The Spillers

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! We were able to spend Christmas morning at home, which is a first for our family since Claire was born.

We had Christmas Eve dinner at Brandon and Aubrey's house with our friends. Yummy Prime Rib and Gifts for the kiddos. It was a fun night!

Christmas Eve Dinner

The Sucker

Christmas morning

Christmas evening, we ventured to Grandma & Grandpa Fleming's home for a turkey dinner. We attempted to take pictures of the three girls in their Christmas outfits and semi-succeeded. No smiles, but at least they are all in the picture :-) .

Christmas Dinner

Some of our favorite photos from this season:

our beautiful, real tree

Christmas Card 2011

The Friday before Christmas, we took a drive to North Lake Tahoe and checked out the holiday festivities. I have to say that was the first time I had been to a ski resort without snow boots, since there has not been a single snowflake since October!!!! crazy, huh? The resorts still had plenty of man-made powder and the holiday spirit was abundant regardless of the lack of white stuff. We checked out Squaw first because the number one to-do was ride the tram to the top of Squaw. With it being $29 per person, that immediately became a to-do next year. And unfortunately we arrived way too early to do anything else because everything started around noon. (Don't they know we have kids that wake us at 630 every morning?! ) So we walked the village and trekked to Northstar after. That made everything worth it.

Northstar was packed! Their man-made snow ski hills are some of the best right now! We walked the village, saw Santa Claus twice, and Claire and Jeff had daddy-daughter time on a horse-carriage ride. We also watched the ice skaters and had yummy Mexican food. Claire had fun running around and Cadence was content in her warm carseat. I think we will have to do it again next year, and maybe even take Claire on the rink (or better yet-- skiing).

While I was at work (I have a seasonal job with Hallmark this year), Grandma Susan came over and helped Claire make a gingerbread house. It came out great!

I was cleaning up the kitchen the day after Thanksgiving and I look into the living room to find this:

My nurturing one:

...was a full house. We hosted this year and it was so much fun. Less stress than normal because I had great in-laws that helped cook some of the dishes. Chris and Marilyn came up from Vegas, and Catherine and fam came over, along with the whole Fleming clan. We ate LOTS of delicious (so delicious) turkey and then played a round of Farkle afterward. The kids tore the playroom apart, and the adults got to open their X-mas gifts from C and M (thanks guys). We were even loved from afar with a beautiful bouquet from Jeff's Grandparents. It was a perfect Thanksgiving with everything to be thankful for!

Cadence (6mo) and Claire (2)

Like daddy, like daughter

Marilyn (30 weeks preggo) and Chris

The gang (minus me taking the photo)

Tofurkey

our edibles :-)

Claire helped feed Scarlett

mmmm...

...Tea- parties! Enough said...



 This is what I was originally doing before Claire came in with her tea-party stuff (getting 6-month photos):


It was adorable, watching Claire feed Cadence and share her toys (a rarity around here) with her little sister.

Sweet Little Cadence,

Oh you are so sweet. You are my little chunkers. You sit at 18lbs 8oz, at your 6-month check-up. To put that in perspective, your sister was 18 lbs at 10 months old. So we are just ahead of the game. ;-) You can crouch forward into position for crawling but have not begun to crawl yet. You easily roll from tummy to back, but are still working on the back to tummy. You are such a babbler, and love the ba-ba-ba sound. You DETEST peas, and refuse to eat them, but everything else is yummy. You will nurse well, and take formula if needed. You are still spitting up a little, but we are working on it. We FINALLY moved you out of our room and you went from waking every 2 hours to waking every 4 at night. Teething seems to be big problem right now. Again, you are ahead of "norm" on that and are working on tooth 3 and tooth 4. You are not the hugest fan of your car seat, so I have to run errands when you are really sleepy and will sleep in your car seat.

Your sister LOVES you! So.Much. She wants to play with you all the time, and we are still working on 'gentle' play between you two. You laugh and giggle with her though and it is so adorable. You also love Brady-dog. It is fun when you making squealing noises at her.

We love you Cady-bug and can't wait to see you grow more!

Mom & Dad

Our munchkins were busy all weekend. Claire was a ballerina and a gnome and Cadence was a cute lil jack'o'lantern.

