Stir crazy this winter...

Our house is anxious for Spring to come!!!! We have tried to be as creative as we can thinking of all sorts of things Alana can do all day since she is such a busy body. Hopefully going to preschool 2 days a week will be something new and exciting! We also were FINALLY able to get Alana signed up for a park district class at the park house right across the street. It's only taken like 5 tries. Too bad I forgot to get her into swimming classes.... Oh well, maybe next session. Erik was on line before 9am ready to sign up. Thank goodness he stepped in since I had to be in court. He said the class was totally full by 9:10. CRAZY!!!

We have not taken much advantage of the snow. Maybe if it warms up a little bit we will venture out!!! Alana is still taking gymnastics on Saturdays and likes it more & more. At the beginning of class the kiddos are asked to say their names. Alana has yet to say "Alana," though she knows her name. One day she said "Mimi pooped floor" and another day it was "Snow White scary." I think she's turning into quite a little comedian!


Another thing we were ACTUALLY successful in getting a spot at was the Valentines Family Dance at the same park house. Here is Alana laughing and dancing up a storm.

BIG news...Big Girl Bed

If I had it my way, she would be in the crib until she was 4, but Alana had other ideas!!! In mid January she actually fell as she was about to go up the stairs and busted open her lip. It was so awful. She had to have stitches, which was not fun. They completely knocked her out, which is probably the right call. They told us her sleep schedule might be off for a few days. That was true, but she also decided to climb out of her bed that same weekend. SO, we decided it was time to go to the big girl bed. The first couple nights were rocky, but as of tonight, she is back to being a great sleeper (hopefully I am not jinxing myself here). I was not even opposed to buying another crib when the baby comes if Alana is still in hers, but I guess we don't have to.

She has two outrageously cute bed sets. One is an Elmo set and the other is a pretty pink and green. I thought she would freak when we changed her bed to the pink and green (instead of Elmo), but she liked it too. I guess the main attaraction is the big girl bed itself! The funniest thing about hte big girl bed is that we have to go and check on it...all the time! About every hour, we have to go "see big girl bed". I keep telling her its not going anywhere, but I guess she wants to make sure!!! The timing worked out pretty well since we are going to start her in a preschool next week! She will be there for 2 full days, naps and all. The naps are on cute little individual cots, so good thing she is used to a bed. I am SUPER worried about this transition, but hopefully after a week (or 2, per Sonya!) all will be good. Cross your fingers for us!!

I think Erik forgot the weight limit is 50 pounds!!!!

A few more disney pics!!!

A few more pics! Isn't the winter gear awful!!!!

I don't know if she loved Minnie or Goofy more.
It's like they are BFFs.

Disney World...in the freezing cold!

We headed to Disney World in January to escape the cold and for Erik to run the marathon. I thought this would be my chance to have great weather to watch the marathon. No such luck. It was FREEZING!!!! Literally. Erik still did a great job in the marathon, getting his best time ever and making the time he needed for Boston. Yea! Jeremy was a trooper and watched Erik with me. Not super impressed with Disney's organization of the marathon, by the way. It's Disney, so you think it would be crazy organized. That's not what we felt and it was a total insane mess finding the start. Thankfully all worked out!!!

Despite the cold, we went to the parks and had a blast. Alana loved hanging out with Uncle Jeremy and Kim. Of course, she always has a great time with Grandma too. We will have to keep doing our yearly Disney trips!!!

Christmas 2009

We had a great Christmas. Unfortunately I got sick a few days before with an awful stomach bug, so we had a pretty lazy Christmas and stayed in our pajamas all day. Too bad I passed around the bug to everyone else over hte next 2 weeks! Alana got a ton of great presents, but loved her doll house the most. She was SO excited about it. She still really loves opening presents and after her birthday, she was a real pro and opened everyone's gifts! We stayed at grandma & papa's a few days and just enoyed being lazy.

Sea World & San Diego, cont.

We LOVED Sea World! It was great because it was so quiet, too. We were there the last day the Clydesdales were there since Annheiser Busch sold the park. Sad. Erik will be SO upset if they take the beer away too, so cross your fingers. We even bought season passes when we realized we need to go less than 1 more time in the next 2 years to make it worth the money. I guess we have a reason to go back!!!

San Diego...in November

We trekked out to San Diego just after Thanksgiving for so family fun! We had a great time. We went to the zoo and Sea World and just enjoyed the sun! Alana loved Sea World, especially Elmo's world. It was really quiet at Sea World, so we got to say hi to Elmo and Zoe three times. She was JUST as excited every time!!!

We stayed at an awesome hotel in La Jolla. The best was when we arrived and I realized I completely messed up our reservation. Nice. Thankfully they were super accomodating to us! I also had to stay in San Diego an extra day for work so Alana and Erik had to trek home solo. I felt SO bad, but all went well with them! What troopers!

It's Been A Long Time!

So I doubt I really have a valid excuse except being busy and technical issues with getting pictures, but those are solved and I am back to blogging. Lots has happened since Alana turned 2! We went to San Diego right after thanksgiving and had a blast. Sea World is the best. The holidays were great and Alana loved all the presents.

She's talking up a storm and she is SO expressive. I LOVE how she talks with her hands all the time. Some of her favorite phrases are "I fine, you're welcome" and "silly gooses." EVERYONE is a silly goose. She still loves Elmo and Mickey is now a best pal is well. Grandma got her obsessed with Snow White at her birthday, and recently got her hooked on Sleeping Beauty. Speaking of Disney, I forgot we also took a trip to Disney in January. We had a blast, but it was COLD! FREEZING, actually!!!!

Here are a couple of recent pics and I will post some more to update since her birthday!!!!