~Thanksgiving 2010~

We headed to Indiana the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to celebrate Turkey Day with our families.  The kids did very well on the trip home.  We only stopped once for food through a drive thru and made very good time going home.  Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving with my family.  My parents made their usual yummy meal and we watched lots of football.  Later that evening Derek and I took Addy to see Tangled, while Carter stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa. 

Enjoying her turkey!

Hanging out with Grandma Schum

Friday morning I headed out for my usual Black Friday shopping excursion.  This year my dad agreed to go with me since my mom was working and Derek stayed back with the kids.  I was very surprised that my dad was willing to go, as his patience for crowds and crazy people is very limited.  He was surprisingly very well behaved and and an excellent shopping buddy.  Although we didn't find everything we were looking for, we did manage to snag a few good deals and were home in record time.

One of papaw's Black Friday purchases

Friday evening we headed to dinner with my family and then to Santa Claus to see the lights at Lake Rudolph and to visit Santa at the Christmas Store.  Addy loved the lights and "oohed" and "awed" through the entire thing.  I think Christmas with a two year old is going to be a ton of fun this year.  Both Addy and Carter did great with Santa.  Carter managed to grab a handful of Santa's beard and his wire-rimmed glasses, but Santa remained jolly through it all!  We had a lot of fun kicking off the Christmas season with the fun things in Santa Claus!

Who is this guy?

A couple of kids that are on the good list

Saturday morning we headed  Evansville to celebrate with Derek's mom, brother, and his family.We headed to the mall to brave the shopping crazies and go to Build-a-Bear. Earlier in the month I came across a good deal at Build-A-Bear (groupon.com is great!) and Derek's mom bought certificates for the three grandchildren to make their own animal.  Addy and Cameron made Rudolphs, while Carter made a puppy.  It was a lot of fun the kids really enjoyed making their animals.  Addy loves her Rudolph and is constantly singing his song and making him talk.

Giving Rudolph and Dasher a bath

Saturday afternoon we had a yummy dinner of crepes and put up the Christmas tree at Derek's Mom's house.  It was a ton of fun watching the cousins interact and decorate the tree together.  Addy was very interested in putting ornaments on the tree, and liked putting all of the ornaments next to each other along the bottom of the tree. Cameron enjoyed taking the ornaments off that Addy hung and Carter enjoyed watching the chaos and trying to get his hands on anything he could. 

Storytime with Grandma Freihaut

We had a wonderful visit with both of our families and enjoyed our time in Indiana.  We look forward to visiting with everyone again over Christmas.  Hopefully we will get to see more of our extended families as well! 

November in a Nutshell with a little bit of October thrown in...

To say that our November was a busy month for us is a bit of an understatement.  With the big move and all the stress, headaches, and unpacking that came with it and not having internet for a month, the blog took a major hit.  Although we still don't have internet (boy, has that been an ordeal!  Let's just say Frontier is on Derek's list and it's not a good list to be on) I am using Derek's wireless network card to finally do a few updates on here.  So buckle your seatbelts and get reading....Here's our last four weeks in a nutshell...

Halloween Weekend
  

My parents came to visit on Halloween Weekend. They were able to take a few extra days off of work and come for an extended visit. They have come to visit for the last several years on Halloween and we really enjoy having them come to visit. We were also excited to be able to show them the new house. On Saturday we took advantage of Dad visiting and rented a uhaul for stage one of the big move. Dad and Derek moved some of our bigger furniture and hard to manage items. We really put Dad to work and are so grateful for all of his help and for Mom's help in keeping the kids at bay as we packed and moved. Sunday we all went out to eaty at Logan's before an evening of trick-or-treating. After Addy's afternoon nap we planned to get the kids dressed in their costumes and take pictures. Adalyn woke up from her nap on the wrong side of the bed and was quite the bear through dressing and picture taking. Needless to say, we didn't get a whole lot of quality photos of the two together. Addy did warm up to the idea of trick-or-treating as she remembered that candy was involved and made quite the little Doctor. She chose her costume herself and had asked to be a doctor in early October. Thank goodness she madde up her mind early, as there weren't any toddler doctor costumes to be had at the stores and amazon.com had to come to the rescue! Although less original, Carter did make one cute monkey and did his part by providing those cute chubby monkey cheeks! Although it started out a bit rocky, trick-or-treating was a success and Addy was beside herself with her bucket full of goodies.

