Date Day

Yesterday afternoon Jason and I dropped Amelia off with my mom and had a little date afternoon/evening. We browsed a few stores and then went to find something to eat. We decided on Cecil's for dinner and each ordered a sandwich and we shared them:


After we left the restaurant we ran into a little movie theatre and decided to park and see what they had and at what time.


We got there just a few minutes before "The King's Speech" started and we knew nothing about it. Nothing but someone on my Facebook saw it recently and loved it so we went on that and saw it as well. Ironically, we saw it at the same theatre she saw it at too since we were in her neighborhood!

Amelia had a good time with her Nana and Jason and I enjoyed some time on our own.

Win or Lose

Win or lose - Jason, Amelia and I enjoy football. Period. Want proof? Here's Amelia and I just after the Bears lost the NFC championship to the Packers (the only team mommy and daddy can't stand - with a passion btw):


BIG smiles :)

Next week we'll enjoy the Pro Bowl and the following week, on my dad's birthday, we will be hoping for a Steelers win (since we have that strong dislike for GB and all.) After that? We'll gear up for some baseball. Maybe we'll even be able to score some Twins/Brewers tickets this season...

What can I say - we like our sports around here...whether our teams win or lose!

Wrap-Up

Now that I am on a computer again, with Internet access, I figured I should wrap up our trip to Indiana! Wednesday morning we had breakfast with dad's side of the family. Amelia took this lovely picture of her grandpa and cousin P.


She had her little finger over the flash!

Amelia must like P because she shared her yogis (Gerber yogurt melts) with her:


Breakfast turned into over two hours and we were eventually on our way back to MN by eleven. Amelia slept in the car a lot:


Much like cousin A slept through breakfast earlier in the day:


We are back now. Back to the frigid temperatures. It was -20 on Thursday before windchill was factored in - which made it -30. I have been working on un-packing and doing laundry as well as staying warm!


This little one doesn't seem to mind the cold. The brief periods she is outside (heading to and from the car) she manages to dig around in the snow and whines when I pull her to her carseat! She is definately a lover of the outdoors!

Tonight I am having dinner with my family and leaving Amelia with them. I wish I could say I had some great plans for my night of freedom but I am merely going to get groceries - sans Amelia. What a wild night!

Visiting Great-Grandpa

This evening, a huge chunk of my dad's side of the family got together to visit grandpa. All of his grandkids and great-grandkids were there with the exception of my sister and my dad's brother's daughters.

It was grandpa's first time meeting his new great-grandson, A.


My mom found "big sister" and "little brother" shirts for little A and his sister P.



Tonight grandpa said he didn't think he'd live to see great-grandchildren and he has four!


Four who are impossible to get a picture of with them all looking at the same time!

It was nice spending the evening visiting with everyone.


It was also nice to see grandpa smile as much as he did tonight.

Cupcakes

After lunch today we stopped by a place called Designer Desserts in Valpo that was recommended by family. It was pretty tasty! Amelia devoured her cupcake faster than lightning.


She wasted no time in letting us know that she wanted another.


We are lucky we don't live here otherwise we'd be in trouble. I split a red velvet with mom and a mocha java with dad. Both were really good! I definately don't need to be eating those things more than once or twice a year - that's for sure!

Amelia Meets "Sue"

Today Amelia had a big day out in Chicago. We went to the Field Museum! Amelia saw her first 3-D movie:


It was only about 20 minutes long so we thought we'd give it a try. She did pretty well in it - except when the T-rex would roar. I was sure that she would be scared of dinosaurs after that but here she is in the gift shop...


...arms loaded up with dinos! She settled on just one:


He roars and his eyes light up. Not exactly the toy I thought she'd be loving after being scared by a 3-D t-rex!


She could have spent all day looking at "Sue" in the lobby I think.

Here are some more pictures from the museum:






We stayed at the museum until they were asking people to leave. Time flew! It was dinner time so we went to get some of our favorite pizza at the original Gino's East.


Amelia even had some pizza :)

We Made it to Indiana

Amelia, Nana, Grandpa and I made it to Indiana late last night. Amelia enjoyed a couple of DVDs in the car:



She had new Thomas and Veggie Tales DVDs she picked out at Target.

We didn't take any pictures (that turned out) today except those of Amelia and her orange lolli she had to celebrate the Bears' win!

