Last half of January

I have lots of random pictures from the past couple weeks in January. I'll start with all the fun we've been able to have outside. It certainly doesn't look like the middle of winter here!

Addie's been wanting to blow bubbles and have the bubble machine on a lot lately when we've been outside. Good entertainment for Bryce too :)

 Walking the rest of the way home after a ride in the stroller. She insisted on carrying her purse :)

 Fun at the park after a Stroller Strides class. 

Later that same day we were back to the park again! Bryce has the biggest smile when he's swinging.

One warm morning we went to River Legacy Park. This was our first time here. It's a little bit of a drive for us, but the park is definitely worth the drive!

Grandpa Holman visited us for a couple days after his business trip in Denton. He had packed a suitcase full of the toys they had gotten in Ohio for Christmas since we were not able to take everything back with us on the plane. It was like Christmas all over again! Addie had lots of fun playing with her toy sandwich food with Grandpa.

Bryce playing with his little driving toy that he had gotten for Christmas. He loves this toy!

Addie was happy to see her tent in Grandpa's suitcase...

 Bryce wanted to go in too!

More pictures....I'll start with ADDIE:

This month she's made a lot of progress with potty training! I think I can say now that she is fully potty trained (except for at night). The past week and a half she has been wearing underwear all day and just one diaper at night. She's very proud of herself and I am too! It is so nice to now only be changing diapers for Bryce.

One of her new favorite things to do is to sit and cut up a piece of paper. She'll sit there for sometimes 30-45 minutes just cutting up paper. It's a good quiet, hand/eye coordination activity :) 

Addie can pester Ziva quite a bit sometimes, but Ziva should love Addie. She keeps her food bowl piled high and is always wanting to give her treats. If it were up to Addie, Ziva would be eating treats all day long :)

 Playing with Ziva...

We had a credit at Best Buy so I bought the Disney's Just Dance for the Wii for Addie...(and maybe for myself too ;) )...So far she's not too into doing it herself...but certainly liked watching Mommy do it ;) 

I had to take a picture of this tonight to show her years later when laundry probably won't seem like so much fun anymore. She thought this was the best thing being able to put the laundry in the washer and was so excited about it :)

On days when Stroller Strides is inside we're at the Mansfield Activities Center. After class the kids can go over and play at Toddler Time where one of Addie's favorite things to do is jump in the bounce house. Here is Addie and her friend Keira releasing all their energy! :)

Now for some pictures of BRYCE:

Happy after bath

Excited for a warm day outside

Who knew two little raspberries could make such a big mess!

Just like his Daddy, he wants the buttons!

 Playing with toy food while Mommy cooks dinner.

 Playing at the MAC after Stroller Strides.

Loves eating Mum Mums!

That sums up January. We're looking forward to lots of fun in February!

Over the past week...

Since we have been back from our trip to Ohio, we've had some really cold days where we've spent a lot of time inside playing and cuddling with blankets...

staying in PJ's until at least noon...

and making waffles for breakfast, which Bryce loved. He has liked everything he has eaten so far. With Addie she would get fussy at meal times at Bryce's age because she didn't want to eat. With Bryce, he gets fussy if I don't feed him fast enough! :)

In Texas the weather is always up and down especially during winter. We've been lucky to have a few afternoons of 60, almost 70 degree weather. On Friday I went out for a run with the kids in the stroller and then Addie was excited to get on her Strider bike and play when we got back home. It was in the 60's, but she still wanted to wear her new winter boots ;)

Bryce had fun just sitting and watching Addie and playing with a leaf :)

Today, Craig and I ran and walked with the stroller and then Addie was ready to practice her t-ball skills when we were done.

Bryce, again, was happy sitting and watching everything.

On January 19th it was Uncle Drew's birthday, so we made a picture birthday card that morning. Getting them both to smile and sit still at the same time is almost impossible so I included a few of the action shots.

We also recently got a Costco membership. Saturday we went on a little shopping spree, stocking up on a lot of household bulk items. One of my favorite things about this place is the double cart seat. I wish every store had this!

