All Boy Grant

Here's our sweet, wild, messy, dirty and hearty son. He keeps us on our toes all day long!!! Some of his favorite things are playing in dirt (#1), watching movies, driving his "car" and wrestling anything or anyone who will wrestle back!! He's mastering the art of a good tackle. He's everything that a boy should be, still he is always up for a snuggle and getting his picture taken (as seen below with his standard "cheeeeze" pose :o) He's a blessing to our family and we're enjoying watching this guy grow and learn every day.

Crazy Alexa

Some photos of my wacky, silly, smart, funny and wonderful Alexa. She's a busy bee with dance, pre-school and AWANA. We can't keep up with her ever-expanding vocabulary and ever-changing personality (can you say opinionated and independent?) She amazes us everyday. I wish we had a video record of all the things she says and does in order to savor these precious moments in her life.

Rundown...

So, yes, I know it's been FOREVER since I've blogged. It's long overdue and because it would take me FOREVER to recap all that's happened in the last few months, I'll simply share a semi-short update of both kids with you. Enjoy!

Alexa

Pic #1 Alexa outside lovin' the kiddie pool. She loved every minute of being silly and getting wet - even though the water was really freezing!!

Pic #2 Ballerina. Here she is all dressed up and ready to get her picture taken for dance. Have you ever seen a ballerina cuter than this? I didn't think so ;o)

Pic #3 Alexa and I attended a "Fancy Nancy" party at the library. She dressed herself up in anything and everything she could find to "accessorize" her outfit. Please notice the "sleeping goggles" she has on her head!

Pic #4 Here we are with Alexa's sweet, precious, new baby cousin, Elyse Taylor Besch. She is adorable and, as you can see, loved by us very much!! Alexa is very tender with her and loves to "help" take care of her. Good thing she and her family live close to us now, Aunt Sarah and Uncle Doug wouldn't know what to do without Alexa's expertise :o)

Pic #5 Alexa just being Alexa.

Grant

Pic #1 Grant on his birthday morning - he's 2 now!!!!!! He's such a delight to be around. He had no clue what this birthday business was about but decided to humor us by smiling and clapping after we would sing "Happy Birthday" to him all day long. :o)

Pic #2 In the back yard on a recent sweltering day in Iowa. The water from the hose was so cold that he would fake cry whenever he got himself wet. Next time I'll have to remember to fill those things up in the morning so they can get warm for our afternoon swim time - duh!

Pic #3 Grant with his new haircut. He loves to get into Duchess' kennel so here he is all caged up.

Pic #4 Ahhhhh... Finally sleeping in the big boy bed!!!! I think this picture was taken the middle of April so he's been a "big boy" for a few weeks now. I can't believe how smooth the transition went. Now, on to potty training... (in a few months, maybe?!)

Pic #5 Grant just being Grant.

Cheeeeeezze!

Here is Grant posing for me. I love this picture because it looks like he's snarling or something when really it's just his smile while saying "Cheeeeeeeze!" He's so cute :o)

Curls

Alexa really enjoys her "curly" hair so she has been enduring long nights sleeping in her sponge rollers. "No pain, no gain" is our motto :o)

random

Hi everyone! I have posted a few pictures of Alexa and Grant below with a blurb about each of them. We don't have any "new" news to report - which is totally okay with us :o) Everyone is healthy and happy - Praise God!!!! We're grateful for the warmer weather and can't wait to get some more "action" pictures of what's going on with us in the months to come (it's so great to get out of the house :o) We hope this blog finds all of you happy and healthy as well!

