New Year's Eve Picture Extravaganza!

Once again I've been lax with the blog posts. Lo siento. Here's what's been happening over the last month, all rolled up into one super spectacular blog post. Eh, maybe not so super or spectacular, but there will be lots of pictures.

First up, Thanksgiving! My mom and brother came to visit. Mom bribed me with lots of delicious home-cooked meals so that I would promise not to post any pictures of her.

Next, the kids' pictures for the Christmas cards. Getting them to sit together was an epic failure, but their individual shots really captured their personalities.



The fact that no one was injured while this picture was being taken is a Festivus miracle.


Then there was cookie decorating with friends...



And now, the main event: Christmas!





Happy New Year, everyone!

Niagara Falls

It had been quite a while since Kyle and I had gone on a trip together, so we decided to get away for a long weekend. We chose Niagara Falls; it's a convenient drive from Cleveland (where the kids would stay with their grandparents), I'd never been to Niagara Falls, and Kyle hasn't been in years. We left on a gorgeous, unseasonably warm Friday morning and in no time we were crossing the border into Canada. The view from our hotel room could not be beat.




We spent the rest of the day walking along (and underneath!) the falls.




The next day we did some geocaching. We found several cool caches including one that us scrabbling down a cliff, at one point hanging onto a rope. But it was worth it for the view of the whirlpool.

After that adventure, we decided to head to the decidedly more mellow town of Niagara-on-the-lake, where we visited a historic fort, window-shopped, and toured a winery. We topped off the visit this morning with a beautiful sunrise over the falls!

Angels & Devils

Happy Halloween! This is my favorite holiday partly because I've always felt that you can get a glimpse into someone's personality by looking at the costume they choose. So what do these costumes that say about Isabel and Zak???



Actually, I should've dressed them BOTH as little devils! They both loved trick-or-treating. I thought Zak would be scared but once he saw Isabel do it once, he got the hang of it. Actually, he was a little too comfortable; more than once our neighbor would open their door and he would run inside their house. Then he figured out that the things they were giving him were CANDY and he settled down.

Belated 18 Month Checkup

Oops! The other day I realized we were almost two months behind getting Zak's 18 month checkup. The appointment was today and let me tell you: he is NOT a fan of medical personnel. He did not want to weighed, measured, or examined in any way, and made frequent use of his favorite new word (NO!) to let everyone know his displeasure.

On the plus side, he's growing like a weed:
Weight: 25# 6oz (45 percentile)
Height: 33 3/4" (70 percentile)

I had to resist asking if she got those percentile numbers mixed up. He feels like a ton of bricks, I just don't understand how he's not in the 100th percentile for weight!

New Look

I've finally fulled my promise to update the look of the blog. I can't take credit for it, it's just a slightly modified Blogger template. What do you think? It's a bit busy but I felt like Tiny Creatures needed to shake things up.

Hell Has Frozen Over

That might be what some of you are thinking as you read this. Jacquelyn Keeper née Pando, professional couch potato and eater of bon bons, ran three miles. In a row! In a RACE! And got a medal!!! Don't believe me? Take a look...




Time: 27:19 (5k)
Place: Second in age group

Great Wolf Lodge

For all those who've been nagging me about updating the blog (you know who you are), I hope you enjoy the next few posts! I know they're long overdue; I can't believe how fast the summer has flown by.

So let's start with Labor Day! We had a big, kid-tastic weekend but the most exciting part was our trip to Great Wolf Lodge. This is a hotel chain with an indoor/outdoor water park, and there's one conveniently located just 90 minutes south of us. The room was actually better than I hoped for - very large with plenty of room for all of us. We hit the pool as soon as we could. Zak was not a huge fan at first but he warmed up to it. And our little mermaid Isabel couldn't get enough!




In the evening, the hotel had "story time" for the kids that included an animatronic show followed by a book. Both kids were mesmerized. The next morning we hit the pool area again as soon as it opened, swam all morning, ate lunch, and then hit the road. It was a perfect trip for our little munchkins: close to home but still getting away from our normal routine.

