Thanksgiving Part 2

So on the Friday before Thanksgiving we took off from Chicago and drove to Ann Arbor to meet up with Ryan and spend Thanksgiving week with the Stoianowski's. The next day was the Nebraska football game we were lucky enough to go to and have a wonderful tailgate time as always with Papa and friends, and Nana was wonderful to babysit for us. Unfortunately Daddy had to drive home Sunday to work Mon-Wed so me and the kiddos just crashed at Nana and Papa's and I did my best to keep the kiddos occupied and out of the way since both of them work from home. Wednesday did finally come and that brought Ryan back to join us along with Unkie and Amy from Baltimore! Of course the next day being Thanksgiving was filled with cooking, laughter, eating, resting and more eating (plus much playing for the kiddos). The morning began a little rough as I had to take Danny to the ER because he was so sick and coughing he could barely breath. Turned out he had Croup so he was given a good dose of steroids and we were back home to help in the festivities. We had a delicious Thanksgiving meal at 1PM of course so the kiddos could nap through it and I could actually eat:-) Besides trying to take care of a very sickies baby, we had a wonderful day. Friday not only brought setting up Christmas decorations, but our own Christmas celebration! Since we will be in Chicago and wont be seeing any of them for Christmas we did our gift exchanges friday afternoon. It was so much fun setting everything up together and then we truly were spoiled with wonderful gifts for everyone. Saturday brought another MI football game to have a blast at. Unkie and Amy were kind enough to babysit for us so Nana came along and we were able to tailgate then watch a uber exciting game ending with a win over Ohio State, can't get much better than that! Unfortunately the fun did have to come to an end and we all parted ways on Sunday to go back to regular lives and enjoy the rest of the holiday season. I forgot my camera but I was able to take a few pics of the fun festivities of our Christmas Day:-)

After lots of fun in Chicago he was definitely tuckered out as we traveled to MI

On Tuesday Nana helped me and we took the kiddos to sit on Santa's lap. As you can see it was surprisingly a very decent experience!

Baron was helping Danny get the decorations out...actually Danny was trying to climb in the decorations...same difference for a 1 year old:-)

Look how the family is growing! More grandkids and things will get pretty squished up there!

Everyone helping with the tree...it was so fun to watch LJ this year. She finally "gets" the Christmas idea and couldn't get enough of decorations:-)

Amy helping her place some high ones...

Lorilyn definitely loves her some Amy!

Unkie helping her put the Angel on the top

Unkie was trying to help Danny put decorations on the tree but he wasn't quite as interested as Lorilyn:-) He seemed to prefer trying to destroy things.

Nana and Papa getting into the decorating

Brothers

The finished product...Look at all those presents!!

She doesn't look like she is having any fun at all:-)

Setting up the play grill that we got from Unkie and Amy:-) I think Dad was just as excited as the kiddos.

Danny says he's ready to learn all the grilling techniques from daddy:-)


Thank you Nana, Papa, Unkie and Amy for a wonderful Thanksgiving and Pre-Christmas celebration. It was so wonderful as always!

Thanksgiving Part 1

So our Thanksgiving travels began the week before Thanksgiving with a wonderful trip to Chicago to visit my parents and Steve's family. Mom and Dad moved to the Chicago area in October of this year to be closer to family and it is already such a blessing to have close! I feel horrible because we didn't take ANY pictures. Guess we were just having too much fun playing and spending time together. It was wonderful to watch Lizzie and Lorilyn get along so well and enjoy each other so much. Being 10 years younger than my siblings I always worried that my kids wouldn't have cousins close enough to play with, but luckily that doesn't seem to be the case for Lorilyn. The 2 girls were so cute chasing around, playing and singing at the top of their lungs. I will have to admit I definitely took advantage of being with my mom and was able to rest more than I ever get to at home, especially since she is a wiz with toddlers and pre-school age children. One day we were able to go to the mall with Kori and Lizzie and we got to ride on the carousel, which LJ thought was the greatest thing ever. She would yell "Up and Down, Up and Down" the entire time:-) Kori was wonderful enough to snap a couple pictures for me of this...

The 2 little friends on their horses:-)


Danny wasn't as fond of the horse...

I love the pure joy on her face:-)

Thank you so much for letting us come visit! The second part of our trip was to MI for 2 football games, Thanksgiving dinner and even our own Christmas...that post to come soon!

Fall Visit to Nana and Papa's

Since Ryan is uber busy lately with work and then his MBA program, the kiddos and I decided to take a few days away (let daddy take his midterms) and go see Nana and Papa in MI. It was a quick but wonderful visit. We got to do all the fun fall things like a pumpkin patch, playing in the leaves and carving the pumpkin. Unfortunately I forgot my camera but at least I had my phone, so sorry the pictures aren't the greatest quality, but at least we have a few of something for our memories:-)

Story time with Nana

Attacking Papa for his ice cream:-)

Since my favorite hair lady is in MI and Nana is always willing to help watch the kids I usually take advantage of being there and get my hair done. After going from highlights to blond then to red, I am finally back to natural brown...until further notice:-)

Aunt Melissa was so wonderful helping me out and playing with the kiddos:-)

Playing in leaves is so fun!

Love this kid:-)

Papa was so wonderful to help us carve our pumpkin!

