The Last of the Snow

...For a while...

It's been in the 40's and raining, so the foot of fluffy, white snow we used to have is now a few inches of crusty brown snow and will probably be just a few patches by midweek.

So, MiniM.E. and I went out to enjoy the snow while we still could.

On Thursday there was still some snow.  We tried sledding, but MiniM.E. insisted on a walk instead.  Which was fine because there isn't much cuter than a toddler waddling around in a snowsuit.

she even rode the horse statue!

By the time we went out this morning, the snow was almost gone and it was cold and damp.  We still managed a walk because MiniM.E. had been asking for a wagon ride and it's nice to get outside.

She didn't seem to mind the weather.  Note to self: make sure to have rain boots come spring- this kid is a puddle jumper!

Playing Inside

With the warmer temperatures the past few days, it's really mucky out.  The snow is too wet to play or sled in and the streets are slick.  It's damp and cold so it's not really nice for playing outside.  We signed up for lots of morning activities during the week to keep us busy on days like these, so we only have to find things to do at home in the afternoons.  MiniM.E. doesn't seem to mind playing inside- after all, she has all sorts of fun new toys from Christmas like a shopping cart and a bounce and spin zebra.

But, like any baby, she's more happy running around naked

watching TV (she's recently developed a long enough attention span to watch a cartoon.  She loves Curious George)

taking all her toys out of her closet

reorganizing the pantry

or drumming.

Whatever keeps her happy!

The coolest present she got for Christmas was a custom made, room matching, jungle animal themed activity board.

It has 10 doors to open, ten different latches, jungle animals under the doors plus a mirror, lights that work, a door latch, lacing strings, a pulley, castor wheels, and a flower track.

Thanks to my parents for making it (a bazillion man hours).  It turned out great and she loves it- even though she can't do most of the latches yet.

An Exciting Weekend

Last weekend we went sledding.  It wasn't our first time out, but it was, by far, our most successful.

Our previous trips were always cut short.  MiniM.E. wasn't happy in her snowsuit, or her mittens fell off and she wouldn't put them back on, or she had an unexplained crying fit, or-- worst of all-- one of us dumped her off the sled, face first, into the snow.

We weren't really expecting Saturday's sledding trip to be long lived, especially since we were meeting up with two other toddlers (and their parents).  The amount of time spent sledding decreases exponentially with each added toddler...

BUT, everyone seemed to have a great time.  And with the mild weather, we were out for at least a couple hours.

Looking adorable... though quite immobile...

Someone sees the sledding hill!

Not to happy to share

...or sit alone... 

Yep, that was fun.  More please!

Everyone at the top.

Riding down with Daddy

A long day of sledding led to a visit with even more friends downtown.  At that point, MiniM.E. was pretty "done" (which she signed repeatedly), but she was a trooper.  We wore her out!

Sunday we went to a fancy 1st birthday party:

... Guess I'll have to start planning MiniM.E.'s 2nd!!

MiniM.E. wasn't too keen on all the people and another baby getting to open presents.  At least there was a dog.

Today we started off our week with an exciting visit to a new baby.  MiniM.E. definitely isn't ready for a sibling anytime soon... she was extremely jealous.  But it was fun to see Baby O.

What a cutie.  Aren't they they best when they're sleeping?

New Year's Resolutions

It's been almost a week since it became 2013.

Here is a list MiniM.E. and I came up with for her New Year's Resolutions.  *note: she has yet to follow through with any of them.

1. I will sleep through the night.
2. I will drink milk only from a cup during the day.
3. I will play more independently.  For at least 5 minutes at a time.
4. I will try new foods.  I can not live on only cheese, cheddar bunnies and tomatoes.
5. I will pick up my toys so that I don't always leave a trail that looks like it was left by a tornado.
6. I will continue to be adorable, hug my mommy lots, and tell her I love her (which, actually, she has been awesome at!)

