Ivey turns Two!!

It's hard to believe our little girl is already two. We had a Minnie Mouse themed birthday party for her and invited all her favorite people. She had a blast and enjoyed all of the attention. The weather was somewhat of a problem with a wintry mix moving in late afternoon the day before. We had to delay the party by an hour and all was good here in Charlotte several hours before the party, but not so good in Burlington/Greensboro/High Point area. We are so thankful everyone made it safely. After two years of weather issues on party day, we may be celebrating in July rather than January in the years to come.

Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013

We headed to the mountains to ring in the New Year. They had gotten about 6 inches of snow the day before we arrived and it was gorgeous. We tried out our snowshoes for the first time on a trail through the woods that led to edge of the ski hill. Ivey wasn't so sure about the snow at first, but she seemed to enjoy it after she napped a bit on our hike.

Ivey's speech has exploded in the last few weeks and she is talking so much more now. Her most recent favorite phrases are "Ivey do it", "Mama sit", "Help me" and "Daddy Home".  She also has begun singing a lot. She is still quite the little dancer - always coming up with new moves for her songs.

Ivey has stepped up her playing skills a bit and is really into pretend play - she plays Mommy really well. She plays by herself fixing food on the stove or in the microwave. She feeds it to her dolls or bears and then wipes up their messes. She pretends to change their diapers, give them baths and put them to bed. She also still loves to do puzzles and read books.

 

 

Christmas 2012

We had a great Christmas with our sweet little girl this year. She really enjoyed the decorations inside and out - especially our new snowman for the front yard.

Ivey gets a visit from Santa Claus

Not sure how to get this video to rotate

I don't want to take a stinking Christmas card photo!

Getting Ivey to pose for the Chistmas card was a real challenge this year. 

Finally a good one!  Merry Christmas.

Kauai, Hawaii 2012

Grandma and Grandpa agreed to come to Hawaii with us to help out with Ivey after Joe found an exceptional deal on a 2 bedroom condo in Kauai. It took a little while to convince me it was a good idea to take an almost 2 year old somewhere that far away. The travel was not as bad as I had anticipated and Ivey had a blast. The weather was cooler than we anticipated due to high winds. High winds were also at fault for very rough seas that would not allow us to snorkel or swim in the ocean. We did enjoy the pools at the resort and lounging by the beach. We also hiked and explored a bit and relaxed a lot. We had trouble getting used to the Christmas decorations while we there - just didn't feel like Christmastime in such a warm, tropical place!