First Haircut

 This picture above may be my favorite picture of all time.  How cute does Andrew look, barely able to peep out of the hole?  I love it. 
We gave Andrew his first hair cut a few weeks ago.  Surprisingly, he was beginning to develop a curl just like his big sister.  Josh begged me for weeks to cut it and I finally gave in.  I still have never cut Anna's hair and have no intention of doing it any time soon. 

 Would you believe that I forgot to take a before picture?  What?  I know, it's crazy.  How could I forget the before?  Somehow I managed so instead, enjoy the after pictures.

 Anna is always begging us to take her to the zoo.  She even has a "zoo shirt".  It's cute.  She also has an airport shirt along with a few others. 

 This looks like a back drop but it's actually in the penguin house.  It's Anna's favorite exhibit and Andrew's least favorite.  I've never seen Andrew get fearful of anything.... until we walked into this place.  Poor buddy. 

 The kids went on this slide like one million times.  It's cool because it's clear so you slide through the otters aquarium and can see them swimming as you slide. 

 Andrew was tuckered out to say the least.  It was a great day.  ;-)

Pneumonia and Donuts

 

Wow, it has been forever since I blogged.  So much has been happening that there just doesn't seem to be a second to spare.  I'm going to play catch up for a few blogs so brace yourself.  

Anna got pneumonia about a month ago.  It was seriously the saddest thing I've ever seen.  I've never seen someone so sick.  She couldn't even lift her hand.  I would pick her up to carry her somewhere and when I put her down, she would just collapse and not even readjust one muscle.  She was so sick, so weak, so sad, and it broke my heart.  Even with the antibiotics it seemed to take a while to get over.  At the same time, Andrew and I got some form of her sickness too.  He had a bad ear infection, along with the other flu symptoms.  My flu symptoms seemed to be the worst I've ever had.  It was a bad one.   Luckily, we're all healthy and well now. 

 This is Andrew sleeping on Josh.  He seemed to sleep a ton that week.  He'd just crawl up on Josh and crash. 

 My poor kids. 

 Once their medicine kicked in, the kids enjoyed some fun-dip after their dinner.  Andrew didn't eat anything for almost 5 days.  I thought he'd never eat again.  Usually feeding my kids is quite the struggle.  That week, I was praying that they'd eat ANYTHING at all. 

 Alright, new day.  Our playgroup went to Krispie Kreme for a "tour" and donuts.  It was really fun.  The kids loved it!  I forgot to take my camera with me so I just took some pictures when I got home of their hats. 

 "Cheese!"

 More to come!

Fire Station

We had our church play group at the fire station a few weeks ago.  They took us on the tour and it was great.  The kids loved it, as did the parents.  Take a look!

 Do you see Andrew's two bruises on his head?  I promise I don't abuse him.  ;-)  He is just very adventurous and sometimes it hurts him to be so curious.  He got both of these on the same day.  Poor little fella.

 Andrew thought that putting his hand in this little hole was the best thing in the world.  He would just squeal and laugh with delight.  He loved it!

V-Day 2012

 We had a great Valentine's Day a few weeks ago.  Josh was good to me and spoiled me and the kids.  We all got a box of chocolates and Anna and I got roses.  I love Valentine's Day and each year, it just seems to get better and better. 
The oddest thing happened on that special day.  I had just put the kids down for a nap when someone banged on my door.  I opened it to find the UPS guy standing there with a big box.  Read below what the box said.

 Well, I guess I wasn't thinking clearly, (I blame it on Valentine's Day), and I was a little worried about what was lurking inside of this box.  I thought that something would jump out at me.  I just knew there was a spring-loaded bunch of snakes in there to scare me.  Why I thought that, who knows?  I called Josh before I opened it to ask him if he had sent me anything in the mail.  He quickly said, "It wasn't me.  It was probably your dad."  Then, I knew he was right.  My dad is the mastermind at coming up with thoughtful things for others.  I opened it up to find 12 decadent, delicious, beautiful chocolate dipped strawberries.  It had the sweetest note attached to it.  I don't think I will ever forget how kind and thoughtful that was.  Thanks Dad!

