Kate turned 3 months old on the 22nd and we celebrate the occasion (naturally) with a photo shoot.  She’s a big girl, tipping the scales at 15 pounds, but a very happy baby.  She’s gotten really good at controlling her head and she pulled up completely on her belly for the first time the other night.  She’s a little lazy when it comes to physical activity but I would be too if my thighs looked like hers, oh wait they do – and I am!

Here are some photos from the shoot -

So happy!  The second photo should have the caption – “Call me!”

And for a kid who hates having his photo taken he sure is around anytime is sister is having hers done!

Unfortunately for Kate she inherited my horrible feet and toes -

I love this picture because it reminds me of some of my favorites of Noah (he was 4 months) -

Still think they look alike?

This is her “talking”, she’s very vocal and social lately -

And this is my favorite photo from the day.  She’s so beautiful (a touch biased, maybe)!

Unfortunately she’s starting to lose some hair so the bow may need a break but I found a cute headband (not garter belt, don’t worry) to ward off all the boy comments.

We also went to the Delray Christmas Parade (as we do EVERY year) around this time but don’t have enough photos to give them their own post, sorry for the blog sandwich -

Here’s the reason I even brought up the parade, believe it or not there are a few things that go on in our lives I don’t post about.  Noah was so excited this year for the parade and I love that I caught it in this photo -

He loved the lights, the bands, the dancers, the floats, and as usual – hated that I brought the camera.

Kate slept through 99% of the parade.  When she woke up she wanted to eat.  I can’t believe fire trucks and marching bands don’t phase her.  I guess all the practice of sleeping through her brother does the trick.

Noah has a flashing red nose too but my camera battery died before I could get a photo with both.  Since we’re being nostalgic I’ll also show the last time he wore antlers -

We’re such party animals!  The kids were in bed by 8pm and we played video games (with the Dick Clark-less New Year’s Eve show on in the background) until just before midnight, which is when I logged on to wish you a very healthy and happy New Year!  If I play my cards right I’ll be in bed soon but I wanted to share some of our “family fun days” from Walter’s vacation with you.  We did something almost every day and enjoyed his time off thoroughly.  I’m really dreading Monday when reality moves back in!

Why I thought Walter wanted to check out all the new shopping centers is beyond me.  I took him anyway and as long as I fed him he put up with my window shopping.  Our first trip was to the Pembroke Pines Shopping Center which is phenominal!  It’s an outdoor mall with a lot to see.  We had a blast and the weather was perfect!

We ate at the Pub where all the staff (ALL of the staff) wore kilts.  The food was great, the beer was incredible and the outdoor seating really made dining with a two year old a lot easier.  Kate, as usual, slept through the whole experience.

Here Walter and Noah are playing “guess what letter I’m drawing on your back!” – one of their faves!

We both got the fish and chips and the three of us polished the plates completely.  My friend Beth has tried the fried pickle here and said it’s divine!  Maybe next time!

And this is what that wonderful two year old does with ketchup.  He eats it.  Not with his food, with his finger.  He eats it.  Gross.

The area was beautifully decorated for the holidays -

Noah has always loved waterfalls and fountains.  You may remember the very anticlimatic trip to Niagara Falls.  Since then we’ve discovered that these little guys do the trick just fine!

Christmas Eve was awesome!  Although I was at the end of my rope, ready to drop the kids off at the fire station, I pulled it together and we all went to church.  I knew it would be past their bedtime and I looked horrible, not even putting on makeup and only managing to get my hair in a ponytail but it was what it was and I needed something to get me in the spirit.  Our church always has a beautiful candlelight Christmas Eve service and this year was no different.  The choir was amazing and the hymns did the trick.  What a magical night!  Here are some photos Walter managed to get in the low light.

Noah made himself right at home as soon as we got there, lounging on the pews. 

Nikki, Julia and my mom came.  Thank God for extra hands to hold the baby!  Everyone always asks where Kate gets her amazingly long fingers from.  Do you see my sister’s?

Tom Lacey is our favorite Pastor.  He “remarried” us and baptized Noah.  He’ll be baptizing Kate very soon.

Isn’t our church gorgeous!?

Anyone who knows Noah knows he loves fire.  This was his favorite service so far!

But he was very antsy and very tired.

