Christmas!

Hey guys! Christmas was awesome this year! Santa brought me lots of great stuff...and my family got me some great presents, too! We kicked the event off at Nana's on Christmas Eve. Here's me with my special stocking Nana made me.

In fact, Nana made everyone stockings! Even Baby Ian! Here are the stockings she made Mimi, Ian, and Uncle Shane...

Vilee got a little baby doll. She's really into babies right now.

On Christmas morning everyone came over to my house for breakfast! I had to be patient before opening all the gifts. I was a really good girl but it was sooooo hard! I got everyone gifts this year. I picked them out all on my own, too! Here's a photo of me giving my gift to Great Grandma. I just knew she was going to love those cookies!

Mom got me this cool monster hat, and Ian's aunt Meag got him these furry tickle monster gloves. I did my best to make a scary face for Mimi's camera...

This was Baby Ian's first Christmas...and he slept through most of it! But when he was awake he was a very good boy. I liked his cute reindeer outfit. Here is is hanging with aunt Sally...

We didn't have any snow on Christmas day, but boy did we get slammed afterwards! I spent a whole hour outside with Mumma playing in the snow the other day. I don't have to go back to school until next week...and I'm enjoying my vacation big time!

Vilee Walks!

That's right, peeps! I'm mobile on two legs now! Watch out world...this is just the beginning.

Thanksgiving!

Hello everyone!

We had Thanksgiving at Nan & Pup's house this year! And we ate a turkey that we raised in our back yard! That sucker was around 24 pounds of yummy goodness :)

Here's who was at Thanksgiving dinner:
Me
Vilee
Mama
Daddy
Nana
Papa
Mimi
Shane
Ian
Roland (Shane's daddy)

Roland is a magician and showed me some magic tricks! We put on a show after lunch and wowed the crowd. When he comes back to our house for Christmas he's going to bring some new tricks for me to try out. I'm pretty good at this magic stuff ya know.

I made special costumes for everyone for Thanksgiving. The girls (and Ian) got Indian headbands and the boys got pilgrim hats and bibs! Here's a funny photo of Uncle Shane and Baby Ian...

 

Uncle Shane was pretending to be a very serious pilgrim.

It was a nice day out, so Mimi took some photos. Here are some of her favorites...

 

 

Christmas will be here before you know it! I'd better start practicing my "good" behavior. I found out that Roland is Santa's cousin! Can you believe it?! 

xo Ayda Sue

 

Aunt Mimi & Uncle Shane

We had a busy weekend...and it was so much fun!

I had a really good week at school last week, so Mama and Daddy took me out to Texas Roadhouse for dinner to celebrate! It was a special dinner, so Vilee had to stay home. Well, not home, really, but with Mimi and Shane. I got to have my parents ALL to myself with out sharing them with my baby sister. It was awesome.

Vilee here....I didn't want to go to that stinky restaurant ANYWAY, just so you know. I was perfectly happy chillin' with my aunt and uncle. Shane fed me my yummy dinner in baby Ian's high chair (he's too little for it right now....don'cha know!) and Mimi gave me a super bubbly bubble bath. I read a book, played with some toys, and stood up on my own with NO HANDS...thankyouverymuch! I event got to sleep in baby Ian's comfy crib! It was awesome.

Anyway....as I was saying. 

On Sunday, Uncle Shane took me on a date to see a funny play about aliens and zombies. Mimi was worried that I would be afraid but I wasn't! After I had dinner at Mimi and Shane's house and got to watch a video on Mimi's iPad -- my MOST FAVORITE passtime. 

I didn't really want to go home after dinner, so I suggested I clean and dust Mimi's spoon collection. Collecting spoons is really weird, but it was fun trying to guess where each came from. They were REALLY dusty!

 

And today I don't have to go to school! It's Veterans Day! What an awesome three-day weekend I'm having!

xo Ayda (and Vilee)

Gossip

Ian had a hard day at daycare...he didn't want to take his afternoon nap! Listen to how he talks about his daycare provider, Tammy. What a rude baby!

Halloweenies!

Halloween came and went but not before me and my little "monster" friends (Okay, only G and I were monsters) and I took full advantage of the festivities!

