Snow Fun!

Well, today we got stranded at home. I had a doctor's appointment this morning, Brad had come home to watch Kyle, and when he went back to work he took my keys with by mistake. So we couldn't leave the house the rest of the day. Luckily it was nice out - well okay, nice for January in Wisconsin. So I decided to take Kyle outside to see if he liked the snow. We got him bundled up in snow pants, hat, mittens, jacket, boots - the whole 9 yards. I didn't think he'd last long, but he played outside for an hour! He loved walking around in circles, trying to pick up the snow and even sitting in it. He did have one Christmas Story moment when he fell down and couldn't get up again, but overall he loved it. We even pulled out the sled and cruised around the yard. In other news, we found out we need to basically replace our entire basement floor and our sump pump pipe was frozen solid the other day. Luckily we pulled out the MacGyver moves and fixed the pipe. The floor is another story. We're still waiting to find out we've won the lottery - the way our luck goes we'll get that news in about, oh, never!!!!! Oh well. No one can say our lives are boring!

Kyle Update

Kyle is 18 months old. Can you belive it? He's getting so big and is full of personality. He LOVED opening presents on Christmas. He dug right in and now has some cool new toys to play with. See the picture below - he's a crazy man. He had his 18 month check up today and weighs 23 pounds and is 31" - a little peanut but growing. Watching him eat, we're not sure how he's not about 40 pounds by now, but seeing him run around all day, I guess he burns all those calories off! He also started 'school' last Wednesday. He goes 1 day a week for 2 1/2 hours. More of a little break for me and a chance for him to get used to sitting, sharing, playing with kids his age, etc. He was unsure of it at first, but didn't want to leave when I picked him up. It's a great place - they sing songs, have cool toys (a ball pit, gym to play in, sensory table), and do art projects. I think he's really going to like it. He's starting to talk more and more now too. My favorites are mama and dada of course. He sounds like an Englishman when he says Dada - I hear it constantly and it's so cute. He's always looking for his Daddy. He also says Maymay (for Macy the dog), up (bup), more, and does tons of animal sounds - our latest favorites are cat (meow meow - it has to be twice), giraffe (which isn't really a sound just a giraffe eating), pig (he snorts), cow (moo), and hippo (gotta hear that one in person). He's learning more and more signs - help, please, shoes, orange, and thank you are the latest. He just keeps us entertained. I don't know what we did without him. I'll put up a video later of his latest pasttime - spinning - loves to get dizzy I guess! He still loves vacuuming and is getting more and more independent - always wants to feed himself, pick out his shoes, carry groceries, etc. We hope you all are surviving winter - we're figuring we got about 2 1/2 more months to get through. Wish us luck!!
















Kyle's big 'ol monkey



















Just being cute





















Daddy's boots





















Riding his new bike
















Feeding himself some pudding

No couch potatoes here

Today has been a rough day. Not to play the pity me card, but I'm sick, and I've discovered that's one of the hardest parts of being a stay at home mom. When I get sick, I don't get to take a day off. I can't send Kyle off to daycare and spend the day sleeping and watching tv. I still have to get up and play even though I feel awful. Maybe it's worse because we live up here, far away from family. I can't call up my mom or sister or aunt and ask them to come help. As if I needed one, there's one more reason to move to Georgia! So, we've been trudging along, watching the clock tick away until 5:30, the magic Daddy's home hour! I've learned something today though. If you know me well, you know I'm a compulsive organizer. I hate when things are out of place and I hate when things don't have a 'home'. So ordinarily I try to play pretty neatly with Kyle. Today's been more of a 'do whatever you want' day. Kyle wanted to move all my socks into Brad's dresser drawer. Have at it! That means I get to lay on the bed and watch! Take all the shoes out of the closet? Sure, I'll just sit in the glider and watch you. Not being so anal about organizing has been fun and freeing...until tomorrow when I find the energy to put it all back again. We even tried to watch a video. Again, if you know me, you know that's not my thing. Kyle never watches movies or TV. Not that I have anything against kids watching a show here or there - we just really don't here - he's had no interest whatsover. My wishful thinking self was hoping today would be the day he'd sit and watch something, anything, at least for a half an hour. So I pop in the Veggie Tales movie, sit down with Kyle on my lap, get a whole 3 minutes out of him, and he decides he'd rather go play with his piano, then his little people garage, then Elmo. I desperately tried the Wiggles, Barney, Boz...no luck. Oh well. At least we got 2 naps in today. That's something - and we only have 2 1/2 hours left! Oh ya, and it's snowing. Again. Hooray for winter.

Happy Everything!

Okay, okay, so it's been over a month since I've updated this. Sorry! Sometimes I get convinced that no one reads it but then I get complaints so here I am back again. Hope everyone had a great Christmas, Hannukah and New Year. We were very lucky to spend Christmas with my family in South Carolina this year. After the ordeal of getting there, (flight cancellation, being hung up on by a CS rep, spending 5+ hours in the Memphis airport - fun with an 18 month old, flying into a different airport) we finally made it out of the cold and snow and were thrilled to be on the hidden gem of Fripp Island. As always, it was great spending the week with my sisters, brother, mom, nieces, nephews... We walked on the beach, cruised around in golf carts, played cards and games and discovered that the deer would come and eat out of our hands. That was amazing! Kyle even got to feed the deer. The weather was warm enough that the kids went swimming in the outdoor pool on Christmas Day - no adults joined them, but we enjoyed being outside in summer clothes on Christmas! We had a great time and would love to go back. We're especially glad Beth drove and was able to bring home all the piles of gifts for us.
















All the Crittenden cousins

















Our amazing home away from home on Fripp





















Kyle at the pool on Christmas Day - he never made it in the water though
















Kyle feeding one of Santa's reindeer
















This deer really liked Brad





















Kyle on the beach
















Kyle and Chloe at the pier

New Year's was uneventful but fun. We all went out to a Japanese steak house for dinner and headed home where Brad and I played the Wii until midnight! We had a great time and made it up to see 2009 enter in. Can't believe it's already 2009 - that means Brad and I have officially been together for 15 years - almost half my life!!
We celebrated with the Gates side of the family on New Year's Day - so fun to have all the cousins together! The holidays always fly by and now we're on to the loooong months of cold, snow, and ice. We're planning on taking Kyle sledding soon - hopefully he likes it a little more than he did last year!