Christmas 2010

We had a blast celebrating Christmas with friends and family both in Virginia and Pennsylvania over the past week and a half. Henry was completely spoiled by his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and Santa this year. Over the past month or so his only request from Santa were stilts and an umbrella. Both typical of toddlers, right? Well, lucky for Henry, he has been a very good boy this year and his Christmas wishes were granted....

Here is a video of Henry getting his last Christmas present. The video is a little long, but thought it was a good one to post anyway.

Big Boy Bed

It's hard to believe that my baby is really turning into a big boy right before my eyes. One major step past babyhood is moving into a big boy bed and saying good bye to the cozy crib. We are right in the middle of this transition. Henry helped Todd paint his new room (Baby McDannell will be moving into Henry's old room in April). After painting, we set up his bed and then he immediately asked to start reading books in his room. So before and after waking in the morning and for nap, we curl up together on his bed and read through his books. Naturally, his next request was to actually sleep in his new bed. I was thinking we'd wait a little longer for that big step, but Henry had other ideas (toddler with opinions....who knew!). Yesterday I took the plunge and let Henry nap in his new room for the first time. Since our baby gates aren't up, yet, I stood guard upstairs while I waited, and waited, waited for Henry to finally fall asleep. After over two hours, I almost gave up, but he did finally take a nap. Unfortunately, our intense guard dog sensed danger (probably a squirrel running across the yard) and began barking which woke up my slumbering child a little too early. Nonetheless, Henry successfully slept in his big boy bed. I'm happy to report that Henry is currently sleeping soundly upstairs for the second day in a row and this time around it took him less than an hour to fall asleep. I spoke with Riley about no barking during nap time and after I handed him a bone, he seemed to understand my request.

Once we install blackout curtains (this room gets lots of light) and the baby gate at the top of the steps, Henry will be officially moved into his big boy room. I think knowing a little one is on the way, is making this transition a little easier on me! Henry sure is ready for the move. Todd and I caught Henry in the act of trying to escape out of his crib this morning. I guess he is trying to tell us something!

It's a ...

I had my 20 week ultrasound today. It was so awesome to see baby again. Todd and I were both amazed at how much more we could see compared to our ultrasounds with Henry. For the past 2o weeks Henry was 100% sure he was having a baby sister. We'll let Henry let you know if he was correct with his prediction...

East Coast Adventure Party III

Before headed out of town, I decided to treat Henry to the beach. It was a bit of a thank you to him for being such an incredible traveler!

Henry before...

Henry after a big wave gets us both wet!

Since home was about 10 hours away, I decided to break up the trip by staying with Ann and Sean in Richmond for a night. So last night we crashed yet again with good friends.

Lastly, on our way home today Henry and I made one final stop in Baltimore for a lunch break with my sister, Kathleen.

I don't think I have been able to visit with so many people in such a short amount of time since our wedding!

I was thrilled to finally pull into our driveway this afternoon and feel so thankful that I was able to make such a big trip to see so many great people, especially baby boy Colin!

Colin is still in the NICU in Wilmington, but doing very well and will hopefully be released by the weekend so mom and dad can finally take him home.

East Coast Adventure Part II

After a very long, hard, and complicated labor (almost 24 hours and ended with a C-section) Jeanine (aka ROCK STAR!) delivered our newest member of the family, Colin Joseph, November 6th at 1:00 am 6 weeks before his expectant due date. He was an amazing 5 pounds 15 ounces.

Early Sunday morning, Henry and I left Roanoke to make the 6 hour trip down to Wilmington, NC. I realized traveling at 7:00 am on daylight savings Sunday is the absolute best time. We saw about 10 cars throughout our trip on back roads. Finally, Sunday afternoon I was able to meet Colin and see Mike and Jeannine. Since Henry wasn't a sibling, he was not able to meet Colin, but did an exceptional job of going with the flow throughout the entire weekend.

Henry was a big fan of Aunt Jeannine's wheelchair!

