Mom's visit to Indy...

Mom was finally able to make the trip out to Indy to celebrate Christmas and meet Delaney (she had been unable to fly for several months due to major back surgery). She arrived last Sunday (amidst the blizzard!) afternoon and was VERY happily greeted by Izzy. We've been talking on webcam for months; however, Izzy just couldn't wait to get her hands on her Grand Roo! The first 24 hours Izzy just keep looking at mom and saying, "HI ROO!" So stinkin' cute.

Mom was able to spend two full days alone with Izzy & Delaney, as I had to work. My sister and her kids arrived Tuesday afternoon and the chaos of a full house ensued. We had so much fun: Izzy played dress-up for everyone, mom had MANY craft activities planned, swimming, museums, and games galore (cards, dominoes, etc.). Well, all of us minus Mike - who was recovering from minor surgery...but he was a good sport to put up with all of us laughing and playing games all day long.

Dressing up for Grand RooWatching The Wizard of Oz while dressed as Dorothy (mom brought both of these new costumes for her)
Delaney doing what she does best - playing in her saucer!
We introduced rice cereal to Laney...
...and surprisingly she liked it!

Izzy (and her coveted monkey) playing with her new Elmo

Laney at the pool

Swimming

And more swimming...I went down the slides a few times - since I couldn't go down the outdoor slides all summer b/c I was pregnant, I was chomping at the bit to try the indoor slides! They were fast and FUN!

Delaney sleeping on her cousin Taylor at the pool

Playing her new drums

Roo and Laney

Designing iron-on crayon shirts- one of mom's many crafts she brought with her (they also made ornaments!)

Decorating cookies

Me, mom and Kim

The whole gang (minus Mikey)

We went back to the pool...and I just loved this shot - out of focus, yes, but love the sun on the water and Izzy playing in the fountain

Izzy directing, I mean swimming, with Roo

Looking at the dinosaur exhibit at the Children's Museum
Mike, Izzy and mom looking up at the blown glass exhibit

And riding the carousel

All-in-all we had a wonderful visit with mom. We had a lot of fun and built some wonderful memories together.

On a sad note, my Grandmother Keel (Nana) passed away a few hours ago. She was my father's mother and a beloved member of our "Keel Clan." I will treasure my time with her always and hold her dear to my heart. I learned a lot about life, family, and manners/etiquette from Nana. I was happy to have spent some time with her in October (when the entire Keel family was here) and have one final picture of her with Izzy where she and Grandfather look very happy:

We miss you already, Nana.

Christmas 2009

This year we spent Christmas in Ft. Wayne with Mike's dad. We arrived Christmas Eve and stayed through the weekend. Traditions started right away with the girls opening new jammers to wear that night and all day on Christmas. Izzy got to sleep in her tent again (which she LOVES) and Laney slept in her pack-n-play in our room (read: we don't sleep well b/c of her little noises she makes...how can people co-sleep with babies?!?!). We were woken up on Christmas morning to the sounds of jingle bells and Santa "ho-ho-ho"ing throughout the house. This was a tradition in my family since before I was born: my Grandpa Bruhn would dress as Santa and wake us all up with his jingle bells and we'd sit on his lap and get our gift from Santa. He dressed as Santa until I was a Freshman in college...well after we stopped believing. Just became ritual in our family. I asked if Bob would carry this tradition on to our girls, to which he graciously obliged. Turns out there was already a Santa suit in the family and he just updated the beard, boots and belly. Izzy was in shock...and over-the-moon excited that Santa was at Bobo's house!!! Santa brought Izzy Elmo...exactly what she asked him for a few weeks ago when she visited him in Carmel.

We had a great holiday and simply loved being at Bob & Laura's...very relaxing and laid back. We often times find ourselves still in our jammers at dinner time! We did lots of eating, watching movies, shopping and simply relaxing. My mom just flew in tonight from Lake Tahoe and my sister will be arriving on Tuesday, so we have a fun week ahead of us!

Delaney & Grandma Laura
Izzy investigating the trains, trees and stockings in the loft

Izzy & Laney with Grandpa Bob in their new jammers

Hugging Santa

Laney checking out Santa

Izzy, Jake and Gabe with Santa (and Elmo). Check out Izzy's face...she was elated!

Family pic

Loving her new vest...

...and her new Elmo slippers and doll

Delaney and Grandpa Bob (she's sporting a new hat that her Grandma Laura made her)

DJ Lance hat and glasses...she kept on checking herself out in the mirror

Matching jackets

Chef Bob making his tradition: Christmas day pizzas!!!

Another holiday tradition, babies under the tree checking out the lights! Laney was a huge fan of this

Izzy wearing her "dot dots" - footed jammers & slippers

Pre-school, Exer-Saucer & a Haircut!

Last week was Izzy's pre-school holiday program. We practiced her songs and hand motions (including Away in a Manger, Happy Birthday to Jesus, etc.) for weeks before in preparation, only for the program to begin with a bunch of 2 year olds watching their teacher sing. It was quite funny...I think the kids were just more excited that all their parents were in the room watching them. Regardless, it was fun to see Izzy in her element. She did finally warm up and sang a bit louder than the rest of the crew...she even got a few laughs from the parents for her animation and enthusiasm. She didn't disappoint, that's for sure!