On Saturday Mumma and her friends took us kiddos to Downtown for some trick-or-treating.  It was VERY warm out--so the ghouls and goblins came out of the woodwork!  It was too crowded for us, so we split.

Vilee slept for most of the trick-or-treating, but she was a ladybug--see?

Later that day we decided to carve our pumpkins with Pup, cause he's the best at it.  I scooped all the guts out and the babies helped...

.... kinda.

The pumpkins were pretty spooky once we lit them all up.  And some came out looking a little familiar... hmmmm.

Happy Halloween Everybody!

-xoxAxox

Frenchie

 

Bonjour! 

I am zee French bebe, Ian-Jacques Perry. I am here to amaze youz wiv my adorable face! You love zee beret, no? Zee beret was a gift from zee friend of my mother. Zee "girl with the yellow hair" as my couzin, Ayda, likes to call her. 

Many kisses...French ones.

Violet Turns One!

Guess what everybody?  I made it through my first year already.  Even though it makes Mumma pretty sad that I'm growing up, I'm pretty excited about all the new things I'm learning how to do!

On Sunday Mumma and Daddy had a party for me at our house.  Grandma and Grandpa were here visiting from New York, Sally came from Portland, and my near-by friends and family came too. 

I had so much fun--mostly because I got to eat alot.  That's my favorite thing, don't cha know.

Mumma made  me these "Vilee-sized" cakes and I got my very own with a candle!

I'm still kinda little to blow them out myself, so Ayda helped me.  Sometimes she's really good at being a big sister... sometimes.

My cake was very yummy...

... so yummy in fact, that most of it made it into my mouth!

Happy Birthday to ME!

xoxo
V.A.S

Charleston!

So, a few weeks ago my mom and dad took me on my very first plane ride. I was a little nervous, and right before mum and I were getting on the plane in Bangor I threw up all over her. She was disgusted, and a little mad since she didn't bring a change of clothes, but I felt WAY better. As soon as we got to our destination—the house of mumma's friend Heather—she took a shower.

 

This is a photo of me and my two new friends—baby Emerson and Charlotte! Like this action shot of Emmy puking?! Let's not hold it against her, ok?

 

Daddy gets a real kick out of this photo. He calls it "The Thinker". What he doesn't know is that I'm "thinking" about pooping in my pants while he holds me. Ha!

 

We did a lot of cool things when we were in Charleston. On Saturday we went to this cool farmer's market. It was so hot out that I didn't even have to wear pants! We spent the day walking around the city and shopping a bit. The next day we went to the beach and had some really good BBQ. Well, everyone else had really good BBQ...I had milk. 

It was really fun to finally meet the Rhoads family. I had already met the rest of the clan this past summer when I was just a little little baby. I'm getting bigger every day! Case in point—I don't even fit into that adorable onesie above anymore!

Thanks to Heather, Rob, Charlotte, and Emerson for a fun vacation!

xo ian. 

 

 

 

Ian Throws Violet Under the Bus

Not really...

Ian and Vilee both go to daycare together, so they get to spend the majority of the day on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday together.

Vilee likes to poke Ian...in the eyes, the mouth, the head, wherever! So when Nana had a moment of Ian's time (changing a diaper) she asked him about his day. Ian loves talking to Nana...especially after getting a fresh, clean diaper! Here's a recent conversation...

'Model' Behavior

Earlier this month something REALLY exciting happened to me... I was in a bridal photo shoot!  I got to skip school and EVERYTHING!

On Tuesday morning Mumma packed up all my and Violet's stuff so that Mimi could pick us up and meet Mumma after her class got out.  We had to drive allllllllll the way down to Boothbay Harbor, which is like, 2 hours away!  We spent the night in a hotel room so that we could get to the photo shoot nice and early.

When we got to the shoot, this happened:

That's right, I have REAL makeup on.  Everyone was jealous of my lashes, which Mumma let the nice makeup lady put mascara on!

After makeup, Bonnie did my hair.  I sat really good for her, but made sure she knew that my own mother had burned me once when using that dangerous curling iron.

 

Did I mention Vilee was there?

 

She was pretty good that day, but Mumma sure looked crazy trying to hold her and dress me at the same time!  Mimi was a good helper though and Violet kept busy by crawling and eating... 2 things she's really good at.



