Winter Wonderland

This morning we woke up to a winter wonderland!! So far we've gotten about 7 inches of snow! Jaelyn didn't know what to make of the snow. She wasn't too sure of it....the first word out of her mouth was that the snow was "dirty"! Ha! But with Daddy & Opa outside with her, she forged along.

Isn't this gorgeous? I do miss having snow more regularly ...but I don't miss the long Michigan winters!

Marcus pulling Jaelyn down the "hill" on a sled!

Hmmmm....not to sure of this white stuff!

All bundled up (minus the snow pants...oops...gotta purchase some of those yet!)

Our Chicago Trip!

Last Thursday we boarded a plane and flew to the frigid, cold, & windy city of Chicago! Boy was it bone numbing to go from 50 degrees in Seattle to 10 degrees in a matter of hours! There was even snow on the ground!! This trip was to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday as well as have an early Christmas celebration as a family.



We spent a lot of time hanging out and relaxing with one another. It was a lot of fun to watch Aidan & Jaelyn interact together. Aidan did really well sharing his toys with Jaelyn!

So cute together!!

The better part of the trip seemed to be spent eating!! We never went hungry, that's for sure. Boy, we had some great food! One night Dan & Kim had the great idea of making calzones from scratch! They made the dough for us and then we could put whatever toppings we wanted in it. Yum, Yum!!

Here we are as a family all around the dining room table. Good times!!

And, who can forget the morning we all opened up our gifts! Santa came early for the Post clan!! Here Jaelyn is opening up one of her gifts with some help from Aidan. This year was more fun than last year 'cause she was more into the gifts and ripping the paper!

Children's Museum

On Friday morning we headed out to the Children's Museum in Naperville, IL. I think the adults had as much fun as the kids!! It is a really neat place...you could spend all day in one section of the museum! It's a toss up between the water feature and the balls as what Jaelyn's favorite thing to do.



Thank goodness for the smocks that they had available for the kids to wear as they played in the water. Somehow Jaelyn still managed to get really wet, though! :)

Aidan & Jaelyn having fun with the water.

Playing with the balls is so much fun!!

Jaelyn & Daddy making a fun picture together

Happy 60th Birthday, Dad!!

On Saturday night we went to an amazing restaurant, The Capital Grille, to celebrate my Dad's 60th Birthday. Boy, was it an experience!! Marcus & I have never had a steak that good in our lives!! What was extra special was that my brother, Dan, had a buddy from school who worked there, so we got some extra special treatment during the evening. The food was all amazing....from the lobster mac n cheese & calamari to the steaks & side dishes. And who can forget the champagne, wine, & cocktail drinks!! We had such a fun evening...the kiddos were home with a babysitter so we were free to talk & laugh the night away! It truly was a night we won't forget!

Marcus & Stephanie, Heather & Brian, Dad, Dan & Kim

The waiter brought this out to my dad at the end of the evening....flour less chocolate cake, key lime pie, & creme brulee....yum, yum, yum!! It was a great ending to our evening. Oh, wait...we had a 30 minute drive home so Heather (38 weeks pregnant) was our designated driver. The drive home was VERY memorable! I had tears rolling down my cheeks from the conversation we all were having. I won't go into detail...but it made for quite a memory!! I know this won't make since, but it will to all who were in the car: "do I have any mints left? Can you please check one more time?!"

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year...much to be thankful for....including buying a house! Yes, you read that correctly...we finally bought a house! We should close on it Dec. 10th!! We are so very excited about it...and can't wait to move it. (Pictures of it to come later!)

Brad, Suzanne, Lexi, & "little man" (their nickname for baby #2 on the way!) drove up from Oregon to spend Thanksgiving with the family. It was a lot of fun to have all 3 girls together again. They are getting SO big!! Lexi is walking now & Elisabeth is really close so it makes for lots of fun!! It's neat to see them interact with each other & carry on "conversations" with each other. Jaelyn was in heaven because Brutus, their 240lb english mastif, made the drive as well. She sure gets excited when she sees him...but doesn't like it when he barks!

We tried doing a little photo op of the girls...but we could never get all 3 girls to sit still...actually both Lexi & Elisabeth were the ones on the go!! No sitting still for these girls!! Jaelyn was actually a champ and kept saying "cheese" to the camera!!

...so we decided to have them all stand up by the coffee table...this kept them occupied for a couple more seconds at least!!

Then it was bath time for the girls. It first started off being a solo event for Lexi. But Jaelyn wanted in on the fun and came and asked me if she could join. (She pulled on her shirt...like she wanted it off and kept pointing to the tub!) So, in Jaelyn went. Elisabeth soon came upstairs and wasn't planning on taking a bath...but somehow got soaking wet from the 2 girls splashing...so in she went!! It was pretty funny to watch the girls play in the tub.

Here are the 3 girls (Elisabeth, Jaelyn, & Lexi) having some fun in the tub.

18 month photo shoot

This past Saturday we had a little photo shoot done to capture Jaelyn at 18 months old. We decided to do it on the waterfront for something different! I snagged these pics off of our photographers website...hope she doesn't mind!

Jaelyn LOVED throwing the rocks into the water.

Pretty cool that we captured the ferry in the background!

Don't ya just love her little footprints in the sand? Always one speed: running!!

So cute...playing with Daddy by the water!

