This weekend we finally got a chance to do a fall activity so we took advantage of our free Zoo Boo ticket from our annual NEW Zoo membership and headed out to the zoo on Saturday afternoon. New to the Zoo Boo, Bob and I couldn't believe how busy it was but once we found a place to park and walked the mile it took to get in, it was well worth it. Anna was pretty overwhelmed in the beginning between all the costumes and people, but quickly got a hang of the phrase "trick or treat" once she figured out people will generously give you candy if you say it with a smile - we had such a fun time with our little bumblebee and enjoyed a "boo"tiful fall afternoon!
Armed with her pumpkin, Anna is ready to go!
A little shy...
Anna certainly does not look impressed as she waited in line, but she really did have a good time!
I am not sure when trick or treating got this high tech, but first she had to spin a wheel on an ipad to see what she won - which ended up being bike reflectors, just what she needs!
Anna and mommy posing for a picture
So far, suckers are Anna's favorite Halloween candy
Riding the Merry Go Round by herself - we decided she was age ready when realized it would cost another dollar for an adult to stand next to her, REALLY????
Family photo
Enjoying her new stash of candy later that night, to be honest, I am not sure who is more excited, Anna, Daddy, or Oscar.
September certainly has been a big month for Anna! 2 weeks ago, Bob and I decided to bite the bullet and try putting Anna in her big girl bed. Our reasoning was really two fold, we were anxious to not only get her new bed out of the garage, but also move the baby furniture into the baby's room so we could start putting the nursery together. So last Saturday morning Anna spent the day with my mom and aunt and Bob and I got to work. It took pretty much the whole day (Bob had to take the crib apart to move it out and then back together in the new room, put all Anna's new furniture together including the bed, dresser, and nightstand, lots of organizing of Anna's clothes, toys, etc). Anyway, we were very anxious for Anna to come home the next morning and see her new room and we absolutely LOVE how it turned out, especially since we really didn't have to change any of the decor, etc.
I am happy to report, Anna has so far, done absolutely fabulous in her new room! As you will see in the video below, she was very excited to see it and her enthusiasm hasn't changed ever since! We haven't had any sleeping issues yet. I am not sure she actually realizes she can get out if she wants to (she does have side rails on each side of the bed now to prevent her from taking any falls in the middle of the night), as she goes down wonderfully at 8 each night and when Bob or I go in her room in the morning around 7 or so she is normally just laying in bed relaxing. She also loves to play in her room, reading books or playing with some of her toys.
The other big change for our little lady, is Anna started "school" (daycare) as of the beginning of September. Now that Anna is two, Bob and I felt it was important for Anna to spend time with other kids her age and get the exposure that a daycare could provide her. My mom loves watching Anna and has requested to keep her one day a week, which works out great for us. It is important to Bob and I that our parents have the opportunity to be grandparents and not caretakers, so our new arrangement seems to provide everyone the best of both worlds. We have enrolled Anna at First Daycare downtown, which is ideal for us as it is literally a few blocks from my work. The daycare is run by First United Methodist Church and came recommended by many of our neighbors and now that we are there, I can very easily see why - the teachers sincerely love these kids and we have no doubt this is going to be an awesome opportunity for Anna. In addition to daycare, she gets to participate as a "Little Lamb" in the Christian based preschool program that the daycare also runs. We are so excited for Anna and all the fun she gets to have at "school". She so far seems to really enjoy it, the drop off in the morning is certainly hard, as Anna still gets sad when I leave, but Miss Vonnie, Anna's teacher assured me that once I am gone, Anna quickly calms down and joins the other friends to play. The little boy next door is in the room next door to Anna and they often combine the rooms for playtime and it is nice that Anna gets to see a familiar face when we get there. So far Anna has enjoyed arts and crafts, going to the park, making music and picking veggies from their garden at school. We look forward to the many opportunities daycare will provide Anna in the future!
Bob, Anna and I are excited to share that come January we will be adding another GIRL to the Seidel family! We went this past Monday for our 20 week ultrasound and I was shocked to hear there is a baby girl in my belly, I thought for sure this one was going to be a boy, once again, I was wrong, and Bob was right. Nonetheless, we are so excited to learn the news and are, more importantly, thrilled to learn that baby is healthy and growing right on track. The baby weighs about 14 ounces and is in the 77th percentile for height and weight. A few weeks ago, we got the results of our quad screening for down syndrome and were happy to learn that all came back fine as well. Hard to believe that I am already halfway through this pregnancy, I absolutely cannot believe how fast it has gone, but very happy to report it has been a very easy pregnancy once again. The past couple of weeks I have started to feel flutters, which have only grown stronger each day and just last night I think I felt the baby from the outside, I absolutely cannot wait for Bob to feel her as well. (You may notice I still refer to it as "the baby". I am not sure if "baby girl" has totally set in yet!). Once we learned the news, we went home and stuffed cupcakes with pink frosting that I had made earlier in the day before meeting our families out for dinner to surprise them with the news. It was such a fun night and we think they enjoyed their surprise as much as we did!
