Trip to Grammy & Granddad's-Part 1

For Spring Break we went out and spent a few days with our family. We got to see all of the cousins and spent a lot of quality time outdoors, at parks, and riding bikes!

This was an amazing 3 (or was it 4?) story park near my parents' new house. It was perfect because it had something for every kid!!

These may be a little out of order, but here is a cute picture of Alex and Nolan sleeping. They are good buddies and I know we will cherish these pictures as they get older :)

There is also a great park within walking distance of my parents' new house--the kids LOVED playing there and we made multiple trips there during our stay.

We were also able to have a second birthday celebration for Kellan with all of his cousins.

We are so thankful for such wonderful family :)

3rd Birthday Celebration #1

This is a bit late (as usual) but I wanted to document it before I forgot about it! Last month we celebrated Kellan's 3rd birthday with a Lightening McQueen party. Unfortunately Kellan had come down with RSV the week before and although he was feeling better by the time of the party, most of our family opted to stay home so they didn't risk getting their kids sick, which we totally understood! We just held a party the following week in Philadelphia so we could celebrate with them :)

Mommy and the birthday boy :) Enjoying cake The kids playing a our own version of a Minute to W1n it game!
Buddies Daddy and Kellan painting a wooden race car Kids painting their cars Painting hands instead of cars... Josie, Tate, and Kellan hard at work
Stay tuned for birthday celebration #2...

Happy Birthday little man!

You finally turn 3 today Kellan--Happy Birthday to my St. Patrick's Day baby! You were excited to open a few presents this morning when you woke up--some puzzles, a book, and some new Wii Fit games to share with your sister. You got to celebrate with some friends last weekend for a party and you will be able to celebrate with your cousins this weekend, which I know you will enjoy!

These past 3 years have gone by so quickly, and part of me hates watching you grow up so fast right before our eyes. You are still our snuggly boy, and you still love having your lovey for comfort (gotta start breaking that habit soon!). You are so athletic, just like your daddy, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for you when you start playing sports! You have such a sweet disposition--you are rarely mad or prone to throw a fit, and you generally are a people pleaser. You hate to see daddy or I get mad when you do something you shouldn't (like have an accident), and sometimes just a look from us will send you to tears. Oh Kellan, my sensitive child!

I sometimes struggle with how sensitive you are since you are the complete opposite of Alex's personality (and mine too for that matter), but I do love that it makes you such a tenderhearted little boy. We recently have continued to struggle with leaving you at church or MOPS, where you will burst into tears when we arrive and cry uncontrollably--sometimes until someone comes to get you. Thankfully you do well when I leave you at the gym or for bible study--not sure why you do well with some environments and so awful in others. I know it's a phase (again) and we will work our way through it, but it does frustrate me that you aren't as easy as Alex was in that regard. I want so badly for you to enjoy your independence, but I know the trade off is that aside from that one issue, your temperament is so sweet that this is where you give me peace while Alex knows how to ruffle my feathers! God finds ways to bless us through our children in different ways, that's for sure!

You continue to love trains and cars, and you find a way to play soccer with any toy: a group of crayons, bouncy balls, cars, colored pencils... :) Soccer is still your all-time favorite sport, although you will be introduced to t-ball this spring since I recently signed you up! You have taken a liking to daddy's ipad and have become amazingly good at navigating through it and playing games--you enjoy skeeball, basketball, soccer, and the talking animal apps. You also enjoy playing the Wii Fit and doing puzzles, which I love. You don't care for books quite as much, and you don't have much of an interest in writing or drawing. You are still a lover of all kinds of fruits and juice, pasta, veggies, and meat, but you don't really like breads and cheese.

You've been doing very well since becoming potty-trained--you have the occasional "mini accident" where there's some wetness but you've managed to hold most of it until we get to the bathroom--you have gotten a bit lazy with telling me when you need to go so I have to continue to be diligent with making sure you go periodically. We still use pull-ups for bedtimes and when you take naps because I do not need to deal with cleaning wet sheets in the middle of the night!

I love your cheesy smiles, the way you caress my hair at times when you're sitting with me, the way you are usually very obedient and cooperative, especially in places like the grocery store. You are a great helper to me, and we are thankful that God has given us the privilege of being your parents! We love you bubba! Happy Birthday!

