Happy Birthday, Abigail Grace!

Dear Abigail,

Happy Birthday to my beautiful princess!  For 1460 days, you have filled our lives with joy and laughter. 

There are so many things your daddy and I love about you:  how smart you are, your ability to never forget a thing, your sweet hugs and kisses, your love for learning and playing, the kindness you show your sister, your "spunk" at times, and on and on.  You are so sweet and compassionate!  You are always thinking of others before yourself..and we learn from your selflessness everyday!  We love you so much!!!!  Thank you for letting us be your mommy, daddy, and little sister!  We are so excited to celebrate your big day with you...Sushi and all (you love sushi right now)....and look forward to all the fun that lies ahead this year!  Happy Birthday, 4 year old (how you asked us to refer to you today). 

Love, Mommy, Daddy, and Caitlin

A BIG Holiday Post

Wow, I am so behind, it's almost hard to catch up.  We have been super busy with end-of-the-year activities.  Trying to get ready for Xmas and a special birthday, on top of working 5 days a week (watching kids) for the past month has made this month fly by.  We have been trying to slow down a little and enjoy the holidays. 

I figured I'd just do one big post for all the holiday activities since the next 2 days are devoted to a special "soon-to-be-4" year old!

Last week Caitlin had her last day of Panther Preschool...at the exact same time that Abigail had her parent observation day at ballet.  Luckily, Rob was able to get the morning off.  Abigail really wanted him to see her do ballet so he hit the ballet scene while I hit the preschool scene!

Caitlin had a great time in her first preschool experience!  I am not sure if we are going to continue with the program next session because she just had her speech increased to twice a week (that's a whole 'nother post to come) and it may become too much...but I am happy she got to have a fun time in panter preschool.  Here is her panther ornament she made for us!

Abigail has enjoyed her first "official" ballet class so far.  She is very excited about her recital costume and dance that is coming up in May! She is the youngest in the class, but seems to be keeping up.  However, mommy and daddy are VERY excited because she is starting soccer in January!!!!!

Over the weekend, we had 2 holiday parties.

Friday night we headed to the Hackneys for "Kiddie Festivus".  The kids exchange little presents and have a great time...and as always, after the kiddies go to bed, the parents have an even better time!!!! 

A shot of the crew (minus Avery) at Kiddie Festivus.

Saturday we took the kids to the Jim Gill concert (pics on my phone).   Caitlin loves music and will dance and sing even if she's the only one up!  It was so cute to watch.  Abigail was just excited to have her daddy with her...she's such a daddy's girl!

That night we headed to the Glures Xmas party!  The highlight of the party for the kids is the visit of Santa!  This year Abigail was very excited because Santa knew her name!  Caitlin....well, she could have done without Santa!  :)

The girls and the cute host and a half (baby Glure due to arrive in March and we are so excited).

Abigail really loves Santa!  Caitlin did let Daddy carry her up to Santa to get her gift...

On Monday was Abigail's Xmas concert at school.  My mom had the day off this year so she was able to go with, which was very exciting for Abigail.  Surprising to us, Abigail actually sang all the songs!  She is very shy, but she did a great job up on stage! 

Abigial and Luca looking so cute together!!!!

They really crack me up because they are so darn cute!

So, there's a glance at our past few days!  Tomorrow is the big 4...all Abigail has requested so far is sushi for dinner (I love her).  And she doesn't know it yet, but Friday is a big day for her because Aunt Julie is taking her to see Pinkalicious (her ballet recital song is Pinkatastic from the musical so she listens to it all the time) downtown..and then we are headed to American Girl because she is getting her first AG doll for her birthday.  Such an exciting day for her...and then it's time to get ready for Xmas Eve and Xmas Day!  Whew....I had better finish my shopping!  :)

Hope your holidays have been as busy and blessed as ours!!!!

Thith tree is a thymbol of the thspirit of the Griswold family Chrithmath

In keeping in the Wennerstrom family tradition (and I love me a good family tradition...much to Rob's dismay), we headed over to get our Xmas tree from Beaver!  He sells it to us every year (thanks to my parent's recommendation).  This year was our record fastest "finding the tree" ever...I would say we were there for a total of 5 minutes and that's including paying....but it was about 9 degrees at the time!!!  Here's the beaut:

And again, keeping in Wennerstrom family tradition, the girls and I decorated the tree while Rob watched football!  He claimes men don't decorate trees!  But he did help with the star.   (Okay, to be fair, I should mention that he was outside putting up the lights for a good portion of the afternoon while this mama took a nap to help in the recovery from girl's night out..see below).  This year was the first year the girls really did a lot of the decorating...notice all the ornaments clumped together at the bottom.  It was also a record for the most dropped and broke....good thing I stocked up on crazy glue!

