Christmas is in the Air

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  Our home is decorated, presents have been bought (most), Chippy the elf has consistantly made his appearance each morning and Avery tells us every morning that Santa is coming to town!  Now, if we could just get some snow....

The first weekend in December is a tradition in my immediate family's holiday season.  Each year we get together and spend the evening together doing something festive.  This year we went to downtown Naperville and did the riverwalk and checked out the Christmas decorations.  Much like the decorated cows in Chicago, Naperville does decorated snowmen!  Avery loved all of them!!

By the time we got home that night it was late, but the kids were wound up!  Of course, Auntie Ashley and Uncle Patrick had nothing to do with that....

Finally, at 11:30 pm, the kiddos went to bed!  Thankfully Avery slept until 9:30 the next morning!  :)

That Sunday was a family Christmas with my dad's side.  It is always nice to see the extended family and catch up.  Avery of course just saw this as another chance to hang out with Lucas...her best friend!

Avery has been thoroughly enjoying everything Christmas!  (Yep, we bought inflatable characters for our front yard this year.  We are those people!)

Checking out some crazy Christmas decorations.

Avery's elf has also gotten himself into some trouble!

And had a tea party...

And made Avery some chocolate milk and cereal to take in the car...

This is Avery thanking Chippy for the snack he made her that morning and asking him if he liked his chocolate milk?

Pregnancy Update:
Things are still going great!   Ryen is moving like crazy and is super active at night.  Avery got to feel her move for the first time the other day and just last night we got to see her move. I forgot how crazy that actually is.  We are currently 26 weeks along and should probably start working on her nursery...My hope is to get some paint samples on the wall this weekend and then start going through all of Avery's old clothes.  Despite having 7 huge tubs of clothes, I still feel the need to go and buy more....  I wonder how Dave feels about that! 

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the entire year.  Time with family, a few days off work for both Dave and I, the beginning of the holiday season, and of course the fantastic food!  This year was no different.  There were the traditional activities and menu items and of course the company.  Thanksgiving is a Glacinski holiday so we always are with Dave's parents.  It is small but perfect.  This year, however, I took on all the cooking!  I have never cooked a turkey before so why not try your first one on Thanksgiving?  Everything turned out perfect and I was sure happy to have on maternity pants!  Joey from Friends anyone?

Our Thanksgiving always begins with some backyard football and this year Avery took home the MVP!

Then, the table was set and it was time to eat!

Yep, I cooked that!

The perfect guy to carve up the turkey!

Our attempt at a family picture.

And then it was desert time and this girl was already wound up and then we gave her whipped cream and pie!

Avery has recently become really interested in Doc McStuffins and has decided that everyone needs their check-ups.  This was daddy's idea to help do surgery and remove stickers from Papa's arm.  Notice the size of the tool and the look on Papa's face.  I think he was a bit concerned!  The stickers were safely removed ... along with some arm hair!

Then we found the play tweezers!

 This morning, our Elf on the Shelf has returned!  While we tried to get Avery to name it, all she came up with was Chippy (from the movie) and the Bad Wolf.  So, meet Chippy!  He even brought Avery a special little gift from Santa!

Then we spent Friday decorating for Christmas, which is much harder to do with a two year old!  She was so excited to help though!

Pregnancy Update:
I am officially 6 months pregnant and that means we have entered the last month of the second trimester!  I can't believe how quickly it has gone!  I am feeling great and she is moving like crazy!  Dave has finally been able to feel her move a couple of times and I am looking forward to when Avery can feel her move too.  We have decided on a name for our little princess- Ryen Harper (pronounced like Ryan).  Avery sounds adorable when saying it and constantly tells people that baby Ryen is coming out soon.  Hopefully she doesn't get bored waiting for her to arrive.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

(Partial) Surprise Visit

Since the beginning of the summer, Robyn and I have been planning for her to come visit the weekend of Veterans Day.  When my sister is in town, it always means that a pedicure is a sure bet!  I love going with either of them and being able to just chat.  Robyn arrived at my house and off we went to get pedicures.  We walked in and I told the girl that we were here for 2 pedicures and she said, "Two pedicures and a manicure?"  Sitting there waiting for us to arrive was Ashley!  I was so excited to see her and know that it was going to be the three of us for the day!  After pedicures, we grabbed lunch and did some shopping.  Of course, then it was time to hang out and be silly with Avery!

There was time for a tea party....

And time for a dinosaur vs flower fight.

The next day we went out to take our annual family picture.  Every year, Dave and I have gone back to Funks Grove, where we got married, and take a picture.  It has been fun to look back and see how we have changed since getting married.  Thankfully, Robyn and Ashley were there to help keep Avery happy and to snap some pictures for us too!

Belly comparison- me at 5- 1/2 months, Avery at 2 year!

Halloween Happenings

Another Halloween has come and gone and ours seemed like it lasted forever!  Avery was really fortunate that she got to go to three separate trick or treating events...I don't know if we considered ourselves lucky, but she sure loved it!

Downtown Bloomington hosts a trick or treat and all the businesses pass out candy.  Last year we took my parents and this year we were lucky to take Dave's parents with us.  She was a bit hesitant at first since many of the business owners were dressed up in some scary costumes.

But once she realized she was getting free candy, she was much happier!

Then before round 2 of candy collecting, we of course needed to carve some pumpkins.  Last year, Avery cried once we started carving.  This year she wasn't too excited about digging out the "guts", but at least she didn't run away and cry.

Saturday was our annual pumpkin carving contest.  It was very cold, but the kids didn't mind and the adults were troopers for staying outside and carving their pumpkins.  I am not sure what happened that night, but I have no pictures of our party.  Can I blame baby brain on this one?  I have two pictures and they are adorable!

The night ended with all of the kids in our basement watching "ELF" (we don't segregate our holiday movies).  One parent went down there and found this...

...all of the kids snuggled on one little tiny pull out couch.  (Please pay no attention to the mess of toys all over the place- there were 7 unsupervised kids in our basement.  We are lucky there were no injuries!)

On Sunday, Dave's hometown did their trick or treating, so off to Grandma and Grandpa's house we went. Dave, Avery and I did about a block of candy collecting and then she was done.

Thankfully she was even more excited to hand out candy.  Avery stood at the bottom of the stairs and would yell up to us "People are coming!"  It was pretty cute!

Finally the time came to trick or treat in our neighborhood.  We made it to about 20 houses and she was done.  She couldn't even wait to get home to get into her candy.

Avery's friend Naomi came over to visit also...

Avery and I also made Halloween cards for some family members using her feet-

Overall, our Halloween was a lot of fun and now that we have hidden away most of the candy from Avery (and it is out of sight for this mama) we are trying to get her back on a more veggie-less candy diet!  :)

Avery also got a new little gift from Ga and Papa Glacinski-

Then she got a new toy from Daddy (well we all did, but she thinks it is hers)

And then she thought she should get something from mommy- I turned around in Old Navy to find that she had taken off her shoes and had put these on.

Quick pregnancy update:
I am currently 21 weeks and feeling fantastic!  Our baby girl is starting to move more frequently and the movements are getting stronger.  I am hoping that in the near future Dave will begin to feel her move too.  Like with Avery, I have had no strange food cravings or food aversions.  Although, everything spicy seems to sound delicious and I think I could eat Mexican food all day everyday.  Avery is getting more and more excited about her baby sister and will occasionally talk to her.  She does, however, tell everyone that her baby sitter is coming out tomorrow.  Thankfully, we are still 19 weeks away!  We still have lots to do!