Although it was not ideal for Colin to show up so early and when Mike and Jeannine were 6 hours from home, it was very convenient that my good friend Christine and her family live just 10 minutes from the hospital. So again, I stayed with friends for a few days while visiting and helping Mike and Jeannine out as much as I could. It was also great meeting the Mottram's newest member of the family, Miles. Definitely felt like baby weekend!

Again, Henry had a blast hanging with another two year old! He might start to expect instant playmates and new toys whenever we go out of town!

The next day a cold crept up on me so I wasn't able to see Colin in the NICU, but it was still nice visiting more with his parents and the Mottrams.

East Coast Adventure Part I

Henry and I just returned from our East Coast Adventure. I'll try to condense the events of our travels as much as possible...

Friday morning I was minutes from getting Henry in the car to drop him off at my parent's house when I got the call that Jeannine's (my sister-in-law) water had broke while Mike and her were in Wilmington, NC for a wedding. It was such a shock since Jeannine wasn't due for another six weeks and of course because they live in Washington D.C. Quickly my plans for a solo weekend trip to Roanoke changed. Our original plan was for my mom to watch Henry during the day and then Todd and Henry would have some male bonding time while I was away for the weekend at Ann's baby shower.

I decided to take Henry with me to Roanoke so I could travel down to NC after the shower weekend to meet my new nephew. Unfortunately, my parents weren't able to make it down since they flew out on Monday for a trip to China!

So Henry and I made it to Roanoke in about 6 hours on Friday. The Smiths were so nice to let us stay with them during our time there. Henry loved having time to play with his pal Lillian.

Saturday was the baby shower. It was so wonderful to see so many great friends and to help Ann prepare for baby girl Sanderson!

More Fun Visitors!

A few weeks ago we had a house full of friends visiting from both Virginia and New York. It was so great to have the weekend to hang out with everyone. The whole gang went to a nearby arcade with moon bounces, go karts, and games galore. Later the big boys played some basketball. Between late nights (and early mornings with a toddler in the house) and maybe a few too many rounds of bball for the first time in years, I think Todd quickly realized he isn't in college anymore...

The second night we had a great bonfire. We let Henry stay up way late (9:00!) to check out the fire. He wasn't a huge fan as he was pretty much attached to me the entire time.

One of Henry's favorite books is Blodoq and Sammy Build a Fort and lucky for him we know the author and illustrator personally! Here she is reading the very cute and funny book to Henry.

We had a blast hanging out with everyone! Hopefully all will be back for another fun weekend in the near future!

Kentucky Wedding

Henry, my mom, and I drove to Kentucky for my cousin's wedding earlier this month. It was a very long drive, but Henry was a rock star and handled the many hours in the car with ease. Uncle Mike's DVD player was a lifesaver on the way home! The highlight of the trip was watching Henry break it down on the dance floor. He absolutely loved dancing with one person in particular. We had to give her a break once in awhile which Henry didn't like that at all. He did like giving her hugs and kisses!

Big brother, Henry, would like to introduce the first picture of baby...

This is baby at 12 weeks and I am now at 16 weeks. In just a few more weeks we will find out if baby is a boy or girl! Henry is 100% convinced a sister is on the way. I think he has even convinced me.

Visit from Friends

Earlier this month Kim and Leslie made the long and rainy trip up here during the worst storm of the season. The downpour almost kept them from coming up, but I was so thrilled that they both braved the weather! The three kiddos had a blast playing, cooking, and jumping on the bed together! Thanks for coming up for such a fun visit!

September 4, 2010

We celebrated Henry's actual birthday at one of his favorite places, The Please Touch Museum. This museum is basically a make believe heaven for little kids. It has a grocery store (Henry's fav), a hospital, water table taking up an entire room, and a car mechanic area...just to name a few! Todd's parents came up from Virginia which of course, Henry loved!

Later that night my parents came over for Henry's birthday dinner. Henry really loved being able to be with both sets of grandparents. What a lucky little boy! I was bad about taking pictures again, but we had a blast with everyone!

