Happy Feet

This spring, we made our first foray into the world of organized sports.  Aunt Megan suggested that we join the Happy Feet spring soccer league.  While we were sad that Annalise and Chip were not placed on the same team (the teams are now single sex rather than coed), we decided to proceed with the Sunday afternoon sessions.    

Adam snapped this photo without my knowledge, but it truly captures the beginning of a whole new era.  How did I become a soccer mom?!

Annalise took a special liking to Coach Hannah.

Before long, we sensed that something was "off."  First, Annalise was a head shorter than all of the other players on the field.  (See pics below.)  Second, the other girls seemed to have tremendous soccer skills!!!  Through conversation with another parent on the sideline, Adam quickly realized that Annalise had been placed on the wrong team.  She was assigned to the five year old team by mistake!

Annalise took a break to refuel, and we decided to stay for the later session with her same age peers.  She really was a trooper through it all and made fast friends in the three year old class.

Baby Andrew sat in his stroller over two hours during this soccer session.  He was an absolute angel!  He passed the time playing with the Happy Feet soccer ball.  AJ, your sister AL is already in your debt!

A Berry Special Third Birthday

In the months leading up to her third birthday, I often asked Annalise what she would like to do for her party.  She is definitely a little girl rather than a baby now, and I have grown accustomed to asking her thoughts and opinions.  This time, though, she did not make it easy for me!  She kept responding, "Red candles.  Red and pink candles."  Hmmm...  I reviewed my Pinterest pins for prior birthday parties and saw Strawberry Shortcake.  As it turns out, the contemporary Strawberry Shortcake is a bit too modern and not like the sweet version I recall from my childhood, so we decided on strawberries alone.  This is rather perfect because Annalise absolutely loves them, and they are Adam's favorite food as well.  :)

Adam took creative control of the desserts and did a fantastic job of crafting "strawberry" cupcakes using red food coloring, chocolate chips, and green frosting, with strategically placed gummies for the stems.

Annalise was absolutely thrilled to be surrounded by so many of her favorite people at the party.  Here she is with her BFF Logan.  As Grandma said, they are future prom dates!

The balloons provided great entertainment once again.  This year, we did not even bother hanging them up!

Not sure what they were discussing at this particular moment, but cousin Grace is always there to show Annalise the ropes.  :)

She is one lucky girl!  Annalise got so many lovely presents.  The easel from the Mosiers was a huge favorite, and we now have an "artist's studio" set up in our kitchen.  :)

Mommy and Daddy gave Annalise a Frozen themed big girl bike, with training wheels for now.

After the official festivities ended, Annalise spent quite a while posing for Mommy's camera and running around the yard.

We were blessed with an absolutely gorgeous spring day!

At the end of the afternoon, Annalise wound down and enjoyed a few M&Ms with her bud Martini.

I am always stressed about hosting social events, but this party was genuinely FUN for all!  Love you, my sweet girl!

Andrew at Six Months

Dear Andrew, how could it be that you are already six months old?  I feel like I barely blinked, and you have been with us for half a year!  I loved you from the moment I met you, of course, but, somewhere in between the colicky days and the q3hr feedings, the bath time giggles and the late night snuggles, my love for you has only grown.  Lately, during the rare times when you will fall asleep on my shoulder, I hold you there for a while and remind myself to soak it all in.  You are growing up so fast!

Here's a little peek into your baby world...

This picture was taken during one of  your most fussy days, toward the end of my maternity leave.  I didn't know what else to do but get in the car and drive around for a while, hoping that you would finally rest.  I didn't have a destination in mind, which is rare for me, but we soon found ourselves near the exit for the Arboretum.  I decided to get out and walk around - our first official mother/son date!

We quickly discovered that bath time was one of your favorite things!

You have some of the rosiest, most squeezable baby cheeks that I have ever seen.  :)

You were not much of a roller, but you surprised us all by sitting very well before six months of age.  I think it was at this point, when I saw you sitting up tall, that it hit me just how quickly you were growing.

I have continued the tradition of doing monthly photo shoots for the first year, as I did with your sister.  The next few pics are from my very favorite session.  You were just sooo happy!  

There were some challenging moments along the way, but, now that your tummy is feeling well and you are sleeping through the night, your personality can shine through even more.  You really have the sweetest disposition!

Love you to the moon and back, baby boy!

Frozen - on Ice!

