Special Message for Aunt Linnie

While singing endless verses of "Willaby Wallaby" using friends and family names at dinner tonight, Willow said (unprompted) "I love Aunt Linnie. I love her." Just about melted my heart...

(This message was only slightly prompted)

(Translation: I love Aunt Linnie. Go to the doctor for your elbow. Pleeeeeeease!)

Just a "Little" Weekend Project...

This "yard" that we moved into 5 years ago...

was "upgraded" to this 3 years ago:

After giving up on Desperate Landscapes overhauling our yard, we called in the troops (aka Gramma and Gramps)...

16 tons of gravel, a slate walkway, a tree, and 40 liriope later...we have this:

Willow managed to help some:

But the back-breaking work was done THANKS to Chris, Gramma, and Gramps!

3 months

We're getting the preggo clothes down and washed this weekend!

First Memory Verse

Sure to make the grandparents proud...Willow's doing pretty well with her first memory verse from Sunday School. Here's Genesis 1:1....

Willow's Big Announcement

3 years ago:

A few weeks ago:

Willow's big announcement (coming near the end of March):

We had lots of fun sharing the big news with our family this weekend:

(The excitement of telling the big news had worn off the 2nd time around, but their excitement was the same nonetheless)

First Day of School

Willow's teacher requested a family photo be sent to school. I can't remember any family photos we have since Christmas, so it was time for the self-timer...

The usual object of the photos for the past 2+ years:

Willow goes to a new classroom this year ("Orange" room) for older 2-yr olds. She's with a lot of the same kids she was last year. Her report from Ms. Jean was that she had a great day! Her note said, "She has the best smile! When she woke up from her nap she kept looking around and just smiled and giggled." She either really likes being at school, or she's laughing at the other kids for thinking they need to take a long nap.

27th month

Here's an update from August, Willow's 27th month:

August was full of some pretty big "first"s:

- First earthquake: There was a 5.3 earthquake about 50 miles from where we live that definitely made you feel like you were riding waves! Willow was at school napping and, according to her teachers, all of the kids woke up feeling the trembling!

- First hurricane: Willow enjoyed looking out the window throughout the day with gusts of wind and heavy rain. She even weathered 4 1/2 days without power remarkably well.

- First "big girl" bed: We transitioned Willow to her "big girl" bed a couple weeks ago. She's done a GREAT job of staying in her bed. She's only gotten out once on her own and that was 20 seconds after I left the room her first night in the bed. She's still getting used to feeling completely comfortable in her bed and falling asleep quickly like she had been in her crib. A small sign that she's getting more comfortable is that in the last week she's been singing again when she wakes up (which was replaced by crying out for us during the first week in her bed).

Willow keeps us smiling on a regular basis. She's full-on playing with Alli now - chasing her around the house (Alli likes this!) and throwing her bell-ball for her. I love hearing her laugh and seeing her expressions when Alli pounces her ball. Chris told me these two stories from this week... Willow and Chris came downstairs after her nap and Chris asked her what she'd like for snack. Her response: "Willow eat.....I want....Willow eat...something red!" Another day, while playing outside Willow had created this "computer" out of blocks:

She set it on the chair next to Chris, poked it a few times, and said, "I check my email." She then proceeded to pretend to watch Elmo videos on YouTube ("See another Elmo.").

Last Day of School

In Willow's daycare they switch "classes" on the first day of school for public schools. Yesterday was her last day of school in the Red Room. She's definitely grown up a lot during the past year!

Here's a pic of her at the beginning of the year:

And here she is with her teacher, Ms. Libby, on her last day:

Singing

Willow is still fairly reserved when we're out in public but really lets her hair down at home. Lately she loves being in front of the camera (as opposed to when I would have to video tape her singing on the monitor!) and will immediately say "See that?"

Here's her rendition of the Hokey Pokey:

And the ABC song:

"Mary Had a Little Lamb" with accompaniment!

Hurricane Irene

I'm finally able to come back to post a few things since we got our power back after being "in the dark" for 4 1/2 days. Thankfully we didn't have any damage to our house (just a lot of limbs down in our yard) but there were a lot of huge trees down in our neighborhood and the surrounding areas leaving over 400,000 people out of power in our city. Willow was a trooper through it all and we would often chant "Come back lights. Come back lights." Needless to say, we were all VERY excited to find our power back on today!

A view out the front door during part of the storm:

A tree split in half and fell in the street on our block:

One street away:

We had two days of school cancelled, so Willow and I enjoyed our extra days of summer play! Here are some pics from the Children's Museum:

Alli cat says "Come back lights!"