Thursday, February 28, 2013

Rewind to December


December was a fun month. We flew to Phoenix on the 11th and stayed with Beth and John and Deana. It was a whirlwind trip as we tried to see everyone we love and miss. We did pretty well, but it was exhausting! The main reason we went then was that two of Kirk's old coworkers at US Airways were getting married. So we got a night out and had way too much fun that night. It was worth it!

Arizona Trip

 
Not the most perfect picture, but I have to say something about Elena and Maren flying.
They are awesome flyers! They know just what to do and they keep themselves entertained as long as I bring plenty of food and some things for them to do, including a movie to watch. They know the routine! And they always get a lollipop or something good on the way down to help with their ears.
 
 
 
 I only got this one picture of Maliyah while we were there. We only got to see them twice for a short time each, as she and Zavier had been sick with croup before we arrived.
 
 
 

We spent a night at John and Deana's, too. This is at a restaurant the next day, after Sophia had gone to see Santa Claus. Maren and Elena wanted nothing to do with Santa, but Elena sure was sad that we did not have a fancy dress for her to get dressed up in like cousin Sophia. Amazingly, Elena remembered how Sophia had her hair when she went to a dance with Kirk for Valentine's Day. She agreed to have her hair done like Sophia's.
 
 
 
 
 


The Seitz Family all got together for dinner at Beth's house that Friday night. Things got a little crazy, as you can see from some of these pictures. The cousins were all happy to see each other. I am sure Beth was happy nothing got broken. At least not that I know of!




Grandma and Boppa and their Kids

Our Family 


Auntie Beth and Marebear    
                                                                                               Auntie Beth and Elena
 
 
 It was really a great trip. I found it a little interesting that when I moved to AZ in 2000, I did not go back to Iowa until Christmas. When I moved back to the Midwest 12 years later, I did not go back until December. Not because I did not want to, but because it is not as easy to get to Phoenix flying standby as we thought it would. That is unfortunate, because I would have gone many more times.
 
Maren does not remember much of AZ. I asked her the other day and she said, "I don't remember AZ." That makes me very sad. Elena, however, remembers it very well. She had a difficult time when we returned to Chicago. She started crying on the way home from the airport, saying she was not sure why she was crying. The next three nights, we had to call Auntie Beth and talk to her at bedtime. She was crying so hard and saying she missed "Unckie" Beth. She has said a few times that she wants to go back to AZ. To her, it means her best friend, Maliyah, and all those things that she remembers as the foundation of her life. This little girl has an incredible memory. I wish I could save all those memories for her, because they are very special to me, too. They are the years when my little girls were babies!
 
 
 

 An Evening in the City

 I had to throw this in there... I love pictures of my kiddos sleeping - especially Elena. I never got to take them when she was a baby because she was so noise sensitive that she would hear me and wake. So now I snap them whenever I can.
Elena, 3 years, 10 months
 
So, what do you think? Does she still look the same?
Elena, 3 weeks
 
 
 
Here is the night in the City

We found a great little Mexican Restaurant with some pretty darn good Margaritas downtown


It was quite cold, but this was our first walk on the Miracle Mile since we moved here. Well, as a family. Kirk works in the Sears Tower so he can walk there whenever he likes. We have not ventured down there but twice as a family. I am looking forward to many more trips when the weather is suitable for these Arizona transfers!
 
 
 
 

Christmastime 






We got to make some goodies with
Meme... one of my favorite Christmastime
goodies, almondbark covered pretzels and
peanut butter Ritz sandwiches.
They enjoyed themselves immensely.

 


 
I love this picture of Maren.
 
 
 
Maren and Elena each got their own cd player with microphones, which they love.
 
I did not get many pictures of Elena. She doesn't really love the camera and often she is in motion in the pictures I do get. We had a lovely Christmas, though. Tim was happy to build fires in the fireplace, we had a nice dusting of snow Christmas day, and cousin Jennifer came over with Rosie Dog and stayed Christmas Eve. We all had quite a nice time.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
          

Thursday, February 21, 2013

My First Post

So I have been wanting to start a blog for a long time! There are so many things I want to remember and afraid I will forget... especially as time flies by and my babies... now my little girls!... are growing so fast. So, thank you to Amber for introducing this to me; I have been following her blog for a few years. And finally got to starting my own! I am psyched! Now, my pictures will not be as beautiful as Amber's, as I am no photographer. But, hopefully one day she will get to take photos of these two little ones and I can post those.



Here is sweet Elena on Valentine's Day, the day Unckie Beth, Grandma and Jesse arrived. It was quite a day. The beginning of a birthday extravaganza!
 
 
Maren jumping on the trampoline
I really wanted a picture of them together but they were done at that point.  
 
 
This made us all laugh as Beth tried to take a picture of me
 and Elena popped her head in at the last second.
 
 
Cousin Jesse the next day, February 15th. 
He and Elena had SO much fun playing. I don't think our playroom has ever seen such mayhem. They were pirates, chasing bears; they had great fun together.
 
 
After Elena went to preschool, we went to lunch at
White Castle (her choice) and then to Jump Zone.
 
 
The whole fam heading to the top of a giant slide, Jesse, too
 
 
Maren ended up being afraid of the biggest slides, even though she has been on them before.
 
 
Meme went down one of the giant ones, too!
 
 
At the end they decided to try the Hurricane, which I was surprised
to see that Elena and Maren loved. Jesse, not so much!
 
Happy Birthday, my dear Elena! I cannot believe my baby girl is 4.
 I cannot wait to see what things the next year will bring us.