On Christmas Eve, we beat it into Ava's head that she HAD to stay in her bedroom until at least 6:00 so we could be sure Santa had enough time to make his visit to our house. And she complied. Apparently, we didn't make enough of a stink on Easter "Eve", because we heard some rustling downstairs at around 3:15 A.M. Scot went down to investigate and found Ava sitting at the kitchen table, coloring, with 4 of her eggs that she had already found. Scot immediatley ushered her back to bed. Sigh...
Despite the early morning wakeup, we had a nice Easter weekend - my parents came over on Saturday and then Julie, Todd and Marilyn joined us for an Easter lunch on Sunday - we had to eat relatively early because Scot flew out to Atlanta later that afternoon for a week of sim training. The girls had a ball, first looking for the plastic eggs we hid around the house with goodies in them. They both needed a little bit of coaching to find the last few and were happy to find M&Ms, jelly beans and quarters in the eggs. The Easter bunny also dropped off some baskets filled with goodies. Ava's favorite present was a kite. She's been wanting one FOREVER and had it on her Christmas list, but Santa thought it mkight have been cruel to give it to her then...hopefully we'll be able to get out and use it soon. Reese really enjoyed all of the candy - you could barely catch a glimpse of her that morning without some sort of chocolate or jelly bean oozing out of her mouth. The girls got more baskets from Chuck and Sandy, the Wenzels and the Bagbys. They were very lucky! I picked through a bunch of the chocolate and candy and took about 75% of their loot to work a few days later. My coworkers were especially happy to see the Easter bunny leave treats for them and it was all gone by about 11 am.
Sunday, May 01, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
On the go
Boy...I really need to update the picture at the top of my blog! We are FINALLY snow free here in Woodbury, except for the small patch that's hanging on in the middle of the culdesac. We got a new computer a few months back and I haven't made the time to reinstall any of my photo editing software...so I need to get on that so I can crop a few pictures, sunnier pictures!
We had a fun, BUSY weekend. Date night was Friday...as I mentioned a few days back. Scot took the initiative and called our preschool teacher earlier in the week, who has a 14 year old daughter Jessi. She sent home a flyer in Ava's backpack a few months back, offering up her babysitting services, so we finally decided to indulge her. Ava took to her immediately (someone new to control!) and was busily teaching Jessi how to play Sequence for Kids when we left. Ava barely looked up at us when we told her we were leaving. Reese paused from some toys to give us a smile and a wave. Off to a good start! I had a Living Social coupon for a place in downtown Hudson - Urban Olive and Vine, so we decided to go there. It was a really cute, small wine bar/restaurant and they had a Brazilian jazz band playing that night. Wine, cheese, dinner live music, just the two of us. What more could we want? It was great. Came home around 9:30 to find that the girls were asleep in their beds and Jessi was still in one piece - even better!
On Saturday, my friend/coworker Matt guilted me enough to join him on a 26 mile bike ride that some folks from Medtronic had organized to prepare for the MS150. And...it wasn't that bad! We kept about a 11-12 mph pace, took a few short breaks. I think the last 5 miles did me in, though, as my legs cramped up later on Sunday/Monday. But it was a good confidence builder - this may not be SO bad when the time comes! I've put on about 60 miles now this spring over 4 rides. I hope to keep up the momentum and get out a couple of times each week. It should be easier now that the weather is finally cooperating!
Had brunch with my book club girlfriends on Sunday and then later in the afternoon we were off to the Waterpark of America, which I had purchased tickets in advance as a fundraiser for my bikeride. It was a zoo but the girls still had a blast.
Scot is en route to Miami now for a few days...hopefully the girls and I will be able to enjoy a lot of time outside while he's away.
They are both doing well. We just got Ava back in gymnastics through Community Ed - she has had 2 classes so far (Monday nights) and is really enjoying it. Reese is still our little bundle of personality - she is really talking up a storm these days. Between the two of them, it's rare that the house is ever quiet during their waking hours!
We had a fun, BUSY weekend. Date night was Friday...as I mentioned a few days back. Scot took the initiative and called our preschool teacher earlier in the week, who has a 14 year old daughter Jessi. She sent home a flyer in Ava's backpack a few months back, offering up her babysitting services, so we finally decided to indulge her. Ava took to her immediately (someone new to control!) and was busily teaching Jessi how to play Sequence for Kids when we left. Ava barely looked up at us when we told her we were leaving. Reese paused from some toys to give us a smile and a wave. Off to a good start! I had a Living Social coupon for a place in downtown Hudson - Urban Olive and Vine, so we decided to go there. It was a really cute, small wine bar/restaurant and they had a Brazilian jazz band playing that night. Wine, cheese, dinner live music, just the two of us. What more could we want? It was great. Came home around 9:30 to find that the girls were asleep in their beds and Jessi was still in one piece - even better!
On Saturday, my friend/coworker Matt guilted me enough to join him on a 26 mile bike ride that some folks from Medtronic had organized to prepare for the MS150. And...it wasn't that bad! We kept about a 11-12 mph pace, took a few short breaks. I think the last 5 miles did me in, though, as my legs cramped up later on Sunday/Monday. But it was a good confidence builder - this may not be SO bad when the time comes! I've put on about 60 miles now this spring over 4 rides. I hope to keep up the momentum and get out a couple of times each week. It should be easier now that the weather is finally cooperating!