With all of the bulk items we got, I had to reorganize the pantry to make some room. Thanks to Pinterest, I found the idea of putting a hang on the door shoe holder on the inside of the pantry door to store more items. Addie enjoyed helping put things in the pockets :)

Bedtime story with Addie

Here's a little clip of Addie "reading" to me tonight before bed. She's so good at memorizing some books!

Bryce - 7 months

Another month has gone by. It's January 15th and Bryce is now 7 months old!
New things over the past month:
* Two new bottom teeth.
* Sitting very well on his own. While playing he is almost always sitting.
* Eating solids like a champ! So far he has liked everything I have given him!
* Sleeping in his crib in his room. He's given me a few full nights of sleep! Bedtime is 7:30pm.
* Says "ma ma" especially if someone else is holding him and he sees me in the room. Also babbling a lot "ba ba ba."
* Starting to notice some separation anxiety. Cries when he sees me leave the room and when I return. He's still good about letting others hold him.

He likes:
* being tossed in the air by Daddy.
* watching Addie.
* eating/nursing.
* sitting and playing with toys.

He dislikes:
* putting a winter coat on.
* being put in his car seat.
* having his mouth wiped up after eating.

He still smiles at everyone :)

Ohio Trip January 2013

This past week we traveled back home to visit family in Ohio. Our first big trip with all four of us!
We left for the airport late Thursday morning. The most stressful part of the trip was carrying all of our luggage through the airport. With two small kids, it's hard to pack light! We were relieved once we finally reached our gate, could put all our bags down and relax a little!

Bryce did great on his first flight. Cried some towards the end, but nothing to bad. The people around us commented to us that they were great! We arrived to a cold, snow covered Ohio. Addie was so excited to see snow again!

Addie did great on the plane too. She has flown at 1yr, 18 months & 2 1/2. This time was the easiest to keep her entertained and she had her own seat.

We flew into Dayton where Craig's mom picked us up. We then drove to Loveland, Ohio where we stayed at the Beachy's (Craig's aunt & uncle's) for a couple days and had a family Christmas. They made Addie and Bryce feel right at home with lots of toys to play with! When we left their house Addie said "I had fun at that house!" :)

Bryce got to meet his Great Grandma & Grandpa Knox for the first time.

We didn't spend a lot of time outside, but when we did we bundled up!

Friday January 4th was Craig's 27th birthday. We celebrated that night with a Tres Leches cake...his favorite! Addie helped decorate it with pink Barbie candles ;)

Saturday, Hollynn Photography came to the house to take family pictures. The pictures we've seen so far have been great!

caption this one! Bryce is always watching his sister...sometimes he must think she's crazy ;) 

We opened gifts later that afternoon.

Grandma was happy to have lots of snuggle time!

Saturday night we left the Beachy's and made the 3 1/2 hour drive to Wauseon. Both Addie and Bryce slept most of the way. When we got back at 11 they were both wide awake and ready to play...so we opened stockings and presents!

Bryce really didn't need any new toys...he was happy with the wrapping paper :)

Bryce got his own chef hat to match Addie's. Now they can both be little chefs in their play kitchen.

Trying out her new pink remote control car.

Bryce got a little tractor he can eventually scoot around on...Addie loved it too :)

Finally at 2am we were all in bed! The next day we had the Holman family Christmas. Bryce got to meet a lot of family for the first time.

Wednesday we went to Bryan to spend the day visiting Great Grandma & Grandpa Roan. Addie was quiet for the first few minutes of being there, but was eventually running around the house and had her Great Grandma running right along with her! 

In a couple years this smiley guy will be doing the same!

Addie and Bryce enjoyed Great Grandpa's chair while he was out getting pizza.

Thursday we went over to Great Grandma & Grandpa Holman's house to visit. Both enjoyed holding Bryce for the first time.

Here's just a few more pictures...

Bryce relaxing in his new buckeye gear in Grandpa Holman's chair.

Breakfast time and Grandma & Grandpa's.

When we first arrived Addie was a little unsure of being around Abbey, but by the end of the trip she was always petting her and wanting to play with her. She even got her to sit! 

Here's Addie with Abbey last year.

Friday morning we left early in the morning to drive to the airport in Dayton. We all had a great visit and are hoping to go back sooner than a year from now! 

They thought it was pretty fun to sit in the same seat before we took off. They both did great during the whole flight back.