Wait..What Day is It?

Brian and I have both been off of work since last Wednesday. It's typical for him because he gives the whole staff time off from Christmas Eve until the Monday after the new year. I have not been so fortunate in the past because my time has been sucked away by things like maternity leave. This year I've accrued more vacation time (you know, not being pregnant and all), and not working this week only costs me 3 days of vacation, so I figured I would stay home with Brian and the kids. But since no one's working, the running them of the week has been us asking each other what day of the week it actually is!


We haven't been doing a whole lot, but it feels like we've constantly been on the go. Brian was able to go see Avatar on Sunday while I went to hang out with two of my close friends, Carolyn and Darcy. Carolyn's little girl Brooke is just a little older than Reese, but it seemed like Wyatt and Brooke did more playing together than Brooke and Reese!


On Monday we decided to brave the stores and go spend some gift cards :). Later that night I got to go to the movies with Shannon to see New Moon, which I didn't hate, but I didn't love. It's not my favorite book in the Twilight Series, so I didn't expect it to be fantastic, but I was overwhelmed by the sheer cheesiness of it all. I literally felt like a 13 year old girl sitting in the movie theater.


Yesterday we were finally able to get back in our new house to take some measurements and get another look before our walk through next week! It's new construction, so there's a lot of blinds and things to buy that we need to get measurements for, and we wanted to make sure that our refrigerator is going to fit. The kids had a great time walking through and checking the place out. Wyatt fell in a mud puddle as we were leaving (thank goodness!), but I suppose that's why we carry around a spare set of clothes!


Today Brian and Wyatt went to see the new Alvin & the Chipmunks movie, and from what I hear, Wyatt did a great job in the movie theater. Brian took Wyatt to a few movies over the summer so he had a little practice, but Brian said he didn't talk at all and he really loved the movie! Brian got lucky and got to go see another movie tonight on our date night: Outback, Target and the Blind Side. A great combo! We had a lot of fun at dinner, spent more than we planned at Target, and movie was really good. While we were out my parents took Wyatt and Reese to Firehouse Subs for some grilled cheese. Wyatt didn't stop talking about it in the car! He keeps telling us "Mommy, there's a chipmunk named Brittney (which he knows refers to as my "other name"), and "Daddy, I went to the Fire Station for dinner!"

Tomorrow our big plan is to just hang out with the kids during the day and then go out with our friends Pete and Shannon for dinner. We're not huge into New Year's Eve, but we like to go out for a little bit! And we still have 4 days off! What to do, what to do....

Rockin' Out!

Fr Christmas Brian got me a sweet new Flip video camera. Dave got one for Stephanie a few months ago, and I thought it was awesome. Our regular camera can record videos, and our video camera is great, but I wanted something smaller that would let me record them anywhere. This thing is perfect! It's small, it records in HD, and the uploading process is SO easy. Anyway, it's helped me take more videos of the kids that I can upload, and I can upload bigger files right to YouTube.

I took this of the kids in the car the other day. As we're driving along you can here Reese shout "Target! Target!" when we pass by the store (she usually claps her hands too - because of the obsession), but more importantly, you get to see both kids rock out to a little Hanson Christmas. I know, I was skeptical at first too, because Brian owned this CD before we started dating 9 years ago. I was all like, "Are you twelve?" But he used to work at The Wall and he got to hear all kinds of CD's, and he thought it was really good. And surprisingly, it is. Especially when performed by Wyatt and Reese!

Insane Parenting

Reese looks very happy here, but I'm afraid she won't be happy for long.

Because her big brother got these for Christmas.
And he really loves to play them.

He's probably a musical prodigy. Maybe he'll be a famous drummer one day. But he is really loud. And whoever brought him these was not thinking clearly. And unfortunately, we can't blame Santa for this.

Thank you and good night!

Merry Christmas: A Poem

After the kids went to bed on Christmas Eve, Brian and I put out our presents for the kids,

And Santa came and left his presents while we shut our eyelids.
And around 6:40 we woke up to Wyatt screaming after resting his head,
Santa had come and left presents he said,
"Mommy and Daddy, get me out of this bed!"
The kids were so excited to open their presents, they were both overjoyed,
And after twenty minutes of trying to get the packages open, they were finally able to play with their toys!

We took a little break to open our stockings, which were hanging in the dining room next to our tree!

Then Wyatt took a break to play with Buzz and Woody!

Reesie didn't like to have her picture taken so early in the morning, she doesn't like to wake up,

And later in the morning when Wyatt got his new Jeep, he liked to ride for a bit and stop to put in some leaves he'd picked up!

