HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Apologies for the much delayed holiday blog. Life is hectic as usual in the Passante household but I am happy to report after controlled (and sometimes uncontrolled) chaos since July, it seems like we are finding some normalcy now that the holidays are over.

We've had a busy winter with the massive snowfalls that seemed to be coming weekly there for awhile. We enjoyed decorating our new house and found a cozy spot for our tree in our front room... perfect for Santa and his reindeer to spot from the front window!
Ava seemed to really "get" Christmas this year which was such a joy to watch and relive through her eyes. We built our first ever gingerbread house this year and saved it for a day when more than a foot of snow was falling outside.

After the house was built and several pieces of building material were consumed, Ava got a chance to enjoy the massive snowfall.

As is tradition now, I snapped over 100 pictures to get the perfect Christmas card shot. I ended up using a picture of our new house as the backdrop, but here are a few shots from our photo shoot:

We spent a lot of time visiting with family this year and were happy to have spent quality time with my sister Lisa and her family from Cleveland. Aunt Lisa loved spending time with Roman but, as you can see, he didn't always feel the same. lolOn Christmas Eve, we went to my Aunt Nancy's house and Ava loved seeing her cousins. The group grew by 3 this year . Roman, and both my brother's new daughter and my cousin's little girl were born within a month of each other this summer. I can't imagine what Christmas Eve will be like next year. We stayed well into the evening and both kids fell asleep on the way home. They both got tucked into bed and slept soundly while Santa made his visit.

Roman woke up early for a bottle but fell back to sleep unaware he had toys waiting for him under the tree. Ava, on the other hand, had a smile from ear to ear when she woke up and realized we had a visitor over night. It was definitely a Princess Christmas for her. She got a few Barbies, princess dress up clothes and jewelry and hair extensions to complete the outfits.
She also scored a Big Wheel and a microphone and guitar set to mimic her "best friend", Hannah Montana.

Once Roman woke up, Ava helped him open his toys then showed him all of her new things. She's such a good big sister these days and is really being good about sharing... most of the time.

On Christmas day, after we all got a nap in, Ava put on her Christmas dress for our visit to Joe's Aunt Jeannie's house. She kept telling everyone she was a princess and really, she was.

Ava was so sad to see her cousin, Ashley, leave. She was enamored with Ash's long hair and would pet it every chance she got. We printed this picture below and put it in a frame on Ava's nightstand. She always says she wants long hair... "just like Ashley and Hannah Montana."

Our Christmas card: