i turned FOUR today!

what a birthday! titi celena came over to have lunch with me and then my cousins came over to play and spend the night. we went to play outside first, had dinner and afterwards grandma and grandpa came over for cake and presents. then my cousins and i got to put my new make-up stuff on, we took baths and then got ready to watch one of my favorite movies, ENCHANTED, while munching on popcorn and laying in our sleeping bags. man it feels good to be 4!


i picked our my "Enchanted" Princess Giselle cake 2 wks ago!

a present -- for ME?

my new stroller

cousins: Lauren, Shelby and Cheryl

Lauren did my make-up

watching "Enchanted" at my slumber party

happy birthday to ME!

~ thanks for all the birthday love ~

xoxo

Happy Birthday to my Natalie

It's hard to believe you are 4 years old already...

These past few years just seem to fly right by.

You are definitely the *spunk* of the house with your fun energy and sass (grandma says that I have MYSELF to thank for that!). Every day you amaze me with the things that come out of your mouth -- whether it be sweet, clever, "unnacceptable" or just plain cute, we enjoy it all. This is my last year with you before you start school and it makes me sad to think how fast you are growing up. I write this so I can remember to cherish this time and be thankful for this day--your birthday-- a celebration of the day you were born, which was one of the best days of my life. I love you princess!

Christmas Day Blessings

our christmas day started like this: natalie woke up at 6:15, mommy put her back to bed... russell woke up at 6:45, mommy put him back to bed... natalie woke up at 7:15 and at this point we figured it was time to let the fun begin! we had to wake russell up (his normal wake-up time is 8-8:30) and with natalie still suffering from her ear infections and sadly not feeling 100%, we had two cranky kids to deal with.

when we walked in the living room we saw that santa had drank his milk and eaten the cookies we put out for him the night before. then we noticed how the stockings were big and full and the tree was surrounded by presents -- so SURELY santa had been here! but before we noticed all that, the kids could not ignore the HUGE GIGANTIC bounce house that was sitting behind the couch when we walked into the living room!

the kids had fun tearing open each gift, playing with their new toys and jumping in the bounce house. we went to mass at 12:00 and then had a couple of hours to relax before we went over to uncle phil and aunt micki's house to see the cousins, play and eat dinner. by the end of the day the kids were pooped and good sleep was had by all that night!

this truly was a magical christmas for us, and i'm thankful for being able to share all the good times with our family and friends. this season we are reminded about jesus' birth and how much we are blessed with what he has given us, every day and forever.

we hope your christmas was just as special as ours!

christmas eve at grandma & grandpa's

"mommy, i put it on myself!"

snacking away...

presents time!

can't go wrong with YO GABBA GABBA!

...or in natalie's case, dress up clothes!

(guess who celena's *secret santa* was?)

wasting no time

now, what's a soto christmas without CHRISTMAS KARAOKE!


really tired...

grandma and grandpa with the kids

another soto family picture to add to our evergrowing collection!

(gotta give props to my husband for trying this nice angle on the picture... he normally is pretty bad with the camera)

merry christmas from our family to yours!

crackling fire

a couple of nights ago the weather dropped down to the mid-30's and we were so excited even though we knew it would be up to a horrifying 80 degrees on christmas day. we wanted to take advantage of the cold weather by enjoying our first fire of the christmas season. we also thought it would be nice to watch one of our favorite christmas movies, home alone, while enjoying the fire. well, as luck should have it, natalie got sick that night. her and russell had been fighting a cold all last weekend and early this week so i guess it caught up to her. it turns out she had a double ear infection which brought on the fever and vomiting. needless to say that night was rough on all of us, especially her :( we didn't exactly enjoy the fire, NOR did we get to watch our movie that night; russ laid in bed with natalie (as per her request for "daddy") and i sat on the couch alone while i watched my show Intervention. i was, however, able to take some pictures... (but of course!)

* the fire was so delightful*

p.s. natalie is feeling MUCH better today. i think it has something to do with the fact that she got to see her FAVORITE doctor at her sick appointment yesterday (she loves that man... and so do we!)... and of course, the antibiotics are helping too :)

p.s.s. russ and i were able to watch HOME ALONE last night, while i wrapped gifts and fought to keep my eyes open. sleep is so hard to get these days!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE TO EVERYONE!

bryson turns 3!

last night my friend tara's son bryson had his birthday at the coolest place for kids - PUMP IT UP! the kids were in pure heaven, and i must admit, russ and i had some fun of our own...

bryson relaxes on his throne

the obstacle course bounce house (fun for adults as well...)

this picture just makes me laugh

climbing to the top of the ginormous slide (which even made MY stomach drop)

ok, you know he can't pass up a ride in a car, even at a party like this!

Happy Birthday Bryson

and Thanks Tara!!!

Kuhn's Flower Shop

Every year this floral shop sets up a beautiful christmas display in their entire front window. people just stop by to look, listen and take pictures. we went last year and decided to take the kids again this year. there were about 4 other families there along with us, which surprised me! we only stayed for about 10 min. but the kids enjoyed it (and so did we).

santa, mrs. claus and rudolph sing and talk the entire time

'tis the reason for the season!

i love this fish tree

christmas over the years -- me and russ

we went to my company christmas party last night (at maggiano's italian restaurant - YUMMM)and before we head out the door for this event each year, we always take a picture in front of the christmas tree. it's sort of turned into a tradition. i decided to go through my picture files and share each year's picture with you all. enjoy!

***

christmas '08

(i'm sure this outfit might look a little familiar...

it's called: no time -- or money -- to shop for TWO dressy outfits within one month's period)

christmas '07
christmas '06

christmas '05
(prego with russell)

christmas '04
(although we did go to the company party this year, i guess we didn't take a picture. i'm pretty sure i wore this same outfit though! natalie was born just days after this was taken -- dec. 27)