Gator girls

Yesterday was a relatively quiet day -- we went to the playground, came back and swam in the pool, and then the girls got dressed in their new Gator outfits that Aunt Gail and Uncle JB gave them on Thanksgiving for their birthdays. Too cute! Pop joined us for a leftover Thanksgiving dinner last night and we're meeting up with him in Melbourne today to walk the beach, play at the beachside playground and have lunch downtown.

Turkey day

We had a fun morning yesterday, watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on tv while the turkey cooked in the oven and we readied the house (and ourselves) for company. Nora didn't seem to excited to put the turkey in the oven...I think she's so used to seeing pictures of live turkeys with feathers on them that it was hard for her to comprehend poor old Tom's fate. It was the usual fun, boisterous Birney gathering, although the party ended a little earlier than usual since everyone was concerned about their long drives home and Mom and Alli had to leave the house this morning at 4 am so that Alli could make her 6:30 flight back home. It's strangely calm and quiet in the house now; as I type, Mom, Dad and Matty are busy hanging Xmas lights and decorations outside while Nora watches Noggin and Caroline naps. We're looking forward to Pop Pop's visit this afternoon through tomorrow and more swimming in the pool. I have a ton of pictures to share from the past 2 days, so here goes!

Wii're having fun in the sun!

After a somewhat stressful departure from Norfolk early Monday morning, we have had nothing but rest, relaxation and fun since we got to Florida. It's been great so far...the girls have been in the pool everyday (sorry, no pool pics yet!) and have been bonding with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Alli, Uncle Matty and Great Grandma. We visited Uncle Matty's new place in Port St. Lucie yesterday (see photo of Grandma and Nora, doing a homegirl pose (???), outside of his apt. building) and came home to Great Grandma's delicious homemade chicken and noodles dinner. Then we presented Grandma and Grandpa with their big Christmas present -- a Wii game system and Wii Fit. They were thrilled! We played a few games last night and gave Nora a try at bowling. She loved it, and it was the first thing she asked to do this morning (and she's playing with Aunt Alli and Uncle Matty as I type). Uh oh...could this be the beginning of the end?!

Aunt Nancy's visit

We had so much fun spending time with Aunt Nancy this past weekend. Although Nora did not score big points with Nancy when she greeted her with "I like Aunt Katie," we chalked it up to being an innocent mistake, and Nancy and Nora bonded the whole weekend. They had a particularly fun time painting purple pictures yesterday afternoon, while Mommy tried to take a cat nap. Aunt Nancy was so good to us -- she made a pot of tomato sauce and homemade meatballs on Friday night, which we proceeded to eat all weekend long; she vacuumed not once, but twice!; she changed diapers, one of them being particularly bad; she played games with us, and stayed up to hang out with me and Bernadette one night, watch t.v. and a movie. Last night, we went to go see the holiday drive-through light display at the Botanical Gardens with Nancy and Bernadette. They were beautiful! We really missed you, Mike...I have such fond memories of driving through it for the first time with you and the girls last year. Although Nora and Caroline were starting to doze off as we pulled into the Gardens, they both perked up as soon as we passed the first light display and their eyes were glued to the car windows the whole time. We're looking forward to visiting the Rudmann clan this week for Thanksgiving...stay tuned, as I'm sure there will be lots of pictures to share this week!

Kids 1, Mom 0

They win again. It's 11 p.m. and I am beat - they're wearing me out! I fell asleep with Nora as I put her to bed tonight, but got up to shut off the downstairs lights, balance the checkbook, and post a little on the blog, and then I'm going to crawl back into bed. It wasn't a bad day - it just seemed like it went on forever. Caroline is sick and/or teething, so she is stuffed up, running a slight fever, drooling like crazy, not eating much of anything, and pretty miserable. Nora's been skipping her naps, which means long afternoons for me (but earlier bedtimes). I've started putting in a movie for her to watch in the mid-afternoon, in the hopes that she will eventually snooze a little. It worked today -- she fell asleep on the couch at around 3 (in her Cinderella dress...the fourth day in a row she's asked to wear it) and napped until 4, which is when Taylor came over to play the new game "Hullabaloo" that we got from the Dubas (which Nora LOVES!). Caroline cried for about an hour before falling asleep tonight, and Nora refused to go to bed until 9. There was a silver lining in the evening, though...we watched the Daddy DVD again and halfway through, Nora went up to the screen and "hugged" Daddy, saying "I love you." I made her do it again so I could get a picture.

The weather is really starting to turn now...very cold and overcast. Nevertheless, the red impatiens on our front steps (that I put out back in May or June) are still alive and the camelia tree is in bloom. I guess I won't start to believe that winter is coming until they go. I'm excited about Aunt Nancy's visit this weekend and our upcoming trip to FL for Thanksgiving!

