Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year in 2009!!

We have had tons of fun over the past few weeks and I am sorry that the updates have been few and far between. I plead craziness, but things seem to be calming down around here. Hopefully, after the new year rings in tomorrow, I will have some time to fill you in on all of our excitement over the past few weeks!

Belated birthday wishes to our little Julia!! She didn't get a post on her birthday, but we were just too busy getting ready for her big party!! She had her 1 year check-up and is looking mighty good! She weighs in at 20 lbs, 2 0z and is 29 1/2 inches tall. 30th and 65th percentiles...the doctor is a little concerned about her weight. She would like Julia to be more around the 50th mark, but evidently her doctor did not see her eat a half of a pumpkin pie on Christmas! Julia eats well...she is just really active! She burns it all off!

More to come...

Julia Walking

Alex Making Julia Nervous

Misc...

Spikey hair and a messy pumpkin pie face!!

Ali chewing on a rawhide!

Duke, the shame!! We didn't know that you smoked! Oh, wait...it's a rawhide!

Alex's Snowman

Owen, Alex, and their Snowman

A Visit with Santa

Alex playing peek-a-boo from behind a gingerbread house!

A somewhat cooperative Alex and Julia having their picture taken by the
Christmas trees, fake snow, and presents!

Alex, Julia, Santa, and Mrs. Claus!!

A Day in the Life of Trying to Understand a Toddler (Specifically a Boy)

Example #1:

While building a snowman with Owen yesterday, Alex suggested that we 'crash it in' when we were done building it!! Are you kidding me?? Especially, when 'I' put so much work into it?? Really, can you imagine how much two three year olds were giving me...and then there is the suggestion to destroy it?? I'll never understand!

Example #2:

Alex uses a coaster instead of the spinner and actually 'pretends' to spin it in this realistic way when playing Chutes and Ladders...He then proceeds to hop around the board heading up ladders, down chutes, back up chutes, and down ladders. He is blatantly breaking every rule that exists and proudly declares that 'his way is the right way.' It is enough to give me a headache! As I play by the rules, it takes me awhile to approach the 100 square and then I am so rudely told that since I 'spun' a '2,' I have to go all the way back to the '#2' square! You have got to be kidding me!! Why he can play Candlyland and Hi Ho Cherry Oh by the rules, but not Chutes and Ladders is beyond me (except that Chutes and Ladders is perhaps confusing, but it still aggravates me that he doesn't even try!).

A Big Brother Helping His Little Sister Walk

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!

Alex and Julia taking a ride on the sled!!

He is growing up so fast!!

Helping Daddy shovel the driveway!!

Updates

Alex and Julia are looking forward to the holidays! They helped to put up the Christmas Tree this past weekend ('helped' is a strong word for their participation...Alex more like pretended to help and Julia pretty much helped to set us back several times with her destruction of decorations). Julia is really enjoying everything that makes music...especially the Snowman and Snowdog that sings and the Christmas snowglobe. Alex has played with his Christmas Express choo-choo train endlessly since we put it under the tree on Sunday. We are all pretty much going insane with the Christmas Carols it plays...loudly!

Since it was such a nice day today, Alex and I went outside to put some decorations up. Garland, ribbon, and candy canes! Alex and Daddy will probably head out tomorrow morning to put some Christmas lights up as well!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!
Gobble, Gobble!

Shenadigans!!

Alex with his nose in the corner for misbehaving!!
(Daddy put him there because he wouldn't stop fidgeting in his time out chair and Mommy couldn't stop giggling. Honestly, it was funny and cute, but Daddy was annoyed because he thought Mommy's giggling was lessening the effectiveness of the punishment!)

Julia getting in the way of play time for Duke and Chandon!

A three-year old's version of Guitar Hero!

Julia stole Duke's 'Baby' and then had the nerve to taunt him with it!

The Calm Before the Storm

Sick Kids

Ever since we came home from Chicago, it has seemed as though both Alex and Julia have had one cold after another. Needless to say, it has been a real pain! Upon following my motherly instincts, I took Alex to the doctor last week once again to have him checked out due to a lingering cough and other cold symptoms only to expect to be told that he has 'a cold,' but we actually found out that he has RSV. RSV is really just a BAD cold in our day to day vocabulary, but for children and babies, it can be especially dangerous. It can really create some breathing problems and has to be watched closely.

