Cousin Weekend

Steve's sister's family moved back to Missouri from DC right before Christmas.  We visited them last weekend to see their new house and get the cousins together.  Hannah got to try some new things like...

Uncle Morgan showing her how to make pizza

Although Hannah was more interested in eating the pizza than making it.  And she wanted to do most of the eating before it was cooked. :)

She also painted with a brush for the first time.

Most of all she loved playing outside (of course).  There was a trampoline in the backyard.

There was also a very fun swing, but I'm not sure who it was made for.  I'm 5'10" and I couldn't get on it without help!  I gave the girls high fives as I went by.

The backyard was lots of fun, but they also live within walking distance of a park.  So we played there, too.  Twice.

There were plenty of things to do inside, too.  Ainslyn had a whole playroom filled with toys.  Hannah's favorite was the train table.  She also enjoyed playing on the keyboard.

Serious....

and crazy!

When they were tired they watched videos.  Hannah was happy to find a fellow Super Why fan.

The girls had a great time together.  Hannah is lucky to have a cousin so close in age and even luckier to have her within driving distance now!

Playdate with Brody

On one of the warmest days last week the Finleys came over and Hannah had a playdate with Brody. We played at our local school playground, and Steve and I were amazed at all of the new things she can do that she couldn't do in the fall. Then we went back to our house for dinner and more playtime.

Hannah willingly shared her chair with Brody while they drank milk and watched Dinosaur Train, but she gave him dirty looks when he got too squirmy.

Outside

When the weather was warm last week were out almost every night working in the yard. Steve worked on his deck project while I raked spiky balls, twigs, and wood chips. Before the snowpocalypse we had a tree cut down and the stump ground up. Now that the snow has melted we have a big mess.  Hannah likes to help me rake or help Steve with tools, but her favorite thing is to climb the wood chip pile and dig in it with a stick. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Over the weekend Hannah made some valentines.  First she just used heart stickers, then we got ambitious and I taught her how to glue.  I cut out the hearts and she picked the ones she wanted and glued them on.

Here are the finished products:

Snow Fun

Hannah got plenty of outdoor time this weekend.

She made a snow fort with Dada.

And it even had a slide.

With the warmer temperatures most of the snow melted by the end of the weekend. But that is okay because now there are mud puddles to play in!

Week 30

I'm in my third trimester now and feeling good.  Baby girl is moving around A LOT, and they are big movements like she is turning somersaults.  I still have lots of energy and can pick Hannah up with no problems.  There's no swelling (so far) in my arms or legs.  I remember the last time I was pregnant I couldn't wear my watch, wedding ring, or even some of my shoes!  If you want to compare belly pics, here's me pregnant with Hannah at 28 weeks and 32 weeks.

I can't believe in a couple of months we'll have another baby.  While I'm excited to meet the newest member of our family, I'm feeling a little sentimental about our family-of-three days coming to an end. With the holidays and then the snow days, December and January went by in a blur.  I want time to slow down a little so I can enjoy these last months of pregnancy...and life being easy. :)  We think life with a toddler is way easier than with a baby.  She feeds herself, sleeps through the night (plus a predictable nap!), and can tell us what upsets her.  I'm not really looking forward to going back to the sleepless nights.  Although I am interested to see if things will be different the second time around now that we have some experience and perspective.

At the Table

Snowpocalypse

With "blizzard conditions" a snowpocalypse was declared this week.  I was a bit disappointed by the results.  This was our shoveled front walk.  Yes, it was a good amount of snow...but a snowpocalypse?

The snow meant 3 more days off of school!  That brings our total up to 6.  Hannah spent her days drawing and building.  As you can see, she takes her work seriously.

Turkey Fry (Sort Of)

So Turkey Fry has been in November the past two years, but this year Steve wanted to move it to December.  Then we ended up all being sick with the plague (not really, but it was pretty bad) the weekend it was supposed to be at our house.  So we moved it to MLK weekend in January.  The McGuires were already planning to visit us and then Walter decided to take flight from Denver.  The Baileys and Vroomans came over Saturday night and it was time for turkey!

Two preggos

Despite Walter's vast turkey frying experience, the turkey came out....a little over done.  Except for the middle.  That was raw.

So we made a quick trip to Price Chopper for some rotisserie chicken and the troops were happy.

After dinner Wendy giving some structural engineering lessons to the little ones.

Then it was time for bed.  

After the kids went to bed the guys played way too many games of Monopoly while the girls talked and watched a movie.  The only bad thing about the night was Hannah was sick at her stomach from 2:00-4:30am.  Luckily she was better the next day and I was able to take a very long nap to make up for my 3 hours of sleep that night.

Other than the Turkey Fry Chicken Meal, we also took the McGuires and Walter to see the trains at Union Station and at Fritz's. Check out their blog for more pictures. The boys love trains as much as Hannah, or maybe a little less since they were able to leave without crying!  We also took them to Little Monkey Bizness, an indoor play center:

But they had just as much fun climbing in our living room.  The boys remembered the inflatable climber from last year and asked Steve to get it out again.

Amazingly with 5 adults and 3 kids all under the same roof for a 3-day weekend...it wasn't that crazy.  Hannah loved having "KevinColin" (one word) around to play legos, trains, and cars.  But when the brothers were too hard to keep up with, she would go find Walter and tell him to "Come play!"  Speaking of Walter....

Two years ago during Turkey Fry, we did a blog segment entitled Interview with a Walter.  This year we'd like to present "Wisdom from Walter".  What follows was in no way scripted, and is simply the helpful advice presented to us by Walter on everything from child raising technique to lip balm.

On eating raw turkey: “I don’t care.  I’ve had salmonella before.”

On entertaining Hannah on car trips: "Wait, does she know Achy Breaky Heart?”

On Hannah's development- “Does she understand what I’m saying?”

On appropriate things to discuss with a 22 month old: "How much does she know about political districting?"

On starting Carmex addictions in children: "Yeah, that smells good doesn’t it?  You can keep that if you want."

On helping out by watching our children in public: "So I was like, well, that’s not him."

On paying attention during Monopoly (half-way through the game):  “Wait, so I'm the boot, right?”

Another Snow Day!

Actually this is our 3rd snow day of the year. Last week we had two in a row. We got another 7 inches this time, but with the windchill around 5 degrees we didn't go outside. So what do you do on a snow day when you can't play in the snow?

You play with pretend snow (flour)

and make a mess!

And Mama braids your hair while you play with legos.  She likes fixing hair...you like flying lego planes...it's a win-win. :)