Things I don't want to forget.

I have not taken many pictures at all recently but I wanted to still take some notes on what the kiddies are doing!

Alex
She is loving kindergarten and everything about it. She loves her helper days when she gets to bring snack, show & tell, and get to be first in line all day. She tried roller skating for the first time a few weeks ago and felt it was a lot harder than ice skating. I was surprised because I always remembered roller skating to be easier, but all the kids were continuously falling on the floor so it was definitely a challenge for them!

We finally found a movie that she enjoyed a few weeks ago--Gnomeo and Juliet. I was shocked at the end of the movie to hear her say she liked it (never happens) and that she would want to see it again (also never happens). So I guess there's still hope!

Alex has been enjoying her gymnastics class--she's doing great with cartwheels, working on backwards rolls, handstands, balance beam, and the trampoline.

Kellan
Still as sweet as ever (most of the time), he has started to dislike going into his class at church again--I thought we'd outgrown this phase when he turned 2, but he seems to be struggling with it again. He is very much aware of when I leave him places, which I do a few times a week, whether it be at MOPS, the gym, or church. He always asks if I'm going to leave him there, who will stay with him, etc. I hope to just keep continuing to take him places and perservere until this phase passes again, which I know it will! A few months ago Kellan discovered the Wii Fit and he just can't get enough of it! He is able to maneuver through the screens using the remote, and he can play just about all of the games on there with the exception of a few--the tightrope, the bubble river one to name a few. He loves the running games, as well as the soccer one (of course!). He could play it for hours if I would let him. He's also been enjoying typing on my computer in Word. It is allowing him to practice finding and identifying his letters, and he's quickly learned how to spell and type his name without any help. Now we are working on the names of other people in the family. He has also learned how to play games on Marlon's iPad, so he will happily sit just about anywhere and play a variety of games that Marlon has downloaded for him. Ahh--gotta love technology!

We've signed Kellan up for t-ball this spring--we're looking forward to seeing how that goes, but we figure it will probably be pretty funny!

Here are a few pics/videos of the kids. Last week my friend Ehren and her little boy Henry came up for a few days to visit. We took the kids to the women's basketball game--here are the kids cheering for the mountaineers!

Here is Alex giving sweet baby Henry is bottle. This is such a cute photo--Henry is just the sweetest, most laid back baby ever--always happy and smiling. (love him touching her face!). Henry is probably the first baby that Alex really remembers seeing from back when he was in Ehren's belly, then holding him as a newborn, now seeing him crawl and start walking. She really loves him!

Yesterday we made an impromptu stop at Chuck E Cheese (on a Saturday afternoon no less)--the kids were supposed to go to a party there that ended up being postponed because the little boy was sick, and Alex really wanted to stop while we were up in Pittsburgh, so we went in for a bit--barely an hour because the place was such a madhouse--wall to wall people. Remind me never to book a party there on a Saturday afternoon!! But the kids enjoyed the brief time there--we pretty much divided and conquered--Kellan and Marlon stuck together (here they are playing air hockey), and Alex and I worked together.

Guess that's all for now--I will be posting again soon about a celebration for a certain little boy who is getting ready to turn 3!

Ice Skating, Soccer, Gymnastics...

I feel like I haven't been taking many pictures recently but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy! A few weeks ago I took Alex ice skating for the first time. I wasn't able to take any pictures but I at least wanted to mention it! She was excited to go and had mentioned it a few times before, so one Sunday afternoon the ice rink was having a Luau Family Day and it was only $10 for a family of 4 to go skate for the afternoon. I ended up going with my friend Ashley and her 2 kids (who had also never been skating). The kids all did great and had a ton of fun. The concession prices took me back to the old days--candy and pretzels were only $.50, and hot chocolate was only $1! Alex fell a bunch of times but didn't mind at all once she realized how many other people were falling too. I managed to stay on my feet the whole time despite Alex sometimes pulling on me to keep her balance, and by the end of the session she was skating a bit on her own.