Dubalicious

Today, we drove to Richmond to meet up with Johan, Cindy, Summer and Landon Duba. They came down for the weekend so that Johan could run a half-marathon as part of the Richmond Marathon, which was held today. He managed to finish in the time he had been shooting for - go Johan! We met up with them after the marathon at the Children's Museum, where all the kids went ADHD on us. It was a fun, if not half-crazed, experience. It was particularly fun to watch Nora and Landon bond while Summer went off and did more "grown up" things. After the museum, we took the kids across the street to McDonald's for dinner, during which Nora interrupted our conversation about Mike to inform us that Mike and Johan were "best friends," which was quite endearing. (I had given her a brief history of Mike & Johan before we left Norfolk). During our dinner, I also heard Cindy remind her kids that "you get what you get, and you don't get upset," which is a line that Nora and I learned (and now recite) from the "Pinkalicious" book that Daddy sent from the ship. Small world. After dinner, we headed over to the Duba's hotel for a swim in the pool, where Summer showed off her swimming skills and the rest of us had a grand ol' time splashing around. We are so lucky to have such good friends and to know that we probably living close to them again very soon! KEEP READING...there's another blog entry after this about last night!

Pretty princesses

Last night, we went to Nora's friend Izzy's house (Isabel) to have a play/dinner date with her and her big brother Sammy and mom Holly. Nora had worn her Cinderella dress all day and refused to take it off before going to Izzy's house. As soon as Izzy saw Nora in her costume, she ran to her room and put on her Sleeping Beauty costume, while brother Sammy, holding his plastic Army men in his hands, complained "But I don't want to dress up!" Despite Sammy's reluctance to dress up, he, Izzy and Nora had a great time together, and Caroline had fun just trying to keep up with them. Holly and I also enjoyed the chance to talk and catch up on each other's histories and backgrounds. I'm posting photos of Nora & Izzy, Nora, Izzy & Sammy, and all the kids watching The Wizard of Oz. Unbeknownst to me, Izzy also dressed up as Dorothy for Halloween and is a big Wizard of Oz fan (she wasn't in school for the Halloween party b/c she was visiting her cousins in PA). So she and Nora have lots in common. And Caroline enjoyed getting close to the screen to get a better view of her fellow Munchkins.

First kiss

Caroline got (and gave) her first kiss last night to an older man, Gunnar Westland (who is all of 16 months). Gunnar, his big sister Pippa and mom Amber came over for a playdate and dinner last night, along with Bronwyn and Lauren. Amber is new to the area, but has quickly become a part of the neighborhood "scene." :-) Gunnar is Caroline's first real friend...up until now, she's always tagged behind Nora and her friends, wishing she could do all the things they do. It's interesting to see how possessive she gets when Gunnar plays with her toys; I'm so used to it being the other way around, with Nora wresting her toys out of Caroline's hands. It's funny to see that Caroline is just as determined and strong-willed as her big sister (Lord, help me!). Caroline also has a new favorite game - pressing her face up against the cover of her music toy box. Nora, knowing how cute Caroline is when she does that, tried to do the same. Nice try, dear. Today is a rainy day - we'll probably stay indoors and are looking forward to another play/dinner date tonight at Nora's classmate's house (Isabel - along with big brother Sammy and mom Holly, also Navy). Then tomorrow it's off to Richmond to meet up with the Duba family -- fun times!

Veteran's Day adventure

Yesterday morning, I took the girls to a Veteran's Day parade down by the oceanfront in Virginia Beach. It sure was a lot colder than the last time we were there! The Virginian-Pilot ran a series of articles about local P.O.W.s that really moved me, and I thought it would nice to do something to honor all of those men and women who have served our country. I don't think Nora really understood why we were there, but she sure did enjoy the free candy that the veterans kept throwing to us. Caroline got her first taste of Reese's Pieces and had fun trying to join those marching in the parade, as I chased her from behind. After that, we met up with Judy and Taylor at the mall and rode the carousel and lunched at the food court. Nora and Taylor went into a automated photo booth and had a series of pictures taken labeled "Best Friends" - it was adorable! We stayed close to home today, but still stayed pretty busy; after gymnastics, we had Amber and her son Gunnar over for a bit, and then we played outside with Reilly and Zoe later this afternoon.

Sunshine-y day

We had a really good day today. We went downtown to the Y, and I got in my little workout, and then I took the girls for a walk down to the waterfront since it was a gorgeous day and they're predicting rain for later this week. Nora posed in front of a mermaid statue (Norfolk's public art project...there are mermaid statues all over the city, all decorated differently). On our way back to the car, we discovered a heart spray painted on a bush, and a cool restaurant called the Pagoda Garden tucked away in the historic Freemason District. It's literally a pagoda, surrounded by a landscaped garden, pond and water fountains. Quite an oasis. The girls loved looking at the fountains and going over the bridge. It's closed on Mondays, so I'm looking forward to going back there to eat some other day. After that, we came home for a late lunch and Caroline took a nap while Nora and I practiced learning how to read from her "Bob" Books (books from Grandma and Grandpa). Then, the doorbell rang around 3 p.m. and I was surprised to receive the most gorgeous bouquet of flowers from Mike! I got Nora to capture the moment with the camera. Thank you, Mike - they are beautiful! We had dinner at the Smith's tonight (Taylor's house), which was lovely...good conversation, good wine, a Disney movie playing in the background, punctuated by the occasional toy fight or Caroline attempting to eat from the cat's bowl.

Precious moments

The late afternoon sun peeking through the changing leaves on the tree outside our kitchen window...Caroline stuffing broccoli into her mouth at breakneck speed, grunting and breathing heavily the whole time. These are some of the precious moments from an otherwise uneventful weekend. Happy Birthday Grandpa!