House of Luv

A New 'Do!

2011-09-03T17:16:00.000-07:00

It's probably a little silly, but I must admit, I'm quite proud of myself...I cut Alec's hair! Yes, his first ever haircut at the hands of his Mommy! It had to be done; his hair was hanging in his eyes, and I got tired of brushing it out of his face constantly. When I had a fleeting temptation to put one of Andra's barrettes in his hair to keep it out of his eyes, I knew the time had come. :)

So, I did what any modern mother would--watched YouTube instructional videos, of course! These moms made it look so easy, surely I could do it! So I grabbed my sewing scissors, enlisted Daddy's help to hold him still, and seized the moment while I was feeling brave. I was SO nervous it was going to look ridiculous, but I think it turned out pretty good! Dave had to chase him down about ten times when he wiggled away from me and pin his hands down, but mission accomplished!

I can't believe how much older he looks! That was part of the reason I was stalling. I like it a little better when his bangs are side swept like this:

And here's a side view. His hair used to hang over his ears, so I trimmed that up a little. He's got some sweet little curls in back that I could bring myself to trim, so daddy still says he's "business in the front, party in the back." :) And I have newfound confidence in cutting my little man's hair! I wonder how long I'll be able to do it, before I need to let the professionals take over?

We also gave up his paci this weekend. Neither one of my babies have been big on their pacis...so it hasn't been very dramatic to give it up with either one of them. Alec's doing great without his! I just figured it's better to be done with it before he gets old enough to develop a deep attachment to it. A new 'do...paci-free...and just one week away from his first birthday...my baby boy is growing up.

And lots of you have been asking about Andra and preschool. I'm happy to report she's doing beautifully. The first day I dropped her off, I stayed with her in the classroom for a few minutes. She seemed timid, but was okay when I told her I was going to leave. The next day, I dropped her off for the first "full" day of class (2.5 hours). There were several cryers by the door clinging to their moms, and my heart sunk. I thought for sure this would cause Andra to melt down too. But she just gave me a kiss, marched right by them and went straight to the toys. I was so proud of her. She may be quiet and shy (as her teacher has confirmed!), but she is definitely independent. She had a great first week, and was bummed when I told her she had to wait four days to go back, so that's got to be a good sign! Here she is headed off for her first day:

In other news, I found out I have strep throat today. I caught it early and got on antibiotic, so I'm just praying the two kiddos escape it...their dual birthday party is one week away, and I'd be heartbroken if they were sick! So pray for a healthy week for us!

Preschool Pre-Season :)

2011-08-21T11:27:00.000-07:00

Two posts in one month?! This must be some sort of a post-Alec record! :)
Well, the big day is almost upon us...we are exactly 48 hours away from Andra's first day of preschool! I mentioned in my last post I'm a little nervous and sad about it...but the closer it gets, the more excited I get for her. I truly think she's going to love it.

A couple weeks ago, we visited her classroom and met her teacher during the "meet and greet" afternoon. Andra was so...Andra. We walked into the room, and she confidently made a bee-line for the table of trains, planes and automobiles (populated entirely by boys), completely bypassing the gaggle of little girls at the kitchen playset. :) 'Atta girl. I love that she marches to the beat of her own drum. Next was blocks (mostly boys again), and then she chatted with her teacher for a few minutes...and finally, a trip to the playground. It earned her seal of approval. And mission accomplished...the afternoon seemed to help both of us get rid of the butterflies and get excited about the school year ahead. I'm relieved...her teacher has so many fun things planned, her style matches my parenting style (very structured, scheduled days..Andra should feel right at home!), and she's a veteran with 15 years of preschool teaching under her belt. It still tugs at my heartstrings that Andra will be starting this whole new life completely independent of me...but that's what kids are supposed to do, right? Spread their wings and fly. (sniffle)

After her meet and greet afternoon, we had a little date at the nearby Starbucks (which is VERY conveniently located for Mommy for preschool drop-off and pick-up..uh-oh!). We had a fun afternoon just the two of us celebrating this new chapter in her little life (note: that's not espresso in her cup, just some good 'ol chocolate milk!).

Speaking of starting a new chapter...Alec is WALKING!!! He went from being a weeble wobble to a confident walker in just a matter of days! It was pretty incredible to watch, and my heart is just bursting with pride. I have tried my darnedest to upload the video to our blog, but to no avail. And a photo just doesn't do his cute little waddle justice. :) Andra didn't walk until after her first birthday, so Alec beat her by over a month! I knew he would...he's gotta keep up with her afterall!

In other news, we're gearing up for the kids' double birthday bash in just a few weeks. Since their birthdays are only 2 days apart, we'll be combining the parties into one. I'm making it my mission to be less "hostess" and more mommy that day, so I can just soak it in.

So...I guess it's goodbye to the summer, since we're officially part of the "back to school" season now. We'll let you know how it goes!

We're Still Here

2011-08-02T05:41:00.000-07:00

Oh man, it's been a long time since I've posted! I really am going to try to get back into the blogging groove...I know I said that last time too! So lets see if I can give you a brief update of our summer...can't believe it's nearly over.

First of all, Alec. He is into EVERYTHING and certainly keeping us on our toes! He is still the easiest baby EVER, but man, he is into everything he's not supposed to be into! i.e. the dog food bowls, the dishwasher (with a distinct attraction to knives and forks and all things sharp), the glass wine bottles as SOON AS I open the fridge door! He is lightning quick...and SO close to walking. I sure am going to miss seeing his little hips shake and dragging feet disappear at warp speed around the corner when he crawls away to another adventure. He also decided to be an overachiever this summer and cut FOUR teeth at once. Pretty impressive, don't ya think?

Andra has been a delight this summer too with the typical challenges that 3 year-olds bring. She seems to have really stretched out this summer and is looking more grown up by the day. We've had some special "big girl" dates where she gets to leave her little bro at home and have some time with Mom or Dad or both. We took just her to Symphony on the Praire for music and fireworks, which was a special treat for her. She got to stay out WAY past her bedtime, which she always gets a kick out of. We also took just her to Holiday World for a fun day with her cousins.

Next on the horizon for her is preschool this fall. This will be the first of two years of preschool before she begins kindergarden, and I'm already questioning if it's the right thing to do. She's so bright, and I think she'll really thrive...I just don't want her to get "burnt out" on school before she even gets to kindergarden. So far, her little life has revolved around playing all day with no time commitments or structure. And lets be honest... it makes me a little sad to know she'll have this whole new world at school that's completely independent of me. I hope to be involved in her classroom as a room mom, etc, so I can at least get a glimpse of what she's like in the classroom.

The other thing that has brought so much enjoyment for us lately is really seeing the kids interact. When Andra starts acting goofy, her brother will just cackle and get such a kick out of it. It's fun to see them interact as siblings. But don't be fooled...sometimes Andra gets tired of Alec chasing her everywhere (and he IS like her little shadow!). I know she needs some space when I hear her bedroom door slam so she can shut her little bro out and play alone for awhile. :)

And a major time suck for me (hence the lack in blogging) is, of course, trying to sell our house. I was so foolish going into it...thinking our house is so cute that it would rise above the terrible market and sell quickly. It's been 10 months, we've had 30 showings, and not even a nibble. It makes me a little angry, to be honest. Cleaning for the showings always takes my time and attention away from the kids (which makes my blood boil), I don't like having strangers tramp through my home where my kids' names are in plain view on the wall (it just gives me the heeby jeebies), and without fail, the showings are notoriously smack in the middle of naptime or on the weekends when we're supposed to be relaxing and rejuvenating as a family. I thought for sure we'd sell this summer, but here it is, with the summer almost over and no prospects. I tell myself God has a plan for our family, and we just have to be patient. But in the meantime, it's a major pain in my behind. :)

So not to end on a sour note, here's pic of the kids. Both their birthdays are right around the corner...so hard to believe!

Air Show!

2011-05-15T17:38:00.000-07:00

all right all right. For all of you bugging me...at long last, here's a new post! Life has just been crazy lately...between taking care of the kids, yard work, endless house showings...yadda yadda yadda...
BUT
Andra and I had a lot of quality time over the weekend at the air show! It was really such a good time and some nice one-on-one time with my little gal.

Friday night, we went to the balloon glow. There wasn't much "glowing," because it gets dark so late, and they had to deflate the balloons when the wind kicked up, but we still got to spend plenty of time checking them out. It was pretty cool seeing that many in one spot. We tried to go to the State Fair balloon glow last year, but it was rained out...so it was nice to make it happen on our second attempt!

This was "Sad Andra" after we found out that she was too short to go on a tethered balloon ride. I know it's heartbreaking, but no worries...A little distraction and she was over it a few minutes later. She has to be 48 inches tall to ride, so I'm afraid it's gonna be a few years! :)

On Saturday, we went to the actual air show...just the last couple of hours of it. She got to see two light weight planes do some really cool tricks (red and blue, her favorite colors!). And the Blue Angels were the grand finale! I'd never seen them before, and they gave me goosebumps several times...and I'm not even a plane person! It was pretty incredible.

Here's Andra checking out the inside of a helicopter...

And below, an illustration of my motherly ingenuity. I knew the planes would be loud and that Andra wouldn't tolerate ear plugs, so we brought along her ear muffs...and they worked like charm! :)

It was a busy weekend, but we made some fun memories...and I'm sure we'll be attending future air shows! And maybe next time we'll let the boys join us. ;)

Gimme the Sweet Stuff

2011-03-12T17:42:00.000-08:00

Just when you think you've seen it all in the Hoosier state... we discovered the National Maple Syrup Festival! Yep...right here in Indiana. Who knew?

A whole festival for maple syrup? Yes. And this had Dave's name all over it. He LOVES maple syrup. We actually buy bottles of pure maple syrup at the grocery store that cost $18. Yes, you read that right. $18. For a SINGLE bottle of syrup. The boy loves his syrup.

So the highlight of the festival is indulging in the syrup they make at the farm. It was divine. Our choices were a maple pork chop or pancakes with syrup. So we all chose the pancakes. Obviously. Something about eating hot pancakes in the crisp (almost!) spring air just warms the soul...and definitely fills the belly. Mmmm...it was delicious!

Getting ready to dive into our plate of pancakes! They were definitely homemade. And since I usually don't eat the pure maple syrup, it tasted especially rich to me! (and no, that's not a scoop of ice cream on the side...that's a generous scoop of butter!)

It really was a beautiful day to be outside...breezy but sunny, and it felt so good to fill our lungs with some fresh air after the horrible winter we've had! The pancakes made it even better. :)

So we learned a little about maple syrup (I still don't think Andra's convinced it comes from a tree), walked the wooded grounds, went on a horse and carriage ride, and indulged in a delicious brunch! It was a good day...definitely worth the trip. oh....and we bought pure maple syrup too. Dave forgot the check book, so we had to limit ourselves to one measley bottle. For $15. :) But we'll savor every last drop!

Did I Dream This?

2011-02-16T17:10:00.000-08:00

Was it really 60 degrees?? In February?? Praise the Lord for the warm temps, snow melt, and breaths of fresh air for all of us!!
'nuff said!

Getting ready for a walk around the 'hood!

Making "Solid" Progress

2011-02-03T09:37:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm embarking on a new adventure in motherhood. I've decided to make--as in homemake--all of Alec's baby food. Yes...peeling, slicing, dicing, blending, and storing. :) I feel a bit like Dianne Keaton in Baby Boom...you know, that 80's movie where she gets rich making baby food. Anyone? Anyone? Well, I happened to LOVE that movie for some weird reason when I was young.

To be honest, I was really nervous about this new goal of mine. But I know other mothers who work full-time (hello, guilt), and still managed to make all of their baby's food and PROMISED it was super easy. And to be honest, I've been pleasantly surprised...mainly because my friend Shannon and I went in together quite a while back and bought this awesome Beaba baby food maker. They say it's all the rage in Europe (and really, how would we know otherwise? It's not like I've been to Europe recently)...and this awesome gadget has now crossed the pond. Shannon used it first with her baby, then passed it down to me, and now I'm learning how to master this mighty little machine.

It intimidated me at first, but now I think I've got the hang of it! So here's the deal...you just prep the food (like I peeled and diced the above sweet potatoes...or even better, dump in a bag of frozen peas!). Then, it steams the food, then blends it...all in about ten minutes, AND, all in one dish...very little clean-up. And WAY cheaper than the jarred stuff. And I must say, I feel a sense of pride making his baby food. So Alec's first taste of "real" food was the above sweet potatoes. And let me tell you, he is INHALING them. Since the sweet potatoes, he's also mastered squash and carrots. Next, we'll add in some fruits!

He's a happy little guy in his high chair. He's becoming quite the little consumer of solid food, and I'm so proud. It's fun to add in new foods and watch his reaction. And he's been an EXCELLENT eater since the day he was born, so it's nice to have more fun with the whole eating-thing this time around (Andra was a horrible eater, which equaled a stressed out Mommy at most feedings!) So, Bon Appetite!

Baby Dedication

2011-01-23T17:33:00.000-08:00

It was a special weekend for our little family of four! We had Alec dedicated at our church on Saturday night. Since everyone keeps asking me...it's not a baptism (although I certainly pray he makes that choice someday!), it's where parents make a promise in front of the congregation to raise their child in a Christian home. We did this with Andra as well...although the girl refuses to pray with us before dinner, we're trying our best!! :) *sigh* The wills of three year-olds... :)

So the moment was significant...although I must admit,we were more than slightly distracted. You see, my typically shy, quiet three year-old decided to show off some less than desirable behavior as we stood on stage. in front of the entire church, mind you. *more sighs* It was nothing incredibly dramatic, but still humilating for a mommy. She refused to stand still, and kept trying to make a bee line for family next to us. You see, each family had been given a baby's bible for the child being dedicated. All the families were standing on stage, and the baby bibles were sitting on the floor in front of each family. Well, Andra decided SHE wanted the bible of our neighboring family because it had a pink post-it on it. Our pink post-it wasn't good enough. She wanted it BAD. So she kept trying to make a run for it and grab it, and Dave had to keep physically pulling her back.
She resisted...
Squirming and arguing ensues...
note to self: trying to reprimand a three year-old in a whisper doesn't work very well...
this is starting to feel like the longest five minutes of my life...
Dave spots an old lady in the congregation shaking her head disapprovingly, as if we have no control over our children...

See? humiliating. (clearly, this woman has either (a) never had children, or (b) long since forgotten the challenges of toddlerhood)

Funny thing is...my sister's family was also having their newborn dedicated. As we're physically wrestling with Andra, I look down a few families only to see my sister also manhandling her three-year old, Garrett! I had to chuckle. The joys of parenthood! My parents were in the congregation, and I wanted to burst out laughing...their hearts must have been bursting with pride knowing THEIR two grandchildren were the two worst-behaved kids on stage! That said, Andra and Garrett are both outstanding, usually well-behaved kids. I think they were in cahoots together to embarrass their parents that night! :) (I was really glad Alec and Callie were being dedicated together...Andra and Garrett, as newborns, were also dedicated together the same night!)

Despite the drama...mission accomplished. We introduced Alec to our church and made a promise that will impact his life and every detail of it. Now I just pray, every day, for wisdom to guide him to God...what an awesome responsibility.

(check out Garrett's face in this one! haha! note: click on the picture for a full screen view to truly appreciate his face-making skills)

Winter Doldrums

2011-01-16T15:00:00.000-08:00

I think we've got a case of the winter doldrums...at least that's the excuse I'm using for not blogging in so long. My "to do" list has seemed a mile long post-holidays. Christmas always brings lots of great new things (and toys!) for our house, so I had to do some serious purging and reorganizing. We have really outgrown our little home, and clutter makes me crazy, so home reorganization had to be completed before blogging. For the sake of my sanity. :)

So we don't have much new to report. Other than happy meal boxes on toddlers' heads....

...and lots more gummy grins from our jolly little guy. He is the most happy-go-lucky baby ever.

Nothing seems to rattle him...other than the blood curdling screams that come from our three year-old on occasion when she's having a tantrum. :) I know parents out there can relate. I think the winter makes it worse...we all need some fresh air and outside play time to blow off some steam! And it's only January...

We did "get out of dodge" over the weekend for a short trip to Purdue to visit my little bro. He's still kicking some serious academic and extra-curricular booty at school. And he's got his own digs too...he's living in an apartment with friends off campus. It was fun to hang out, catch up, and have an excuse to indulge in pizza together.