Had brunch with my book club girlfriends on Sunday and then later in the afternoon we were off to the Waterpark of America, which I had purchased tickets in advance as a fundraiser for my bikeride. It was a zoo but the girls still had a blast.
Scot is en route to Miami now for a few days...hopefully the girls and I will be able to enjoy a lot of time outside while he's away.
They are both doing well. We just got Ava back in gymnastics through Community Ed - she has had 2 classes so far (Monday nights) and is really enjoying it. Reese is still our little bundle of personality - she is really talking up a storm these days. Between the two of them, it's rare that the house is ever quiet during their waking hours!
Thursday, April 07, 2011
Date night
Babysitter booked, reservations set. Scot and I are going out to dinner on Friday night. Alone! We may just sit and not say one single thing to each other...not for lack of things to talk about it, but because it would be q.u.i.e.t.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Sign us up!
So...all 4 of us Wilcoxians have something in the works coming up that we have registered for.
First comes Reese - she is all set to start attending Music Together classes in April. We had Ava in this program for a few years and it was something we all really enjoyed. Getting started a little later with Reese, but I think she'll love it. I took her to a "trial" run on Saturday and she had a ball - it was nice to have some 1:1 time with her and see her get engaged with the singing and dancing. The class meets every Saturday morning for the next 10 weeks.
Next up comes Scot - he is slated to go on an "Honor Flight" on April 30th. He will be flying from the Twin Cities as a guardian volunteer to accompany World War II veterans so that they can visit the World War II Memorial in Washington. He has a few pre-flight meetings in April to find out more about the event. He is very excited to have this opportunity and I'm very happy for him.
My event is in June - I have signed up for the MS150 - a 150 mile bike ride over 2 days to raise money and awareness for MS. Holy crap, that is going to be a long trip! ;-) My best bud Jess and I are riding for Team Medtronic along with a few of our other coworkers. I just got my bike tuned up a few weeks ago and took it for its inaugural run this season yesterday - it was about 50 degrees, a perfect day to get out! I covered 10 miles on the Gateway Trail...it felt good, but gosh, just a fraction of what I'll be riding in June. We have an 8 week training plan that we hope to follow, which should put us on track for the main event - let's hope so! Having 2 dear friends with MS, the cause means a lot to me. I need to raise $300 to participate and am over halfway there. If you would like to sponsor me, shoot me a line! :-) Every little bit will get me closer to my goal.
And finally, Ava. My little 5 year old is going to be starting Kindegarten in the fall so we had her school open house a few weeks ago. Crazy! We have elected to sign her up for full day and are waiting to find out if that request gets fulfilled. The bummer in all of this is that after 5 years, we need to find a new daycare! Our current daycare provider lives in a different school district, so we need to make a switch for that reason. We visited a different provider last Sunday and will probably go with her and make the transition sometime in June or July.
As usual, we're busy, busy, busy! Lots of exciting things to look forward to in the next weeks and months.
First comes Reese - she is all set to start attending Music Together classes in April. We had Ava in this program for a few years and it was something we all really enjoyed. Getting started a little later with Reese, but I think she'll love it. I took her to a "trial" run on Saturday and she had a ball - it was nice to have some 1:1 time with her and see her get engaged with the singing and dancing. The class meets every Saturday morning for the next 10 weeks.
Next up comes Scot - he is slated to go on an "Honor Flight" on April 30th. He will be flying from the Twin Cities as a guardian volunteer to accompany World War II veterans so that they can visit the World War II Memorial in Washington. He has a few pre-flight meetings in April to find out more about the event. He is very excited to have this opportunity and I'm very happy for him.
My event is in June - I have signed up for the MS150 - a 150 mile bike ride over 2 days to raise money and awareness for MS. Holy crap, that is going to be a long trip! ;-) My best bud Jess and I are riding for Team Medtronic along with a few of our other coworkers. I just got my bike tuned up a few weeks ago and took it for its inaugural run this season yesterday - it was about 50 degrees, a perfect day to get out! I covered 10 miles on the Gateway Trail...it felt good, but gosh, just a fraction of what I'll be riding in June. We have an 8 week training plan that we hope to follow, which should put us on track for the main event - let's hope so! Having 2 dear friends with MS, the cause means a lot to me. I need to raise $300 to participate and am over halfway there. If you would like to sponsor me, shoot me a line! :-) Every little bit will get me closer to my goal.
And finally, Ava. My little 5 year old is going to be starting Kindegarten in the fall so we had her school open house a few weeks ago. Crazy! We have elected to sign her up for full day and are waiting to find out if that request gets fulfilled. The bummer in all of this is that after 5 years, we need to find a new daycare! Our current daycare provider lives in a different school district, so we need to make a switch for that reason. We visited a different provider last Sunday and will probably go with her and make the transition sometime in June or July.
As usual, we're busy, busy, busy! Lots of exciting things to look forward to in the next weeks and months.
Friday, March 18, 2011
"Grandma" Essie
Last weekend we went home to Wausau unexpectedly for a funeral. A very, very special person in my life passed away - our next door neighbor "Essie". My grandparents were all gone when I was very young, so my memories of them are lacking and I missed out on those special bonds. But Essie was always there and filled that void for me as I grew up. She and her husband Henry and daughter Cynthia have lived next door to my parents' house for almost 40 years.
