Wolf Lodge Dec 2013

We got to spend the first weekend in Dec at the Great Wolf Lodge 

(thanks to Aunt Gail) for my Birthday

Obligatory first picture before getting into the water

Lily LOVED the waterslide! The picture above was her with Brandon, 

but she went down a good 5-10 times on her own!

I don't have any pictures b/c that required to parents (one at the top and one at the bottom)

 They also had this FANTASTIC life-size gingerbread house! 

It was completely made out of frosting and candy. It smelled sooo good. 

 At Night Brandon got his PJs and Daddy and I took turns Running around the hotel with him while he played MagicQuest

 In the morning Lily watched was fascinated with the Wolf

 and kept watching him and watching him. 

 Finally we got to go up and meet him. i'm not sure how excited she was to be that close

 The kids also got to write letters to Santa and mail them in the big mail box.

This really is an amazing place to take the whole family and we absolutely hate to leave each time we visit.

Breakfast with Santa 2013

At the beginning of Dec we had our Breakfast with Santa.

Not a single peep from Brandon 

(he knows the way it works now, pictures, present from Santa, eat some breakfast and decorating cookies) 

This is during Lily's nap time so when I randomly handed her to some strange man,

 she clearly wasn't Ok with it

So I compromised and held her and she was fine. 

Brandon decorated his gingerbread cookie, ate some cupcakes and Lily brushed her new pet dog 

that Santa gave her. It began to snow as we ate and was a beautiful site to see when we had to leave 

November 2013

We had a pretty quiet November. Lily had her first hair cut.
I am such a good planner, lily had her 15mos appt where she got 3 shots and then right to the hair cut appointment! But hey that is the life of working parents, you gotta fit it in when you can.
She honestly did really well. she wasn't loving it and then her amazing big brother read to her so she was completely calm. Then she ran around the place trying to grab every Christmas ball decoration they had so I have no good after pictures.

Thanksgiving was at my parents house where Kenn quickly ate then ran out to the Ravens game. 

I had to work the next day so the three of us went home to bed with nothing overly exciting except for me watching the game :)

Lily 16month update

Lily had her 15month Dr appt last thurs a month late... 

On 11/14 she was
 32" tall (79%)
23.8lb (73%) and in size 24mos
Head cir 48.5" (97%)

She can now identify when you ask her: head, ears, nose, tummy, feet.

 When looking at her books or in person  she can identify: cat, dog, flower, socks, shoes, sun, moon, fish, lion, bird, sheep, duck, bear. 

In the bath she can locate the toy fish, ducks, turtle and octopus.

 (Which she also can almost say clearly)

She will also make the animal noises to: sheep, cow, lion

Her current favorite book is Goodnight Gorilla and she points out the ball, moon and roar for the lion. She will also say "good night" and "uh oh" at the eyes

She is a little parrot and will try to repeat just about anything.

She says up for up. And up for down. Or since yesterday "updown"

She also says "no" when she means yes or no

We hear no a lot...

She loves music and dancing. She loves to sing baby beluga and old McDonald.

She tries to use a spoon to feed herself, although she may use her hand to put the food on the spoon.

She also loves to turn on and off the light switch and say nite nite when she's ready for bed.

And she sleeps EVERY night with her bear and will ask for him. 

Lily also has her first favorite character!
She has never had any interest in tv and will not watch it even when Brandon has it on.
At school she's been exposed to books and music with Elmo and so I thought after the Halloween event lets try Sesame Street. Well it was a big hit! She got sooo excited and kept saying Elmo.
She watched a good 3 mins of tv! We kept it on and every once and a while she'd hear his voice and run over to watch for another minute. It's pretty adorable to see how excited she gets with him,
I think we know what to ask Santa for!

Halloween Extravaganza!

Yesterday we had a busy Halloween!

Brandon was SUPER excited for Halloween this year.

he woke up 2 nights before asking at 4am if it was Thursday yet...

So safe to say he was a little excited today. 

First I got to assist in Brandon's Halloween Party

(I am a room parent) 

Then they had their school parade

 Back to class for crafts and party food!

 After Brandon and I stopped for Slurpee's (because we did not have enough sugar) 

Then off to daycare! I dropped Brandon off with his class and went to sneak a peak at Lily's.

Unfortunately she saw me and started to cry so the teachers told me to stay. 

Once the kids were in their outfit lily was HIGHLY interested in the kid dressed as Elmo.

She kept saying "Elmo" and touching his head/eyes. 

After her class got in line for the daycare parade she was distracted enough for me to sneak off. 

 Lily's Parade

She saw me so she started to break rank

 She tried to break free of the rope chain 

(they really hold on to each loop so they stay in a line) 

She's not really following directions...

 Back to following orders

 Brandon in his second parade

After a slightly chaotic ride home getting pizza we got ready to go out!

Lily wearing brandon's mask while saying "Hat"

 Getting Ready to go!

 Our pumpkins by Kenn

 Lily throwing our candy on the ground

 Wagon Cat

 We started around 6pm, by 6:30/45 Lily was falling asleep.

We decided to just keep her in the wagon and she held on to a glow stick and a box of dots all night.

We ended around 7:30 after we hit the main neighborhood and it was beginning to drizzle.

Brandon then handed out candy for a little bit himself. 

Overall i think they both did fantastic!
(and looked adorable)

Six Flags Halloween

Our Friends were nice enough to give us some tickets to Six Flags to take the kids for the Halloween event.

I had not been to this park since it was Adventure World when I was in high school.

I was surprised how small it was and how similar it was to when I was there last.

The kids had a fantastic time, and Brandon got to go on one of the adult roller coasters. 

Picture before we head in.

Lily, Brandon, Cousins:  Olivia, Rachel and Austin

Lily's new favorite toy that she picked out from Cracker Barrel (unicorn)

 Our Black Kitten and Ninja Turtle (without mask)

 She didn't quite know what to think of Porky 

 And with Lily...

 Lily's First Ride!

 We took some pictures while the big kids were in line for rides

 A little trick or treating.

 What kid doesn't want new Greek Yogurt cereal? 

 Hay Ride