Christmas at the Zoo

Well, we simply weren't able to do it all before Christmas, so we had to visit Christmas at the Zoo AFTER Christmas. Andra doesn't know the difference. :)

They had a great train display in the gardens, and Andra really seemed to like it. She has a Christmas ornament with a moving train on it that she loves, so I figured she'd like these too!

Some moments I just try to savor...

Dave and I were really impressed with the lights at the zoo. They definitely exceeded our expectations. This picture doesn't do it justice, but it was such a neat setting.

Andra's favorite spot, as usual, was the aquarium. She LOVES the sharks and the penguins. I think she would've stood there with her nose pressed to the glass all night if we would've let her!

A Visit with Santa

Andra got to meet Santa just in time to tell him what she wanted for Christmas! Dave took the day off work and we spent the afternoon at the Indiana State Museum's Celebration Crossing. The three of us really had a lot of fun! The crowds were nice and light since it was a weekday, so Andra hardly had to wait to meet Santa. I was certain she'd cry and refuse to sit on his lap...but after a couple minutes of checking him out, she sat there very seriously. :) This Christmas stuff is serious, you know. :) I was proud of her for being so brave!

They also have a really cute kiddie train there, so we hitched a couple rides. It cracks me up to see these adults being crammed into these child size passenger cars. It just looks funny. Andra got to ride once with her Mom, and once with her Dad. I don't think she knew quite what to think of the train, but she seemed to enjoy the ride.

I

PIGTAILS!!!

I know it's ridiculous the things that excite me as a new mom, but in my mind, this is a MAJOR milestone. Andra's got pigtails!!! And they're adorable, if I do say so myself.

There's something about a little girl in pigtails that just melts me...especially when it's my own daughter. So after wrestling with her a little bit--ok, a lot--I was able to style her new 'do. It just made me giddy...and I'm swelling with pride. I know...silly. It does make me just a TINY bit sad though. She looks like such a big girl with with those little ponytails!

Out and About

 

We've been trying to battle cabin fever by getting out of the confines of our house as frequently as possible. My neighbor told me about this great gymnastics place on the east side of town, so we went to check it out. It was awesome!! What a great discovery! They have open gym for toddlers, and the kids can play in the ball pit (or just lay there...as Andra preferred to do), crawl around in the foam pit, jump on trampolines...it was such a good time! Here's Andra feeling out the trampoline...

 

Andra vs. the foam pit. The foam pit won. 

 

AND...last night Andra had a date! We met our friends Katy and Tanner, and their little guy Tate, at the Children's Museum. They went down the Yule Slide, but my flash didn't go off, so it's a terrible picture. But here they are at their romantic dinner afterwards. Chaperoned by mommies and daddies, of course. :) 

 

Christmas Tree vs. Curious One Year-Old

I must admit, I was very very concerned about our Christmas tree surviving the holiday season this year. Last year, Andra was content to just stare at the lights--but this year, she's into EVERYTHING...and I knew the Christmas tree would be no exception. The reason I'm so concered about a silly Christmas tree is because I treasure my tree more than most...it's somewhat of a family heirloom. Let me explain...

My mom collects Christmas ornaments, and it's a genetic disorder that's been passed down to me. :) Ever since I was old enough to remember, my mom would buy each of us kids several ornaments that represented milestones or events in our lives that year...usually Hallmark Keepsake ornaments. I'm pretty certain my mom single handedly kept Hallmark in business with her annual purchase of ornaments. My mom even saved my ugly Christmas 'ornaments' that I made in Sunday school when I was five years old.

When my sister and I got married, we both inherited our (massive) box of Christmas ornaments that my mom had bought us through the years. When most people get married, their first Christmas tree is a little sparse. Not ours. I think I had more ornaments than I had branches!

The point is...I treasure my Christmas tree because each ornament has special meaning to me and was purchased, or saved, by my mom who cared enough to treasure these memories for her kids and memorialize all the important events in our lives. So needless to say, I was a little worried to put these precious ornaments on a tree that I KNEW Andra would want to investigate. Thoroughly.

I'm proud to report, Andra has been an absolute angel with the Christmas tree. She must have inherited her mother's reverance for ornaments. My strategy: put non-breakables down low and breakables up high out of her reach. It's worked like a charm. She loves touching and playing with the ones down low. Our 'really cool' ornaments that make sound and light up are within her reach, and she especially loves the one that looks like an iPod and plays Christmas music (thank you, Hallmark). We've yet to break a single ornament this year. I'm so proud of her. This could only mean one thing: Andra's inherited the genetic disorder. :)

Happy Birthday to my Hubby

Turkey Day was even more special for our family this year because it happened to fall on Dave's 30th birthday. That's right, the big 3-0. I'm constantly reminding him that I'm still in my 20s, and will be for the next 15 months or so. :) To prove he's still young, he started his birthday by running the 4.5 mile Drumstick Dash in Broadripple (that's like a stroll in the park for this marathon man!). Then it was dinner with the fam.
Happy Birthday, David. Each year with you is sweeter than the last.

And this was his 30th b-day breakfast. His favorite: hot, fresh Krispy Kreme!

Just call me "Bruiser"

No, we didn't enter Andra in a boxing match...but it sure looks like it. Andra is borderline running now, so she's pretty tough to keep up with. And sometimes her legs move faster than the rest of her body. She's taken a few tumbles lately, and as luck would have it, she ALWAYS seems to land on the corner of a door frame. or coffee table. or any other hard surface. And it happens so fast that I usually can't prevent the bump. If you look at her head, you can see it's actually two separate bruises. Just as the first one was healing, she took another tumble and hit her head in the exact same spot! Poor girl.

