So what is the best part of the holidays? Gifts? Time with loved ones? Enjoying traditions of old? Heck no! The best part is eating!

The girls were only a few weeks old during the 2008 holiday season, so it all went by in a blur without much fanfare. This year was in many ways the girls’ first real experience with all of the fun (and stress) the holidays bring. We spent the holidays at home, which I highly recommend. The drama that is the holidays is only magnified when you try to pack it all into the back of a station wagon. The girls got lots of great gifts, but were mostly impressed with the wrapping paper. We put the Christmas tree out in the greenhouse, so we didn’t have to worry about the dogs drinking the water or the girls attempting to climb it. The best part of the holidays – hands down – is the food, which the girls truly got to experience this year. We had the traditional Hanukkah potato latkes on Christmas eve and enjoyed a tried and true tradition of Chinese food on Christmas. I am all about blending cultures as long as it tastes good.

Here are some pics from the end of a fabulous 2009, as expected the pictures of the girls enjoying the delicacies of the season are priceless.

Eliza decided it woud be fun to unroll all of the paper towels.

Who me?

The girls checking out one of their new toys.

Sadie helping Grandpa open his gifts.

The girls really liked all the wrapping paper the best.

The girls new favorite toy!

Amelia trying out a chocolate after Christmas dinner.

Eliza getting in on the chocolate action.

Hmmn, is there something on my face?

A happy chocolate-coated Amelia

Amelia enjoying her new favorite dinner - spaghetti and meatballs.

Eliza enjoys wearing her pasta too.

So maybe I am a bad blogger, but I like to think I am a good mom. Amelia has been sick this past week. Eliza has taken off walking around and up and down. All of this has necessitated more mommy-time and less computer time. I have also been busy trying to get holiday preparations done while still remembered to feed the dogs, do the laundry, etc. And how can I forget 2 of the most important pieces of news! We found out a few weeks ago that Baby Rosebud #3 (due late April 2010) is a girl! I am so excited that I get to recycle all of the cute girl stuff we have stockpiled! And in other good news, Jeramey will be starting his new job on January 4th. We are all very proud of him and I know he is excited for the change. Good luck hun!

Anyway, to make it up to you I have some wonderful photos to share. They were taken back in October by Tania Sones, who is both an amazing photographer and wonderful woman. You can check out all of her work at: http://www.taniasonesphotographyblog.com/ I held off on posting these photos till I made up our holiday cards and other photo gifts, but it is starting to get a bit ridiculous that I haven’t shared them yet. Tania was a joy to work with and I hope you enjoy these as much as we do!

The Roses!

More Roses

Mommy's beauties!

Tiny terrors at play!

Mommy and her girls!

Daddy and his happy girls!

Daddy praying he will survive his little girls' toddlerhood!

Mommy's crazies!

Serious Eliza

Eliza pondering something

Eliza posing

Smiley Amelia

Happy Amelia

Could she be any cuter? Nope!

I want to thank our family and friends for helping us celebrate the girls’ 1st birthday. They had a great day as you will see from all of the pictures!

Amelia and Eliza in their costumes!

Jer and Eliza ready to open gifts!

Me and Amelia checking out one of her new books!

Amelia crawling to her close-up

Eliza giving her new stuffed animals hugs

Amelia reading her and Jer a story.

The Tinkerbell cake

Amelia loved her cake

Eliza loves frosting!

The girls had their 12-month Dr visit this past week. Now that we are all over the trauma of lots of shots and horrific blood draws, I have time to update you with their stats. Amelia weighed in at 19 pounds and 15 ounces. She is 29.5 inches tall. In her first year she has more than quadrupled her weight and almost doubled in height – quite a year! She is now crawling all over and loves giving kisses, although she doesn’t quite understand that giving kisses doesn’t involve teeth. Eliza is still a little peanut weighing in at 16 pounds and 15 ounces and is 30 inches tall. She was the bigger sister at birth, but you would never believe it now!

I want to thank all of our friends and family who helped us celebrate the girls’ 1st birthday. We are very lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives. I will post pictures of the big bash soon!

It is completely unfathomable to me that Amelia and Eliza turned 1 today. Sometimes it feels like they were just born, but others days I can’t remember life without them. This is such a fun age. The girls love to play together and make each other laugh. I don’t think the girls realized that today was any different except for the fact that they got to enjoy cupcakes after dinner – Amelia only nibbled while Eliza displayed a true love for frosting. We can’t wait to really celebrate at their party this weekend, but for now here are a couple pics of my birthday girls on their big day.

Happy Birthday Amelia and Eliza!

