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| Happy Valentine's Day! |
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| Flowers from Daddy |
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| T-rex shirt! |
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| A Valentine for Daddy |
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| Decorating cookies with friends |
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Happy Valentine's Day!
This year Sydney loved telling everyone "Happy Valentine's Day", and continued saying it for several days afterward. We had fun making cookies and decorating them with friends as well as giving and receiving Valentines. As sappy as it is, I love any reason for telling each other how much love we have!
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Merry Christmas!
This Christmas we had a four day extravaganza. We started out at Sydney's Nana and Grampa's house and were joined by Uncle Matthew and Aunt Katie. Nana and Grampa bought Sydney some Christmas "creatures" (snowmen, reindeer, and santas) which she carried around and played with nonstop. She also loved decorating sugar cookies with Nana. They put frosting and sprinkles on the cookies. Sydney loved putting sprinkles on the most. She also liked serving everyone. :) Sydney was also spoiled with many gifts and had a blast opening them.
We stayed at Nana and Grampa's through Christmas Eve, but came home that evening to prepare for Santa! I have enjoyed starting new traditions with Sydney this year, especially since she is old enough to truly participate. This year we made cookies for Santa- chocolate chip, of course! Sydney helped with adding ingredients, and I think it's a miracle the cookies turned out as well as they did since she "helped" so much. When we put the cookies out for Santa, I asked her how many she thought we should put out, and her response was "all of them!". After we baked the cookies, Blake showed Sydney the Norad Santa tracking website. She was definitely intrigued, and I know this will be a tradition in years to come as she becomes more aware of the fact that Santa goes to everyone's house!
I felt like a kid myself on Christmas morning. I couldn't wait for Sydney to wake up so she could see her gifts from Santa. We asked her if she remembered who was supposed to come the night before, and she knew it was Santa. However, I think she was kind of like "whatever, you guys keep talking about Santa but I'm not really seeing anything". When she came downstairs and saw her Santa pile, though, I think it all clicked together. Her word of the morning was "Look!". Santa brought her a bunch of creatures, per her request, and she picked each one up to check it out as she said "Look!"
As a family present, Blake and I bought an iPad. We had it for quite a while but decided we wouldn't use it until Christmas- talk about burning a hole in your pocket! Well, we had a blast with it on Christmas morning. The best part was getting to do Face Time with Sydney's Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Pete, and cousing PJ. Since they live in California, we never get to see them. While I talk all the time about them to Sydney, it is hard to know how much she really understands. It was amazing for Sydney to be able to hear them and see them! She loved seeing all of PJ's toys as well as their pets. I am so glad she will now be able to get to know her cousin, even virtually!
Christmas evening we headed up to Blake's grandmother's house. She had tons of food, and it was great to just visit with family. Sydney especially enjoyed playing with her cousin Amelia, who is several years older than Sydney, but is wonderful with her. Of course, there were also some presents to open. :)
The day after Christmas (thus the four day extravaganza), we got together with Blake's immediate family- Sydney's MeMe and Pops and Uncle Brent and (soon-to-be) Aunt Catherine. We, of course, enjoyed more food and present opening and Sydney was much the center of attention again. It was so nice having Catherine in the mix as well this year!
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| Cookies with Nana |
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| Sprinkles! |
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| Yum! |
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| Present time! |
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| Pretending to go to the beach |
We stayed at Nana and Grampa's through Christmas Eve, but came home that evening to prepare for Santa! I have enjoyed starting new traditions with Sydney this year, especially since she is old enough to truly participate. This year we made cookies for Santa- chocolate chip, of course! Sydney helped with adding ingredients, and I think it's a miracle the cookies turned out as well as they did since she "helped" so much. When we put the cookies out for Santa, I asked her how many she thought we should put out, and her response was "all of them!". After we baked the cookies, Blake showed Sydney the Norad Santa tracking website. She was definitely intrigued, and I know this will be a tradition in years to come as she becomes more aware of the fact that Santa goes to everyone's house!
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| Adding ingredients |
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| Where's Santa? |
I felt like a kid myself on Christmas morning. I couldn't wait for Sydney to wake up so she could see her gifts from Santa. We asked her if she remembered who was supposed to come the night before, and she knew it was Santa. However, I think she was kind of like "whatever, you guys keep talking about Santa but I'm not really seeing anything". When she came downstairs and saw her Santa pile, though, I think it all clicked together. Her word of the morning was "Look!". Santa brought her a bunch of creatures, per her request, and she picked each one up to check it out as she said "Look!"