Alex has been out of preschool (probably the source of this germ) for the past week and a half and we have quarantined ourselves from all of our friends. Julia has been spending lots of time with her Meema Amy and Papa Carl in an effort to keep her from getting sick. Unfortunately, it seems as though she has come down with the bug anyway this week (probably due to her exposure to Alex last week), but for right now she seems to be doing fine except for some difficulty sleeping at night due to the cough she has. Despite all this, Alex and Julia have been quite the troopers and Alex is only a little bummed that the TV and DVD player we put in his room during his recovery will be removed tomorrow (we thought that this might lead to some battles, but he seems to be OK with it for now).

Leaves!!

Alex, Julia, and Duke having a blast playing in the leaves at Meema and Papa's!

3rd Tooth!!

Julia's top right tooth is peeking through!!

Halloween Pictures!

Halloween Night!

Alex's Spooky Lunch with Owen, Gabrielle, and Tommy.

Alex's preschool picture.

Alex's jack-o-lantern!

Pictures

Alex, Aly, and Duke having some fun...Uncle Jeffy and Aly...Julia enjoying the ISU Homecoming Parade...and Alex and Gabrielle at the Haunted Trail!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Updates

Mommy, Daddy, Alex, and Julia went to the Haunted Trail last weekend with Alex's friend, Gabrielle, Mommy's friend, Kristine, and Kristine's mom. We had a blast...it was a little chilly and wet, but overall it was a great time! Alex loved walking along and seeing all of the college kids dressed up in costumes and since it was the 'non-scary' weekend, he handled all the ghosts and goblins just fine! His friend, Gabrielle, wasn't so sure regardless!

We also hit the ISU Homecoming Parade Saturday morning. It was fun as always! Tons of marching bands, floats, school spirit...and the dreaded candy! On the way back to our car, we stopped by Uncle Jeffy's house to see his new dog, Aly. She is so cute!!

Mommy has been working on the final touches of Alex's costume for the past week or so with the help of Grandma Stephens. Grandma Stephens has been helping with the sewing aspects, which Mommy is not so good at and Mommy has been focusing on some of the 'decorative' aspects! Thank goodness Mommy bought Julia's costume after Halloween last year...one less thing to worry about!

Both Alex and Julia have been struggling with colds for the past few weeks. We just can't seem to get past it and Mommy had to even keep Alex home from preschool last Thursday, which wasn't real popular with Alex. Mommy decided to take them to the doctor today because Julia seemed to be developing the cough Alex woke up with last Wednesday and we found out they both have sinus infections! Welcome to winter!!

Julia started walking with her hippo last week. It is so cute to see her toddling around with it...she definitely understands what she needs to do in order to start walking on her own, but we are not sure that she is quite ready to take the plunge. She still seems a little bit 'floppy.' She'll develop her balance in her own time...Mommy and Daddy are definitely not in any hurry for it to happen!

We are looking forward to all the fun activities to come this week. Hopefully, Alex and Julia are already on the road to recovery, so they can enjoy all that is planned for them this week!!

Julia Dances

Julia has discovered a love for dancing! Now, she doesn't just dance to the music, but she also intentionally plays music on her baby i-pod, piano, or old McDonald's farm toy just so she can dance. Daddy is a little worried...could this mean lots of money towards ballet, jazz, and modern dance lessons??

Video: October 10th, 2008

Chicago Trip...The End

Monday, October 13th...

We left our hotel in Lombard for the last time in the morning and headed over to Aunt Tonya's apartment. We had a nice lunch and the kiddies destroyed Aunt Tonya's perfectly perfect apartment (not anymore!!). We then left to head over to Bultema Farm in Beecher, but found out that poor Aunt Tonya had a flat tire! Alex got the biggest kick out of that...stinker!

After some rearranging, we managed to make it over to Bultema Farm. We picked pumpkins from their pumpkin patch, went through a straw bale maze, took a hayrack ride, and got lost in the corn maze. Needless to say, we had a blast!!

After dropping off Aunt Tonya and making sure she made it to Sears on her fix-a-flat tire, we headed back home with a small detour in Chatsworth to see Daddy's grandma and grandpa's old house. Once home, we smothered Duke with smooches and relaxed for the rest of the evening!

Chicago Trip Continued...

Sunday,
October 12th

We visited Brookfield Zoo on Sunday after being awakened at 6:30 by the fire alarm going off at our hotel. Fortunately, there was no fire, but there was quite a big mess
of water in the hotel
when we went back in. Luckily, it was on the other side of the elevator bank from us!

