Ryan and Brittney

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Thanksgiving 2013

The Rasmussen family came to visit us for Thanksgiving, which was nice of them considering we were with them in Florida a few weeks prior. They arrived on the Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving and left that Sunday. So it was a somewhat quick visit, but it was fun visiting with them again and spending Thanksgiving with family. We got a lot of cooking done the day before Thanksgiving and by "we" I mean mostly Ryan) and then did the rest the next day. It's amazing how much time goes into one meal and then how quickly you eat it and it's over. But at least there's leftovers for days!

Ryan made an apple pie, 2 berry pies, a pecan pie, and an apple crisp. He doesn't mess around with his Thanksgiving pies.

Aunt Wanda visits again

My aunt came to visit after we got back from Florida to meet Claire and to do our usual shopping and relaxing. It was fun, as usual! She brought some cookies and treats to make with Lucy and we did a quick shopping trip because the girls were both a little crazy. I love having company come visit!

Lucy turns 2!

Lucy turned two on November 16th, which was our last full day in Florida. Let's just say that birthday #2 was a million times better than birthday #1. Not only did she sort of get what was going on and that the day was about her, but she wasn't sick and didn't have reflux. We blew up 30 pink and purple balloons the night before, so that when she woke up in the morning, it would be fun for her and the kids to play with. Then later on in the day, we did the presents, singing, and cake. We just love our Lucy so much and are so happy to have her spunky, fun, stubborn personality in our little family. Here's a little bit about Lucy at age two:

Height: forgot, but somewhere between 75th and 90th percentile
Weight: 27 pounds, 50th percentile (this was quite a jump from like the 25th or wherever she was before!)

Started sleeping like a champ shortly after Claire was born- 12 straight hours through the night without me having to go in at all. She was decent before that, but she has never been so consistent as she has the last couple months. It's amazing.
Still a good eater, but definitely getting a little more picky and always wants "deet" (treats)... like mother like daughter. Getting her to drink is like pulling teeth. I've constantly got a sippy cup with me to try and get her to drink more. Her favorite foods are pasta, cheese, veggies dipped in ranch, lots of fruit, fruit snacks, etc.
Loves riding bikes (little tricycles and such) and being outside. Always wants to be outside. She also has made good friends with all of the little neighbor kids, and gets so excited to play with them when she sees someone else out as well.
Lucy also likes to go to story time at the library. She is familiar with and loves the songs we sing there and dances/jumps around and gets so into it.
She is doing so much better with being around other people! Thanks goodness. She will let other people hold her and she will play with and around other people. She's still very attached though and refuses to go to nursery by herself or be left with someone.
Lucy has tons of personality and makes the funniest faces and always has a ton of expression.
Loves to lay down on the couch snuggled up to me while we read books, especially in the evenings.
Always wants to "drive" the car. She loves to just sit in the driver's seat and steer the wheel and look around. I don't love her doing this, but when I need to make a call to someone or get something done, I just sit in the passenger seat (while the car is off, of course) and do what I need to do.
Holy tantrums and meltdowns. Enough said. Good thing she's cute and has some pretty funny/cute moments in between. The whole time-out concept has really started to sink in more and is helping.
Favorite part of the day is probably when dad gets home. As soon as she hears the garage door open, she hits the ground running to the back door and knocks on the door until Ryan enters.
Going to the store with her is a battle. She hates riding in the shopping cart and just wants to walk next to me, but as soon as I let her do that, she's running around/away from me, knocking things off shelves and basically wreaking havoc in the store.
Has a bunch of words she says, but she doesn't ever make two-word sentences, which the doctor has said needs to improve by mid-January or we will need to do some sort of speech therapy.
Lucy loves shoes. She walks around all day in my or Ryan's shoes and will go from pair to pair until she's tried them all on and goes and looks in the mirror at herself.

Well, that's about all I can remember right now, but I'm sure I will be coming back to add more things. I just want to be able to remember exactly how she was at this point when she gets older. Also, I like to go back and compare what Lucy and Claire did at certain ages... it helps me to remember what to expect.

These pictures crack me up. Here she is fist pumping for her birthday.

And now she's clapping for herself.

So much excitement that she has to stand up and run to me while clapping.

Still clapping...

Pure happiness right here:

Minnie Mouse shoes that light up when she walks. Favorite gift right there.

Pretending to take a bite out of the cake. Where does she learn this stuff from?

I love how at the end of this video she yells "more!"

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Disney World

As I mentioned, Ryan's work meetings were at Disney World. They did cool things like had dinner at a private spot at the Epcot center, right next to the lake and firework show. Mars also got them a park hopper pass for one of the days and they could go with coworkers or do their own thing. So, we joined Ryan and went to Magic Kingdom for the day. We were also able to meet some of his coworkers and his new manager while we were there too. I'll be honest that I was a little worried about taking a five-week-old baby, but she did so great. I was also surprised at how many rides we could take both Lucy and Claire on! The lines were super short the whole day, the weather was fantastic, and everyone was happy and had fun. Another bonus was that the park was decorated for Christmas already! It all felt so magical and made me want to go home and watch every Disney movie again. :)