Trip to MINNESOTA/THE SNOWIEST PLACE ON EARTH

I am a little behind on my posts, evidenced by our my post FINALLY for our trip to Minnesota in early December.  I have received several complaints, so my apologies for my hiatus.  I have, however, been working on both girls' scrap books and i am completely caught up and they are awesome.  I am almost real time scrapbooking now--i already did my NYE post!!!  Now that I am caught up (i was SERIOUSLY behind), hopefully I can stay on top of both.

We had an awesome trip up to MN to see my bff Sonya's new baby Scarlet and the Swanson clan.  We had a great trip, despite Mother Nature's best efforts to wreak havoc on our travels.  My mom went with me and the girls, thankfully, as I am not sure how I would have done it by myself.  I even gave her my first class upgraded seat as a thanks.  She did have to take Sierra, but hey, can't beat free wine.  We had a great time playing with the Swansons and Alana was particularly jazzed to hang out with Abbey and Alex.  We were snowed in one day and basically just played around Aunt Linda's house all day.  It was actually kind of nice to just lounge around!!!

Miss Scarlet is an absolute doll, too.  She is such a little peanut, too.  She's so chill and just sleeps with all the noise around her.  We laid her and Sierra next to one another and it was hilarious to see how much bigger Sierra looked!!!  I can't wait to see Scarlet again, soon.  She's already changing so much!!!  Alana was most excited to see Kai.  He's totally her little buddy and they played together pretty well.  She also loved playing with Summer and SeSe and talks about them ALL the time.  She asked me the other day who their favorite princesses are.  She also loves to talk about her Godmother, "Aunty Son" as she calls her.  It's pretty cute.  She keeps asking when we can go back.  Anytime after April, Alana.  

first flight and in first class.  what a life this kid has.

alana was SO jazzed to see son.  she still talks about her.

it was really cute to see alana & abbey together.  lots of love there.

lindsay loving on her goddaughter

 i found this really hilarious.  i think alana thinks kai is her long lost brother.  she really loves this boy.

these gals are exactly 3 months apart and were the exact same size at birth.  clearly mine has filled out!!!  alana said to sierra the other day, "sissy, you and scarlet can be best friends, too."  cute.  i'd like that.

me and scarlet, she is SUCH a cutie and chill baby.

the girls did not all really play together at first, but once they got comfortable, they were chasing each other on the couch.  alana still talks about it and can't wait to play with them again.  can't believe these gals are already 5!!!  

aunt linda & lindsay threw alana a surprise birthday party to celebrate since they couldn't make her party.  she was BEYOND excited and thrilled.  she's holding up her "3" candle.

Happy New Years!!!

We had a great New Year's Eve at our house!!!  Alana and Sierra mostly played around all day and Alana was super excited because Jackie, Denis, Alicia and Amy Lemon were coming over.  Of course, I made some mexican food (GREAT shredded chicken tacos if I do say so myself) and we have several drinks.  Alana and Sierra went to bed at their normal time.  Figured midnight and a 3 year old was probably not the greatest combo.  She had a blast playing with everyone and busted out Elefun to give everyone a try.  I am sure they will be heading back to play again!!!  We are lucky to have great friends that want to come and hang out with us and our crazy kids for NYE!!!  

alana made herself and sierra new year's crowns at school.

alana spent most of the day reading to sierra who had the most hilarious faces.

Sierra update!!!

So, I am a little behind on my posts!!!  Miss Sierra is almost five months old already!  She continues to be the happiest baby I have ever seen.  She's super social and loves to just smile and laugh at people.  She's also really inquisitive and loves to touch and, of course, attempt to eat everything.  She is eating some solids now and we learned she loves veggies way more than fruit.  I am sure that will change.  She continues to be such a little ray of sunshine.  She went through a few weeks of a strain of nasty viruses, which earned her the first ER visit and a few DR visits.  Of course, she still smiled at everyone.  She did have her bouts of crying though, so I could tell she was not feeling well.  She's not quite the sleeper Alana was, so we still have a few wake up calls during the night.  She's slept through the night on a few occasions, so now we are just trying to tweak her schedule and get her sleeping more every night!!!

Meeting Santa!!!

For the first time, we actually braved the crowds and took Alana to meet Santa.  Last year, we were lucky enough to see Santa at church, which was great.  This year, we headed down to Macy's (...Marshall Fields) on State Street.  We waited for an hour plus and finally saw Santa.  Alana was really nervous and blurted out "I want a Snow White doll and the Prince."  It was really out of nowhere and she was clearly concerned she would not get it out!  Miss Sierra stayed behind with our nanny, Natalie, since she's been a bit under the weather.  Next year, though!!!

3 months old!

Hard to believe that baby girl Sierra is already 3 months.  Sierra is just an absolute joy.  She is SO easy going.  Loves her swing, loves to just sit and chat and the smiliest baby i have ever seen.  Alana is getting better and better with her and keeps telling her they are "best friends."   Sierra is pretty close to sleeping through the night, but she is still waking up here and there for a pacifier fix.   She is starting to really discover her voice, so there is LOTS of chatter and it keeps getting a higher and higher pitch.  It really takes a lot for her to get mad enough to really scream and cry, so that is nice!!  She is also trying to figure out her hands and how to use them to get her pacifier.  It's pretty cute.  Needless to say, we love our little addition!!! 

