Heaven's Little Blessings

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Europe Trip 2010

We had such an amazing time in Europe this May! It was a very long trip...17 days, and with a young child that can be very challenging although Alexa did surprisingly well. By the last day or two of the trip though she was done (and me too) and ready to be home. It was exhausting at times because we found out that we were pregnant right before we left and I was pretty tired and nauseous and we did so much walking...but it was all worth it! The most interesting part of our trip was when Nic and I went to a German hospital at about 1am to have an ultrasound done since I had some bleeding and we were worried about a miscarriage. Fortunately, everything is fine and we got to see our little baby's heartbeat for the first time! The hospital was deserted and very dim and it was just a little creepy:) We traveled around in Germany and Italy (seeing Venice, Rome and Pisa in Italy). I'm posting a lot of pictures but I feel like I did pretty well narrowing it down from 1,240 pictures to about 27.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

At the "American Beach" in Pisa. Alexa would not even touch the sand last summer and now Nic had her laying in it and trying to eat it:)

Alexa bringing me her treasure.

She still wasn't about to go in the water...even though she loves the swimming pool

Alexa trying to get in the fountain in front of the Vatican City.

Alexa cooling her feet in the Trevi Fountain.

Alexa and Daddy in front of the Trevi Fountain.

Alexa and Daddy in front of the Colosseum.

Us and Nic's sister and brother-in-law and their 3 boys with the Colosseum in the background.

Alexa climbing on some ancient pillars.

View of the canals in Venice.

Nic and Alexa in Venice.

View of the Alps where we were staying in Germany.

The fountain at King Ludwig's Palace in Germany

Castle Neuschwanstein which was the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disney.

Another view of the castle...it looks like it's in the clouds.

The castle in the background is the one King Ludwig grew up in. It was so cold that day I had to borrow my sister-in-law's coat and gloves.

The streets of Rothenburg, a medieval village in Germany

Finally, I got Nic where I want him...to bad we don't have one of these:)

Alexa overlooking the village below.

The tower in Rothenburg.

My cutie at the ancient well in Rothenburg.

Alexa and her cousin Joshua were completely exhausted after a day of sightseeing.

Touring the grounds of an ancient castle ruins. Alexa was obsessed with picking the dandelions.

Alexa sitting on the castle lookout.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Alexa's 2nd Birthday!

I can't believe my little baby is 2 years old! It kinda makes me sad that she is growing up but at the same time she is getting more fun every day. I think she kinda got the concept of it being her birthday. She would walk around singing "Happy Birthday" (sort of:) and she can say "I two". And boy did she love opening her presents. It's amazing how quick kids learn that the day is all about them.

A few updates about how Alexa is doing. She had her two-year checkup and as I expected, she is tiny. She is actually in around the 50% for her height at 34 inches and only the 10% for her weight at 23.6lbs. She still absolutely hates the doctor though. For some reason she still screams from the time they call us back until we get back into the car. She is starting to able to sing some songs (or parts of them:) and is saying two and three word sentences. And the biggest news of all...we are officially Potty Trained!!!! Yay! I started about 3 weeks before her birthday and after 7 accidents on the first day I almost gave up. Then by the second day (and 5 more accidents) I was ready to cry but I knew if I gave up I would have to repeat those 2 horrible days all over again so we kept at it. After her nap on day three something just kind of clicked and she started going every time I put her on the potty. We still have our occasional accidents but we did go for 9 days straight with no accidents...and then we had 3 in two days:( But over all I would say she is doing great. Anyway, on to the pictures...

We did a tea party theme since Alexa loves playing with her tea cups. My cakes didn't turn out quite like I had invisioned in my head...

Alexa with Aunt Jo Jo, Kate and Graham. Alexa is crazy about Jo Jo!

Alexa with her little buddies who came to help her celebrate turning two.

Trying to figure out how to blow out the candles.

Alexa was all about eating some cake. As usual, she was the last one at the table and then (even though there was still a lot of cake on her own plate) she went around to all the other kids plates and ate some of their cake since there were gone. What is it that makes every one else's stuff look so much better than your own even though it's the same thing?

Alexa went crazy over her Veggie Tales coloring book. That is her favorite "toon" right now and she started jumping up and down and yelling "Tale Tales", which is what she calls it.

The girls were patiently waiting for Alexa to hurry up and open her next present.

I don't know what it is about turning two but suddenly Alexa looks so much older:(

Beautiful girl!

Our first semi-warm (or at least not freezing) day and of course we had to go outside and take pictures:) Alexa loved touching the snow with her bare hands. And yes, finally the snow is gone!

Christmas 2009

We had such a fun Christmas this year! Alexa really got into it and had so much fun opening her presents. When she walked down the stairs her face lit up and she said wow when she saw her table and her stroller. After our little family Christmas we flew to Arkansas the next day to be with Nic's family. Sadly, Nic's parents didn't get to be with us because Nic's grandpa passed away a few days before Christmas. It was so good to spend some time in Arkansas though with Nic's brother and sister-in-law and Alexa's cousins Ryan and Emma. Then we went to Kentucky to spend a few days with my family. Alexa really enjoyed being around her 10 cousins.

We had so much fun but it's been such a cold, long winter that I can truly say I'm glad the winter season is finally over and we are ready for spring!