Happy Birthday, Shelby!

this is what 15 looks like!

giddy up!

Dance Dance Revolution Leo style!

Sophia made balloons for her and Leo

Thanks, Big Sis, this is awesome!!

Today we celebrated Shelby's 15th birthday...wow...it's hard to believe she's that old! I was a freshman in college...yikes! We didn't get to hang too long, sadly, because Sophia and Leo were having so much fun, but it was past bed time and Leo has quite a cough going on...I really, really hope it doesn't turn into anything more serious, especially this week. Ugh. She's a great big cousin and we wish her many more years of greatness! For the record, we also visited the other birthday girl today, who shall remain nameless for the fact that she hates her birthday...but we tried to instill some birthday spirit by dropping off yummy chocolates at her office! ;)

More Fun Visits with the Grandma!

This pose just cracked me up!! She was combing her pony's hair.

3 cuties watching TV!

Hey, Grandma, what's shakin'?

the closet door leads to many minutes of fun! Open. Close. Open. Close

Since Grandma B's recent health scare this fall, I feel like I've been documenting our time with her more than normal, and I'm okay with it! I'm certainly not counting her out yet, but I want to make sure I have plenty of fun moments for the kids to look at and remember! Today I really got some good ones I thought! They are just too funny! They each had fun and I continue to marvel at the novelty of Grandma B's apartment...I mean if I were to keep them in one room with a small basket of toys for an hour and half, there's no way they would be this happy! ;)

Sliding + French Fries= Awesome!

Andres contemplating his best route

Juan doing some fun sliding

Sophia taking Andres under her wing!

although you wouldn't tell by the looks of those locks, there was no wind inside the play land! LOL!

My friend Cari just brought her wonderful boys home from Colombia a few months ago (August I think??) and we always have fun playing with them! We live about 40 minutes apart, which isn't too big of a deal, but usually we meet in the middle and the McDonald's playland is a perfect compromise! Juan is 4.5 and Andres is just about to turn 3. Sophia and Juan get along very well and the language barrier seems to be no issue for the two of them! Although their English improves drastically each time I see them, I guess you don't need to talk when you can climb, and chase, and slide! Yay for friends!

Silly Snowmen

Sophia and Isabelle perfecting their snowman stamp pictures
Luca cleaning himself up after his masterpiece

onto project #2

time for lunch!

It was our turn for craft day again and we did a snowman theme! The first project was a snowman snowscape! The kids used some stamps (that I had made for last year's Christmas Party) made from round furniture pads that they dipped in white paint, hats that we dipped in blue and then topped them off with paper carrot noses and felt scarves. For the second craft we did a kit to make a snowman door hanger. For lunch?? Why we had snowman pizzas, of course! We haven't had much snowfall here yet so Sophia's hoping that we get at least some! I'm happy without it, that's for sure, but she insists that this year she really is ready to go out and play in the snow...we'll see!

15 Month Check Up

Coordinating his balloon to his outfit? He is my child!

using some of his Christmas body paints!

showing home team pride! Go Chiefs!

Leo had his 15 month check up Tuesday and everything went great, as expected! He's growing like a champ and continues to pretty much be off the charts. They don't even give us the percentile ranks anymore! LOL! We love our pediatrician and he really loves our kids, so that helps! I, of course, had some questions about Leo's development since he has yet to use a spoon, wave bye-bye, say more than 3 words consistently, etc. Mostly I really do just think it's his personality. I think he's just too busy to worry about the details, but as a mom, I just want to see him growing in that way too. He can do the things I've listed above, I think, but since they are so few and far between I'm just not sure if it's a choice or because he really can't do it. I know I sound like a broken record with this stuff and most of you think I need to relax, and you're probably right, but I'm a worrier. Anyway, the doctor was not at all worried and laughed out loud when he gave Leo a toy duck and Leo did his happy dance. If you haven't seen the happy dance in person, try and make it happen because it is way cute and would give anyone the giggles, so I guess I do just need to relax!

Leo is 30lbs 12oz and 33" tall.

In other news, Leo did take a trip to the ER last night. He is fine, as expected, but we had to be sure. He took a little tumble and bonked his head pretty hard. He had a huge goose egg pop right up and his little face was a bit blue, so Charlie took him in and although they had to wait absolutely forever to be seen, he was given a clean bill of health. The doctor on duty didn't even feel it was necessary to do any x-rays or scans since Leo passed his head injury "test". We did of course have to wake him up during the night to make sure, but it's worth it to know your baby is okay! He is so busy that sometimes I wonder how he stays intact. He truly is our one man destruction team, but we love him!

Bowling!

Sophia's one attempt at "free" bowling...it took a long time for that ball to go, eventually we had to retrieve it.

Leo ran crazy around the alley

hey...what's in there!

(don't worry...A. he wasn't as close as it looks in this picture and B. it was turned off!)

look for this in the next Overland Park Bowlers Calendar

aaaah, yes, meet our friend, The Ramp

On New Year's Day we headed to the bowling alley! We hadn't been in a long, long time and we all had fun. Sophia was excited to bowl and Leo was just plain excited, as usual. He ran around like a crazy person trying to pick up all the bowling balls and crying when he couldn't. He would have run down the alleys to hit the pins himself if we'd have let him. By about the 5th frame Charlie and I had our routine down and it got a lot easier! Sophia did very well and I may have bowled my best game ever with a 160! Our sanity only allowed for one game, and that one game took forever anyway, so until next time, bowling alley!

Rockin' New Year's Eve

3 Wild and Crazy Girls!
Lauren and Jill

here, Ladies, let me show you how it's done.

Jill's festive table!

what a family picture, huh?!

at least someone knows how to sit still and smile!

me and my girl!

Aubrey getting festive!

weeeeeeeeeeee!

love this picture!!!

Girl party!

and this is really what the party looked like...crazies blowing blowers at each other and running wild! Aaaah, the good times!

Jill hosted our 'family' Christmas this year and we combined it with a fun New Year's Eve dinner. She made jalapeno corn chowder, which was way yummy, grilled cheese for the kiddos, and the main attraction: party hats! We all had a great time and let the kids bring in the year...a little bit early...like around 7:30! ;) That's the beauty of kids who can't tell time, you can still boss 'em around! We headed home and put our two kiddos to bed. After that Mom, Stacy, Meredith, and Shelby came over to play games. We had a fun night with them too. It was very relaxed and just nice to hang out. I opened the champagne about 11:30 for fear that we wouldn't drink all of it if I waited until midnight...we'd all be ready for bed! Happy New Year!