Alexa

Here are some recent pictures of our big girl! Alexa has been practicing her hula-hoop moves at school so we thought we'd try it out together the other day. She's getting the moves down pretty well but I certainly need some more practice! She just loves to hold our puppy, Duchess. She loves nothing more than to snuggle her and pretend that she is the "mama" and Duchess is her baby (and being a puppy with lots of energy, this doesn't happen too often :o) The other pictures of Alexa with the "boot" (which really belongs to my mom) on her foot and of her holding a new "Aurora" (favorite princess) Barbie doll are from Nana and Grandpa John's visit to our house. They recently returned home from France and had to bring some goodies to Alexa and Grant. Our big girl really does seem "big" these days. She attends preschool, dance, AWANA and Sunday school every week; while her schedule is pretty packed, she manages very well. She's a very tender, nurturing and comical little girl that couldn't be any sweeter!!!

Grant

Here is our big boy. Grant is a very busy guy and, as you can tell, doesn't hold still long enough for many pictures these days!! In one of the photos, he kept saying "bye bye bye bye" and tried putting his hat and shoes on so he could leave (so independent these days!) The very top picture shows him being creative in using my George Foreman drip pans as skis in the kitchen - he actually traveled pretty well on them :o) I took the plunge today and ordered him a "big boy" bed. He has managed to escape his crib a few times but, for the most part, stays put if he's tired enough. I don't want to rush this transition but I also don't want an injured toddler. It's hard to believe that he will be 2 years old in a couple of months. Our "baby" isn't such a baby anymore!! Thank goodness he still loves to snuggle his mama!!!!

reading time

Grandpa and Grandma came to visit last weekend - which is always a great time! This particular visit, Alexa requested that Grandpa do the "tucking in" with a bedtime story and snuggles. He did a great job and had both kids asleep in no time! As you can see, Alexa's bed is a favorite spot for both her and Grant to do some reading. He loves to climb up, pull on the blanket and grab a book. He doesn't have his "big boy bed" yet so he has to use her pink stuff for now ;o) It seems so strange to think of him in a regular bed soon and not having a crib around. Kind of sad but exciting at the same time (tear...)

Puppy Time!

Well, we finally took the plunge and got a puppy. Her name is Duchess Prancer Berryman and she's just adorable!! Alexa is in love with her and is always picking her up. She likes to "be in charge of Duchess" whenever I'm not supervising the potty training duties. The help is much appreciated, actually! Grant likes to softly bark at her but for the most part, totally ignores her. I think Duchess can sense this because she tries to chase him and nip at him whenever he walks through the kitchen (which is where she's confined to, most of the time.)

The Squirmy Update

I promised an update on "Squirmy," Alexa's pet caterpillar, quite some time ago. He was re-released back into the "wild" - aka our back patio - shortly before Christmas. We don't know whether or not Squirmy was still alive in a cocoon or if he was just shriveled up and crustified in the jar so we gave him back to nature to join his family and become a butterfly. Alexa seemed very fine with this idea so Clint tossed Squirmy out - literally right outside our back door. I was hoping for a more "private" release where we wouldn't see Squirmy every time we walked through the kitchen but it was cold outside and Clint wasn't going to move the caterpillar any further than where he landed. Luckily, we have had a few snowfalls since his release and he's no longer visible from the door. Just wait until the snow melts...

Christmas 2009

Here are just two pictures from Christmas this year. It seemed like a daunting task to do blog each "party" that we had so this is all you get! We had an awesome holiday and enjoyed seeing family. Santa was very gracious this year and gave Alexa a goldfish and Grant got the "Cozy Coupe" car. It's so awesome to celebrate the birth of Jesus every year. Alexa would say "Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus!" She was concerned about whether or not God made Jesus a birthday cake - I reassured her that He most certainly did. :o)

New header picture

I hope you like the new photo I put on the header. It totally cracks me up that neither of my children would look at me for the picture!

Outside finally!

After many weeks of sub-zero temperatures, we have FINALLY been able to get outside and do some much needed sledding! I've been very surprised at how long they are able to stand being out - especially Grant - he's usually the last one inside (probably because we pull him everywhere and he barely burns any calories except for giggling ;o) I hope these comfortable temperatures last for a while - cabin fever was starting to get the best of us.