Ummm . . . .Santa, I think you are a little weird looking!

This one was taken at school.  I think GA was trying to figure out why this Santa didn't look like the one on the Polar Express!

Polar Express

Last night, we went to the ride the Polar Express at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum.  We had a great time.  It wasn't too cold and our group (Hendersons, Apels, Ruschs, and us) had a whole section of the train car to ourselves.  It was great because the kids could walk up and down the aisles of the train, play together, and share snacks (or should I say share with Grace Ann who is like her mom and loves everybody else's food better than her own!)  The only bad part was that some of the kids weren't too excited about getting close to Santa, and we didn't get that many great pictures with him. Overall, it was a good trip and really fun to go as a big group.

We ran into a distant, adorable cousin Max when we got there!

 So excited to see the train!

sitting with Mommy 

Sitting with Daddy (apparently so much more fun!)

 Sitting alone! 

Laudan and Kate 

 All Aboard Santa and Mrs. Claus!

Santa hugging GA! 

 our best attempt at a photo



Christmas Trees!

I love Christmas ornaments, and I was so excited that we did two trees this year!  Will braved the Black Friday crowd to buy me an artificial pre-lit tree to go in front of a long window in my living room.  It is more formal, has white lights, and has all the nice ornaments that are not safe for Cassie or GA to be around.  Then we got a real tree for the den, decorated it with colored lights, and put all the fun ornaments on it.   Will and I had a huge debate over colored/white lights our first year of marriage (I like white and he likes colored) so now we can both have our way! GA had so much fun picking out the real tree.

 

Cassie in front of the "living room" tree!

And of course, I can't forget the GREATEST thing that happened this weekend!  War Eagle! 

Two Years Old

So, I can't believe this angel is TWO!  This is one of those long posts to update on everything she is doing at this age for our scrapbooking purposes, so feel free to skip it! Anyway, we went to the doctor today for the two-year checkup.  She had to get three shots!  Her measurements were 26 pounds (40% percentile), 33.5 inches tall (50% percentile) and 19 inches head circumference (75% percentile).  The big head is a Mitchell family trait (I guess to hold all those brains! Ha!) But, I have to say that the two prettiest babies I have ever known after my own (my little sis Jenni and my cousin Lew) both had big pretty round heads just like Grace Ann's so I love it! Anyway, she is keeping us on our toes for sure!

Her Personality:
She is VERY strong willed (unfortunately another Mitchell trait so I can't blame the fits on Will!) and very independent. I know that all two-year-olds have these traits, but I think she is an extreme case.  Everything is "mine" and all we hear is "my do it!" She has been the oldest in her class for a few months and is definitely a bossy mother hen.  She makes the other toddlers put on their jackets to go outside, pats them to sleep on their nappers, and shows them what to play with.  She is moving up to a new class next week so it will be interesting to see how she handles not being in charge!  She is also very loving, cuddly, and affectionate. 

Eating:
Thank the Lord she isn't picky like me!  She eats well and likes healthy food.  She doesn't really care for sweets and will always choose something salty over something sweet.  Her favorites are macaroni, raisins, yogurt and yogurt melts, cheese, cheese puffs, and oranges. This week she basically told me she was "all done" with the high chair and has moved to a booster seat at our kitchen table.

Talking:
She says just about anything she wants to say these days. There is no way to list all the things she says! We are hearing more and more sentences like, "I don't know where my paci go, Mommy!" I am having to watch what I say around her, because she is picking up on things like "Oh, My Gosh!"  It is so funny because she says it in perfect context, but I am trying to get her to say "oh my goodness" instead! 

Favorites:
Her favorite characters are still Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Handy Manny, Elmo, and Barney.  She has also recently started loving Caillou.  I really try to limit her TV time to one show in the morning and one at night, but it doesn't always work out that way!
Her favorite friends are Nola and Bec Bec.
Her favorite toys are her baby dolls.  She loves to feed them, change their diapers, put them to sleep, put them in time out, and "read" to them. 
She loves music and her favorite songs are "Jesus Loves Me", "I've Been Working on the Railroad", and "Old McDonald".  She listens to "Praise Baby Lullaby" CD to go to sleep every night. 

Other skills:
She counts to 15, knows all the basic colors, recognizes basic shapes, knows every animal you can imagine, recognizes about half of the letters in the alphabet and knows a few of their sounds, and is great at puzzles (totally bored with the age 2 and up puzzles and has moved on to real jigsaw puzzles).

Things we need to work on:
giving up the pacifiers (I truly don't know that I'm ready for that yet), falling asleep on her own (I STILL rock her every night), and not throwing things when she gets mad (you should see her take a bow out of her hair and throw it down the aisle at the grocery store - she looks like Steve Spurrier pitching a fit!)

A few new things that have happened lately:
She has started regularly attending Sunday School, and she has finally adjusted and doesn't scream when we leave her there. 
She has a new potty and actually used it yesterday morning!
We finally turned the carseat around in Will's truck (and will in my car soon).  I know most people do it at age one, but it is SO MUCH safer to keep them rear-facing so I kept her that way as long as possible.  (See this awesome post that my friend Megan did for info!) She loves facing forward and pointing out all the stop signs and flags to Will on the way to school. 

I know that I am forgetting lots of stuff, but I'm sure anyone still reading is totally bored by now!  She is an absolute JOY and we don't know what we ever did without her!

Last Day of Disney (Animal Kingdom)

On our last day we went to the Animal Kingdom before we had to go to the airport.  We ate breakfast at the Tusker House (the best breakfast food of the trip in my opinion) and then went on the safari ride.

Group shot - makes me laugh, because you can tell by looking at us that it was the last day and we were worn out!

Daisy Duck 

Look at the hippos, Mommy! 

nice view of lots of animals 

someone was skywriting - so cool! 

Disney Day Four! (Ohana, Magic Kingdom, and Cinderella's Castle)

On the fourth day, we started with a wonderful breakfast at Ohana before going to the Magic Kingdom for the day. We had a great photo session with Mickey and Minnie, but the best pictures were taken by the Disney photographers and are going to cost me $15 each to order. (So for now we will settle for the ones taken with my camera!) We finished the day with dinner at Cinderella's castle and the Spectro Magic Parade.

Ohana at the Polynesian has a wonderful breakfast!

kissing Mickey 

 riding the train through the Magic Kingdom

 kissing Minnie (we never told her to give them kisses-she just came up with that on her own!)

Minnie and Mickey (they spent so much time playing with her!) 

waving her wand at Cinderella's castle 

showing Sleeping Beauty her figurine

Disney Day Three! (Epcot Princesses and Animal Kingdom)

On our third day, we started with an early breakfast with the princesses in Norway at Epcot.  We enjoyed seeing some characters and a few attractions at Epcot that morning, but went back to the hotel early for a much needed long nap.  That night, we went to the Festival of the Lion King at Animal Kingdom and had dinner at Tusker House.  Here are some pictures:

meeting Belle

 the Epcot Ball

blowing Pluto a kiss 

Rebecca was great at posing with the characters! 

 Do you think she is excited about this ride? 

Even more excited to be sitting by Ben!

Everybody loves Will! 

 dancing at Festival of the Lion King

Minnie and Mickey at Animal Kingdom