Fun with the cousins

We took our summer trip to Minnesota last week. We got to see a lot of family and Sydney loved playing with her cousins. They thought it would be fun to get into the pack 'n play together and read to Sydney. However she figured out how to climb out of the pack 'n play during this trip. We hoped that she would not climb out of her crib at home, but no such luck. We took one side off of her crib this weekend. She is now in a "big girl" bed.

Busy in the kitchen

Sydney loves playing in her kitchen. She cooks all kinds of stuff for us and makes the best "juice." We have the kitchen in the garage since we are outside so much. All the neighbor kids love to come and play with the kitchen.

Sydney's Swimming Pool

Sydney loves the water and had a great time in the pool.

David's New Car

Here is David's "new" car that he got when his dad passed away. It is a 1956 Buick Special with the original paint and interior. His dad completely overhauled the engine and most of the mechanical parts. David is quite proud of the car and has lots neighborhood interest now that he is a "car guy."

Happy 4th of July!!!

We had a very nice 4th, including a block party and bike parade for the kids. I decorated Sydney's Cozy Coupe car for the event. She thought it was pretty cool, but had a hard time keeping up with the big kids on bikes (she was Flintstone-ing it, you know two feet scoot). She just pulled off to the side and got out and went to play on the other toys while the big kids were gone. Smart girl!

Sydney's latest trick

Sydney loves to play dress up. She will put on any shoes and take her purse and fill it with whatever she can find. Right now there are Little People, a fake cell phone, a sticker, and a straw inside her purse. Don't you just love the shoes!!!

Finally home, finally not sick

We returned from our Texas trip about 2 weeks ago, but have been fighting various illness. As with our last trip to Texas, we came home with an unwanted souvenir- pinkeye. This time it was the Sydster who had it. Let me tell you it is not much fun holding a 21 month old down to put drops in her eyes. However we managed to get some medicine in. I was also sick with a stomach bug. I though I was going to die. David was at work and Sydney wanted to know what was going on. I had to lock myself in the bathroom so she would not "help" me.

Lots of pics to share and stories to tell from Texas...

Our Tea Party

Sydney is really into pretend play and LOVES her dishes. We had a tea party today, but I did not get anything to eat. She went around like a bird picking all the food off the plates. Oh well…

Sydney celebrates Tax Day

She can spy a pen or pencil on the desk from a mile away. This was her signature on the 2007 taxes, well she made her mark on the house at least...

p.s. she got mad and embarrassed when I tried to get her to stand beside her artwork.

New seat for the car

As we are starting to get closer to that magical age when we will begin potty training, I have started to pick up a few things that we will need. I got a bargain on a Dora potty seat at a consignment sale and Sydney knew exactly what to do with it...sit on it! However she seems to like the cushy feel as she has tried and become very frustrated that she could not use the comfy seat in her car.

New "do" for Sydney Lou

I decided it was time that my daughter look like a little girl and not a wild haired kid. So I attempted to "pig tail" her. It took the high chair, daddy, mommy and 30 minutes to accomplish, but we did it- sort of...

Easter...snow???

Happy Easter!

Our first Easter in Iowa was cold and snowy!!! We had snow flurries all day and another dusting of snow this morning. Sydney did not get to have an egg hunt outside so we hid eggs in the house. She was too funny. David says that she was the typical toddler in that when she would find an egg that made noise, nothing else mattered. Towards the end she got the hang of things and was down on the ground looking for eggs. She also figured out that some of them had treats inside. When she found an empty egg she would toss it aside.

Still climbing...

I guess she thinks the house is her jungle gym?

First ER visit

Well we made it longer than we thought we would, but we went to the ER for a totally different reason than we thought our first trip would be too. Syd is such a climber that we knew we would go in for stitches or broken bones. However she decided to touch the glass on the fireplace first. She did not listen to daddy telling her "no" and "hot." Instead she went towards the fire with hand extended. She burned 3 fingers on her right hand and they look terrible. . Daddy did a great job of taking care of her, but we decided to go on in to get her looked at. After 2 hours at the hospital, a shot of morphine, some band aids and a prescription for generic Vicodin we were on our way home. She had 2nd degree burns and huge blisters. She did very well with them until yesterday. She popped one of the blisters. Now we are watching for infection and keeping her hands clean and doctored.

Cheesy-messy hair smile

This is how we look most of the time. Could you keep your hands off of her?

Future WNBAer?

Sydney is loving her basketball hoop that Santa brought her. She really likes to "dunk" on it which usually means mommy or daddy lift her up above the rim. She is really advancing with fine motor and verbal skills. If you call us you will hear her jabbering in the background. She knows a lot of animal sounds too.

Brrrrrrrr! It's cold here!

This winter has been very cold, but today was the coldest day by far. I think it warmed up to 1 degree above zero today with a wind chill of negative twenty something. It was the coldest walk from the car to inside the church building I have ever had. Of course when we get back in the car to go home, my daughter who is bundled head to toe, decides to take her shoes and socks off.

Happy Tuesday!

Today is a special day and we decided to play dress up. Sydney is a *bling* girl so I knew she would love this play jewelry. Most of the beads are from New Orleans, when David and I went to the Final Four in 2004. I have just had them in a box and thought this was a great day to get them out for Sydney.

So you may be wondering why I am celebrating Fat Tuesday, well I really am not. Today just happens to be Fat Tuesday, Super Tuesday in Politics and..... Sloan's birthday! Our nephew/cousin turns the big 4 today!

Happy Birthday Sloan!!!!!!

The Snow Fort

Today daddy and Sydney built a snow fort. Well, daddy built it as Sydney watched. She loves to be outside, but does not understand why we bundle her up so much. She still refuses to wear gloves.