Until next time!...and I promise to not make it as long. hopefully. :)

Mission Accomplished! (Barely)

2010-12-17T17:41:00.000-08:00

We did it! We got Andra on Santa's lap. By the skin of our teeth. :)

Let me back up. Andra refused to get within 20 feet of Santa last year. She loved seeing him in books and movies, but wanted nothing to do with him in "real life." But this year, she was talking a big talk...saying she'd sit on his lap on one condition: that her blankie could come with her. Fair enough. :)

So we headed to the museum today to see Santa and see if Andra was all talk. She was. Once we got within view of him, she said she didn't want to sit on his lap afterall. So I scooped her up and we started chatting with Santa. Then I plopped Alec on his lap. I think once Andra saw that her baby brother was sitting on Santa's lap and not afraid, she decided she could handle it too. So I plopped her in his lap (with her blankie, of course) and snapped a picture before she had a chance to change her mind. And despite weeks of practicing her list to recite to Santa, I think she was a little star struck once she was on his lap; she couldn't remember a single thing on her list to ask him for!

To be honest, I was a little bah-humbug today. You see, the entire purpose of our trip was for Andra to ride the little train in the Christmas exhibit (her train obsession continues). We'd been talking about the train for several days. When we arrived, we heard a nasty rumor that the train was...BROKEN. And wouldn't be running for a couple more days. I refused to believe it. Upon confirmation of this nasty rumor, I had to break the bad news to Andra. It didn't go over well, and I had a heartbroken, lower-lip-quivering, crying 3 year-old on my hands. She had her heart set on riding that train. My attitude soured even more when an old blue-haired lady declared that my heartbroken little girl was being "crabby." I almost unleashed my mommy fury on her. Crabby?? No. Heartbroken? Definitely.

I squelched her tears with a snack from my purse. Only to be told snacking was not allowed in the museum. So then we decided a fancy lunch in the tea room would help cheer her up. Come to find out, you MUST have reservations to eat in the tea room. Lovely. Next was the Santa visit, where I was required to turn MY camera over to Mrs. Claus to take some crummy pictures from a great distance. Or, of course, I could pay $18 for the professional one (even though I'd just paid FULL museum admission, despite the broken train!). I sweet-talked Mrs. Claus into PLEASE letting me take ONE photo...only to be told I had to stand a certain number of feet away from Santa to be allowed to take my photo with MY camera. Seriously?!? Merry Christmas to you too, Mrs. Claus. Oh, and Santa was right next to the sad little broken train, which was just like rubbing salt in Andra's wounds.

So we settled for greasy pizza in the museum cafeteria, a bit mopey, then headed toward the exit...only to experience our Christmas miracle. A staff member stopped us to tell us the train had been repaired!!! I'd like to kiss the engineer who repaired that train!

This was Andra's response to the good news. :) Too bad old blue-haired lady couldn't see my "crabby" little girl now.

So all was well again in Andra's little world. I guess I should've kept the faith. Lesson learned. :)
Merry Christmas to all, and to all skilled engineers nearby!

Snow Bunnies

2010-12-06T16:40:00.000-08:00

My last day on maternity leave, we spent a little time playing in the snow! It was only a couple inches, so not enough to build a snowman or make snow ice cream...but enough to take Andra on some laps around the house on the sled.

Alec even was introduced to the white stuff! He kept gasping when the cold wind would blow in his face (understandable!), so his first snow experience was short lived. It was before the horribly cold temperatures set in, so Andra and I stayed out for quite awhile. Her favorite part was having a snowball "fight" with Pudge...although he was pretty defenseless. :) We'd throw a snowball at him, and she'd collapse in fits of giggles when he'd try to catch it in his mouth, only to have the snowball explode all over his nose. Really funny to a 3 year-old...and a 30 year-old too! :)

Where'd the time go??

2010-12-01T10:53:00.000-08:00

Whoa.

I just realized it's been a month since I've blogged! That just might be my longest lack of blogging ever. I'd like to apologize to my two loyal readers. ;) But I have a valid excuse. Our hands have been full. Literally...

...and figuratively! Aside from trying to savor my last month of maternity leave, we also made a somewhat spur-of-the-moment decision to put our house up for sale. We hadn't planned on doing it quite so soon after Alec being born, but we saw a golden opportunity and couldn't pass it up. A builder that's actually in our price range (gasp!) started developing a neighborhood in the perfect location. It's got huge yards (a whole half acre...all to ourselves!), beautiful homes, and it's only 90 seconds away from one set of grandparents! See what I mean? Golden.

Well, before we BUY a house, we have to sell our current house. So thus launched a flurry of activity: choosing a realtor, cleaning/repairing our house so it's spotless for showings, and signing piles of paperwork with our builder. It's been exhausting. The great news is we've got a down payment reserving our lot in the new neighborhood. The catch: we have to sell our current home before they'll hammer a single nail. So now it's a game of keeping the house spotless for those last minute showings (and this is a CHALLENGE, as anyone with a three year-old can imagine. We have our own personal Hurricane Andra here who manages to mess up as fast as I can clean up!)

Admist all this added activity, I've been nervously eyeing the calendar...knowing my remaining days of maternity leave were dwindling. The sad count is now down to just four days. *sigh* I'm hopeful it won't be as hard to return to the office this time around as it was with Andra. When I returned to work after having Andra, I was going back to a job that was full-time and I also happened to hate. This time, I'm going back to work only part-time and to a job I love. I'll sure miss kissing Alec's chubby cheeks all day long and seeing what hilarious things Andra is saying, but I know they're in good hands too. I know a lot of Moms would kill to have my schedule, so I'm trying to keep things in perspective. I've got it pretty darn good, and for that I'm very grateful.

So, I had a valid excuse for not blogging for a month, and I'll try not to let it happen ever again. :)

Trick or Treat!

2010-11-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

The kiddos had a great time Trick or Treating this year! It was a little nostalgic...Alec wore the same "chocolate lab" costume that Andra wore her first Halloween. We remembered Andra absolutely being swallowed up by the costume, but our big boy really filled it out! (Keep in mind, their birth dates are only 2 days apart, so Andra was the same age as Alec when she wore it). We both got a good chuckle when we put him in it, and Dave said, "It's almost too small for him!!"

I have to tell you, I think our little guy is going to be quite the charmer. I can't quite explain it...his grins just seem so sweet and yet mischievous at the same time. He often does these lop-sided grins, where he just turns up one corner of his mouth, like he's up to no good! And he just seems to smile SO easily and really connect with people. I remember when Andra was this age having to work REALLY hard for those smiles. She made you earn them! Her personality was just more introspective and contemplative...Alec gives me the impression he's going to be more of an extrovert and quite the charmer.

Andra went trick or treating this year as a witch...but she was very quick to correct anyone that called her just a witch; no, she was a "friendly witch" she'd tell them...because "I'm not wearing a mask." ??? I'm not exactly sure where she picked that up, but she was very adamant that she was NOT wearing a mask, and hence, was a FRIENDLY witch. :) Her costume was handmade by Grandma G.; you won't find a witch's costume THAT cute in the stores! I love homemade costumes...it's like the love is stitched right into them.

She seemed a little proud too that her baby brother was wearing her old costume.

So October has come and gone, and it's hard to believe November has arrived. Only 5 weeks left of maternity leave. *Sigh* I'm trying to soak up every moment!

Say "Cheese!"

2010-10-19T17:23:00.000-07:00

I finally did it! After several failed attempts, I managed to capture one of Alec's adorable little grins on camera!! So here it is...our little guy hamming it up. Good thing he seems to like the camera...this Mama has it out a lot! He's been doing some really good open-mouthed cheerful smiles, but he'd only give me these little grins this morning. I'll take it!

Oh, and did I mention he's in the 99th percentile for height, and 90th percentile for weight?! Big boy!

Other than the big news that Alec is officially smiling--and we have the pictures to prove it!--we're just busy enjoying the autumn. I don't know if my kids will inherit my love of fall, but I'm certainly trying my hardest! We've been hitting all the autumn hotspots...the apple orchard, Zoo Boo, not-so-scary haunted house. Still on the list: pumpkin patch, and a fall festival at Kelsay Farms. There's just something about crisp cool air, apple cider and cozy sweatshirts that just make me giddy. And if I can manage to hear a drumline practicing in the distance...well, that's a whole new level of giddiness. I'm a nerd. (the result of the countless fall marching band contests that defined my teen years)

So here are a couple shots from the apple orchard...

And I'm so proud of Andra...rather than just licking off all the carmel like she did last year, she actually ate the APPLE part too this season! All the way to the core! 'atta girl!

A Little About Alec

2010-10-04T14:25:00.000-07:00

The newest member of our family has been living with us for about three weeks now, and we're all getting to know each other a little better. So far, he seems to have the same mild temperment as Andra (thank goodness!). In stark contrast to his big sister, however, this little guy EATS. A lot.

Some cute little things that make our little man even cuter:

First things first...he's another blondie, with blue eyes that seem to get bluer with each passing day. I was stunned when I had my FIRST blonde child...and a little dumbfounded that my dominant genes failed to be dominant AGAIN when Alec showed his blonde little head. Dave keeps hogging all the DNA. But I have to admit...I have a very special place in my heart for my blonde-haired, blue-eyed babies.

He's got fuzzy hair on his ears like an old man. :)

He has the cutest little dimple on his left cheek when he grins (which so far, he's only smiled in his sleep. And after his 1 a.m. feeding last night, he let out a really solid chuckle that shook his whole body. What on earth do babies think and dream about that make them laugh??)

He has beautiful, long lashes. Way longer than Andra's. Doesn't seem fair that God gives the boy the long lashes!

He has the same gorgeous heart-shaped lips as Andra.

He has absurdly long toes (like his Uncle J). And his pinky toes have a mind of their own. They're always doing something completely different than the rest of his toes. It makes me laugh.

And we've yet to get through a single bath without him peeing in the water, or peeing on me once I get him OUT of the water. Although karma got him once when he peed during a diaper change, and instead of spraying me, the poor little guy sprinkled himself all over his face! That one was post-bath too. *sigh* Kinda defeats the purpose of getting clean.

But perhaps what's most special about Alec is that he came at a time when my family needed him most. My grandma was recently diagnosed with cancer, and it soon became clear that her days were numbered. She had a serious surgery in early September...right around the time Alec was due. We'd visit her in the hospital (ironically, the same hospital where he would be born), and she'd always tease me when I walked in to visit: "Haven't you had that baby yet?!?!"

Well, we did have that baby...one week after her 90th birthday. I'm so grateful the two got to meet each other before she passed away. In her final weeks, our little guy got to visit her a couple times, and she really seemed to light up when she held him, which truly warmed my heart. I hope it helped her forget her painful condition...if only for a few fleeting moments.

It's been a bittersweet intersection for my family; watching one life begin and another come to an end. My grandma died today, October 4, in a condition that I'd rather forget. Instead, I'll always try to remember my grandma as the plump, jolly lady who loved a good tease and could talk sports with the best of 'em. And always popped out her dentures for a good laugh when we were little (it took a little extra prodding once we were "grown ups" :) We love you, Grandma, and you will be sorely missed. Please watch over our family from up above.

(My grandma and her two daughters: Carolyn (left) and my mom (right)

Alec David is Here!

2010-09-18T12:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have exactly 17 minutes before both kiddos wake up from afternoon naps. Although this is a post I certainly don't want to rush...such is the life of a mother of two! :)

Most of you already know, but our little miracle Alec David joined us on September 10 at 5:14pm...after another ridiculously easy labor. I pushed exactly four times through four contractions (about 10 minutes), and he was here! I was induced at about 11:30am, so I really didn't labor for very long.

As I look back on that day, now about two weeks later, a few moments are captured in my mind like little unforgettable snapshots. I, of course, remember the moment he was laid on my chest...all warm and snuggly. I didn't want to let go...and I didn't for a really long time. :) It's amazing to me how those first few moments, everything else just fades away. All the other action going on in the room...my sister taking photos, Dave cutting the cord, the doctor continuing all his "work"...it's all like fuzzy background to me. Like none of it was even going on; I don't remember any of that happening. I just remember my little man snuggling with me and the sweet bliss of finally seeing him face to face.

A second moment that I'll forever treasure is when Andra walked into the delivery room to meet her baby brother. The entourage of grandparents were so kind to let her be the first to walk in. The smile and excitement on her face is forever burned in my memory. I'm so grateful my sister captured it on camera...my little gal walking in with nothing buy joy written all over her face. Oh, how I hope they're great friends someday! Ironically, we actually brought her baby brother home on her third birthday, Sept. 12. We'd already celebrated with a party weeks earlier, and she really didn't even KNOW it was her birthday...but it was surreal to think on the day Andra was born three years earlier, we brought home another little miracle. God is good.

So here we are. A family of four. Mother of two. Life at home has been going relatively smoothly (other than the first couple days home, when Andra came down with an ugly virus that sent us to the hospital twice. Those are a couple days I'd like to forget!)

I think it hits me the most at nighttime...this whole "mother of two" thing. I've gotten into the habit of always sneaking into Andra's room before I go to bed just to check on her...make sure she's under the blankets, has all her animals close by and is snoozing peacefully. Now, I leave her room, walk about six feet down the hall into ANOTHER room. Where my other baby is sleeping (hopefully!). Something about walking into TWO rooms, checking on TWO miracles...it gets me every night. It's like I can physically feel my heart warm...it feels so FULL. I don't really know how to describe it. I wonder when checking on two kiddos won't feel so "new"?? Well, I love that feeling, and for now, I'm just gonna enjoy it.

Waiting Waiting Waiting...

2010-09-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is Labor Day, and I was pretty darn certain that I'd have a baby in my arms by now...but this little guy has apparently got a mind of his own! The doctor had led me to believe that I'd probably be induced around 39 weeks...but 39 weeks came and went, and the doctor seems confident we can give the little guy until 40 weeks to come on his own. Beyond that, he's concerned his size could make for a difficult delivery, so.... the final verdict seems to be that unless he comes on his own before then, I'll be induced first thing Friday morning, Sept. 10. It's a little ironic, considering that's been his due date all along! Maybe he just likes to be punctual. :)

So we're (not so) patiently waiting...and I'm trying to just let this process be in God's hands. I really don't want to be induced--I loved the surprise of waking up in the middle of the night with Andra's delivery--but I'm also trusting that our little man will enter the world exactly how he's meant to. Andra's getting really excited, and keeps asking how many more days until her baby brother is born. I don't have an EXACT answer to that, but at least we now have an idea! Until then...

Final Preparations

2010-08-27T17:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I think we're ready. At least...as ready as you can ever be to bring a new little human being into the world. I felt rushed getting ready for the arrival of our little man; it was an entirely different experience this time around. With Andra, we had all the time in the world to organize, reorganize and get the house ready to bring a baby home. With this little man, the only time I could get anything done was during naptime or bedtime! But we managed...and by golly...I feel--for the most part!--prepared to bring our little guy home. At least I think so.

Now that his arrival is likely only days away, we took Andra to Build a Bear to make a stuffed animal for her baby brother (I totally stole this clever idea from a friend!). She chose a dog (not suprisingly), and had a blast making him. Her favorite part was giving him a "bath," and here she is cleaning his ears.

Since she has a Colts shirt, Andra decided her baby brother's doggie needed a Colts shirt too. She picked out an entire outfit for him, and sealed it with a kiss. :)

She's really attached to "Doggie" (she chose his name too)...and PROMISES she'll give him to her baby brother when he's born. We'll see. :) In the meantime, she sure is taking good care of him. I have a feeling "Doggie" is going to be a little broken in already by the time baby brother gets him. She did seem proud to have something special to bring to the hospital for him.

One of our final preparations was pulling all the baby "gadgets" out of the attic. We got down the pack 'n play, baby swing, bouncey seat, and infant tub. It's amazing what a little person requires! Andra LOVES having all these new gadgets to play with, and "bouncey seat" has officially entered her vocabuarly. She spent the entire day today taking "Doggie" from one gadget to another...his two favorite seem to be the swing and bouncey seat. At least that's what Andra says. I have a feeling we may be replacing the batteries before the little guy even makes it home! Here she is giving him a bath (the towel is over Doggie's eyes, because that's how we wash her hair). I'm thrilled that she's so nurturing and seems really excited to bring her baby brother home...I hope it lasts!

So here we are...likely about a week or so away from meeting our new little miracle. It still seems surreal to me. It likely won't sink in until he's put in my arms. It's so amazing to me that this little creature we're about to bring into the world will eventually grow into a little person just like Andra has...I know that will be an incredible and fun journey...so that's what I'm trying to focus on. But I'd be lieing if I didn't say I'm scared too. :) Until next time...

Andra's 3 ! Sort of. Ok, not really.

