Low Key January

After the crazy holiday season, we've been really enjoying some downtime and getting back to 'normal busy'.  We've taken two trips to the Life and Science Museum in Durham (Grammy and Papa got us a membership for Christmas), a few playdates with friends and neighbors, fun times with Nana, Grandaddy and Savannah et al, and even a quick visit from Grammy and Papa this past weekend!  I guess I've been taking a break some with picture taking cause I realized that I've completely missed taking pictures during some of our January events!  Woops.  :-)

Here are some pictures from our first museum trip on Jan 7th.  It was actually a beautiful day so we did mostly the outdoor stuff that day --

That evening, we had our friends, the Atkinsons and the Hopkins over.  We got some good snuggles with Sam and Noah and Kylie were so excited to see him, too!!!

That following Sunday morning, we were looking for something to do and called the Scholles last minute.  It was so nice to see Janet, Frank, Maddie and Mason!  And we even ran into a friend of Kylie's from school, Emma.  That was fun.  We had a picnic lunch before coming home for rest time (Noah doesn't nap much these days).

That afternoon, we cashed in another one of our Christmas presents - Waylon's parents got us tickets to the NC State/MD basketball game (and also babysat for us while we went!).  We met our friends Keri and Chris, who we hadn't seen in a LONG time, for an early dinner and then we all went to the game together.  So much fun!!! (no pictures though)  :-(

A good work week that week.  I've been pretty busy at work and have been working quite a bit an have been working a few Fridays.  We also did some tag team Happy Hours that week - I went out with coworkers on Thursday and Waylon went out on Friday!  Very fun.  It's nice that the kids are easier to get to bed on our own these days so we have the flexibility to do that a little more.

That Saturday, the 14th, we went over to our neighbors' house (Tom, Margaret, Lauren and Cole) for playtime and dinner.  The kids all had so much fun and we even let all of them play upstairs alone for a while.  That was a nice treat for us.  Noah and Cole are the same age and will be in Kindergarten together next year and they were so funny together.  I have a feeling they are going to be good buddies for years to come!  :-)  (again, no pictures!  - what was I thinking?)

Sunday, a quick morning playdate with some other neighbors (Eric, Carolyn and Abby) and Mexican dinner with Nana, Grandad, Andrea, Sean and Savannah.

Another busy work week and then the following Friday, I cut my hair!!  It was the longest it's been in a long long time, so I decided it was time to chop it and I would donate it to Locks of Love.  I was excited and nervous but I'm happy with the outcome!

Before

After!

Last weekend, another trip to the museum on Saturday morning.  So much fun!!  I think we are really going to love having that.

Part of the space exhibit

Kylie did great on the climbing wall.

Daddy and his girl

Saturday evening was a treat for us and a challenge for Nana and Grandaddy!  We took the kids to spend the night at their house and Savannah came too!  I think everyone had fun but they were up very late - which meant good naps for us on Sunday so fine by us!  :-)

A self portrait that night.  :-)

Yesterday, after both kids took a nap (again, a rarity for Noah these days), Grammy and Papa came by on their way back from a wedding in Myrtle Beach.  The kids were excited to see them and we just hung out at the house and then went out for a quick dinner.  They left early this morning so it was quick but always nice to see them!  (NO PICTURES!).

We are still working on potty training with Kylie.  She's been doing much better these days.  It's been very slow going but we were encouraged to stick with it by her teachers.  If it hadn't been for them encouraging us, I probably would have given up and tried again another time.  The holidays brought a little bit of a setback with it but we have been doing pretty well this year so that's good!

We also got Noah all registered for Kindergarten!!  I can't believe he'll be starting on July 31st (he'll be in year round so they start a little earlier).  How did that happen?!?

Last Post of 2011! - Christmas in MD

So after a fun family day off on the 26th, Waylon went back to work and the kids went back to school that Tuesday.  My company was closed the whole week, so I took the day to do laundry, pack up and shop a bit in preparation for our trip to MD on Wednesday.  I actually debated going to get the kids and head on up but decided against it since it was a rainy and nasty day.  I had the car fully packed though so we were ready to go first thing on Wednesday morning.  The trip was fairly uneventful which was nice considering I was driving by myself with both kids.

When we arrived, the presents started right away.  My mom likes to spread out the present opening a bit so the kids aren't overwhelmed.  It actually works out really well.  They can open one thing and spend some time playing with it for a while before getting another.  First gift was a wolf hat for Noah and a polar bear hat for Kylie.  So cute!

Then they got some magnet tiles - so much fun to build with!

Building with Grammy

Kylie loves them!

I just had to post this picture because Kylie and I both look like we are giving someone the same look.

Buliding with Mommy - Noah is wearing one of my old bathrobes that Grammy was trying to get Kylie to put on!  :-)

Happiness!

Kylie got a princess house and tunnel.

