Not Quite a Winter Wonderland...

The weather was fantastic while we were in Florida.  You would never know that it was Christmas.  It was in the 80s, and we were in shorts and flip flops the whole time.  It was the perfect place to go to escape the yuckiness in KC.  We really made sure the kids got a chance to enjoy the outdoors while they could.

See saw time

Of course Zach took Charlie and Anna swimming in my parents pool, but that was freezing.  So one day my parents drove the kids out to Anna Maria Island where my grandparents spend the winter.  The pool at their condo complex is heated, which keeps the temperature perfect.  My dad went in with Charlie and Anna, and they all had such a blast. 

Pool with Grandpa.  This one was heated!

We also got a chance to take them to the playground right down the street from my parents.  Anna is big enough now to run around and explore like a big kid.  If Charlie can do it, she thinks she can too.  They were so glad that daddy was willing to take them to play while I wrapped Christmas gifts.  It is wonderful that they get a chance to get some fresh air in the middle of winter.  If my parents can't live in KC, we are sure glad they live in Florida!

Florida! 12/17/11

 

Checking out the pool

 

We made it to Florida, and the kids were so happy to see Grandma and Grandpa.  It's nice that they love coming here so much.  Almost immediately they wanted to hit the pool on my parents' lanai.  Yes, it is December.  No, the pool is not heated.  Not a problem for these two.  Charlie goes in and even likes to dunk his head!  Anna does whatever Charlie does, so she promptly got in too.  Thankfully Zach is willing to be the parental supervisor because there is no way I'm going near that cold water.  The kids mostly just sit on the side and stick their legs in and play, so at least Zach doesn't have to get fully submerged.  Sometimes they even get a warm towel to wrap up in after going in the frigid water.  That's the best!

 

They went in but didn't stay long.  Was more fun to play on the side where it wasn't so cold

Thanks for the warm towel Grandpa!!

 

Monday morning Zach and my dad left us to head back to KC.  Since baby #3 is on the way, I have decided to go to the other side and succumb to the convenience of a minivan.  Honda Odyssey here I come!  I picked it up the day after we left Florida.  That left us with my Honda Pilot SUV that we no longer needed.  My parents decided to sell my dad's little sports car and get my Pilot.  So Zach and dad did a road trip and drove the car down.  That left mom and I will the kids.  It was good except for the fact that the interior of the house was being painted during this time.  Since neither mom nor I were willing to take the kids in the pool (seriously, it's COLD) we had to be creative on things to do.  Luckily the kids were great, and the paint dried super fast.

New minivan!  Don't care if it is totally dorky.  The convenience of all the features is awesome!

Travel to Florida 12/17/11

The kids have flown a lot.  And by a lot I mean a LOT.  Charlie typically earns enough miles each year to get a free ticket.  We love to travel, although in the years since having kids, our trips consist mostly of going down to Florida.  My parents live about an hour south of Tampa.  A very ideal place for visiting!  Great weather all year, free babysitting, and food/lodging at no charge.  We take advantage of this as much as possible.  Since Zach was not on call for Christmas, we decided to head down to see my parents for about 9 days.  The kids were very excited to fly.  Charlie loves going on airplanes and was thrilled for weeks knowing that we would be going.  Anna did not quite understand what was going on, but if Charlie is happy she is happy.

 

Anna waking up early to head to the airport

 

We got to the airport with a little too much time to pass (we weren't sure how the crowds would be before Christmas) and so we let the kids get a small toy from the newsstand while we waited.  Charlie picked out a toy airplane, so of course Anna wanted one too.  Those worked out pretty good in keeping the kids occupied during the 90+ minutes we had to wait.  When we got to security, Charlie knew exactly what to do.  He took his coat off and put his bag up on the x-ray machine line.  He started taking his shoes off like usual, but apparently just recently they have decided not to make kids do that anymore.  That was really nice.  Very difficult to juggle kids, bags, coats, etc. and them getting shoes on and off.

 

Racing to the plane

 

After waiting we finally got to board the plane.  Both kids were jumping up and down and trying to run to the jet way.  It was so hard for them to wait.  When it was finally our turn, they almost took out another family in the excitement to get going.  Anna ran full speed to the plane.  Unfortunately, the excitement for her wore off about the time we took off and she realized that she did not get her own seat.  She was not pleased!  Overall, though, she did a pretty good job.  She was a little more fussy than usual since we were flying over nap time but was not nearly as noisy as the kid two rows in front of us that screamed "ROAR" at the lady sitting behind him for most of the flight.  