And Kate was just tired.  She finally gave in and napped on Grammy’s lap.

And when we got home we bathed Noah and put him in Christmas pj’s – a tradition in my family.  Isn’t he too cute?  I believe this may also be our only photo of the tree, which is already down.

I know, it’s not very politically correct to wish anyone a Merry Christmas these days but that’s what we celebrate and I’m taking it upon myself to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!  I do also wish great things for those celebrating other holidays, we even went to a Hanukkah party this year, but right now it’s Christmas Eve so a Christmas greeting is what you get!

It doesn’t feel much like Christmas outside, with these crazy 80 degree days in the dead of winter, but the trees and lights are up and we’re anticipating a visit from Santa.  Tonight we’re going to the candlelight service at church which is always very beautiful and tomorrow we’re zig zagging across Palm Beach County to make our rounds with the family.

Last week we had a few friends over for brunch which was very nice.  Here are a few moments from the day -

My awesome peppermint bark hearts, that wouldn’t have been possible without my super crafty friend Kim, whose idea I totally ripped off!

Pretzel rods – these were awesome!  I made some kid sized ones too!

The grub!

Those cupcakes are the size of my head!  Costco rocks!

The kid table, missing a few of the kids.

And something no one thought they would ever see.  Our friend Dave touching a baby.  Kate wasn’t too sure about him at first but as soon as she realized they spoke the same language (of food) all was forgiven.

Later that afternoon I recieved a beautiful gift from my friends Ed and Nanda of Petunia Flowers.  They made some poor guy bring it all the way up from Miami but I am so grateful, we have really enjoyed it!  Ed and Nanda were the angels that did my shower arrangements, aren’t they so talented?!

And it had the most adorable little card -

And since we’re on the subject of Christmas I suppose I should share with you our trip to see Santa.  It was very anticlimatic and horribly dissapointing.  We drove all the way down to Aventura Mall in Miami because we heard it was a great experience.  I was having trouble deciding between there and PGA.  I knew the PGA Mall (the Gardens) had a gorgeous Santa but not much else.  I was told this one had a very pretty Santa (shoot me, we’re into photos) and a lot of kid things to do.  We took the bait and boy did we make the wrong choice!  Santa was a class A jerk!  Even in Boca you get a very friendly guy who wants to know your name and what you want for Christmas.  This guy was all about the photo.  He pulled the kids onto his lap, yelled at Walter about where to stand (because of course you can’t interfere with their overpriced poor quality photo scam) and then told Noah where to look.  And as soon as one picture was taken he wanted to know who was next.  Ummmm, there was no one else in line.  We felt very ripped off and I felt violated on the kids’ behalf.  Anyway, they did have a train ride and a play area but that hardly made up for it.  Here are some picture from the experience.

It was definitely a gorgeous place with a pretty Santa, I’ll give them that -

Noah really enjoyed riding on the train.  It was a very short ride and he wanted to go again but we all had lost our Christmas spirit by then.

And here’s our OCD son closing the train door.  We’re going to claim he’s a gentleman in the future, but for now it must be OCD.

So we’re hoping the nice Santa will visit tonight.  Afterall, we’ve all been pretty good.  I hope you all get exactly what you’re wanting.  Is it wrong to ask for a silent night (with no hungry middle of the night wake up calls)?

Whoever taught my son the concept of “why?” needs to be stoned!  My God, EVERYTHING is “why?…but why?…” and after awhile the answer is “BECAUSE I SAID SO!”.  For the most part we try to answer all of his questions, which we require to be actual questions, hoping he’ll retain a little bit of the information but after awhile you just want to hit your ahead against the wall.  He is just too curious – or nosey!

“Why are these lights on?”
“Why are these lights off?”
“Where is our house?”
“Why do we live there?”
“What’s that (total stranger) man’s name?” (that we’re standing within earshot of)
“Why are we going?”
“Why are we stopping?”
“What are you thinking?”
I am not exaggerating even a little and the questions don’t ever stop, not even for him to breathe!  Any idea when it stops?  Is it to late to ask Santa for a mute button for him?

