Disney 2011

We went to Disney a few weeks ago, and the kids LOVED it. Both kids are crazy about Mickey and Minnie Mouse. You can see how much Celena idolizes Minnie, she was so excited to meet her and gave her a kiss on the tip of her nose. :)

I think we spent as much time at buffets as we spent at the parks - with the kids being the ages they are, the character meals are a big hit! There is a slide show on the top left side of the screen with pictures from our trip (click on the slide show and it will take you to Picasa where you can see them better). We drove down and spent the night in Savannah, GA along the way, so you'll also see some pictures from the river front in Savannah.

(To our friends in Florida, we wish we could have visited all of you . . . it was a quick trip and we were already rushed to fit in the parks and character dinners, hopefully next time we'll be able to stay longer!).

Happy Halloween!

Bath Time

We've been busy lately getting the kids' bedrooms and bathrooms fixed up (part of the reason I have been so bad at posting to the blog). I just ordered prints of some of my favorite bathtub pictures of the kids to frame for wall decoration - not sure if I've posted these before on the blog so here they are.

First day of school

The kids started preschool this week. Celena goes 2 mornings and Cass goes 4 mornings per week. We decided to have Cass attend the "3's" class again (although he just turned 4). Since he has an August birthday and the cutoff for the grades is Oct 1, we didn't want him to be one of the youngest kids in the class when he got into grade school. So, we decided to keep him in the 3's class this year so he can get on the rotation of being the oldest in his class. And that way mommy gets to have him home for one more year! :)

Here he is dressed and ready to go!



Celena got to join him at school the next day. Little Miss Independent didn't want to have anything to do with Mommy walking into school . . . the big brave girl led the way!


Posing in front of the school . . .


Almost to the classroom! I was trying so hard not to cry - it was the first time someone other than a relative had watched Celena, so I was nervous. Everything turned out just fine - no tears, but she was definitely tired and glad to see me when I picked her up to go home at noon.

Four years old!

I can't believe Cass is already FOUR! Wow, time really flies. He requested a Mickey Mouse themed party (I got lucky - was able to make the same cake I made for Celena's birthday a few weeks ago, minus the bow). There are some pics of the big day at the slide show on the top left of the screen. He had a blast with his presents - and so did Daddy. I've actually caught Chris on a couple occasions playing with Cass's toys on his own. I joke with him that I don't expect he'll ever catch me sitting alone playing with Celena's Barbies. It just proves that boys never really grow up. Which is actually okay, the time with Cass is going so fast and I wish he could stay a sweet innocent little boy forever!

Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

I just love this little bikini.

It's just a little bit big so one strap falls down sometimes . . .

Big brother makes sure she keeps her top on! Hopefully he continues to look out for her like this as they get older! :)

She's two!!!

Celena turned 2 on July 17. I can't believe how the time has flown by! She is growing up so quickly - she counts to ten, talks non-stop and can put 4 words together already, and recognizes a few of the letters of the alphabet. She is such a compassionate little thing and often tries to help out her big brother when she recognizes that he needs something. She's also quite opinionated, especially when it comes to clothes. Typically, if something is cute and I want her to wear it, she refuses and says "I don't like it". So she's ornery too, but it's cute. I love this little girl!

She's growing like a weed. At her 2 year check-up, her measurements were:

- Weight 28.6 lbs (72%) (she's actually a little lighter than this, as this includes the baby doll that she wouldn't let go of when she was on the scale)

- Height 35 inches (81%)

She wasn't cooperating with the nurse when she was measured, so the nurse wasn't sure how accurate the height measurement was. I thought there was no way that she was that tall, so I measured her when we got home and she's actually a bit taller at 35 1/2 inches! If we follow the rule that you can predict her adult height by doubling her height at 2 years old, then she'd be 5'11"! I can't imagine that is right, but we'll just wait and see.

There are some pictures from her birthday in the slide deck at the top left side of the screen.

Happy 4th of July!

Beach Vacation

We took a short vacation to Topsail Beach near Wilmington, NC several weeks ago. The house we stayed at was right on the beach, which was so convenient with our little ones! The weather was unseasonably cool, but it was nice because we didn't have to worry about the kids getting too much sun. There are several pictures from the trip in the slideshow on the top left hand side of the screen above (click on the slide picture to make the pictures bigger).

Spring

We are starting to see glimpses of spring - the weather was nice last weekend, so we took advantage of it and played outside. Celena let me snap a few pictures of her. Cass was there too, but he was not interested in pausing for any pictures. Maybe next time.

Norm and Tina came out to enjoy the weather too. Celena loves Tina.

Norm doesn't want much to do with Celena. Here he is enjoying the weather.

February

February has been a busy month. We've been continuing to get settled into the house. As usual this time of year, we are all ready for spring and are glad that it's almost here. Since it's been cold, we've been cooped up in the house quite a bit so there isn't too much to post about. The picture above is from one night after bath time when Cass came up behind Celena and just gave her a big hug. Now that she is getting older I find them being affectionate more and more - it is so sweet!

Here's Celena eating one of her Valentine cupcakes. As you can tell, her favorite part is the frosting. After she finishes the frosting, she sets the cupcake down and fusses because she wants to get another cupcake just to eat the frosting. Teaching self control to a 19 month old is not easy.
Our little lady had her 18 month doctor appointment. She is growing just fine. Fortunately, the only health related issue she has are mysterious allergy symptoms. She used to have eczema which has cleared up; however, she still has bags under her eyes which indicates she has some type of allergy. We've had different tests run which have showed that she may be allergic to anything from dogs, shellfish, hickory tree, pollen, and cockroaches (ick!!!). So who knows. I was concerned about it for a while, but she doesn't act uncomfortable, so we're just going to give it time and see if it gets better or worse.

Anyway, here are her stats:
Height: 32 3/4 inches (85th percentile)
Weight: 24 pounds (50th percentile)
Head: 48 1/2 centimeters (96th percentile)

Signature

Yesterday Cass was in the playroom drawing on his whiteboard easel. Chris went to see what he had drawn, and he had written his name. We'll give it a few years before he writes his full first name, Casimiro. :) I like how you can even see Cass's reflection in the picture.

Sleepy boy

I think there is nothing more peaceful and sweet than a sleeping child. And yes, Cass inherited his momma's childhood thumb sucking habit. :)

Snow

Hello - we're back on line! The computer screen on our home computer quit working a couple months ago. One of the many things I love about Chris is that he can fix ANYTHING. When we were dating, I was shocked to find out that this "city boy" (as I considered him) could do anything from mechanical work on cars to home improvement projects, and now we can add to the list that he can fix electronics. After waiting several weeks on a part from Hong Kong, then another part from Dell, we're fixed! So I'm a little behind on my postings here.

It has been a snowy, snowy winter in Winston-Salem. I think it has snowed 5 times already this year (including a winter storm on Christmas night that left us without power - ugh!). My mom bought Celena a really cute black hat that has a pink feather on it (kind of a flapper-girl type of hat). During one of our first snows, I tried to put it on Celena before we went outside to see the snowflakes. She wouldn't have anything to do with that hat. Instead, she wanted to wear her Minny Mouse ears. I could have gotten some really cute pictures if she would have worn the right hat!

Cass preferred to enjoy the snow from the indoors. Here he is admiring the snowflakes through his bedroom window.