2010-08-22T18:43:00.000-07:00

This was a big weekend in our little household...we celebrated Andra's third birthday! I say "celebrated" because, technically, she's really not 3 years old yet. Her birthday (Sept. 12) is exactly two days after her baby brother's due date (Sept. 10). Rather than try to have a birthday party with a newborn to care for, we decided to have her birthday party a few weeks early this year. She too young to know the difference. :)

This year, it had to be Thomas the Tank Engine-themed, of course. She LOVES all things Thomas and still is nuts about her Thomas train table...so, not surprisingly, she asked for a Thomas birthday party.

So...I felt compelled this year to make Andra's birthday cake myself. My mom made some of the cutest cakes for us when we were young, so I feel like it's my motherly duty to make her cake. I found a really cute engine-shaped Thomas cake decorating kit online, and the pictures made it look really simple to assemble and ice...nevermind that I'm a complete cake rookie. I'll figure it out, I told myself.

So about $40 later in cake gadgets that I had NO idea how to use, I decided to do a practice run of this Thomas cake about a month before the party. Welllll...if you want all the gory details, you can talk to Dave (who witnessed my mental and emotional breakdown) or call my mom (who cleaned up the emotional mess).

Let's just say the practice run went miserably and I ended up in tears. Lots and lots of tears. There's even one particularly nasty rumor of a spatula being thrown across the kitchen in frustration...I deny all such accusations. And if such a thing WERE to happen, I'd blame it entirely on raging pregnancy hormones. This cake was nearly the death of me. Anyway, I called my mom in tears...beyond tears really...having an emotional breakdown over a stupid cake...then decided to call in the professionals to make my little gal's cake. Her name is Donna Bricker, and she's a miracle worker. Also happened to make our wedding cake. And here is the beautiful result or her incredible talent!! Needles to say, Andra LOVED it and it physically pained me to cut into it. It really brought to life the saying "you can't have your cake and eat it too."

She made me laugh (as usual)...when everybody was singing Happy Birthday to her, she sang too. It was so funny...I don't know why, it just cracked me up. Then she blew out her candles like a big girl (with a little help from Mom, since she kept blowing through her two front teeth)

My little gal. (Almost) three years old. How does that happen? It makes me teary to just think of it. THREE sounds so old. She's becoming such a little person...we can have conversations, she can tell me what's on her mind, and when she disagrees with me. :) I love the little girl she's becoming...so sweet, so smart, and so unconventional with her love of trains and all things mechanical (a future engineer, I've decided). When I get sad about how fast she's growing, I always try to remind myself how incredibly blessed I am to have a healthy and growing little girl. She's my angel. :) (Now let's just hope she's got a baby brother to celebrate with in a few weeks on her REAL birthday!)

A Special Photo Shoot

2010-08-04T13:12:00.000-07:00

Andra and I had a special mommy & me date a few weeks ago, but I wanted to wait to blog about it until I could include the pictures!

It had been over a year-and-a-half since we'd had any professional photos taken of her, so I decided to have her "three year" photos taken a little early...since her actual birthday in mid-September is also her little brother's due date. I was afraid if we didn't do them now, we'd never get around to it.

So Andra and I spent the morning at the JC Penney photo studio and had a lot of fun. She was in a great mood, so she gave us lots of smiles. Here's a few of my favorites... (this is her Easter dress that, so far, she's only worn on Easter Sunday. I LOVE this dress and was tickled to pull it back out of her closet!)

The photographer told us to bring something that she loves to have some photos taken with. Well, duh. Her blankie. She hardly goes anywhere without it, and NEVER sleeps without it. Her Great Aunt Carolyn made it for her before she was even born, and it has become THE blankie.

I also wanted to have a few maternity photos taken with Andra for posterity's sake. I love the one of Andra checking out her belly! Earlier in my pregnancy, she used to always tell me SHE had a baby in her belly too. (If you click on the photos, you can see a much larger image of them)

We had a great morning together, and she was so well behaved, I wanted to treat us to a special lunch (ok, ok...I really just wanted to treat MYSELF to a nice lunch!). So we headed to Cheesecake Factory for a "fancy lunch" just the two of us and had a blast. She amazes me...I really feel like she's a dining companion now...we can sit there and have a conversation. I love it. I hope she'll always want to go to lunch with her Mom. And it took every ounce of willpower I had to get our cheesecake to go so I could share it with Dad that night. :)

Tahoe Getaway

2010-07-30T11:53:00.000-07:00

You know how sometimes in life the stars just seem to align and you have to pinch yourself because you feel so lucky? Well, that happened to me and Dave when we found out we'd get to take a trip together to Lake Tahoe. Dave had to go to Reno for a week for work training, and as luck would have it, an incredibly generous friend of mine offered her vacation condo in Lake Tahoe to us! So, after Dave's week-long training, I flew out to meet him, and we spent an awesome long weekend together in Lake Tahoe. And by the way, it's just as beautiful as everyone says. These pictures don't do it justice, but you'll get the idea!

While it was a little hard for me to leave Andra at home (four nights was the longest I'd ever been away from her), I also knew it'd be really nice for Dave and I to reconnect before our lives are turned upside down again with the arrival of the baby. So Andra got to spend some special time with her grandparents, which is always a treat for her! She was spoiled rotten, of course, and I was even informed that one night she had ice cream and M&Ms for dinner. :) The girl knows how to play her cards right.

One of our favorite activities in Tahoe was a tour of the lake on board the Tahoe Queen. It took us to Emerald Bay, which was breathtaking! We went all the way back into the bay, and the mountains were just towering over us. It was incredible.

This next picture is from one of our favorite discoveries we made while in Tahoe...Memorial Point. It's a lookout just off the main drag, and a short hike leads you to this (and several) other incredible views. The water was an amazing turquoise in some spots, a rich blue in the deeper areas, and crystal clear! It made you just want to jump in! ...but oh man, was it COLD! The lake is all snow run-off from the mountains, so the temperature in most places is in the 60s. Brrrr! We did get in a few times, but usually not for very long! The locals call it "refreshing." :) um, okay.

At Memorial Point together... this spot both brought us back to our honeymoon. It reminded us of a picnic spot we discovered on the coast of Maui! (Crystal, GO THERE! It's in the Hawaii book I sent you!)

We also took a gondola ride to the top of a mountain for some incredible views. Dave is terrified of heights, so the ride up wasn't so pleasant for him, but he did it for me. What a guy. ;)

The view from the top. Dave admitted it was worth the terrifying gondola ride. :)

One night we had a casual picnic on the beach and watched the sunset. So relaxing and so beautiful!

As if the gondola ride wasn't enough, I also made Dave drive this hairpin-turn road to the top of a mountain to reach Donner Pass. I'm pretty sure he wanted to kill me with his bare hands (if he could have taken them off the wheel) on the way up, but we survived the trip and were rewarded with another incredible view! (In my defense, I offered to drive many times, but he refused) Again, he thought the view was pretty incredible once we made it to the top. :)

We had such an amazing time together and finished our trip with a romantic, relaxing sunset dinner lakeside with a great view of a marina (below) and the mountains in the distance. I had the best salmon I've probably ever eaten in my life (and I eat a lot of salmon!), and dessert was divine. It was called Hula Pie, and was a giant slice of Macadamia Nut ice cream pie about as big as your head. When it arrived on our table, we thought we'd never be able to eat it all. And then we did. :) Dave even accused me of licking the chocolate syrup off the plate. I blamed it on the baby. :) I should've taken a picture of the pie, darnit.

So we came back relaxed, rejuvenated and (hopefully!) a little bit more ready to embrace the chaos of a new baby arriving. It was an incredible getaway, and we're already wanting to take the "kids" back someday! There were some water sports I couldn't take part in (belly in the way) and lots of fun family activities we'd like to do too. So, until next time, Tahoe...

Under the Sea

2010-07-11T06:57:00.000-07:00

We hit the road this weekend and went on a little day trip to the Newport Aquarium near Cincinnati. We wanted to do something special with Andra...we'd originally planned on taking a summer trip to Chicago for a long weekend, but somehow the summer seems to be getting awfully short as the arrival of her baby brother gets closer and closer. So we stayed a bit closer to home.

Andra's always liked fish (she likes any animal, really!), but we borrowed Grandma's copy of Finding Nemo to get her extra prepared (come to find out she's still a little young for that movie...we fast forward through most of it and only watch the "happy" parts!). So she was ecstatic to see a tank full of Nemos! ("Mee-mos")

We'd gotten an early start on the day, and had the exhibits almost entirely to ourselves before any crowds arrived. Her favorite exhibit was the Frog Bog. They had large frogs she could climb all over, and she made fast friends with the blue one, of course. You gotta kiss a lot of toads before you find your handsome prince! ;)

Dave even got to indulge his shark obsession. Really, this guy is fascinated with sharks. It's kind of amusing. So he was entranced by the shark tank...which Andra seemed a little intimidated by...not too surprisingly.

We ended our morning with "lunch by the bridges." It was a beautiful, breezy day, so we had lunch in the shade at a waterfront restaurant. It was really a perfect morning. Helloooo, belly!

Aftewards, we headed to the nearby Ikea to a get a couple items to help convert our office to a nursery and make room for baby. WHOA. That place is awesome! I'm definitely a fan and will be making future trips there when we need things for the house. That place needs its own zip code! It was a successful trip and we got what we needed. Deep breath. I'm feeling a little bit more prepared for this little guy! :)

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-06T17:28:00.000-07:00

Wishing you a belated Happy 4th of July from our all-American gal!

Andra got to see her first-ever firework display, and it was a big hit! I thought the noise might scare her, but she sat in my lap the entire time with a big grin, big eyes, and a look of awe on her face. When the show was over and everyone started packing up, she started to cry and said "I don't want to go bye-bye! I like this place." :)

We spent the rest of our holiday weekend starting to convert our office/den to the baby's room. Yes, I said "starting." For those who know me, it's really hard to believe that I--Type A, always-way-ahead planner--didn't start this process until my third trimester. I find it a little surprising too that I waited so long, but it's for two big reasons. Reason #1: we spend a lot of time in the office; we're kind of computer geeks and I work in there on the days I work from home, so I was putting off giving up that space until I absolutely had to. Reason #2: this room also houses the most important piece of furniture in our house: Andra's Thomas the Train table. :) It'll find a new home, begrudgingly, in our formal dining room, because that's the only space big enough for it. *sigh* I'm pretty confident new-house-shopping will begin in earnest once the baby's about six months old and we're through that really tough newborn stage. I'm a little stressed about everything that needs to get done in that room before the baby's arrival, but I'm trying to just take it one step at a time. It'll all get done.

So we let Andra have a little fun with the walls, since we'll be repainting very soon and having new carpet installed. I hope I don't regret this. :) I explained (several times) this painting on the wall activity was a ONE TIME thing!

Andra Meets Her Buddy Thomas!

2010-06-27T13:32:00.000-07:00

When I had a little girl, I never dreamed her favorite toys would include tools, trains and definitely NOT babydolls...but come to think of it, I'm not a big fan of the whole "princess" scene, so I actually enjoy the nonconformity of it all. And you should see how this girl's face lights up at the sight of trains...especially her FAVORITE train toy: Thomas the Tank Engine. My parents got her a Thomas train table for Christmas, and I couldn't even begin to count the number of hours she's stood at that table...completely entertained, completely wrapped up in her imagination, and completely in love with Thomas and all of his engine friends.

So, when the "real" Thomas made a stop in a town not too terribly far from us, of course we had to make the trip! Andra got to meet Thomas face to face and go for a ride in a passenger car pulled by Thomas. They had about every Thomas activity you could dream up, and we sampled a little bit of everything...including the store, of course, where Andra got to pick out a couple things. Yep, we're total suckers.

Here she is clearly tickled to meet her buddy face to face!...she had to wear to Thomas engineer hat all day too!

Taking a ride on Thomas...

So sweet. Please, please don't ever grow up.

A trip to Holiday World!

2010-06-18T18:28:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, Andra and I took a little road trip just the two of us to Holiday World! To be completely honest, I was a bit nervous about going. About six months pregnant, I've had a few episodes of queasiness in the heat lately...and I knew we'd be spending the entire day in the heat at the amusement park. Plus, Andra and I had to make the trip on our own because Dave had to work that day. Three hours in the car with a 2 year-old and no assistance made me a little uneasy. But my desire to "live it up" with Andra this summer and capture every opportunity we can won me over...and so we made the trip! And I'm SO GLAD we did...what a fun day!!!

We also met up with my older sister (who's a nurse) and her two kids, plus my sister's friend (who also happens to be a nurse) and her three kids...so I knew even if disaster struck, we'd be in good hands! :)

Andra was an absolute angel in the car. We set up the portable DVD player, and she was quiet as a mouse the entire way there and back...you hardly even knew she was in the backseat! We got the DVD player for her for Christmas, and this was the first time we used it...it's worth its weight in gold!

We hit the rides first thing in the morning before it got too hot. One reason I decided to make the trip was because the park has a huge amount of rides for kids her age, so I knew we'd get our money's worth. Here she is on the pint-size carousel. She was so proud to go on the rides all by herself.

My nephew Garrett and niece Zayda on the carousel.

She flew an airplace too with her cousin Garrett...a blue one, of course!

June 16, 2010. 12:05pm. The moment Andra found her personal bliss. Her two favorite things combined: ice cream and the color blue! A little lick of heaven on earth for my little gal!

"What blue mustache, Mom?"

One of our greatest discoveries that day was a splash park in one of the kid areas. It was her first splash park, and she went NUTS for it! She ran and splashed and ran and splashed for nearly an hour! This girl was down right giddy.

To avoid the heat, we went to the water park after lunch when it was really starting to heat up. I was, again, impressed with everything they had for little ones her age. We hung out in a toddler pool for awhile, but the lazy river was calling my name...so off we went.

Let me tell you...the two of us trying to get ourselves arranged in the lazy river was an ugly, ugly sight. We'd beat my sister and her kids to the water park, so it was just the two of us...and perhaps when I MOST felt Dave's absence! It took me several minutes to figure out how to get my six month pregnant self into an innertube (look, I've never been able to do that gracefully even when I'm NOT pregnant, add a huge belly to the equation, and it's down right ugly)...on top of that, I had to figure out a way to get into the innertube quickly, grab Andra, get her in the inner tube with me--all while not being swept away in the current! It was embarrasing...and ugly...I'm pretty sure I saw parents hiding their childrens' eyes. :) But we eventually made it into the tube...and floating peacefully in that river just the two of us, with my little gal chatting away with me, was probably my favorite part of the day. We made 3 laps. :)

So it was a wildly successful trip. We got to spend some fun quality time with Garrett and Zayda, had a great mommy & me trip, and came back exhausted, but happy!

Zoobilation and Horses with the Girls

2010-06-12T17:43:00.000-07:00

This is the beauty of still being in the media...but only part-time. I still get to experience some of the really cool perks, but without all the negatives that can come with a full-time job in media (also deserving credit is my awesome boss!)

This weekend, our company was treated to "the party of the year" in our city: Zoobilation! I was so excited! Dave and I have heard about the event, and always wanted to go, but balked at the ticket prices. We got to go for free! It's a black-tie event, so I got to see my handsome hubby in a tux...which is a sight I haven't seen since our wedding day. It was really fun to have a reason to get all dressed up and enjoy a night out on the town.

Posing for pictures outside my parent's house felt a bit reminscent of senior prom...mostly because I had the same date. :) How 'bout that? Except this time around, there was an additional cute blondie in the pictures, plus another baby on board!

We had a total blast. There were over 40 restaurants there--some of the fanciest in the city...all with booths with free samples of some of the best stuff on their menus. I had a little bit of EVERYTHING...it was divine! From sweets to savory...we covered all the bases. And Dave drank enough for both of us ;) ...the drinks were free too!

Here's all the ladies I work with...oh, and my boss Gerry. :) I'm so lucky to have such fun and talented coworkers. I'm not sure what Roz (my boss's wife) is whispering in Andrea's ear, but I'm guessing it had something to do with Andrea's cute new boyfriend who is taking the picture.

Before you think Dave and I got all the special treatment this weekend...Andra had a special outing too! My best girlfriend Crystal is home from California (where she's a golf pro) for a few weeks. Crystal, Shannon and I became best friends in the 8th grade and have been ever since. I can't really describe what these two girls mean to me...they're like my girl "soul mates." Since Crystal lives in California now, it's pretty special when the three of us can get together. So we arranged a morning at Crystal's house where our little girls could ride Crystal's horses. What a treat! The girls (big AND little) had a blast...you can tell by the looks on their faces.

The crew...with hubbies and kids.

Shannon and her daughter Mady getting a good laugh.

Andra going for a ride on Ginger.

I don't think she was having a very good time, do you? ;)

A special thanks to Crystal for her patience with two 2 year-olds, and my Dad who tagged along and got the great photos!

