Thanksgiving Fun

It has been awhile since we have posted a blog, so this one will be full of pictures to catch you up on our lives! Tomorrow Iowa City is expecting a winter storm, their second one of the season thus far (we received 2 inches of snow last week). We have bought some ice melt, snow shovel is ready, so hopefully we are prepared! The highs are to be in the low 30s/upper 20s, with lows in the single digits for the next week. Our weather system takes some getting used to - winter seems to arrive earlier than it does in Springfield! Seven more months...

Ethan with the "Dancing Monkey". He loves this toy - it is a loud obnoxious toy that is a monkey dancing to music. Plus, as you can see, he is sitting very well now. At about 5 1/2 months he perfected his sitting, though we still have to keep a pillow behind him as he has not perfected catching himself from falling.

Not only is he an excellent sitter (at 5 1/2 months!) but he is able to get into crawl stance and rock himself a bit with his legs before falling onto his face. He just needs to figure out the arms and he'll be moving! Augh! He loves naked time and seems to do the most moving during those times. This was during one of our new family traditions of an "indoor picnic". We order pizza, sit on the floor, and watch a Disney movie that Olivia selects. Thus far we have watched Cinderella and Snow White multiple times. She thinks it is great to eat on the floor.

Olivia making a pinecone/peanut butter/birdseed birdfeeder to hang outside. With a princess crown on, of course.

Hanging the birdfeeder.

Both of my babies acting like babies.

We spent Thanksgiving afternoon at Rachel and Thomas's house. We each had our jobs that day...grandma cooked the food, Rachel was hostess, and Thomas was human highchair for Ethan. Ethan is eating his food much better now - really seems to be enjoying it. It is still fun to watch his expressions with new foods. He also continues to be a great nurser and I am proud to say that he has never had a bottle (like his sister Olivia). Only the best for my little ones!

Olivia and I breaking the wishbone. You will notice that Yoda is also featured in this photo. Joe and I reached a difficult decision recently and gave Yoda to Rachel and Thomas. We had Yoda for almost 8 years, but we have learned that she is not a very child friendly dog. She was nipping at Olivia (somewhat provoked by Olivia, I'll admit) and was nipping at Ethan (not at all provoked). We don't think that she adjusted to our move to a smaller house and to having 2 kids around. However, the report is that Yoda is doing great with Bogey and Zoe (Rachel and Thomas's basset hounds) and seems to be very happy. We plan to enforce visitation rights.

We spent Thanksgiving evening with Grammy and Grandpa Brett. Grammy always has fun new presents for Olivia on our visits, this time being a giant Disney Princess coloring book. What a hit that was!

Ethan and Grandpa Brett. The proud grandpa carried him around for the majority of the evening, giving me a needed break. Ethan had been very clingy lately, and I believe that we now know why. Ethan is showing his first tooth today (November 30), and ever since the tooth erupted from the gums he has been a much happier boy. Now we'll see how this changes nursing...don't bite the one that feeds you!

Olivia in Grammy's tub. Grammy bought bath paint for Olivia, which dyed the water a lovely shade of brown (so, no, Olivia was not that dirty).

Ethan and Grandpa napping. Both seemed to share the same cold over Thanksgiving which drained their energy.

The family waiting for the Litchfield Christmas parade. Olivia was thrilled to wave hello to Santa. Everyday she adds about 5 more presents to her list to Santa. There seem to be some toys that are repeatedly added, so I'm guessing that those are the ones she really wants. Unfortunately, the one toy she talks about everyday - the Dora kitchen, will be a toy that she does not receive. We already have a very nice kitchen set and will not be replacing it. Olivia has stated that she needs 2 kitchens - the Dora one for the basement, and her other kitchen for upstairs. I don't think so. Santa will not have room in his sleigh for that gift.

Ethan loves his feet!

An Afternoon with the Wiggles

On November 1 we took Olivia and Ethan to a Wiggles concert in Moline, IL. Olivia has been a HUGE Wiggles fan for about 2 years now (although her adoration is on the decline now) and we had always wanted to take her to a concert. For those of you who do not know who the Wiggles are, they are an Australian group aimed at the toddler-preschool age set. Think Beatles for the 3 foot and under crowd. They sing really cute and catchy songs (both Joe and I have found ourselves randomly breaking into one of their songs) and dance like crazy. Unfortunately, the original "yellow Wiggle" Greg is no longer with the group, so we had to make due with the new yellow Wiggle Sam (we miss Greg!). There is also the "blue Wiggle" Anthony, the "purple Wiggle" Jeff, and the "red Wiggle" Murray.

We had excellent seats - 11th row, center aisle, which allowed Olivia to dance in the aisle with some other kids her age. Here she is in front of the stage waiting for the show to begin. She brought along roses to give to Dorothy the Dinosaur and a bone for Wags the Dog.

Ethan and I in front of the stage. He did much better than we thought he would - just stared and stared at the stage the entire time, never afraid of the loud noises or lights. We thought that we'd be taking turns walking him around in the hallways.

The Wiggles! They gave a very good concert for the kids - Anthony read aloud every sign that the kids held up, sang Happy Birthday to a boy in the crowd, and they all took turns dancing in the aisles with the kids.

Olivia couldn't take her eyes off of the stage the entire show.

Here come Captain Feathersword (Olivia's favorite), Dorothy the Dinosaur, and Henry the Octopus. Olivia was given a Captain doll before the concert and she danced with the doll the entire show.

The Wiggles singing arguably their most famous song Fruit Salad. I include this picture since it was the one song I was actually looking forward to seeing live (how sad is my life?). Instead, I spent this song in the bathroom nursing Ethan. Oh the sacrifice!

The sign of a good time.

After the Wiggles concert, we headed down to Litchfield for a visit. Olivia and Grandma did some more baking - homemade pretzels this time. Olivia's interest in baking was not as great this time around, but we continue to work on her becoming a little chef. Olivia requested an apron, and Grandma offered her 3 to select from before realizing what any of them said. Here is the one that Olivia picked ("blue like Anthony Wiggle").

We had another playdate with some friends from Springfield - Caden and Kellan. It appears that red was the color of the day.

Ethan enjoying the fall leaves. For once he didn't immediately attempt to eat them.

Ethan has become more interested in the bowl and spoons rather than the cereal.

And here is one of Joe's proudest moments as a father - Olivia's very first video game. Joe bought a joystick that plugs directly into the TV and has 6 games to play.