Thanksgiving 2008 at Hartfield

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I took quite a few pictures of our time down at Hartfield for Thanksgiving, so you can click on the above link to view the slideshow of photos. We had a great time, and with a holiday intended for us to take time to give thanks with family, we were reminded of how much we truely have to be thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving to all from our family!!!!

If Only I had my Video Camera Handy...

Nina's buddy, Casimir, came over this morning to play. Keep in mind they're both 2 1/2 and great playmates, but it's been at least a month since they've played together. Casimir walks in, he and Nina give each other a hug (completely unprompted by Teresa and I), then Casimir says to Nina, "You look beautiful," and Nina replies, "Oh, thank you," then they run off to play. Can we say prom dates in about 16 years?

We're Going Crazy...Wanna Come?

*** Click anywhere on the collage to see it bigger

I didn't coin this phrase, but I'm using it today for lack of a better one myself. I think this has been the longest 1/2 day we've had in a long time. It's a high of 40 degrees here with blustery winds, and I didn't have anything planned for us to do today...big mistake! So, here are some shots from our morning. Thank goodness for nap time right now then we'll start all over again for the second 1/2 of the day!

Queen of the Table

Remember the game King of the Mountain? Well, we have a little bit of that going on in our house with the learning table we're borrowing from Emme and Ryleigh. We'll call our issue Queen of the Table. Clearly this is a baby toy, however since it's new to us and Lyla wants to play with it, Nina is also obsessed with playing with it. Just like in the King of the Mountain game where you had to pick off all the weaker ones to get to the top of the hill, the stronger sister has been seen "picking off" her weaker sister by removing her hands from the table which obviously results in the little one falling to the floor.

Now the we're onto the little tricks, we keep a very close eye on the situation here...

A Fun Rainy Day Activity

Today I tried out this place in Ashburn that I have never been to before. It's called Sport Bounce. They basically just have a warehouse full of bounce houses and big inflated slides for kids to play on. Since it was a rainy day, it seemed like a good day to give it a try. The sessions of the open gym only last for 1.5 hours, but we used up every minute. Nina had so much fun. She didn't stop running, climbing, bouncing, and sliding the entire time that we were there (click on the picture below to see the happy face). When we had to leave, she told me, "Mommy, I'm so tired," and she took a great nap today! I'll have to do this again! When we were at Sport Bounce, I brought my old/falling apart camera (hence the bad picture above), but I use that camera for video. When I was transferring my pictures, I came across this video that I had forgotten from last week. Lyla had just started clapping, so I was trying to get her to do that on video, but she was more interested in the camera that I thought I had hidden well under the chair!

Uh Oh!

I came into Lyla's room after her nap yesterday afternoon, and this is what I found. Priority #1 when Mark got home from work yesterday - move the crib down to the lower setting!

8 Months Old

Lyla turned eight months old yesterday. Right now she is at the age where she's like a little puppy - very curious and into everything! She is into pulling over trash cans, toy baskets, etc. just to get out everything that is inside. She loves cords and will motor across the room just to get to one (why do kids never love to play with safe things?). She recently started clapping to music, but she claps with one hand open and the other hand in a fist...it's pretty cute!

Sister Update

• In this latest sister update, I'll give you a slight compare and contrast of the girls at the moment: Nina
• very sweet sometimes and very toddler at other times
• quite sharp and is using that ability to exasperate her parents at the moment
• loves being the center of attention in our family
• is motivated by a challenge (we actually got her to eat a few pieces of meat the other day by telling her we didn't think there was ANY chance she could possibly eat it)
• wants anything that Lyla has even if it's a baby toy that she hasn't played with in two years
• has tons of energy and a very big imagination
  Lyla
• very laid back and easy going
• quite determined - if she wants something, she's going to get it
• wants everything that Nina doesn't want her to have - i.e. Nina's "sisters" which are like Polly Pockets, and I'll surround Lyla with her toys and she'll take off crawling at a rapid pace across the room to get Nina's sisters
• has a funny sense of humor for a baby - every morning she waits at the corner of her crib facing the door to her room so she can see us when we walk in. Today she had climbed over her bumper and had her little face pressed against the crib bars trying to see the door better. When I open the door there is this big smile on her face and she starts laughing!
• the type of baby that makes us realize why some people have a lot of kids. We guess we're going to pay for it when she's older.
  
  

Man Enough?

While some people in our country might have been somberly contemplating their vote for today (not to say that we won't be serious while voting today - we will), those in our house were signing a waiver (not kidding) to purchase the hottest wings available, appropriately named the Flatliners. The Redskins were on MNF, so what better occasion to put your manhood to the test? Bo and Mark can definitely take some heat, but I've never seen them react this way. About ten seconds after putting the wing in their mouths, they started sweating, pacing, having shortness of breath, feeling nauseous, etc. I didn't know whether to keep laughing or call 911. They chugged milk, interspersed that with beer, consumed as much celery and blue cheese as possible, and they still couldn't get rid of the feeling that their tongue, throat, and stomach were being ripped out (in their words).

After waking up this morning, both complained of sharp abdominal pain and night sweats that woke them up on several occasions last night. While we're not sure that all Flatliners are created equal, the ones at the Sterling Buffalo Wing House are certainly not for the faint of heart. While I don't think Mark or Bo will ever do that again, they can now wear their Man Badge with pride.

She Loves to Party, She Loves to Get Down...

We all know the song...it very much fits Nina at a party. One thing she definitely gets from her mother is she loves to go to parties! Maybe it's the music, the people, the cake - who knows b/c I love all those things too. Yesterday evening, she was at a 3rd birthday party for her friend, Sophie.She had a little bit of an issue keeping her fingers out of the cake before it was cut. This is clearly the "don't even think of touching my cake" look that she's giving the little boy sitting beside her!