Or because Santa did this.Monday, December 21, 2009
Leaving, leaving
We're still behind. No surprise there. But, time isn't waiting for anyone and we're off to the Grandma and Grandpa land for a Christmas celebration we won't ever forget. And hopefully it won't be because we're sick or injured or otherwise unhappy.
Or because Santa did this.
Or because Santa did this.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
9 Month Appointment
We had our 9 month well baby appointment today. It is on the early side, but we wanted to get it in before the true hustle and bustle of the season truly started in. All in all it was pretty uneventful with the high point being trying to keep Amelia on the scale long enough to get her weight correctly. Her stats are now:
The short version is Amelia continues to do well. She is at the top of the chart for height and in the 75% for weight and 90% for head size. She is a tall girl - we could have told you that without the chart though. She is constantly being mistaken for a baby much older than she really is.
We also picked up a seasonal flu booster to round out the appointment and will return for her 1 year appointment in spring. How is that possible?
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Our first appointment of the day was with the dentist for William. The American Academy of people who look at Kids' teeth for a living recommends now that parents bring their kids to the dentist for the first time between 6-12 months of age. Honest. I just read it today in our Parenting Toddlers book (not while at our dentist office). This was William's second visit to the dentist and I was hoping for a little progress in his performance. No dice. He enjoyed a ride in the dentist chair and happily wore the hotwheels sunglasses provided. He liked playing with the toothbrush and using the air blower to blow up plastic gloves. However, he flat out refused to open his mouth for anyone or anything. I was very tempted to....do something not nice to him, especially as his 9 am appointment time meant I spent most of the morning running around like a mad woman putting clothes on kids and trying to feed them in order to be on time. Amelia did her best to alternate between flirting with patients/hygienists and pulling cords out of the wall.
Height: 29.25 inches, +1.75 inches in the last 3 months
Weight: 20 lbs 5 oz, +over two pounds in the last 3 months
Head Cir.: 46.5 cm, +2 cm in the last 3 months
Weight: 20 lbs 5 oz, +over two pounds in the last 3 months
Head Cir.: 46.5 cm, +2 cm in the last 3 months
The short version is Amelia continues to do well. She is at the top of the chart for height and in the 75% for weight and 90% for head size. She is a tall girl - we could have told you that without the chart though. She is constantly being mistaken for a baby much older than she really is.
We also picked up a seasonal flu booster to round out the appointment and will return for her 1 year appointment in spring. How is that possible?
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Our first appointment of the day was with the dentist for William. The American Academy of people who look at Kids' teeth for a living recommends now that parents bring their kids to the dentist for the first time between 6-12 months of age. Honest. I just read it today in our Parenting Toddlers book (not while at our dentist office). This was William's second visit to the dentist and I was hoping for a little progress in his performance. No dice. He enjoyed a ride in the dentist chair and happily wore the hotwheels sunglasses provided. He liked playing with the toothbrush and using the air blower to blow up plastic gloves. However, he flat out refused to open his mouth for anyone or anything. I was very tempted to....do something not nice to him, especially as his 9 am appointment time meant I spent most of the morning running around like a mad woman putting clothes on kids and trying to feed them in order to be on time. Amelia did her best to alternate between flirting with patients/hygienists and pulling cords out of the wall.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Santa, revisited
All I want for Christmas is a picture of the kids sitting with Santa. Laughing, crying, picking their noses, it doesn't matter. I'm not sure why it was so important this year, but it was. So, this is our third attempt for a picture with Santa. I was a little surprised because overall, this was by far our best experience. Including the wait in line. We went to the Bass Pro Shop. Not your typical Santa stop. The stuffed deer and fish nonwithstanding, it was wonderful. They had a lot of kids activities (coloring, remote control trucks, shooter things, crafts, letter writing station, play tents set up, etc) and most importantly, they allow your own photography. Nice. I wasn't sure how it was going to go based on our previous experience. When it was our turn, I brought the kids up and was ready to plop the kids down for their crying pictures when I was pleasantly surprised.
Santa put out his hand and wouldn't let me put the kids down. He wanted to talk to William first and warm him up. Here they are talking about what kind of cars William likes best. Because, you know Santa's workshop has both big cars and small cars.
A discussion about trains then occurred.