This is my favorite annual trip by far! We have been the last 3 years now and enjoy it each time as much as the last. We go Nevada Day Weekend because there are several places that offer Nevada residents a discount  on many things. We were supposed to drive up with Catherine and Fam, but her car decided to go no further than South Lake Tahoe, since its clutch went out. Next Year, I PROMISE!  We met everyone else at Boeger Winery and enjoyed wine tasting and the scenery there. Then we went to a smaller winery called Fenton Herriot. We took the kids to Grandpa's Cellar to get their free treat, but they didn't honor it because of the typo in the newsletter. Bust! There is a pretty cool brewery with delicious food, so we ate there. Then the kids went to the pumpkin patch near High Hill and enjoyed a wagon ride, while the adults enjoyed wine at Madrona. The absolute best was saved for last, and we went to Kids Inc. They have a walking pie there with cider sauce and ice cream that beats any other pie in the area! the kids enjoyed rolling down the hills there, and the view is spectacular.

The next day, we drove to Abel's Acres, which was the best for the kids yet. Claire loved the hay maze, and the pony ride, and the fun cutouts too. We went to Lava Cap, and enjoyed the vineyard and views there! It was a gorgeous weekend for some great pictures. We stopped at Rainbow Orchards for the BEST apple cider donuts in the world. (A must stop for Apple Hill). Our last stop before home is usually my favorite, but not this year. Para Vi is a gorgeous vineyard and has exquisite wines. Normally we stop and enjoy the scenery there, but it's not usually the last stop and so it was just a pit stop for our way home. The drive is exceptional too, because you drive through Lake Tahoe and get to savor the beauty of our backyard. We really are lucky to live in such a beautiful area with so much to do.

Now for pics:

...For Blog update overload. I am WAY too far behind on all the fun fall festivities here in Reno. :-)
(try saying that little phrase three times fast)

Claire's "silly" face Cute lil munchkins!

The most creative costume I have ever seen! Had to get a pic!

We took the kids out to Corley Ranch Harvest Festival in Gardnerville, NV last weekend. It was a typical festival, but the kids had fun. They had a kid-friendly hay maze that Claire and Talia enjoyed chasing each other in. The girls also fed the animals in the petting zoo, and we all went through the corn maze (which was in the shape of Nevada, and the path was the NV highway system). This was one that we may have to revisit every year!

Jeff was able to go with us the first time, and loved the museum about as much as Claire. Claire is at such a great age, where she can start to do all the big kids' activities and still enjoy the younger ones. They have everything there, from a toddler room with a mining elevator and ore car, to a huge cloud climber! They even have the Truckee River in the middle of the museum, where the kids can follow the water from Lake Tahoe to Pyramid. It's awesome to see all the fun things they pulled from Nevada in one place. Be prepared for more pics in the future because this will be a place we visit multiple times, especially in the winter!

We sure miss the plethora of pumpkin patches in the Bay Area, but Reno doesn't do too badly when it comes to our own here. We actually visited one in its first year here. It is a small family-owned one, and I have to say it did not disappoint, nor did it break our pocketbook! The price included credit towards a pumpkin, fun in the "corn kernel sandbox," arts and crafts in the barn, a toddler friendly haymaze, a hay slide, and hay rides were only an extra dollar more. 

gorgeous clouds laying low in the mtns

beautiful sun shining through the clouds  (notice the snow-- IN OCTOBER!)

My friend Aubrey and I took our girls to Sacramento for the day. We visited the Sacramento Zoo, Fairy Tale Town, and the Roseville Mall. The zoo reminded me of the SF Zoo, but not quite as big. Claire and Talia had so much fun looking at the animals. I think their most exciting event was feeding the giraffe. Since they were the only ones there, they got to feed a whole basket of kale and leaves to all four giraffes. Even the baby boy giraffe, who is normally shy, came out to eat.

The girls were already overdue for a nap by the time we went to FTT, but we went anyway and got to enjoy it briefly. I think Aubrey and I were having more fun than the little ones. They had a little house or activity for each of the fairytales. It was adorable! I can't wait to go back at a time when the girls know more fairy tales.

Then, we drove the the mall and chowed down on Cheesecake Factory! Oh how I miss that restaurant. It was such a fun trip and the girls had a TON of fun! Thanks Aubs for the fun time!

SF Zoo montage

Fairytale Town Montage

Fun with Wizard of Oz Cutouts

1st rice cereal

her fave sleeping position

love her leg rolls!

sometimes tummy time is so not fun.

Cadence is growing waaay too fast. She started cereal and loved it from the get-go. She has the steadiest head ever, and enjoys tummy-time most of the time, but not always, as you can see from the picture. She smiles on cue for pictures and has such a cute giggle, especially when her big sister plays with her.
 Now, how do we stop time and keep her itty-bitty?