A Memorable Memorial Day Weekend

2010-05-30T17:59:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun and memorable Memorial Day weekend this year. With a baby on the way, I really want to 'live it up' with my little gal this summer and embrace every opportunity! We'll all be exhausted by the time it's over. :) So, in addition to picking strawberries on Friday (see previous post!).....

On Saturday, we headed downtown for the 500 Festival Parade. It was the first year that Andra's been, and she loved every minute of it! I was SO glad we went...and even MORE glad that I had scored some media passes to get us in free (and possible maneuver ourselves into some nice seats)! We arrived early, found a great spot in the shade (shade, glorious shade!) right by the parade start line (thank you, media passes), acted like we belonged there...and had a great view for the show.

I had no idea what to expect--it's been almost 10 years since I've been to the parade!--but Andra was tickled pink when her favorite Sesame Street characters showed up larger-than-life ...Elmo, Bert and Ernie! What a treat!

You can see she was pretty excited to see Elmo especially! Seeing the joy on her face makes all the sweat and effort of getting there totally worth it!

I took this one just for you, Dad and Uncle J!

And this one for no other reason than to brag about my precious little girl. Those sweet baby blues and beautiful face melt my heart every single day. ...*sigh*... could someone please freeze time? No more growing.

On Saturday, we woke up early with big plans...our annual Monon biking trip. We start in Broadripple, bike to Carmel...have lunch on the trail...then bike back to Broadripple; about 15 miles round trip. And this year, we had a new guest join us...my dad! Andra was giddy to have "Pa" along for the ride! He'd never been along the Monon before, and he was fresh off Mini training, so I knew he'd be up for the challenge (and he always told us he wanted to experience the Monon...so "experience" we did!)

Andra joined us for the ride in her trailer, and we all pedaled the distance and had a lot of fun. Dad even had his first-ever elk burger when we dined at Bub's (elk is much leaner and healthier than beef, but you can't even tell the difference!...why don't they sell this stuff at the grocery??). The morning was beautiful, but it got a little hot just as we were finishing. My pregnant bod held up really well (because Dave pulled Andra!)...but my rump's a little sore from the saddle! It's my goal to add a family member to our trip each year (that means you're next, Mom!) oh wait, we'll have a baby next year too! yikes!

Andra and Pa taking a load off before lunch!

Hot, sweaty, and totally preggers...attractive, eh? :)

On tap for the final day of our long weekend...absolutely nothing!

My Little Strawberry Shortcake

2010-05-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

Andra and I headed to the strawberry patch this morning and got waaaaaaaay more strawberries than our little family of three is capable of eating. Andra insisted on calling it the "strawberry orchard"...so she apparently remembers our trip to the apple orchard last fall! Smart girl. It's the same concept afterall: gettin' dirty picking our own fruit from the field! So funny the connections they make at this age.

Andra loves filling baskets up with things, so this was right up her alley! I told her to only pick the ones that were bright red, and she got right down to business.

So a few got squished along the way...but I knew I'd be squishing them anyway to make topping for strawberry shortcake...so a little squishing didn't hurt anything. :) She actually impressed me with how well she was able to pull them off the vines.

She was so proud of her loot and kept telling me everyone she was going to share them with, running down the list of names of every member in our extended family!

I hesitate to tell you the most interesting part of our trip to the strawberry "orchard," but I should probably include it for posterity's sake; so someday when Andra's 16, I can look back at this and laugh, remembering what it was like to be in the trenches of potty training (we're ALMOST fully trained, but still have our share of accidents).

I'm sure you can all guess. About 15 minutes into picking, Andra tells me she needs to go potty. Like now. (like all 2 year-olds, she has impeccable timing) I look around slightly panicked... assuming the market even HAS a toilet, that's a good 500 yards away. Way too far to walk and make it in time. I doubt we'd even make it in the car fast enough. Plus, we're about 20 yards deep in the patch. Kind of a cumbersome climb out for a 6-month pregnant lady and her 2 year-old. Time is of the essence when she says she's got to go. So, I do what any mom would do in this situation. Scoot away from any judgemental eyes, help her drop trough, and do her business in the middle of the strawberry patch! (She pointed out that's how Pudge goes to the bathroom. Yet another keen observation I couldn't really argue with!)

Please don't judge. Trust me, you would've done the same thing in my shoes. Look, I avoided all strawberries, and we stayed strictly in the dirt path between berries. And it was only #1...so the gross factor wasn't really there. Then we finished picking strawberries. (ok, I can hear every non-parent out there saying "ewwwww, gross!" And every parent totally gets it)

[awkward transition goes here]

Anyway, here's some of our beautiful bounty. I gave one basket to the neighbors and kept a basket for us. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some delicious strawberry shortcake calling my name! (those farm picked berries really DO taste better!)

Rookie Run

2010-05-24T18:14:00.000-07:00

Andra's been really into running ("unning") lately...most likely because she knows her Daddy frequently goes on runs ("uns"). She'll even run non-stop the ENTIRE way to the pond in our neighborhood, which is well over two blocks. So when the Rookie Run rolled around this year (part of the 500 Festival), I couldn't resist signing her up. It's a short little 2-block race downtown. Confession: I even fibbed about her age. The kids are supposed to be at least three years old (Andra won't be three until September). I figured what's a few months? So I signed her up anyway...and she definitely held her own against all those three year-olds!

Here she is showing off her race number. She was so proud when I pinned it on her...it was like her little chest just puffed up with pride.

Andra even had her own cheering section! Check out Paw's shirt!

I saw her doing these odd movements over by the stroller, and when I asked her what she was doing, she said "Stetching. Like Daddy." Stretching, of course! Silly me. Monkey see, monkey do.

Here she is headed into the starting corral with Daddy. Dave said when they got to the start line, she told him she didn't want to let go of his finger (perhaps a little stage fright?).

So off they ran, with Andra keeping a grip on Daddy's finger.

Seeing Dave out on the Mini course each May, I've often imagined that maybe Andra will run with her Dad someday (especially if she runs faster than Mom!). I just hope, by then, she might be willing to let go of his finger. :) For now, I guess we'll just savor these finger-gripping days while we've still got 'em!

For Giggles

2010-05-17T16:39:00.000-07:00

Not much new to report in our household. We had a pretty lazy weekend, and spent about two hours in Andra's new favorite playing spot...our bed. Here's a funny video of her playing with Pudge's toy. She thought it was SO FUNNY when he'd jump up and put his paws on the bed to grab the toy. I love hearing her giggle...it's one of the BEST sounds in the world! (And yes, those are "boy" Thomas jammies she's wearing. I gave up finding Thomas Train underwear, so the jammies are the best I could do. A mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do!)

The other new development in my family is that my little brother leaves for Australia this week! He'll be spending two months of his summer vacation "studying" in Sydney! Lucky guy, huh? It was a selective program, so I'm really proud of him for being chosen. Being a homebody myself, I also think it takes guts to travel halfway around the world alone. I also studied abroad in my college years, but I went with my big sister...so I had a travel companion genetically obligated to hang out with me. :)

Jonathan is a social butterfly (can a boy be a "butterfly?"), so I have no doubt he'll be making friends quickly in the land down under...if not on the plane. You can follow all his adventures on his blog "Boiler Outback," which he promises to update frequently! (did you hear that, Jonathan? FREQUENTLY) http://www.boileroutback.blogspot.com/
You'll find a link to his blog just to the left of this post...under "My Fellow Bloggers." Bon Voyage, JD! We love you and will miss you! Bring us back something really cool. :)

Oh Belly!

2010-05-10T17:42:00.000-07:00

This is for the few of you who have prodded me to see some belly shots! Yes, I've been taking them this time around, just like I did when I was pregnant with Andra. So here are Months 3, 4, and 5 (taken just last night!)...back by popular demand!

Haha! See that little blonde head in the bottom left corner? That's my little gal posing with me. :)

Mini 2010

2010-05-08T17:13:00.000-07:00

Another Mini Marathon is in the books! I'd say two words describe this year's Mini: COLD and WINDY. oh...and fast too...Dave ran his fastest Mini ever, finishing the 13.1 miles in one hour and 37 minutes! That beat his fastest time by 6.5 minutes! He worked really hard training this year, so I was happy to see it pay off for him. Here he is about 30 yards from the finish...that's him in the traffic cone orange shirt. I could only get his backside...that's how fast he was going! :) Plus, I was trying to manage the camera, the 2 year-old, and get his attention all at the same time!

Here's Andra celebrating with Daddy after his run. That's my medal she's wearing...I just did the 5K this year since baby's on board. It was my fastest walking pace ever...I took 6 minutes off my time for walking three miles, compared to the pace I walk three miles in our neighborhood (which is always with Pudge). So, I did some calculation, and that means I spend about 2 minutes per mile picking up his poop, stopping so he can "mark" every mailbox on the street and sniff every curious smell we come across.

Yes, that's a stocking cap I'm wearing. In May. Gosh, it was cold! And SO windy...I felt like the wind beat up on me all morning long!

Andra "helping" Daddy stretch after his run.

In other news, I've been getting lots of special treatment this Mother's Day. Andra gave me some windchimes I've really been wanting for our screened in porch (my FAVORITE "room" in our house!), and Dave gave me an awesome new workout shirt that even fits over my belly...for now. I was treated to Starbucks this morning, and I'm being taken out to a nice dinner tonight! Hope all my mother readers out there are getting some special treatment too.

Meet Chester

2010-05-02T06:45:00.000-07:00

Speaking of new additions to our family, I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of our household. You can call him... "Chester."

I've wanted "Chester" the chest freezer for a really long time, and when the reality of adding a new person to our household began to set in, I think Dave began to realize the need for a chest freezer too! In our kitchen, we only have a side-by-side fridge/freezer...which means our freezer space is pretty limited...tall and narrow. While we've always managed to fit everything in there, I dreaded coming home from the grocery with bags full of frozen foods and trying to make space for it all...I felt like I was playing Tetris!

The most frustrating part of having only a side-by-side was that I couldn't take advantage of sales at the grocery store. I'm not a huge bargain shopper, but I do get a small thrill when I save money. It would physically pain me to pass up the "buy one, get one free" sales on bags of frozen staples like chicken or tilapia, simply because we didn't have freezer space for it. I even bought "Chester" himself for a bargain! We paid for about half of it using our debit reward points, so we got it for almost nothing. (Cha-ching!!) Chester's photo is a little old...he's already filling up with the bounty of my bargain shopping!

I'm also ambitiously planning on (deep breath) making all of our own baby food for the little guy. The Gerber stuff is just way too expensive, and I have no excuse NOT to make our own, because one of my best friends and I went in together and bought this fancy schmancy Baby Beaba
(http://www.beabausa.com/product-babycook.cfm) baby food maker that does all the hard work for you (steamer, blender, warmer and defroster all in one!). It was a bit of investmnent, but I know it will save us money in the long run. So I need a place to freeze and store all that baby food!

Ok, I've talked way too long about my new chest freezer.

I've been a bit sluggish in my blogging lately...it's just so beautiful outside that we're always playing in the fresh air or running off to the playground, so here's a couple small updates.

Here's Andra getting her first haircut! Don't worry, you can hardly tell. It was getting a little straggly in back, so she needed a trim. I must've scared the hairdresser with my emotional pleas of "don't take too much off," because you can't even tell she got a cut. :) (I'm sure it's coincidence, but doesn't the stylist's face look like "oh my gosh, this crazy mom is gonna go psycho on me if i cut off too much!")

We also spent one lovely spring morning at a baseball game. Andra had a blast and lasted WAY longer than last season, when she got bored and wanted to go home after about 20 minutes (immediately after polishing off her chocolate malt). We made it all the way to the 5th innning, and left only because I still wanted her to catch her afternoon nap. We had a picnic, ice cream and lots of giggles. It was a great mommy & me outing.

The Mini is this weekend...Dave's running and going for his best time ever. I'll be going for by best time ever too...because I'm only walking the 5K (being pregnant is the best excuse ever not to run the 13 miles)! My dad's also walking/running it too. It's his second year, so he's apparently been bitten by the bug as well. The Mini's addictive. Photos to come, no doubt!

It's a...

2010-04-22T17:06:00.000-07:00

BOY!!

And I think I'm finally getting over the shock. :)

I tried not to put any weight into my intuition based on past experience (I was convinced Andra was a boy until our ultrasound revealed otherwise!). But I had a couple clues that I thought pointed toward boy this time around... (all completely unscientific!)

Clue 1: my complexion has been consistently BAD this pregnancy. With Andra, I remember having that flawless, glowing complexion for nearly nine months straight. My blemishes have made me wonder if maybe the hormones were a bit different this time around...

Clue 2: at my checkups, the heart rate has been consistently lower than what Andra's always was during checkups when I was pregnant with her. (Andra's heart rate was always in the 160's, but this little guy has been in the 14o's)

Knowing that I lacked that six sense some women have, I convinced myself I must be wrong...and that it was a girl. But during our ultrasound today, our little man showed us the family jewels! And he certainly wasn't shy about it! You can even see the scrotum and.....ummm.....its "accessory." Very clearly. I guess he didn't want there to be any doubt!

So I've been in a state of shock since about 10:30 this morning. After seeing how wonderful Dave is with our little gal, I just assumed God would give us a house full of girls; I felt like he was just designed to raise girls. So funny how our plans and visions can be so different from God's!

As for me, I'm 90% elated and 10% terrified of all that "boy stuff." :) I'll get the hang of it. I feel so fortunate that I get to experience raising a girl AND boy.

I feel like we've already got lots of gear for the little guy... we have all sorts of boy-themed toys and DVDs already! Andra has always loved trains, so the Thomas Train table is already up and running, and I'm getting much better at designing tracks! And she's taken a sudden liking to Bob the Builder and tools. And don't give this gal a baby doll. Zero interest. She prefers Rudolph, thank you very much. I actually relish the nonconformity of it all (except when I was at the store the other night and desperately wanted to get her Thomas Train underwear, only to discover they only make it for boys with the little flap in the front! What's up with that??).

So we're set for a boy...unless he decides he wants baby dolls. ;)

Happy Easter

2010-04-07T12:46:00.000-07:00

What's cuter than little girls in Easter dresses?

Nothing, in my opinion.

Especially when the little girl happens to be mine. :)

Andra acting angelic in Easter service...

The Easter dress shot.

Our little family of three, going on four. :)

Down on the Farm

2010-04-03T07:15:00.000-07:00

The weather lately has been unbelievable, and it just so happened on Friday (one of the most beautiful days of the week), Dave also had the day off for Good Friday. So we took advantage of the perfect weather and visited a local organic dairy farm. I knew Andra would get a kick out of all the cows, and we'd have an excuse to spend the entire morning outside.

I tried to explain to Andra where we were going, and since "dairy farm" didn't seem to be registering with her, and "cow farm" sounded odd...I told her we were going to Old MacDonald's Farm...you know, like the song. Which she knows very well. So when we saw the cows, she told me she wanted to sing a song to the cows, and launched into "Old MacDonald Had a Farm." Pretty darn cute until the cow had other ideas...

After touring the farm, playing with the chickens (which also produce the farms organic eggs), we ended our morning with organic ice cream from their dairy bar (MMMMMMMmmmmmm SO GOOD!!), and a picnic outside. Perfection. If only we could bottle this weather...

Our Canal Adventure

2010-03-31T13:02:00.000-07:00

Why do I have a picture of two random firefighters standing by our upside-down jogging stroller, you ask?? Well, these are two kindhearted firefighters at Station #13...and they are our new best friends.

*sigh*...let me start at the beginning...

Andra and I were enjoying the beautiful weather at the canal downtown. We were trekking up a very steep hill when our morning took an interesting turn. Andra was out of her stroller walking, so I pushed the stroller to the top of said hill, parked it at the top ON FLAT LAND, then turned around to help Andra the rest of the way up the hill. As I'm helping Andra up the hill, I notice two people yelling and waving their arms at me at the bottom of the hill near the water. What the heck? So I turn around...just in time to see our jogging stroller careening out of control down the steep hill headed straight for the canal!!!! (Note to self: lock the daggone wheels next time!!)

It was out of everybody's reach and was travelling far too fast for anyone to stop it, so we all watched it splash into the water. Cue Andra's screaming because she thinks her stroller is gone forever. Through the crying, I discover the two men who were waving their arms at me are firefighters at the nearby station. What luck!!! So they radio their firefighter buddies (who are clearly bored on such a beautiful morning) to come with their equipment and fish our jogging stroller out of the water, which happens to be floating rather quickly down the canal.

