The weatherpeople were right this time! From Friday morning through Saturday night, 28 inches fell outside our home! It was incredible with blizzard conditions Friday night. I loved every moment of it and insisted on keeping all the blinds open to see the beautiful snow fall. I just love the snow and get SO excited every winter for it. The past few winters were WEAK (snow-wise) but this winter has been EXCEPTIONAL! YAHOO! Here are some pics of our home:
Our house (look at that handsome man shoveling)!
Our deck during the blizzard on Friday night
Our deck -- Sun. night -- some snow may have melted during the day?
Adam has definitely had his moments of stir-craziness but has been pretty good for the most part. It was too cold for him to play outside today but he had a BALL (we all did) playing outside yesterday:
Adam insisted that Daddy pick him up at first... especially since Adam isn't too much taller than the snow!
Wow! Almost 2.5 feet of Snow!
Attempting to build Fros.ty the Snowman
Adam making his first snow angel. He actually got in the ground himself and started moving around.
Snowball Fight with Daddy!
Earning his keep (actually, Adam insists on shoveling. When he saw Steven with the shovel, he ran down the (shoveled)sideway to get to it!
Our own little snowman!
This photo cracks me up. On Friday night, Steven was looking out the window and said "Look at that Gigantic Snowman!" Seriously, look at it. I think it's the biggest snowman we've ever seen (great job, neighbors)! Oh, and see that mound of snow behind the suv? Yeah, that is Steven's car!!!
Here are some of my favorite shots of Little Love in "Snowt.orious B.I.G.!": Guess what? We are expecting 3-5 more inches on Tuesday night!!! Bring.It.On!!!
During our last full day in Southern California, we went to visit Dick & Tani in Malibu. They have been family friends since the early '60s! It was wonderful to see them again and introduce them to Adam. Adam especially bonded with Dick and he taught Adam the "1, 2 Eating Game" which really helped Adam to eat. It was absolutely delightful being in their home... which overlooks the ocean... STUNNING! Orange picking at Dick & Tani's house in Malibu
A fun lunch with Dick & Tani!
After lunch, we went to the ocean. The last time Adam was at the beach was in Destin, Florida when he was 14 months old. He was a little wary of the sand then. Not anymore... he *LOVED* the ocean. He was a little scared of the surf, though. He spent a good 45 minutes just running around in the sand. He also enjoyed picking up rocks/stones (there weren't any shells) and hanging out with the family. I took probably 50 pics of him frolicking on the beach. Here are a few of my favorites: With Tani & Grandma WIPE-OUT! Group pic... Uncle Steven, Aunt Elizabeth, Grammy, Uncle Joey, Aunt Hillary... & Adam, the little escapee!
It was a great way to end our Cali vacation! Hope you enjoyed the beach photos... since the next post will be filled with SNOW PICS! That's right -- we are expecting 1.5 - 2.5 feet of snow tomorrow... crazy!!! I have lived in Northern VA my whole life (except for college) and we've never had a winter like this. I LOVE IT! I have a new camera to take lots of pics of Adam in the snow. The only sad part is that Bobbe & Zaide were supposed to visit this weekend and had to cancel their trip, due to the snow. =( We are hoping they will be able to come later this month. Adam talks about them every single day and we all miss them very much.
As I'm watching the beautiful snow fall outside (we've never had so much snow here in VA -- we also had about 5 inches fall on Saturday!), I'm reminded of our *sunny* California vacation. We've been home for over a month and I still haven't posted all the pics! So, here's part 2... hopefully I'll have part 3 up tomorrow. Which is a definite possibility since my camera is still lost. =( I'm in serious photography withdrawal. In the meantime, here are some pics of Lake Balboa Park in Sherman Oaks. It was fabulous... huge lake (with lots of ducks) and miles and miles of sand for kids to play in. If we lived in Sherman Oaks, I'm sure we would be there every day:
"Look at all the Duckies!"
Hi Duckies!
So happy to be in Sunny CA!
The crew hanging out: Uncle Steven, Uncle Joey, Aunt Hillary, Grandma, Daddy and Adam
Buried in the sand pit!
Adam loved this truck he found
Being chased by Uncle Stevie. Adam loves being chased!
I'm still without camera... so upsetting... I think this is the longest I've gone since Adam's birth without taking pictures... may have to break down and buy a cheap one at Tar.get this weekend... don't tell my husband (ha ha).
In other news... Adam is doing really well with the potty training! Here goes (forgive me for the TMI!): Adam has made a poo on the potty 3 out of the last 4 nights... including last night and tonight. Hooray! He originally asked me for a "pull-up to poo in" tonight but I told him to try on the potty first. I asked him if he'd like me to read him a book when he was sitting there (start the habit at a young age!!!) and he said "Yes... it will make it hurt less". So I read him "The Sno.wy Day" (we're predicting snow tomorrow) and he remembered it from Grandma's house -- and a few minutes later, we had "a winner" -- so to speak!
Just as exciting... twice tonight, Adam went over to his potty and pee'ed. Without saying a word, he got up (from playing), ran to his potty, sat down and did "his business" and went back to playing (with a reminder from me to wash his hands!). It was so cool, though, how he literally got up and did it. So we're definitely excited over here... wow, amazing what things we find "exciting" these days!!!