Santa then called William's attention to the miniature train rolling around nearby
And then he sat happily on Santa's lap. Ms Thing though was no so cooperative. She has happily cooperated through two other Santas without problem and I wasn't planning on it being any different this time. Turns out she was our crier this time. Go figure.
Santa put out his hand and wouldn't let me put the kids down. He wanted to talk to William first and warm him up. Here they are talking about what kind of cars William likes best. Because, you know Santa's workshop has both big cars and small cars.
A discussion about trains then occurred.
Santa then called William's attention to the miniature train rolling around nearby
And then he sat happily on Santa's lap. Ms Thing though was no so cooperative. She has happily cooperated through two other Santas without problem and I wasn't planning on it being any different this time. Turns out she was our crier this time. Go figure.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Christmas Day 4: A Christmas Program
First of all, we got a Christmas-ed up this morning to go to church! Amelia wore her snowflake sweater jumper and William wore his green striped sweater.
I really felt like the Christmas program snuck up on me. Before Thanksgiving, the coordinator of the Christmas play and I decided it would be super cute to have the preschool set play and small role in the Christmas play put on by the youth in our church. The toddlers would join the rest of the cast in our Christmas play for the very last scene in the stable as animals while the congregation sang a hymn. All they had to do was be cute. We outfitted William with a costume from the "Official Christmas Play Box" and I committed to whip up something darling for Amelia to wear. I also assisted in badgering other parents to get their kiddos to participate so ours wouldn't be the only ones being a distraction. Of course I left it until the last minute to pull something together for Amelia. It's a good thing she is darn cute on her own. I'd like to present our very own Christmas mouse:
Using white fleece, a white headband and pink flannel, I created these awesome ears in about 20 minutes. I then cut about 14 inches of the rough edge of the fleece, added a safety pin and voila! A Christmas mouse was born!
Add in a white pair of tights, a white onesie and the costume is complete!
I'm biased, but she is SO cute!
She was really good about leaving the ears alone - I was surprised about that!
William (the donkey) was not so great about this. Several times he reached up and turned his hat sideways leaving one ear above his forehead and the other ear on the back of his head. We don't have as many pictures of William because he wasn't as tolerant about his costume. I dressed him halfway through the program and was out of it moments after the conclusion of the program.
The mouse and donkey get along fine!
So, during the last song, the preschool/toddler/babies were brought up front to join the manger scene. William nicely took a seat with the other kids. Amelia took one look at the manger and pulled herself up on it to get a better look at baby Jesus.
Amelia stole the show at this point. Most of the kids were laughing at her as were the adults in the audience. She was fascinated by the baby Jesus in the manger.
She picked him up, poked him in the eye, chewed on his fingers and rolled him around in his manger.
William on the left, Amelia center stage.
In our rush, we didn't bring our new flash, so the pictures are a little dark. William has relocated to the far right side of the stage and Amelia continues harassing the poor, little Jesus in his manger.
It was wonderful for the kids to have little parts in the program that didn't affect the production as a whole. Several people stopped me afterward to compliment our mouse's role in the show :) We do have video, but it is too long for Blogger and I am unable to edit on our laptop. Will have to wait until we are home again to edit and post.
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I really felt like the Christmas program snuck up on me. Before Thanksgiving, the coordinator of the Christmas play and I decided it would be super cute to have the preschool set play and small role in the Christmas play put on by the youth in our church. The toddlers would join the rest of the cast in our Christmas play for the very last scene in the stable as animals while the congregation sang a hymn. All they had to do was be cute. We outfitted William with a costume from the "Official Christmas Play Box" and I committed to whip up something darling for Amelia to wear. I also assisted in badgering other parents to get their kiddos to participate so ours wouldn't be the only ones being a distraction. Of course I left it until the last minute to pull something together for Amelia. It's a good thing she is darn cute on her own. I'd like to present our very own Christmas mouse:
Using white fleece, a white headband and pink flannel, I created these awesome ears in about 20 minutes. I then cut about 14 inches of the rough edge of the fleece, added a safety pin and voila! A Christmas mouse was born!
Add in a white pair of tights, a white onesie and the costume is complete!
I'm biased, but she is SO cute!
She was really good about leaving the ears alone - I was surprised about that!
William (the donkey) was not so great about this. Several times he reached up and turned his hat sideways leaving one ear above his forehead and the other ear on the back of his head. We don't have as many pictures of William because he wasn't as tolerant about his costume. I dressed him halfway through the program and was out of it moments after the conclusion of the program.