About 10 minutes later, and a lot of teasing at my expense, about six MORE firefighters show up, poles and ropes in hand, and fish our jogging stroller out of the canal. Oh, and don't forget the curious bystanders who all must be thinking I deserve the Mother of the Year Award. By this time, Andra's thinking this is pretty darn funny! And I'm thanking my lucky stars that my camera, cell phone, and anything else of value was safe in my pockets.

At long last, our stroller is pulled soaking wet out of the canal, and the firefighters offer to walk it back to their station while I go get our SUV. We apparently had perfect timing, because lunch was being served when we arrived at the station, and they basically held our stroller captive until we agreed to have lunch with them (I also think they were a bit enamored with my little gal, who was CLEARLY very excited to be inside a REAL firestation with REAL firefighters and fire trucks). Not to mention our planned picnic was a bit soggy, being that it sat in the canal for about 20 minutes. I argued we couldn't stay, but they insisted...so we dined on hamburgers with the Station #13 firefighters. And I endured another half hour of teasing. What a morning!!

Here's Andra making friends with the fire station dog Dodge.

And here's Andra lunching with "Shift A" at Station #13...some homebaked cookies will he headed their way soon!

Our stroller is presently drying out in our front yard, and will hopefully be back in service soon...no worse for the wear! ;)

Andra's Big News

2010-03-17T17:23:00.000-07:00

So here goes...despite the butterflies in my stomach…our family’s growing again! Andra will become a big sister in September. It’s a little bit funny, actually…the baby’s due date (Sept. 10) is within two days of Andra’s birthday (Sept. 12)! So hopefully this is a birthday present she’ll be happy we’re bringing home for her. :) And hopefully she won't mind sharing her birthday, um, for the rest of her life. Let's just hope they don't share the same DATE!

We’re over-the-moon excited (I’m one of those annoying women who absolutely LOVES being pregnant!!) and grateful to God for blessing us with a second baby…but I’d be lieing if I didn’t admit to being a tiny bit nervous about having two little people to take care of!

I'm 15 weeks today, and have had nothing but perfect check-ups so far. I've felt great (I'm lucky to have no morning sickness with my pregnancies), and I'm so anxious for my belly to get big, so I actually FEEL pregnant.

I think Andra has a little understanding that a baby is on its way. We don’t talk to her about it a whole lot…I figure a 9 month pregnancy is almost equal to HALF of a two-year-old’s life…so that’s like eternity to her. I think once my belly gets bigger and the nursery starts to take shape, we’ll talk about it more and she’ll have a better idea of what’s happening. As for right now though, she seems pretty darn excited. When we put her big sister shirt on, she runs around shouting “Big Sis-rrrrrr! Big Sis-rrrr!”

She actually stunned me when I first told her she was going to be a big sister. I said, “Do you know what that means?” And she said, “Mommy have baby." (Impressive!, I thought. How'd she know that??) Then she continued, "Mommy have TWO babies.” (aha! I instantly knew why she said two!...She’s seen a “Big Sister Dora” episode where Dora’s mom has twins.) So I had to explain to her that THIS mommy is only having one. And thank God for that. :)

Happy St. Patty's Day!

2010-03-17T13:01:00.000-07:00

Typically, St. Patrick's Day isn't this beautiful, so we headed downtown to watch the parade!

Andra gets pretty excited about the candy that gets tossed her way!

Curbside...and that's Dave hiding in the background...playing hooky from work! (or at least just taking an extended lunch break)

And I'm putting this up for no other reason than to embarrass my little brother, who happens to be home for Spring Break.

Monkey Feet

2010-03-13T07:15:00.000-08:00

One thing about Andra that's been absolutely amazing lately is her incredible imagination...really, it floors me sometimes. The scenarios she's able to imagine and the detail at which she imagines stuns me. We've gone on trips "downtown" together with her bed being the bus (complete with stuffed animal passengers), she "bakes" things in the great room and the coffee table is our oven (and she even closes the imaginary oven door), we go on picnics on top of her toy chest (??), she hides in her "doghouse" (which is the pile of decorative pillows on our bed), she goes fishing off the couch using her broom as a fishing pole and a lunch box as her tackle box...the list goes on and on.

She also loves pretending she's various characters...her favorites lately are a kitty cat, Bob the Builder (thanks to a recent trip to the Children's Museum), Scoop (a truck on Bob the Builder), a mermaid, Dora...this list, too, is endless. Well, this morning at breakfast, she was pretending to be Curious George. On a recent episode, he ate a banana using his feet, and I told her how silly I thought that was. It must've made an impression, because "George" made an appearance at breakfast this morning. I couldn't bring myself to scold her (she WAS using her imagination, after all!), but I tried really really hard not to laugh too...it's not exactly a behavior I want to encourage. You'll see...

A Breath of Fresh Air

2010-03-08T18:02:00.000-08:00

Did I dream it, or did it really happen?
Was it really almost 60 degrees...in March?!

Did God hear our prayers for warm weather and give us this perfect day?

It was greatly needed and much appreciated...a breath of fresh air for our entire family...including Pudge who nearly forgot what his leash looked like and a walk felt like.

It was the perfect afternoon for sidewalk chalk, which Andra hasn't seen in about six months. We've got about every color known to Crayola. Andra's favorite is still..."boo."
And she loves to organize them in neat little rows on our driveway.

Thank you, March, for bringing us a hint of things to come!

Andra's Big Girl Bed!

2010-03-01T16:41:00.000-08:00

I now have even more evidence our baby girl is growing up. Over the weekend, we moved Andra from her crib to her "big girl bed." We decided to just skip the toddler bed...I figure the fewer the transitions, the easier it'll be on everyone. Plus, with her long frame and demands to sleep with about 16 stuffed animals, she was simply running out of room. So after a few sniffles from me (and Dave said he was really sad too), we started dismantling the crib Andra's slept in for the last 2 and a half years. This was taken after her last nap in her crib...

I was actually pretty nervous about switching her. I've heard lots of horror stories about toddlers taking advantage of their newfound freedom once they realize they can get in and out of bed on their own free will. Well, we got some serious safety bars that just about prevent that unless she's REALLY determined...and so far, so good! She hasn't attempted to get out once, and has adjusted beautifully. She loves playing on it all day too...so far, she's pretended it's a bus (and she's the bus driver and we "drive" it downtown) and a "pirate piggie ship" (that's a Dora reference). She's a happy camper, so even though my heart aches just a little to see that crib gone...I know I'm blessed to have a healthy, growing girl who's always ready to advance to that next milestone (and I'm also thanking my lucky stars that she hasn't yet realized she can get out of bed whenever she wants!) Sweet Dreams...

We Have a Penguin in the Family

2010-02-24T12:09:00.000-08:00

I've mentioned before that my little bro is a student at Purdue. He's knocking everybody's socks off with his impressive grades and long list of extracurricular activities. So, fundraising is all in a day's work for him, I suppose. :)

He recently "jumped" at the chance to represent Purdue's Student Management Council (which he also happens to the the vice president of!) and take part in a local Polar Bear Plunge to raise money for the Special Olympics...in the freezing cold with about a foot of snow on the ground. He wore his penguin costume...leftover from Halloween. I'm not really sure why, other than it goes with the "cold" theme...and it's just so "Jonathan;" always a goober, always making people laugh. (check out his flapping wings on the way in!) Anyway, you can watch the video at the link below...he's the very first one to take the plunge. Funny he didn't mention the penguin costume when we talked about the event on the phone... ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yIganOTWoY

Trip to the Dentist!

2010-02-17T12:11:00.000-08:00

Andra marked another milestone today...her first trip to the dentist! Technically, she'd been there before about six months ago; she sat in the chair, opened her mouth for like a nanosecond, then made it very clear she was done! But today was evidence my little girl is growing up! She was very brave and extremely cooperative...and I have to admit, I'm bursting with pride. :)

We've been talking about the upcoming visit for a couple weeks now. I brought it up every night when we'd brush her teeth; we would practice opening her mouth really big and saying "ahhhhh" and talk about the dentist brushing her teeth. I even promised ice cream after the visit if she was a good girl and cooperated. (That's an INCENTIVE, folks, not a bribe. :) "Parents" magazine says so!!) Because she can be a little timid, the key with Andra is preparation, so she knows exactly what to expect. If she's unsure about something, she usually warms up to it the more we talk about it and prepare her for it. So...we were ready for the big day.

As soon as they called her name, she bounded out of the waiting room and into the chair...no problem! She actually left me in her dust picking up the toys in the waiting room! She got a pair of cool shades to keep the bright light out of her eyes, which she thought was pretty cool.

Polish for those pearly whites...

Learning how to use the sucky straw thing...

First experience with flouride. Yuck (at least in my opinion), but she didn't seem to mind!

Clean bill of health! No cavities. Our next assignment: flossing. Ugh. I feel like you need professional training to develop the dexterity to floss someone else's teeth. Anyway, she hadn't even wiggled out of the dentist's chair before she reminded me of the INCENTIVE I'd offered her. She kept saying "Ice peem! Ice peem! Ice peem!" all the way out the door. Good memory, that girl. One order of ice cream with chocolate syrup and sprinkles comin' right up (actually two, because I had a good checkup too!).

Curious George Live!

2010-02-07T06:43:00.000-08:00

Shew! My fear of the snowstorm causing George to cancel his show was unrealized. :) As soon as I woke up Saturday morning, I checked the ticker on the local news station and was relieved to see "the show must go on!" So we bundled up and left the house 1.5 hours early (just to be safe...I was afraid the roads might be bad), and zoomed into the theater parking lot about an hour early. Which left us some time to kill in the car...but as you can see, the wait didn't dampen Andra's spirits...

By some divine alignment of the stars, my blog post earlier this year about my excitement regarding the show earned us "Meet & Greet" passes with Andra's monkey buddy. It was just meant to be. She got to spend a few minutes one-on-one backstage with George before the show. I couldn't see her face when we walked in, but the backstage hands all commented that she was grinning ear to ear! She gave him high fives, lots of hugs, and even a good luck kiss for the show.

And finally, it was showtime. Seeing her face during the opening number made my day!!! She was grinning ear to ear with eyes that showed pure amazement and delight. It made my heart leap to see her so enthralled with the show. She just grinned. And grinned. And grinned. It made my little heart go pitter pat to see her so happy. Here she is watching the opening act.

While some other kids around us got a little antsy during the show, Andra was locked in the whole time. ..applauded during all the right parts and was generally captivated by the whole experience. It was a great show and everything I hoped it'd be. What a special day for us...I think our family has another theather enthusiast.

And being the total sucker I am, we were handed a pre-sale offer for Sesame Street Live on the way out the door. I'm pretty sure we'll be at that one too. :)

Andra's First Snowman!

2010-02-05T14:35:00.000-08:00

At last! A snowman-worthy snow! Our first snow this season wasn't good snowman snow...way too fluffy. But this stuff was PERFECT...so Andra and I made a toddler-sized snowman...my first one ever with my kiddo. Kind of a milestone, don't ya think? :)

Here's my girl mid-chew...stealing some of the chocolate we were using for the eyes and mouth. Funny she didn't want to munch on the carrot?? I suppose she's a girl after her mother's heart.

This one cracks me up! I just got lucky and happened to capture this moment...she was getting frustrated that she couldn't hold or throw her snowballs because of her bulky mittens. hehe!

Don't we all feel like making that face sometimes? :) I love how toddlers wear their emotion all over their face...no guessing how they feel!

To be truly honest, this snow is making me a little nervous. See, we have our date tomorrow morning with Curious George!! (for the Curious George Live show) I'm terrified of waking up tomorrow to a snow emergency and a cancelled show. So, say your prayers tonight that our little gal still gets to meet her monkey buddy tomorrow morning...we've even got backstage passes! And we (more like me) have been looking forward to this for months!

Rain, Rain Go Away...

2010-01-20T15:23:00.001-08:00

We're witnessing history. That's what I keep telling myself as we watch record rainfall pelting our windows here in southern California. :) It's not exactly what we were expecting for our sunny California vacation, but that's okay.

The good news is we had a couple days of beautiful weather in San Diego when we first arrived. Still colder than what this region usually is, but still sunny and warm. Andra spent a couple hours on the beach at the famous Hotel del Coronado. Someday, I'll actually be a guest there. Someday. :)

We tried to savor the warm weather while we had it, because we knew the forecasts were looking a little ugly. Here's Andra getting friendly with a parrot in Seaport Village.

And Dave and Andra on the coast of Coronado Island.

And then the weather went down the tubes. We actually high-tailed it out of San Diego a day early, because they were predicting mud slides and flooding. We knew we were in trouble when one forecaster described the approaching weather as "epic." Greeeeeat. We made the drive to Palm Desert in the pouring down rain...thinking there wouldn't be rain in the desert, right?! Well, sort of. There's LESS rain. Although still plenty to go around.

The first few days we've been here in Palm Desert, it's been relatively clear and sunny in the mornings...so we've made the most of our mornings. Then, the rain and cold comes in the afternoon and evening. This morning, we spend a few hours at the Living Desert...it's a zoo with desert animals. We were all impressed and had a great time soaking up the sun shine.

Here's Andra getting friendly with a goat at the petting zoo.

Despite the weather, we're still having a great time. I'm getting to spend lots of time with Crystal, one of my very best friends in the whole wide world. She's a golf pro here in the Desert (I've got friends in the right places!). And Andra has made a new friend; she's fallen pretty hard for Crystal's dog Tux. Maybe they can be pen pals when we're back home? :)

Our Latest Adventure

2010-01-13T13:34:00.000-08:00

Bowling.
I know I know, we're walking on the wild side!...but when it's below 10 degrees with several inches of snow on the ground, your options are limited. :) So off we went to the local bowling establishment, so I could show Andra just how terrible her mom is at bowling. The up side? She got to spend some quality time with her Uncle J before he headed back to school for the spring semester.

They have these cool little ramps, so little tikes like Andra can just put their ball at the top, it rolls down a ramp, which gives it enough momentum to get down the lane in less than 10 minutes. Smart!

I'm happy to say we'll be leaving the cold temperatures behind and heading to southern California this weekend for some warm weather! Can't wait!!

Back from the Holidays

2010-01-01T17:36:00.000-08:00

Yes, we're alive...and have finally emerged on the other side of the holidays. Sorry for the lack in posts lately; the holidays are always a busy time of year, and I'm just now getting all my photos loaded onto the computer and out into cyber world. :)

To sum up Christmas 2009, I'd have to say it was our family's most memorable yet. There was something that made it especially magical this year, and I think it was living it through the eyes of a child. Andra is really starting to understand the many traditions that surround Christmas, and she certainly seemed enchanted by it all...and that enchantment was contagious. It was such a joy to watch her experience it all. I'm hoping by next year she might start to understand the real meaning of Christmas...at least on a basic level. I told her a lot this year that it was Jesus' birthday, which seemed to really confuse her!

Here she is on Christmas night with her cousins, Garrett and Zayda.

One photo missing from the bunch this year is the traditional picture with Santa...and that's because Andra wouldn't go within 20 feet of him! She loved to see him in books and movies, but when we saw him in person, she would cling to us and refuse to go anywhere near him. So I didn't push the issue, and she was perfectly content to admire him from a distance.

She did, however, take a very special liking to Rudolph (Roo-off!). I'm not exactly sure why. I think it all started when this stuffed Rudolph (courtesy of Aunt Libby) re-emerged after being packed away with other Christmas decor since Christmas 2008. They were inseparable throughout the entire holiday season! In fact, she now insists her middle name is Rudolph, and when I ask her, "Are you my girl?", she replies, "No, Roo-off!" I'm currently plotting how to make him disappear again into the Christmas boxes without causing her any trauma! I think he'll remain a really special treat if she only sees him once a year.

Aside from the holidays, Andra's world was brightened about a week after Christmas when we got our first significant snow of the season. It was only a few inches...not enough for a snowman or extensive sledding, but enough to entertain a 2 year-old! We went on some sled rides around the yard and down the driveway (which really is the perfect slope with perfect speed for a toddler)...and Andra said her sled was like Santa's sleigh. Too cute. :)

Here's wishing you and yours a happy, healthy and blessed 2010!

Curious George, HERE WE COME!

2009-12-10T09:12:00.000-08:00

I distinctly remember the day when the advertisement came fluttering out of our Curious George DVD. My jaw dropped and my blood pressure began to rise; "What?! A LIVE Curious George stage show is in the works?! We MUST be there!"