Essie's real name was Esther, but because I struggled with her name, I called her "Essie" from a very young age and it stuck. I used to go over to their house all the time growing up and play the card game "War" with her. Essie would always let me win, but Cynthia never did - and I'd routinely go home crying because of it. She was always feeding me and I especially remember devouring all of the "ground cherries" she gave me from her garden. She never had any grandchildren of her own, so I think we really did cling to each other for that reason over the years - we had that connection from the beginning. They had a cottage in northern WI for a long time and we'd often go up there - I remember swimming, fishing and feeding the chipmunks. They always seemed to have animals around - I loved that about the place. The priest at the funeral told a story of how one summer Essie "adopted" a goose and a mallard who swam by every day for a visit and some food. She named them Pete and Repeat. But one day, one of them didn't come by...Essie later found out the duck had been attacked and wasn't doing well. Eventually it came around again and Essie handfed it, rubbing on it's throat to help get the food down. She saved his life that way. That is just the type of person she was - so wonderfully caring and helpful.
I will miss her terribly. Every time we went home, we made time to visit her and she especially loved seeing Reese and Ava, her "great granddaughters". But Essie lived a long life - she was just shy of her 94th birthday and was still living at home and doing relatively well. It was just in the past few months that she was diagnosed with lung cancer and that eventually was what took its toll on her. Her mind was as sharp as it had always been. She was lucky to still have her daughter Cynthia taking care of her until the very end. Her funeral truly was a "celebration" of her life, because she had a great, long one. Unlike the recent deaths of our loved ones, we don't feel like Essie was taken away from us too soon - it was just right - and we can take comfort in the fact that she is back with her husband Henry and living without pain. I was also honored to be a pallbearer for her, I'm so glad that Cynthia asked me.
Here she is holding Reese a little over 2 years ago:
Miss you and love you, Essie.
Essie's real name was Esther, but because I struggled with her name, I called her "Essie" from a very young age and it stuck. I used to go over to their house all the time growing up and play the card game "War" with her. Essie would always let me win, but Cynthia never did - and I'd routinely go home crying because of it. She was always feeding me and I especially remember devouring all of the "ground cherries" she gave me from her garden. She never had any grandchildren of her own, so I think we really did cling to each other for that reason over the years - we had that connection from the beginning. They had a cottage in northern WI for a long time and we'd often go up there - I remember swimming, fishing and feeding the chipmunks. They always seemed to have animals around - I loved that about the place. The priest at the funeral told a story of how one summer Essie "adopted" a goose and a mallard who swam by every day for a visit and some food. She named them Pete and Repeat. But one day, one of them didn't come by...Essie later found out the duck had been attacked and wasn't doing well. Eventually it came around again and Essie handfed it, rubbing on it's throat to help get the food down. She saved his life that way. That is just the type of person she was - so wonderfully caring and helpful.
I will miss her terribly. Every time we went home, we made time to visit her and she especially loved seeing Reese and Ava, her "great granddaughters". But Essie lived a long life - she was just shy of her 94th birthday and was still living at home and doing relatively well. It was just in the past few months that she was diagnosed with lung cancer and that eventually was what took its toll on her. Her mind was as sharp as it had always been. She was lucky to still have her daughter Cynthia taking care of her until the very end. Her funeral truly was a "celebration" of her life, because she had a great, long one. Unlike the recent deaths of our loved ones, we don't feel like Essie was taken away from us too soon - it was just right - and we can take comfort in the fact that she is back with her husband Henry and living without pain. I was also honored to be a pallbearer for her, I'm so glad that Cynthia asked me.
Here she is holding Reese a little over 2 years ago:
Miss you and love you, Essie.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Me gusta Mexico
Oops...looks like I let another month slip by without any updates...life has been, well busy as usual.
The cruise was amazing - it was a wonderful week and we enjoyed every minute of our time without kids. By Thursday, I was missing them quite a bit though, so it was a long two days at sea at the end of the week. But...somehow I (we) still managed to suck it up and have a good time. :-)
We set sail from Los Angeles and the first full day was at sea...that was Super Bowl Sunday! Thank God we were able to watch from the ship - I made Scot call the cruise line and verify this right after the NFC Championship game. It was unfortunate that we couldn't watch with our Packer fan friends back home, but again, I somehow managed to enjoy it anyway. Especially the outcome! Wow - what an amazing game. GO PACKERS!
Our first sunset on the ship as we were departing L.A.
After that we had 3 days in a row of port calls - first Cabo San Lucas, then Mazatlan, then Puerto Vallarta. Cabo was beautiful - we got off the ship and hiked to a beach nearby. The boys did some swimming while Julie and I did some sunbathing (the ocean was FREEZING). We hung out there for a few hours, then took a water taxi back in and grabbed some chow and drinks at Senor Frog's, before heading back onto the ship.
Mazatlan was bittersweet. Julie went through the necessary hoops ahead of time to bring Di and Gardy's ashes on the plane and then on the ship. We decided to all head down to the beach area once we docked in Mazatlan so we could spread their ashes there. Di and Gardy loved Mazatlan - they had probably been there 20 times over the years, usually going twice each winter. They talked a lot about getting a winter place down there, though I think Diane started to resist this a bit once Ava came along - she had a hard time imagining letting those months slip by without seeing her baby! It's truly a shame that the couldn't spend more of their retirement years down there...so we thought it only fitting that they be laid to rest there for forever. We found this beautiful, serene spot for their new home. I really don't think there's any other place they'd rather be.
