Two!!

It's hard to believe that the Peanut is two! She decided to celebrate turning two with a bang and threw a spectacular temper tantrum in Meijer (which resulted in her learning that even birthday girls have to behave if they are going to ride the horsie!). She also started potty training that day and has used the potty consistently the last three days (despite being a bit sick yesterday). Way to go, Sissy!

She is talking non stop, and I'm understanding most of what she says (and if I don't understand it, she just yells it louder and louder). She loves to play with her new doctor kit and has been busy developing her drawing skills on the Magnadoodle she got for Christmas (which was wonderful to have in the car for the long trip to PA and back!). She loves her brother dearly and walks around like a little lost soul if she wakes up before him. She's both sassy and sweet, and we definitely can't imagine life without her!

To read my post from the day she was born, go here . (We originally named her Abigail and then decided to keep her birthname, so don't let the name confuse you!)

Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma B.

We spent the last week in PA, dividing our time between Mark's parents' house and my parents' house. We got to see all of our siblings and were even in town for my sister Lauren's college graduation. A lot happened during our 10 day trip, including two Christmas celebrations, an early birthday celebration for Sissy, many contractions (resulting in a several hour stay at the hospital on Christmas Day), Steven's first time ever throwing up (which he was very proud of since it meant he was "just like you, Mommy!") and a new (to us) minivan! I'll try to blog about most of those at some point, but tonight I just have the pictures from my parents' house.

My family does most of our celebrating on Christmas Eve (which worked out esp. well since I already mentioned that I was at the hospital for part of Christmas Day). We went to the early Christmas Eve service, where Steven was scared of the video clips of the Grinch (the movie version, not the cartoon), and then went home for our traditional dinner--pizza and shrimp cocktail. My mom also made her usual assortment of cookies (including egg/nut-free ones for Michelle), chocolate covered pretzels, and fudge, but after Steven threw up everywhere, most of us lost our appetite :(

We then read the Christmas story out of the kids' Bible, and my mom helped Steven and Michelle re-enact it with her angels and plastic nativity set. The kids were really interested, and at the end, we all blew out candles for Jesus' birthday. I think that will be part of our tradition from now on (since Michelle's birthday is so close to Christmas, I don't want to do a cake). After that, we opened gifts before going to bed. The kids did really well considering how late we were up (and how short their naps were). I'm so thankful for the time we got to spend with my family even if it didn't go how we had planned!

Waiting for the story to begin.

Watching Grandma and the angels.

Checking out the ornaments on the tree.

Right before he tackled her to the ground. . .

Playing with his train set from Uncle Andy.

Watching Grandpa's train go around the tree.

After the Christmas Eve service.

An attempt at a family picture

(before I almost dropped Michelle because of the contractions it was causing).

Three Years Ago Today

We became a family of three! Steven James, we are so blessed to have you in our lives!!

Halloween!

Now that I have a way to download pictures, I figured I should post a few of the ones from this fall that I couldn't get to before. Here are our little bumblebee and fire fighter :)

Chuck E. Cheese!

For Steven's birthday, we went to Chuck E. Cheese with Grandpa Hal, Nanny, and Uncle Andy when they were out for Thanksgiving. It had been a while since we had been there, and the biggest change I noticed was that the kids wanted to do the games instead of the rides (of course, that could have been because we sat on the side by the games and not the rides).

Chuck E. Cheese can be really expensive, but they have a ton of coupons available that make it quite affordable. I've signed up for e-mail coupons, and then I also registered the kids' birthdays to get them free tokens (no purchase necessary!). On their website, you can also print off reward calendars that get each kid 10 free tokens (with a food purchase). There is no limit to the number of coupons you can use in one visit, so we stack them all. This last visit cost right around $30, and we got two pizzas (one large, one medium), four drinks, and between 80 and 100 tokens. Not too bad for a night out with five adults and two kids!