 They tasted as good as they looked.  Mmm!!

 We made heart-shaped cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  They were delicious and cute too. 

 Anna and Andrew helped me make Valentine's, and they truly loved every minute of it.  It was so fun to do it together. 

 And on a side note, whoever came up with using glow sticks in the bathtub was a genius.  Kids love it.  ;-)

Proof

 This is actual proof that Andrew is the messiest eater ever!  These pictures were taken several months ago.  This was Andrew's first pudding cup.  I think he liked it!  ;-)

 Here is some proof that my kids will grow up in a world different than what I did, technology wise anyways.  Anna was talking about going to preschool next year to Josh and me at dinner the other day.  She said, "I'm going to go to school Daddy!  But I don't have a computer so I can't go.  Daddy, will you buy me a computer so I can take it in my backpack?" 
Example #2: When we play the Wii, Anna goes up to the TV and swooshes her finger across the screen as if to change the page, (as you would on an ipad).
Example #3: We read Anna stories before bedtime.  The stories almost always end up coming from her princess book.  The cover has a picture of each of the princesses on it.  So, she'll bring me the book and point to the princess she wants to read about and say, "You just click on this and it goes to that story...."  

 One more cute story, I bought Anna a Barbie house that folds up into a suitcase.  She thinks it's a real suitcase and tells me all of the time, "I'm going to take this suitcase to college, OK Mom?"  I'm so glad she's thinking ahead.  ;-)

He's into EVERYTHING, literally!

 Andrew is into EVERYTHING!  Literally!  I often find him inside of some bowl, box, drawer, cabinet....  He is always grinning ear to ear.  He's quick too.  I was talking to my doctor about how I think it's so funny how incredibly active he is.  As I was telling him this, Andrew climbed on top of the counter at the doc's office.  Yep, he's a mover! I don't know if I've ever seen a baby as curious as he is.  It amazes us.  Funny things that happened this week....  Well, I found Andrew with Anna's shampoo bottle open and upside down walking around the upstairs carpet.  Shampoo was being squirted out everywhere.  Luckily, I caught him just as he was walking from the tile to the carpet. Most of it was in the bathroom.  It's a lot easier to clean shampoo off of tile than carpet, let me tell ya!

Funny thing number two, (this is cute too)....  Andrew and Anna have really become good buddies.  One Thursday afternoon, Andrew woke up from his nap before Anna did.  He was downstairs playing and being quite content.  THEN, Anna coughed.  He ran to the base of the stairs yelling, "NANA, NANA!!".  She had not woken up yet, and I wasn't about to end her nap early, (that's just a BIG no-no in this household).  He cried, begged, pleaded for "Nana".  It was sweet because he wanted to see her so badly.  Now, isn't that cute.  

Josh gets home right when I have dinner ready, so as we sit down to eat, I always ask how his day was.  We are quickly interrupted by Anna saying, "No Dad, tell me about my good day!".  Which by interpretation means, tell me about YOUR day.  So, he'll tell her all he can remember.  Then he asks what she did today.  She can usually come up with quite a bit to say.  When she runs out of things to say, she sits back, sighs and says, "And that's all I know."

 We do announcements every week for FHE, which aren't really announcements per say.  It's more a way of saying anything you want to in front of the family.  You have to raise your hand to have your announcement heard.  Anna's announcement every time is "I LOVE ARIEL!"  Without fail and at the top of her lungs.

 Anna was trying to explain to her friend the other day that when we say our family prayer at night, we kneel on our knees to show reverence.  Here are her words, "You have to get on your knees.  It makes Heavenly Father SO happy."  Now, that's sweet.
(The pics above and below are from our last date where we went to this delicious pizza restaurant.  Yum-O!  It was SO fun!)

 Anna likes to say prayers at dinner time and sometimes before bed.  She will not say it at any other time during the day.  The other day, he prayer was just so cute.  She prayed for her kitchen, pizza, Granny, and Sam's Club.  Nice.

One more thing, Andrew's new nick name is "Tornado" but according to Anna, it is pronounced, "termado". ;-)