4 months of cuteness

4 months of Penelope cuteness and Adelaide silliness on Fairway Village.

Adelaide surprised me when I walked into the living room and found her showing her flashcards to Penelope.  She kept repeating the words to P and asking her to repeat it to her.  At that moment I didn't know if I should laugh or cry.

Penelope started eating her baby food at 4 months which was pure entertainment in our house.  She is not a fan of the rice cereal, but I am sure that she will get the hang of it.  Adelaide is also my little helper girl, P doesn't get a meal without A trying to shove the spoon into her mouth.

New trick courtesy of Daddy - A now stores her snacks in the pockets of her pajamas.  All fun and games until there is mooshy food in the washing machine.

Fall Happenings

When I was working and dreaming about staying home with Adelaide the one reason I wanted to try staying home was in order to create my own schedule.  Oh the idea of not driving in rush hour traffic and to be able to come and go when I pleased.  HAHAHAHA - didn't happen!  With two little girls I found that there was very little time in the day that we weren't scheduled to be somewhere or I was willing to get everyone packed up and taken on an outing.  Did I mention that there seemed to be little time in the day that wasn't dedicated to someone eating, napping or whining?

On a very positive note, Adelaide was still very happy going to preschool.  The preschool was awesome about sending home crafts, having theme days and really keeping the kids engaged.  A is finally starting to sleep in a little bit and the jealousy of P is getting better.  We also had a few fun play dates with our other stay at home friends.  Penelope is continuing to be the chunk of the family and extremely active.  There was no point during the day where I could leave her in one place and come back a moment later and she still be there.  

Crazy hat day at school

Who needs a mat when I can sit next to it?

IHOP dates here and there, yum.

 November brought a lot of birthdays to the family.  This year we decided against birthday gifts for Russ and instead introduced the family to Orsay.  Orsay is one of Grant and I's favorite local restaurants and now I think it may be a favorite for a few more people.

Proud Daddy

Happy Birthday!

Look behind A - that is P pulling A's hair and no that is not a smile on A that is mid scream.

Another foggy day in the backyard.

Play date with Bella

A LOVE LOVE LOVES Lukey and Ms Jenny

Already a little dare devil.

 Adelaide came home from school one day singing a turkey song.  We went along with the words that she taught us and then we went to school for her Thanksgiving luncheon and found out that she had been combining a bunch of lyrics and made up her own song.  You had to start the song with your hands behind your back and as you sang the first two lines you raise your thumbs up in the air from behind your back.  If you didn't start this way A would yell and make you start over again.

Make the turkey
Make the turkey
Get a big mouth full
Get a big belly
Don't eat the cake.

drumstick hats

Peek a boo Pretty Penelope

Thanksgiving 2011

Looks like I got a little ahead of myself with my blog posts because I forgot to post about our Thanksgiving weekend.  Another year, another visit from the Mesicks and a little bit of fun for all.  This was the first Thanksgiving in a while that I was able to be off from work for more than a day at Thanksgiving.  Of course this holiday season I wasn't working, so I had weeks and weeks to celebrate the great turkey day.  To celebrate Thanksgiving we decided to make it a 5 day holiday!  

Wednesday started with a girls outing to Sweet Pete's candy company in Springfield.  Springfield isn't the best part of Jacksonville, it is the stereotypical part of downtown that was at one time filled with beautiful houses, but now is covered in homeless people and chain linked fences.  A few years ago when the housing market was at its peak a few brave people went in and rehabbed these amazing homes including turning one home into a candy factory.

To mark the start of Christmas we went to Pete's to take in all of their awesome holiday decorations and candy canes!  Yep, we participated in a private candy cane pull and everyone loved it.  A full morning of sister and cousin bonding.  

So Wednesday was candy and Thursday was turkey!  Thanksgiving is my ultimate favorite holiday.  It is an excuse to wear elastic waistbands, eat until I want to puke and there is the joy of family without the stress of gift giving (except for the little ones).  Anyone else notice the pattern in my immediate family...no boys!  That's right, the women in this family have the power of numbers which does have its advantages.  If all of the Sewell girls weren't enough we also had to special guests this year...two more ladies, Christan and Autumn.  

The incredible edible turkey!

Eating, vegging and hanging out on Thursday led to shopping at the outlets at midnight on Thursday and then a sleepy day on Friday.  The problem with crazy woman shopping on Black Friday is that you end up spending too much money and the next day the kids don't exactly let you sleep in.  The good thing is that this year we had the two best babysitters you could ask for!  Brooke and Adelaide were attached at the hip and Hannah was the best big cousin to Penelope.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday AND now SATURDAY!  Saturday is Riverside Arts Market shopping day.  I love arts markets when the breeze is blowing, the crafts are cute and there are plenty of friends and family to enjoy it all with.  This year there was a special surprise for Adelaide, butterflies!

Next years wish to me and my family - a new tradition - Thanksgiving in my new house.  Fingers crossed for now!

Christmas is starting

Thanksgiving is over and the Christmas month was off to a great start.  Adelaide has been going to preschool at a local non denominational church which has great activities for everyone.  This was the first year that we went to their live nativity.  All of the live nativity scenes we have gone to in the past have been pretty basic walk up, see it and then leave.  Well this years was completely different.

We arrived to a Christian rock concert, a professional photography taking photos (we weren't dressed for it) and then we were guided to the nativity by our Shepherd.  The long wait in line ended up being well worth the time because this event was awesome.  There were live animals everywhere and the nativity was more of a story which had multiple stops and scenes.  Grant and I agreed that we would definitely be going to this event every year.  

The pictures below don't give the event the justice that it deserves, but you can see us checking out the petting zoo at the end.

Yep, this camel was really just hanging out in Fleming Island.

Our guide for the evening.

A wasn't so sure about this pet the animal part of the evening.