Road Trip!

This past week brought us an unexpected adventure.  The girls and I were able to accompany Daddy on a business trip to Aurora, IL (Chicago area).  After spending the morning shopping with Great Grandma, Grandma, Aunt Kerri, Aubrey and Wesley, we got home and quickly packed as we decided that, with coming ice and snow, we should get out that night instead of waiting until Tuesday morning.

 

It was late, as we did not arrive at the hotel until after 8:30.  After we got the girls wound down, it was 10pm before we got into bed.  A suite with two queens, we started out all in one bed since we forgot the pack & play and Ezri didn't want to sleep on her own.  Not too long passed before Daddy and Ezri were in one bed and Alora and I were in the other.  Oh well - at least we all slept :)

 

While Daddy was gone working each day, the girls and I spent lots of time swimming and playing.  Lunches were spent in our room, making things work as best we could :)  It was all an adventure!

 Tucker got to come with us, and he did so well!  He was quiet and didn't complain when we left the room.  He enjoyed watching out the window and soaking up any sunshine.  It was so nice to be able to have him there with us :)

 The girls and I put in over 9 hours combined in the pool during Tuesday - Thursday morning. After breakfast, to the pool we went until close to lunch, naps and more pool time til Daddy got back.  We even got to swim with Daddy one night!

It was such fun to watch the girls get more and more comfortable and familiar with the water, braver and more adventurous than they already were!

 They played so well together, splashing and playing...

 Ezri was all over the pool in her swim vest, jumping and swimming.  She even spent some time swimming, jumping and learning to float without the vest on!

I had a hard time dragging her out of the water each time we had to go

 It was so nice to be able to have the pool for the girls to play and burn energy as it was difficult for them to stay quiet and contain themselves in a room.

Unfortunately, we did end up sharing the pool a good portion of the time with a swimming class.  We had no idea this would be the case, and it was pretty frustrating to find there were parents, children and teachers coming and going all day from 9am to 7pm to learn to swim.  This meant parents all over and getting odd looks from them as our girls tried to play in the pool.  I had to constantly watch that Ezri was not "in the way" of a learning child.  The sharing was not so much the problem as the fact that we were made to feel we should not be there.  But, what was this Mommy to do with so much energy?  So, we just tried to play while not getting in the middle of things too much.

We did get in a couple of naps, thankfully!

 Three nights and three days and we were ready to get back home (well, at least Mommy was).  Much of the way home, both girls slept - yay!!!

 Alora was a little less into her nap at times, but she did great nonetheless. 

 It was a lot of fun with the girls, and we all shared lots of smiles and laughs together.  Now, back at home, we're digging out of a mountain of laundry and gearing up for a BIG birthday next week and a party this weekend :)

Snow Fun!

Thanks to our recent cycle of snow, melt, freeze repeat, we've had some really beautiful days around here as far as scenery goes.  We are even more grateful for our ability to stay at home and not have to drive, for sure!  Last weekend, the view from our windows was awesome!

 OK, so yes we have some heat conservation issues with our roof...  We've had some pretty massive icicles this winter, as we have a couple of spots where it builds up to the ground and grows quickly to bigger than myself - those are scary when the thaw begins and we try to get them knocked down carefully to avoid any house damage.

Last Sunday, we joined our friends the Rollandinis at Sarah's parents' home for some sledding with a church group.  A mostly pleasant day, with a little rain and wind on and off, the girls skipped a nap to get in some sledding fun before another melt down.  They both had a really good time! 

 Alora, of course, had to taste things to get the full experience :)

 And Ezri was taking in all of the action with the older kids sledding down the big hill.

 Soon, she and two other girls, Faith and Junie, got busy making a snowman.  She really enjoyed being a part of that!

 While Ezri was building, Alora was filled with giggles and squeals as I pulled her down a little hill.

 A couple of times down the big hill for Daddy and Ezri and then the girls and I headed inside for a while as the rain became more steady and they were both cold.  What a fun day!

 We are in the process of switching sizes for both girls real soon.  Ezri's one piece pjs were too small, so I pulled out some 3T and found a pair that match Alora's current 12 month pair (which she will soon be retiring).  So, for a few days, the girls have matching pajamas, and Ezri was so excited that, of course, a picture was in order!

 We kept a low profile this week.  One thing we have been doing a lot of this week is swinging.  Daddy brought the swings in from outside and hung them in the basement (first one, and soon both were in order because I couldn't keep either pleased when it was their turn to share).  So, we've been swinging much of the week and this Mommy sure enjoys the change of pace and break it has brought to some stir crazy girls.

We've had no shortage of laughs this week thanks to our little angels.  Alora had us going one day as she enjoyed her lunch of spaghetti...

 She has been fighting with more teeth again, having had a molar and incisor come through this week.  We've got 5 to go and she should (hopefully) get a break for a while, although the way she speeds through life and stages, who knows?!

Thursday, Ezri and I got the opportunity to spend an hour outside in the morning.  It was a "warm" (upper 30's) morning, so we took advantage of it and got busy playing while Alora napped.  First, a snowman was in order...

 And then a snow dog...

 And one very happy little girl!

We had such fun building together.  We even got a visit from our neighbor and his dog, Molly, who was quite interested in our snowman - especially his arms!  Such a friendly dog, she is great with kids, but standing with a back height level with Ezri's head, she's quite big!  Even so, Ezri was having fun watching her chase sticks and was OK with the doggy kisses, until she wanted to start jumping and playing.  Then, Ezri was a bit nervous.  After the snowman, we played on the swing set and then scraped some ice of the driveway, where Ezri found frozen puddles which, after stomped on, turned to mud puddles.  Before I could stop her, she was picking up ice from the puddles and was quickly covered in muddy water - oops!  Into the wash the snow clothes went, and now we're ready for another snowy day to play again!