Trick-or-treating at our house.  My mom manned the door while we did the neighborhood circut. 



Addy and I decorated a pumpkin at the local nature center.  Addy called it our Grandma Pumpkin:)



Picking out the perfect pumpkin

 

Trick-or-treating at the Wietings'

Even Olive and Brutus were dressed for the occasion! 



The following day was November 1st and was the day we headed to the bank to close on our new house.  Forty-five minutes and many, many signatures later the house was ours and we were headed there to drop off yet another load of things.  The first week with the house in our possesion I really wanted to get the kids' rooms painted.  The entire house is painted a neutral brown and can be slowly changed, but I wanted to get color on the walls in the kids' rooms before we moved in their furniture.  Derek's mom came up to help us move.  She was mainly assigned to kiddie duty, which she and the kids were totally ok with.  The following weekend was our big move.  Unfortunately sometime during the week's worth of preparations I aggravated my knee and by the time Saturday rolled around my knee resembled more of a cantaloupe than an actual knee..convenient timing, I know!  Thankfully we had many wonderful friends and family here to help us get moved and all went as smoothly as we could have imagined.  Thank goodness for family and friends!

The rest of the month involved unpacking, unpacking, and a little more unpacking.  Derek also managed to squeeze in a short trip to Buffalo, NY the Monday after we moved and we headed home to Indiana for Thanksgiving, which will be featured in a future post!  We are slowly settling in to our new home.  It feels a little more like home everyday.  I love the fact that we are closer to town now and that the kids and I can run errands and not take the entire day to accomplish them.  We have become regulars at the library's toddler story hour which both Adalyn and Carter love.  Addy loves to visit the library to pick out books and go to her "class."  During the story hour the teacher reads several stories and leads the kids in several songs.  Addy's favorite song to date that she has learned is "Shake your bushy tail."   

Mirror, Mirror on the wall...

Such a cheeser!

Enjoyin their new house!

Despite the cold weather we ahve also met several of our neigbors.  Several of them have even brought us goodies to welcome us to the neighborhood!  We have also learned that we have several high school girls living around us, which means prime babysitting prospects!  We are excited about that!  So far we are enjoying the transition to our new surroundings.  Although that's not to say that the move hasn't brought frustrations.  Being unsettled during the holidays isn't my favorite thing in the world and we already have had issues with a leaking spa tub.  Add the issues we have had getting the internet and we have had our share of headaches!  However, it's great to see Addy and Carter settling in and loving their new house!  We will post pictures of our progress on the house very soon! 

Jam Packed Week in Indiana

A few weeks ago we took a trip back home to Indiana.  We had planned this trip well before we knew we would be buying a house and had purchased tickets to take Adalyn to Yo Gabba Gabba Live in Louisville, so we went ahead a made the trip home even though there was lots to be done in Illinois.  The plan was for the entire family to head home on Friday and then Derek would take his mom's car (she was on a trip with her church) and head back to Illinois on Monday after the Yo Gabba Gabba Show.  He had to go on a business trip to Florida for the remainder of the week, so it was a perfect time for us to spend some extra time at home visiting family and friends.  Then on Sunday the kids and I headed back to Illinois and picked up Derek's mom in Terre Haute to make the trip with us.  I know it sounds like a giant riddle, but it all worked out very well and we had a wonderful time in Indiana.  Like any trip that I plan, it was jam packed with lots of activities, visits with friends and family, and little down time. 

Fishin' for a prize

We stayed at Derek's mom's house on Friday and Saturday.  We wanted to spend some time with her before she went on her trip with her church to Michigan and Wisconsin.  On Saturday we went to the West Side Nut Club Festival.  It had been several years since we had been to the festival and we wanted to take Addy to sample some of the yummy food.  Addy enjoyed the corn on the cob, cobbler, and bread pudding.  I had also told Addy about the game where you choose a color by putting a quarter down on it and then a mouse is released in a larger wheel and chooses a color by going through a hole.  Addy was excited about playing the game and won a hot pink dolphin when the mouse finally chose her color.  Thank goodness Grandma had lots of quarters at her house!