Daddy and Delaney
Snack time!
Mommy and a laughing Delaney

This week will mark Delaney's 4 month birthday...cannot BELIEVE she is 4 months old already. Sometimes I feel like time is standing still (from weeks 6-10 when her colic was in full-force) and other times I feel like time is flying and she'll be crawling before we know it! We had her 4 month pediatrician appointment last week and her stats were: Height 24 1/4 inches (50% percentile), Weight 12 pounds 14 ounces (25-50% percentile) and Head 41 cm (50% percentile). Again, Mike and I were thrilled to hear her head was in the normal percentages. The doctor was very happy with her growth and progress and was impressed by Delaney's strength (she has been sitting up/holding her head up for 2 months and can also push her head and chest up off the floor while on her tummy). With this news, we decided to pull out the exer-saucer to see if she was strong enough for this next developmental stage:

...and of course she LOVED it!

Her feet don't touch, so a little towel helps her maneuver round & round and standing up

She loves that she can get a 360 degree view of what is going on around her & play with her big sister. This afternoon she spent the better portion of an hour talking, gabbing, cooing, and belly laughing. I really think this new toy of hers has made her more social and happy. We love discovering her little personality!

This morning we decided it was time for Izzy to get a REAL haircut to take off a few inches...a little something new for the holiday. She is a big-time hair-twirler and sometimes she twirls her hair into knots; we've had to cut a few of these knots out. Her hair is also very thin (sorry to pass that gene onto her!) and therefore gets tangled often. It was just time. Izzy was thrilled to arrive to Cookie Cutters to find an indoor playground and a full library of movies to choose from. She's been asking to see Finding Nemo since we left it at Grandma & Grandpa's house at Thanksgiving...so she was happy to see it was a selection.

Izzy loved that she got to sit in a race car and watch her movie, she almost didn't even notice she was getting her hair cut!

To show you how long it was in the beginning...

...and how short it was afterwards!

It's now chin-length and SUPER adorable. During bath time tonight, Mike even commented on how easy it was to wash and how it didn't tangle. It really makes her look older...and makes her cheeks look even more chubby (I like to call them full) than before!

Elmo, popcorn and nailpolish...

Both Delaney and myself have been sick all weekend with colds, so there's not much to report on our end. We did venture out to downtown Carmel to have Izzy meet Santa. We practiced the entire wait what she'd say to Santa - that she wanted an Elmo doll for Christmas. She was so excited...until the door to the house opened and we had to walk in. Um, let's just say she was NOT happy and wasn't able to tell him her Elmo desires. I don't have a picture of it, yet! We're picking up the picture at a local studio this week and I'll be SURE to post it ASAP. Anyway, here are some cute pics of Izzy...

Izzy loves to push her lovies around in her stroller (Dora and Monkey).
Just a cute pic of Iz wearing her Elmo sweatshirt

This is what Izzy looked like today after she woke from her nap (check out that hair!). She was watching the Colts game with her daddy. Notice her recent obsessions: popcorn and nail polish. This week the nanny painted Izzy's nails and toes...and then let Izzy reciprocate. Mike told me he saw the nanny's fingers and hands were covered in pink polish. I asked if he offered her some nail polish remover...to which he replied, "She didn't ask." Um, and you didn't think to offer it?! Poor girl. She's a keeper.

Candy Cane Hunt, Friends & Pasta...

This weekend the girls and I spent at home without Mike...whom was down in Evansville for an alumni swim team reunion. We had one thing planned to do: Candy Cane Hunt with Jaime & Luke! Turns out it was a lot more hassle than it was worth, as it took me almost 40 minutes to get all three of us girls ready and out the door, for the Hunt to only last only 15 minutes. Phew. It was a lot of work for a 6 month pregnant gal and myself (who was trying to push a stroller with a 3 month old through a field)! Fortunately, the Monon Center had different areas for each age group and there were HUNDREDS of candy canes to hunt for. However, try telling two 2 year olds to run through a field and collect candy canes in 25 degree weather (read: they were bundled up so tightly and had mittens on...so they could barely bend over to get the canes, let alone grab them!). It was hysterical. Yet another reason I love Jaime...we just stood there laughing our tails off!!! P.S. Izzy threw one of the biggest temper tantrums I have ever seen; it took me at least 10 minutes to get her buckled into her car seat...Jaime had to take over b/c I was so pooped from trying to wrestle her. Gotta love 2 year olds!

Grand Roo sent an awesome holiday package that included tons of ornaments for our tree, a Santa hat and a jingle bell musical toy. Izzy thinks she is so cute running around the house jingling the bells and wearing her hat shouting, "Ho, Ho, Ho!"
The two tykes bundled up

Izzy was so confused

Jaime and I ended up picking up most of the candy canes and filling the kids' bags
Not a great picture, as Santa was in a big hurry and rushing us

Molly paid us a visit after the hunt and got to snuggle on Delaney

Tonight was pasta night and Izzy LOVES her some pasta!

She really does love it...this is her KISSING her pasta. So cute.

Tree decorating...

As per our usual post-Thanksgiving tradition, we put up our Christmas tree this weekend. I was not super fired up about doing this, as it entails bringing up boxes from the basement (Mike's job) and digging through to find the ornaments that tickle my fancy this year (read: make a mess!). With having a toddler in the house, I feel like I'm constantly picking up...and this task would mean more picking up and organizing! But we ended up doing it and were happy we did. Izzy had a great time "helping" and I think Delaney LOVES the lights.

Izzy helping daddy find the lights that work
Izzy thought it was funny to actually WEAR the stockings (she found a box of old items and I let her do as she wished)

Izzy helping to decorate...we put a lot of kid-friendly ornaments at the bottom that she has since taken off, kissed, and put back on. Over and over again.

And of course the girls had to look up at the lights from below. It's become a tradition of ours.

Delaney spent some time under the tree admiring today
The finished product

Just a random picture...I tried bathing both girls together last night. Was not an easy task, but was different and fun for us. I'm looking forward to when Delaney can actually sit up and take a "big girl bath" in about another 3 months!