New Year, New Life

Well, I was right about expecting a baby sister, at least all of the technicians and doctors that have peaked in mommy's tummy agree with me! Our family has just moved all the way to England. I'm still not sure exactly where that is but I am starting to understand that it is pretty far from our old home. We spent all day on the 30th of December flying on airplanes to get here. The people here talk kind of funny and drive on the wrong side of the road but surprisingly I am not too bothered by that yet. They keep insisting on using funny words like calling fries, chips and carts, trolly's. I keep telling them they are wrong, so we will see who wins this battle! All of our things from back home were shipped here to England over 2 months ago. Mommy and I lived out of suitcases at Mawmaw and Papa's house while daddy made an earlier move to begin his new job and find us a home. I must say he did a good job! Mommy and I really like our new home, and all of my toys and furniture finally got here a couple of days ago. The only problem is the stair case. It has a sharp bend and a low ceiling, so not all of our furniture made it to our bedrooms. We still have many boxes and messes all over the house but at least my room looks nice! I just enjoy rediscovering all of my toys and books I have been missing!

Mommy has started a new blog so you can all keep track of our whole family during our adventures here in the UK. The address is: hermanfamilyadventures.blogspot.com. I hope to share many more stories with you there!

Big sister

That's right! I am going to be a big sister!!! We are going to have a new baby in March. Mommy tells me I will be 3 years old when this baby gets here. Though mommy keeps saying things like baby brother or sister, and boy or girl, I KNOW it is a girl. I INSIST it is a girl! Mommy just says we shall see!!!

Lazy hazy crazy days of summer

It is hard to believe that summer has come and gone. We had a very good summer. It was especially nice having daddy home and spending time together as a family. My favorite part of the summer was our trip to Disneyland! We flew on an airplane to California, spent a whole day at Disneyland, and then drove up to Santa Barbara to visit Grandma Nellie and the rest of daddy's family there. While we all enjoyed the trip immensely, I was so tired at the end of the week that I was very ready to come back home. Lots of people told mommy I was too young for Disney, but boy am I glad she didn't listen to them! I go to meet the REAL Minnie Mouse! Mommy, daddy, and I agree that meeting Minnie alone made the whole trip worth it! I also got to meet and have my picture taken with Mickey Mouse and Pluto. What a great day!Here's mommy and me on the tea cups. I kept begging for them to go faster and faster. I love rides!

Here's Daddy and I walking on to 'It's a Small World.' Meeting Minnie Mouse for the first time!!!Hugs!!!Going in for a kiss! Minnie and I were so excited to se each other that we didn't want to let go!

I still had plenty of hugs left for Mickey!!!And Pluto too!!!

Getting ready to see a show with my 3-D glasses, Mickey Mouse sucker, and my new Minnie Mouse doll!

February - June

Oh my! I have been such a busy body this year that I have neglected updating you here. Where to begin...

Daddy left for a 4 month deployment to Baghdad, Iraq on February 9 and returned home safely to us Monday June 8 (which was a couple of days earlier than expected!). Mommy and I missed him tons while he was gone, but we were able to talk with him on the phone almost every day. Though I often times would be silent on the other end, I loved hearing daddy talk to me! Mommy, Nina, and I picked him up from the airport. His flight got in 30 minutes early, so he actually beat us there! I was so happy to see him! I gave him a big hug and a kiss, and held his hand all through the airport.

While daddy was away, mommy was finishing up college, teaching full time in St. Louis. Though I hated her to leave every day (I often pleaded with her begging, "Mommy, don't teach kids!"), I was very lucky to spend my days with Nina and Mawmaw. I created lots of memories, and loved my special time with them! Mommy graduated from the University of Missouri - St. Louis on May 17. Mawmaw, Pawpaw, and I went to the ceremony to see her walk. Since graduation, mommy has been staying home with me, and we both LOVE our time together!

I of course turned 2 on February 16. I had a Minnie Mouse Birthday party at Mawmaw and Pawpaw's house on February 7th, so daddy could celebrate with us. I love being 2 and continue to learn new things every day. I still attend classes at The Little Gym. I am in my 3rd semester now and my 2nd semester having Ms. Megan for my teacher. I can do somersaults very well on my own. I love swinging from the bars by myself too! Another favorite of mine is walking across the balance beam but mommy still helps me a little bit there. Now that summer is here I am spending lots of time swimming. I am getting more and more comfortable in the water and especially love swimming with Pawpaw.

I promise to add more pictures soon!

