Just cheeky

Christmas Card

Missing child!

I was running around the house this morning in a frenzy trying to find my missing child!  I could hear him but I could not see him...who would think to check the shower?  I ran in and out of the bathroom a few times and could not figure out where he was.  What a sneaky little guy...I saw him "eyeing" the shower this morning.  He loves water so I shouldn't have been surprised to find him slipping all over in there, happy as can be of course!

Look at his wet little legs!

Making good use of a Home Depot box!

Mickey Mouse Parade

We took the kids to see Mickey Mouse in Chicago a few weeks ago...it's a Disney Parade downtown the night of the big Christmas tree lighting.  We went with our friends Joe & Kelsey Starke and their two daughters Kylie and Lyla.  I dreaded the idea of going at first with the crowds and cold and all that, but it was so much fun!  I think sometimes I get selfish with my time at home on the weekends since I work all week long and then end up missing out on fun little getaways like this one.  It was so much fun and really so worth it to see Rowan's face light up when she saw all the big balloons and the characters in the parade.  It was so sweet...you could tell she thought Mickey was waving at her....awwww :) 

Rowan also had a great time with Kylie who is 3.  The girls played dolls and jumped on the bed and even ended up sleeping together in the same bed.  It was just darling to watch them together.  They were each lying in the bed together, holding their baby dolls and blankies, giggling and playing. 

Waiting on Mickey...Rowan is being a goof as usual!

We borrowed a friend's double jogging stroller so the kids got to snuggle in side by side :)

Rowan blowing kisses to Mickey

And waving with eyes full of glee...just look at her expression...so sweet!

She had to sit on Daddy's shoulders to see over the crowd

Rigby stuffing his face...all layered in warm clothes and looking LARGE

We're so proud of our little Rowan...




 

Family Pics -- finally!

We had family pictures taken for the 1st time ever last weekend...I can hardly believe it!  I actually thought they were going to be cancelled because of the weather (it was rainy) and I had a really bad eye infection all week.  But we pulled ourselves together and went thru with it!  These pics are the only ones we've seen so far.  But aren't they just so sweet?  Ashley Wittmer, a friend from church, came to our house to shoot them, and we went down the road to to the Rice family farm too.  I'm excited to see the rest :) 

Bathtime babies

Rowan and Rigby have lots of fun taking their baths at night. Rowan has been helping to wash Rigby with a cloth...no big surprise with her cleaning/mommying skills. Rigby just laughs and laughs whenever he's in the tub...he's so cute.

Look how much bigger Rigby is than Rowan...what a tank!

Mommy's little helper

It's starting to look like our little Rowan might have a future as a cleaning lady.  She LOVES to help mommy clean and is (as usual) determined to do things herself.  We hear this a lot at our house..."NO, I DO IT" or "I DO IT, I DO IT, I DO IT".  I'm serious, if you give this child a task, she's a happy camper!  She loves to wipe down anything she can reach with wipes...from baby doll butts (she can wipe a teddy bear's butt over and over for hours, to kitchen cabinets, to the sofa?, and even her baby brother's crib.  She also loves to sweep the floors, take a new trash bag and place it in the trash can (whether it's empty or not), and is even doing dishes now.  She'll stand at the sink and just rinse and wash on her own, sometimes making a mess with water but other times is actually being helpful. 

I'm always amazed by what a 2 year old is capable of! I can't imagine what this little monkey will be up next year when she's turning 3.  With my luck she'll probably be more into making messes than cleaning them up at that point!  I had Derek take a video of her helping mommy rinse dishes last night...it was SO cute so check this out.  She has a little bit of a messy face from dinner, but I think that makes it all the more enjoyable!

My little chicken butts

Halloween came and went this year; for some reason we just weren't really "into" it. I got the kids dressed up and we went to a whopping 3 houses to trick or treat and then just handed out candy the rest of the time. It was nice just sitting up on the truck and watching all the older kids and their parents make the rounds anyway. Rowan was a little freaked out though. She doesn't understand that scary costumes are pretend yet. So whenever a little kid would come up for candy wearing a mask or something rightfully scary, she would cry and clench onto us for dear life :) Some of those masks freak me out so I can't blame her I guess!