Carter's first visit to Holiday World.  Too bad he couldn't see most of it:)

On Sunday we packed up and headed toward Spencer County to meet up with my parents and take the kids to Holiday World for the day.  It was an unusually hot day and Holiday World was pretty crowded. It was their last day of operation and usually crowds are low, but the weather brought everyone out. When packing for the family I didn't think about packing Addy's swimsuit for the fountains at Holiday World.  Being able to Run through fountains in October in Indiana just doesn't happen very often, so we let her go wild in the water in her clothes.  She had lots of fun going on rides and was so excited that grandma and grandpa each rode a ride with her.  Carter

had a lot of fun taking in the sights from his stroller and slept through most of the trip.

Monday was an exciting day for Adalyn.  We were going to Yo Gabba Gabba Live in Louisville.  I had made the mistake of telling her about the show a bit too early, so everyday when she got up she asked if we were going to Yo Gabba.  Finally on Monday when she got up I could give her the answer she was looking for.  My mom took off work to watch Carter, so it could just be a day for Addy. She loved that is was "Addy's Day" and mentioned it several times during the trip.   We went to the afternoon show so that Derek could head back to Illinois in the evening.  Yo Gabba Gabba is a kid's show on Nickelodeon. Yes, it is a little bizarre, but it includes music from alternative rock bands and is actually a show Derek and I can watch without losing our minds.  The songs are pretty catchy and after the concert I had them in my head for the rest of the week.  When I went online to buy the tickets it just so happened that the front row was available, so I jumped on them.  We were in the front row of theater seats, but had two rows of super crazy Gabba fans in front of us who paid $130 a seat to have "VIP" status.  Yo Gabba Gabba followers are very enthusiastic and I knew that there would be many super fans at the show. Clothing with the characters is very hard to come by, so I had planned on making Addy a shirt with her favorite character, Foofa. Well, since I was already making her a shirt, I decided to make myself and Derek shirts too, so that we would fit in with the crazy fans.  Derek was Muno and I was Brobee.  Addy loved the fact that we were also wearing shirts and we got many compliments from fans at the show.  Maybe I should start my own Gabba shirt business:) The show was great and it was great seeing Adalyn's face as the characters came on stage. She talked about the show for the rest of the week and has since asked if we could go back. 

Our homemade shirts

Dancing to the show

On Wednesday the kids and I headed back to the Louisville area to visit my good friend Jill and her family.  Jill and Zack welcomed their first baby, Ethan, to the world a month before we had Carter.  It was the first time I had seen Ethan.  He is adorable!  It was fun watching the boys look at each other. Addy loved meeting Jill, Zack, and Ethan and enjoyed playing with their dog Emmit.  It was great to see them and I am so glad the were able to make time in their busy schedules for us to visit!

Carter & Ethan hanging out.  Ethan is one month older than Carter.

On Thursday evening we dressed the kids in their Halloween costumes and my parents and I took them trick-or-treating to some of my relatives' houses. It was great to be able to take the kids to trick-or-treating to so many of our relatives.  We got to see a lot of people in a short amount of time.  I feel as though no matter how long we're home, we always wish we could have seen and visited with more of our friends and family.  So, it was great to see so many of our relatives all in one evening!

On Friday the kids and I went shopping with my mom ad Ashley.  We had a great time and found a lot of cute clothes for Carter and Adalyn.  Adalyn devoured her meal at Fazoli's and asked to go back to the "tomato place" to eat the next day.  Our last full day visiting in Indiana was Saturday.  Mom and Dad had planned to take us to the new Paula Deen Buffet in New Albany.  After much anticipation, it was quite the disappointment!  The food at the buffet wasn't near as good as the food she makes on t.v. looks.  After eating we headed to Huber Orchard, which was a madhouse.  There were people and lines everywhere!  It was such a beautiful day that everyone decided to head to the orchard.  Needless to say we weren't too enthusiastic about the super-long lines for everything so we didn't stay too long.  We did manage to leave with some yummy apple cider and apple cider donuts though!

