New Year

This will be our fifth New Year's Day in Kansas since moving here in 2005. A little retrospective...


On January 1, 2006, we took our little Squash (then 2.5) on a hike at Shawnee Mission Park. Weather was fantastic:



January 1, 2007, we had a three-week-old baby Noodle, so we stayed in and watched the Eagles game:




We actually rang in January 1, 2008, on a shuttle bus at the airport. Our flight home from California arrived reeeeally late on December 31, and I remember listening to the countdown, exhausted, while lugging the two kids and all our stuff back to the car. The next day is a little bit of a blur, but I took this picture of Squash (4.5) and Noodle (1) in the basement on 1-1-08:



And last year, January 1, 2009, we let our little chefs (5.5 and 2) make their own pizzas for a special New Year's lunch, after Squash stayed up for the first time the night before until midnight (actually, 12:37, but who's counting?). We were one sleepy crew that day:




This year...?? Pictures to come. This much we know - it will be our last New Year's as a family of four!

I love snow days

Here is why. This:

Followed by, this:

Our "Christmas Blizzard" snow is still sticking around (since it is never above freezing during the day) but the roads are fine and today, it was back to work.

But this afternoon, I saw a forecast that it might snow again tomorrow night. Not sure I am quite ready for that yet, but ready or not, here it comes! I think we are in for a snowy snowy winter.

White Christmas

We dreamt of it...and got it. Our first white Christmas in Kansas. It is perfect. It started snowing late on the 24th, snowed all night, and mid-day on the 25th, this is the scene out my bedroom window (I'm not going out in it to take a picture; do I look crazy? Wind chill is below zero!). It's been a blissfully peaceful day so far.

Here are my happy, happy kids this morning:

Noodle got "a sweeper and diapers for her baby." Just like she told Santa she wanted. Last night, she tried to convince us that she had also told him that she wanted a pink dinosaur. A sneaky one, that Noodle. Alas, the sleigh was already packed.

Squash's favorite present was the 2008 Stratomatic Baseball game. It replaces his vintage 1988 version that Dad had been letting him play. He has the Phillies World Champion team now, and is so excited to memorize all their stats.

Merry Christmas to all, from snowy, snowy Kansas.

Snow Day!!

It SNOWED!!! On Noodle's birthday!!! Only a couple inches, and now we are paying for it in the form of single-digit temperatures, but still! It SNOWED!!!

The kids went sledding down the driveway for about 10 minutes, which was all their tender little faces could take, then came in and had cocoa. Perfect way to kick off winter here in Kansas. Here's hoping for many more snow days...with nice warm ones mixed in so that I don't have to drive on icy roads.

Handsome + His Sis

We went to see Santa this weekend. This is the smile that seeing Santa and telling him the exact model Nerf gun that you really really really really want will put on your face:

Sis wasn't quite as crazy about Santa, but at least she didn't cry. She did, however, refuse to sit on his lap. She sent her message as to what she wants (a sweeper, aka a broom) with her brother.

She is a few hours away from being three. Her birthday party was a great success, and tomorrow, she gets to bring treats to preschool (rice krispy treats and fruit snacks). Today was her annual checkup. She was a champ for 99% of a visit (the H1N1 booster was not her favorite part), chatting it up with the doctor and asking to go potty after her was in the exam room with us for about 5 minutes. He was very agreeable, and waited patiently for her highness to return. She is now 31 lbs. and 35 inches tall, which puts her in the 60th percentile for weight and the (ahem) 20th percentile for height. She is still just a little bitty thing. Hard to believe it was three years ago that I was going into labor...and now she's almost a big sister!

Update from Kansas!

I just noticed that I had not posted anything since October. Oh well. It is because November was the busiest month on record and it zoomed by. I had to go out of town twice for work, which always throws a wrench into everything.


The most exciting day of the month was November 24 - we went for my ultrasound of Baby #3. He (!) was very active and very cooperative. Almost as soon as she saw him, the ultrasound technician could tell that we would be adding a new baby brother to our family. He also showed off his waving and kicking skills, and the highlight was when, in profile, he scratched his nose. It was a wonderful day!




We also drove ourselves to Virginia - our longest family road trip ever. 34 hours round trip for a 48 hour Thanksgiving visit, but it was worth it. We got to see lots of friends and family, spend time in my favorite town in America (Staunton), and made our fill of happy memories. Oh, and the kids got to add four new states to their repertoire: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia (they had already been to Kansas, Missouri and Virginia!). Here is a picture of the kids with their grandparents at Gypsy Hill Park. We crammed in a lot of fun.



December is proving busy as well. We have had contractors here all week working on painting the three kids' rooms (everyone moved). It has been a ton of work for us too, clearing out rooms and attempting to relocate our former office into various nooks and crannies of the house. It is finally taking shape though - we have Noodle's perfect pink room all done and Squash's blue Star Wars theme room. Baby's room will be painted on Monday, and he is getting a nice classic blue. I am reusing the bedding we used with Squash - Malawi. It has lots of cute animals and a green and blue plaid.


Noodle, impossibly, turns three next week. Her birthday party is Sunday. We are expecting 15 of her closest preschool buddies, plus her brother and a friend. We are not crazy enough to do this at our house; it will be at My Gym. She had her party there last year and loved it; she watches the video of her party ALL THE TIME. Last year, it was Dora themed. This year, princess. Time marches on.