Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving! We are thankful for so much in our lives the list could go on and on. In "school" (daycare) Jenna has been learning about Thanksgiving. She knows about Pilgrims, turkeys, she says "Gobble, gobble, gobble" and being thankful. I'd imagine it's very hard to try to explain to a group of two year olds what being thankful means. However, Jenna said to her teacher that she is thankful for:

Mama
Daddy
Green (her favorite color)
Tuck (the class turtle)

How cute is that!? I love it! Happy Thanksgiving to all our family and friends! We love you and are thinking of you!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

What did I get myself into?!?!?

As if I'm not busy enough, and as if I already don't have time to do things I want/need to do; I'm going to be making that worse starting in January 2009. I am officially a student again! I was accepted into grad school!
I will be getting my Masters in Science Administration with a focus on Organizational Communication. I'm excited and nervous as the same time. Granted it will take me years to complete taking one or two classes a semester but those years are going to go by anyway...
The best perk is I am going to be attending school for free, thanks to CMU, where I work.
Wish me luck, it has been six years since I was a student, I'll need all the help I can get.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Dear Jenna, 23 months



Dear Jenna,
Today you are 23 months old. Practically two! The cliche remains true, time flies! You are such a blessing in our lives. We continue to love watching you grow and learn. You are a sponge at this age and literally learn new things everyday. Because you won't remember when you are older here is a list of some of your favorites:

Favorite things to say
I love you too (this one melts my heart every time)
Oh my gosh!
Here ya go Mama
Hi Guys
What's next? (referring to TV, you don't watch a ton of TV but somehow you know the name of every show!)
What doin? (translation: what are you doing?)

Favorite things to eat
fruit snacks
baby corn
pickles
McDonald's french fries
cheese
"snacks"
chocolate (kocklate)
ketchup
cinnamon swirl bread (treat treat, as you say)

Favorite TV shows
The Wiggles
Dora the Explorer
Yo Gabba Gabba
Max & Ruby
Wow Wow Wubbzy

Favorite Things in general
stickers
Christmas trees
books
airplanes
lotion
dancing
babies and animals
school buses



You don't lack confidence either. You are full of self praise! You consistently tell yourself and anyone else who will listen, "Good job Jenna." Good girl Jenna."

Most of the time you are thoughtful to others and offer goodbye's, I love yous and hugs and kisses. You try to say your ABC's and count, you are getting better everyday. You truly are growing up and becoming a big girl. I am so lucky to be your mom.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

The Awful Night

This last weekend we went to Boyne Mountain Resort with a few other families to take the kids to Avalanche Bay, the indoor water park.
The water park was a success, Jenna loved it. She loved to jump off the side of the kiddie pool into our arms. She even went down a couple of the big water slides with Erik.
The night, however, was not a success! We were in a great room, a suite, with three bedrooms and a kitchette and even a little play area for the kids with bunk beds. If they would have been a little older, it would have been a great bedroom.

We put a pack n play in our room for Jenna to sleep in. She went down great and I was so proud of her for going down easily in a strange room and bed. When we came to bed we were trying to be extra quiet. It worked for an hour or so, but then she woke up and realized we were in the room with her! DISASTER! Since we were with other families, we couldn't really just let her cry, so I picked her up and took her into bed with us thinking she would just fall asleep on me. I probably wouldn't have slept well but at least she would.

Well...that's not what happened. She was insistent on being awake and talking. She thought it was a game. She would lay down with me and then say "Get up Jenna!" She would lay down, Erik would start snoring and Jenna would immediatly sit up and put her hand to her ear and say, "I hear it...daddy," over and over again! I tried to put her back in her crib a few times, which resulted in cries and it started all over again. At one point I said, "Jenna Noelle, I am going to lose it!" She responds with, "Mama lose it!" It didn't help! It was a visious cycle!

Erik ended up getting up with her for the day at 3am! It was crazy! Needless to say, we were thankful to all be in our own beds the next night!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Mrs. Potato Head

Here is Jenna's Mrs. Potato Head...


And here is Mrs. Jenna Head!

Monday, November 10, 2008

Trips to the Store!

Shopping with Jenna now has a new meaning. It used to be "hurry as fast as you can, grab a few things, get out the door before she gets grumpy." We still deal with that a little bit, but now it's much more hands on!

When we go to the store she now HAS to look at the toys. She isn't satisfied just looking at them while she sits in the cart. She has to get down and pick them up and try to open them, because she thinks they are "Mine", "I have it" , "Open!" This time of year, she also is fascinated by the Christmas tree display and the lights. "Lights, Pretty!"

I am proud to say my daughter is a girly girl! She gravitates right towards "Princesses" (barbies) and these Littlest Pet Shop things.

For those of you who don't have young kids, or don't watch the Noggin channel, you haven't had the privilege of being introduced to Yo Gabba Gabba This is a weird show and Jenna loves it, luckily the songs share good messages, but Erik and I think the creators of this show are on drugs. She especially loves Tuddie (the blue one). After our trip to Target, Jenna now has a little Tuddie doll. She carries her around, dances with her, feeds her and puts her to bed.

Yesterday at the store, Jenna grabbed a toy and gave it me while she said, "Here ya go honey!" It was so cute, hey, at least she shares!

Stay tuned for pictures of her and her Mrs. Potato Head! A new favorite!

Also - can you tell I finally decided to figure out how to insert a link?!? It wasn't even hard!

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Happy birthday Grandma! We had a great time celebrating with you!



Sunday, November 2, 2008

Hey There Little Red Riding Hood...

Halloween 2008 was a hit! Fun was had by all!


At daycare they did a parade through the Medical Care Facility so all the old people could see the kids and their costumes. Jenna would say "Happy Ween!" It was SO cute!




She had a blast trick or treating. She went up to all the doors and would say "Trick or Treat!" She didn't like people putting candy in her basket. I think she thought they were going to take candy away from her. She would do an interception between their hand and her basket. She would take the candy from them and then put it in her basket herself.




Hmmm...what to eat first!?!?


Oh - AND Jenna went potty on her potty for the first time Halloween Night! GO JENNA!