Henry loved us singing to him! But was not into blowing out the candle.

After the sugar kicked in from his strawberry shortcake birthday cake, the party really started!

The weekend celebration was so wonderful I didn't want it to end! I think Henry felt the same way since tonight at dinner ( a week later) when I was getting ready to serve dessert he said "sing birthday" over and over again!

B is for Birthday

Last weekend we celebrated Henry's 2nd birthday. I can't believe our baby is already two and his baby days are a thing of the past. Henry is very much a toddler. His favorite things are trucks, balls, Elmo, and playing outside. Henry has been a part of a playgroup since he was about 6 months old. We meet every week and this group has been so wonderful not only to Henry, but for me as well. Since Henry has such great friends already in the playgroup and in the neighborhood, I wanted to throw him a friend party. So the day before his birthday we had an Elmo party for about ten little ones.

Henry getting ready for his friends to show up. Todd made Cookie and I made felt cookies for the Cookie Toss game.

Mckenzie and Henry playing with Dorothy's friends

Playing Pin the Nose on Elmo

Cookies and Cupcakes!

Getting some much needed help with blowing out the candle

YUM!

We had so much fun at Henry's party that I forgot to take any before pictures of the games and set up, but hopefully the pictures we did get will help Henry remember his first friend party. I had a sign welcoming the guests that said "Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Henry's party?" and the sign behind us in this picture says "This party is brought to you by the letter H and the number 2." We ordered pizza of course since that is both Elmo and Henry's favorite! We also had basketball with a Sesame Street ball, an Oscar trash toss, and I made mini Sesame Street coloring books. I think I had just as much fun getting ready for the party as Henry had at the party!

Roofs Visit

I don't know how I almost forgot to post about the Roofs visit as a part of our Summer Lovin series. Our big adventure was going to the Please Touch Museum (as I mentioned before, we've been there a lot!) Of course, fun was had by all!

Giant water table

Henry checking out Sydney's tiny fingers

Boys love all things with wheels!

Katie, Bryan, Jackson, Sydney, and Charlie, thanks for making the trip up to see us!

Summer Lovin Part 3

Here is the last of our summer updates....

Checking out the animals at the farm with Madalyn

On a hike for Pop's birthday. Henry walked (and ran) for the entire hike (probably close to 2 miles!)

We spent a lot of time this summer looking at, talking about, playing with, and reading about trucks! Living in a new construction neighborhood is pretty much heaven on Earth for Henry. LOTS O TRUCKS

We visited the fire station with our playgroup.

We discovered a great up and coming children's author....More to come on that!

This summer was actioned packed for us! We hope that Henry had as much fun as we did making so many wonderful family memories.

Summer Lovin Part 2

Back for some more summer updates....

Visit from Auntie Ann!!!

NYC to celebrate our 5 year anniversary.

Next up...our trip to Cincinnati for my cousin's wedding.

Awesome Playground

At the reception

Splashing with Daddy at "The Beach"

Playing trucks with cousin Milani

Henry was such a great traveler this summer! We are so lucky to have such an easy going little boy. I sure hope that continues through the twos!

Summer Lovin

We've had a fun filled summer. Here is a brief recap of what's been keeping us busy...

Staying cool (and hydrated) on hot summer days

Resting up after playing with Henry's friend, Lillian

Making new friends on the patio

Plenty of rock throwing in rivers and lakes

Reston Zoo with Grandma, Grandpa, and Dad

Fabulous Wedding with Fabulous Friends

More resting after our trip to Northern VA.

Several trips to the Please Touch Museum (and more to come!)

Well, that gets us through July. August updates coming soon! We are off to Henry's 2 year check up. We are both not excited about the shots, but I tried to prepare Henry for the visit by practicing what the doctor will do (check ears, eyes, mouth, etc....Christine, thanks for the idea!) We'll see if any of that helps when the actual doctor is doing it!