A few months ago, my mom alerted me to the fact that Disney's Frozen on Ice was coming to St. Louis.  Never wanting to miss an opportunity to maximize the Frozen goodness in our life :), we planned a girls' outing to the ice skating production as an early birthday present for Annalise.  As with many of life's happy events, the build-up is much of the fun.  Annalise spent weeks talking about "ice skating with princesses."

On the day of the event, she got all dolled up in her Queen Elsa costume from Halloween.  Grandpa escorted her to the Buick Enclave "carriage," and off we went!

The place was packed, but we made it to our seats in time for the main event.

The sets were beautiful!  Annalise loved singing and dancing along with all her favorite songs, just like the thousands of other young girls in the audience.  I will admit that I did some singing, too!

We stayed in our seats for the entire show, which felt like quite an accomplishment with a (then) two year old.  Just in case I needed reassurance that Annalise enjoyed the whole experience, she insisted on wearing her Elsa costume for the remainder of the day.  I think that she would have slept in it if I'd let her!  Ah, this is the good stuff.  :)

Do you want to build a snowman?

The blog is back!  It's time to catch up after a winter/early spring hiatus.  Here's what has been happening in our world...

It was a relatively mild winter in KC, so we took advantage of every snowflake that came our way.  One of these snow dustings coincided with President's Day.  Adam took advantage of his day off work and took Annalise sledding on a small hill in our neighborhood.

The following day, it was my turn.  I got to utter a phrase that I had been waiting to say all winter.  "Annalise, do you want to build a snowman???"  We had a ball making a small but mighty Olaf, though Annalise did seem a bit frustrated that this particular snowman would not talk back to us!  :)

Christmas in February

Well, clearly, being a mother of two does not make me a very efficient blogger!  Hence I am doing our Christmas post in February.  :)  I will try to keep my thoughts brief and let the (many!) pictures do most of the talking.  Looking back on our holiday season, the best part for me was being able to see Christmas through a child's eyes again.  Annalise is old enough now that she "gets it" and fully immersed herself in all the holiday goodness.  The other thing that strikes me most about the holidays is how much certain traditions mean to me, to Adam, and to our families.  Whether it's enjoying Steve's rye round with dill dip or sampling Grandma Hannah's goodies or driving through the lights at Our Lady of the Snows or celebrating with the LaBounty clan, we all look forward to those special things that signify the Christmas season is upon us.  Of course, part of the joy of being a parent is that you also get to create new traditions with your children.  As you will notice, we tried a few new events this year.  It will be wonderful to see which ones become Annalise and Andrew's traditions and the stuff of their fond childhood memories.  :)

Post-Thanksgiving, we kicked off the Christmas season with the Luminary Walk at the OP Arboretum.  There were toasty cups of hot chocolate and frosty hayrides at sunset...

Annalise and Andrew visited with Santa (number one of three this holiday season!).

As everyone knows, we have an abundance of Christmas decorations in our home, and we added to the collection this year by putting up a pint-sized tree in Annalise's room.  I chose a Frozen theme (obviously!), and Annalise decorated her tree almost entirely by herself.  In fact, she decorated and re-decorated it virtually every night.  :)  It was magical to see the look on her face when Adam first plugged in the lights.

We also visited the Holiday Express train at Union Station this year.  My favorite part of the event was sitting in the atrium afterward, admiring the decorations and listening to carols.  I think that we may have some future Starbucks lovers on our hands...

Andrew was a good sport throughout the festivities and made the cutest little Santa that I have ever seen...

Ugly Christmas sweaters abounded this holiday season...

...but Annalise and I tried to keep it classy!

Here is Andrew wearing vintage jammies from his daddy's first Christmas in 1981.  Photobomb courtesy of Annalise!

Our little girl was a professional present opener this Christmas and received more wonderful Frozen goodies than anyone could imagine!

We celebrated Christmas on both sides of the state this year, heading to the Lou to visit Grandma and Grandpa.  Andrew received lots of snuggles and TLC...

(Note that Grandma does not usually wear camo.  Grandpa surprised everyone with camo wear from WV, including a camo onesie for Mr. A!)

Meanwhile, Annalise was a busy bee, playing the piano and baking cookies...

We visited dear old friends...

...and made some new ones!

We capped off the holidays with a wonderfully low-key NYE at the Mosiers' home.

I will leave you with Leila and Annalise, demonstrating the many fabulous positions in which to watch Frozen...

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!  Here's to 2015!