Batter Up!

Here's some long over-due video of my future Major League player. Landen loved t-ball and was sad that the spring session was over, but he starts the summer session next month. We are definitely looking forward to it! Two warnings...1. The video is on the longer side and not too exciting. I even got a little bored watching it since I saw it live. So it will probably only be really entertaining to aunts and grandparents. 2. Sorry for not holding the camera steady but my camera-hog daughter was trying to get me to take her picture while I was recording.

Other than that...Enjoy!

And just because I love his face so much...



"This is the story about a boy named Teddy. If his mother said 'Teddy be good.' He would (alright)." The Beatles

Pretty Cheesy Baby

Almost 17 months later and the child still doesn't talk very much, at all really. But she is completely able to have conversations with us through sounds, hand gestures, facial expressions, and pointing. Here's a mini convo my sweet Lana and I had outside yesterday during her first encounter with our Sand & Water table. I cut out most of my first question to her but it was just me asking if she was having fun...

Lana is such a little toddler these days! Here's a few fun facts about our daughter:
*She is ALL GIRL- likes to have her hair done, have her toes "pedicured," have pretty shoes on, likes to sing and dance, sleeps with lots of stuffed animals, gives her babies a bottle, and likes to pretend to put on mommy's make-up.
*Her BFF is a stuffed bunny that has come to be known as "Pink Bunny." She carries it around EVERYWHERE with her. After almost losing it once and dealing with meltdowns for it, I ran out and bought a replacement so she doesn't know it, but now 2 Pink Bunnies exist in this house, one "just-in-case."
*She has a scream reserved just for when her big bro is bothering her. It's very distinct. I'm one of those moms that can call out "Landen, leave Lana alone" from the other room without having actually seen him bothering her because of that yell.
*Lana is the messiest baby I know. I can't keep her clean for a second, or leave her alone in a clean room for more than a minute without walking back in to toys scattered everywhere. I swear I spend most of my day picking up after her. The only contradiction here is she hates for her hands to be dirty.
*Lana is so pretty she can melt the hearts of the grumpiest of people. I'll never forget the time we were in the self check-out lane at Lowes and the line monitor was this big mean looking man. I was holding Lana who all of a sudden starting giggling and when I looked to see why I saw "Mr. Big-Mean-Looking-Man" playing peek-a-boo with Lana from 15 feet away. He actually then came over to me to coo at her! Funniest thing ever.
*If any part of your belly is showing, be prepared for Lana to give it raspberries.
*She is very very sweet. Quick to hug and kiss when the opportunity arises.

Hope everyone enjoyed this little window into my world with my baby girl! I have to now go pick up the contents of my diaper bag which she so kindly spread around the living room for me.

"Is there anybody going to listen to my story all about the girl who came to stay?" The Beatles

Go, Cubs, Go!

Being the "Best Wife Ever" that I am, I bought Neil Cubs tickets for his 30th birthday. We were at the game this past Saturday with our friends Amy and Mike, while the kiddos hung out with my parents. We got very lucky and had perfect baseball weather! Definitely was a good time. Oh and of course the Cubbies won. Here are some photos from our adult-only outing...




Sidebar...starting the wave, even with a pretty good sized section willing to give it a go, is not as easy as it looks. :)

"And our friends are all aboard, many more of them live next door, and the band begins to play..." The Beatles

The Long Awaited Vacation Pics

Earlier this month we took a mini-vacation as a family of four to the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells. We were a bit nervous about the four hour drive to get there and back but our amazing children astounded us again by being perfect angels both ways! The resort was great and just what Neil and I needed! The kids also had a wonderful time and were both little fish in the water park by the last day. My favorite part was the food of course and Neil enjoyed getting time with his family since school and work have kept him very busy. Beware of the photo overload!

A quick snack of "Dirt and Worms" after our first visit to the indoor waterpark...

The result was one very sugared up and messy faced Lana!

Landen thought it was the greatest to jump from one bed to the other.

And apparently I'm not as funny as I thought I was since this was the reaction I got when I was attempting to make them laugh...

Notice Lana contemplating her association with the boys...

Decision made to scoot over so as to not be confused as related to them...

Happy on the carousel....

Driving...

I later discovered that look she gave us on the golf course was her plotting how to get to keep those balls. She succeeded...I found them when we got home in my diaper bag.

Daddy and baby...

Mommy and baby...

Why was she so happy?

Oh yeah, because she just finished flashing people on the sky walk.

Riding on the luggage carts was a favorite activity...

Happy on the rhino...


Me and my big babe!

Sweet love...

Blending in on the ferris wheel...


I love this face!

Feeling grown up with his legs in the hot tub...

Doesn't she look so grown up here?!

Ready for the pool again!

My happy guy...

"The magical mystery tour is waiting to take you away, waiting to take you away..." The Beatles

Easter Sunday 2009

Hope everyone had a happy Easter! Despite Neil and I being exhausted from having just gotten back from our vacation we all had a great day!

Landen was happy that Mr. Rabbit came but not exactly thrilled that he forgot to bring a toy car...

Lana digging into her basket...

All dressed up!




The Alcorn and Heath family kiddos. We missed Owen!

Look what a difference a year makes...Easter 2008...

Easter egg hunt goodies!

Baby Colin making for a very sweet bunny!

"Golden slumbers fill your eyes. Smiles await you when you rise..." The Beatles

Easter Egg Hunt

This morning we took the kids to an Easter Egg Hunt at a local park. Neil and I were a bit skeptical about the event being worthwhile since there was a ton of people but once the "hunt" started (side-bar...not much of a hunt since the eggs were just scattered all over a baseball field), we actually had fun. Both of the kids got a good amount of eggs, and Neil and I got lots of laughs with our silly children.




This was before the hunt but I just wanted everyone to see how long her pigtails are getting!

"I've got nothing to say but it's okay...Good morning, good morning!" The Beatles

It's a bird, it's a plane...it's Super Baby!

How it all started...her idea...

Then she got more ideas...all on her own...

It wasn't pleasant when the cape or glasses fell off and it was absurd of me to suggest to her that we change clothes so the shoes would at least make sense. She walked around like this all day long.

Oh and in case you are wondering; Lana's Kryptonite is teething. She is now the proud owner of two new molars!

"Well I love you, baby, and you ought to know I like the way you wear your clothes. Everything about you is so doggone sweet..." The Beatles