The following week Desiree and I took Kellan and Adelaide to a Preschool skating session called Totsickles--it's super cute for little kids--they keep the ice kind of rough and let the kids go out onto the ice to play. They have a pile of snow and some beach toys, some sleds that parents can pull the kids around on, a hockey goal with a tennis ball and hockey stick and some other games. The kids can go out on the ice in their snow gear,right down to the boots, or they can put on ice skates and push a little walker around. It was too funny watching Kellan and Adelaide try out the ice skates--they had fun trying it out! When the kids are finished skating, they get to come in front of the fire for some hot chocolate, cookies, and storytime. Very great idea--we're taking the kids back again this week!

Here is a video of them getting going on their skates:

After ice skating we took the kids to this cute diner, The Poky Dot, that we'd never been to before. The kids got their food in little purple airplane shaped trays, and they were being silly together. Adelaide calls Kellan her "buddy" and I'm sure Kellan feels the same!
We've also been taking the kids to Marlon's winter kid's soccer clinic. We decided to let Kellan participate this time since he's almost 3 (although the clinic is really for kids ages 4 and up) and he was so excited the first day because he got to put on a soccer outfit and some soccer socks. He kept saying "I'm Big Enough!"

He has done pretty well during the skill drills they do, but he gets a little frustrated when they scrimmage at the end. I try to explain to him that he's in a group with 4, 5, 6 and 7 year olds so he's a bit smaller and slower than them--just give him a few years and he'll run circles around them!

Alex decided in the fall that she wasn't really interested in taking dance classes anymore (Sorry Renee and Lauren!), and she'd been asking to take gymnastics classes again. She had taken classes through her preschool when she was 4 and 5 and she really enjoyed it, but I had never been able to see her in any of her classes. So we signed her up to take some classes through the university's recreational program, and she's really enjoying it! She seems to have a bit more talent with gymnastics then she did at dance, so it's cute to watch her out there--I'll have to try and capture some on video to share.

So that's what we've been up to around here to beat the winter blues!

Disneyworld trip (a little late!)

After christmas we joined Marlon down in Orlando for a little family vacation. He was down there for work and we met up with him when he finished to visit the Disney parks (and Sea World). We had 4 days there and we were able to visit Sea World, Magic Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios and we spent a day enjoying the hotel pool and water slide. Marlon's assistant coach and his family were also down there, so we were able to do some activities together with their family, which our kids loved since they are good friends! It was Kellan's first time down there and Alex's second time--we made the same trip 2 years ago after christmas. We lucked out and had perfect weather--the kids did really well with the travel (I flew down with them by myself) and they had a ton of fun!

Day One - Sea World

Daddy and Kellan
My favorite exhibit--the dolphins!

Dolphin/Bird show

Alex and I feeding the dolphins with Ashley, Haley and Tate

Cute Penguins!

The family at the Shamu show (minutes before Kellan passed out at the end of a busy day)

Alex and Tate-good buddies!

Opening to the show

Day 2 -Magic Kingdom--riding on the People Mover

Riding the carousel--Alex has to find one anywhere we go!

Getting ready to watch the Christmas Parade

Day 3 at Hollywood Studios--Kellan visiting his friend Mater!

The kids before the car stunt show

June and Quincy from Little Einsteins

Buzz and Woody

If you notice the red lanyard Alex is wearing in the photos, you can see that she started becoming a Disney pin collector. Once I explained how pin trading works at the Disney parks, she was excited to pick out her starter set and get to work. She enjoyed finding employees at each park who were wearing pins, checking out their collection and trading with them if she found one she liked. She must have traded off all of her pins 3 or 4 times, but at the end of the day she was happy with the ones she brought home. We will save her lanyard and pins for her next visit to Disney!

We had a wonderful trip, beautiful weather, and nice time spent with friends. We look forward to our future trips to Disney!

Christmas Part 3

Our final christmas celebration was at my parents' house with my family. We traveled out to NJ/PA on Christmas day and celebrated christmas on the morning of the 26th. Below is a pictures of the cousins in their matching jammies!

We got a huge snow storm that day that prevented Marlon from flying out to FL, and I did not come prepared with a snowsuit or boots so I had to improvise for Alex, who was so excited to go play in the snow with Nolan! Check out the plastic bags over her non-snow boots--they worked pretty well!

It was SO cold outside but the kids braved the weather to do some snowing in the front yard--Aunt Nay Nay was a trooper and went out with the kids--what a good aunt/mommy!

Mia is a snow lover too--she just sat in it and ate snow to her heart's content :)