Carter's first time in Grandma & Grandpa's swing



Enjoying a beautiful fall evening



Huber Orchard (Carter was sleeping:)

Ashley with her niece and nephew

Cheesin' with Grandpa's pumpkins

Sunday afternoon we headed back to Illinois.  We stopped in Terre Haute and Cory and Courtney's house to pick up Derek's mom.  We got see Courtney and Cameron very briefly and Addy and Cameron had a few minutes to play together.  The kids were very good on the way home.  It was another great trip back to Indiana filled with lots of great visits and fun.  We look forward to returning for the holidays!

Check Ups

I'm 4 months old!

Both kids had check ups at the doctor a few weeks ago.  I know this is old news and that some of you may be wonder why I even bother writing about this since it was so long ago, but since our family blog is a kind of substitute for a scrapbook I need to document the milestones (even if they happened weeks ago.)  We were ablet o take both kids at the same time which was a great timesaver, but also a bit chaotic in itself.  Adalyn had her 2 1/2 year check up and Carter had has 4 month check up. 

Addy knew that we were going to see the doctor and was surprisingly ok with it.  She knew was was probably going to get at least one shot and didn't show much apprehension about it.  As soon as the nurse walked into the room the chitter chatter began.  To say that she talked the nurse and doctor's ears off may be a bit of an understatement.  As soon as the Doctor stepped foot in the door she let him know that she was going to be a doctor for Halloween.  Dr. Boe seemed to be amused by that and gave her several rubber gloves for her costume.  Addy talked to him about everything from her baby Carter to moving to a new house.  When going down through his developmental checklist he stated "she certainly has quite the vocabulary."  Adalyn's height was 37.25 inches and weighed 34 lbs 8 ounces. The doctor was very happy with Adalyn's growth and development and made Addy's day by giving her those gloves for her costume!

Our little guy was checked out after Adalyn.  Throughout Carter's check up kept one eye on what the doctor was doing to her little brother and one eye on the I-Spy books she was flipping through.  She was very interested in and concerned about what was being done to him.  Carter weighed in at 19 lbs. 13 oz.  (greater than 97th percentile..of course) and measured to be 25.5 inches long (90th percentile).  Yes, he is a big guy and certainly doesn't miss many meals!  The doctor was happy with his numbers and while examining Carter by pulling him up to a sitting position mentioned how strong he is for his age.  Carter got a shot in each leg and took them like a champ.  He cried for only a few second and was his smiley self soon after. The doctor also gave us the ok to begin solids.  So we gave him cereal starting on October 1st.   He wasn't at all fond of it at first, but has taken more of a liking to it in the past week.  We plan to start him with veggies this week.  That should be interesting!

The smiley baby before the shots.

First bite of cereal goes in....



and comes out!



Cheesin for the camera!

One proud daddy!

A Lot Going On!

OK, for those of you who check in regularly you've noticed I've taken yet another hiatus from the family blog.  I could blame it on a number of things, but the reality is that I just haven't been getting it done as of late.  I have been dropping the ball when it comes to keeping this thing updated.  I could just start anew and report on only what happened during the past week, but that would be taking the easy way out.  Besides, some pretty exciting and fun things have taken place over the past few weeks that need to be documented so that in future years when I'm reading these posts I can say, "wow, that was quite an interesting month!" So I'm not giving you any lame excuses as to why I haven't been posting nor can I promise you that it will improve in the near future.  As you read on you will understand why....our family life is only about to get crazier before it settles down.  So, without further adieu...here is a VERY lengthy post with lots of subtitles and pictures!

A Summary of the Last Three Weeks...

Potty Training Success!