 

Anna sitting in my seat for a few minutes.  She is thoroughly ticked not to get her own seat like Charlie

 

All was worth while when we arrived in Tampa to see Grandpa waiting.  The kids were yelling and running to get to him as fast as possible.  Anna even stopped briefly to take her pacifier out of her mouth so she could cheer when she saw him!

It's Grandpa!

At Grandma and Grandpa's house!  The kids favorite thing to do is to go on walks with my parents

Vacation

We are on vacation!  See you after Christmas!

Cute Kids!

Best smile!

Our little Anna Banana eating a banana

Making Music

Our rock stars in the making!

For Christmas, we decided to get the kids guitars.  Actually, we decided to get Charlie a guitar and quickly realized that Anna would have a total meltdown if she did not get one too.  So, we picked up a little guitar for Anna and a bigger one for Charlie to open from Santa.

Santa was here?!

Since these presents are on the larger size, we didn't want to take them down to Florida with us.  So, we put the wrapped gifts under the tree the other night and told the kids that Santa stopped by early with one present for each of them.  They were so excited!

Tearing in to their guitars

The kids ran out to the Christmas tree and were amazed to see two gifts under there.  They immediately tore into them.  Anna even managed to completely unwrap her gift by herself without any help.  She was bound and determined to get into that package!  (Note to self - no gifts under the tree before Christmas Day or they will be opened by our littlest one!)

Charlie was so excited

Anna was perplexed why hers was different than Charlie's

Anna and Charlie loved the guitars and all the noise that ensued.  Good thing we have a basement so they can take the guitars down there.  The only "mistake" we made was not buying two identical ones.  Anna quickly figured out that hers was not as cool and was not pleased.  Minor meltdown followed, but she quickly rallied and began dancing to the music.  She loves to shake her hips!

 

Pigtails, Pictures, and Pool 12/11/11

Look at those crazy pigtails!  The curls make her hair go every direction

Sunday was a pretty busy day for us.  It was really nice because Zach had the day off, so we decided it would be good to try and get some stuff done.   We did a few things around the house in the morning and let Anna get a nap in.  Then we headed out for lunch.  We decided to try putting Anna's hair in pigtails since it is getting so long, and it turned out adorable!

Anna's face just makes me laugh, especially with her hair so fun

After having lunch and doing up Anna's hair, we thought we would take the kids to see Santa.  Zach's mom works at Von Maur, a free standing upscale department store near our house, and they had a Santa there.  Not only were there no lines, but the pictures were free.  Perfect!  So we headed over there and met up with Jawn so she could see the kids too.  

Charlie telling Santa he wants Spiderman toys for Christmas

Charlie was ecstatic about meeting Santa!  He sat right down on Santa's lap and told him all the things that he wanted for Christmas.  Charlie was just beaming.  Anna, on the other hand, was not amused.  She hated it!  She screamed and cried the entire time.  About what we expected.  

Anna was ticked!  Didn't bother Charlie though

After seeing Santa and meeting some of Jawn's co workers, we headed back to our house.  Anna was exhausted again (I think she is growing) and Charlie was full of energy.  So we put Anna down for a nap, and Zach took Charlie to open swim.  The rec center by our house has a great pool with a lazy river circle and kiddie areas.  Charlie has so much fun there.  Zach managed to thoroughly wear Charlie out while I worked on ordering Christmas presents online.

Getting to the pool with Daddy

Floating around the lazy river

They came back home and Charlie zonked out for a few hours from exhaustion while we ate dinner.  It was nice to have some quiet time.  Zach then entertained the kids while I did errands and stuff in the evening.  It was a great day!

Christmas Performance 12/7/11

Hi Mommy!!!

Charlie had his first Christmas performance at school last week.  It was basically all the preschool kids getting up on stage and singing some Christmas carols.  They had been practicing for weeks, and Charlie was so excited to be part of it.  I had gotten horribly sick the night before and was feeling awful that morning.  I literally could not get out of bed, so Zach was thankfully able to go in late and take the kids to school.  I never ask him to do that, so he knew it was bad!  

Making donkey noises

By lunchtime I was starting to feel human again and knew Charlie had his performance at 12:45.  I almost had to skip it but managed to get myself there just before the kids came in the auditorium.  I am so glad I made it!  The minute Charlie walked in he started looking all over to see if Zach or I were there.  When he saw me, he stopped walking and yelled "Mommy!" and waved enthusiastically.  It made me so happy to see him that proud!  It was especially cute to see him with his self made donkey headband on.  (The kids were all dressed up as animals from the manger.)  

