Henry's 3 Year Old Birthday List

My little boy is now three. He is turning into quite a little charmer, with a great sense of humor to boot. He has gone through several phases (obsessions) this year starting with the Nutcracker before Christmas, then he switched to the Peter Pan phase (wearing his Halloween costume almost every day) and now he is into the Toy Story phase (Toy Story 3 is in the theaters right now, so there is lots of merchandise in the stores and our house). He has a wonderful imagination, likes to do projects of all kinds, and especially enjoys evening swim trips to the pool with Vince and Eleanor. Hen can almost swim and has no fear of jumping right into the deep end, with Vince there to catch him of course.

1. What is your favorite color?
Green.



2. What are your favorite toys?
Buzz, Woody, Aliens. Um, soldiers.

3. Where do you like to go when we go outside?
On the walkway.



4. What is your favorite book?
Toy Story.

5. What things do you like to do or play with?
Read. Play with Buzz and Woody.

6. Who are your friends?
Sammy. EVERYBODY!

7. What is your favorite food?
Nothing. [Too true.]

8. Anything else you want to say?
Uuuum, I want to love treats. Um, soldiers. Um, applesauce. Um, Adelaide.

Three Kids at 5 Weeks

Eleanor at about 5 weeks:


Henry at about 5 weeks:


And, our most recent addition, Adelaide at 5 weeks and a day -- first with a sleepy smile and then another sleeping shot (for size) in my arms:

Adelaide Louise

Ok, folks. I finally uploaded the pictures to Flickr of our little Adelaide's arrival. For those who haven't heard the details -- she was 8 lbs 7 oz, 21 inches and pink as anything. She is doing well, sleeping quite a bit, nursing easily and generally really sweet. Labor and delivery, as well as most of the pregnancy for that matter, were quite drama free -- a really nice way to have a baby. We arrived at the hospital about 6:30 or so, they had me walk around for a while, my water was broken at 11:00 am, I got an epidural at 3:00ish (7 cm-ish) and at 3:30 we were ready to roll. After about 15 minutes Adelaide was born -- 3:44 pm! If I had more energy I'd write a more detailed post but we are officially outnumbered around here and I am trying to rest as much as possible before Vince heads back to work.

Quote of the Day

A couple of Henry-isms before he grows out of them (or I forget to write them down).

"That's gusting." [As in: that's disgusting. As in: most anything I serve him to eat that is not a pb&j.]

"Regado." [Regular. Not sure how this one started but he likes things "regado".]

Snow, Round Two

Here are some pictures from our second snowstorm. We had at least a foot on top of last week's dump. It is pretty white around here. I am already a bit nervous for the flood we may have when it all melts. I guess we will deal with that when it happens.

Adventures in Snow

It has been a snowy winter for our area. The past few days we have been without power but luckily have great family and friends who have been helping out in many ways. Thanks to Grandaddy for getting us situated in a hotel those first couple of cold nights. Thanks to our neighbor up the street for using his mini loader to clear the road so we could get to the hotel. Thanks to our next door neighbor for clearing out sidewalks and drive with his snow blower and bringing us bread from the store. Thanks to everyone else who offered warm houses and words of encouragement. We are safe, warm (almost too warm, since we fear we may loose power again with the predicted accumulation tonight) and doing quite well in terms of morale. Anyway, here are a few pictures from our adventures. More to come as I get organized and download the other camera.

The New Baby

So, I am about two months behind on posting this but here is the ultrasound picture of baby #3. A girl. We are very excited to have her here with us in the spring.

Quote of the Day

Eleanor: Pause the book Mom!

Christmas 2009

We had such a lovely Christmas with family and friends, but only barely made it to Michigan before a historic snowstorm hit the DC area and all of the airports were closed. I won't recount the whole flight switching/rushing to the airport in (also historic) traffic/barely making the flight saga but needless to say, I hope never to have to do it again.

We decorated cookies with Grandma:



We decorated a gingerbread house with Nana and Aunt Glee:





We opened...



and enjoyed lots of presents:



We managed to get a decent Christmas Eve shot with everyone in it using the timer:



We played in the snow -- a meager amount compared to what was at home, but very fun nonetheless:



We made snow angels:



And went sledding:



Finally, though I don't have a proper picture of it, one of the kids favorite things this holiday season has been to put on full length, full costume productions of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. Eleanor as Clara, Henry as the Nutcracker Prince and whatever adult is handy and willing as the "Mean Rat King". There certainly is some magic about this music and story, which has fully and completely infected the hearts of Eleanor and Henry. I took Eleanor this year to a community production of the Nutcracker and look forward to taking both of them next year.

Thank you everyone for a wonderful Christmas season. Regrettably, I haven't gotten Christmas cards out this year -- maybe I'll be able to get my act together by Valentine's day. Whether or not I end up getting cards out, please know that we love you all and miss those of you who we don't see often.