During our vacation form the blogging world Addy made some serious potty training progress. It all started during the first week of September--that's when the something in her little mind clicked.  We had been keeping a potty chart that was connected to rewards earned after so many times gone on the potty.  Before that week, Addy was hot and cold about the chart.  She knew what it took to earn the rewards and showed some interest in receiving the rewards, but had absolutely NO interest in using the potty full time.  I started the week off by putting Addy in underwear while we stayed home.  (I had done this before with little success.)  On Monday she started going to the potty when she needed to go and started earning stickers for her chart and various prizes left and right.  She was clearly excited about her accomplishments and kept it up with just a few accidents throughout the week.  Needless to say, I was hesitant to venture too far away from the house that week in fear of breaking "the streak" and planned any outings around Addy's potty times. Since that first week she has done very well.  Pottying foreign places is still an adventure, as Adalyn still isn't quite sure about the "normal" sized potties, but we are slowly getting her to accept that there are times when she must use them.  She has a variety of character undies and enjoys being able to pick out a pair to wear each morning.  We are still putting her in pull-ups when we go out and about.  She is doing a great job and we are very proud of her!

Balloon Festival
The last weekend in August always marks the date for the Lincoln Balloon Festival.  We have been going for several years and really enjoy the sights of the balloons taking off in the early evening and glowing at night.  This year was no exception.  There were over twenty hot air balloons participating this year and they were quite the sight!  Addy always loves to see the balloons and this year we had a new addition to the family that enjoyed them as well.  Although Carter wasn't as animated as Adalyn at the sight of the balloons, it was evident that he was noticing the balloons and enjoyed being outside.  Our friend Kelleen and her daughters, Evelyn and Elizabeth also joined us at the festival.  The three girls had a great time together and Addy talked about going to the festival with her friends for days and days.  We can tell that Addy really loved the festival because she still insists on keeping the program with the pictures of all the balloons.  She sits and looks at it from time to time and will ask anyone in earshot what their favorite balloon was.  Addy's favorite was the one with the sunglasses:)

A New House
The biggest thing that has happened in the past few weeks is that we placed a bid on a house closer to Bloomington and much to our surprise, it was accepted! Derek and I have been talking about moving closer to town since I stopped teaching.  We originally moved from Bloomington to our small town when I got my full time teaching job in Rochester because it cut my driving time from over an hour to about 45 minutes.  Now, since I'm not teaching anymore we thought it would be great to move closer to Bloomington which would shorten Derek's commute, which is currently 30 minutes, and would put us closer to everything.  It was one of those situations in which we hadn't planned to seriously consider moving until next spring or summer, but we started looking to see what types of areas we would be interested in looking and we found a house we couldn't pass up making an offer on.  For many of you that know me, spontaneity isn't usually my thing.  It took me three years to pick out furniture for our dining room.  I usually over analyze huge purchases to death!  However, this house has three of the BIG things we were looking for: a particular school district, no backyard neighbors, and a large backyard.  We got the house for a very good price and are very excited (and just a little nervous) about moving.  Our lives just got a whole lot busier as we have put our current house on the market and began the ominous task of packing.  Adalyn is very excited about the idea of moving to a new house and asks daily if it is time to go to our new house yet.  Although I am very excited about the move, I am also a little sad about leaving our first home where Derek and I started our married lives and where our babies were born.  I know that this new house will be wonderful for our family and we will be so much happier living closer to town, but I will miss our house in our little town with no stoplights:)  I'm sure much more will be posted about our upcoming move in the near future!  In the meantime if you know anyone who would like to live in a small town in central Illinois--give me a shout:)

Our new back yard

Meet Me in St. Louis!
Over labor Day weekend we took a short trip to St. Louis.  Derek and I packed up the cars and left Thursday evening.  We took two cars because the kids and I were going to head to Indiana from St. Louis to visit family for the week following Labor Day and Derek had to come back home because he had to work and travel for business at the end of the week.  We actually stayed in O'Fallon, Illinois and my parents met us at the hotel on Friday after they got off work. 

On Friday Derek and I took the kids to the zoo.  The weather was in the lower eighties and was beautiful.  We had a ton of fun at the zoo and wore both kids out.  Addy loved the elephants and got to touch a sting ray. We also rode the train and saw the sea lion show.  Carter took everything in stride and seemed very happy to be outdoors in the beautiful weather.  We stayed until well past nap time, which resulted in a very cranky Adalyn.  We headed back to the hotel in the late afternoon and met Grandma and Grandpa for happy hour at the hotel.  We stayed at a Drury Inn, which is a chain that I highly recommend.  They have a happy hour in the evenings in which they have free drinks and food.  It was a great perk for those evenings when you don't feel like packing the kids back up to go out to eat.