In other Andra news, she's cutting her fifth tooth! And they're arriving out of order. She's got her four front teeth (2 on top, 2 on bottom). Typically, babies will cut the teeth to each side of those next...but Andra's decided to skip those and move straight to her molars. Just this morning, I finally got my finger in there and can feel a rough edge. Maybe this means more table food? :) Just in time for turkey day! She must've planned it.

My husband, the traffic cone

We're just two months away from the Disney Marathon, which means Dave's getting into the thick of his training. Last weekend he ran 20 miles (he's nuts), and this weekend was "only 13." He usually gets up before the sun rises on Saturday morning and sets out on his run. Now that it's getting colder, that's becoming a bit more challenging. So he was on the prowl for some running gear (a top in particular) that is simultaneously warm, but bright in color...since he's usually running in the dark. I think he found it. Hence, meet my husband, the traffic cone. This picture really doesn't do it justice...this shirt GLOWS in person...it's flourescent orange. It nearly hurts my eyes to look at it. I'm pretty certain the planes overhead could spot him. :)

Aren't these socks hilarious? He swears by them.

Happy Halloween

I think Andra enjoyed her second Halloween. We dressed her up as a clown. It's a hand-me-down costume that my mom made for Zayda a few years ago. I think handmade costumes have a little more love in them. :) So this was the clown's second go-round, and I doubt it will be the last!

Andra went to her grandparent's house on Thursday night to meet up with her cousins.

Here's Zayda as Dorothy...another handmade costume by Grandma. Hmm...I wonder if Andra will be Dorothy in a few years? :)

Complete with ruby slippers...

A not-so-happy clown with her cousins Zayda and Garrett (the Cowardly Lion!).

Grandma V. also took me around the neighborhood to show me off.

"Explain to me again why I'm in in this goofy costume..."

Our little trick-or-treater wasn't in the best of spirits Halloween night. We could tell she was starting to come down with something, and sure enough, we were up all night with a cough and fever. Now we're in full-blown virus fighting mode. Hope she kicks this one quick.

You've Got A Friend In Me...

I think Andra and Pudge are having more fun together with each passing day! So here's a video of Pudge being his typical crazy self, which of course, Andra finds very entertaining. (and it's got SOUND!...thanks to our new camera. yay!)

Boiler Up

We took a little day trip up to West Lafayette today to visit my little bro Jonathan, a freshmen at Purdue. It's still SO weird that my baby brother's in COLLEGE. That makes me old.

We had such a fun day! Jonathan showed us around campus. There's this one spot where you can stand and clap, and there's this weird chirp you get in your ears! It was totally weird...Jonathan says the smart PU engineers figured out a way to make the sound waves cause that?? It was probably someone's senior thesis project. :) Campus was beautiful...Dave and I wanted to pretend we were college students again.

We also took him out to lunch and checked out his dorm room. Andra had fun hanging out with her "Uncle J." Here he is entertaining Andra in her carseat.

Goofy girl. I wonder if she'll be as goofy as her Uncle J?

In front of Jonathan's historic dorm :) Tarkington Hall. Love those freshmen dorms!

Headed home. Shew! What a day.

Autumn Afternoons

Have I mentioned I love autumn? I'm pretty sure I have. :) I actually found it in myself to rake a few leaves today (I typically never rake leaves. What's the point? More are going to fall. And they'll all blow away without the help of my rake. Just let Mother Nature do her thing.)

BUT...I remember going to my Grandma's house as a little girl and "helping" rake leaves into a HUGE pile. And our reward was to jump in them! So I decided to rake a small pile for Andra to play in. And she seemed to like it. She did her typical 'wrinkle nose face' that always makes me laugh.

And I had to include this photo too. I was cooking dinner tonight, and Andra usually hangs out with me in the kitchen emptying cabinets and drawers while I get dinner ready. But tonight, I noticed she'd disappeared and it had been mysteriously quiet for several minutes. I called for her. Silence. I listened for her. Not a sound. So I decided I better go see what she's up to. This is where I found her. Under the dining room table snuggling with her big bro Pudge. Don't they make a cute pair?? Pudge is an excellent big bro. He lets Andra climb all over him, play in his food and water bowls, and apparently use him as a pillow too. I'm sure they'll be buddies for a long time to come.

Four Years and Counting...

Our four year wedding anniversary was last week, so we wanted to do something special over the weekend to celebrate. We took a little day trip down to Oliver Winery in Bloomington. It was the PERFECT fall day...warm, but not too warm, and lots of sunshine! The leaves were beautiful and the grounds were gorgeous. I knew it was supposed to be a nice place, but it definitely exceeded our expectations. If you haven't been there, you should definitely go. We're certainly not wine-o's, and we still had a great time.

We took a tour of the plant and learned how they make wine there, then we had a free tasting, which was a blast. The only thing I know about wine is that it's usually red or white, and I don't know how to pronounce the names of most of it. So it was fun to look at a list of wines and be able to try a sip of any of them. We apparently have the same taste, because we both didn't like dry wines...and thought the sweet wines were TOO sweet. All the wines we tasted that we liked were in the semi-sweet or semi-dry category. We ALWAYS buy Oliver's soft red and soft white at the grocery store, so it'll be fun to know different wines we like now!

After our tasting, we just walked around the grounds and sat on their beautiful deck out back. It really was a gorgeous place.

This is the stash we came home with...a half case of newly discovered wine that we REALLY like! Riesling, Camelot Mead (the wine that made them famous in the 1970s), Soft red (our old standby!), Muscat Canneli, Beanblossom Hard Cider (so yummy warm!), and Catawba. Our taster lady said their wine lasts for about two years unopened. That's about how long it will take us to drink all of this. :) And those are some roses in the background that this handsome guy bought me. :)