The mouse and donkey get along fine!
So, during the last song, the preschool/toddler/babies were brought up front to join the manger scene. William nicely took a seat with the other kids. Amelia took one look at the manger and pulled herself up on it to get a better look at baby Jesus.
Amelia stole the show at this point. Most of the kids were laughing at her as were the adults in the audience. She was fascinated by the baby Jesus in the manger.
She picked him up, poked him in the eye, chewed on his fingers and rolled him around in his manger.
In our rush, we didn't bring our new flash, so the pictures are a little dark. William has relocated to the far right side of the stage and Amelia continues harassing the poor, little Jesus in his manger.
It was wonderful for the kids to have little parts in the program that didn't affect the production as a whole. Several people stopped me afterward to compliment our mouse's role in the show :) We do have video, but it is too long for Blogger and I am unable to edit on our laptop. Will have to wait until we are home again to edit and post.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Christmas Day 3
Great news!
William is starting to tell jokes.
And Grandpa Kevin is responsible
While we were staying with the grandparents, we had spaghetti for dinner. William either really likes spaghetti or will NOT eat it. No inbetween. Of course, this evening was a WILL NOT EAT it kind of day.
So, Grandpa was making conversation with William in an attempt to distract him.
Grandpa said "Do you know what I like about noodles? They are so noodley!"
William stopped complaining for a minute and then completely cracked up. And then repeated the joke 400 times.
Interestingly (probably only to me), he is able to transfer this joke to other things. If I ask him : Do you know what I like about water? He'll respond: It's so WATERY! and laugh his head off.
Outfits! I found these Candy Cane pants at a garage sale for a quarter. I totally love them.
William is starting to tell jokes.
And Grandpa Kevin is responsible
While we were staying with the grandparents, we had spaghetti for dinner. William either really likes spaghetti or will NOT eat it. No inbetween. Of course, this evening was a WILL NOT EAT it kind of day.
So, Grandpa was making conversation with William in an attempt to distract him.
Grandpa said "Do you know what I like about noodles? They are so noodley!"
William stopped complaining for a minute and then completely cracked up. And then repeated the joke 400 times.
Interestingly (probably only to me), he is able to transfer this joke to other things. If I ask him : Do you know what I like about water? He'll respond: It's so WATERY! and laugh his head off.
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Outfits! I found these Candy Cane pants at a garage sale for a quarter. I totally love them.
Amelia's funny face...
Chewing on the finger...
Chewing on the finger...
Friday, December 11, 2009
The Second Day of Christmas
Wintery outfits!
Antlers! How fun!
William helping daddy put away the ratchet set after spilling it everywhere. There are a lot of pieces in there!
Antlers! How fun!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
12 Days of Christmas
I love Christmas time. I adore Christmas music, the family gatherings, the cookies, the decorations and cards. It is so fun and a little emotional for me that William is finally old enough to participate in some of the fun activities. In preparation, I stocked up on Christmas attire for everyone. I think both kids have enough to compete in a 12 days of Christmas outfit competition. Maybe I'll get pictures to post every day for the next 12 days. Am I up to the challenge?
Here is Day One: Santa attempt #2! Santa was invited to the last day of our preschool session. Santa is a teacher at the high school where the preschool is held.
Here is William in his red Christmas sweater. He would NOT sit on Santa's lap, but agreed to sit with the preschool teacher and talk to Santa.
Talking to Santa about trains
William, Amelia with Santa (and a preschool teacher)
Amelia checking out Santa
And! We decorated a Christmas tree for the first time at our house! We always travel for Christmas and it has always been so much work to put the tree up just to take it down again when we come home after New Year's. This year, for the first time, it was WORTH IT. William was so EXCITED! Very fun. Although we ran out of branches after only half of our ornaments were put up. Bummer.
Here is Day One: Santa attempt #2! Santa was invited to the last day of our preschool session. Santa is a teacher at the high school where the preschool is held.
Here is William in his red Christmas sweater. He would NOT sit on Santa's lap, but agreed to sit with the preschool teacher and talk to Santa.