Carter loved taking in the sights at the zoo.

At the end of the day Addy was falling asleep on the Sit-N-Stand

On Saturday we headed back into St. Louis to eat at Hodak's restaurant.  Derek saw Hodak's on the Food Network Channel a few years ago and has been wanting to go there ever since because they are famed to have the best fried chicken in St. Louis.  Many of you know that Derek loves anything and everything fried.  So we headed there to test out their chicken and I must say it was pretty tasty!  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the experience, so I can't show you our places, but I assure you that they were cleared!  After Hodak's and a stop at Ted Drew's for custard (another St. Louis favorite) we headed back to the hotel for naps.  That afternoon Grandma and Grandpa stayed at the hotel with Addy and Carter while Derek and I took the metro into town to see the Reds vs. Cardinals game.  We were also going to  meet my best friend Sheila and Mikey, our team manager from Olney, at the game. The Reds are actually doing very well this year, which is quite a pleasant surprise, so I wanted to see them take on the Cards while we were in town.  I even got Derek to wear a Reds shirt! We got quite a few comments from Cardinals fans throughout the day, but also befriended quite a few Reds fans who also made the trip.  It was a lot of fun being the enemy, especially since the Reds were victorious 6-2!

Anytime you get these two together there's going to be trouble!

We found these awesome Reds fans with a Reds yard gnome and asked if we could take a picture with the little guy!

On Sunday all of us headed into St. Louis for some up close views of the Arch and to go to the Magic House.  The line to go up in the Arch was super long, so we decided to save that for another time.  Addy said the arch looked like a rainbow and enjoyed seeing it up close.  Carter was a bit fussy and didn't really like the sunshine.  The Magic House was a lot of fun.  Addy enjoyed the giant legos, water table, and the nursery in which she dressed up as a doctor and cared for babies.  Derek enjoyed watching Addy's and my hair stand straight up when we were touching the ball that creates static electricity. Derek was really looking forward to snapping pictures of the hair-raising experience!  We left the Magic House about mid-afternoon when Addy started her meltdown from being tired and headed back toward the hotel so Derek could get his car and head back to our house and my parents and I could take both vehicles to southern Indiana. 

Addy and her "rainbow"

A not so successful attempt at a family picture at the arch/

Derek really got a kick out of shooting this picture. 

Playing with the giant legos

The kids and I visited Derek's mom in Evansville for the first part of the week.  We took Addy to "Pump it Up" to play on the inflatables again.  We also took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese's and had a lot of fun hanging out and playing with Grandma Freihaut.  I got to go to Eastland Mall by myself while Grandma watched the kids, which was great!  It was a great visit and Addy always enjoys visiting her Grandma Freihaut.

On Thursday we headed to Ferdinand to visit my parents.  We went to dinner with my parents and Ashley on Thursday and visited Great Grandma Heilers on Friday.  On Saturday we went to my cousin Katie's wedding.  I am so glad that the kids and I were able to make it to the wedding.  It was great seeing all of our relatives on my Dad's side, as that isn't something we get to do enough.  Addy had a blast dancing to the music and running around the reception hall.  I'm not sure how many laps she did around that place, but it was exhausting just watching her and chasing after her.  Even Carter enjoyed the music, lights, and seeing all the people! Katie and Adam had a beautiful wedding and we wish them lots of love and happiness as they begin their life together!

Carter and the beautiful bride--Katie

Addy and Grandpa dancing

Addy loved the sweets table.  Maybe this was the reason Adalyn stayed up until past ten--thanks Katie:)

On Sunday the kids and I headed home after going to the church picnic in Ireland with my parents.  The kids were worn out from the exciting week and slept most of the way home, which was great because I was a bit nervous about doing the drive with them all by myself.  It was a wonderful week at home and I am so glad we got to see so many family and friends.  I look forward to future extended visits!

OK...So that is the last few weeks in a nutshell.  I will do my best to keep this blog updated during the next few months.  But as you can see our lives are going to be pretty crazy in the next few months!  I know, I know...I'm already making excuses:)