The Doctor's Office by Chase

For a while now Chase has known his letters and the sounds most of them make. We figured this would be a good time to start learning some sight words and practicing letter sounds, so for Christmas I got Chase a set of first readers with Curious George. We have been working for a few nights on reading the first book and learning the repetitive words throughout the book. Here is the video of him reading his very first book. He is so excited about his new skills!

Call Me Crazy!

As I am sure you can now guess, YES we are expecting baby #3 !

We are so excited to meet our sweet baby BOY around June 28th.

We are 14weeks and I am now feeling pretty good. The first couple of weeks were rough going. Thankfully, my mom was here to help out with the cooking and childcare during the worst of it. And then slowly the symptoms started easing. I can now cook food and eat most everything without clutching my stomach and mouth. Thanksgiving day happened to hit during the worst of it and so I wasn't much help and ended up laying on the couch for a lot of the day. We had a big ultrasound today and everything looks great. He was wiggling all around and sucking his thumb. He was very cooperative with revealing his gender, for which Ryan was thankful!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas was so fun this year. The kids were really into all the details of the holiday and so excited about getting presents. We did the elf on the shelf and tried to encourage good behavior with "Santa is watching". Of course Chase decided two could play at that game and often told us that we were going on the naughty list.

We had a busy Christmas Eve with brunch at Misti's with my sister and her family as well. And dinner at my girlfriend Kim's house. Both were delicious meals and the kids loved being with their friends.

We had a quiet morning on Christmas day, which allowed us to slowly move through the presents, opening each one and playing with it before moving on to the next. Chase's big gift was a train table, with some new Thomas accessories. And Olivia got a princess vanity so she can put her make-up on. We took early naps (which was critical for a smooth afternoon) and then headed down to Randy's for dinner. Randy and Jeanie did a great job with a huge spread of food. After dinner we went to Ryan's aunt's house for dessert with his cousins. It was so nice to see everyone.

Christmas Caroling

Chase's school has done a great job this year preparing the kids for Christmas. Chase knows the story of Baby Jesus' birth backwards and forwards. He has also learned many fun Christmas songs during their chapel time. The video of Chase is during the last Christmas chapel, he is standing in the pew with his classmates. The other video is of Olivia, who doesn't go to school yet but was invited to sing up front with the kids during their evening program. Chase's teacher from last year is so sweet to take her up, she loves going. Ms. Michele is sitting right in front of her showing her what to do with her hands, since she doesn't have quite all the practice that the others have.

We are excited about Christmas! Olivia was "helping" me wrap presents this week and started crying because she wanted presents NOW.

Olivia's 2nd Birthday

We celebrated Olivia's second birthday last weekend. I tried to make it low stress, so we planned a simple friend birthday at My Gym. They did a great job with the activities, and the kids had a great time. I enjoyed the fact that I didn't have to clean and plan entertainment. Olivia loves Minnie Mouse, so we did a Minnie themed birthday, which included giving all of the girls a Minnie bow and tutu to wear to the party. They were very adorable all dressed up.

Would you like help out to your car?

About 2 months ago I started thinking about Halloween costumes and as we were driving I asked Chase what he would like to be for Halloween. I threw out several ideas fireman, Handy Manny, monkey, etc. to which he replied "a Publix man". Ok- there you have it, my son adores the Publix man, maybe it is the fancy apron that makes them look so important or the cash register that makes cool noises, or simple that we visit Publix many times during the week and have made friends with the workers but he is captivated by the Publix workers. So easy enough, green shirt, black pants and shoes, and my Mom embroidered an apron. We got some apron pins (name tag and No Tipping) from Publix and we even bought a metal shopping cart for him to push around :) It was really funny and he loved it!

Olivia was harder to dress. I had trouble finding something cute that she was into and then I figured this was probably my last year to dress her any way I want. So I decided she should be Little Bo Peep. She looked so sweet! Since she is into princesses I called it the Princess Bo Peep costume :)

We had a great Halloween! Chase loves ringing people doorbells and Olivia loves the candy so they were both having a great time. We managed to get around most of the neighborhood in and hour and a half, which was perfect. By 8 they were sweaty and hungry, so we headed back home for baths and snacks (the healthy kind).

Welcome Sweet Baby Lilli

Here she is my new niece! She is so adorable and I can't wait to see her. Chase was very disappointed we couldn't go to the hospital. They are very anxious to meet their new cousin!

Fall Fun

We have had a busy fall. With Chase going to school three times a week our schedule fills up fast. Chase is loving school and we have enjoyed the pumpkin patch and the fall festival at his school. They especially liked the pony rides, of which they took two. I was surprised that they got on without being nervous, although Olivia did want Ryan to walk around with her.