Feverish internet research immediately commenced...during which I discovered, YES, it's true, there's a Curious George Live stage show...AND IT'S COMING TO OUR CITY! I immediately joined the fan club, which entitled me to a secret club of crazy parents that would receive a promo code to purchase the tickets BEFORE they're on sale for the public! Then, I got some cryptic fan club email that thoroughly confused me...where's the secret code?? were the pre-sale tickets on sale yet? did I miss my golden opportunity?? The link didn't seem to be working. So, for a number of weeks, resolving this mystery was on my to-do list, but efforts to reach those in charge were unsuccessful.

But then, lo and behold, at 10:24 this morning (when I'm supposed to be working), the clouds parted, I heard angels singing, and THE email arrived in my in-box with my secret code to buy pre-sale tickets!! Oh, be still my beating heart!!!

So log on I did, and we now have three Curious George LIVE tickets in our possession...third row, baby! I'm downright giddy. Just giddy. Andra's gonna go nuts! Afterall, George IS her favorite...we watch at least one "Georgie" episode per day, read about 5 George books (most of which I have memorized), own multiple George stuffed animals (one for our house, one for Grandma's, so she's never without her beloved friend), followed him like hopeless groupies all summer long during his various appearances at community events, Andra was even Curious George for Halloween (and Dave the Man with the Yellow Hat...see our Halloween post...Dave is breathtaking in yellow!). Needless to say, with Andra and George...it's true love.

Come to think of it...maybe Dave should wear his Man in the Yellow Hat costume to the show! Although the people sitting behind us wouldn't be able to see around the monstrous yellow hat.

Now if only I could find some backstage passes... THAT would make me Mom of the Year!

A few days later...
Update: It's official...I am, in fact, Mom of the Year!!!! A wonderfully sweet promoter for the Curious George Live show happened to stumble across this blog entry, and seeing my borderline crazy enthusiasm for the show, offered us "backstage" passes to meet and greet with the cast before the show!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Needless to say, I'm now over the moon excited and counting the days until show time!! The details are yet to be finalized, but it's sounding pretty certain. So, you're all welcome to stop by and see my "Mom of the Year" trophy. I've buffed it to a mirror shine. ;) Just kidding...the trophy only exists in my head; the reward will be seeing Andra's excitement that day!

Ooooon, Twoooo, Geeee....

2009-12-02T13:06:00.001-08:00

I'm such a proud mom...our little gal can count to ten!! I was actually stunned to find this out myself. :) We hadn't been working on counting or numbers specifically...then, one day, I overheard her counting while she was playing with her toys...she got all the way up to ten, and I nearly fell out of my chair!! How on earth did she learn to count to ten?! We hadn't even been practicing! It just goes to show what sponges toddlers are...they soak up everything around them, sometimes, without you even noticing what they've learned!

I tried and tried and tried to upload this video directly onto this blog, but to no avail... so, click on this link and you can watch it on YouTube. (it's takes awhile for her to work up to it, but she finally does it at the end...I talked over "one" and "two" a little bit...but I promise you, all ten numbers are there!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dDNjchG2Z8

Boiler Up!

2009-11-15T19:22:00.000-08:00

We try to make it up to West Lafayette to visit my little bro at school at least once a semester. With Christmas season right around the corner, and a beautiful weekend with some free time, we made a last minute trip to check up on Jonathan and make sure he's behaving at school. Just to brag a little...he's got a 3.9 GPA thus far (it's his sophomore year), is crazy involved in lots of activities, and has even managed to find some pretty good friends already. I'm just not sure what they see in him. ;)

Ya ya...I know this post is supposed to be about Jonathan, but I couldn't resist sharing a pic of Andra and her cute little hat Grandma bought her! Such excellent taste, that Grandma.

Here's Jonathan showing Andra his penguin costume leftover from Halloween. If you know my brother at all and his quircky sense of humor, this costume just somehow suits him perfectly. It's so "him." Andra, on other hand, isn't quite sure what to think of that monstrous beak protruding from his forehead.

The joys of trying to take a picture with a toddler...

What made this visit special was that, after many months of unsuccessful previous attempts, Andra FINALLY started saying "Uncle J" clear as a bell! And said it all night. It was pretty cute. I know she'll be excited to see him home soon for Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T19:39:00.000-07:00

Andra's obsession with her monkey buddy continues... she was Curious George for Halloween! And Dave was George's best friend, the Man in the Yellow Hat. They make quite a cute couple, don't you think? And Dave's pretty foxey in all that yellow. :)

Andra had so much fun trick-or-treating this year! She really seemed to "get" it. Or at least the idea that you knock on people's door and get rewarded with a treat! Funny thing is...when everybody opened their door, Andra kept walking into their house! We'll have to work on that. :)

It was a pure delight watching her little eyes light up throughout the night as she discovered the fun of Halloween. You could tell she took a lot of pride in being Curious George, and she didn't want to take her costume off at the end of the night. She loved Dave's costume too...and several times over the course of the night, just looked at him and giggled. I can't say that I blame her.

Pumpkin art

2009-10-25T17:40:00.000-07:00

I decided to get a little creative (and messy!) with our pumpkins today...so Andra created a couple masterpieces outside in the beautiful fall weather!

Seriously...Pudge has to stick his nose into everything--literally. It took him all of 4 seconds to stick his nose in the blue paint.

Andra pasted the huge blue fuzz ball on the pumpkin. I couldn't help but add the eyes!

What's more beautiful than an artist's hair blowing in the wind? It's probably just because she's my artist. :)

Cookie Monster "Junior"

2009-10-23T18:34:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that one of Dave's favorite nicknames for me is "Cookie Monster," and I'm ashamed to say it's a nickname well earned. You see, I have no self control when it comes to homemade chocolate chip cookies. I'm not proud of it. :) I just can't help myself. I've tweaked my recipe over the years (started with Mom, tweaked during high school slumber parties with my girlfriends Crystal and Shannon, and experted by myself just recently!), and I'm pretty certain MY chocolate chip cookies are the best. Ha!

Even though Andra is Dave's spawn in looks and personality, I think she inherited something from me: my cookie monster gene. She seems to lose a little self control around them too! The other night, she randomly said she wanted a cookie, but I told her we didn't have any (we never keep cookies in the house...that self control problem again). To which she replied, "Stir it up." She was telling me she wanted to BAKE cookies! So bake we did!

I always dreamed of baking in the kitchen with my daughter (my mom taught me how to bake!), and this was really the first time we "baked" together, so it felt really special. I measured most of the ingredients, and she dumped them in the bowl...and loved every minute of it. I think there was an equal amount of flour on the counter as in the bowl, but we sure had fun together.

Helping mommy "stir it up."

Enjoying the greatest pleasure of cookie baking...licking the beaters! Being the selfless mom that I am, I let my two "kids" do the honors. (Um, yes, Pudge comes running when he hears the electric beater. He was licking the beaters long before Andra was born, so I think he has a sense of entitlement!)

I told Dave I thought this was my best batch ever, and I really think they were! It must've been that secret ingredient: having my little girl's help!

Five Years and Counting...

2009-10-19T17:56:00.000-07:00

We celebrated our fifth anniversary over the weekend! We decided to go on our first "just the two of us" getaway since Andra's been born. It was only two nights...but the longest both of us have been away from our little gal. I was a little sad to leave her for that long, but it was SO nice to spend some time alone too!

We headed north to Chicago, stayed in a nice hotel, and had some REALLY nice meals. It was truly divine to enjoy a peaceful meal together (that I didn't have to cook!) where we could actually TALK, take our time, and really just focus on each other!

Our first night, we ate at a restaurant called Wildfire, and it was wonderful. We both enjoyed our drinks (maybe a touch too much, but we weren't driving!). Ok...it looks like I'm drinking four martinis, but those are actually mini ones...it was a martini flight...probably the equivalent of two full martinis. :) Dave thought I looked funny with all those drinks in front of me. Well, he looked pretty funny after drinking his beer too! We hardly drink, so we're equally cheap dates.

Dave surprised me on our anniversary night and took me to the top of the Hancock building to watch a fireworks show on Navy Pier. What a guy, right?

Getting to the top of the Hancock building (94th floor!) in the fastest elevator in North America!

Our first day in Chicago was a little rainy and gray, but the second day was gorgeous! Cool, but sunny and beautiful. After sleeping late, we had a delicious brunch and spent the entire day walking it off at Navy Pier and Millennium Park.

We capped off the weekend at our new favorite restaurant: Roy's Hawaiian Fusion. We discovered it on our trip to Orlando last summer when Dave ran the marathon. After falling in love with it in Orlando, we looked for the closest one to home...and it was in Chicago. We immediately decided that's where we'd eat for our anniversary! It was a little sentimental too...the Hawaiian cuisine brings back memories of our Hawaiian honeymoon!

This is where I should write something beautifully poetic about what an incredible husband Dave is, but the truth is, words can't describe him or how blessed I am to have him. I know God made us for each other, literally, and destined us to meet and fall in love. And for that, I'm eternally grateful. I'll always treasure the day I got to say "I do" and make him mine forever.

For Posterity's Sake

2009-10-07T18:34:00.000-07:00

Because someday she'll be able to REALLY blow bubbles. But I'll still remember how cute it was when she couldn't. :)

All Aboard the Pumpkin Train!

2009-10-04T13:14:00.000-07:00

I know I've mentioned--a lot!--that Andra loves trains. So we love taking her to the transportation museum where she gets to ride a REAL train...but even better, it's a Pumpkin Train! A short train ride takes you to a pumpkin patch with a few other little activities. I'd say Andra enjoyed herself! Her eyes always light up when she sees the "Big Choo."

It was such a beautiful fall morning, I was so glad we'd planned on doing this today.

Chasing down Dad in the maze of hay bales. (Is that what they're called? Hay bales? I don't know. I'm not exactly a country girl. Help me out, Crystal.)

Decorating our pumpkins from the pumpkin patch...

This is Andra talking to the conductor, which was hilarious. She knows that the conductor says "Alllll Aboard!" So here she is telling him "All Bored!" She was fascinated by the conductor today and couldn't take her eyes off of him...I think because he was in full 'uniform,' hat and all. She was a little in awe of him and was so excited when he stopped to chat with us.

It was such a fun day and the perfect way to spend some quality "autumn" time as a family. Really, it doesn't get much better than that for me.

Sweet Perfection

2009-09-30T18:38:00.000-07:00

Some days just feel perfect, and today was one of those days. Maybe it's because I absolutely love autumn and I love introducing Andra to new things I know she'll enjoy...but I just felt overwhelmingly content and happy today soaking in a beautiful fall morning with my little gal. I'm so lucky my days off afford me some one-on-one time with her...I feel so blessed.

Once I saw the perfect weather forecast for today, I knew we had to begin our tour of all fall activities within about a 40 mile radius of our house. Hehe. Thanks to one of my mom-friends (thank you, Havilah!!), I'd heard about a nearbly apple orchard I'd never been to and knew we had to make a trip. And so began our perfect fall day together...

They had a great little playground, hay piles to play in, mini corn mazes, which Andra loved...but she kept saying "App-pul Orch!" (apple orchard)...this girl wanted to get down to business.

Andra loves apples, and not surprisingly, loved getting to pick her own apples off the trees in the orchard! It just made me want to go home, put on an apron (which I don't have) and bake an apple pie (which I don't have a recipe for).

Putting our bounty in the basket...

Loading it onto the wagon...

And wheeling it home so Mom can figure out what the heck she's gonna do with about 30 apples because I didn't have the heart to tell her to stop picking. :)

Mmm...the fruits of our labor...

What's a trip to the orchard without a carmel apple?? Andra didn't take a single bite...just licked the carmel off the entire thing. Smart girl. :)

I really feel like I'll always remember today. Just a simple day enjoying the new season (my favorite season!) together, but for some reason, it just felt...perfect.

So this was the first of what will be many fall activities for us I'm sure. Someday, the kids will probably groan when fall arrives, because they'll know Mom gets a little crazy and drags them to every orchard, pumpkin patch and pretty autumn trail in the city. I just can't seem to help myself.

So...Anybody got any good apple recipes?

My Kind of Sunday

2009-09-20T16:33:00.000-07:00

Nothing on the calendar. No obligations. Just me, my girl, my hubby...and a perfectly lazy Sunday.

Sharing Dad's pancakes (they both are wearing clothes on their bottom halves. I promise. :) )

Taking time to play in the rain.

Birthday Girl

2009-09-14T18:47:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe...as of 12:27pm on Saturday, our little gal turned two years old. I have to admit that my heart aches a little...TWO sounds so much older than one!...but I wouldn't turn back time even if I could. She's so much fun right now...talking lots, showing more of her personality and becoming more of a little person with each passing day. I'm so proud and so blessed to have a healthy, growing, beautiful little girl...which calls for a party, of course!

So party we did on Saturday. Dave and I gave her a toy drum for her birthday so she can finally put away the Easter basket (since Easter this year, she's been putting the Easter basket around her neck and pretending it's a drum. We decided it was time for a REAL drum!). Needless to say, she took a special liking to her drum, and I think she might have a future in the drumline! Doesn't she have excellent form? :)

"Helping" mom get ready for the big party...but I'm pretty sure drinks are supposed to go in the cooler, not the birthday girl.

Andra also LOVES trains, and has become very attached to any store (ahem...Von Maur) that has a train set on display to play with while Mommy shops. Well, thanks to her Ma and Pa (Grandma & Grandpa), Andra now has her very own train set to play with!

The party theme was Curious George of course, her favorite buddy. Check out the gigantic balloon that her other Grandma and Grandpa got her. It takes helium to a whole new level and will likely last 'til Christmas!

Her Curious George birthday cake that was so cute and oh-so-yummy! (made by the baker who also made our wedding cake!)

"Uncle J" hanging out at the toddler table!

Andra daintily eating her birthday cake. This is as messy as it got, folks. She was quite the little lady.

So that makes it official. It's been exactly two years since a little blonde-hair, blue-eyed angel changed our world forever. We couldn't be luckier.

Summer's End

2009-09-02T17:59:00.000-07:00

If you know me very well, you know fall makes me giddy. It's my favorite season for thousands of reasons! So lucky for us, when last weekend FELT like fall, we had a bonfire scheduled with my good friend Katy from my college days. Her son, Tate, is just a few months older than Andra, so they'll have an arranged marriage in about 25 years. ;)

We headed to her family's house waaaaaaay out in the country, and I think Andra thought she'd died and gone to heaven! She got feed some nearby farm animals...

...and ride a school bus! Which I think made her entire year. Katy's mom drives a school bus for the local school system, and she offered to take the kids for a spin. Andra LOVES school busses, but has never ridden one... and you should've seen her eyes light up when I told her she could RIDE the school bus. Needless to say, she enjoyed the short trip around the countryside. Hopefully her legs will be a little longer when she starts school and she won't have to crawl up the stairs. Hehe. :)

"Yay!! On the school bus!"

On another unseasonably cool day, I decided to take Andra on a pony ride at a nearby state park. She was grinning ear to ear as soon as she was in the saddle! I love discovering little things around town that make her smile!

Busy Busy Busy!

2009-08-16T17:06:00.000-07:00

For the most part, we're homebodies, but the last 10 days or so, we've had a LOT to do! We hardly ever have plans on weeknights especially, but we spent almost every night last week out and about! So I've hardly had time to sit down and blog about it. This (Sunday) was the first day we finally had a chance to just "veg," and it was glorious! So this is a whirlwind get-you-up-to-date edition...

In the last couple weeks, Andra...

...went to the zoo with me and her cousin Molly, who happily rode the kiddie train with her without complaint (did I mention Molly is only in 8th grade and already 6 feet tall??)

...went to her cousin Garrett's 2nd birthday party (my sister's son) and happily made a mess of his birthday cake (while saying "mess! mess!")

...also tested out some of his new birthday toys, and took a special liking to his tool belt!

...swam in her Grandma's baby pool for the first time this summer (finally got some HOT weather!) and developed a baby pool addiction in just a matter of minutes...

...went to the State Fair and "shared" a chocolate shake with Dad (although she was actually trying to shove the ice cream off HIS spoon when there were just a few precious bites left)...

...rode the carousel at the State Fair. Twice!

...and just so you don't think we've forgotten all about Pudge amidst all the summer excitement, you'll be happy to know he made a splash at an annual dog swim we always take him to at a nearby park. Before they close the pool for the season, they let the dogs have free reign of the pool for the night, and Pudge LOVES IT. He swam. And swam. And swam. And stole multiple dog toys, tennis balls, and frisbees from other dogs who don't have the same swimming proess that he does. He always proves he's a water dog when we take him swimming. Here he is successfully beating two other labs to the prized tennis ball.

Andra getting a kick out of all the action at the dog swim.

...and finally, some quality cuddle time with her big bro Pudge.

Shew! So like I said, it's been a busy couple weeks. We've got a pretty boring week on schedule now, and I think we're all happy to have some lazy time. Summer can be hard work! :)

Celebrating 40 Years!

