The Parrillo Family

We had a great party the weekend before Christmas to celebrate Ellie's 4th Birthday party.  Here's the video of the day. If you are reading this in your email and can NOT see this video below, click here to watch the video on the site .

Can you believe it?  Eloise turned four this past month.  To celebrate, we did some of our family traditions and some new activities.  It wouldn't be a family birthday without a cupcake breakfast. After that, Nat hosted a "tea party" at our house for some of Ellie's friends.  If you've been around Ellie when there is party planning going on, you know she ADORES being a hostess.  So, this was right in her wheelhouse. Later in the afternoon, we went out for real "tea" with a party at American Girl with her cousin and sister Sadie.  They even brought their dolls! We ended the night with pizza and cake at Uno's downtown with Noonie and Grammy and Granddad joining us. The party didn't stop on her actual birthday.  We hosted some family for a party a few days later. Eloise is such a lucky girl to have her family join her for these celebrations.  With her birthday falling so close to Christmas, we know we're the lucky ones to h...

We've come a LONG way since that very first Christmas with our one-week-old Eloise .  After a great night at Noonie and Papa's on Christmas Eve, we woke up early as Eloise came into our room to tell us that Santa had visited.  After opening all our presents (well...to be honest, Sadie wasn't all that interested in opening stuff, so some of her presents just stayed wrapped under the tree!) and eating our traditional breakfast of Kirschbaum's coffee cake, we packed up the family truckster and headed out to Naperville for Christmas morning round two at the Moran's. The girls couldn't have had more fun opening presents with their aunts/uncles and Grammy and Granddad.  We all even had matching shirts thanks to Grammy! As both Ellie and Sadie get older, each Christmas season gets better and better.  While I'm pretty sad to say goodbye to Christmas for a while, I can't wait until next year to see Ellie and Sadie's eye's light up when the season s...

Here's a video of our visit to Noonie and Papa's house for Christmas Eve 2013.  If you are reading this in your email and can NOT see the video above, click here to watch the video on our site .

Christmas Eve at Noonie and Papa's house is epic.  At least, that's how I always remember it.  And...that's how I'm hoping my two girls will remember it, too! We packed up the girls and headed down to Frankfort for the full day of festivities.  We played games, eat lots of snacks, went to church and sat in the way, way, back and even had a visit from Santa.  It was a perfect day and one I hope the girls will remember! There's a ton of photos, so if you are reading this in your email and can NOT see the slideshow below, click here to see all of the photos .

Just like last year , we're wrapping up all the Parrillo Family activities in one post because we include this web address in our Christmas Card.  (Hi to those of you visiting after getting the card?!?!) We've had a great year and our family experience so much together.  We're blessed and fortunate to have been able to share these memories and experiences with so many of you.    Here's to an even better 2014. Milestones Eloise's 3rd Birthday (yes...her *actual* birthday was in 2012.  But...the post was put up in 2013!) Sadie at 8 months Eloise's 1st Daddy/Daughter Dance Eloise riding her bike BY HERSELF! Sadie at 10 months Sadie's 1st Joke Ellie's 1st Rainbow Cone 1st Major League Baseball game for both girls Eloise's First Day of School - 2013 Sadie's 1st Steps Eloise Performs "Baby Beluga" on Stage Holidays Easter 2013 Father's Day 2013 4th of July in Michigan Halloween - 2013 Travel We took a tri...

This weekend, we took the girls to see the Big Guy and as you can see above, it was a surprisingly mixed experience.  We first tried to go see Santa at Macy's on State Street after a trip to the Walnut Room with Noonie and all the girl's cousins, but that line was waaaaay too long.  So, we called an audible and tried the line at the Christkindle Market at Daley Plaza in the Loop .  Nat braved the cold, while I took the girls in the Pedway to wait out the line.  We arrived just in time. And...Natalie had a plan.  She talked to Eloise about 'being brave' and take a look?!?  It worked!  Eloise even responded to one of Santa's questions and even gave him a shy 'high five'.    Don't believe me?  Check out this video.  ( If you are reading this in your email and can NOT see the video, click here to watch the video .) Sadie, however, made us proud with her "Stranger Danger" reaction.  Pretty perfect photo. Here's a look at ...

One year later and she's gotten bigger and even more interested in her Christmas Train.   Here's last year's post with the photo with Ellie and her Christmas Train from Papa.  We moved the layout and expanded it a bit, too! Sadie has been down there a few times and gets mesmerized by the train going around the oval!

As is tradition, the day after Thanksgiving, we pack up the Family Truckster and head down to Braidwood with the Moran Clan to cut down a few Christmas Trees.  The Morans take two and we get our (slightly) smaller Fraser Fir for our living room. Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2012 . Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2011 . Here's the post and photos from our trip to the Farm in 2010 . This was Sadie's second trip to the tree farm and she was *much* more into the whole process.  She had some time to bond with her Godfather Charlie, too! As Eloise gets older, it is fun to watch her through the prism of these traditions.  She started attending in our hiking backpack back in 2010 .  This year?  She was in on the action of sawing and dragging the trees to the truck! If you are reading this in your email and can NOT see the slideshow below, click here to view all the photos .