Science Central

While in FW, we went to the Science Central, interactive museum. They had a model train display as well as the regular interactive displays. Nathan had a great time.

Nathan on the Wii

Uncle Andy brought over his Wii for the cousins to play with while the adults talked. Nathan tried to play with the big kids.

Elser Family gathering

My cousins and their families got together while we were in Fort Wayne for a holiday open house. The real purpose was for everyone to meet Norah for the first time. Norah's Elser family debut was a big success.
My cousin Karen has 2 boys and loved holding Norah. She is excited to shop in the pink aisle at the toy store now.

My sister-in-law is a wonderful pastry chef. She makes awesome creative desserts for all family gatherings. This year, she made cupcakes that looked just like traditional Thanksgiving comfort foods - mashed potatoes & gravy, corn on the cob, peas & carrots, and spaghetti & meatballs:

Christmas at Memaw & Papaw's

My parents are going to be out of the country for Christmas (Australian vacation) so we spent the weekend with them and celebrated Christmas a little early.
We exchanged gifts and had fun together.
Norah got a very cute had made by my mom:

Uncle Aaron stuffed the little dogs into his new jacket. It was very funny watching the squirmy dogs in Aaron's coat:

SwaddleMe

The Kiddopotomus SwaddleMe blanket (picture from the web-site above) has to be the best baby item ever invented, hands down. I was skepitcal when my brother, Aaron first bought one for Nathan soon after he was born. We used it for him and it was great. It helped him sleep through the night by 7 weeks of age.
When Norah came home, we started using it again right away and she was sleeping throught the night at 2 weeks, what a blessing. She has recently outgrown the small-size we have and we tried moving her up to a sleep-sack. She was having a hard time getting to sleep at night and waking up every morning at 4 am (awful!!!). I had to get some sleep, so I went to Babies-R-Us and bought the large-size SwaddleMe and last night was great. She slept from 9pm-8am without waking herself up once. She may have to sleep in that swaddler until she is grown, but it is worth it.
I love it!!

Twins

Norah (on the right) and her buddy from daycare (Maggie) wore the same outfit the other day, unplanned. The teachers took pictures of the girls and sent them to me while I was at work. Aren't they too cute?!?!

Nathan age 3, Norah 4 months

3rd Birthday

Nathan & Ellie waiting for the guests to arrive:

Nathan had a dinosaur-themed party with his little friends. We had dino chicken nuggets, pb&j cut into dino shapes and chocolate cake with dinosaur toys.

To keep with the dino theme, the kids decorated backpacks and dug for dinosaurs in the sandbox. They had a great time. It was so fun to watch them find little toys in the sand.

Finally, Nathan got to open his presents. He got a lot of cool gifts. Thank you everyone for celebrating Nathan's 3rd birthday with us.

Wisener's Visit

Jeff's parents came for a visit.
We tried to go to the Louisville Mega Cavern, but they are closed to set up for Lights Under Louisville. We then decided to go to Falls of the Ohio State Park. It was a beautiful day and we were able to walk out on the rocks and look for fossils. We had a great time.

Nathan had to show off his iPhone skills to his Memaw.

A New Season of Swimming

I was a little fearful going into swim lessons with Nathan. As you know from past posts, he has a hard time adjusting to the water and usually cries making the lesson not much fun for everyone involved. I was pleasantly surprised. Nathan loves his swim lessons. This year we are at the Y instead of Baptist Milestone since we have a new membership. The Super-tots class is an introduction to the water, unlike his previous classes that taught survival skills. I think playing and having fun in the water is just what Nathan needs.

Musical Babies

Nathan got a drum for his birthday (thanks Uncle Andy). He has some mad skills on the drum:

Norah was getting into the musical groove with Jeff's guitar:

Norah at 4 months

4 months...I can't believe she is getting so big so fast.
Norah had her 4 month appointment and she is doing great. She is continuing to measure on the low end of the growth scale, but is consistent, so there is no need for alarm. We just have little babies. Her stats: 12 pounds, 2.8 ounces (20%); 23.5 inches (20%). The doctor said her hear is looking good. The flatness is improving (or at least not worsening). We are keeping her upright as much as possible to help with her head shape. She likes being in her exersaucer and sitting up in our lap. Norah is a happy, healthy baby.

Watching movies together

After Halloween night, Nathan wanted to watch a movie while the boys were watching football. We set up the portable DVD player and he laid on the floor to watch "The Incredibles". Norah joined him and they were too cute watching a movie together.

Halloween Night

In year's past, we had few to no trick or treaters in our neighborhood. Living in St. Matthews with fewer kids, no sidewalks, and lots of older people, there wasn't a need to even buy candy to hand out. When we moved into our new neighborhood, we were hoping there would be a lot more kids for Halloween. We were not disappointed. Our neighbor told us to expect a steady stream of kids from 5-8 pm. She said she typically buys $20-30 worth of candy and goes through most, if not all of it. We were excited.
Again we dressed up Nathan and Norah in their costumes (we definitely got our money's worth out of those costumes), then we walked around the neighborhood. Again, Nathan was not into the experience, he doesn't like to perform so he gets shy and whiney. He warmed up to it a little after a while. There were so many neighbors out with kids and candy. Many times we came up to a house where multiple neighbors were together having a party on their front lawn. They were handing out candy to the kids and appetizers & adult beverages to the parents. I have never seen anything like it.
While we were out with the kids, Jeff's band-mates stayed at our house and handed out candy. They even got into the spirit and dressed up for the kids.

Hospital Trick or Treating

Every year the Baptist East Child Development Center trick or treats through the hospital. The kids dress up in their costumes while the parents, volunteers, and employees get to hand out candy. They only tour the main floor (not the patient-care units), but plenty of departments send representatives down to participate in the activity.
This is a picture of the long hallway leading into the hospital. Jeff & Nathan are in the back of the line, very hard to see them.

Nathan dressed in his fireman costume again and went around with his class. Nathan's class is unique in that there are only boys (no girls), so they had a father-son Halloween party. All the kids got to invite their dads (or grandpas, uncles, etc.) to join them for the trick or treating and lunch after. Nathan was not at all into the experience. I think it bothered him to have so many people around and any attention on him. He was whiney and didn't participate much. As you can see, Jeff had to carry him most of the time and even work Nathan's fireman hat.

While Jeff was with Nathan, I went with Norah's class. The babies were too cute in their costumes. They, of course, had no idea what was going on, but everyone loved them.

Backseat Bible Stories

The other day on the way to church, Nathan was telling a bible story to himself. He must not have realized we could hear him because he was going on and on. Jeff and I were rolling in the front seat, trying not to laugh out loud so we wouldn't break his stride. It took us a while to piece together his story because he would add things as he saw them out the car window.
The story went something like this:
(the ... are for dramatic pauses)
"Jesus...and his friends...were hiding...on top of a house" (The last supper in the upper room).
"And He...was riding...on a turtle" (Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, the turtle was from a sign out the window).
"And He...was hiding...in a tree" (Jesus' on the cross)
"And He...was in a fish...from Neeafa" (Jonah in the belly of a fish going to Ninevah).
"And He..." and so the story continued, many variations of the above.