House Update

Matt and I had a meeting with the guy in charge of building our house (I'm sure he has a title, but I can't remember it). Todd was a very nice guy. He walked us through and explained everything they had done, and he gave us a schedule for completion. It's really starting to come together. Matt and I are so excited! We can't wait to move!
The outside of the house looks pretty much the same, but here are a few shots of the inside.

Matt and Annie in Annie's room

Matt in our closet. Look how big and fabulous it looks already! (We are very excited about the walk-in closet if you can't tell. I think this closet might play a big part in the continued success of our marriage.)

Me standing in the kitchen on the spot where the dishwasher will go. How annoyingly appropriate.

Looking from the kitchen into the living room. The drywall was hung the next day.

"Fire-nims"

During our visit in Cleveland, we had a small incident involving a locked door and a lack of keys. So, my mom, the girls and I took an impromptu trip down to my dad's firehouse. It was his first day back at a house in ten years, and just a few hours in we were already down there bugging him :)
Annie was so excited by the visit. She has been dying to see the trucks and meet some real fire-nims, as she calls them. She had a great time feeding the house dog and climbing on the front of the truck.

BFFs

The girls and I went to meet baby Lucy last week. Lucy and Kate are destined to be BFFs, so we had to get started right away :) Lucy was so sweet and adorable. She slept in my arms most of the time were there. Annie and Bella again had fun together running around, throwing all of Bella's toys everywhere (wait, that was just Annie) and screaming at the cats.

We tried to get a pic of all four girls, and here is the result. This picture is so funny to me because Kate is so huge on Annie's lap.

And Annie and Bella enjoying their reward for sitting nicely on the chair and not injuring their little sisters:

Thanks for another great visit Puchmeyers! :)

Indoor Playground Fun

The girls and I met some friends at Michigan's largest indoor playground today, and Annie absolutely loved it. The place was pretty big, and I had to feed Kate right when we got there, but Annie just charged right on in and climbed all the way to the top. There were a few tense minutes when she got a little nervous, but it was all fun from there out.

Annie and her friend Maura on the slides saying "Cheese"

Taking a water (juice box) break
Having some climbing fun...
...until she fell in

Chasing Elise. I put this on here so you could see our little Michael Jordan. Look closely and you'll see her tongue hanging out. She does this all the time!

She is insanely strong. This thing was pretty high up.

Back to the slides with EliseA quick trip to McDonald's for lunch, and we're out :)

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Or "Pop-Its Day," as Annie calls it :)

Cereal

As part of our desperate attempt to get Kate to sleep more, we decided to go ahead and try some rice cereal. It was a marginally successful experience. We think she may have swallowed some of it, and Annie thought it was great that Kate got eat "special cereal" at the table. No so much successful on the sleeping front, however.

Sweet Annie

For all the complaining I do about her whining and being a drama queen, Annie really is a delightful little girl. She was fabulous today. She had a new babysitter this morning so I could help out with project her little playgroup moms were putting on. She didn't cry at all when I left and was so good!
Later, Annie's little friend Sawyer turned three and had a party at an indoor soccer place. Annie has been talking about Sawyer's party for two weeks, asking almost every day if today is the day of the party. She was so excited. As soon as we got there, she ran right out onto the field and immediately started kicking the ball. She ran back and forth across the field until she hit the wall with the ball, at which point she'd throw her hands up and yell "Score!!" She was literally red-faced and sweating. She wouldn't even stop when all the other kids gathered in the goal for a picture. And, if I do say so myself, she's rather impressively coordinated for a two-year-old.

After all the running, it was time for food and cake. Sawyer's mom commented that Annie was loving the birthday party. And she was. She sang Happy Birthday to Sawyer probably 12 times (with and without accompaniment) and actually very nicely helped open gifts.

This stupid picture will not flip. But it still shows how excited she was.

She had so much fun and was so sweet all day. I took a video of her feeding Kate after the party that is completely worth the $35 and drive to Best Buy required to get it onto the computer. Stay tuned for that. Toddlers can be so fantastic.

Just Because...

1. My brother informed me of my mistaken double entendre in the title of my last blog post, and so I want to knock that post down a peg. Can't have it be the first thing that you see. Grandparents read this blog.

2. My kids are cute.

3. They don't seem so cute when they are both crying, so sometimes I need to remind myself.

Kate

Annie

I'm Turning Japanese, I Really Think So

Now that we have a baby-sitter, Matt and I are party animals. Matt had the weekend off, so we decided to go out again. We heard about this half-off sushi restaurant last week. Sounds a little scary, we know, but really the place is new and just trying to drum up some initial business. So, we ventured to Ichiban Sushi with our friends Jamie and Jerry. It was delicious.

