Thank You Santa!

Santa brought Mommy a new camera! A nice sleek & compact one that she can keep in her purse & document our daily adventures. Thanks Santa! Testing out the new camera...

Peanut poses/sleeps for the inaugural picture

Breakfast the day after Christmas (nothing is too mundane when you have a new toy :-)

Stopping by Bagga Judy & Grandpa Silly's to say goodbye to GG Boss & GG Doris

Luke not so sure he wants to be held at the moment

He does however want to share his truck with GG Boss

Trying to get a picture of the Allen kids with their Great Grandparents but they would only cooperate with Mommy in the picture. Even then Madison was trying to weasel her way out

Christmas Dinner

After naps we headed back over to Bagga Judy & Grandpa Silly's for Christmas dinner. Aunt Jill's family came too! We had Gigou, Jerry & Aunt Beth to add to our party...always a good time :-)


Luke taking a walk upstairs with Aunt Beth. We thought for sure he would be walking on his own by Christmas! He's taken a few steps but hasn't really wanted to take off yet. Soon enough & then we will wonder why we were hoping for it!



Bagga Judy's beautiful table



Aunt Jill, Mommy & Luke...with a wrench in his mouth...like a real man :-)



Luke was fascinated by Uncle Jason. He wanted to show him how he could clap his hands together :-)



Luke taking a quick snuggle break with Bagga Jan



Maddie looking to Aunt Beth to figure out her new games for her



Aunt Jill, Madison & Aunt Beth (Madison trying out her new smile...where she sticks her bottom jaw out. Very attractive.)



The girls plus Mommy. There's that new smile again from Madison.



See how close to bed time we are?!?! Trying to grab a picture with Great-Grandpa "the Boss" & Great-Grandma Doris before we head off to bed...Maddie not having any of it.

Merry Christmas!

We know it's been almost 2 weeks since we've posted an update about Madison & Luke's adventures but Santa had a lot on his to do list & he called Mommy for some help :-) We had a wonderful Christmas! We spent Christmas Eve at Bagga Judy & Grandpa Silly's house. Bagga Jan was there as well as Great-Grandpa "the Boss" & Great-Grandma Doris! We woke up Christmas morning & Santa had been here! We opened our stockings and then waited for the rest of the crowd to join us for present opening & breakfast. Uncle Jason & Aunt Jill were there too! We had a fantastic time.

Luke was the first to wake up. He's not sure how it got here but he's loving his new chair that Santa left for him

The big man ate his cookies & drank his milk...Rudolph even snacked on his carrots!

Madison's awake...and surprised to see that there is a lot more stuff in here than there was last night!

Good call on the little people chairs Santa...they seem to be a big hit

Madison's Christmas jammies (poor Luke-man already grew out of his :-(

Luke finding some new bath toys in his stocking (Santa must have known that bath time was the highlight of our night :-)

All of the excitement is just too much for peanut

Santa left Luke a new fire engine & Madison is checking it out to make sure it's okay!

Madison modeling the new raincoat & wellies that she got from Mommy & Daddy

I think I'll just sport my wellies now

Is that coffee good Bagga?

Uncle Jason snuggling with Abby

Uncle Jason & Maddie hanging out in the "kids" chairs

Bagga Judy & Grandpa Silly (GS is just waiting for breakfast to be served :-)

Great-Grandpa "the Boss" & Great-Grandma Doris (Bagga Judy's Dad & Step-Mom) It was so wonderful to have them here! Every year they make the trip up from Southern California is such a treat!

Bagga Jan & Luke

Uncle Jason, Luke & Maddie unwinding from a long morning of present opening

Our Visit with Santa

Well...we tried to take Madison & Luke to visit Santa this afternoon. Let's just say that it was less than successful. Luke erupted the minute Mommy put him on Santa's lap. Madison held it together just long enough to snap this picture. Immediately after it was taken she took a cue from her brother and burst into tears. Needless to say they don't know quite yet what the big man can do for them...

Play Group Holiday Party

Today our friends Katie, Andrew & Abby hosted our playgroup's holiday gift exchange. We had about 10 seconds to grab some pictures of all 9 kids but we got some great ones! We packed the couch so tightly that Maddie had to hold Paige on her lap & poor Abby had to be balanced on the arm. We had a great time!


From left to right...Abby, Jayden, Nathan, Audrey, Elizabeth, Andrew, Luke, Madison & Paige

Update & Play Group Pictures

Once again, we apologize for the big gap between posts. Mommy only has a very large professional style camera that isn't easy to take on all of our fun outings. Maybe Santa will bring her a pocket sized one :-) We've been busy the past week & a half. Last Wednesday went on a long walk with our friends Ashley & baby Reese (10 weeks). Thursday, while Maddie was at preschool, Mommy & Luke went to see our friends Cynthia & baby Brandon (18 months). Friday we hosted our Willow Glen/Los Gatos play group! We had such a great time! There are some pictures that follow (because it was at our house Mommy had the camera handy :-) Saturday we had a birthday party for our friend Andrew (2 years) & Sunday we made the trip up to Tiburon to visit our newly pregnant friends Julie & J.P. They just bought a great house with beautiful views of the water. We had so much fun playing at the playground right at the water's edge. Monday was time for another fantastic playdate with our friends Brooke & Maya Baker. Maddie was having so much fun that she cried when we had to leave. Needless to say Madison & Luke were exhausted after being constantly on the go for so long. They both went to bed at 7pm yesterday & Luke has napped 4 hours today & is still going!



Our new friend Elizabeth

Madison, Paige & Luke

Madison riding "Porter the Puppy" rocker

Paige & Elizabeth rocking away

Nathan's turn on Porter


Audrey checking out the scene (Audrey & Nathan are twins :-)

Los Gatos Town Holiday Parade

Today Maddie's school participated in the Los Gatos Town Holiday Parade! It was a huge event and Maddie & Luke had a great time...Luke watching, Madison marching. (Next year, Luke-man :-)

Luke getting excited over the cars & fire engines with Bagga Glen

Madison & Daddy marching with the Grace Preschool

Our little parade-participant

Post-parade snuggle with Bagga Judy

The kids with both Grandmas (Baggas) & Mommy

Madison showing Grandpa Silly a few more things before the show ended

November 2007 Pictures

Madison & Luke apologize to faithful blog readers for not posting for awhile but Mommy was sick last weekend & it has taken us all some time to recover & get reorganized. That's not to say that a lot hasn't been happening! The end of November was as busy as ever. On the left of the blog we have posted the link to all of the pictures taken in November if you are interested. Here are a few highlights that haven't been previously published...

Luke practicing his walking with a little dump truck to lean on


Going for a ride/stroll


At least 40 attempts & this was the best we achieved for the 2007 Christmas card


Mommy loves it when we want to play in Luke's crib...it keeps us contained :-)