Christmas Day

Christmas Day was so special--we were all together--and that's what matters most. Without even realizing it, I captured some really great moments.

Mommy & Lola by the beautiful tree.

Brothers.

I love these next few of Lola & I captured by Daddy...


This was our favorite moment of the day. Just perfect.
Hanging with G. G.
A beautiful Aunt Jan.
Heaven on a plate crafted by Gracie & Uncle Rich. With a side of anchovies, my cherry on top!
Prime Rib Roast for dinner with Delmonico potatoes.
Mommy doing what she does best!
The fashionista.

Giving G. G. her gift.

"Baba, how many instruments can I hold at once?"




Perfection.

Christmas Morning

Lola put on her cute Christmas jammies Christmas Eve in hopes that St. Nick would come visit her again...


He did!

I don’t think Lola could be more blessed. The generosity our families showed her this year was incredible. She is so loved...

On Christmas morning, Lola opened gift after gift after gift. Awesome toys and adorable outfits. Nonna & Papa got her a great Elmo doll that we can practice our ABCs with and an awesome Leap Frog reading pad and the Leap Frog Alpha Fridge Set. Baba (Uncle Mikey) got her a cell phone and Make Your Own Sock Puppets. Titi set her up with some SWEET DVDs to add to our collection, Yo Gabba Gabba! toys, clothes galore and of course, Elmo earrings. G.G. picked out some REALLY adorable outfits as well, and you already know Aunt Janis and Uncle Rich got her that great music set. Cousins Joe & Traci (and Bella!) gave her a little Elmo doll that will be perfect for car rides. And even though they couldn’t be with us, The DiTore’s from St. Louis had a super cute outfit waiting for her and a number puzzle. Lola loves her puzzles! Even Aunt Janice in New York remembered Lola with a super cute vest our little fashionista will be stylin' in!

Lola and her new favorite movie. She laughs at her favorite parts which we all is hilarious!


Nonna & Papa with their Lola calendar, 2010 edition.
My Christmas gift from John--new "wellies" for our trip to Ireland. I LOVE them!

A perfect gift for our resident baker.

Shoes for Daddy, too. Nike SB P.Rod III's.

Christmas Eve

After a DELICIOUS and traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner (with lots of seafood) that Mom & Mike knocked out of the park, Lola entertained us in the living room, running around in circles--and of course--eyeing the Santa bag FILLED to the brim with presents for you know who. She got to open one from Nonna & Papa--a beautiful doll that looks like her--and one from G.G.--an adorable outfit.

Later, we had cake & coffee with Uncle Rich & Aunt Janis--and then Mommy & Daddy got to go to a beautiful Christmas Eve mass at Sts. Peter & Paul in Oviedo. I love going to that church when we visit. It's so beautiful--and their choir was amazing! Just one of our many "nights out" we had while visiting thanks to our family!





One of the highlights of Lola's trip was getting to ride on G.G.'s walker.





As soon as she opened it, she went right over to her high chair and put her baby in it. G.G. LOVED that she knew exactly what to do with her baby. She has such a maternal instinct.

Just one of the many adorable outfits she received.

Christmas Eve in the Park

Waking up on Christmas Eve and saying “Hey, it’s a great day to go play at the park!” seemed crazy to me! But when in Rome...

Another beautiful day filled with sunshine (and alot of wind as you can tell by Lola’s crazy hair ‘do) was what Christmas Eve gave to us. John & I took Lola to Red Bug Lake Park and she had a blast on the swing and going down all the slides. We walked around the trails as soon as we got there and she ended up taking over an hour nap--so John and I were able to sit on a bench, soak up the sun and just be. That’s vacation.


Where's Lola?



Was there ever a sweeter smile on all the Earth?
Such a big girl! Grandma weighed her--24.5 lbs!

Soaking up the Sun

Second only to being with family you don’t get to see enough, soaking up the beautiful sun is the best part of being in Florida in December! Throughout our entire two-week stay, we had only one day of rain--which for Florida is really great!

Playing outside in Mom & Dad’s front yard was by far one of the highlights of Lola’s visit. She ran around outside as much as she could--usually with Papa chasing after her and keeping tabs! It’s the simple things in life that matter most...