January in a post

It has been a busy month. And apparently I can't keep up with the blogging world with two kids. Who knew it would be so hard to find the time. Anyway, we had a fun and fabulous month. Colette is getting so big. Calder loves preschool and is getting so big. Jason worked a lot and I swept the floor a lot. A lot. Anyway, here is our month in pictures.

 Calder is "working in a lab" in the above picture.

 And sharing his toys.

 Calder is so big he wants to sit in his own seat on the metro.

 And Colette is so big she wants to go shopping.

 January brought some really nice days. We took full advantage of them.

 I'm sure I've mentioned before how fabulous Calder's preschool is. He is outside for 2 hours most days and sometimes he is outside for the full three hours. They hike the 40 acres and learn all sorts of things about nature and animals. I couldn't imagine a better fit for Calder.

 And this is what his boots look like a lot of times when he comes home. He plays hard.

 January also brought some snow. This is one of my favorite things about DC. In January you have 60+ degree days and you have snow (most years). It is perfect for me.

 Colette loves to pretend to drive. This is her "picking Calder up from preschool"

 Calder and his friend Charlie went to Build A Bear for the first time. They let you put a heart in the bear that you've hugged and loved. I don't remember the whole saying but it is really cute.

 And then you get to wash and dry your new friend.

Christmas

 Wow. I sure didn't take a lot of pictures when we went to Oregon for Christmas. It was fabulous and fun. Calder didn't hold still much because there were awesome cousins to play with. In the above picture they are pretending to be Mary, Joseph and an angel.

 The kids were so thrilled to open gifts at both Grandma's houses. They are so spoiled.

It was so great to see everyone and be with family. Calder keeps asking when we can go back.

Pictures with Santa

For the third year in a row we went to the Ellipse just down the hill from the White House to visit Santa and his workshop (for free, might I add). And once again we didn't wait in line. It was awesome. We got there right as they were opening and were actually the first kids in line. There were 5-6 adults before us who wanted to get their pictures with Santa. 

Calder insisted Colette go first. She happily sat on his lap and took a picture. It was obvious her happiness was about to tank just in time for Calder's turn. He was so giddy. He jumped right up and smiled for his picture and then told Santa he wanted a rocket and space station for Christmas. One of my favorite things about Christmas with Calder is his surprise requests from Santa. Last year he kept insisting he wanted a certain toy and then told Santa he wanted a drum. He had never mentioned a drum before. This year he has mentioned the rocket before but Santa doesn't buy anything until Calder tells him what he wants. He is also very vague. Calder hasn't seen a toy rocket and space station at the store that he wants. He just thinks having one would be cool. 

After Calder's turn they invited Colette back to do a cute sibling picture. And cute it is. She totally lost it.

As we were leaving I asked Calder what would happen if Santa didn't get him what he asked for. He said "I wouldn't be disappointed, I would still be really happy!"

Movie and the New House

 Calder recently went to the movie theatre for the first time. He absolutely loved it. Funny enough Colette went for her first time too. It's funny how the second kid doesn't have to wait as long for such activities. We saw Kung Foo Panda 2.

 Here are a few pictures of the new house before we moved in. We moved about a mile from the apartment. It is still walkable to the metro and will actually be about $500 cheaper than the apartment. We love this house a lot and are having so much fun here. 

 Calder loved helping the cable guy. I think the cable guy looks like Weird Al. 

 We play croquet. 

 Blow and rake leaves. 

 Climb trees. 

 Ride bikes in the basement. 

And catch caterpillars. This house is so perfect for what we need right now. I'll take real pictures and give a little tour soon.

Halloween

 So Halloween happened. Calder was a pirate, Colette was a parrot. It was fabulous and fun.

 We carved a pumpkin. 

These kids are fabulous and I love them!

Calder's Birthday

 About a month ago Calder turned 4. I know. It's lame I'm just now blogging about it. Anyway he did a pirate theme and he only wanted to invite two families. I am trying really hard to let him be in control of his birthday, so that is what we did. It happened to be a week before we moved so I appreciate that it was pretty low key. We went on a treasure hunt, had a barbeque and ate a pirate birthday cake. Unfortunately Calder was so anxious and excited he threw up right before dinner. Let me tell you, nothing shuts down a party like the birthday boy throwing up. We quickly cleaned him up, plowed through dinner, cake and presents and our guests ran out the door. Just kidding. It wasn't that bad. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I am so incredibly thankful for so many things.  I am blessed with a fabulous and beautiful life. I love my sweet husband and appreciate all he does to make our life happy. We have two beautiful kids that I feel so honored to be their mother. I am so thankful for the love and joy they bring to my life. I'm thankful for our parents who raised us and taught us to work hard and set goals. I am so thankful for so very much and enjoyed spending the day thinking about how lucky I am.

Here are some pictures of life lately:

 We took a boat tour of the Anacostia River this summer. They required that each person on the boat wear a life jacket. Colette's was very cute. 

 Calder pretending to be an elephant. 

 Visiting museums with Calder's great friend Charlie. 

 Colette sizing up with her friend Caelen. They are one day apart. 

 Calder and Charlie had a paint party. Calder loved it. Charlie tolerated it. 

 This massive poop-splosion happened at church. Nice. 

 Jump time. 

 Talk like a pirate day at Krispy Kreme. Calder got a free box of donuts for dressing like a pirate. He was thrilled.

 This happened not far from our house. 

 I woke up to feed Colette at 3:00 in the morning and found Calder here. He said he woke up and thought it was close to morning so he was just going to sit here and wait. 

 Skating

 Golfing

 Crabbing

 There is a really fun place in DC called The Playseum. We have been there 3 or 4 times and we love it. They let you decorate cupcakes, make lip gloss, do art work and a ton of other activities. There are also tons of little rooms with toys and books. Oh and a little grocery store. It is the perfect indoor play area.

 Abe goes to the Playseum. Colette loves Abe.