YAY! It's our birthday!

Good character education begins at an early age, so Jeramey and I are taking very seriously the importance of teaching Amelia and Eliza how to be dedicated Yankee fans. Being a fan means loving the Yankees in good times and bad, but boy the good times are so much more fun. After many late nights of me slipping in and out of slumber and Jeramey waking me up for important developments, we were thrilled to witness the dynasty continue as the Yankees won their 27th World Series. As you can see from the pictures below the girls were equally as thrilled by the Yankee win despite the fact that they could not stay up late enough to watch the games. Enjoy!

Eliza is a true fan!

Amelia is also dedicated to the Yankees!

My girls wearing their Yankee pride!

What?!? The Yankees won the World Series and we slept through it?

So apparently I picked a good name for our blog, because the rumor is true – the Rose household will be expanding and losing sleep come April 2010 when Rosebud #3 will be joining the family. We are shocked and absolutely thrilled. Yes we will have 3 kids under the age of 1 1/2. I figure we might as well drown in diapers and walk around in a coma for a consolidated period of time rather than spreading out the torture. Amelia and Eliza are very excited (at least that is what I am telling them) to become big sisters as you ca see from their t-shirt and smiles below.

Amelia is happy to be a big sister by more than 1 minute this time!

Happy to be big sisters!

Smiley sisters!

Rest in peace Dellbert – aka my laptop that decided to die on me a few weeks ago. That my friends and devoted followers is why there has not been an official update out of the Rose household in a while. I am back up and running on another computer and can’t wait to share some adorable pictures of the girls from our September trip to Maine. It was a little chilly and we had a minor run-in with a bat, but other than that it was a perfect trip – oh other than the stupid woman I had to tell off in the diner, but I will save that story for another time. Eliza loved crawling around and getting dirty, while Amelia really took to the water.

Since coming home both girls continue to grow and change every day. Eliza is quite the daredevil, taking her first trip up a flight of stairs on her hands and knees while my parents were babysitting last week. My parents also had the joy of seeing a large black bear in our backyard, but didn’t quite have the nerve to get a snapshot. Amelia is finally crawling around and seems to be developing a love of music and rhythm. (Clearly she did not get that from her father.) We have a busy few weeks in front of us. Next week Jer and I will celebrate 3 years of marriage. We are very excited to be attending my friend Elaina’s wedding that weekend at the same venue where we got married. I think Jer is most excited that I am going to let him eat this time. Planning is also in the works for the girls’ 1st birthday. I honestly still can’t believe that they are turning one.

Ok, since you all have been so patient through our absence, I will stop rambling and get to the pictures.

Jer and my dad cutting down a tree in Maine - warning this is NOT a good idea!

Eliza enjoying the great outdoors in Maine

Amelia prefers the great outdoors while cuddled in Nana's lap

The girls bundled up and ready to roll!

My dad and I getting the girls ready for their 1st swim in the lake

Amelia LOVING the water. Eliza wanted NO part of it.

Amelia and Grandpa in the hammock

Grandpa has both girls in the hammock - a perfect vacation!

I think it is officially – my two baby girls and now little people with big personalities. Amelia still isn’t crawling, but has perfected the art of pointing and screaming in the hopes that someone will fulfill her wishes. (I can’t imagine where she learned that from!) She loves chasing the dogs around in her walker/play table and has discovered a deep love of cream cheese. She is still mommy’s girl, which is great for me because she is sleeping through the night most of the time. Eliza is our daredevil. She wants to climb, unplug, throw, or destroy whatever she can get her hands on. Her favorite activity is stealing whatever her sister is playing with in an effort to make Amelia cry – she is usually successful.

As you will see from the pictures – the girls LOVE to eat. So ignore the rice hanging out of their noses or cream cheese in their eyebrows and try to enjoy the cuteness.

Amelia is shocked by the deliciousness of cream cheese

Eliza feeding Sadie

Eliza is clearly thrilled about lunch

Amelia enjoying her cracker and cream cheese

Eliza's Jack Nicholson impersonation

Eliza coated in chinese food

My adorable Thing 1 and Thing 2

Amelia: "No Mommy I promise I wasn't trying to push her off of the chair."

The girls went to see the Dr this morning for their 9-month visit. Luckily there were no shots involved today! Amelia weighed 17 pounds and 15 ounces. She is 70.5 cm long and has a head circumference of 44 cm. Eliza is our little peanut at only 15 pounds 11.5 ounces. She is 69.5 cm long and has a head circumference of of 42.5 cm. Hopefully, I will have some new pictures in the next couple days.