... I have to say that even though there are a few things MiniM.E. could work on... she's a pretty awesome toddler, and really, though the above mentioned items might be nice, I know that I'm lucky that MiniM.E. is just who she is.  I love that she's talking up a storm, loves to try to pick up the cats, asks me to "pick you up" when she wants me to hold her, and will come and give me kisses or cuddles if I just ask.

I'm so grateful that I've be able to watch her grow this past year, and I can't wait to see her grow in 2013.  Happy New Year!

The Start of the New Year

2012 ended on a bit of a stressful note.  We planned a trip to CT to see my extended family the weekend after Christmas.  We woke up Saturday morning, packed and ready to go, only to find that our heat was broken.  After some hemming and hawing, we decided to make the trip anyway, and get the heat fixed when we got back.  (Poor kitties, stayed at home for two days in the cold!)

It was nice to see my family in CT.  MiniM.E. had a great time.  She's not usually a very good eater, but since that was pretty much all we did, she managed to warm up to food and ate played with a lot.

cookies as a between-course snack

"Wait a minute, what's that you have there?"

"Eh, not my thing.  You eat it."

We arrived home to a 46 degree house (brr!!).  We only found one place open on Sunday, but they were charging ridiculous overtime, so we decided to have a "camp out" at home and call it an adventure until someone could show up Monday morning.

We made a fire, put on lots of layers and cuddled together.  Fortunately, unlike in a power outage, we had other warm things like space heaters, ovens, and electric blankets.

All bundled up, reading with a teddy bear, and watching TV.

Napping under the tree with the kitties

Just chilling (literally) on the floor.

Monday morning we couldn't get a hold of the repair man and we had to shiver near the fire until noon before someone finally showed up.  Thankfully the furnace wasn't broken, it just needed a part and by the afternoon the house was toasty warm again.

Just in time for some sledding!

MiniM.E. isn't too crazy about being out in the snow yet.  Probably the snowsuit... or boots... or hat... maybe the cold?  But she seemed to have a good time.

And now it's 2013.  I really can't believe a whole year has gone by.  Best wishes to all for a happy, healthy New Year.

It was a Very Merry Christmas

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that I love Christmas.  Probably in every post since November.  Maybe even since October.  I can't help it.  Bob has nick-named me "Christmas Elf".  And I suppose I might go just a little bit overboard.  But I've never had a Christmas where I went overboard and looked back and said "wow, I really wish I hadn't __________." (where _______ could be filled with "baked so many cookies" "spent so much time wrapping" "bought so many people presents" etc.)

And I've yet to be disappointed by a Christmas.  This year was certainly NOT a disappointment and may just qualify as the best Christmas to date.  (**note: I do remember some pretty spectacular Christmases as a kid, and I'm pretty sure those are of such a different awesomeness that they can't be included in "Christmas to date")

There were a few glitches, but nothing that could have come close to ruining an awesome Christmas.

I feel as though I also must preface the rest of this post with the following:  I received a new SLR camera for Christmas.  SO, if you didn't think I posted enough pictures in the posts over the last year and half, you're in luck, because it's going to be a photo-splosion for a while...

Saturday before Christmas we decided to give MiniM.E. her big present from us.  A tunnel!

Unfortunately she was terrified of it.  At least the cats like it.

Update: MiniM.E. now loves her tunnel and asks us to take it out multiple times a day.  She's a tunnel crawling pro!

We drove to my parents on Sunday afternoon.  MiniM.E. was really excited to go!

Or she might have been excited about the basket ride with the bear...

 As soon as we arrived, I unpacked my (early) present (camera) and started taking pictures.

"I love Gram"

"Hello?"

My parent's house was very Christmassy.

Not a decoration, but pretty cute... 

MiniM.E. was surprised by a few of her bigger presents right away.

Not sure what to think

Definitely thinking "Get me out!!!"

Niether was a huge hit- at first.  Though it wasn't long before the chair was a new favorite item.  (She only got on the horse twice... I think our downfall was making it neigh and gallop which apparently scares the $%!& out of small children.  So awesome rocking horse will live at Gram & Grumpy's house for a while longer.)