Talking to Santa about trains
William, Amelia with Santa (and a preschool teacher)
Amelia checking out Santa
And! We decorated a Christmas tree for the first time at our house! We always travel for Christmas and it has always been so much work to put the tree up just to take it down again when we come home after New Year's. This year, for the first time, it was WORTH IT. William was so EXCITED! Very fun. Although we ran out of branches after only half of our ornaments were put up. Bummer. Tuesday, December 8, 2009
I Wish
William is currently singing "I'm the nap, I'm the nap, I'm the nap!" (from Dora the Ex.plo.rer)
He means to be singing this song.
But, I'd be heaven if it was a prediction for this afternoon.
UPDATE: success!
Over Thanksgiving, Amelia started making this face. It has taken us this long to catch a picture of it. My family reports that I make a similar face at the kids when I am being silly. I don't think I look like this though...do I?
He means to be singing this song.
But, I'd be heaven if it was a prediction for this afternoon.
UPDATE: success!
Over Thanksgiving, Amelia started making this face. It has taken us this long to catch a picture of it. My family reports that I make a similar face at the kids when I am being silly. I don't think I look like this though...do I?
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Finally home...ahhh
We're finally home! It was wonderful to visit with family, see my cousin's beautiful wedding, have a date with some of our friends and help my mom Christmas shop. But, now it is back to reality!
I have all kinds of Christmas things to be getting done and a week less than usual to do it! ACK!
Anyway, on that note, I though I would share some pictures of Amelia's first snow this week (12/3/09).
Her first response: What is THIS?
Upon hearing William squealing, she took off crawling to check him out
Studying the snow...
Of course, it required a taste (see the snowstache?)
Happy girl!
Worth another taste....
Off to explore
Standing is better than sitting in that cold stuff!
Pretty snow baby
I have all kinds of Christmas things to be getting done and a week less than usual to do it! ACK!
Anyway, on that note, I though I would share some pictures of Amelia's first snow this week (12/3/09).
Her first response: What is THIS?
Upon hearing William squealing, she took off crawling to check him out
Studying the snow...
Of course, it required a taste (see the snowstache?)
Happy girl!
What IS this?
Worth another taste....
Off to explore
Brr! I'm cold!
Standing is better than sitting in that cold stuff!
Pretty snow baby
William trying to catch some flakes
Santa has fallen! HELP!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Wedding/pizza crust
12/4/2009 Amelia had pizza crust for the first time. She loved it.
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My cousin, Ashley, got married the Saturday after Thanksgiving in Minneapolis, MN. Because of the distance, I elected to stay in MN with the kids for the week between Thanksgiving and the wedding to save the stress on the long trip with the kids.
Before the wedding, I called Ashley to see if she wanted me to come early with my camera to take some extra pictures of her and her sister getting ready together. Ashley thought that would be great as they weren't planning on having a photographer. I was instantly promoted to head photographer. A fun (and stressful) job! Sadly, I was so busy making sure I hit the shots for the bride and groom, I didn't get any pictures of my immediate family. Luckily, other people did.
The wedding was held at a tropical themed restaurant in the Mall of America called Kokomos. The couple invited their guests to wear their tropical themed attire - which we thought was very fun (and why you'll see my kids wearing summery clothes on a day when the high temperature was 18 degrees.
Uncle Mike and Mia. I hand made Amelia's headband flower to match her dress...and then I didn't even take pictures of her cuteness! She loved the leis people were wearing!
My mom and Mike - I handmade my mom's flower also :) I am so crafty!
Kelly the wonder photographer! I hand made the flower I am wearing in my hair :) Kelly the wonder crafty photographer.
William had a handmade flower also, but you can't see it very well here. Megan is to the right of William in this picture. Megan was my assistant today - which meant that she helped me EVERYTHING. Her biggest job was keeping Amelia happy while I was shooting pictures.
And because this sign made me laugh when I saw it while driving to the wedding : CONCENTRATE ON DRIVING. No kidding, people.
And, finally, if you interested in seeing the pictures I took of the big day, I made a quick (nothing fancy here) slide show of some of the pictures below.
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My cousin, Ashley, got married the Saturday after Thanksgiving in Minneapolis, MN. Because of the distance, I elected to stay in MN with the kids for the week between Thanksgiving and the wedding to save the stress on the long trip with the kids.