Once all that fuss was over, I got to put on the beautiful gowns!  I had four different ones and they were all a little different, but they were all REALLY pretty.

The first one was  my favorite.  I even got to wear a flower crown with it.

The flowers at The Children's Garden, were really pretty...

Sometimes it is really important to give a certain attitude when you're a professional model... like me.

And sometimes it's important to rock a prop.  Obviously this was my favorite parasol because it's purple! I'm very good at twirling it like Shirley Temple.

After lunch I was kinda over being a superstar, but Mr. Russ (he was the photographer) had other ideas.  He still wanted to take photos of me in 2 more dresses... something about me being the BEST model of the day.

Mimi and Mumma really loved this dress with the pink sash, but my hair got all sad, so the pictures just don't have the dazzle the other ones do.  Sigh.... being beautiful is such a tough job.

My last dress was really amazing... but Mr. Russ only got a few quick shots before he lost me completely.  I should tell you that I was at this for 4 hours!

When he said we were done, I really had to think about whether I was happy or not.....

 

 

Ciao!

 

Ayda Sonnenberg



Professional Model

Pumpkin Head

What's up, guys? As the third baby in this crazy Brooks family (well, Sonnenberg and Perry family, too) I get a lot of hand-me-downs -- even though my two older cousins are girls!

Aunt Jennie didn't find out if she was having girls or boys...so she got a lot of yellow and green outfits...which I have been wearing without complaint. 

This here is my most FAVORITE outfit. I particularly love it with this pumpkin hat that Nana made me. I'm not sure if you know how crafty my Nana is...but her skills blow me away. I mean...really! Look at this adorable hat! And she makes them in all sorts of veggie and fruit colors. 

Since it is fall, and I am wearing my favorite orange outfit, it seemed only appropriate to don this spectacular hat. Thanks, Nana! 

xo Ian

Dancin' Machine

Last weekend Mumma, Daddy, and I went to my friend Chelsea's wedding. Well, actually, she's Mimi's friend -- but I've known her for, like, my whole life...so she invited me to her wedding! We decided to leave Violee and Ian at home with Nana and Papa...they missed out on all the fun!

I had the BEST time at the reception. I was a superstar on the dance floor. I was busting out all my crunk moves and after ever song I'd cross my arms and say "What up?!?" There were two photographers there and they were snapping photos of me all night long. I was getting FAMOUS! Everyone was clapping and cheering for me. It was the best night ever!

Here are a couple of shots taken by Kate Crabtree Photography. I'm so INTENSE!

My First Apple Picking!

All Mumma and Daddy have heard lately is how bad of an apple season we're having here in Maine... obviously nobody told Conant's Orchard, because when we showed up there on Saturday with Nan and Pup, all the trees looked like this one!  Sooooo many apples--I've never seen anything like it, LITERALLY!

 

 

When we first got there I had just woken up, so Daddy toted me around in my Boba.  That was pretty good for awhile... 

 

 

...after all, I could still pick these guys (it's just my size!)

 

 

AND eat them!

 

 

Bis Sis had a few to eat too.  (She eats with such style!)

 

I was even sharing with everyone... it's my new party trick.

 

 

Even though I'm not big enough to climb the ladders like Sissy,

 



 

I still got to go up in one of the trees--thanks to Pup!

 

Apple picking was really fun and I'm glad that Mumma and Daddy like to take us every year.  Now if I could just get them to stop acting so foolish so that they don't embarrass us...

 

 

I suppose when you're this cute, though, it's hard for anyone to notice the crazy people who cart you around everywhere.

 

 



Happy Autumn Everyone!!

xox Vi

Fun With Moustaches

Hey guys! My name is Ian and I am the new baby of the family! I'm about 5 weeks old now, and already I'm wondering if I was born into the right family. I mean...look what my parents made me do tonight...

 

What did I do to deserve this humiliation!? Oh my goodness is this embarrassing. I'm pretending to be really bored in the hopes that my parents will lose interest. I'd like to take this moment to introduce my father....good grief.

 

That's him in the fez alright. He had a lot of fun with this. And don't think my mother was left out of this event...she's the one taking the photos! She thought this was appropriate behavior! She, too, thought this was hilarious! Man, my parents need to get out more...