On Christmas Eve we spent the day playing with a few new toys (I mostly played with my camera) and dressing up for church.

The mass was kind of a bust (probably the worst sermon I've ever heard) but fortunately we had other entertainment (thanks MiniM.E.!).  She made it through the entire mass without crying and with only a few ridiculous outbursts.  The cutest thing was her saying, "bye people" as we left.  Adorable.

Once we were back home, MiniM.E. opened her Christmas Eve pajamas (as is tradition...).  This year she was a little more into it than last year.

As soon as MiniM.E. saw what was in the package, she said "ja-mas".  I kid you not.  This child is amazing.

mmm... tasty ja-mas

hey, are you taking a picture of ME?

After MiniM.E. went to bed, we put out the presents.  My parents are crazy and went just a bit overboard this year.  It was beautiful though...

Yes, that's a slide.  Awesome.

We didn't have a white Christmas, but when we woke up Christmas morning, it was snowing.  Check.  Snow on Christmas totally makes Christmas better.

It also was NOT 5am.  Which I totally expected.  It was 6:30.  MiniM.E. did a great job waiting until the actual crack of dawn to wake up, rather than waking up in the darkness of the wee morning hours.  Thank you, MiniM.E.  All of us had a much better day with that extra 90 minutes of sleep.

We started the Christmas festivities with the stocking.  Thankfully, Santa found us even though we weren't at home.  MiniM.E. seemed to like emptying the stocking.  Pssst.  See that vacuum?  Santa brought that too.  Why?  Probably because he knows how much MiniM.E. likes vacuuming.  Seriously, we vacuum my whole house at least twice a day.  My house has never been so clean.  But I digress...

After my sister arrived, we started opening presents.  I assumed MiniM.E. would have a blast.  She LOVES opening things.  In fact, I got Bob a present a day for the entire month of December and all day every day anytime we went into the foyer (where they were hanging) she would point and say "Peh-sent, peeze".

We got though one or two presents before she decided to be "done".

Then we had to distract her with mini-wagon rides to get her to open any more.

Which worked for a while...

Until she had a fit, got really cranky, and it was all we could do to keep her from having a melt down.  (And by all we could do, I mean multiple wagon rides, lots of holding, feeing-kitty diversions, and watching Baby Songs) until she finally went down for a nap.

It must have been pretty overwhelming.

It seemed like the nap must have helped (or maybe it was the cleaning up of all the paper and boxes?) because when she woke up she was pretty excited about all her new toys.  Especially this one:

And this tree ornament

But mostly the zebra

Grumpy was excited about her new toys too.

After lunch, our friends C & H stopped by to exchange gifts.  We only got to seem them for a little while, which was sad, but we had fun.

MiniM.E. was really excited about her present

H and his tunnel

H in his wagon

Double wagon ride!

MiniM.E. showing off her vacuuming skills. (She'll make a great housewife, H!)

 Before Christmas dinner, we went out on a walk.  MiniM.E. was NOT a fan of the snowsuit... but seemed ok once we were outside.

Cutest Daddy-Daughter photo EVER.

Christmas dinner was amazing, and after dinner MiniM.E. was exhausted and went right to bed.  We stayed up a bit and celebrated.  It was a fantastic day.

We planned on leaving Wednesday night... but then there was a snow storm...

So we stayed and had a relaxing day.

Thursday it was STILL SNOWING.  So we kept postponing our departure.  Which meant more time for playing in the snow!

MiniM.E. did NOT want to make snow angels... 

But how cute is that?

Tubing seemed more fun... until she got flipped.

On a second outing, this sled seemed less tip-able

And way more fun!

We finally made it home after a 6 hour drive Thursday night.  It was a fantastic Christmas!

But we're glad to be home.

MiniM.E. enjoying our snow... 

...as long as she doesn't have to touch it.