Halloween!

We had a great Halloween!!!  It is amazing how many kids Halloween events there are!  We went to a party at her gymnastics studio mid-week.  It was insane.  Alana was dressed as a witch and loved running around with all the other kids.  It was a little bit crazy with so many kids, but she seemed to enjoy it!  Sierra was a trooper as I just slung her over my arm and she slept like that for 1.5 hours while we walked around this crazy party.  

She also got to wear her costume to school, but I did not get any pictures that day.  Apparently a stomach bug went around that day and about 80% of her class got sick.  She ended up throwing up that night, but ended up ok after that.  Thank goodness!!!  Luckily, Sierra never got sick.

We started the day with the Monster Mash Dash--50 yard dash for kids down by the lake.  I thought she would be pretty hesitant and i was right.   I finally convinced her to run and she ended up crying half way through.  i think the large crowd freaked her out.  she wasn't alone--half the 2 to 4 year old bracket was in tears!!!  Maybe next year!!  For Halloween, Alana dressed up as Snow White.  She was so excited.  She was a bit overwhelmed by the trick or treating, but once she went to a few houses, she was totally into it.  I had to negotiate away some of her candy, but I think we are all good now.  Sierra was a trooper and was her usual laid back self all night.  Grandma and Alicia came over and we all had a blast.  Grandma convinced Alicia to dress up like a witch and she was a real hit.  There were people line up to come here for candy!!!

 

Fun days at home

Sadly, my maternity leave is coming to a quick end.  Though, happily, I am going back part time!!  Yea!  I am racing to find a nanny and hope to lock down a nanny in the next few days.  Alana and Sierra are doing great.  Alana is rapidly approaching 3 and sometimes it feels like she is going on 13!  She is full of spunk and energy.  She tells the greatest stories and completely talks with her hands, wonder where she gets that from!!!  She is a great big sister and tells Sierra she is her best friend all the time.  Sierra is a joy, too!  She is such a wonderful baby to be around.  She smiles all the time and does not really cry.  She is really patient with Alana and loves when Alana holds her or hugs her.  We are still working on her sleeping through the night.  She consistently wakes up at 4:45am....hopefully that ends soon.  Cross your fingers!  

Alana helping Daddy put ghosts up in the trees.

Our little smiley girl!

Alana LOVES being a big sister

Alana is so great to Sierra.  She sits with her and if she gets fussy, she asks for Sierra's pacifier.

2 months already!

Hard to believe our little Sierra is already 2 months old!  At the same time, it feels like she has been around forever. She is just a wonderful little baby with the sweetest temperment.  She is really pretty chill.  She loves to hang in the swing, or just sit staring at whomever is holding her.  She has been super smiley starting a few weeks ago.  She is still working on sleeping through the night, but she's the most pleasant company in the middle of the night.  I walk her in room to some mild yelping, and she just smiles and snuggles my neck and shoulder as soon as I pick her up.  She rarely gets totally fired up, she seems to be such a patient gal.  Alana calls her "Sissy" and I fear for her that this nickname may stick, since we all call her Sissy now too.

Alana tells her all the time that they are best friends and it is just the cutest.  I have a feeling as time goes on, they will be.  Sierra already loves to watch Alana and they play together all the time.  She looks SO much like Alana and it will be so interesting to see her as she gets bigger.  

 

For being so smiley, I have gotten SO few smiling pics!

She loves the fresh air!!!!  

She totally has curly hair when it's wet

Pumpkin patch time!

Classic "don't picture me" moment

Last weekend we went to the good ole CP pumpkin patch with Grandma, Aunt Jen and the boys.  We made the unwise choice of going right around when Alana would be ready for a nap, so things were a bit hairy at times!  We had a great time, though.  It was crazy hot out, so we were happily able to convince Dot that the hay ride was a bad idea.  Sierra basically slept the whole time, such a compliant gal she is.  Alana loved feeding the goats.  I am not one for petting zoos, etc, so she does not get many opportunities for this.  Hopefully she still grows up well rounded!  :)  She loved feeding the animals and was cracking up the whole time.  She also got to do a pony ride and explore the corn maze.  Overall, a great day.  I think Saturday will be our big pumpkin carving event!!  Stay tuned for pics.

Goats...gross.

My little sleepy gal.

Lovin the pony ride.

Hollywood Alana

Enjoying our QT at home!

Hard to believe it is already October when the weather has been so nice!!!  We have definitely been enjoying every second.  We try to get outside as much as we can and I am SO proud of myself for being so adventurous!  Many days, Alana just wants to hang out around the house so she can play with Sierra. As you can see, she loves to hug and kiss her like crazy.  She's getting better and better at understanding how to be gentle.  Today I picked her up from preschool and she told her little buddies, Tomas & Rocco, how important it is to be gentle with babies.  At least I know she's listening, even if she doesn't always act gentle herself!!!