Everyone around us has been sick and we have been trying so hard to keep it at bay. I am starting to feel that I may cause some sort of OCD if I don't chill out with washing their hands but I can't help feeling that germs are everywhere we go. We weren't successful at killing germs last week when we all got Rotavirus, which is a yucky stomach bug. So there has been an extraordinary amount of puke in our house lately. But everyone is better and we are off to a good start this week.

Olivia is getting so big. She is turning two in a month and is so excited about her birthday. Her vocabulary is amazing and talks as well as most 3 year olds I know. People are always surprised at how old she is because if the things she says. She got some laughs at Target for telling Chase to cooperate. She is super friendly and loves playing with other kids.

Chase is getting so smart. He is really understanding the world around him in new ways, which is fun to see. He has mastered driving his jeep, which as taken almost a year but he is steering it on his own! My parents have returned to NY for the birth of my brother's daughter so he is missing them terribly. Any time he feels sad he automatically says, "I miss Mimi".

And I have a new niece, Lillian Claire. She was almost 9 lbs. My brother and sister-in-law are doing great. She is adorable and looks a lot like my brother did when he was a baby. I am so excited for them and all of the adventures they have awaiting :)

Mickey's House

I am sure you have already gathered from the photos that we decided to take a family vacation to Disney this week. Ryan wanted to take some time off of work and after much debate and research we chose Disney as our destination. Believe it or not this is our first real vacation, we have taken trips together but just to visit family and a couple of over nights on the beach.

We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge which was very nice and had lots of good activities. And then we took the kids to Magic Kingdom on Tuesday. I must say Disney did not disappoint us, we had a great time. The kids loved it! And because this is a slow time of year we didn't have to wait to ride any of the rides, that really made it a pain free visit. We managed to ride everything, see most shows, and even the parade, and make it back for a 7:30 bedtime!!
We weren't sure how the kids would do with riding some of the rides but they really did well. I think they got the most scared my the 3D Mickey show because the lion jumps out at you. Chase even rode Splash Mountain twice (Olivia took a nap in the stroller so it worked out great to take him on a big boy ride). The highlight was Olivia meeting the Princesses. It was so cute, each princess sat and talked to her for about five minutes in their sweet princess voice, they really made it such a nice experience.

Working at the Car Wash

Back to School Blues

Chase headed back to school a few weeks ago. He is returning to the same preschool for the three's program 3 mornings a week. I must admit that I have been pretty sad about it. We have had so much fun together this summer I hated to see it end. Last year it seemed that kindergarten was so far away but this year I feel like it is right around the corner. I can't imagine sending him to school all day.

He actually did really well. (Thankfully, I think we have passed through the crazy puking phase which helped.) His teacher is an older women and very sweet. He already knew 5 of the 12 kids in his class so that was nice. He has had some stressful good-bye's but not much crying more like clinging to my leg saying "I love you Mommy" "You'll be right back?" Talk about heart breakers.
Overall it has been much easier and he really like school. He always tells his teacher he loves her when he leaves :)

Olivia isn't going to school this year. Although I think she would do great and enjoy the classroom atmosphere I am not in any hurry to send her. I am sure next year she will start in PK-2.

Smack Down

Chase has a new friend named Ethan. Ethan will be in Chase's class in the fall, so we have been scheduling regular playdates with the boys so they will already be friends when school begins (in 2 weeks). During one of our playdate Chase started getting a little rough with Ethan and Ethan just burst out laughing. So Chase figured he was fair game, and the boys began wrestling. It was so adorable. Chase would grab Ethan's arm and fling him around until he fell down and then lay on top of him. Both of them laughed the whole time. They had so much fun and after they went home Chase came over to me and said, "Can I see the pictures?" He was very impressed with his manly skills.

Angel Face

My mother made this heirloom dress for her a while back and she has finally gotten big enough to wear it. It is a bit old fashioned but sweet. I put it on her to snap some pictures and she said "princess dress".
She has been talking up a storm. She has now adopted the phrase "don't like that" or "don't like him", wonder where she got that?

She can count to ten and sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Happy Birthday, which in her little girl voice is so adorable.

She is finally eating all big girl food. The variety is limited (she won't eat meat, except for turkey which I snuck into her cheese sandwich this weekend) but she is adding food to her list every week. Her favorites are mac & cheese (which she begs for at 6am) and gummies (also wants at 6am).

She is a huge Daddy's girl, loves, loves her Daddy. Her face lights up the minute he gets home and she just follows him all around the house. For once I have a child who asks for Daddy to change their diaper- YES!

We are just having so much fun with them. Everyday they say things and do thing that are just so funny! Here is Chase trying to pull her away from the plant.

One second later...here she is standing her ground, letting him know she will not be pulled around :))