After that, we grabbed some lunch at a beach restaurant and then Scot and I spent the rest of the afternoon out at the El Cid pool - a fancy hotel with delectable pina coladas. Hit it right at the Two for One Happy Hour even ;-)
Day 4 was our stop in Puerto Vallarta - Scot and I booked a shore excursion in advance to go out on a catamaran with 2 stops for snorkeling/sea kayaking and waterfall hiking/beachtime. It was a great way to spend the day - we found some other Minnesotans to chat with, the weather was great, the food and drinks were free...we definitely got our money's worth out of this one.
And, as I said - the last 2 days we were at sea on our way back to L.A. Spent a lot of time reading poolside and enjoying the last few days of true freedom. We had a wonderful time and it was a great way to spend time with Scot's family. Two thumbs up!
And while the girls did technically survive while we were gone, their bangs did not. This was what we came home to, courtesy of the older one. This one also had my mom believing for 2 full days that Vicki did this and vice versa. Sigh.
The cruise was amazing - it was a wonderful week and we enjoyed every minute of our time without kids. By Thursday, I was missing them quite a bit though, so it was a long two days at sea at the end of the week. But...somehow I (we) still managed to suck it up and have a good time. :-)
We set sail from Los Angeles and the first full day was at sea...that was Super Bowl Sunday! Thank God we were able to watch from the ship - I made Scot call the cruise line and verify this right after the NFC Championship game. It was unfortunate that we couldn't watch with our Packer fan friends back home, but again, I somehow managed to enjoy it anyway. Especially the outcome! Wow - what an amazing game. GO PACKERS!
Our first sunset on the ship as we were departing L.A.
After that we had 3 days in a row of port calls - first Cabo San Lucas, then Mazatlan, then Puerto Vallarta. Cabo was beautiful - we got off the ship and hiked to a beach nearby. The boys did some swimming while Julie and I did some sunbathing (the ocean was FREEZING). We hung out there for a few hours, then took a water taxi back in and grabbed some chow and drinks at Senor Frog's, before heading back onto the ship.
Mazatlan was bittersweet. Julie went through the necessary hoops ahead of time to bring Di and Gardy's ashes on the plane and then on the ship. We decided to all head down to the beach area once we docked in Mazatlan so we could spread their ashes there. Di and Gardy loved Mazatlan - they had probably been there 20 times over the years, usually going twice each winter. They talked a lot about getting a winter place down there, though I think Diane started to resist this a bit once Ava came along - she had a hard time imagining letting those months slip by without seeing her baby! It's truly a shame that the couldn't spend more of their retirement years down there...so we thought it only fitting that they be laid to rest there for forever. We found this beautiful, serene spot for their new home. I really don't think there's any other place they'd rather be.
After that, we grabbed some lunch at a beach restaurant and then Scot and I spent the rest of the afternoon out at the El Cid pool - a fancy hotel with delectable pina coladas. Hit it right at the Two for One Happy Hour even ;-)
Day 4 was our stop in Puerto Vallarta - Scot and I booked a shore excursion in advance to go out on a catamaran with 2 stops for snorkeling/sea kayaking and waterfall hiking/beachtime. It was a great way to spend the day - we found some other Minnesotans to chat with, the weather was great, the food and drinks were free...we definitely got our money's worth out of this one.
And, as I said - the last 2 days we were at sea on our way back to L.A. Spent a lot of time reading poolside and enjoying the last few days of true freedom. We had a wonderful time and it was a great way to spend time with Scot's family. Two thumbs up!
And while the girls did technically survive while we were gone, their bangs did not. This was what we came home to, courtesy of the older one. This one also had my mom believing for 2 full days that Vicki did this and vice versa. Sigh.
Friday, February 04, 2011
Setting Sail
We're off to the Mexican Riviera for a week, with stops in Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta. And we have confirmed they'll be showing the Super Bowl on the trip. Life doesn't really get any better! We have one excursion planned in Puerto Vallarta - a catamaran trip to an island for snorkelling and other activities. Otherwise, we'll play it by ear. The plan for Mazatlan is bittersweet - we'll take it easy and enjoy the city/beach, but we are also going to make for some quiet time and spread Di's and Gardy's ashes there. Mazatlan was always their favorite vacation spot - they even talked about getting a permanent place down there. We can't think of a better place to lay them to rest. Julie, Todd, Marilyn & Dan will all be on the cruise with us, while the girls stay home with Grandma & Grandpa Lotzer. Bon voyage!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Reese
The two following videos share a few common traits:
Packer love
Wilcox girls
Wilcox girls who are both exactly 2 years, 19 days old.
Packer love
Wilcox girls
Wilcox girls who are both exactly 2 years, 19 days old.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Circa 1996
January 14th marked the 15th anniversary of our first "date". In 1996, that day was on a Sunday. The Packers were playing Dallas on the quest to the NFC Championship. But that year they lost. Nothing like the phenomenal game the Pack played last night - wow!!! Anyway, we watched the '96 game together at a mutual friend's apartment (his name was also Scott and um, I might have been dating him at the time). Because we didn't have school the next day (MLK Jr Day), new Scot asked me to go to a house party after the game. So we did. And the rest, as they say, is history.