Kate is doing well.  She just yells at us so far but luckily her needs are still simple.  She loves to smile and flirt now and it’s so much fun getting her to grin.  She has found her hands and thinks they are the coolest thing ever.  We often find her liking her fist or doing tai chi when no one is looking.  We’ve also discovered that she has a dimple!  The ying to Noah’s yang.  Each of them have just one, on opposite cheeks, like they share a pair.  Today is her 3 month birthday!

Walter and I are very well also.  He’s off until the end of the year – which I love!  We are trying to do fun things, catch up with friends, take trips to attractions we don’t get to often, and generally just spend time together.  We’ve been doing quite a few photoshoots for friends, family and clients.  It’s been a long time since this was something we did so often and to be honest we didn’t think it was something we would every do with regularity again but we enjoy it so much that we’re making it work.  We charge just enough to cover the babysitter and our time to do the shooting, editing, and airbrushing and we’ve really been having fun.  Maybe when the kids are older we’ll set the studio stuff back up and play with that again.  For now only our kids get studio shots.

We hope you all are well and are enjoying the holiday season.  I will try to blog about our adventures since Walter’s been off, we have been diligent about taking photos!

Here is part two of decorating the house for Christmas -

I told Noah he had to wear his Santa hat if he was going to help decorate the tree.  It was the rule.  He was thrilled.

He loved hanging ornaments though.  This year we invested in an entire collection of shatterproof ornaments.  It’s a good thing too, Noah has tried to spin the tree a few times.  Lovely.  He couldn’t stay focused on which set we were hanging at the time and went back and forth between all the choices.  He loved putting the hook on himself and hanging them.  I couldn’t help myself, after he went to bed I rearranged some of the ornaments.  Who needs six hanging off the same branch?!

The next evening the kids and I were going to hang lights outside in the bushes.  What a disaster.  I think they were both crying before the second strand was up.  I did them another time, by myself, and they look fabulous!  Of course Noah likes everyone else’s lights better but at least we have them up this year.

This was before we started hanging them.

And when I realized my car was in all of the photos I dragged them to the front door.

I just realized I don’t have any photos of the final products.  I’ll work on that, and my Christmas shopping!

Noah got his very first case of brain freeze today and boy was it funny!  We went to Rita’s to get treats for later and the manager gave him a sample milkshake that was just his size, the straw was even cut to be kid (or sample) sized.  He took one sip and was hooked!  He started inhaling it and then all of a sudden started crying!  I thought something had happened but he started screaming “it’s too cold!!!” and grabbing his head, and then he begged for me to pick him up.  I started cracking up!  Maybe it was more funny in person but I chuckle every time I think about it.  The staff looked really concerned and then I told Noah that they call that a brain freeze and everyone started to laugh.  My poor baby.  It took him a while to want the milkshake back and as he was cautiously sipping it the shopping cart hit a bump and he dropped it.  He was equally hysterical over losing his drink as he was when it tortured him.  Some days you just can’t win.

That’s all I have for stories but I wouldn’t dare post without photos so here are a few shots of us setting up for Christmas -

Noah wanted to help very badly.  The first few sets of branches were almost bigger than him so he waited patiently until they got small enough for him.

He loved trying to lock them in but wasn’t very good at it.

One of the biggest reasons he had so much trouble was because Mickey Mouse was on TV.  He gets heavy after awhile and we had to keep telling him he either needed to work or get down.  I wasn’t a fan of holding him over the tree while he caught up on the mouse!

I’ll post another day about Noah’s “help” in decorating the tree.  We invested in shatterproof ornaments but the fun never ends here at the Yap house!

And a little later we took photos of Kate for Aunt Lindy because she loves this outfit – thanks for the cool duds, Raven!

She loves to smile and she’ll flirt with anyone!  She’s already more outgoing than her brother!

Happy Thanksgiving to you!  This is one of my favorite holidays!  When I was young we would get up early and watch the entire Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade while my dad prepared dinner.  Mom always made the pies and dad took care of the rest.  Then in the late afternoon we would feast like kings and pass out early.  Those were the days!  Now I’m lucky to catch pieces of the parade on TV and most years we spend our entire day zig-zagging across Palm Beach County so we can hit all of our families’ homes and end up keeping Noah up way too late.  This year will be different though.  I’ve put the boys on warning that I am watching the parade (darnit!) and if they want to watch anything else they’ll need to find another TV.  We’re also only going to one family on Thanksgiving, Walter’s parents.  On Friday we’ll go to my parents’ for leftovers.  Hopefully we can keep reasonable routines, naps and a decent bedtime schedule for both kids.  Here’s to hoping!

