Just Say Noooooooo

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

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 :)

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

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!