I scanned in the first picture taken of us...this was obviously long before digital cameras, so there aren't too many of us together in those early years. This was taken on a trip we took to Lutsen with a bunch of other college friends, about one month after we got together. I can't believe it's been 15 years. Wow.
I scanned in the first picture taken of us...this was obviously long before digital cameras, so there aren't too many of us together in those early years. This was taken on a trip we took to Lutsen with a bunch of other college friends, about one month after we got together. I can't believe it's been 15 years. Wow.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
TWO!
Reese turned two on January 10th...I'll say the same thing I say all the time. I can't believe my baby is getting so big!
Poor baby Reese didn't get a party this year - her stinker of a Daddy left for Puerto Rico on the 8th and won't be back until the 22nd...so that eats up 3 January weekends. It's probably just as well. After Ava's birthday and Christmas, there is certainly no shortage of toys in this house. The thought of more making their way in actually makes me shudder.
So, it was just us girls celebrating on Monday. Daddy joined in for a Skype call in the evening. Ava and I made some brownies - we sang Happy Birthday and gave Reese a big piece with 2 candles in it. She didn't want anything to do with it. Sigh. She was way more excited about the cottage cheese I had given her for supper. I picked up a few presents earlier in the day to give her - some baby bottles, a new doll stroller and Lincoln Logs. Hands down, her favorite present was the baby bottles. She carried them around all night - two fisted - and was as happy as could be!
She had her 2 year check up the next day. She weighed in at 24.9 lbs (30%) and measured 34 inches (50%). I wasn't sure if she would have to have any shots or not...as it turned out, we opted to do the chicken pox vaccine and then did a blood draw for lead. Let me say, Reese is a tough cookie! She didn't even cry when they drew blood from her arm - she just watched, stuck out her lower lip some, and waited patiently for it to be over. She didn't make a peep at the shot in her thigh either. I was so proud of her! Ava asked to stand outside of the room while Reese was getting her shots, because she didn't want to see Reese get hurt. I thought that was really sweet.
So, Reese is definitely exerting her opinions more now - she isn't quite so easy going as she used to be! Her favorite argument now seems to be about which pajamas to wear...she'll insist "I pick out!" and then will take one pair out of her drawer, so I'll start to put those on her, then she'll say "NO!" and take out a different pair, and so on, and then in the end she usually has decided on the pair she first chose 5-10 minutes earlier. But her moods don't last long and it usually doesn't take much to redirect her. She has really become so much more verbal in the last month or two - she often strings together 4-5 word sentences, which is a lot more than what Ava was doing at this age (God help us?). In fact last night she got mad at me and said, "Mama, get out of my room!" Plain as day. What??? Another funny thing she does is add an "a" sound to most of her verbs, as if she is Italian. Like, "Mama, read-a my book." Or "Brush-a my teeth." And "Drink-a my milk." It's amusing.
She's such a sweet girl - she brings so much joy and laughter to the house and when she and Ava play together nicely, it is the best thing ever. Happy Birthday Reese!
Poor baby Reese didn't get a party this year - her stinker of a Daddy left for Puerto Rico on the 8th and won't be back until the 22nd...so that eats up 3 January weekends. It's probably just as well. After Ava's birthday and Christmas, there is certainly no shortage of toys in this house. The thought of more making their way in actually makes me shudder.
So, it was just us girls celebrating on Monday. Daddy joined in for a Skype call in the evening. Ava and I made some brownies - we sang Happy Birthday and gave Reese a big piece with 2 candles in it. She didn't want anything to do with it. Sigh. She was way more excited about the cottage cheese I had given her for supper. I picked up a few presents earlier in the day to give her - some baby bottles, a new doll stroller and Lincoln Logs. Hands down, her favorite present was the baby bottles. She carried them around all night - two fisted - and was as happy as could be!
She had her 2 year check up the next day. She weighed in at 24.9 lbs (30%) and measured 34 inches (50%). I wasn't sure if she would have to have any shots or not...as it turned out, we opted to do the chicken pox vaccine and then did a blood draw for lead. Let me say, Reese is a tough cookie! She didn't even cry when they drew blood from her arm - she just watched, stuck out her lower lip some, and waited patiently for it to be over. She didn't make a peep at the shot in her thigh either. I was so proud of her! Ava asked to stand outside of the room while Reese was getting her shots, because she didn't want to see Reese get hurt. I thought that was really sweet.
So, Reese is definitely exerting her opinions more now - she isn't quite so easy going as she used to be! Her favorite argument now seems to be about which pajamas to wear...she'll insist "I pick out!" and then will take one pair out of her drawer, so I'll start to put those on her, then she'll say "NO!" and take out a different pair, and so on, and then in the end she usually has decided on the pair she first chose 5-10 minutes earlier. But her moods don't last long and it usually doesn't take much to redirect her. She has really become so much more verbal in the last month or two - she often strings together 4-5 word sentences, which is a lot more than what Ava was doing at this age (God help us?). In fact last night she got mad at me and said, "Mama, get out of my room!" Plain as day. What??? Another funny thing she does is add an "a" sound to most of her verbs, as if she is Italian. Like, "Mama, read-a my book." Or "Brush-a my teeth." And "Drink-a my milk." It's amusing.