Soccer Mom

We all knew this day would come, but I didn't expect it to arrive so soon. I've officially entered the demographic known as soccer mom. Our little Isabel is playing in a real league with uniforms and everything. So far they've only had a few practices, no games yet. Kyle is the assistant coach on her team, which I think makes it even more enjoyable for her. Isabel really seems to like it, going so far as to sleep in her soccer jersey. Is there anything cuter than this kid???

End of Summer

I know my blog post frequency is way down, but here's what has been keeping me away from the computer!

Summer Visit

Back in the first weekend of August, we were lucky enough to have some out-of-town visitors: my dad and Pam! The kids loved having them here. Isabel got to spend a fun day with them at Easton, and we packed in a family visit to the zoo as well.

And of course when those guys come to visit, something crazy *always* happens...

Going Green

Today Isabel says to me, "When you have gas, it makes the planet kind of stinky."
Me: "Ummmmm..."
Isabel: "Mommy, when we have gas it makes the planet stinky."
Me: "Well, I guess that's true..."
Isabel: "We read a book called Going Green at school today and it said that when you have gas it makes the planet stinky. So that's why you should walk sometimes."
Me: ...blink...blink...blink...
Me: "OH! You mean when we USE gas. Yes, we should drive less and walk more, sweetie."

#1 Girl

One of the nicknames I have for Isabel is "my number 1 girl". This morning as I was getting her out of the car I asked, "What would I ever do without my number 1 girl?"

She replied, "I don't know... find me, I guess!"

Wink, Wink, Nudge, Nudge

A few weeks ago, Isabel came bounding into our room at an ungodly hour and breathlessly informed me: "Mommy, I can wink!" This highly prized skill had been eluding her up until now. What was she doing, laying in bed all night practicing? I'll never know, but here's the result of all her hard work:


* For you detectives out there, yes, that IS her bathing suit she's wearing in the morning because yes, I let her wear it in lieu of pajamas after much negotiating on her part.

Bottles No More!

It's that time again... actually, it's past that time. Zak is almost 16 months old and our pediatrician advised us to stop giving him bottles at 12 months. But there just never seemed to be a good time; someone was either travelling or Zak was sick or having tubes put on his ears. But the main reason was that we had finally gotten Zak to sleep well and we weren't in a hurry to mess that up. I was starting to imagine a 5 year old Zak still going to bed with a bottle... it was time to give it up.

But in the end it turned out we had no reason to worry. Zak didn't mind giving up his bottle in the least. No more bottle washing! No more expensive formula! More free space on our counters! The downside, of course, is something that's been our minds; Zak's not a baby anymore. He's turned into a little boy right in front our eyes.

Like the Sign Says...

Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before

For you Smiths fans out there, I actually said this today:

"Zachary, don't touch Mommy's Morrissey tapes!"

Zoo Babies

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. Saturday we took the kids to the pool. After several rounds of swim lessons, Isabel is an old pro and jumped right in. This was Zak's first trip to the pool, however, and he was unsure of himself at first. I could see his point; when we walked in there was a sensory overload of children screaming, water splashing, and lifeguards blowing their whistles. By the end of the trip, though, Zak was standing on the edge and jumping into our arms, whether or not we were ready for him. Unfortunately, we don't have photos; we decided it was probably more important to make sure our kids didn't drown than it was for us to use the camera!

Sunday we decided that since Zak's a bit older it made sense to get a zoo membership. Then we loaded up the fam and headed to the zoo, along with most other citizens in the Columbus metropolitan area. The Columbus Zoo is really great, but much too big for the kids to see it all in one day. We hit a few highlights and then went home before it got too hot and crowded. I think the petting zoo was Zak's favorite.

Barber Shop

We've given Zak a few haircuts at home, but it was time to see a professional. Good thing, too; as the gal was checking out his hair she mentioned how it was "all different lengths". She started the haircut by using the clippers. Let's just say Zak was not a fan.

But then he remembered he had a lollipop (his first ever!).

And he ended the appointment looking quite debonair.