VRABEC FAMILY BLOG

Christmas

2012-01-29T11:49:00.000-06:00

Christmas day did not disappoint, the kids got everything they wished for plus some and Andrew and I were blessed to watch our kids excitement, joy, and love plus we had the day to share with Grammy Susan and Grampa Pete!

The loot!

So excited to see if Santa came

Mommy and William going to check things out.

Santa brought Olivia the "rocking baby doll" she had been asking for.

Abby got a new bike since she can ride without training wheels and in this picture she is checking out the locket that she got from Santa which was a last minute request!

I think William liked Olivia's scooter more than Olivia did!

Yay, new big boy cups for William!

Christmas Eve

2012-01-29T11:45:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful, magical Christmas eve. The kids excitement was contagious. I am pretty sure I enjoy Christmas Eve maybe a little better than Christmas day, I love the excitement, magic and anticipation!! Here are a few pictures from the night!

Family picture

Silly faces!

Ice Skating

2012-01-20T08:12:00.000-06:00

After watching all that hockey, the girls really wanted to go ice skating. It was the first time this season and they both did really well! It pays to have a Daddy and uncles who play(ed) hockey!!

Olivia in the "naughty box"

She wasn't really being naughty, just getting a picture!

Here is Olivia on the ice!

Ana, Gingerbread Houses & the Stomach Flu

2012-01-18T06:43:00.000-06:00

So, after our trip to Michigan my sister Ana came some with us to Ohio for a week. It was so nice having her here (she should move in). It was fun sharing the days with her and the girls were giddy having Ana all to themselves! We didn't do anything to extraordinary, a little shopping, some lunch outings and lots of spending time together. We did venture out one night to a friend's gingerbread house making party. It was a fun party. We had a potluck and everyone brought some candy to decorate the houses with. The kids ran amuck with too much sugar and the adults were able to visit in between helping with the gingerbread houses and monitoring sugar intake! The one thing we did not bargain for was getting the stomach flu. It started hitting some of the friends that went to the gingerbread making party and not too long after we got it too. It was highly contagious and people from the party were dropping like flies. Several people from each family got. I was just thankful it was out of our house in time for Ana to fly home and before Christmas!

The Christmas tree at The Greene

Making gingerbread houses

Olivia and her buddy Ella at the party

Dads and babies

Some of the completed masterpieces

Josie and William.

They are only about 17 days apart.

The babies:

Josie, Luke and William

Ana and the girls cuddling

Lots of Hockey!--and a Haircut!

2012-01-17T14:27:00.000-06:00

The weekend before Christmas we went to Michigan for a multipurpose trip. We were able to celebrate Christmas with Andrew's family and we were also able to see my mom and the twins because Mikey had a hockey tournament in Detroit. While we didn't see much of Mikey face to face we were able to watch him play hockey and I must say, he is amazingly talented! We had so much fun going to the ice arenas all bundled up to cheer on him and his team and we made pigs of ourselves snacking between each period. Ana and my mom loved spending time with the kids and they sure enjoyed seeing them too, its been far too long.

We all stayed at Josh and Laura's house and Andrew's parents met us there too. Josh and Peter cooked some very yummy meals and we had lots of fun sitting around chatting and catching up. We also exchanged presents with Andrew's family. Its so much fun to see the kids playing with their cousin Tyler, and we are excited to meet another cousin in March. -- I didn't get any pictures of the present opening :-(

Andrew and I are beyond blessed that our families get along so well. Its always fun when we can all get together and that is truly what the holidays are all about!

Sharing a "Baffo" with Daddy

Cheese!!!

So tired.

Olivia and Aunt Ana sleeping in the car

Gram-cracker and William

Gram-cracker and Abby

The girls with Aunt Ana and Uncle Mikey!

Olivia was NOT pleased with Daddy's choice for where to pose for pictures!

My Brother and Sister!

William also received his first haircut!

It was getting so long and crazy, so we asked Grammy Susan to get out the

scissors and try to make him a bit more presentable!

Normally I wouldn't include such a wonderful shot of myself but I find it hilarious

and it was hard to think that this is the last of my babies having their first haircut!