Being a good big brother he offered to give Reesie a ride!

But she was pretty bummed out when he left her so he could collect leaves to put inside!

"Hey Wyatt you stranded me here in the jeep! Come drive it and have fun, don't leave me here to weep!"

And the kids had some fun opening presents galore, then went to Didi and Pop Pop's and opened some more!

They got spoiled for sure, and walked away with a ton,

but boy oh boy, are they having some fun!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve!

So Brian and I had to buy ourselves a new laptop battery for Christmas. It was anticipated because it's been unable to hold any kind of charge for awhile, but then our power cord also died on us! So forgive me for failing to update (Michele), but I've been computer-less for days! Both pieces finally arrived yesterday.

An Italian Christmas Eve dinner has always been a tradition in my family. This year we all gathered at my parents' house for lasagna, and it was delicious. We got to hang out and enjoy yummy food and open some presents. Growing up we always opened one present on Christmas Eve, and it was always new pajamas. My mom has continued this tradition into adulthood, and extended it to our husbands and wives. It's always nice to have on a new pair of jammies on Christmas morning!

Since we got new jammies for the kids to wear, they each got to open one present from my parents. Reese was very excited!

But she wasn't really sure what to do. She kind of stood around waiting to be helped (isn't this dress precious? I got it online for like, 75% off and free shipping. I saw it in the store a few weeks ago, but was not even about to pay that much for a Christmas dress! But I LOVE it)!
Wyatt rushed over to help her open up her new Wonder Pets school house. After it was opened, I wasn't really sure who enjoyed the toy more, because they both really love it. Wyatt got an ESPN baseball tee, which I know he will definitely enjoy this spring!

After we got back from my parents' house, we set out milk and cookies for Santa Claus.

Reese was pretty tired, and apparently she didn't feel like moving!

This is definitely a "You can't make me do anything I don't want to!" face. I can't believe that it's now been two years since we found out that we were pregnant with her!

This is what happens when you try to get two little kids to stand together in front of the tree! Our tree this year was set up in the dining room at Brian's parents' house.

The kids were both pretty tired, and they were ready for bed. We let Wyatt stay up a little late so he could watch a Christmas show and hang out with us for a little bit. He went to bed SO excited to see what Santa Claus was going to bring!

Christmas Town at Busch Gardens

Last Saturday (after the train show), we decided to go to Busch Gardens to check out their new Christmas Town setup. We obviously love to go there during the summer, so we thought we would definitely enjoy the Christmas event. We got all bundled up and off we went.

Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of fun. The only thing that Busch Gardens was brimming with was people. The place was packed, and it was hard to move with the stroller. It was nice to see the lights, but I didn't feel like they had gone all out in setting up the Christmas theme. Maybe it's because we've gone to Disney World the last two years and seen how they really do it, but I felt kind of let down. The entire thing took up three countries, and that left everyone walking along one pathway through the park. The lines for everything were ridiculous, and it was incredibly cold (which is obviously not Busch Gardens fault, and we were expecting it).

The few positive things to come out of the evening was a nice ride on the Clydesdales for Wyatt, and some peppermint hot chocolate for me. Really. We'll probably skip Christmas Town next year. At least we got to say good bye to the horsies one more time!

Christmas Train Show

Last Saturday we went to the same train show that we had a lot of fun at last year! Wyatt's train obsession has been taken to an entirely new level over the last year, so we knew we had to go. It was the last day of the show, and we were out doing about a million things that day, so we made sure to squeeze it in while we were out.

Wyatt and Reese both really like watching the trains and looking at the set up. It was a little different then last year, because this year's them was World War 2. There were a lot of period houses and battleships and things, but there was also a neat larger set up.

Wyatt was awestruck by all the trains, and Reese just kept saying "Choo choo chain. Choo choo chain!" She likes Wyatt's train table a lot, she just prefers to destroy it and throw everything on the floor rather than actually play with it!

I kind of felt a little sick to my stomach when I saw how much Wyatt liked this inflatable. They're cute holiday decorations, but I'm not a huge fan. They're nice at night, but during the day they look like dead Santa's and reindeer in puddles on the ground. I wish Wyatt didn't like it so much. Brian's not going to want to say no, and I have no control over the what happens outside while I'm inside decorating. I suppose that's something we'll have to discuss next Christmas when we're in our new house!

Holiday Lights at the Beach!

Last Thursday the kids and I headed out to Virginia Beach to meet Brian after work so we could go to the Holiday Lights at the Beach. A trip that was only 15 minutes last year now takes us almost an hour! We picked Brian up at the park and then stopped for a little dinner at Red Robin (of course), and then headed to the Ocean Front.