She's such a sweet girl - she brings so much joy and laughter to the house and when she and Ava play together nicely, it is the best thing ever. Happy Birthday Reese!
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
Christmas 2010
Christmas Eve marked our celebration with Scot's small family - Julie, Todd and Aunt Marilyn came over in the afternoon. We stuffed ourselves with all of our favorite appetizers, then had some dinner, and then ripped into the presents. The girls of course had the biggest piles by far. Ava's favorite presents were her American Girl doll "Jenna" (well, the Target version anyway) with her own wardrobe/dresser courtesy of Marilyn - she also is really enjoying the Leapster Explorer we got her. We are enjoying it very much too as it keeps her very occupied! She seems to take after her dad in that area ;-) Over the course of the holidays she got 5 games for it, so she is well stocked. Reese very enthusiastically opened her gifts and always gave a very appreciate laugh and scream when she finished opening each one. Her favorite gift that night seemed to be the baby doll that Julie and Todd gave her. Despite having 4 or 5 other dolls in house, this became a coveted item for Ava as well and there has been much fighting over it. She also really enjoys her big bag of mega blocks and an animal puzzle. After the gang left, we put out the cookies and milk for Santa, along with her list so he could double-check once he got down the chimney. It was really a nice day and evening - it was great that we could spend time with each other, but we definitely missed Di, Gardy and Margie.
Thanks to Sam who helped play Santa
When we tucked Ava in that night, we told her that she had to stay in her room until 6 am to make sure Santa had enough time to get the presents ready. We knew she would be up and out at 6:01 sharp, so we told her she could also open her presents if we were still sleeping. Scot and I finally rolled downstairs around 7:30 and she excitedly showed us that Santa came and that he put tootsie rolls in her stocking! Her stocking also had some Reese's Pieces and socks in it. She also got a Belle doll for the bathtub and a crown for herself. Reese finally woke up at about 9 (!) and Ava very eagerly told her that Santa had come! She was beyond excited! She also got some tootsie rolls and socks in her stocking, along with M & Ms - her favorite treat of all! Santa brought her another doll that you can snap clothes onto and a new winter hat/mittens. We had a very leisurely day watching the girls play with all of their new toys. Later that morning we also brought out a big dollhouse for both of them - one that has rooms tall enough to fit Barbie dolls - it was very well received! The biggest disappointment for Ava, though, was not getting a dolphin pillow pet...she was really bummed Santa didn't bring her one, it was on her list after all!
On Sunday we did much of the same - lazed around the house and then celebrated Scot's 37th birthday in the evening. We invited some friends over, ordered some pizzas and I made a German Chocolate cake for dessert.
On Wednesday night, we headed out to Wausau to celebrate Christmas #2 with my family. We had planned on leaving Friday, but the weather report looked dicey Thurs/Fri so we decided to move our itinerary up a little bit. I had worked all week and had also planned on working Thursday from my parents' house, but couldn't connect for some reason, so I gave up - and instead had a really nice lunch with my sister and an afternoon of shopping. Much better! Everyone came over on Friday (NYE day) for our family celebration. More food, more presents, more food, lots of Wii. And Ava FINALLY got a pillow pet after hoping for one all month! My mom had gotten her a unicorn one over Thanksgiving, which she immediately fell in love with (and coincidentally had JUST changed her mind to wanting a unicorn instead of a dolphin a few days prior). Aunt JoAnn got Reese a bumblebee one which she was also ecstatic about. She yelled, "A piwow pet, Mommy! A piwow pet! Bumbobee!" Those two were the definite favorites on the day.
Sheer Joy
And while we all got some generous gifts from Mom and Dad, our favorite present of course was this one...
Thanks, Mom. :-)
Thanks to Sam who helped play Santa
When we tucked Ava in that night, we told her that she had to stay in her room until 6 am to make sure Santa had enough time to get the presents ready. We knew she would be up and out at 6:01 sharp, so we told her she could also open her presents if we were still sleeping. Scot and I finally rolled downstairs around 7:30 and she excitedly showed us that Santa came and that he put tootsie rolls in her stocking! Her stocking also had some Reese's Pieces and socks in it. She also got a Belle doll for the bathtub and a crown for herself. Reese finally woke up at about 9 (!) and Ava very eagerly told her that Santa had come! She was beyond excited! She also got some tootsie rolls and socks in her stocking, along with M & Ms - her favorite treat of all! Santa brought her another doll that you can snap clothes onto and a new winter hat/mittens. We had a very leisurely day watching the girls play with all of their new toys. Later that morning we also brought out a big dollhouse for both of them - one that has rooms tall enough to fit Barbie dolls - it was very well received! The biggest disappointment for Ava, though, was not getting a dolphin pillow pet...she was really bummed Santa didn't bring her one, it was on her list after all!
On Sunday we did much of the same - lazed around the house and then celebrated Scot's 37th birthday in the evening. We invited some friends over, ordered some pizzas and I made a German Chocolate cake for dessert.