"Best Tree Ever!"  (And that's Caitlin putting up the star..I thought it was Abigail at first glance!)

I think they love our tree! 

In keeping with other traditions...I went shopping with my girlfriends for the 14th year in a row!  There is something about being on Michigan Avenue with the girls to really get the Xmas season started...or it could be the many Peppermint mochas consumed...followed by the many glasses of wine! 

Rob stayed with the girls and they had a really great weekend bonding together.  It was really good for all of them.  The proof is below!  We took the girls on Sunday to Chuck E Cheese (first time ever) to celebrate Cally's 4th birthday.   Cally was the under 1 lb baby born the same time as Abigail and part of the amazing family we met in the NICU.  It was so great to celebrate such a beautiful, healthy girl...and a great friendship that has continued outside the walls of the hospital!  Anyways, there were lots of games played...and the girls got to play a few too.  (Oh, is this where I should mention I kicked Rob's butt in basketball....twice....16 to 8....He will love this).  Okay, back to the story. 

Below is what happened when Chuck E Cheese came out:

Lots of tears.  Oh boy, Disney World should be fun....anyways, look at this.  They both wanted Daddy and no one wanted Mommy.  I was defeated!!!!!

And finally, a random picture.  For dinner on Saturday night, my friends and I ate at Sable, where the executive chef Heather is currently on Top Chef. As luck would have it, she was our chef that night.  And also, she happened to win the episode of Top Chef this week so we got to taste her winning Right Side Up Pineapple Cake...served by Heather. Very cool for us Top Chef lovers!!! 

And so, the chaos and fun that is Xmas continues!!!!!

Breakfast with Santa

On Saturday, we had Breakfast with Santa at Abigail's preschool.  I was excited to go because last year I was home with the stomach flu so Rob took the girls alone..and came home with NO pictures!

After some pancakes....it was time to see the big man!!!!

Breakfast with Santa went about as well as we thought it would after Caitlin's reaction to Santa at the mall.

Here is how it went:

Abigail LOVED Santa.  They were having a conversation...we still aren't sure about what...hopefully Santa didn't promise something like a new baby or a new dog because everyone knows how quiet Abigail talks so Santa may have just been saying "yes" and not sure what it was to....

And you can see my lovebug, Caitlin....holding on to me for dear life...with her eyes closed the whole time!  We tried to lean her in for a picture but she has an amazing ability to lean her body away and knock me over so this is as close as Caitlin got to a picture with Santa this year!

Abigail told Santa she wants a video game that has a camera...she has been asking for it for months and hasn't changed her mind once...and she DOESN'T want to ask Santa for anything else because that's all she wants!  (Hoping Santa shopped EARLY this year because the LeapPad is the hardest gift to find this year and sells out in seconds when a store gets one!  ;) )

And this is my lovebug waiting in line to see Santa.  So excited!!!!!!

I just love how tight she was holding and not opening her eyes.  Her personality makes me laugh so much!!!

The finished picture with Santa...with the big gap where Caitlin should be! :)

Happy now!!!  I should mention Santa gave Caitlin a candy cane (through Abigial) and Caitlin gave Santa a low wave that probably only I saw....but she sure was happy to have her candy cane!!!!  I wish I would have taken a family picture because we were all decked in red and looked so cheesy it would have been a great picture!

And the holidays continue....so much fun!

St. Nick 2011

Last night the girls put out their shoes for St. Nick.  They got wise this year...after the "heel" Abigail put out last year....

They both brought me the biggest shoe they had...and of course pink and purple!

St. Nick just brought a few fun goodies this year.  A microphone, Xmas socks, candy, and notebooks with their initials on them.  St. Nick wasn't the most creative or exciting this year....

But they were happy! (This amount of candy was being consumed around 7am...so yes, it was a long day).