Jaelyn would have played on the playground equipment for the whole photo shoot if we would have let her! Now I just need to go through the 100+ pictures and decided which ones to order!! Oh...boy!! :)

Halloween

Jaelyn was a monkey for Halloween this year. I thought it was fitting 'cause she loves to climb on everything in sight! (Plus she knows the sound a monkey makes!)

Doesn't she make the make the most a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e little monkey ever?!?

Our household group from church had a Halloween party for the kids. Here is a picture of the group before we went trick-or-treating!

Jaelyn actually had a lot of fun trick-or-treating. She needed a little coaxing to go up to the door, but once she saw the bowls of candy she knew what to do! She pointed at the candy and held out her bag!! Mommy & Daddy scored with all the candy she got!!

Happy monkey!!

Cousin Elisabeth was a cute bumble bee!! Maybe next year she'll go trick-or-treating too!!

After the kids were finished with trick-or-treating, it was back to the house for some fun play time. Jaelyn loves playing with Mia & Katelyn...here one of them is reading her a story! Too cute. (Sorry, I can't tell them apart!!)

Pumpkin Patch

This afternoon we ventured to South 47th Farm (in Redmond) to enjoy the great fall weather as a family...the sun was shining & you didn't even need a jacket! I love this time of year...the crisp air, leaves changing color, hot apple cider...ah, gotta love it! There were so many pumpkins to choose from but we ultimately decided that we would take a pumpkin out of Opa's garden instead! Here are a few pictures from our afternoon:

"sooooo BIG"

I can't seem to lift this one...Daddy, I need your help!

At first Jaelyn didn't want to have anything to do with these funny things...but she slowly warmed up to it...well, enough to capture a picture of her in it!!

Ok Mom & Dad...I'm a little sick of all these pictures you are taking...get me off of this mound of pumpkins!

Probably one of Jaelyn's favorite things was standing on a bale of hay and playing with the gourds. We had to wait 30 minutes for kettle corn...so thankfully she kept herself occupied!

While Daddy is Away....

...The Girls get to Play!

Our day started off with a trip to Bellevue Square Mall for some shopping and play time at the new children's play area. I got to go in a few stores, but then headed up to the 3rd floor for some good 'ole playtime. She LOVED running around & climbing on everything. She is such a monkey. The only thing that made us leave the play zone was the fact that she was hungry for lunch! So, we grabbed a quick bite to eat & then headed home in time for her nap...well, the nap actually started in the car.

Once she woke up from her nap, we jumped back in the car for outing #2. This time we went to Kelsy Creek Farm. They have a little petting zoo as well as a fun playground specifically designed for little tykes. Jaelyn was able to see "neigh, neighs" (horses), baa's (sheep), chickens, bees, rabbits & goats.

Jaelyn wasn't too sure of the horse and only got this close to it. The horse REALLY wanted to be petted and reached as far as he could through the fence, but was denied! Maybe next time.

Jaelyn got up enough courage to get closer to the sheep....

After we were done looking at the animals, we headed for the play area. Jaelyn had a fun time on the swings & teeter-totter and climbing on the toys. Although, the doggies on the playground were probably the highlight for her. She just can't get enough of them!

Thanks for a great day sweetie!! Let's do this again sometime! (Don't tell Daddy how much we spent at the mall...it's our secret!!)

Look who's 1 1/2 years old today!

Yep, that's right...our baby girl is 1 1/2 years old today! Gosh...she is growing up way too fast!! Here are her stats from her doctor's visit yesterday:

weight: 22 lbs 2.5 oz (25%)
height: 34 in (97%)

**I'm not sure how accurate these measurements were because Jaelyn was NOT a happy camper at the doctor's visit! She cried big tears when we tried to get her weighed & measured! I think she recognized the nurse who was doing the measurements because she is the one who usually pokes her! Poor girl! She also cried when Dr. Dave examined her. She did not like him looking at her ears, mouth, or listening to her heart. She worked herself up so much that she took a nap for 3 1/2 hours! It would have been longer, but I woke her up so that she would be able to get to bed at night!**


some of her words: poopy (her latest word!), dirty, truck, duck, more, baby, emo (elmo) & the usuals (mommy, daddy, what's that?, uh-oh, buh-bye, peese, yes, pa (opa), ma (oma), dog-dog, no, and she says many more words on command. (even "brudus"...cousin Lexi's dog!)
animal noises: chicken (along with hand motions!), cow, duck, monkey, dog, cat, bear, lion
favorite books: her elmo book, the sparkly frog book, 3 minute tale book (just looking at the pictures of the animals), and really enjoys looking through magazines to find pictures of doggies.
favorite foods: basic 4 cereal (she's won't eat cherrios & other kids cereal...she's sick of them!), eggs, mac n cheese, salmon, beans, and any fruit.
favorite toys: the noisy "popper", ride-on bus, balls,
how many teeth: 13
loves to: color (we are working on her coloring just on the paper & not taste testing the crayons!), turn on the radio and dance, to eat her snack out of a bowl while sitting on the couch, bath time, playing outside, jumping on the bed, looking at pictures & watching video of herself on the computer.
hates: to have her nails cut & doctor's visits.
sleeps: goes down at night around 7-7:30pm and wakes up around 7:30-8am. She takes one nap...usually right after lunch for about 1-1.5 hours.