He made the headpiece himself at school

The kids then went on stage and sang various songs for another 30-45 minutes.  Afterward school was done, and we went and got cupcakes to celebrate.  Anna was very excited to try out a cupcake again.  Her last one was on her birthday, and she was not really a fan.  Needless to say she enjoyed it much more this time!

Cupcakes and cartoons to celebrate a great school performance

Anna made me move her from the highchair to her couch when she saw Charlie.  Really enjoying all that sugar!

Top of the Tree

At my parents' house, I always put the angel on the top of the tree with my dad's help.  When I was little, he would lift me up to do it.  Now he just kind of assists me since I am getting a little big to be lifted!  It was a fun tradition that I always loved, so we decided to continue it with Charlie since he was our oldest.

That has worked out fine for 3 years, but this year Anna is on to us.  Why does he get to do something fun and special with Daddy and not her?  She was not amused.

So, we put the star on top of the tree twice so each one could get a turn.  I'm sure one of them will outgrow wanting to do it soon enough, but it is fun to see them helping Daddy with the tree for now.

School

Leaving morning school

As I have mentioned before, both Charlie and Anna are in school.  They both attend a local church on Mon and Wed from 9-12.  Charlie also goes to an afternoon school Mon-Thurs from 12:30-3:20.  Sounds like a lot of school, right?  They love it! 

Charlie trying to hold Anna's hand as they leave school.  She thinks she is so cool

Charlie started last year just doing his morning one because he needed the interaction with other kids.  He has a lot of energy to burn off.  About that time we realized his speech was way behind for his age, and his pediatrician recommended putting him in a more structured preschool.  So Charlie started at the local elementary school in the afternoons.  However, he absolutely loved his morning classes and did not want to stop, so we let him continue those.  Charlie is so happy going to school all day.  He has tons of friends and adores his teachers.  We ask him regularly if it is too much, but he insists that he wants to keep going. His speech has now improved by leaps and bounds.  Despite all the school, he still remains slightly behind, but we are so proud of all his hard work.

Chowing down at lunch

Because of Charlie's speech delay, we wanted to make sure Anna did not have the same issues.  So we decided to send her to Mother's Day Out for two mornings a week to be around other kids her age.  She really likes going there, too.  They do all kinds of crafts that I would never think of since I am horribly uncrafty!  They finger paint almost every day and do all sorts of fun things.  Anna really is enjoying being part of the class, and it is so cute watching her make friends. 

Anna loves being a big kid like Charlie

First Snowfall

Looking out our front door

Today we woke up to the first snow of the winter.  We have had a little frost and some random patches of ice, but nothing like this.  The snow is just a light dusting, but it covered a lot.  

Anna with her coat staring at the snow

Trying to figure out how to put it on herself

I am not a big fan of winter and hope this is the only snow we get for a while.  Anna, however, was mesmerized by it.  Last winter she was just 6 months old, so she really didn't know what was going on.  This morning when Anna saw the snow she got so excited.  She stood at the back door looking outside for a long time.  Then she ran to the kitchen and got her jacket.  After trying to put it on herself, she came to me and had me put it on her.  We then opened the door, and she stuck her hand in the snow.  Anna was so pleased with herself!  That curbed her interest, at least temporarily.  I'm hoping she doesn't feel the need to play in it until Daddy gets home and wants to take her out in it!

With a little help she's ready to go

Testing out the snow.  Not quite what she expected.

Charlie slept in this morning, but he was really excited about the snow too.  The first thing he said was snow outside means it's almost Christmas!  Then he proceeded to ask how do we get more snow out there.  I told him I was sure there would be plenty of snow for him over the next few months.

Charlie finally got up and was checking out the snow.  Anna kept cheering that he was there with her

It's a ...

Turns out baby #3 will be another GIRL!  We are so excited!  Charlie will be 4 1/2 when the baby gets here, and Anna will just a month shy of 2.  Now on to the very difficult part of choosing a name!

The plates were upside down until people sat down.  Then we flipped them all at once.

We announced the baby's gender at Thanksgiving dinner with my parents, Zach's parents, and my brother.  We used cake gels to write on small plates and had them all turned over until everyone sat down.  Then we had people turn the plates over at the same time.  It was a fun way to surprise people. 

My parents

Zach's parents