Thursday night (Valentine's Day), the girls and I had supper with Great Grandma and enjoyed that time together!  Unfortunately, Daddy ended up needing to stay home to work on our truck, trying to determine why the brake lights do not work :(  MOPS this morning, and now we're ready for a fun weekend together with Daddy :)

Monkey and Little Mommy

After waiting nearly 2 weeks, we finally have our truck back from the body shop, repaired after the fender bender we were involved in before Christmas.  While waiting for the switch from rental car to truck, the car seats were in our kitchen for a bit.  Alora, and soon Ezri, found them comfortable places to relax and enjoy a snack.  Good to know my girls like their car seats :)  Tucker found them convenient as well - right at face level to sneak a snack!

 Right after the truck returned, so did more snow!!!

 It seems like a weekly cycle lately of snow loading up rapidly, melting and returning again.  With naps and little ones, it is more difficult to get out into the snow to play for very long.  A goal for this week, granted temperatures are more kid friendly, is to get out and make a snowman with Ezri.

While home this week, we have had no shortage of activity - this mommy especially.  Alora keeps me constantly on my toes with her monkey skills.  I think I've pulled her off the top of the dining room table at least 100 times (not much exaggeration in that statement!)  Every time I turn around for a second, she is pulling out a chair or on her way up, if not on the table...

 I have also found her climbing up onto the piano.  As in, knees on the piano book rail reaching photos and precious moments off the top of the piano, having already climbed up the bench and closed keyboard.  I guess maybe I need to keep the keys uncovered so I have warning when she is up to that trick!  As I write this, I have moved the bench away from the piano to halt her progress this morning, but she is currently dragging the bench back toward the piano.  What a stinker!  Crawling seldom happens anymore, this child thinks she needs to run everywhere she goes.  Who needs exercise with Alora around?

She has also been finding places to hide out, like under her exersaucer.  Such a character, that kid!

 Ezri has been busy being little mommy.  After a party Sunday evening with friends to watch the Super Bowl (or more importantly the commercials), Ezri discovered a bag of baby doll clothes in the basement, in which there was a baby doll carrier.  She has been wearing that carrier around all week, most often with Barky riding along.  Love that little girl!

We have a photo calendar on our dining room wall, each month has pictures of things that happened the previous year in that month.  Ezri sees some pictures of her birthday and trip to the children's museum last year and is endlessly talking about wanting to go there again for her birthday this year.  She is busy planning out her birthday, who will come, where we will go and what we will do.  After Alora's birthday, she is all geared up for some of her own fun :)

Living the dream, loving every minute!

Happy 1st Birthday Alora!!!



What a week it has been here!  The weather has been crazy - from tons of snow to nearly all melted and 50's to more than a foot again in the span of a few days.  Add that to the activity surrounding Alora's birthday and we were never bored.

 

Saturday morning, last week, I got some special help baking Alora's birthday cake.  Both girls were right there in the action.  Ezri loves to help me bake, wearing her little apron.  Alora is very interested in getting involved as well, though more often than not she was trying to climb onto the counter.

Saturday evening brought bath time.  The girls are so fun in the bath tub, playing and splashing together til the water gets cold, and even then I have a hard time dragging them out.  This past week, there was lots of love in the tub... Ezri started giving Alora eskimo kisses, which in return got her big kisses from Alora :)

Sunday, after a long morning at church, we celebrated Alora's first birthday with Uncle Andy, Great Grandma, Grandpa & Grandma and Opa & Oma in the afternoon.  We ate supper together and then Alora dug into her gifts.  Ezri had a hard time keeping away - it was hard to understand why she could not open the gifts for Alora.

Alora made it through one gift and then was off.  We had to rope her in to get the rest opened.  She was more interested in cruising the room, socializing :)

She did like the cards though.  Like books to her, she just wanted to open and close them and "read" them.

One toy got both girls' attention - a little kitty that runs away when chased.  That toy has been going at our house non stop this week!

We took advantage of the opportunity to get another 4 generation picture with Great Grandma, Grandma, Mommy, Ezri and Alora.

 And then it was time for cake!  Alora's first time having cake, she was at first curious and poked around for a bit...

 Then we got her a cupcake to start exploring.  Blow out the candle...

And dig in!

 Not sure how much she actually ate, she seemed more into breaking the cake apart :)

Monday brought Alora's First Birthday.  We started out the day with pictures...

 

Ezri is now 35 Months old...

 And Alora at 12 months...

 I also took Alora's 12 Month pictures.  We have decided to stop going to studios and instead use our very nice camera, my abilities and some cheap backgrounds (sheets) I purchased to do it instead.  They turned out pretty well, I think! (Nevermind that it took most of the day since somebody had places to go between each shot) :)
In the afternoon, I got a little help from Alora with some household chores...

 Tobi and Tucker took advantage of the sunshine coming through the windows to warm up together - definitely a rare moment.

 Monday evening, Alora opened her gifts from us.  She was much more interested in tasting and eating them than actually seeing what was inside - silly kid!

 And Ezri immediately got in on showing Alora how to play with her new toy :)

Thursday found us visting our doctor for Alora's 12 month check-up.  As expected, she is healthy and growing well.  23 pounds 6.5 ounces, 31 1/2 inches tall!!!  Off the top of the growth chart for height, this girl is a tall baby!