What Do Two Kids Stuck Inside for Days Do?

They get wild and crazy - THAT'S WHAT! First, Xia decides she is a baby again. We just hope the car seat can take it...

Isa isn't real crazy about the idea. Notice the banter at the end of the video. Xia and Isa are turning into regular sisters!



Isa has a good laugh at Daddy, who also got quite silly being trapped inside. He would NOT let Mommy film the crazy moves he was doing to get these laughs. Suffice it to say that they were hilarious...



And, of course, sugar always helps when stuck inside - NOT. Can you guess what Xia was eating?

If you guessed oreos, you are correct!!

These pics and videos were taken Wednesday 2/10/10 and Thursday 2/11/10. We were all very happy to be able to get out of our development by Friday!!

Daddy Digs Us Out

Xia here. Daddy and I (well mostly Daddy) dug out the almost 4 feet of snow in our driveway on Thursday 2/11/10. Although I used beach/sand shovels, I'm sure I helped!

Notice how deep the snow is?!!

The Second Blizzard of 2010

Just when we thought over 2 feet of snow was enough, we got about another 2 feet on TOP of it! What a storm. It started on Tuesday evening 2/9/10 and it didn't stop until late afternoon Wednesday 2/10/10. What was really something were the high winds, sometimes up to 50 mph when everything would just be completely white and you couldn't see a thing. Made us very grateful to be safe in our home. Here are some pics and video of the amazing whiteness...

The front of the house:

Our man with a hat in the yard as Xia would say...

Looking at the front of the house from the driveway...

Video of the house from the street...



Video of the street from the house...



And the back of the house:

Our sled riding hill from the back steps to the end of the yard almost completely filled in from the previous storm!

We were a bit worried about the weight of the snow on the big pine tree next to the back of our house; thankfully it stayed upright!

You can see the wind blowing in this shot:

And lastly, a video from the back. This is definitely a day/week we won't soon forget...

Silly Xia

Some days, all Mommy and Daddy can do is laugh WITH me. Here I am on Tuesday 2/9/10 being my silly self...

Herbie Chases the Lights

Yes, I know you've all seen this before, but we can never get enough of watching Herbie chase the disco lights. This was on Tuesday 2/8/10:

Sunday 2/7/10

Some random photos from Sunday 2/7/10.

First, Xia got underneath Isa in the exersaucer. Too funny to not take a pic:

Then Xia conked out on the steps after some serious sled riding. She's at an age now where she doesn't always take a nap. Looks like she needed one on this day. Note the little digital camera next to her. Daddy had an old, cheap, dollar store digital camera. She's been having a ball with it and the pictures she's taking are too funny. It's neat to see the world from her view. Will need to add some of them to the blog:

It's Blizzard Number 1 of 2010

So, this is the winter of all winters for us. On Saturday 2/6/10 we woke up to over 2 feet of snow!! Wowza. Xia is surveying the landscape out the window...

And then we went outside to brave it. Wow Mommy, look at all of this snow!

See the inches on top of the lamppost:

Some shots of the house:

And a video of Xia trying to walk in it...



And of course, sled riding off the screened in porch just like last year - we built the ramp down the steps again...

Xia is Thirty Seven Months Old

Didn't I just have a birthday? On Friday 2/5/10 I turned 37 months old (3 years and 1 month). The big milestone is that I'm out of diapers and into pull-ups. I started using a little potty, but now I sit on a special seat on the big potty. I'm such a big girl now! (And Mommy and Daddy seem extra happy about this one!!).

Happy Birthday Rachel

On Thursday 2/4/10, we went to celebrate Rachel's 2nd birthday! My she has grown since our first meeting! We're all excited because her Daddy has a job in Virginia now (rather than Montana), so they will be much closer.

Here is Rachel opening a big stuffed puppy dog...

You can see Rachel's Mommy's belly to the left in this photo where her sister or brother is growing...

Finally got him out...

Here is Daddy with his girls...

And Isa in a great outfit from Mommy's good friend and coworker, Mary Ann:

What a Happy Birthday for Rachel!

What is it with Xia and Isa's Love of Socks?!

It's Isa! I seem to have the same love of socks that Xia does. Here I am on Thursday 2/4/10 "helping" Daddy fold the socks...

Kid Fun Fair and Traveling Zoo

Xia again. We all had a blast on Sunday 1/31/10 at the Kid Fun Fair and Traveling Zoo that came to the Lancaster Convention Center. Unfortunately, the batteries died in our camera after a few minutes there. So, Mommy took some pics and video using her old cell phone; apologies for the quality.

First, we saw the unicow. This is a cow with one horn coming out of its head. Poor thing did not have a lot of room and did not look very happy. We kind of felt a bit sad for all of the animals. It can't be the greatest life - a life in a traveling zoo...

Here I am with Daddy and the unicow is in the background. How's that possible Daddy?!

Next I got to feed the many, many goats!



I skipped the elephant rides...

But was brave enough to ride the ponies...



It was funny, because Mommy and Daddy figured they wouldn't spend much money since I was afraid to ride everything at Dutch Wonderland over the summer. Not so anymore! I will ride anything!

Next I rode a train and got the great seat that let me ring a loud bell...



My last ticket was spent sliding down a big inflatable slide:



We had a great time and it was nice to be inside and out of the cold having so much fun. Seems I will not hesitate any more to get on rides - YIPPEE!! (Mommy and Daddy realize in the background "there goes the budget!")

Time for Playgroup

Xia here. On Saturday 1/30/10 we got together with our playgroup. It had been awhile with the busyness of the holidays and birthdays, etc. First, I had a blast riding on Ava's 4 wheeler:



Here is Ava and a new addition to our playgroup, Gracie (she goes to the same daycare that Ava goes to):

Ava's new sister Katya is already seven months old!:

Isa and Katya having fun:

And I always love to play at Ava's Elmo table...

We're so lucky to have such a great playgroup. And the mommies had fun catching up too!

Isa is Ten Months Old!

I turned 10 months old on Saturday 1/30/10. I can pull myself up now and kind of cruise around on furniture. I'm starting to try some bread with cream cheese and some organic puffs snack here and there. It's fun trying to get the small bits of food into my mouth. I can sign "more", "light", "milk" and am learning others. I understand A LOT!! I call my Daddy "Da" and am saying other words that nobody understands. But I can get my meaning across. Lots of hair and Mommy has started giving me the Pebbles ponytail (just like Xia). I seem to tolerate barrettes better than Xia did, so I sport those now and again too. I'm doing well and everyone is grateful that I'm quite a healthy girl!

Mommy's Library Day in the Life

Be sure to go over to Mommy's work blog to see her post: "Library Day in the Life". There you will find a link to a picture/video tour of what a typical day is like for her. There's lots of pictures of the family mixed in with her work stuff. Enjoy!

Xia Likes Mommy's Glasses

But the real question is... will she like glasses when she has to wear her OWN? With Daddy and Mommy both being wearers of glasses, it's very likely that Xia will have to wear them also one day. We'll see...

Here is Xia on Monday 1/25/10 modeling Mommy's glasses...