The Holiday Lights have been going on for awhile, but my earliest memory is probably of loading a bunch of my friends in my Mom's van and driving us all to look at them. I can't really remember a whole lot changing in that time, but this year there was a new display called Jurassic Beach. Since our little boy is obsessed with dinosaurs, he absolutely LOVED it. He was so into everything he saw, and basically narrated the entire thing!

Here's a few fun pictures from our night!

A mermaid
The nativity. Wyatt was sitting in the back seat asking "Where'd baby Dezus go? Where's his Mommy?" He still hasn't grasped the name "Jesus," but he is getting that Christmas is Jesus' birthday. Everytime we pass a nativity he asks about him, and one of his two favorite Christmas songs is "Away in a Manger." But he calls it the "Baby Dezus song." His other favorite song is "Merry Christmas, Baby" by Hanson. Yes, we have the Hanson Christmas CD. Don't knock it until you've listened to it.

A pirate ship.

This would be the point where Wyatt saw the T-Rex....

The aforementioned T-Rex

A dinosaur train (which prompted us to sing the theme song - probably one of the best theme songs ever).

Dinosaurs decorating a Christmas tree.

And a monster truck.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Wyatt really enjoyed decorating the tree and looking at all the ornaments last week. We decorated it on a 70 degree day, so it wasn't too Christmasy, but we still had fun!

Wyatt helped Daddy put a Scooby Doo ornament on the tree
But apparently he needed a little more direction!

Here I am with one of my favorite ornaments, a star I made when I was in the second grade. I am rocking a perm in the picture in the middle because I was seriously that cool in the 80's. Who didn't have a perm?

Brian and Reesie decorating together

Reese got a little tired of the experience!

Here's one of her new ornaments this year!

Picking out our Christmas Tree!

We went to pick out our Christmas tree last Friday with Dave, Steph and Natalie. It's kind of a tradition that we all go together and pick out our tree, and we all went together again this year. We always get our tree from Hunt Club Farm, but this year it was exceptionally muddy. We didn't do a whole lot of searching, we just found one close to the edge that looked good!

Brian, Wyatt and Reese picked out the tree....
And Reese and I waited with it while the boys went to find a worker who could take care of it for us...

She loves playing with the branches (and still does)....

And then she and Natalie played while the trees were tied to our cars! I believe Natalie was trying to teach Reese that just because your parents put a hat on you, it doesn't mean it has to stay there!

After we left the lot we all went to Red Robin for dinner. I've got to tell you that yes, we are obsessed with that place, and it is the BEST place to take kids to eat. My kids aren't bad at the table, but I feel awkward if they raise their voices ever so slightly at other restaurants. I love going there because it's so kid friendly. And I like their food. And so does Brian. And Wyatt and Reese are pretty much obsessed with their grilled cheese sandwiches.

In fact, we are on our way there tonight because we are going to meet up with Daddy and head to the Holiday Lights at the Beach! Easier to meet him there and go than it is for us to wait for him to drive all the way here and back!

And as a side note: the only thing we heard about the house yesterday is that it's going to be another week before we hear anything about the house. Seriously. So we're going to look at more houses (hopefully), sometime this weekend!

Reese's 15 Month Well Baby Check Up!

Today Brian, Wyatt and I took Reese to her 15 month well baby check up with Dr. Jones. Her last check up was just after her first birthday!

Here are her stats

24 pounds, 2 ounces (68th percentile)

30.5 inches (48th percentile)

19 cm head circumference (96th percentile)

She is just slightly smaller than her brother was at 15 months, but his appointment was also when he was almost 17 months old! I can't believe that I was already 8 months pregnant when we took Wyatt to his 15 month check up. Having another baby is something that we've talked about, but have no real plan for. We take it into account in all our decisions right now: the new house, whether we'll need a new car, the timing of it all. We know we want another one, and we know we don't want a massive age difference, but there are a lot of factors that we need to figure out...like whether I'm going to keep working!

Wyatt was really excited to go to the doctor yesterday. He made sure to tell Brian, Dr. Jones and me that we were there for Reesie, not for him. To quote him, "I feel better, and don't need medicine.

Speaking of decisions and homes, we were told that we MIGHT find something out about the house we have an offer in tomorrow! Short sales are such pains in the bottom! Getting this house would be perfect, and while it would require work before we could move in, it has everything we're looking for! If we don't get it, we'll have to start looking again. Keep your fingers crossed for us!