It was a great day to visit the zoo! It was unseasonably warm with a high in the low 80s! We had the chance to see tons of amazing animals including elephants, giraffes, gorillas, dolphins, seals, and penguins. We were also able to see the dolphin show, ride the carousel, and the tram! All in all it was a great time (with the exception of the temper tantrum over the giraffe on the carousel!)!

After the zoo, we drove to Elgin to meet some of Mommy's old co-workers for supper! We met Bill, Alicia, Julian, Tony, Kelli, Josh, Zack, Rich, Belinda, Maddie, and Mary for supper at Red Robin's. It was tons of fun, especially since Mommy misses her friends!

Chicago Trip Continued...

Saturday, October 11th...

Alex really enjoyed making sandwhiches at the Potbelly's Sandwhich station. This was a real thrill for him, because he always likes to pretend to make sandwhiches for Mommy!

Julia loved playing in the padded areas for babies while Alex ran around exploring the areas of the museum.

Trip to Chicago

Friday, October 10th

Alex and Julia 'foolin' around at the Shedd Aquarium. We had a good time, but were a little bummed to find out that the Oceanarium was closed for renovations.

After the Shedd Aquarium we walked around the Museum Campus for awhile to check out Lake Michigan (AKA the 'Big Ocean' according to Alex) and the beautiful Chicago Skyline. Alex was psyched to see 'Aunt Nett's old work' building (the CNA red tower).

After good times downtown, we headed to our hotel in the 'burbs.' We ate at Portillo's (Daddy's favorite) and went swimming at the hotel pool! Alex and Julia had a blast swimming and chasing eachother around the pool while playing tag!

To be continued...

New Pictures

Alex on his first day of preschool!

One of Alex's prize watermelons!

Julia having fun in a storage box!

Julia and Alex at the ISU Horticulture Farm!

Julia Says Mama!

Julia has added another word to her vocabulary this weekend...mama!!

Julia's 9 Month Appointment

Julia's stats:

18 lbs, 2 oz: 50%
28 3/8 inches long: 75%
18 inch head circumference: 90%

Julia's doctor says she is a wonderfully, healthy little girl and is right on track!! She received her polio and flu shots today. She cried a little, but was happy as soon as Mommy cuddled her.

Alex received his flu shot today as well. He decided to cry about 2 minutes after he got it! He was very dramatic and kept crying until I took him to see Meema Stephens at work. He then said that he felt better! Silly Alex!

Just Because!

Alexism

Mommy to Alex: Would you like to give your art to Meema and Papa? (He is already accumulating quite a bit of art from preschool).
Alex to Mommy: No, it is my heart (the purple blob on the paper is apparently a heart). I had to make me a new one because you broke my other one! (Apparently, my attempts to guilt Greg by having Alex say "your breaking my heart, daddy" has backfired on me!)

P.S. Julia laughs in her sleep!

Preschool, Progresses, Colds, and Watermelon

Last week was another busy week! Alex started preschool last week and he absolutely loves it! Mommy was a little worried about separation anxiety, but Alex just told me he loved me and walked through the door! No problem for him! He is all grown up and doesn't need me anymore!

Julia is as busy as usual! She started officially pulling herself up last week. She has been doing this for a little while in her crib, but she started pulling herself up on the coffee table last Sunday and hasn't stopped. She pulls herself up everywhere...the couch, the kitchen chairs, the edge of the bathtub! We are having trouble keeping up!

Julia has also started talking a little. She says hi, bye-bye, and she is really trying to say 'da-da,' but it is coming out a little muffled! She gets so excited when she talks...she lets out a scream and then claps her hands together!

Alex came home with his first dreaded cold from preschool last week. He came down with a runny nose Thursday night and had a slight fever until Sunday. Julia's cold kicked in Saturday night! We knew it was only a matter of time. The good news is that both of them seem to already be getting over it and it wasn't the worst colds we have seen, but we know there is more to come this fall and winter. I guess it was good prep work!

And, last but not least, Alex picked the first of his watermelons on Saturday. He immediately ate some and said that it was the best watermelon he had ever had and Julia concurred (Duke had no comment...he doesn't like anything that is green--on the inside or out!). I guess we might have a future farmer on our hands!

Wildlife Pairie Park Pictures

Alex looking at the Buffalo!

Alex and Julia checking out the chicken!

Alex's new caterpillar friend!

Mommy and Julia on the train!

Alex on the big slide!