Hanging at Target with Amelia

Amelia had her own agenda at target the other day. After her diaper change she got to stretch her legs a little while we looked for daddy. She did fine until she decided that her legs didn't work in electronics and I had a limp, laughing baby hanging off my arm. I let go and she proceeded to lay down in the middle of the aisle, put her hands behind her head and crossed her legs.

I carried her to another part of the store and she walked a little and then laid down again. Then she saw her daddy and ran to him. She picked out a banana and got herself a few Chiquita stickers. We made it to greeting cards and she laid down one more time while we looked for a card.


Life is never boring with Amelia around!

**I should also clarify - she was not throwing tantrums. She was in a great mood and was laughing the whole trip. She's just a little strange sometimes!

Falling

It finally happened. Amelia fell/crawled out of her crib for the first time. It happened a few nights ago. I had gone in to remind her that it was bedtime, not playtime, and I tucked her in (again) and left. Not ten minutes later I heard an awful, loud thud followed by a screech.

I found her face down. Screaming and crying. Once I had picked her up she wouldn't let go of me and just clung to me. I brought her to bed with me and offered to let her sleep with me but she didn't want that surprisingly. So, we just hung out together in bed for awhile:


Amelia has been very wild in the evening the past week and a half and I feel that that might be the cause for this accident. She's too wound up in the evening which is probably a result of late naps and sugar intake. So...no more juice for Amelia after naptime, limited fruit-type snacks and also as early of a nap as I can get out of the little lady.

I can't wait until we are in our own space/home and we can transition her bed to a toddler daybed! She's just getting too big and too strong for her crib it seems.

Teeth Pickin'

Amelia picked up a new habit from her grandpa:


Now that she has some teeth she apparently needs to pick them! She walked around with her toothpick until we took it away so we wouldn't have to watch her like hawks. She is such a little character!

Happy New Christmas Giving Year

Last night, Amelia, Jason and I had a holiday dinner with our friends Lisa, Al, Marie and Jordan. We weren't sure what exactly we were celebrating but came up with "Happy New Christmas Giving Year." We decided to do this a few months ago while carving pumpkins and yesterday was the first Saturday that no one had conflicts.

We did a full turkey dinner, watched football and played a few games. It was so fun to get a chance to hang out as a group. Amelia recieved a Christmas jumper after the holidays as a gift and this was the perfect chance for her to get to wear it!



I had wanted to get a picture of the seven of us but knew that might not happen so the girls took a picture early on in the evening:


I guess this one has us all in it...you can see the three guys in the background watching football...

We are hoping to make this a yearly tradition!

Pajamas 2010 [in 2011]

I finally got a picture of Amelia and my mom in their matching pajamas!



These are just two of about a dozen priceless pictures! That last one was just too perfect but it was so washed out and I fixed it as best I knew how with Picasa.

We Have 3 Kids!

Tonight my life-long friend, Laura, came over for dinner with my family and before she left we snapped a photo of us with our THREE children!


We have come a long way since our Brownies/Girl Scout days!

And yes, Amelia is stark naked at the kitchen table. She is a messy eater on pasta night so I took precautions to keep her new, white outfit from her Auntie Liz presentable!

So Grown Up

Amelia seems so much older than almost two some days. Dipping her own chips in salsa


and eating them while listening to her g-grandma talk


and washing them down with an diet Mt. Dew


(it was empty of course)

NFL Cheerleader in Training

Amelia and I cheer for the Chicago Bears.


Except for when she cheers for the Vikings with her daddy. This is all she can say about the Vikings 50th anniversary season:


Amelia, you got that one right! Better luck next year I suppose.

For now, she'll cheer the Bears on in the playoffs and be their little "cheerleader in training."

A Quiet End to 2010

The last few days of 2010 were very quiet for our family. Nothing too interesting has happened around here. Amelia and I had a quiet New Year's Eve - just the two of us.


We had dinner at Culver's and then hit Target since I noticed at work that day that the Christmas decor went 75% clearance... We stocked up on LED lights for next year at $2.99 a box! Amelia even got a box of pink lights for her room because that girl loves, loves, loves lights!

This morning I got together for lunch, child-free I might add (between us we have 3), with my longest friend at the Olive Garden!


We have been going to OG since high school and it is so fun to get a chance to go there when she is home! Today was a special treat because we actually had a chance to talk without worrying about crayons falling, food flying and all the joys that come with eating out with little ones!

We hope everyone had a great 2010 and we wish them a blessed 2011!