On Wednesday night, we headed out to Wausau to celebrate Christmas #2 with my family. We had planned on leaving Friday, but the weather report looked dicey Thurs/Fri so we decided to move our itinerary up a little bit. I had worked all week and had also planned on working Thursday from my parents' house, but couldn't connect for some reason, so I gave up - and instead had a really nice lunch with my sister and an afternoon of shopping. Much better! Everyone came over on Friday (NYE day) for our family celebration. More food, more presents, more food, lots of Wii. And Ava FINALLY got a pillow pet after hoping for one all month! My mom had gotten her a unicorn one over Thanksgiving, which she immediately fell in love with (and coincidentally had JUST changed her mind to wanting a unicorn instead of a dolphin a few days prior). Aunt JoAnn got Reese a bumblebee one which she was also ecstatic about. She yelled, "A piwow pet, Mommy! A piwow pet! Bumbobee!" Those two were the definite favorites on the day.
Sheer Joy
And while we all got some generous gifts from Mom and Dad, our favorite present of course was this one...
Thanks, Mom. :-)
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Christmas and Courtship
We enjoyed Ava's preschool Christmas program on December 14th - the kids did a really great job with their 5 songs and then we all stayed for treats and fellowship in the church hall afterwards. 
Ava was Angel #5. 
The day before, Ava told us that she proposed to Logan at school. He said yes. We got to meet him at the program and then shared the big news with his mom. She looked at Ava and asked, "Are you Ava W.?" Logan's mom then explained that Logan talks about Ava W. at home all.the.time. Here is the happy couple. 
This December has gone on record as Minnesota's biggest snowfall to date with somewhere around 33 inches. A substantial portion of this accumulation fell on Saturday, December 11th. Scot had been in Yuma, AZ on a Guard trip since the previous Sunday and was supposed to return on Friday - the day before the snow fell. However, a mechanical problem with their plane delayed them one day which then caused them to be "stuck" in Arizona another day because they couldn't fly into MSP due to the weather. Sigh. After a week of playing single mom (and the previous 2 weeks were mostly single too), I was not thrilled. We were supposed to have breakfast with Santa that Saturday morning and 2 birthday parties but everything was cancelled. And I snow-blowed and snow-blowed and snow-blowed. Thank goodness for the snowblower, but it was still a chore. This was the special picture I texted Scot to show just how happy I was...
Bundling up 2 kids in winter gear each time and trying to make sure they were also safe and OK while I cleared the driveway took another toll. The last time I went out (to tackle the literally 3 foot by 3 foot wall at the end of the driveway), I gave up and left them inside, turned on cartoons and told Ava to watch Reese. Yes, a 5 year old watching a 2 year old. By some miracle, they were still OK when I came in 45 minutes later. Anyway, Scot made it home safely on Sunday around 4 pm., well after all of the snow was done falling of course...
Anyway...all of this snow has made Ava a very happy girl! She loves to be outside and the snowpile that has accumulated in the middle of the culdesac is really icing on the cake. This is what it looked like last weekend and we've had another 5 or so inches since then...Reese isn't nearly as much of a winter fan like Ava is. She often stands in the garage while the rest of us play or work.
We've been busy with other Christmas preparations too...last Sunday we went to downtown Minneapolis to see the Macy's display and pay a visit to Santa. We all really enjoyed the display and the girls sort of enjoyed seeing Santa. Reese didn't want anything to do with sitting on his lap and Ava was really hesitant at first too, but she eventually warmed up and told him she wanted a dolphin pillow pet.
We also got on the ice rink for the first time and made dozens of spritz cookies. Fun and yum!
We've had our tree up for 3 weeks and it still looks great, despite getting knocked over once by Ava. And the other decorations have been up, the stockings have been hung, the list was made...we were definitely ready for Santa's visit.
Ava was Angel #5. 
The day before, Ava told us that she proposed to Logan at school. He said yes. We got to meet him at the program and then shared the big news with his mom. She looked at Ava and asked, "Are you Ava W.?" Logan's mom then explained that Logan talks about Ava W. at home all.the.time. Here is the happy couple. 
This December has gone on record as Minnesota's biggest snowfall to date with somewhere around 33 inches. A substantial portion of this accumulation fell on Saturday, December 11th. Scot had been in Yuma, AZ on a Guard trip since the previous Sunday and was supposed to return on Friday - the day before the snow fell. However, a mechanical problem with their plane delayed them one day which then caused them to be "stuck" in Arizona another day because they couldn't fly into MSP due to the weather. Sigh. After a week of playing single mom (and the previous 2 weeks were mostly single too), I was not thrilled. We were supposed to have breakfast with Santa that Saturday morning and 2 birthday parties but everything was cancelled. And I snow-blowed and snow-blowed and snow-blowed. Thank goodness for the snowblower, but it was still a chore. This was the special picture I texted Scot to show just how happy I was...
Bundling up 2 kids in winter gear each time and trying to make sure they were also safe and OK while I cleared the driveway took another toll. The last time I went out (to tackle the literally 3 foot by 3 foot wall at the end of the driveway), I gave up and left them inside, turned on cartoons and told Ava to watch Reese. Yes, a 5 year old watching a 2 year old. By some miracle, they were still OK when I came in 45 minutes later. Anyway, Scot made it home safely on Sunday around 4 pm., well after all of the snow was done falling of course...
Anyway...all of this snow has made Ava a very happy girl! She loves to be outside and the snowpile that has accumulated in the middle of the culdesac is really icing on the cake. This is what it looked like last weekend and we've had another 5 or so inches since then...Reese isn't nearly as much of a winter fan like Ava is. She often stands in the garage while the rest of us play or work.