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| Creatures!! |
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| Look!!!!!!! |
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| T-rex!! |
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| And...more creatures! |
As a family present, Blake and I bought an iPad. We had it for quite a while but decided we wouldn't use it until Christmas- talk about burning a hole in your pocket! Well, we had a blast with it on Christmas morning. The best part was getting to do Face Time with Sydney's Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Pete, and cousing PJ. Since they live in California, we never get to see them. While I talk all the time about them to Sydney, it is hard to know how much she really understands. It was amazing for Sydney to be able to hear them and see them! She loved seeing all of PJ's toys as well as their pets. I am so glad she will now be able to get to know her cousin, even virtually!
Christmas evening we headed up to Blake's grandmother's house. She had tons of food, and it was great to just visit with family. Sydney especially enjoyed playing with her cousin Amelia, who is several years older than Sydney, but is wonderful with her. Of course, there were also some presents to open. :)
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| Sharing creatures with Amelia |
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| Presents! |
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| Ernie from Aunt Carolyn |
The day after Christmas (thus the four day extravaganza), we got together with Blake's immediate family- Sydney's MeMe and Pops and Uncle Brent and (soon-to-be) Aunt Catherine. We, of course, enjoyed more food and present opening and Sydney was much the center of attention again. It was so nice having Catherine in the mix as well this year!
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| With MeMe and Pops |
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| Aunt Catherine and Uncle Brent |
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| Delicious food at MeMe and Pops |
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Mountain Trip for Uncle Brent's Birthday
Mid-December we headed to the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area of Tennessee with Sydney's MeMe and Pops and Uncle Brent and Aunt Catherine to celebrate Brent's 30th birthday. We rented a cabin with gorgeous views of the mountains. The cabin itself was great- three decks to check out the mountain view, air hockey (Sydney's favorite) and pool tables, and plenty of comfy places to sit and relax.
There was a ton to do in both Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. We visited the Ripley's aquarium one day, which was actually pretty neat and was one of pretty much everyone's favorite. The aquarium had lots of different fish, but the coolest was probably the shark tank. It had several different types of sharks, a sea turtle and other fish as well. You viewed the fish from both above and below. They also had a penguin exhibit that was both indoors and outdoors.
Another highlight of the trip was Sydney's first Putt-Putt experience. At first she was just mesmerized by the jungle/dinosaur/pirate theme of the course we played and the fact that she had a ball- pink, of course. She wanted to whack the alligator and other animals with her club, which she called a bat. Blake was finally able to coax her into letting him help her hit the ball into the hole. Once she heard everyone clap for her when the ball went in the hole, she ate up the attention. So much fun!
Overall, what a great trip! We are so glad we had Brent's birthday as an excuse to get away for a bit. Happy birthday, Uncle Brent! We love you!
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| Hanging out on the deck |
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| Daytime view |
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| Evening view |
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| Playing a little air hockey |
There was a ton to do in both Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. We visited the Ripley's aquarium one day, which was actually pretty neat and was one of pretty much everyone's favorite. The aquarium had lots of different fish, but the coolest was probably the shark tank. It had several different types of sharks, a sea turtle and other fish as well. You viewed the fish from both above and below. They also had a penguin exhibit that was both indoors and outdoors.
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| Saw shark from above |
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| Another shark from above |
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| Checking out the fish |
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| Penguins! |
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| Brent and Catherine at the aquarium |
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| Mummy at PuttPutt |
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| My bat! (Funny look...ha!) |
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| The ball went in the hole! |
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| Help from Daddy |
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| Hooray! |
Overall, what a great trip! We are so glad we had Brent's birthday as an excuse to get away for a bit. Happy birthday, Uncle Brent! We love you!
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| Uncle Brent and Aunt Catherine |
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| Happy birthday! |
Monday, December 31, 2012
Thanksgiving
We celebrated Thanksgiving this year at our house with Sydney's Nana and Grampa as well as Uncle Matthew and Aunt Katie. Her MeMe, Pops, and Uncle Brent stopped by for a bit as well. We had a nice, relaxing day, and enjoyed celebrating a day of giving thanks for the many blessings we have.
