Attempt at a Cousin Picture

Well...no luck this time. 

Brooke and Andrew

 OK, seriously? How cute are these two together?!

Since Adeline was so sick Brooke and Andrew spent quite a bit of time playing together, running off and getting into who knows what, showing each other their latest "tricks." I love that they are so close and age and love each other so much. It's funny because their temperaments are very similar, too, so they really "get" each other. 

Andrew

Andrew got to hold Gabby. I love his stone cold expression the whole time. It's like he's thinking, "GET this THING off of me." or maybe, "What is WRONG with this baby?"

Poor Gabby. She's just trying to tell him how much she loves him and misses him. She just doesn't quite get her words out right yet.

Myla Holds Gabby

Gabby was having a happy moment and Myla was right there so I asked her if she wanted to have a turn holding Gabby. She got the HUGEST smile on her face and shook her head yes. She actually did such a good job, much better than Brooklynn does holding her. She sat really still and was so gentle. It was super precious.

The Baby Whisperer

Mia was holding Gabby and since she is old enough and responsible enough to do it by herself, I let her have her and worked on making some stuff in the kitchen. A few minutes later I looked over and saw Mia running around the living room and had a slight "panic" of  "Oh no, WHERE'S Gabby?!?!?" So I collected myself and then asked Mia where Gabby was, and she just said, "Oh, she's on the couch sleeping." 

WHAT?!?! How can my 7-year-old niece get my baby to sleep AND put her down when I can't even do that? She's got the magic touch, people.

Here is Josh "guarding" (although I don't know how well since he is asleep) Gabby so no one jumps on her or wakes her up.

Marisa & Gabby

Marisa holding Gabby! It looks like Marisa has the special touch, too. Gabby misses you already, Mar Mar!

Brooke & Myla

Brooke and Myla got to have lots of special time together on Friday while Mia and Marisa were at school. We mostly played outside since it was so nice out.

I'm glad they got to have some special time together. They are going to grow up to be great friends. 

I'm not sure who thought up this "game" but they all had a great time playing it.

Ashley Cousins

Trying to get a Christmas picture of the Ashley cousins has not been a success...EVER. Last year's was a mess because Brooklynn was so sick:

This year Brooklynn and Myla had NO interest whatsoever of holding still. Maybe next year? (Although then there will be two more in the mix.)

One of these years.

Sadly, this is the best one we have:

And this is how most of the other ones went. This is my particular favorite. (I think Brooklynn was re-enacting last year's picture and Myla decided to grab Marisa's hair with all her strength.)

We decided to just get one of Mia and Marisa.

Bernie was easy: all we have to do is give her a bone and she holds still for a while.

Bonus: Look at Brooklynn's face in both of these pictures, 1 year apart. WHY does she hate Christmas?

Gingerbread 2010!

We had extra candy from our gingerbread house, so I thought it would be fun to do another one with all the Bean kids while we were there.