We've been busy with other Christmas preparations too...last Sunday we went to downtown Minneapolis to see the Macy's display and pay a visit to Santa. We all really enjoyed the display and the girls sort of enjoyed seeing Santa. Reese didn't want anything to do with sitting on his lap and Ava was really hesitant at first too, but she eventually warmed up and told him she wanted a dolphin pillow pet.
We also got on the ice rink for the first time and made dozens of spritz cookies. Fun and yum!
We've had our tree up for 3 weeks and it still looks great, despite getting knocked over once by Ava. And the other decorations have been up, the stockings have been hung, the list was made...we were definitely ready for Santa's visit.
Merry Christmas! A look back...
I started tinkering around with digital scrapbooking while I was pregnant with Ava - I haven't done much with it, but I have made Christmas cards and birthday invitations for our family and for friends over the past several years. Here's a look at our family's cards since 2005. How things have changed...
This is the first year I haven't made the card myself, mostly due to general fatigue from being a single mom for most of 3 weeks in late November and into December. So I got some help from Snapfish.
Without scanning it in, I'm not sure how to copy and post our 2010 card here...but here is the family picture that I used from our trip to Florida. Merry Christmas! More posts to come from the busy days of December...
This is the first year I haven't made the card myself, mostly due to general fatigue from being a single mom for most of 3 weeks in late November and into December. So I got some help from Snapfish.
Without scanning it in, I'm not sure how to copy and post our 2010 card here...but here is the family picture that I used from our trip to Florida. Merry Christmas! More posts to come from the busy days of December...
Sunday, December 05, 2010
Florida • Friends • Family • FUN
This post is LONG overdue...so here we go.
We hit Clearwater Beach, FL the last week of October with our great friends Jess & Jared and their two daughters Keira (3) and Anna (6 mo).
We rented a house with its own pool that was also just a few blocks away from the beach. We had our own 3 season porch, pool, backyard, kitchen, etc...so we made a lot of meals at home and spent A LOT of time in the pool. It was a great setup for our needs (well, and for our wants too!) We didn't try to pack too much in and really did a lot of relaxing. Well, as much relaxing as you can do with 4 kids age 4and under ;-)
Jess and I took Keira and Ava to Magic Kingdom one of the days - and while it was hot (like 90 degrees and not a cloud in the sky), it was fantastic! We all had a great time and it was surprisingly not busy at all. We were able to get on most of the rides in under a 5 minute wait. And we made seeing the princesses (Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Belle) our first order of business - another short wait and 2 VERY happy little girls!
On another day we all went to the Tampa Zoo - and had a similar experience to Disney. Hot weather, but very few people. Jared and Scot took the big girls on a dolphin boat ride too one afternoon. We all ventured out to dinner one night and then we swapped babysitting a couple of other nights so we could each have a date night dinner - it was great.
The backyard pool was probably everyone's favorite attraction. Ava and Keira were both able to swim independently with the help of floatation devices. And the last couple of days, Ava bravely tried swimming without her water wings and did a great job! Reese LOVED the water. The first time that Jess and I had the girls out by the pool, Reese literally walked right in. Thank God I was within a few feet of her! She jumped into the pool over and over and over again and got the hang of floating around pretty quickly. The adults liked the pool just as well, especially during naptime :-) Jess and I did a lot of sunning and reading...while Jared and Scot tried to prove their manhood with various stunts into the pool. If anything, they were good for a lot of laughs.
Awesome time all around...though we agreed that in a few more years it would be a lot more relaxing!
Just a sampling of the 500+ pictures from the week...
We hit Clearwater Beach, FL the last week of October with our great friends Jess & Jared and their two daughters Keira (3) and Anna (6 mo).
We rented a house with its own pool that was also just a few blocks away from the beach. We had our own 3 season porch, pool, backyard, kitchen, etc...so we made a lot of meals at home and spent A LOT of time in the pool. It was a great setup for our needs (well, and for our wants too!) We didn't try to pack too much in and really did a lot of relaxing. Well, as much relaxing as you can do with 4 kids age 4and under ;-)
Jess and I took Keira and Ava to Magic Kingdom one of the days - and while it was hot (like 90 degrees and not a cloud in the sky), it was fantastic! We all had a great time and it was surprisingly not busy at all. We were able to get on most of the rides in under a 5 minute wait. And we made seeing the princesses (Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and Belle) our first order of business - another short wait and 2 VERY happy little girls!
On another day we all went to the Tampa Zoo - and had a similar experience to Disney. Hot weather, but very few people. Jared and Scot took the big girls on a dolphin boat ride too one afternoon. We all ventured out to dinner one night and then we swapped babysitting a couple of other nights so we could each have a date night dinner - it was great.
The backyard pool was probably everyone's favorite attraction. Ava and Keira were both able to swim independently with the help of floatation devices. And the last couple of days, Ava bravely tried swimming without her water wings and did a great job! Reese LOVED the water. The first time that Jess and I had the girls out by the pool, Reese literally walked right in. Thank God I was within a few feet of her! She jumped into the pool over and over and over again and got the hang of floating around pretty quickly. The adults liked the pool just as well, especially during naptime :-) Jess and I did a lot of sunning and reading...while Jared and Scot tried to prove their manhood with various stunts into the pool. If anything, they were good for a lot of laughs.
Awesome time all around...though we agreed that in a few more years it would be a lot more relaxing!
Just a sampling of the 500+ pictures from the week...
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