2010 - Year In Review

January:

Big event... the boy's first birthday!! He was a pro at eating cake right from the beginning.
At the end of the month we went to El Paso, TX. Jordan and Ben met their second and third cousins for the first time. Although we were there for a sad reason, it was nice to catch up with Dave's family and have them finally meet the kiddos.

February:

Jordan turned THREE! She also became fully potty trained!

March:

With warmer weather approaching, we were able to go to the playground and for the first time, Ben was able to PLAY! It was great having two little ones running around the playground.


April:

Jordan got her first bout of lice... EEK! Hence the shortest hair cut she's ever had. It was a disgusting experience I hope to never repeat!
We also took the kids on a train ride, which was definitely awesome in Ben's opinion!

May:

Dave got his first ever grill. YUM!

June:

The kids took their first trip to California for Grandma Luisa's wedding. They also had their first beach experience. They were excited and had a lot of fun. Definitely worth the plane ride. They got along great with their new grandpa!!

July:

Acquired a red wagon. This made all our trips to the zoo and Six Flags much easier! Loved this yard sale find!!


August:

August was a busy month. We went to Pittsburgh to see my parents and my sister+family.
Then my friend from college came to visit. We saw THOMAS!!
And finally I got to meet lots of lovely ladies from my February 2007 Baby forum! It was amazing getting to see a bunch of people that I "knew" so well but had not actually met in person. They came from Illinois, Ohio, Arkansas, and South Africa!!

September:

September was a pretty laid back month. Dave and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary, I had my 29th birthday. We were busy with Jordan's first month of preschool, so no major outings.

October:

We got to visit my best friend in St. Louis this month. We loved visiting so much that we went TWICE! Jordan and Ben fell in love with their new friends right away. During the second visit, we saw the St. Louis Arch and went up!

November:

Ben is a full blown train lover so we went to the Museum of Science and Industry for the first time and he went NUTS over the train exhibit. Here he is trying to kiss the trains.

December:

My parents were able to come out and visit in December. They hadn't been in over a year, so it was great to have them visit.
Christmas was so much fun this year! Both kids were really into the holiday and it was a delight to celebrate with them!


I don't know what 2011 will bring for our family, but I cannot wait to find out!

Happy New Year everyone!

Upholding Traditions

Last year we made this gingerbread house:


Although it was challenging, only the second one I had ever made, and my child was not quite as patient as I would have liked, I thought that the making of gingerbread houses/objects would be a really fun activity to turn into a holiday tradition.

This year, while visiting the Chicago Botanic Gardens, we happened upon a gingerbread train kit. I LOVED this kit. It came with candy (though I prefer M&Ms so I picked up some at the store), and the icing!


My daughter REALLY wanted gummy bears to be involved in the process, so I decided to use the icing to glue them down, like passengers waiting to board the train. This was a lot of fun and I can't wait to build another one next year! Maybe even do a house AND train.

Another tradition we have started with our kids is the matching PJs. This year mommy and daddy picked out spongebob... I NEVER thought I'd have kids that would love spongebob so much, but they do. Our almost 2 year old breaks out in the theme song multiple times a week. Pictures of said PJS will be posted later, after they have been unwrapped!

We still haven't decided if there will be other traditions started with our family. I do know that I am thrilled to not be traveling this year. As much as I miss my family and friends back in Pittsburgh, I feel so much more relaxed knowing I don't have to pack up and drive 10 hours with the kids! Dave has a church gig this year, so our big meal on Christmas day will be brunch, when he gets home from the church. So far I have apple bread french toast, cinnamon rolls, turkey bacon, eggs, and cut up bananas on the menu. Not sure what else we will have, maybe some sort of apple pastry since we have lots of apples to use up.

In case I don't get on the computer tomorrow, which is likely because I've been a bit of a slacker lately, I would like to wish all of you out there in blog land a very merry Christmas.

Wordless Wednesday - New Chair