One really nice thing about the holidays is that it brings family to town.  Our cousins, Bruce and Peter are here from Atlanta with their daughters Olivia and Teagan.  We went to the beach with them on Wednesday.  It was Kate’s first trip and she enjoyed it as much as any two month old might.  Noah was loving the water and the weather was amazing.  I leave you with a few shots from the day.  Happy Thanksgiving!

The weather was perfect!  I wouldn’t have wanted to sunbathe with the breeze we had, which is probably why it was empty, but the kids had a great time!

Peter with Teagan                                                    Olivia

Bruce and Teagan making sandcastles

It was early.  Don’t mind my “look”.

I may be biased (maybe just a little) but aren’t my kids so freaking cute?  Kate looks more like an angel every day.

Happy Halloween!  Walter took off from work on Halloween so we could have a fun day and so it wouldn’t be a huge rush to the festivities once he got home.  Unfortunately we spent “family fun day” hanging around the house with a crabby toddler and fussy baby.  One thing that made Noah happy was the sheet of stickers from one of his Halloween cards (we have the best family who send the kids cards for every occasion).  Noah was feeling very generous and decided to share them with poor Kate.

Look closely -

And here’s another cute shot from our lazy day -

Later when it was time to put our costumes on things got really cranky and Noah was super crabby.  My sister Nikki stopped by to show us her costume and it really iced the cake by freaking Noah out.  He’ll do anything for candy though, even pose for a photo.

Once we got them dressed we took these -

Kate was supposed to be a teddy bear.  I bought her costume months before she was born.  It’s size 0-3 months but as you can tell it’s a little ridiculous and might fit her next Halloween.

Then we were off to the Friedman’s hoping for the best.  We had very unfortunate weather, it rained all day, but we managed to catch enough of a clearing for the kids to do some trick or treating. 

Ayla and Noah dressed up in coordinating Dolphin’s costumes (a cheerleader and a football player), Kate played along in a Dolphins sleeper and Aaden was a lion.  We had a great time and enjoyed watching Noah actively participate for the first year.  He rang doors bells and even managed to say “trick or treat”.  Anyone who knows him would be shocked at that (including us), the thank you’s were a little coaxed.

If you look closely you can see Robby on the floor behind the ottoman waiting to catch a clumsy toddler.  Luckily no one was harmed in the making of this photo.  Doesn’t Rachel have the most amazing decorations?

The Linder Family

To finish off Ayla’s costume my sister Lindy made her a diaper cover that says “#1 Dol-Fan”.  She looked adorable!

Last year we went to Canada to experience what fall is really supposed to be like, or at least what we see on TV – it was amazing!  We had such a great time and tried so many new things like apple picking and fall leaves, it’s a bit disappointing spending fall here this year but we are so blessed with a new person to spend it with we won’t complain (any more than we have already). 

So here it is – fall Florida style.  You pack your cranky family into the car in outfits that are way too hot for the 90 degree weather and you act like idiots and bribe them (or threaten them) until they smile.  It’s very painful.  We managed to get a few cute photos and in a few years when Kate is running circles around us and we forget how defeated we felt leaving the pumpkin patch (without a pumpkin) we will love these photos and show them how well behaved they appeared.  Long gone will be the memories of Kate screaming (hoping someone would call Child Welfare Services) and Noah protesting by stepping on pumpkins, dropping them, and then icing the cake by sitting on a completely rotten pumpkin that ended up all over his pants.  Oh, fun times.  Enjoy the photos!

When did he turn into such a big boy!?

You should have seen me.  I swear the video would have sold millions.  It must have been good, it even got Noah to smile.  Kate – not so much.

Again with the hats.  I can’t help myself.

He was drawn to the “bumpy punkins”. 

We don’t title our photos but we couldn’t stop talking about how this would have turned out if we did.  Something that could have been a very cute, but cheesy, “Special Delivery” turned very quickly into “Handle With Care, Damnit!”.  I cannot tell you how many looks we got for doing this.  The bystanders definitely thought we were nuts.  Who are we kidding?  We are nuts.  Our poor children.