Navy Pier Children's Museum

Kevin had a conference in Madison, Wisconsin last week so we tagged along with him. We swam at the hotel and played at the park while he was in his conference. After his conference we went to Chicago. We went to the Children's Museum on the Navy Pier. It was so much fun!


We met up with our good friends the Giles. We have had so much fun seeing them more often since they moved to Chicago. My kids have so much fun with their girls, Tayen, Adley and Lyvien(their baby - not pictured)









Kevin was just as entertained as the kids:)



Everyone had a fabulous time but truthfully the best part was having a full-time nanny with us! It is amazing how much easier life is with extra hands! We love you Aunt Kariana and are so glad we get to keep you for awhile.

Playroom

It may look like a picture out of a book but it isn't, it is our playroom train mural! It was finished today. A good friend of ours wanted to build her portfolio so did it for us! It looks incredible! The kids are excited to get the toys back in the room and to get to play amongst the beautiful backdrop! Thanks Jenn, you are amazing!!!

Winner

I honestly don't ever remember winning anything and I finally did!

My cousin has a fun parenting website and she has great giveaways (and even has a great one going on now).
http://inevergrewup.net/


I WON this pettiskirt from Precious Car-go and gave it to Kaitlyn - we have had so much fun with it!
http://www.preciouscar-go.com

Thanks Vanessa!!!

Princess 2 year old

Alyssa just turned two and is so much fun! Our wonderful neighbor, Amy, passed along a princess dress that is too little for Julia. Alyssa loves that she has a princess dress that is just for her.

Alyssa loves brushing her teeth and does it several times a day. Hopefully this is a habit she will not stop!

It is amazing how young they learn that money is great. Great Grandpa & Grandma Middleton sent Alyssa some money for her birthday and she was so excited when she saw it and was carrying it all around.


Alyssa LOVES baby dolls and is always rocking them, feeding them, burping them, and singing to them. We had to get her one for her birthday. Once she opened it, it didn't leave the crook of her arm even to open more presents:)



She was never able to blow out her candles - if you can see her bangs blowing, she hasn't figured out that her breath is going up not out. Bryson and Kaitlyn came and helped her. (You gotta love the free cake from the grocery store:)



We love you Alyssa! Thanks for bringing so much joy to our home!

My Broccoli Girl

I love that Alyssa still LOVES broccoli!

We had steamed broccoli one night and she decided to feed some to her baby and then devoured it herself. I just kept taking pictures, it was so priceless watching her walking around eating huge mouthfuls of broccoli and then coming back for more!!!

Birthdays

It has been a bit since my birthday but I had to share a few fun things from it.

My birthday cake - homemade crepes with nutella and strawberries - thanks Kevin!

I didn't like the tradition of buying presents for the kids to give at birthdays - so the kids have started making things for presents. Kaitlyn usually just wraps up an old book or toy of hers but Bryson has made some really creative gifts.

This was my present from Kaitlyn. She is quite proud that she can read and write a few words.

This was from Bryson. A page from the gold plates. He has always been so good about coming up with great ideas for projects - he came up with this all on his own.

After Bryson saw me get excited and be so grateful to Kaitlyn for her paper with mom written on it he rushed over while I was still opening presents and wrote on a paper and gave this to me also. (He was trying to do it quick and my name is hard to spell:)

Bryson

Bryson has had us laughing several times that I just had to share.

#1 - For birthdays in our house that person gets to choose what we have for breakfast and dinner. On Kaitlyn's birthday she had chosen pancakes for breakfast. While we were eating breakfast Bryson comments that he loves pancakes too and will choose it for his breakfast. He then asked Kaitlyn about dinner. Kaitlyn said we were having pizza. Bryson said he wanted pizza for his birthday dinner too and then he said, "If we can't have pizza, I want lettuce." Kevin told him he could have lettuce AND pizza for his birthday dinner and could even have some lettuce that night with Kaitlyn's birthday dinner. I wish lettuce would put some fat on his bones since he likes it so much.

#2 - Bryson loves to argue/discuss things. One night he was headed to the shower and I reminded him that he needs to not run from his room to the bathroom naked and after his shower he needs a towel on when he heads to his room. He proceeded to have a long discussion about how fast he runs so no one will see him, he didn't think my explanations were convincing... After discussing it for a bit I was trying to explain that it isn't hard to just keep a towel around himself and go to his bedroom, he looked at me and said, "It is just a waste of time." There really wasn't anything I could say back:)

We gave Bryson our old digital camera when we got a new one for Christmas. He has had fun taking hundreds of photos and videos. Most of them are not worth much:) but I loved these 2 videos he took of himself doing his job for that day - throwing the laundry down the stairs and then bringing it to the laundry room.