One more thing... observant blog readers may notice that the picture of Adam under the title is a little... dated. The picture is from July 2008 and he was 15 months old... it was the day that "Big Doggy" became a member of the family. ;o) Since I'm feeling nostalgic in the months leading up to Adam's 3rd birthday (in less than 2 months - OMG!), I'll probably be posting up old photos under the header. I'll try to post a new photo with each now blog post. For those of you keeping track. =0)
My apologies for being a blog slacker the past few weeks. I can't find my camera (very stressful) which has, of course, prevented me from taking my almost daily photos. Above are a few pictures I took of Adam playing in the bath a few weeks ago. He loves "swimming like a shark" and drawing (with his bath crayons) these days. And splashing. I tried taking some new pics on Steven's B.Berry but they didn't turn out too hot (shocker). As a result, I'm taking a lot more videos with my awesome fl.ip camera. I've taken lots of mini-videos for months now but they take FOREVER to download onto the blog... which is why you haven't seen more (lucky you?!?)! In this video clip, you can hear Adam counting and talking... just hanging out... I love his little voice! Oh, he managed to turn his new kitchen sideways in this clip, I'm noticing. Not a big fan of MY voice... just listen to Adam's, please. =)
Adam continues to crack us up on a daily basis. He just says the funniest things. Today when I picked him up from school (he is now -- finally -- calling it that, as opposed to Miss Annie's House), the first thing he said (after "Hiiiii Mommy!") was "I Didn't Hit!". That's my boy (yeh, we've had some problems with hitting the past few months -- a whole other topic!).
Other recent "Adam-isms" have been:
-- "I love you, Mommy. You're the best Mommy. You're the favorite" (ahh, music to my ears)
-- "Thank you, Mommy! Thank you, Daddy!"
-- "That's a good idea!" (he says that ALL THE TIME now!)
-- "That'll be cool!" (obviously I had another "good idea" when he said that)! =)
-- Adam has been saying "thank you" for a looong time but now he says it with such enthusiasm. You could give him a piece of lint and he is as appreciative as if you gave him a million bucks. It's very cute. He's also into saying "Hi" and "Hello" these days. We're still working on "please", though... we have to remind him to say "please" the majority of the time.
-- "I'm not a Baby. I'm a Big Boy!" -- Adam says this all the time now...whatever you do, don't call Little Love a "baby" these days... as he's a BIG BOY! =)
Also, this is not an "Adam-ism" but I thought it was cute... tonight Steven and I were talking about how we're going to buy him a "real bed" (as opposed to his toddler bed soon). He said "Nooo, I like my white bed with the blue on top"... so sweet. So we'll probably wait to buy one since he's obviously quite happy in his toddler bed. Except when he falls out... which he still does a few times a month.
In other Adam news... potty training is going pretty well. He now wears underwear (instead of pul.l-ups) at school and usually can get through the day without accidents. I still have him in pul.l-ups when we're home since we're out and about so much. I guess I have to get used to the idea that he'll be using public toilets (ugh). I already bought potty covers! Regarding "#2", he went by himself for the first time yesterday in the potty (well, technically it was the 1st time since we introduced the potty to him almost a year ago). So that was exciting (wow, what we find exciting these days...!). However, he insisted on wearing a pul.l-up tonight to "poo in". So guess it will take a little bit more time for him to be completely ready/toilet-trained. My goal is for him to be 100% potty-trained (except for when he's sleeping) by his birthday... so I have 2 months left! We'll see what happens.
That's about it for now. Can't believe my baby (I mean, BIG BOY) will be 3 in 2 months (& 1 day)!
I still have 2 more parts of our "CA Adventure" to post but thought I would take a break to show you what Adam's been up to in 2010. ;-)
For a few months now, Adam has gotten great at imitating dancing, hand gestures, etc. At our library class every Tuesday, he does a great job of following along to the songs/dances. The other night, I found an new program on Spr.out On Dem.and -- Play with Me, Ses.ame -- a new(?) Ses.ame Street show. There is A LOT of singing and dancing on it. Adam gets right up and starts to dance along with the characters. It's precious!
He also likes the "freeze dance" from Nick.elodeon (new favorite shows are Do.ra, Die.go -- how original, I know -- and Max & Ru.by) and knows how to FREEZE. I love to see him in motion! FREEZE DANCE! ("frozen" here)
In other news, we bought Adam yet *another* kitchen from Cra.ig's List! The other 2 (that we bought over a year ago) have been stored in the garage for a while (I need to donate them or something). They really are for toddlers where the "new" (old) kitchen is more for "big kids"... it even has a grill! It was a good buy, too, at $35 (it is still selling for $140, I believe). Gotta love Cra.ig's List! Oh, how I *adore* this little love! Hope everyone is having a great week! More CA Adventures photos coming soon!
Our house (look at that handsome man shoveling)!
Our deck during the blizzard on Friday night
Our deck -- Sun. night -- some snow may have melted during the day?
Adam insisted that Daddy pick him up at first... especially since Adam isn't too much taller than the snow!
Wow! Almost 2.5 feet of Snow!
Attempting to build Fros.ty the Snowman
Adam making his first snow angel. He actually got in the ground himself and started moving around.
Snowball Fight with Daddy!
Earning his keep (actually, Adam insists on shoveling. When he saw Steven with the shovel, he ran down the (shoveled)sideway to get to it!
Our own little snowman!
This photo cracks me up. On Friday night, Steven was looking out the window and said "Look at that Gigantic Snowman!" Seriously, look at it. I think it's the biggest snowman we've ever seen (great job, neighbors)! Oh, and see that mound of snow behind the suv? Yeah, that is Steven's car!!!