Noah loves his wolf hat - this will be perfect for football games next year!  :-)

Lots of playtime while we were there of course.  Kylie decided to put Papa to bed.  She's big on this these days.  Too funny.

Night night Papa!

Thursday morning, we went to a fire station where they had a train garden set up for the holidays.  They loved checking this out and Noah really loved looking at the fire trucks and asking the fireman LOTS of questions.  He's so inquisitive, I love it!

 

The fireman giving Noah all sorts of info

Opening more presents Thursday afternoon!

Kylie wearing Noah's cowboy hat and boots and her backpack!  Adorable.

Thursday evening, we went over to Roz and Duanes for our traditional celebration with them.  We used to always get together with them on Christmas day - now that we are all older, we have to schedule it.  This year, it worked out that everyone was there - except Waylon. :-(  There were 17 of us and we all managed to eat in one room all together!  So fun.  We missed having Daddy there with us but understood that he didn't have much time to take off of work.

Jill and Dan were there with their brand new baby, Winston.  Noah was in heaven.  He loves babies and loved Winston.  He got to hold him and was so sweet and gentle.

 

Kylie loved him too - she said, 'Look at his teeny ears!'  :-)

Leah (with Winston), Bill, Me, Jill

Diane and Jeff

After dinner, I found Noah, Jill and Winston like this  :-)

Self portrait with Kylie

Papa and Kylie-girl

Ditters

Big brother Max

I got a gag gift where a mouse pops out of this box.  Noah loves it and has had so much fun scaring people with it!  :-)

Noah's gag gift  :-)

Diane was a brave woman and decided to decorate gingerbread houses with the kids.  They had a blast with it!

Noah's finished product (that's his proud face)  :-)

Kylie's silly face  :-)

Diane and Max

The finished product...

Noah's

Kylie's

Max's

Somehow the kids always decide to pile on Duane!  :-)

Me, Jill and Katie

Friday morning, Waylon flew in and the kids were so excited to see him.  Not too long after he arrived, we decided to do our big gift exchange with my parents and Leah and Bill.

Noah got a "real" sword and shield

More 'Dora Presents' for Kylie!  She loves it.

We got Leah a 'yoga dogs' calendar.  She and Bill had fun identifying the poses.  :-)

Noah got Mario Kart - one of his (and our) favorites!  :-)  It's so fun.

Waylon (we) got a BluRay player and a Netflix subscription.  We love it!

Kylie got an alphabet puzzle and we found her stuffing the letters in her socks!  :-)

Helping Aunt Leah open her presents

We got my parents a sign that had all the street names of places where they have lived.  So fun!

We have seen this face quite a bit these days.  Kylie is very two.  :-)

Doing the puzzle with Aunt Leah

Aunt Leah and Bill got Kylie a 'Baby Boots' (from Dora).  She LOVES this and sleeps with it every night.

Daddy's girl

Kylie and I took a little rest together after all the action

Naps these days for Noah are touch and go.  And I think Kylie is attempting to follow suit.  She's just so active, she doesn't want to sit still for too long.  So the holiday schedule was a little flexible.  :-)

Leah and Bill were heading out for a run and Noah wanted to go, too.  :-)

He got tired quick.  :-)

So, Noah, Kylie, Grammy, Papa, Waylon and I went for a walk down to the playground.

Noah climbed a tree before we left

Not sure who had more fun at the park... the kids or Daddy.  :-)

Noah's mean knight face!

Family shot

The 'kids' (notice Noah's mean knight face again)  :-)

So we all decided to do a mean knight face -  I think Kylie thought we were all crazy.  :-)

Friday night, Leah, Bill, Waylon and I went out to dinner with Julie, Ali and Andrew. It was so great to have a night out and catch up with my girls from high school!!

Love my Julie

Ali, Me and Julie

Saturday was New Year's Eve and Tina came by with Ethan to visit.  It was so fun to catch up with her also!!  So fun to get all the kids together.

Us with our kiddos

Waylon and I made late reservations for dinner alone on New Year's Eve and my parents friends Knoop and Sandy came over to hang with my parents.  The kids LOVED them.  Kylie can be shy when she first meets people but she didn't do that at all with them.  It was really cute.  :-)

Noah had fun showing off his new mouse toys!  :-)  And notice Kylie in the background putting Grammy to bed.  :-)

We had a nice meal out alone and then stayed for midnight.  They gave out free hats and champagne so that was nice!

Another self portrait  :-)

Sunday morning, we had a lazy morning, packed up and took off back home after lunch to start our new year!  We made it back to town really quick and ended up stopping for dinner at Nana and Grandad's (Andrea, Sean and Savannah were there also).  Everyone was pretty tired by the end of the night but we had the next day at home still to get back in the groove before school and work.

Relaxing before leaving Grammy and Papa's

What a fun year it was!  Lots of new things - new house, new jobs for both of us, new school for the kids....  And TONS of great memories!!  Happy New Year!