A Fun Saturday Morning

Today Kelsey, Evan, and I got to play together all day because Mark was sick with the stomach bug that Kelsey and I had earlier this week. Kelsey is loving Evan at this age since he is up and around and "plays." He doesn't really play at all, but he babbles and stands up at all of the furniture, so in Kelsey's world that is playing.  Here are a few things that went on today:

Kelsey wanted to play "secret spy" so they put on costumes:

 Pancakes for everyone!

 Kelsey used to not go near him, but now wants to give him hugs Yay! Unless he is drooling, then she goes the other way.

 Can you see the top tooth?  There is one to the right of it as well.  That makes 4!  We're still waiting on the other top tooth to cut through.

Media Center Visit

Grandpa brought Kelsey and Evan to my school today for a toddler reading time. They were the only ones who came so Kelsey got lots of attention from the teachers running it. Grandpa even got to read a book with her. Evan focused more on his snack than the book.

Royal Ball Videos

Here are some videos from the Royal Ball.

Kelsey's Royal Ball

For Kelsey's 4th birthday she wanted to have a Ball as her party.   We found a sparkly purple dress (thanks Grace) and figured it would be perfect for the Ball and the idea kept on going.  The party was amazing!  NanNan helped a lot with the decorations and cake.  We had 5 rooms of the house being used.  The front room (play room) was for castle building. The dining room was a craft room to decorate crowns and wands. The kitchen was where the food was.  The living room was used for a pull-string pinata (thanks Joan!) and presents. We had a ball throw game as well in there.  And then the basement was used as the ballroom.  We put up a castle tent and had balloons. What more would kids want?  Kids could go to any room they wanted except for the pinata, cake, and a "pass the wand" game.  Thank you to all who were able to come and celebrate. It was a huge success!!!

Awesome cake!  I couldn't get over how well this turned out!  

Grandma was in charge of the craft room. 

The basement as the "Ball Room."

Mark did a great job directing the "Pull the Pinata" game.

Kelsey about to blow out her candle.

Kids playing "Pass the Wand."

 Go ahead and count how many Elsa's in the picture. 

Great pic of NanNan and PopPop.

 We even asked adults to dress up. Some did, but not as much as we did.  I still fit in my bridesmaid dress from my sister's wedding (10 years ago)!  Kelsey and I were the purple girls.

Snow Fun Videos

Here are some videos from our time outside in the snow:

Kelsey's 4th Birthday Party

Kelsey had a fun birthday that included going to a library program for Evan, next lunch from McDonald's at my school, and then SNOW!  Yup, snow again.  My school already had a two-early dismissal so I got to come home early and play with Kelsey in the snow.  We then went out to Red Robin for dinner with Grandma and Grandpa.  She's very excited to be 4.  Her Ball (party) is this weekend, so more pictures to come.

Baby Reagan

Meet baby Reagan who was born Oct. 27th. She is almost 3 months old and her dad, Justin, said she is 13lbs, which Evan was at age 6 months. Kelsey was happy to meet a baby girl since everyone else we know who have had babies or who are going to are having boys.  She even held her for a moment.  Mark got to hold both babies until Evan started grabbing at Reagan's face.  Reagan will learn to hold her own soon from her cousin Madden, Evan's godbrother.  Congrats Jamie and Justin! We are so happy for you!

Random Thursday

Random Thursday evening: January 15th

Love these smiles!

10 Months

Evan turned 10 months on January 9th.  I can't believe we only have 2 months to go and he'll be 1!!!  We have to get through this week when Kelsey turns 4 first. Evan is now crawling everywhere and pulling himself onto things. He eats all finger food and we haven't come across something he doesn't like yet.  He wouldn't keep the sticker on his shirt so I put it on the chair.

Christmas #2

Our lovely family in North Carolina came up to celebrate Christmas January 1st - Jan. 3rd.  They stayed at our house and the kids had a great time playing together.  Nathan stayed in Kelsey's room on an air mattress and Kristen tried sleeping in our office but that didn't work out so well, sorry Melissa.  We'll get you an air mattress for that room next time. :-)  We were even fortunate to get out for lunch and see movies on Saturday.  By "we" I mean Mark, Shawn, Melissa, and me.  Melissa and I saw "Into the Woods" (soooo good!!!) and the boys saw "The Gambler" (possibly not as good.)  Thanks mom and dad for babysitting the four kids!!  Three fourths of the kids were screaming when we left the house but apparently it didn't stay that way for very long.  No one was tied up when we got home.

Thanks Grandma for the matching shirts.  Find one in Shawn's size next time. :)

You have to put the light-up "lego" plane right away. 

Did I mention Owen came over to visit?  :-)

 Yay for sisters!!!!

 Cousin LOVE....

Nathan loves his baby BOY cousin.  I can't wait until Evan is running around with him.  So cute!

December 31st

I found the gift Kelsey made for me at preschool a little after Christmas, like Dec. 31st.  I couldn't stop laughing when I opened it due to the lack of a neck and how big the head is to the body of the angel, but I love it soooo much!  My mom was very kind to come over and "watch" the kids while Mark and I did our progressive New Years with our neighbors.  We were at 4 houses this year between 7:30 p.m., our house, to 1:30 a.m.  Emily and Tori got to spend time with the kids as well during the evening. My mom spent the night and made her special oyster crackers with Kelsey.

Kelsey riding Midnight and Evan on Charlie. They like to run races in the living room.