2009-08-02T11:17:00.000-07:00

This is how it all started 40 years ago when my mom and dad said "I do"...

In late June, my parents celebrated their 40th anniversary, and we wanted to do something really special for them. My sister, brother and I planned a surprise 40th anniversary party the weekend of their anniversary, and it was a hit! (I'm finally posting about it because we hired a professional photographer to take pictures that day, and we just got the pictures back!) Plus, I was so busy playing hostess that day, that I only managed to snap one picture, and it wasn't even a good one!

Here are Mom and Dad arriving and realizing what was going on. They were stunned, to say the least. We'd told them to meet us at this park to have family pictures taken (which is why my whole family matches in khaki and white...it was all part of the ploy!)

The pastor of our church also led Mom and Dad in a ceremony to renew their vows. Mom walked down the "aisle" with a bouquet my sister had designed to look just like her original bridal bouquet. The maid of honor (my mom's sister) and the best man (my dad's friend) were there too!

Me and my big sis...partners in crime to pull the whole day off without a hitch! :)

We borrowed this awesome car (a '59 Chevy, I think?) from a friend. Dad loves it, so we knew it'd make the day even more special if they got to drive some cool wheels around town that day. They took it downtown for dinner that night, and the grandkids all went for a spin too!

The happy couple...

We also had a wedding cake made for them to resemble their original cake. It turned out VERY retro (definitely looked like a '60s cake!), and was delicious too!

The whole family...my parents, their kids, son-in-laws and three grandkids. To quote one of my favorite country songs..."All because two people fell in love."

The day was absolutely perfect, and I wouldn't change a single thing about it. The best part was seeing how happy my parents were. They've done so many special things for their kids, it was nice to do something really special for them. They gave my sister and I beautiful and unforgettable wedding days, so hopefully this is an unforgettable anniversary for them too. They still haven't stopped talking about what a great day it was! I'm so lucky to have parents who love me so much, but more importantly, love each other!

A Trip to the County Fair

2009-07-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

Terrible-for-you deep fried food? $12

Rickety carni rides that make mom nervous? $6

Farm animals and all the poop to go with them? (That's free in Indiana!)

Introducing Andra to another Indiana summer ritual? Priceless. :)

Parade Girl

2009-07-19T16:30:00.000-07:00

After seeing how much Andra enjoyed the 4th of July parade we took her to, we're now on the prowl for any parade within about a 30 mile radius. :) This weekend we had a county parade really close to home...and in the same county where her Grandma and Grandpa live. Andra seemed to love this one too, and she has the funniest reaction when it gets too loud...as you'll see below. She LOVES fire trucks, but I think their siren is a little startling for her. Well, apparently our gal has her eyes and ears a little confused! :) (and by the way, if you're at work and watching this, you'll wanna turn the volume down a little!)

Aside from all the sights and sounds, I think Andra also loves parades because she has candy thrown to her (which we never eat at home)... and that's the epitome of excitement for an almost 2 year old! So, when faced with the dilemma of whether to eat your FlavorIce or your lollipop...why not both??

Lake Day

2009-07-10T17:45:00.000-07:00

Nothing says summer like a day on the lake!

Crystal (you might recall her from the horse post) is one of my very best friends in the world. She also happens to be a golf pro, which requires her to live in California, but she always comes home for at least a few weeks during the summer. Since we don't get to see her most of the year, we try to soak up as much time with her as possible when she IS home. And top of the agenda is making a visit to her family's lakehouse. I've been going there since I was a high schooler, and thanks to the infinite patience of her family, it's where I learned to ski, kneeboard, and laugh so hard that lakewater comes out my nose. :)

This was Andra's second summer to make a trip to the lakehouse, and she was VERY excited to ride on the boat! She loves all things transportation right now: busses, traines, planes, boats...

Hands up!...we're going "fast!" (about as fast as a pontoon can go)

A great one of Crystal and Andra...oops! I blinked...

Floating the day away... (ok, I did NOT intentionally match our hats...but it's kinda cute!)

Her First Parade & Horsin' Around

2009-07-04T18:32:00.000-07:00

What a big day for our little gal! Andra celebrated the 4th of July by going to her very first parade, and she really liked it! We headed up north to the Carmelfest parade, dodged a few raindrops...and luckily, it didn't rain on our parade! She loves fire trucks, marching bands and costume characters, so needless to say...the parade was a hit! There were a few loud moments that startled her and she jumped into my lap (see below)...but she always jumped right back up once the noise stopped.

Her parade experience was made perfect by her FIRST sucker...blue, of course! She held on to it for about an hour and wouldn't share a single lick with Mom or Dad.

After a nap, it was time for more celebration. My best friend Crystal had a hogroast (she's a country girl!), so we gobbled up lots of yummy food...and Crystal spent some special time introducing Andra to her family's horses. Andra LOVED it. She was content to spend hours in their horse arena, and probably would've slept in one of the stalls if I would've let her!

She even got to ride a horse bare back. She looked so proud and filled with wonder all at the same time. While we were trying to hold on to her and help steady her, she kept pushing our hands away. She wanted to prove she could do it on her own! Crystal also showed her how to feed the horses hay...so the horses all had full bellies when we left because Andra fed every single one. Multiple times. I know there will come a day when Andra will want to take riding lessons...and I love that she'll be able to do it at Crystal's house... a place I have many special memories too. Thanks for all the special time, Crystal. She grinned ear to ear the whole way home.

Father's Day

2009-06-21T18:52:00.001-07:00

Andra is a lucky girl to have such an extraordinary dad. Aside from being his twin, they have a relationship I'm so proud of. I remember when I first got pregnant, I was secretly hoping for a boy for Dave's sake. I assumed dads bonded more naturally with boys than girls. Now that I can see the father-daughter relationship between Dave and Andra, I'm so glad God's in control instead of me. Dave is the perfect type of man to raise a girl, and I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with a house full of girls because of it (but I've been wrong before!). He's tender, gentle and loving...and that makes him a perfect Dad for Andra.

We wanted to be sure he had a memorable day, and what better way to capture memories than with pictures? I had these professional pictures taken of Andra as a surprise for Dave's Father's Day present. They'll be on our wall shortly! Here are my favorite five. :) (Kudos to Ashton Riley Studios for taking such beautiful pictures!)

This one is my fave because it's just so "Andra."

This one melts my heart because of those breathtaking blue eyes she got from her Dad...

Color Me Beautiful

2009-06-14T17:28:00.000-07:00

If you ask Andra what color anything is, she'll say "boo" (blue). Even if it's red. We're working on our colors. :) But now I'm thinking she really is partial to blue...and while she may not know her other colors, she DOES know what color blue is. When we cracked open our brand new finger paints this evening, she only wanted to paint with blue. Maybe it's her favorite color. I have to admit I'm partial to blue too...the blue in her beautiful eyes!

It's George!!!

2009-06-09T03:39:00.000-07:00

For you to understand what a monumental occasion it is for Andra to meet Curious George, I have to give you a little bit of perspective. George is her FAVORITE. While she's taken a recent liking to all things Dora, Curious George was her first infatuation, and still truly her most beloved character. She has a stuffed George that she sleeps with every night, and insists on watching George almost every morning while she eats breakfast. I happen to like Curious George too...of all the children's programming out there, George is a lot less annoying...it actually makes me laugh out loud sometimes.

So, when the opportunity arises to meet George, you can bet our family will pounce on it! He was at Conner Prairie over the weekend, so we headed up north, paid $24 in admission...all so our little gal could have a few precious minutes with her beloved George. It was worth every penny! We walked into the room, and all it took was me saying, "Look, there's George!", and Andra took off running across the room squealing with delight, arms outstretched to meet her buddy George. Nevermind that there was a line of other little fans waiting to meet George (I suppose I should have thought of that before I pointed him out to her!). After the initial excitement wore off, we waited in line, and Andra got to spend a couple minutes with George. She doesn't look excited at all, does she? :)

Dave and I both hadn't been to Conner Prairie since our childhood (and both remembered it being pretty boring!), so we were pretty skeptical about how the rest of the day would go, but we were pleasantly surprised! Andra got to meet some baby farm animals, which she loved. Here she is holding a baby chick. She was so gentle with him and loved petting his soft fur.

She also got up close and personal with this cow, and practiced her "moooo's."

And a donkey too! We also met some horses, and she thought it was the funniest thing in the world when the horse started chewing on a wood fence...I think because she could see his big lips and huge teeth. We really had a fun day, and Andra's face lights up now when we recall our meeting with George (she gave him a high five and a hug). And she scored a new Curious George book that day too! I'm sure in her little world, it doesn't get much better than that!

Coldplay: Up Close and Personal!

2009-06-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

In fact, it was SO personal, I can tell you that lead singer Chris Martin sweats between his butt cheeks. Yep. He had sweat marks on his pants there. Which should tell you what an incredible entertainer he is...it's like a workout just watching him!!

Friday night, Dave and I went to the Coldplay concert at Verizon and had INCREDIBLE seats...by pure dumb luck. When the tickets went on sale, there were three teirs for pavillion prices. I convinced Dave to buy the highest tier, because last summer, we paid for pavillion seats and ended up in the LAST row...just feet from people on the lawn who paid half the price I did! So I figured if we bought the highest tier of tickets, we'd at least get a spot in the front half of the pavillion. Did we ever! Our seats were in the PIT...just feet from the stage!!! The pit is an area roped off directly in front of the stage...probably about 10 "rows" deep, even though there are no seats...just standing. Which was fine with me, because the concert was so great, I wouldn't have sat down anyway! We were about 20 feet from the stage, and it was so much FUN!!!! I've NEVER been that close to the stage for any concert...so it was absolutely a memorable experience. And really gives you a whole new perspective of the show...literally.

Here we are...up front waiting for the show to start!!

Here are Jonathan and Rachel...poor college students...waaaaaaay back on the lawn. Hehe.

The butterfly drop was awesome!...tons of confetti shaped like butterflies dropped during "Reign of Love"...not once, but twice!!!

If you ever have a chance to see Coldplay live, and you enjoy their music--even just a little!--I would highly recommend going. Chris Martin, the lead singer, hardly stops moving. He's all over the entire stage, running and "dancing" (which really appears like he's having a seizure). During the few times he sat still at the piano, we could see the sweat literally dripping off him. He's a great entertainer and really adds a lot to the show.

Even Jonathan and Rachel got to see the band up close. They'd set up a small stage on the lawn, and did a few acoustic songs out there. Jonathan said they got about 20 feet within that stage. All in all, it was an incredible concert, and I really hope we get to see them live again! So glad we went, so glad we sat up close, so glad we had such a great date night!

Summer Daze

2009-05-27T18:16:00.000-07:00

Apparently, I was REALLY tired from the Mini since I haven't posted for about three weeks! Haha! We've been busy enjoying the summer-like weather and soaking up every precious minute we have as a family. Sometimes, sitting down at my computer is the last thing on my mind and a little low on the priority list!

In other news, Andra has spoken her first PHRASE...as in more than one, stand-alone word. And it's a little amusing what that phrase was: "Hi Pudge!" She said it clear as a bell, and totally casual, as if she's been saying it her whole life--but I about fell out of my chair! I'm so proud of her! Although I wish it was maybe a "Hi Mommy" instead! It's still the only phrase in her repetoire, but I'm sure there will be more very soon!

Not much else is new, other than enjoying some summer rituals--planting flowers, blowing bubbles, slathering sunscreen. Andra has her first sprinkler, which she's a little uncertain about (see below). We had a family ice cream outing tonight, and I kicked myself for not having my camera with me. Andra gleefully smeared chocolate ice cream all over her face, and I was happy to let her do it. She devoured her entire cone and looked like such a big girl holding it and eating it on her own. It was one of those moments where I wanted to stop time and just admire our beautifully messy little girl!

Here she is on an evening stroll with her grandma and grandpa.

Mini Mara-thank God it's over

2009-05-02T17:34:00.000-07:00

Well, another Mini's in the history books. It was long and hard...like usual! We lucked out on the weather. There was a chance of showers, but it actually ended up being nice and cool, with no rain! shew! Dave and I both had a good run. I actually felt great until Mile 11.

So here are some pictures from the day...it's basically a whole photo album. :)

My little bro, Jonathan, and his girlfriend who couldn't run because of a bum foot. I think Jonathan injured her intentionally because she always beats him.

Post-race and pooped.

My little bro (Uncle "J") benchpressing Andra.

Andra snuggling with my mom.

My father-in-law congratulating my dad on finishing his first Mini.

Two tired girls. I just ran 13.1 miles. What's Andra's excuse? :)

My dad, me, Dave and Jonathan. (Note Andra trying to climb Grandpa's leg)

Andra's so proud of her Grandpa!

Me and my "running coach."

On your mark. Get set. Wait 20 minutes to cross the start line.

2009-05-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

After months of training and weekends of coordinating our long runs, the Mini is here! Hard to believe! Dave and I will both be running 13.1 tomorrow! I'm especially excited (and a little nervous) because this is my first year back after having Andra. I ran it twice pre-baby, but I feel even more accomplished now that I managed to train AND be a mommy. Being the understanding husband that he is, Dave let me use Andra's nap time as my training time. I hate leaving her to go spend time on a treadmill, so I insisted I would only train if he let me do it during her nap time. And he did. :)

So we'll be off at 7:33am tomorrow morning. My goal is to simply run it. I really don't care about my finish time. Dave's more serious, and will finish WAAAYYYY before me. This year's Mini is also special to me because my dad is doing the Mini for the first time ever at the ripe young age of 62. Having been a Hoosier and an athlete his entire life, I'm glad he finally found the time to walk his first Mini. And it's a little frightening how close his walking pace is to my running pace! Yikes! So I guess that's my second goal for tomorrow...to beat my 62 year old dad.

My little bro is also running the Mini for the second time this year. His girlfriend and "trainer," Rachel, recently sprained her foot, so she won't be able to run with him and force him to keep going. He could be in trouble. :)

Ice Cream? From a TRUCK?!

2009-04-26T17:33:00.000-07:00

I surrendered to the power of the sweet little music notes and gave Andra her first ice cream truck experience this weekend! It was quite the internal debate in my head before I gave in...

I heard him coming from a long way off. Our ice cream truck is a little unique, because it's driven by a cute Indian man--headress and all--and his truck says "Babbu Ice Cream." It always makes me and Dave laugh. He's been driving through our neighborhood for weeks now, and Andra and I have just waved as he drives by playing his music. For all Andra knew, it was just a funny little truck that drives by playing music. I knew once she realized the musical truck ALSO delivers ice cream, there would be no turning back. She's old enough now to totally understand cause and effect.

Well, Sunday afternoon, I heard his music and knew he was on his way to our street. And so began the internal debate...it was an hour before dinner time, ice cream would surely spoil her dinner. There would be other perfectly sunny, warm days when he would drive by, right? And I'd be creating a monster...from her first ice cream truck purchase forward she would know... "that truck gives me ice cream!" So he drove by, and we waved like usual. But then...the little boy 2 houses down asked him to stop and wait while he went inside to get money. So I caved. It must be destiny! :) I decided to get Andra some ice cream, and ran in to get my money too!

We chose an orange sherbert push up pop, because I remembered loving them in my childhood. And maybe there's some tiny trace of fruit in there? We sat on the front lawn and ate her push up pop, with more of it landing in her lap than in her mouth. But it didn't matter...we had fun sharing one of the simple pleasures of childhood. She had the funniest expression on her face too...she kept looking at the truck, completely puzzled. It was as if she was thinking, "Why on earth did the man in that truck give me ice cream??" But she gobbled it up, grinning ear to ear...and I think my heart melted as fast as her Scooby Doo sherbert push-up pop.

Animal Sounds

2009-04-22T18:32:00.000-07:00

Andra's been perfecting her animal sounds, so I thought we'd share them with you. They're a little quiet, so you might have to turn up your volume. You'll get to hear me practice all my animal sounds too. :) I'm especially proud of my monkey sound, thanks to countless episodes of Curious George.

What a Weekend!

2009-04-15T12:22:00.000-07:00

This post is exactly a week late. Sorry about that. :) We've been too busy playing outside to sit down at our computer. But we had such a fun Easter weekend, I wanted to share some of the pictures!

This year, Andra completely understood the concept of an Easter egg hunt...thanks to a Dora egg hunt video she's a dedicated fan of. So on Saturday morning, we took our well-trained egg hunter to her Grandma and Grandpa V.'s church for an easter egg hunt, which Andra loved! They had a Bible lesson too, which was a little over her head, but in the coming years I hope she understands and I have enough wisdom to teach her the true meaning of Easter. Here she is hunting her (not so hidden) eggs!