The Jolly Guy in Red

2012-01-12T17:07:00.000-06:00

This year we went to Chick-fil-a for breakfast with Santa. It was much better than the one we went to at the club on base last year. The food was better, the service was better, it was closer, and there was not an hour long wait to see Santa. In fact, we didn't have to wait at all to see Santa. We got a picture with each kid with Santa that they printed out while we ate and they had crafts for the kids as well! All the kids sat on Santa's lap and the girls told Santa what they wanted for Christmas. It was such a well organized event, we will definitely be going again next year!

William with Santa

The kiddos and the guy in red.

I love that William is looking at Santa, like "what is this guy's deal?"

Yay! They are all kind of looking at the camera....how rare is that?!?

My Big girl! She asked for bike and a locket

Olivia was brave this year and sat with Santa and told him

she wanted a "rockin' baby" for Christmas

Chopped

2012-01-12T16:47:00.000-06:00

One morning in December I decided to do some Christmas shopping while Andrew stayed at home with the kids. I didn't know I was going to miss a gourmet meal and a very cute edition of the show chopped starring my 2 favorite girls! It was the breakfast edition of chopped and the girls were given crescent rolls, chocolate chips, and gram-crackers and had to come up with a breakfast food. Andrew and William were the judges! Andrew took video of a lot of it and it was adorable!!

The 2 chefs face off

Busy cooking!

Judge William

It was an intense competition

The best part was eating!!!

Olivia's Christmas Show

2012-01-05T15:51:00.000-06:00

Olivia's preschool put on a Christmas show. Olivia's class did The Polar Express and Olivia's line was "the first gift of Christmas!" We practiced often and for the whole ride to the show, but believe it or not, stage fright got the best of my outgoing little firecracker and she just stood there like a deer in head lights. Even though she didn't say her line, she was awfully cute and all smiles when the show was over and she was able to hang out with her buddy Jesse!

The stage.

And they had a picture slide show set to music

A little nervous

Jesse and Olivia!

Decorating for Christmas

2012-01-05T14:43:00.000-06:00

Decorating for Christmas was interesting this year. William is at the age where is curious about everything and very mobile, he crawls quick as lightening and can pull up on anything. He was very interested in all the decorations and the of course the tree! I spent most of the time trying to keep him away from the tree while Andrew and the girls did the majority of the trimming of the tree, or as Olivia liked to say, "decking the halls".

Hmm, what do we have here?!?!

...and when he wasn't trying to get at the tree, he was doing his next favorite thing--DISHES!!

Of course we had to taste the ornaments to make sure they were good.

Olivia's "cheese" face

Abby and our "ball" tree

This isn't the best picture but it shows the tree all decorated and the gate

we ended up putting around it to keep a certain little boy away from it. If you

look closely, even the gate is decorated!

and of course, Jake our elf, made his appearance on December 1st

to look after the kids and report back to Santa!

Who You Gonna Call?!?!?

2011-12-28T09:57:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-15T21:43:00.000-06:00

We drove to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving this year. The drive time is about 8 hours, but that turns into about 10 with stops and the kids did a fantastic job both ways, I was so happy! We had such a good time in Wisconsin visiting Andrew's family. The girls spent lots of time cooking with Grampa Pete, William enjoyed exploring the house and chasing after Vinny the Cat, and Andrew and I enjoyed being around family and having help with the kiddos!

William found Grammy's old pickle tub and was obsessed with it!

Lot's of cooking going on.

William tried to get in on the action too.

The annual apple pie lesson!

Good thing she is wearing an apron!

Me and one my many blessings!

William's turkey and rice Thanksgiving dinner.

He did eat a lot of the table food as well, he can eat!!!

Andrew carving one of the turkey's, there were 2...

one in the over and one in the smoker, they were both delicious!

There was no "after dinner nap"

We had an after dinner dance party in the kitchen instead!

The weather was pretty good while we were visiting so the kids were able to run off some energy at the park.

These 2 could be trouble in the future!

Playing in the leaves

We also had a little Christmas celebration. Andrew's Aunt and Uncle and cousins spoiled the kids with some really cute new clothes, books and stuffed animals. They were so excited and the bags were so cute!