LJ loved every part but touching the insides of the pumpkin. She cried until I washed her hands:-) As long as she could use a spoon she was good.

Exciting time ahead also! My parents (Grandma and Grandpa Bird) are moving to Chicago today! That means they will only be 3.5 hours away from us so there will be MANY more pictures and wonderful times with them in the near future!!

A little late but better late then never right?:-)

Back in the end of August cousin/pseudo Auntie Erika came to visit us for about 5 days. It was so much to explore Indy with her. We went to the Indy 500 track, the zoo, Conner Prairie, and also just got to hang out around here. It was awesome having her to chill with for those days. She even took me out to Cheesecake Factory for my birthday. Thanks so much for coming to visit and putting up with us crazies for a few days! You're the best!

LJ trying to sneak into a car she wasn't supposed to...little stinker!

Look at that cute lady in the car!:-)

Chillin with the giraffes...

Scary snakes!

A tired bubby after the zoo:-)

Come back soon Erika!

My Boy is 1...Unbelievable!:-)

So Danny this year had quite the birthday celebration. First, Nana and Papa came to visit us in our new home and since it was so close to his birthday we did a celebration here with them. It was a wonderful weekend full of delicious food and fun (as always:-). However about 10 days after that Ryan and I started talking and decided we wanted go to MI to spend the weekend of the first MI night football game as they played Notre Dame. We knew that we weren't going to go to the game but we thought it would be fun to be a part of all the tailgating festivities and spend some quality time with family and friends. So off we went for that weekend to (his actual birthday weekend) giving him another day of celebration. What a spoiled little Danny boy. He deserves it though, he is just so amazing and wonderful. Before I get to the pictures I want to list a few characteristics and things about my Daniel Scott:

1- He is truly his Dad's son because he LOVES food. I am telling you this kid can eat. He will eat forever if you keep the food coming on his tray. He can also do pretty amazing things with just the 2 bottom teeth. From steak to chicken nuggets and fries, he can polish up just about anything.

2- He is the smiliest boy I have ever known. He will give just about anyone a huge grin at just about any time.

3- He loves playing with his sister and is truly so patient as she steels his toys or pushes him down. He is just happy she is paying attention to her.

4- More than LJ ever was, he is my cuddler. Although he now prefers to drink his milk with his meals I have not wanted to give up his morning milk in my arms on the couch. He will sit there waking up and snuggling for 30 min. It is one of my favorite times of the day.

5- He is ALL boy. Eat, play and sleep is all he needs and wants. And he can find a way to destroy just about anything that is not locked in a cupboard.

6- He now says Mama, Dada, Bubba, Papa and Nana...and he says any of those things on demand when his sister asks him to.

7- He is sooo close to walking. He will take up to 8 or 9 steps at a time but then "pounce" to the ground and take off crawling. Nothing will stop him from getting where he wants to go. His favorite thing though is to stand up and walk with the high chair all around our hardwood floors and he thinks he is just such a big boy because he can walk around.

8- Any ball you hand him he automatically throws it. We haven't really worked on it at all, it just seems natural to him (this makes mommy and daddy so happy:-).

9- One of his favorite mischievous things to do is make his way to the master bath and turn on the bathtub water because the faucet is in a place he can reach. I have to always keep an eye out for if he has been in the bathroom or else the water will run for hours.

10- He was 19lb 10oz and 31" long at his 1 year old check up. He is our "long skinny fish" as daddy calls him. Barely any pants fit him because if they fit him in length they fall right off his waist. Lets just say he wears lots of sweat pants:-)

11- He has had acid reflux his whole life and even on medication has made our carpets a nice poke-a-dot pattern with all the spots hes made. As much as I have tried to keep up, it is practically impossible. Thank you so much Bubbs I really appreciate it.

12- He freely gives out kisses ALL the time. You ask for a kiss from this guy and you will get a nice wet one right on the lips.

13- Last but not least, he will always be our Bubba no matter how old he gets and what name he goes by. Daniel Scott is usually what comes out when he is making trouble, but he will always be the Bubba, Bubbs, and Bubby Boy of our family.

We love our Bubbs and are so happy he is such a healthy happy boy. He is such an incredible addition to our family, we don't know where we would be without him!:-)

Now on to some pictures from his 2 celebrations...


The first one was in August and it was HOT, so out came the pool and we had a blast...I think LJ was mad about something in this pic, just look at that face!:-)

Love this smile...

Chillin with Papa

He loves his loves from Papa...

Nana's chocolate cupcakes...Yum!

I do think he enjoyed it:-)

Now on to the pics from our MI trip.

Nana (with all her MANY talents) used to decorate cakes for a living. She was able to create the cutest cookie monster cake ever. Lorilyn is always Nana's biggest helper.

I had to stick this one in because I can't believe how old my baby girls is looking...shes not so much toddler looking anymore, and its crazy to me!

The finished product...Nana thought it turned out more like a sea urchant but I think its an adorable cookie monster...

Posing for the before pictures...

DON'T TOUCH MY CAKE!!

Getting going...

Posing with Papa

Kisses for Nana!

Nana, you are so funny!!

Now we are really getting into the spirit of things.

My GQ boy

I think he enjoyed every last bite:-) We had to now wrap him in a towel and throw him in the bath to get all the blue gone.

Happy Birthday Danny! We LOVE YOU!!!