Easter weekend also happened to fall on my mom's birthday this year...the big 6-0! I had the family over for dinner...AND allowed everyone to eat on my "new" dining room table for the first time ever. I'm ashamed to say we've had this gorgeous table for over two years, and I had yet to serve a meal on it. :) The best part of the evening was watching the kids play together. They're such a hoot! Here's a great pic of the grandkids...except that Andra didn't smile in this one. It's a little hard to get all three of them smiling at once, but it wasn't for lack of effort!

Here's Andra saying "yay!" after we sang Happy Birthday to her Grandma!

Chick Pics

2009-04-14T17:22:00.000-07:00

We had a whirlwind weekend this Easter, so I'm just now getting around to posting these photos...which I INTENDED to post many days ago! Andra had a "photo shoot" with some live baby chicks and ducklings, which was quite an entertaining experience! I was curious how she'd react to them, but she seemed to love playing with them. She wasn't very happy when they tried to waddle up her dress, but other than that, they had a good time together...and we got a few really cute shots. Enjoy!
(Please note: no chicks or ducklings were harmed during the capturing of these pictures. Although I'm sure a few were slightly startled when a little blonde girl picked them up by their necks. All are healthy and happy! I promise)

I told her to tickle the chick, so here she is doing just that!

Happy Birthday, Zater Tater!!

2009-03-29T07:42:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe, but we celebrated Zayda's 5th birthday over the weekend. Zayda is my adorable niece who brings so much laughter and fun to our family. She's got an exbuberant personality that seems much bigger than her little petite frame. Even at the age of 5, it seems like she changes and "grows up" more each time I see her. And without a doubt, she always makes us laugh!

Getting ready to blow out the candles...

Zayda's little brother, not to be outdone by his big sis, is always the life of the party too. It's so funny how different his personality is from quiet little Andra, who's just a few weeks younger than him. She's never quite sure what to think of her cousin Garrett who seems like a little tornado compared to her!

Our Little Bookworm

2009-03-25T17:30:00.000-07:00

I can recite Andra's favorite book, "Llama Llama Mad at Mama," from memory. Word for word. Because that's how many times we've read it! Andra is absolutely addicted to her books, and I couldn't be happier about it.

I happen to be a voracious reader myself. Well...let me rephrase. Once upon a time (pre-marriage, pre-house, pre-dog, pre-baby), I had a lot of free time and spent much of that free time reading. :)

It started when I was a little girl. Anybody out there remember the Babysitter's Club series? Sweet Valley Twins? Both series had well over 100 books, and I'd read every single one. I was the girl counting the days until the next book in the series would arrive in the bookstore so I could get my hands on it! In fact, I loved reading SO much, that when my parents built a house, they designed my bedroom with a book closet (SEPARATE from my clothes closet...and much bigger too) AND a perfect window seat where I could read all my books. It was divine. I miss that room. And...my parents made a wonderful tradition of giving me a BIG box of books every Christmas. I loved opening that present every year! I could always find it under the tree...it was huge and HEAVY with the weight of all the books waiting to be read. In fact, they gave Andra a box of children's books this Christmas, and I nearly cried.

I think my lifetime love of reading is why I'm able to make a living as a (news) writer...I just got to know words and their rhythm, and the (sometimes frustrating) art of stringing words together so someone else might enjoy reading them.

So nothing brings me more pleasure than seeing my little girl already addicted to books--craving them, just like her Mom. We have a pile of about 20 in the living room, and she insists we read each and every one...everyday. Several times. I try to rotate them occasionally for the sake of variety...although I've discovered toddlers love repitition. And that's probably why I can recite "Llama Llama Mad at Mama" from memory. And because I think I love that book as much as she does!

Learning Her Words

2009-03-19T06:59:00.000-07:00

Andra is quiet and observant like her Dad, so it's a big accomplishment that she's starting to chatter! Her vocab is steadily increasing, and she's just started repeating after us if we tell her to say something. She says "dad" a lot...so here I am working on "mom." (Note: the bruise on her head is from a recent stumble on concrete, and the magnificent hairstyle is a result of her smearing dinner through her hair that night!)

Spring Fever

2009-03-08T12:49:00.000-07:00

What a breath of fresh air this weekend! We soaked up every minute we possibly could. I know it's way too early for spring to have officially arrived, but I'm so grateful God gave us just one day of reprieve from winter. It was so much fun to get outside with Andra and watch those early spring wind gusts toss her little blonde curls every direction. I think it really lifted our spirits just to be out in the sunshine!

Dave and I took advantage of the warm weather and did a Mini training run on Saturday morning. We're both right on track with our training (translation: Dave's way faster than me and always will be). Then we were anxious to get home and enjoy the day. We played most of the morning in the front yard, and then made an afternoon trip to the playground.

I have to share the picture below because it's Andra's new habit. She'll grab onto your finger and pull you wherever it is that she wants you to go. I absolutely love it. The only time it's difficult is when I'm trying to get dinner on the table or some other task, and she nearly pulls my finger out of socket trying to get her way. :)

It's just so interesting to me how she fluctuates between wanting my help and refusing my help. In one moment, she'll desperately need my finger to pull me somewhere, and in the next moment, she's Miss Independent and refuses any assistance so she can prove what a big girl she is. I think that's something mothers must always struggle with as their kids grow...when do you help? And when do you let them discover new things on their own? For now, I'm glad she wants my help a lot more than she refuses it.

Family Portrait

2009-03-01T07:49:00.001-08:00

We just received the family portrait we had taken for our church directory, so I thought I'd share. Andra was so smiley that day, so we got a good shot of the three of us. Sometimes I'm still in awe of our little family and the fact that I'm REALLY a mom. :) I'm so grateful God blessed us with such a beautiful, charming, healthy little girl.

Just Say Noooooooo

2009-02-27T05:17:00.000-08:00

Although she signs a lot, Andra is still a lady of few words, but she's got several down pat. Among them are: "uh-ohhhh"; "choo-chooooo" (for train); and her most favorite word of all..."Noooooo!" (usually accompanied by energetic head-shaking, as you'll see in the video below). I think she loves this word because she can finally express her opinion! Of course, I think it's super cute right now because she just started doing it. Six months from now...not so cute. :)

Here we are trying to start our nightly ritual of cleaning up before bath time (and trust me, this girl has a way of destroying the house). Note how she tries to distract me with Elmo at the end (I think her and Elmo are in cahoots). Sneaky thing. You'll also see her do the sign for "blanket" after I tell her it's bathtime...she associates her blankie with bath, because she gets to snuggle her blanket as soon as we get out of the tub and head for bed.

Girls' Day Out

2009-02-25T16:04:00.000-08:00

Andra hadn't been out of the house for a couple days, and I thought she might be getting a little cabin fever...so we headed to the Children's Museum for the day! I would've much rather the three of us gone as a family, but I'd be lieing if I told you I don't enjoy the one-on-one time with her too. :) Although we missed Dave today, it's nice to do things just the two of us sometimes.

We've been to the museum a few times, but it always amazes me how different each visit is as she gets older. She's really into trains right now (she says "choo choooo!" whenever we see a train in a book, on TV, etc.) She loved the train exhibit. Even after we'd moved on to other exhibits, she kept saying "choo chooo!" We also checked out the new Lego exhibit, where she befriended a dinosaur. We spent the remainder of our visit in the Playscape area, which she loves.

I wanted to ride the carousel with her too (which I remember doing as a little girl), but I could tell her eyes were looking REALLY tired, so we'll have to hit the carousel next time. Sure enough, she was asleep as soon as we hit the road.

Playing at the water station...

Making friends with a dinosaur...

"Can we take him home, Mom?"

I'm STILL not 30 :)

2009-02-21T19:46:00.000-08:00

I celebrated my 29th birthday on Saturday, and had a great time doing it! Hard to believe I'm only 364 days away from turning 30. Yikes! I started the day off with a 5 mile run (Mini training and to help offset the damage I knew I'd be doing at dinner!) Then we spent the rest of the day just relaxing at home. It was SO cold outside, so none of us felt like going much of anywhere.

Dave and I planned our monthly "date night" on my birthday night...so Andra got to spend the night with her grandparents, which she always loves doing. My heart aches a little bit when I leave her, but I know she'll have a good time, and I always have a blast being with Dave once we get out just the two of us.

So we headed to Mo's downtown for dinner. I'd heard really good things about it and really wanted to try it. We had a great meal and lots of fun being at a "fancy" restaurant. And I thoroughly enjoyed my Cosmo. Love Cosmos!! We weren't very creative for this date night, and just saw a movie afterwards. I certainly had a happy birthday and Dave and I enjoyed our date night too!

Here's Andra having fun at Grandma & Grandpa's...sure is convenient that Grandpa is such a great photographer! Her Uncle J was even in town from Purdue, so she got to hang out with him and his girlfriend too. Dave and I at dinner. They actually took our picture with their camera and gave us a print out. Funny!

Winter Doldrums

2009-02-18T11:42:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been awhile since I've blogged! We've been pretty boring lately, so I haven't had anything exciting to share. Plus, the last two weeks the three of us having been passing around colds, sinus infections, etc. None of us felt very good, and Andra had an ear infection too. We're all healthy again now, and DONE with winter! Bring on the sunshine!

One exciting bit of news that many of you already know about... Dave started a new job last week! He's an adminstrative law JUDGE now. How cool is that?? He showed me his new business card, and it's really weird seeing the word "judge" by his name. :) It's a great step up in his career, and we're really excited for him! Plus, he's got great hours now. He's home by 4:30, which is much earlier than his previous job!

Just thought I would post and let everyone know we're still alive...just trudging through winter and counting the days 'til spring! Here are some recent pics...

We love taking Andra swimming at the Y...and I think she loves it too. Here's Dave teaching her how to slam dunk. I'd really like for her to play softball, but she sure couldn't keep her hands off that basketball!

Snow Day!

2009-01-28T11:47:00.000-08:00

Well, I wished for more snow...and my wish was granted. Generously! About 10 inches from what all the news folk are saying. (Which I'm SO glad to not be one of those anymore...out in the cold talking endlessly about snow)

They even closed the county government, so Dave got to stay home with Andra and me. We took Andra out in the snow...but it was almost too much for her to play in. It was about up to her hips! So she played in the part that had already been cleared off by Daddy. Not before taking a trip down the driveway in her sled!

We also let Pudge outside to play in the snow for awhile. Andra thought it was hilarious watching him attempt to run in snow...it was about up to his hips too!

We didn't go to a big hill for sledding, because we would've had to go in the morning...and the roads still looked pretty intimidating at that point. The temps are supposed to stay low, so maybe we hit a slope in the next few days!

I spent my day doing exciting things like laundry and making a grocery list. I stripped the bed to wash the sheets...and when it was time to make the bed again, this is how I found Dave and Pudge enjoying their snow day.

Potty Seat Drama

2009-01-25T17:22:00.000-08:00

We had quite the potty seat experience today...and I hope all you mothers out there yet to purchase a potty seat will learn from my own stupidity. Let me start from the beginning...

I know Andra may seem a little bit young for potty training, but she seems very curious and interested in the "big" toilet, so I figured we might as well take advantage of her interest and just see what happens. We bought the potty seat (which sort of sits inside the adult toilet seat) and a step stool. Well, Andra took an immediate liking to her potty seat. It was like a new toy! We took it out of the package and let her play with it. She sat on it in the living room...but it wasn't long until she discovered it fit quite nicely on her head. Well, we all got quite the kick out of that. So she pranced around the house for a while with it on her head...and I took some funny pictures of her new discovery...then...next thing we knew...it had slipped OVER her head and was around her neck. And wasn't coming off. We tried a few tugs and pulls. Not budging. So Andra started to panic (screaming), so Dave and I started to seriously panic. I had visions of rushing my child to the ER with a toilet seat stuck around her neck. That'd certainly earn me Mother of the Year award!

I tried to calm down...if it went over her head...it HAD to come back off. I finally found the perfect angle, and a few hard tugs later, it was off. Andra, the poor thing, has a scrape by one of her eyes from the pulling. :( It was probably only stuck for 30 seconds or so, but it felt like 30 minutes. Andra was in a complete state of panic...and was NOT so friendly with her toilet seat afterwards. It will be in hiding for few days until she hopefully forgets the whole harrowing experience. I hope this doesn't sabotage our efforts.

Dave and I later discovered there's a warning on the back side of the seat about not letting kids put it over their head because it CAN become stuck around their neck. oops. At least we can laugh about it now.

Here are a few funny pictures before disaster struck...

Big Bro Pudge

2009-01-18T17:54:00.000-08:00

Trapped indoors for days on end...I think Andra mistakes Pudge for a furry jungle gym. And what good big bro...he just lets her climb all over him to her heart's content.

Snow Angel

2009-01-18T17:47:00.000-08:00

Please don't panic. No, I didn't take Andra out in the -10 degree temperatures...but I DID take her out the afternoon before the frigid temps arrived!...and I'm just now getting around to posting these.

I knew we were going to be trapped indoors for the next few days because of the ridiculously cold weather, so I took Andra out in the snow the afternoon before the bottom fell out. This winter has been pretty disappointing in the snowfall department. She even got a sled AND snow boots for Christmas (thanks Aunt Erin and Aunt Libby!!)...but no snow!!! So even if this measley one inch of snow is all we get this winter, as least she can say she got to play in the snow! We took a few laps around the house in her brand new sled, and even sledded (more like 'skidded' due to the lack of snow!) down our driveway, which we discovered has the perfect slope for a nice little ride. Even though her sled is DESIGNED for snowy days, this gal insisted on going for a wagon ride. INSISTED. So yes, we pulled out her cheerful, meant-for-the-summer wagon, and I pulled her up and down the street. The neighbors surely thought I'd lost my mind, but Andra was tickled pink...and that's all that matters. :)

Not so happy during the "getting dressed" part...

Disney Marathon Wrap-up!

2009-01-14T07:30:00.000-08:00

Oh man, I'm suffering from climate shock! We had PERFECT weather in Florida. It was sunny and in the 70s our first few days. Just gorgeous. Our first day there, I must've said "I can't believe how nice it is!" about 72 times. I REALLY couldn't believe it. We've never taken a warm vacation in the dead of winter. I told Dave we should make a habit of it. The sunshine and warm breeze is SO refreshing. Here we are at Downtown Disney, a shopping and dining area. We had a great time just roaming around enjoying the fresh (warm!) air. And no, Andra's not picking her nose...I zoomed in to make sure. :) She's just pointing to it. Who knows why...

Dave ran an excellent first marathon. His finishing time was 4 hours and 18 minutes. Pretty incredible. He'd been having some toe pain the last month of his training, and he was disappointed the pain really flared up during the marathon. It slowed him down some, but he toughed it out, and finished with a smile on his face! Here he is about 50 yards from the finish line. We're so proud of his accomplishment!! And he doubts it'll be his last marathon...although he's looking forward to taking time off.

Andra was proud of her daddy too. She was such a trooper bearing the crowds, skipping her morning nap, and having the sun in her eyes all morning.

She loved her daddy's Mickey Mouse medal! That's some hard earned bling!!

After the marathon, we spent the next day at Magic Kingdom. There were a few attractions that Andra got to experience for the first time. We did a jungle ride where she spotted lots of (robotic) animals. We also went on the "It's a small world afterall" ride...it definitely brought back memories of childhood Disney trips for me! She was a little in awe of it all. That last picture is her favorite spot...the Pooh playland. She could've played in there all day!

It was a great trip, and a perfect excuse to escape the winter weather for a few days. We're busy getting settled in and back to work. For now, Dave's already eyeing a few other marathons... after some well-deserved rest.

Disney Bound!

2009-01-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

I know I've been slacking a little on our posts, but we were 'busy' enjoying lots of relaxation and time together over the holidays. We're just now getting back into the swing of things this week...just in time for another vacation!

It's hard to believe, but we're leaving for Disney so Dave can run the Disney Marathon that he's trained so hard for. I think it's been a grueling but exhilarating few months for him, and he feels ready to take on the 26.2 mile course...his very first full marathon! Dave's mom and dad are coming to cheer him on too. While we're there, we'll be spending one day at the Magic Kingdom. I know Andra's too young to really enjoy it, but it should be fun regardless.

We're excited to leave the cold weather behind and soak up some sunshine. We'll be back soon, and I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures and Dave's success story to share with you! (I still think he's nuts)

Christmas at the Zoo

2008-12-30T11:59:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-19T14:02:00.000-08:00

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.

PIGTAILS!!!

2008-12-08T04:13:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-05T07:59:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-29T16:29:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-28T06:48:00.000-08:00

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!