After, we were supposed to meet up with some people Matt works with. Jamie and Jerry wanted to go see a movie, so they decided not to join us. Little did they know, they were making a very, very bad decision. The following is all true:

Matt got a text that we were meeting at karaoke bar called Blue Karaoke. We did not know that people in Ann Arbor use the term "bar" quite loosely. We looked up directions on Matt's Blackberry. It directed us to a rather residential part of town. I was skeptical, but we trusted Matt's amazing phone and walked up to what looked more house-like than bar-like. It did say Blue Karaoke out front. As we approached, I asked Matt why the sign also had Asian characters underneath. He did not respond, and we entered. We were met by three girls who did not speak English. Luckily, we ran into someone we knew and they directed us downstairs to the 8x12 room in the basement, where the real fun was happening. No, nothing illegal or inappropriate. Just really, really weird.
Everyone was sitting on couches, except for the lead karaoke man, who was following along to the big screen. It was a BYOB event. We assumed we were going to a bar and so did not BYOB. Our fellow karaoke-ers were generous, however, and offered me a Miller High Life. Let me just say, I don't care what propaganda Miller is selling, that stuff is certainly not the champagne of beers.
So there we were, in a hot, stinky room saturated with sweat and the sweet sounds of "Africa" by Toto. Drinking High Life. One of Matt's co-workers informed me that this type of situation is all the rage in Japan, where he spent some time. It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen. But, we did what any self-respecting parents of two with a teenage baby-sitter at home would do--we drank our High Life and Matt belted out boy band songs, complete with dance moves.
Here are some pictures we sneaked to prove this is not made up:

Drinking my High Life and trying to figure out what all those signs mean.

We were standing in the corner of the room, just inside the door. This is really all there was. We also got yelled at by the girls upstairs when we opened to door to let some fresh air in.

I don't feel this post really reflects the strangeness of our situation. However, when any of you visit us in Ann Arbor, we will gladly take you to experience it for yourself. We'll just have to call Matt's friend because you have to speak Korean to reserve a room, or so we were told.

Ellie the Elephant

For Annie's birthday, her Aunt Jackie sent her a gift card to Build-A-Bear. We finally used it yesterday. It was so cute! Annie was a little unsure about all the animal options, but finally settled on an elephant. She watched the woman stuff it and then loved giving it an air bath. She picked out a shirt for it (well, Matt and I sort of led her to a normal one), as well. She was a little overwhelmed with the whole process, but once we got home, she was loving Ellie the Elephant (Matt named her). Annie even took her to nap and bed with her.

Thanks Aunt Jackie!! :)

Exersaucer

Unlike with Annie, Matt and I decided to wait until an appropriate time with Kate to try out the exersaucer. (We were overeager new parents the first time and stuffed Annie into that thing a bit early. It did not make Annie very happy). Anyway, Kate loves the Exersaucer. We were pleasantly surprised when we first put her in. She started grabbing at all the little toys and pushing all the buttons right away. She's obviously a genius.

She's also a massive drooler, so we accessorize with bibs these days.

And, again, not one to be left out, Annie requested a picture of "Annie and baby Kate's toy."

And just because she's cute.

A Big Day

Today is an exciting day for Kate!

First, she is four months old today! We went to the doctor, and he said she looks fabulous. Our little Kate is not so little, though. She weighed 15 lbs, 4oz and was 26.5 inches long---knocking her right off the growth charts! At four months, Kate smiles so much. She loves to play in her Exersaucer and watch Annie. My mom got her to giggle a couple weeks ago, but she hasn't repeated that trick yet. She can also sort of sit up assisted for short periods of time.
Kate is also looking more and more like her Mom every day (yay!). She's starting to look less like Annie, who, let's face it, is all Matt. Here's Annie at about 4 mos. to compare:

Next, today is Kate's godfather, her Uncle Matt's birthday! Happy Birthday Matt! We hope you have a great day!

And, last but certainly not least, we have a new birthday to celebrate. The Puchmeyers welcomed their second daughter this morning! We are so happy for them and cannot wait to meet baby Lucy! We're looking forward to forcing Kate and Lucy to be BFFs and take pictures together, just like their big sisters :) Congratulations Callista, Jason and Bella!

Tutu Cute

Warning: If you thought the bow was dumb and too girly, do not continue reading. :)

Our friends Jake and Jenny and their adorable daughter Madison came to visit this weekend from Toledo. We had a great visit! We loved playing with Madison and seeing Jenny, who is getting ready to have their second daughter. And Jake's pretty fun himself.

Generous as always, Jenny made Annie and Kate gorgeous tutus to play dress up with, complete with bows to match. Annie absolutely loves hers. She put it on at least four times today, and told me every time "I a princess, Mommy." We attempted a photo shoot, which is always a difficult task, and the girls fascination with the tulle did not make it easier.

Kate, sans her bow. We're going to need a few more months (years) of hair growth for that.

Annie was so happy she even posed for pictures.

Then Kate decided that tulle would taste delicious.

And Annie put it on again later. This is a nice shot to show all its fabulous fru-fru-ness. Yes, I just made that word up.

Annie and Madison during their visit. Annie insisted Madison wear Kate's tutu. :)