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| Table |
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| What a cute turkey! |
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| Turkey butt |
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| Happy Thanksgiving! |
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Happy 2nd Birthday, Sydney!
Sydney is TWO! This probably sounds odd, but this year's birthday has been more emotional for me than her first. When she turned one, she was still a baby to me, especially because she wasn't walking yet or even crawling. Now she is a little girl; a sweet, talkative, kind-hearted little girl whom I love more everyday.
We started off her birthday with a stop at Brugger's for a bagel and then headed to the zoo, a tradition we started last year. Like last year, the zoo was not crowded and we were able to see all the animals fairly close up. Sydney definitely enjoyed it more this year than last, but her favorite was a temporary exhibit that wasn't there last time....anamatronic dinosaurs! She was a little apprehensive about them moving and making sounds, but quickly got over it and kept saying "wanna see more dinosaurs!".
The celebration continued with a pizza dinner with MeMe and Pops, opening presents, and eating cake (a dinosaur cake at that!). Some of her favorite gifts were a wagon from MeMe and Pops, a playhouse, and a magnetic ocean creature puzzle.
We also celebrated with family and friends at Pullen Park. The weather could not have been more perfect, although the park was definitely busy because of it. Sydney had a great time celebrating with friends and family...topped off with a ride on the train!
Here are a few things I want to remember about Sydney at 2 years old:
*She continues to amaze me with her language. She speaks in sentences and uses words like reflection and pterodactyl correctly.
*She has finally learned how to jump...after much work on her part!
*She loves to read, I mean l.o.v.e.s. Some of her current favorite books are any Little Critter books, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Noah's Ark, and a Lion King book.
*She is smitten with dinosaurs. She has been saying for the past few weeks that she wants to be a "green T-rex with Bronty (brontosaurs) on the back" for Halloween. (I'm not sure what the Bronty on the back means...)
*Her go-to name is "Freddy". If she gets a new stuffed animal, she asks "What we gonna name him?" and then immediately answers herself with "Freddy". Also, if I don't know the name of something she says "it's Freddy". For example, we were playing with some Disney Princess stickers. I know the names of some of them like Cinderella and Belle, but I'm not familiar with some of the newer princesses. I was telling her the names of the ones I knew and when we got to one I didn't know, I told her so and she responded with "that's Freddy".
We started off her birthday with a stop at Brugger's for a bagel and then headed to the zoo, a tradition we started last year. Like last year, the zoo was not crowded and we were able to see all the animals fairly close up. Sydney definitely enjoyed it more this year than last, but her favorite was a temporary exhibit that wasn't there last time....anamatronic dinosaurs! She was a little apprehensive about them moving and making sounds, but quickly got over it and kept saying "wanna see more dinosaurs!".
The celebration continued with a pizza dinner with MeMe and Pops, opening presents, and eating cake (a dinosaur cake at that!). Some of her favorite gifts were a wagon from MeMe and Pops, a playhouse, and a magnetic ocean creature puzzle.
We also celebrated with family and friends at Pullen Park. The weather could not have been more perfect, although the park was definitely busy because of it. Sydney had a great time celebrating with friends and family...topped off with a ride on the train!
Here are a few things I want to remember about Sydney at 2 years old:
*She continues to amaze me with her language. She speaks in sentences and uses words like reflection and pterodactyl correctly.
*She has finally learned how to jump...after much work on her part!
*She loves to read, I mean l.o.v.e.s. Some of her current favorite books are any Little Critter books, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Noah's Ark, and a Lion King book.
*She is smitten with dinosaurs. She has been saying for the past few weeks that she wants to be a "green T-rex with Bronty (brontosaurs) on the back" for Halloween. (I'm not sure what the Bronty on the back means...)
*Her go-to name is "Freddy". If she gets a new stuffed animal, she asks "What we gonna name him?" and then immediately answers herself with "Freddy". Also, if I don't know the name of something she says "it's Freddy". For example, we were playing with some Disney Princess stickers. I know the names of some of them like Cinderella and Belle, but I'm not familiar with some of the newer princesses. I was telling her the names of the ones I knew and when we got to one I didn't know, I told her so and she responded with "that's Freddy".
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