four in the bottom) and she loves to eat! You can feed her anything and she won't refuse it. I remember Noah used to be the same. He is little bit more picky nowadays but still is eating way better than any other toddler i know. I am soo lucky to have such great eaters!

On a different note, Christmas is almost here! I cannot believe this. Everything seems to be moving way too fast lately. We will be spending Wigilia with our good friends and neighbors Ania and Jason. Ania's mom is also here so babcia Ewa will have a company. Tomorrow we really have to start cooking and wrapping our gifts. I love Christmas season, the Christmas tree, the lights everywhere and the smell of gingerbread cookies. I am so lucky to have my mom with us during this wonderful time.

Leah is a natural model :)


Doing "kosi kosi lapci" with babcia Eva. Babcia taught Leah how to clap to a special Polish song and she has been clapping all day long today. Too cute :)

Elf on The Shelf

On December 2nd we started the Elf on the Shelf tradition. The Elf on the Shelf tradition is the very special tool that helps Santa knows who to put on the Naughty and Nice list. Santa sent one of his elves into our house so that he can observe Noah and Leah's behavior and then rapport back to Santa at night. This little Elf that we named "Elfie" has special magic and this year he became a part of our family Christmas tradition for all the years to follow. Elfie is an excellent listener and observer, although he cannot be touched, or else he may lose his magic, he will always listen and relay messages back to Santa. Each night, after we all go to bed, Elfie uses his magical Christmas powers to fly back to the North Pole. Once there, the elf will make his daily report to Santa. Before we wake up each morning, Elfie will fly back to our home from the North Pole. Since all elves like to play games we never find Elfie in the same spot! After only one day we found Elfie hidden in the tree and Noah noticed him right away! He is completely enthralled by him and his Christmas magic! The second day we found Elfie hanging upside down in our pantry drinking Noah's water using a straw :) Nevertheless, elves love to play hide-and-seek with their families so we are prepared for everything :) On Christmas Eve, Elfie will listen for Santa’s bell and then fly back to the North Pole until the next season. So this is our Christmas tradition from now on. This is going to be so fun!

Our Elfie :)

Christmas Party!

Today we went over to Mike and Andree for their annual Christmas party at their house and we spent an entire evening chatting with friends, listening to Christmas music, playing games, doing crafts with kids and eating the most wonderful food ever. This is one house that always accommodates vegetarians and as always there was tons of vegetarian foods on the table. Yummy! There was also a surprising visit from Santa so all the kids were in heaven after receiving their first presents. Noah was soo happy that he ran and hugged Santa as soon as he opened his gift. He just knew that Santa brought him what he wanted a Dinosaur Train. I said to him "I wonder what this may be" and his reply was "mommy it's a Dinosaur Train" :) Well he got what he wished for. He must have been a very nice boy lately. This reminds me of an incident couple days ago. Noah was kind of acting out and after a while I said "you are naughty and Santa won't bring you any presents" he said crying out loud with huge tears running down his face: "mommy I am soo sorry, I good boy now, I want my presents" I was shocked but it was soo cute. He really respects Mikolaj (Santa). Anyway, he had a blast at the Christmas party. He loves Gabriella and Olivia and he played with other kids upstairs for good 3 and a half hours. What a wonderful and relaxing evening.

Leah and Olivia during the party. Olivia and her sister Gabriella may be just the sweetest and wonderful girls out there. Olivia is always babysitting Leah whenever she sees her and she is so gentle with her. She loves little babies :)

Here is Olivia.

Leah with daddy.

Santa is here!!!

Noah hugging Santa before he started to give away presents. Soo sweet. I think he wanted to shower Santa with all his sweetness to make sure he gets his present. LOL.

Time for presents!

Thanking Santa for his gift.

Excited Noah opening his gift.

Yeah long awaited Dinosaur Train.

A group picture.

Leah is getting a bit tired :) She was AS ALWAYS a real trooper. Such a wonderful, little girl.

Our Christmas photos

So this is the time when we usually do our annual Christmas session for the Christmas cards. This year I'm planning to do several such sessions because i have different ideas and lots of cute outfits. This session was done in our house and i used a hand painted background for it. I saw this backdrop online and just couldn't resist. I love this dreamy, snowy atmosphere. I am in love of this background. I really need to start painting my own backdrops soon. It's such a creative experience. I know i can do it i just need to find time for it. Then i could paint all of my backgrounds and this would make my pictures even more special. I just finished taking a oil painting class so i do have some idea of how to approach it :) Anyways, the kids loved the session and the sled i used. Love my new sled as well :) I hope it snows this year so we can take it out and use it :)

Leah and Noah.

Me and Noah :)

Us-finally a picture of all of us (i used tripod to do it).

Not the best and sharpest photo of me but at least i have one :) Noone was around to take it so i have what was taken by the tripod itself.

Baby Leah.

Baby Leah's cute butt :) I love the rolls.