HO HO HO! Merry Christmas!!!!

Well we had a relatively quiet Christmas. We spent Christmas eve at Nana & Papa Aviles' house. We still got all dressed up because that was the tradition I grew up with - always dressing up for the holidays no matter how small the get-together. AJ was very excited to wear his Mickey tie and shirt though! We had a really good time and dinner at Nana's.

cousin Joey and AJ

AJ and Mommy


On Christmas morning we opened presents at home then got ready and went to Nana & Papa Aviles' again and did our gift exchange there. AJ got tons of gifts clothes, etc. but the favorite was a cleaning set that included a pretend vacuum and AJ pretty much used it the rest of the day. We were home early enough and for dinner we had yummy take-out Chinese food. That may well become our little family tradition - no mess, no cooking/cleaning what more could you ask for?

Sleepy AJ at home

Trying out the desk from Santa


This past Saturday Dec. 29th we went to Nana & Papa Bell's to do Christmas and to celebrate Nana Bell's birthday. AJ was up at 7AM crying in his room and when I go in the 1st thing he says is he wants to leave to go to nana Bell's house - a LITTLE too early so I told him nana was still sleeping. we left around 9:30 and got there a bit after noon. AJ runs right to nana hugs her and says "you got presents for me nana??" so she said he could open ONE present and we'd have to wait for papa to get home from work before we opened the rest. He loves flashlights so his 1st present was a CARS flashlight and he was fine with that and didn't ask about presents again until 4:30 when he hears the door and sees papa. Again he runs over to him and says hello, kisses, hugs, etc. then tells him "come on, we gotta open the presents now!!!!" Papa Bell wasn't even past the entryway at this point.

posing by Nana Bell's tree


AJ got a remote control choo choo from nonnie (great grandma) and he LOVES it!!! nana and papa got him a Black and Decker tool bench and he kept wanting us to open it because he wanted to "fix" things!!! Brian only took out the screwdriver and he played with that most the rest of the night. Uncle Chris got him a CARS lego set which AJ also liked a lot. Al even stopped by to visit while we were at Nana & Papa Bell's and we got to hang out with him for a while and find out all the fun things his twins have been up to!

AJ & the tool set

Dad, AJ and Al hanging out


We left Nana and Papa's a bit late but it was worth it to watch most of the Patriots game. AJ had fun cheering on "Go Patriots" - even on the car ride home after their last TD we heard "Go Patriots" then he was out like a light.

To see more pictures, click HERE

It's the Name Game...

Jack, Jack, bo-back,
Banana-fana fo-fack
Fee-fi-mo-mack
Jack!

I'm sure many of you remember that game. You can thank me later for getting that song stuck in your head! We're open to suggestions, but some of the names we're currently throwing around include: Brady Oliver, Riley, Tyler, Julian - in no particular order or grouping (except the first one). I was surprised that even Brian was on one of the lists we looked at - #63! Not to worry, we didn't do a "junior" the first time around and we won't this time either.

Yup, another productive night at work! :o)

It's a.....BOY!

You may have heard that roughly 3 years ago. Well, we liked saying it so much we've decided to say it again. Millie had her ultrasound appointment on Monday and all indications are that baby #2 is healthy and currently weighs in at about 9 ounces.

This baby was very shy and didn't want to reveal his gender to us. His feet were crossed and he was hunched up - hiding the goods. Finally the doctor took a second look and was able to determine that baby #2 is a boy.

No name ideas yet, but stay tuned.

If plans continue, on or around April 30th we'll be having dinner at Pepe's in New Haven and our new arrival will make his appearance shortly thereafter. Gotta keep up traditions!

Bell Family Vacation - Fall 2007

I'm sure this will come as a big surprise to those of you that are regular readers of the blog, but we just got back from a week's vacation at Disney World in Orlando. Our trip started off after a Thanksgiving meal at the Nana & Papa Bell's house in Massachusetts. Millie braved the Black Friday crowds very early (4am!) but scored some really great deals in tax-free New Hampshire. Later that day we took our shuttle bus into Logan Airport and started our journey to Florida by way of Chicago. We got in pretty late to our timeshare at Saratoga Springs, but were ready and raring to go the next day! We had a great view of the Downtown Disney area from the Rainforest Cafe at one end all the way to the Cirque du Soleil tent at the other.

We spent a day at each of the parks and Millie planned all of our dining activities: Breakfast with Jojo and the Playhouse Disney gang, Lunch with Pooh and Friends, dinner at Teppan Edo (EPCOT), Il Mulino (WDW Swan), and even an "adults night out" that took us to the Ohana restaurant at the Polynesian Resort. We also enjoyed Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and extended hours in the Magic Kingdom, as well as the parades and other holiday festivities going on in all of the parks.

Our Florida weather was absolutely perfect - 80s and Sunny every day until the day we left for home. AJ had lots of fun in Minnie's house, riding the Teacups and the Carousel, and taking pictures with all of the characters. We even managed to get a little shopping in at Downtown Disney.

Click HERE to view pictures from Days 1-3, and HERE for Days 4 & 5.
WARNING: There are lots of pictures!