2008 Holidays

As we celebrate the new happenings of 2009, I'd like to take a look back at 2008 and share some of my favorite holiday memories with you!

Here I am with all of my cousins in daddy's family on Thanksgiving. I sure love spending time with all of them!

Yum yum! I ate corn, potatoes, and turkey, but I made sure to save room for some pumpkin pie... I ate a whole slice!

I especially enjoy my time with Buster. Some people think he is my favorite "person" in the family!

We made Christmas cookies in my play group. Here I am with my friend Breonna. Our favorite part of the process was cleaning with the wet rags!
I also helped mommy make Christmas cookies at home. I loved stirring the batter, roling the snickerdoodles, and of course taste testing everything!
Checking in on the cookies Are they done yet?
This is a sugar rush of a smile. Mmmm chocolate!!!
Elijah turned 1 in November and Uncle Phil, Aunt Anna, and he moved to Peoria. I miss them an awful lot, but I still LOVE and talk about my cousin Elijah every day!
Here's a picture of my mommy and daddy on Christmas Eve. The one of all 3 of us together turned out blurry =(.

 Santa brought me an easel for Christmas!!!
It makes a fantastic tunnel and is great for playing hide-n-seek!

I also received a new dresser for Christmas. Look at me in my big girl room!

Happy New Year!!!

Here I am on the bars at my last class of my first semester at The Little Gym. I am still apprehensive to do many of the activities. At the beginning of the semester I would not go near the bars, and now I love to hang from them on my own. But I will only use the bars if nobody else touches me or tries to make me do anything new!

Sitting with my class waiting to receive our medals
Showing off my first medal! GG's birthday was January 14th, and we took her out to Olive Garden. 4 generations enjoyed Italian food and chocolate cake!

In January, I took my first bus ride with my school class to Sesame Street Live. Daddy took he day off work to take me.

I loved dancing to the music!

Getting ready to play in the first big snow of the year. I picked out my own hat to wear!

Taste test! Brr, it's cold!!!

Fall Fun

This has certainly been a busy fall, and I am loving every minute of it. I love to step on the fall leaves to hear them crunch under my feet. My great grandma Nellie and Aunt Naomi visited for a week in October, and it was wonderful to see them again! I did my best to entertain them while they were here, and they say I succeeded. This year, I was invited to 4 Halloween parties, and I went out trick or treating on Halloween too!

Another new thing for me is The Little Gym. I've been going there for 7 weeks now. Mommy and I go together every Monday morning. It is a non-competitive gymnastics program, where I am learning to roll and all sorts of new activities every week. The first few weeks, I was very clingy to mommy, but I am really starting to come out of my shell. I love exploration time, where I can run all around and do anything I'd like! Here I am with my instructor Ms. Lauren practicing a backwards flip over the bar.

Here's one of me on one of the balance beams. I love to walk across the beams. Mommy is working with me on using my airplane arms. Here I am at my first Halloween party. It was with a play group in O'Fallon. There were about 20 kids all dressed up in their costumes!

This was my second Halloween party. Aunt Cheryl invited us to the city party. It was very crowded, but I had fun!

Mommy and I walked in a "parade" with all of the other kids, and at the end I got a treat bag!

One Sunday after church, Mawmaw and mommy took me out to Relleke's Farm. They had a toddler play area that I loved. I got to ride around on tractors, and instead of a sand box, they had a corn box! After we were done playing, I got to pick out my very own pumpkin!

The next Halloween activity I did was Boo at the Zoo at the St. Louis Zoo. Aunt Anna, Elijah, and Mawmaw came along with us, and we met some other members of one of our play groups there too. I even got to ride the carousel. I wasn't sure what to think of it at first, but once it was going, I loved it!

The fourth party was at my gym. There were lots of bigger kids there, and it was VERY crowded, but that didn't keep me from playing along with the parachute.

Halloween morning with my unicorn and baby Sally- I love to pose!

HUGS!!! Getting dressed up as a ballerina

Posing!

Ready to go!

Trick or treat! I said "trick or treat" while walking down the street, but would not say it when mommy took me to the door. I did, however, tell everybody "Thank you!"

I grew tired of trick or treating, so mommy let me ride in the stroller and eat a sucker.

Next, we visited Uncle Nick, Aunt Kim, and Bella. They took me trick or treating to a few of their neighbors' houses too!

When mommy took me home, I even went pee pee on the potty!!! All in all, it was a great Halloween!

Here I am once more just to show you what a beautiful young lady I am becoming!