Here Comes A New Shelmet

During the holiday break we were doing our best to find new ways to entertain ourselves. One night was manicure night where everyone got their nails painted by Zoe. She did a wonderful job. It was a shame that the paint didn't last because my nails have never looked better. I took Zoe to the Macy's downtown to see the light show. She thought the tree and lights were beautiful. At one point we went to the new house where I started unpacking things. Just like a cat, Zoe wanted to climb into the empty boxes. We padded the box out with packaging material and she climbed right in, happy as a clam, relaxing in cardboard glory with her pony. Annabelle and Baby John invited us over to make a fabulous, Frozen gingerbread house. With very little supervision the kids were able to decorate and build the house. They both really enjoyed the construction and eating of the materials. Something went a little wrong and the decorations started to melt off of the building, but...

One of the many gifts that Zoe got for Christmas this year was a sweet, purple drum set. The set contains a bass drum, a cymbal, a snare drum and another drum. She is really enjoying rocking out and was delighted to serenade Cheryl and I with her skills. There was even some video where Zoe and I formed a little impromptu band. I'm not sure which of us is worse, er... I mean better, which one of us is better! Clearly we make an awesome band. As soon as we can get Cheryl her tambourine and/or kazoo then The Shelrenos can take this gig on the road!

Christmas is a magical time of year where mountains of gifts are given to children and they generally seem more enamored with the packaging than the present. Of course I'm kidding, the kids all loved their gifts this year, which was pretty awesome to see. To start off the day Zoe got to open more presents at home with Nana and Poppy, since she got to open some the night before. There was definitely a Frozen theme to a majority of gifts, which continued through the day as we made our way to Mimi and Joe Pop's.The piles of toys reminded me of the forts we would make with our presents when we were young. One toy that Zoe enjoyed unwrapping and showing off later was her Frozen guitar. She was so happy with it she needed to play it right away. So there were a few stills of her impromptu concert, along with a little video. She really enjoys rocking out. Cheryl and I always love it when she sings and we're always amazed at how many lyrics she knows. Granted, she...

We finally got around to getting our Christmas tree this past weekend and the weather was glorious. It was a great day, but it was hard to settle down and actually pick a tree. Someone was feeling a little rambunctious and didn't really want to focus on the task at hand. After finally chasing her down and begging her to stop being so adorable, she was finally able to come to a decision on which tree we should get. One that wasn't too big, but wasn't too small. We decided to pick it up ourselves, but I think she left me with the heavy end. Once we finally got the tree tied up and lashed to the roof of the car, being that it was such a warm day out, it was time for ice cream. Of course, when it's time for ice cream, Zoe is all business. Thankfully, when it comes to ice cream, mommy and daddy are all business, too. We got home and stood the tree up and let it spread its branches overnight. The next day we decorated it, along with the rest of the living...

After taking some time to settle into the new house, we finally took some time off to hang out around town. We made our way to the arcade on 40th Street to play some games and win some prizes. While the prizes were hard to come by, Zoe and I did have a fast-paced, action-packed game of air hockey. She didn't have a mouth guard, so she made sure to keep her paci in for protection. We had played a couple games of that down the shore, so I think she was really excited to see that there was one right in our neighborhood. Eventually we made our way over to Drexel so that we could show mommy where we hung out previously. They looked so comfortable on the couch that I had to take a picture. I have to say, it is pretty amazing how well Zoe has taken to the transition of moving to a new house, especially considering that we're going to do it again in a few months. Hopefully we can find more time in the future to hang out and have fun.

As some of you probably already know, we are selling our house and buying a new one. Since we won't be able to hop right from old to new, we are sliding into a temporary house that's still out in West Philly. The big move out of the old house happened the weekend after Thanksgiving. While Zoe hung out at Mimi and Joe Pop's, Cheryl and I made sure that she came into the new house in a welcoming way. Once big change was that we said goodbye to her crib and moved her all the way up into a big girl bed. Here's what things look like right now. The first two pictures with the purple bed are Zoe's new, temporary playroom. She is sharing it with Cheryl's clothes in the closet, but she has plenty of space to play and the TV is all set and ready to go. The next two pictures with the pink bed are Zoe's new, temporary bedroom. She has her big girl bed and a large bookcase for her books and clothes and other knickknacks. The last one is the living room, which sti...