Baby Girl Seidel - 20 Weeks
Cupcakes are ready for the big reveal!
Becky and Izzy take a guess at the ultrasound photo
"It's a GIRL!" Love these faces!
Bob and I, happy to share the news!
And finally - Anna, is thrilled to have a baby sister on the way and can't seem to stop sharing the news :)
This past week Anna completed her 8 week Tumblebee class through the City of De Pere. I was really pleased with the class, we had done a similar one through the Y last year, but this class seemed to offer more and the teacher was fabulous. The first 20 minutes of each class would be spent playing on the gym equipment and the remaining 15-20 minutes was spent in circle time playing games and singing songs related to the weekly theme. Anna's favorite activities seem to be the balance beam, bar, and trampoline. It was fun to see how much better she got at each activity as the weeks went by, especially the bar. By the last class she was starting to swing and try to pull her legs up on it. Do we have a future gymnast on our hands?
Somehow Anna has grown from a precious sweet little baby to a very busy 2 year old. I do not know how the time goes so fast, but she is now a full blown toddler who loves to play outside, go to the park, play with her puppies, play with bubbles and cuddle with mom and dad. She is learning go potty on the potty, and is starting to speak full sentences. Her speech manages to amaze us every day as she becomes more and more clear with her words. Anna turned 2 this past Sunday and we celebrated with a party at the park with family and friends and Anna had an absolute blast playing at the park with friends, eating cake, and of coure, loved opening all the wonderful gifts she received. We are very grateful for all who came to help us celebrate her special day.
Opening gifts with Mom and Dad
Having so much fun at her party
Family Picture :)
Sneaking some frosting...
Anna LOVES cake!
Playing with friend Kate at the park!
Friends playing at the park
Swinging with Liz
Bob and I gave Anna her gift last weekend and needless to say Anna hasn't stopped jumping since - it has become a big hit in our backyard!
That’s right, come early January, she will be a big sister! We are thrilled to share we are expecting baby number 2!
Our official due date is January 5 (and of course the accountant in me cannot help to point out, while a 2012 delivery would provide the obvious tax benefits, we are just looking forward to our baby having a healthy and safe delivery whenever he or she is ready to join us J)
We had our first prenatal appointment back at 8 weeks at the end of May and were thrilled to see our little bean and hear a strong heartbeat of 184. I think we were both pretty nervous, but when Pam, our ultrasound tech, quickly identified the baby and a strong heartbeat, we were filled with excitement, joy, AND relief to see our little bean bouncing away with a strong heartbeat.
We are so excited to be expanding our family - So far the pregnancy is going fairly well, I came down with a really severe cold in the very beginning and it took a lot out of me to recover from, but since then I have been feeling good, just extremely exhausted, which I dont rememeber being this tired when I was pregnant with Anna, but I am sure that has something to do with the fact that we are busy chasing after her every day. We are happy to report we had our second prenatal appointment today and heard a strong hearbeat once again, this time at 166 - quite similar to when I was pregnant with Anna, could this mean another girl?!?!? We will have to wait and see come August!!!!
I realize this post is now a week late, but I wanted to wish Bob a very happy father's day and thank him for being such an amazing husband and father to Anna. I absolutely love watching him play, interact, and care for Anna, he is so great with her and she absolutely beams with pride when he walks through the door at night. A favorite of Bob and Anna's is to go to the park behind our house -I absolutely love seeing them walking through the field hand in hand, they really do make quite the the cute pair:) In honor of Father's Day, I thought I would share a video of Anna and Bob bonding by practicing their somersaults a few weeks ago -
Too stinking cute:)
Last weekend we had a free Saturday morning and took advantage by redeeming a Groupon I had purchased months ago for the Mulberry Farm in Sherwood, we had such an amazing time and the farm was perfect, Anna got to get up close to so many animals, ride a pony, and take a hay ride - below are a few pictures of our adventures!