On a side note, do you see the craziness I deal with every morning with Abigail's hair?  It is really out of control...I know we are due for a haircut soon, but regardless, it's crazy.  She has Rob's course hair (even though it's my color) and it's nutso in the morning.  It's a battle every single morning!  I want to cut it short so bad...but daddy has said no!

Grandparents Day...and More!

I forgot to post pictures from Grandparents Day a few weeks ago.  One reason I love Abigail's preschool is because they still do grandparents day.  It continues to be one of the highlights of Abigail's year.  This year my parents came to grandparents day!  Abigail had a great time!  They made a picture frame, a cross, and a handprint for a classroom quilt.  Then they decorated cookies.  I got an extra bonus because I was a classroom mom helper that day so I got to watch the festivities!  Thanks Mom and Dad for taking the day off to spend with Abigail...she loved having you at school with her...and going to 2Toots after!

(Sorry about the pic dad...It was the best I had)

On the way to grandparents day!

Here are some other "catch-up" pictures from my phone:

The girls have really been into Xmas projects and crafts this year.  Here is a little Xmas tree they decorated that they were very proud of.  They also each got their own Xmas tree in their room this year which they LOVE...so if you come to visit, they will probably want you to come see their tree!  I also will post some pics of Elfer, our Elf on a shelf.  He has been very naughty this year...everyone is having a lot of fun with Elfer!

We took the girls to the lighting of the Xmas tree in our town square.  It was a fun night with hot chocolate, smores, carols, and Santa being brought in by fire truck!

An action shot of Abigail from a recent visit to Jumpin Jungle!

On Sunday, the "girls" went out for lunch at Rainforest while Daddy was at the Bears' game.

Tonight we have to put our shoes out cause it's St. Nick's Day....hopefully we've been good and St. Nick brings us something fun!!!!  Pics to come. 

Oh, and also pics from our Breakfast with Santa this weekend.  Do you remember last year's picture????  Get ready for a repeat...sort of!  That picture still makes me laugh so much...and still is the best picture ever!!!  We even have it framed.  One day Caitlin will laugh....but apprently not this year!

Ready, Set, Xmas!

Over Thanksgiving weekend, we took the kids to the Museum of Science and Industry.  I have always wanted to go and see the Xmas tree display...so it was really fun to see it for the first time with the kids!

We got there before it even opened, so we were one of the first in the museum.  For the first hour or so, we literally had the run of the place.  To the point that we were wondering if exhibits were open because we were the only people in them!  (That didn't last long...by noon we were holding on to the kids for their dear lives).

The kids had a great morning exploring the museum....and I think Rob and I had more fun than the kids.  The 2 main things the kids wanted to do were the trains and the fairy castle!  We accomplished much more!  We even took the kids to our old stomping grounds of Taylor Street for lunch.  Very crazy to be there with kids...most my memories were us with Kramer!  :)

Merry Xmas from the Wennerstroms!!!!

The main tree

Trains!  That was at the top of our to-do list because of Caitlin's love for trains!  It didn't disappoint!

The storm exhibit was AMAZING.  This is a real tornado, right in the middle of the museum.  The kids were controlling it...it was awesome! (And GIANT..the picture doesn't do the size justice)

The storm exhibit had so many fun things...I swear half the time I couldn't find Rob cause he was off playing with something.  Abigail kept saying "Daddy's lost again!"

The Slovakia tree.  They have trees from around the world...and the details on each tree is remarkable with ornaments from that country!

The foam curtain!

The tractor.  The kids loved the farm!  (But beware...they have a video of a pig being born but they give no warning so 1 minute the kids are watching the cute movie about pigs..and then BAM...baby!  All the parents reaction was priceless!)

Farmer, maybe?????

Their first time on a plane!  Only the MSI would have a real plane just hanging in the museum!  I think they are ready for a plane trip!

Our visit to the MSI was a great start to the holiday season.

We also got some of our lights up at our house, and some of our decorations!  My mom and I even hit the mall for a while on Black Friday, but Rob had to work so I had the kids...it was dangerous!  ;)  But I have a lot of my shopping already done thanks to the amazement that is Amazon!  And our Elf on a Shelf, Elfer, even showed up this morning!!! Come on Xmas, Bring It!!!  (I know I am a crazy lady for saying this and will regret it later, but I really want snow now...it seems crazy seeing all these Xmas decorations without snow.  As much as I'd love to live in a warmer place, I would miss snow!)

Happy Holidays!!!!