Before the wedding, I called Ashley to see if she wanted me to come early with my camera to take some extra pictures of her and her sister getting ready together. Ashley thought that would be great as they weren't planning on having a photographer. I was instantly promoted to head photographer. A fun (and stressful) job! Sadly, I was so busy making sure I hit the shots for the bride and groom, I didn't get any pictures of my immediate family. Luckily, other people did.
The wedding was held at a tropical themed restaurant in the Mall of America called Kokomos. The couple invited their guests to wear their tropical themed attire - which we thought was very fun (and why you'll see my kids wearing summery clothes on a day when the high temperature was 18 degrees.
Uncle Mike and Mia. I hand made Amelia's headband flower to match her dress...and then I didn't even take pictures of her cuteness! She loved the leis people were wearing!
My mom and Mike - I handmade my mom's flower also :) I am so crafty!
Kelly the wonder photographer! I hand made the flower I am wearing in my hair :) Kelly the wonder crafty photographer.
William had a handmade flower also, but you can't see it very well here. Megan is to the right of William in this picture. Megan was my assistant today - which meant that she helped me EVERYTHING. Her biggest job was keeping Amelia happy while I was shooting pictures.
And because this sign made me laugh when I saw it while driving to the wedding : CONCENTRATE ON DRIVING. No kidding, people.
And, finally, if you interested in seeing the pictures I took of the big day, I made a quick (nothing fancy here) slide show of some of the pictures below.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Friends, Santa
Visiting in Rochester is always a lot of fun. This week we were able to spend a little time with our friends, the Gaedkes. The kids played together and the moms visited. It was perfect. Or as close as it is going to get for a few years.
Cana (WOW! Hasn't she grown?), William (who insists on holding his sister like this even though she can sit up on her own) and Amelia (who would like nothing better than to crawl away)
It is HARD to get three kids to look at the camera at the same time!
Thanks for hosting our fun playdate, Cana!
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Rudolph was a bust. We saw the previews on TV for Rudolph and Grandma asked if William could stay up past his bedtime to watch it with her. I agreed with the stipulation being when it gets scary with the abominable snowman, it needed to be turned off.
Rudolph starting
Look! Rudolph!
We also caught up with our old pal, Santa. William was NOT interested in going anywhere near him. He wouldn't stand anywhere next to him, so this is the best we could do. Luckily Amelia wasn't phased one bit about being plopped onto a stranger's lap. She took a few minutes to check him over before deciding it was a good idea to play peek a boo with the photographer.
The last important person we got to see was Cindy Rapp. Cindy used to do daycare for me and my siblings. On top of that, she and my mom were friends. I spent a lot of hours at the Rapp house growing up. There really isn't a good way to explain how special it was for me to introduce MY own kids to Cindy, a wonderful woman who cared for me when I was small. So, I won't try to explain it. Just know it was a special moment that I will treasure.
Cana (WOW! Hasn't she grown?), William (who insists on holding his sister like this even though she can sit up on her own) and Amelia (who would like nothing better than to crawl away)
It is HARD to get three kids to look at the camera at the same time!
Thanks for hosting our fun playdate, Cana!________________________________________________________________
From this morning at breakfast:
William: [crying]
William: I hurt my dimple (points to the general cheek area)
William: I hurt my dimple when I fell down.
William: [crying]
William: I hurt my dimple (points to the general cheek area)
William: I hurt my dimple when I fell down.
Rudolph was a bust. We saw the previews on TV for Rudolph and Grandma asked if William could stay up past his bedtime to watch it with her. I agreed with the stipulation being when it gets scary with the abominable snowman, it needed to be turned off.
Rudolph starting
Look! Rudolph!
William lasted about half an hour until the scary abominable snowman made an appearance and then it was time to be done. Maybe next year we'll get a little more in.
We also caught up with our old pal, Santa. William was NOT interested in going anywhere near him. He wouldn't stand anywhere next to him, so this is the best we could do. Luckily Amelia wasn't phased one bit about being plopped onto a stranger's lap. She took a few minutes to check him over before deciding it was a good idea to play peek a boo with the photographer.
The last important person we got to see was Cindy Rapp. Cindy used to do daycare for me and my siblings. On top of that, she and my mom were friends. I spent a lot of hours at the Rapp house growing up. There really isn't a good way to explain how special it was for me to introduce MY own kids to Cindy, a wonderful woman who cared for me when I was small. So, I won't try to explain it. Just know it was a special moment that I will treasure.
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