Spending Time With My Little Valentine

I had the privlage - another perk to my unemployment - to party with Allison at her Valentines Day party. She was so excited to have me there and we had so much fun doing little V-day activities together.

These were the other kids I was in charge of doing activities with. This was the bean bag toss...

Another activity, cookie decorating. The other little girl pictured with Allison was caught licking her icing spoon and dipping it back in the icing container - kids!

Passing out valentines...

Leaving for the day - she was thrilled to ride home with Mommy instead of riding the bus :)

My Baby's Two!

Nolan turned two in January. He's getting big so fast, I honestly can't figure out where the time has gone. Since most blog viewers don't get the privilege of spending time with this wonderful little guy...I will give you a run down of some of his favorites things:

Nolan likes...

...anything to do with planes, trains, or automobiles.

...to sing ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and some Beatles tunes.

...counting

...kisses from his doggies.

...coloring - on paper, walls, or his body.

...SpongeBob Squarepants, Backyardigans, Cars, and Max and Ruby.

...going bye-bye

...playing in the snow

...yogurt and peanut butter crackers

...playing with his sister and other "big kids"

...giving "duckie kisses"

...playing with his hot wheels daily.

...taking bubble baths

...to pretend he's invisible when covering his eyes.

...chocolate milk - he's crazy for it!

...to "read" books or be read to.

...to hang upside-down in your arms.

...puzzles

...electronics of the toy and non-toy nature (such as my phone and camera)

...going for walks

...to point out all the things he knows and likes to you.

Surprise! Its a Boy?

I'm proud to say that I am an aunt for the sixth time - the first time on my side of the family. My sister Stacia had her baby on February 2nd (Groundhog Day) - and I'm so proud of her because not only did she labor hard in Germany away from her family, but she got the surprise of her life! In fact we all did. Instead of giving birth to an Addison Lynn, Stacia gave birth to an Anthony Wayne Jr! The crazy thing is, she had many more sonograms than a woman in the States would have, and they told her she was having a girl. Oops!

The first thing she said when Anthony (her husband) told her it was a boy was "but everything's pink..." Luckily, between friends there and family here, we've been able to scrape together some blue things so he's not stuck wearing pink dresses :) However, I am excepting donations of the clothing kind to send to her if anyone needs to unload some baby boy stuff.

Here's baby Anthony Wayne Edwards Jr. (aka A.J.):

Stacia and AJ - At least there was a yellow outfit

For the first day, he had to sport the pink blanket. Stacia enjoyed having to explain to everyone that he's a boy regardless of the color of his blanket.

Anthony and Anthony

Dear Stacia,

I'm so proud of you and I'm still in shock that my little sister is a mommy! You're no longer that little girl pounding at my bedroom door, taking joy rides in my car, or crawling into my bed in the middle of the night. It's hard for me to picture you as woman who has matured past the age of 10 - you're still my little sister! I spent so many years begging you to leave me alone and now that you're an ocean away, I miss you like crazy. I wish you were here so I could share the moments with you. I want to hug you so bad!

I'm so happy for you - you're doing what you've set out to do and becoming the person I've always known you could be. Your baby boy is another life changing experience and I know this is where you'll shine. It's the most wonderful, difficult, amazing, challenging, beautiful, and rewarding role you'll ever be privileged to have. And I know you'll be wonderful at it!

Congratulations - you have a beautiful son!

Love-

Kristin