Ok, I know I said the weather was good while we were there but that only lasted till Saturday. I was supposed to go to the Wisconsin Badger football game with Andrew and his friend Derek but it was raining and windy and cold and I just didn't pack appropriate clothes so I wussed out and Josh went in my place. It rained through the entire game so I would have been miserable, I was much more comfortable watching from the couch in my cozy pants! The boys had lots of fun though!!

Derek, Andrew, Josh

I would not have been smiling like these guys!

Olivia's Birthday Party

2011-12-12T06:40:00.000-06:00

Due to the nasty stomach virus that went around our house, we had to postpone Olivia's birthday party. She was so sick the day we were supposed to have her party, she didn't even care! We didn't let the stomach bug stop us a few weeks later than planned we had Olivia's 3rd birthday party at Build-a-Bear. It actually worked out well because a few of her friends that weren't able to make it on the original date were able to come once we rescheduled. The kids loved being able to pick out their own bear and some accessories. After everyone got a bear we headed over to the mall food court for some cupcakes and some playtime. It was a very nice birthday party, Olivia had a blast and we were so lucky to be surrounded by such good friends!

My 3 year old birthday girl!

Look who's 3!!

Listening to the rules

Waiting to pick out bears

Adrienne, Olivia, and Ella

Luke and William sharing a snack!

After getting stuffed, your bear needs a bath!

Group shot with finished bears

Silly face

...mmm, cupcakes!

Silly Boy

2011-12-07T11:04:00.000-06:00

Raising a boy is a whole other beast. I love my little fella, but he sure keeps me busy! And it is busy in a way I wasn't with the girls. Not good or bad, just different and I am loving every minute of it!

Wanna color with me?

I stole my sisters donut in the car....can you see the sprinkles on my face??

I love "helping" Mommy with the dishes!

Yummy beans at Chipotle!

He is a climber!

Halloween

2011-12-01T16:04:00.000-06:00

I know....its almost Christmas, but here is our Halloween post! We had lots of fun on Halloween and the days leading up to it.

Here are the girls and Andrew carving pumpkins. I spent the whole time trying to keep William away from the pumpkins, he was obsessed! Sadly we only had one large pumpkin because upon cutting Abby's open we discovered it was rotten, talk about nasty! Shortly after pumpkin carving I came down with the flu that had been going around our house that I was sure I had avoided. And Andrew left the next morning at o'dark thirty. Let's just say I spent the next day making sure the kids didn't die, but they were allowed to eat whatever they could reach....I think they liked that Mommy was sick, cheerios and cheez-its for breakfast, yum!

William didn't get the memo that you aren't supposed to eat the pumpkins!

Abby carved most of hers all by herself!

Olivia made a happy pumpkin

Yes, those are pumpkin guts on his face

The Friday before Halloween we went to Kirkmont (Abby's old preschool) for their annual Fall Festival. The girls had fun playing games for candy and showing off their witch and fairy costumes.

William is not happy that I had him wearing Olivia's witch hat!

Olivia's school also had a fall festival which Andrew took all the kids too because I was having my pampered chef party! They had a cake walk and both girls brought home some delicious baked goods.

...and finally Halloween night! Our neighborhood goes all out for Halloween so we invited some of our friends over for chili and pizza and then we all headed out to go trick or treating. The kids had so much fun. Abby was about 4 houses ahead of me the whole time. Andrew stayed home with William since he had run his marathon the day before and handed out candy. We had so much fun with all of our friends, it might have to become an Ohio tradition!

The firefighters come hand out candy

All the kids minus William and Josie who stayed home with the Dads

Olivia got a ridiculous amount of candy. Her bucket was so heavy she couldn't carry it by the time she got back to our house!

And here is a glimpse of Abby before she was off and running!

Regular or Decaf??

2011-11-30T15:30:00.000-06:00

Apparently William hasn't been getting enough sleep. That, or he wanted to try out our new Keurig after hearing us rave about it all the time. Either way, I am glad he found the decaf!!!

Two Wheels

2011-11-14T10:48:00.000-06:00

One day we were out riding bikes and Abby met a little girl who lives down the street from us. She had recently started riding her bike without training wheels and Abby decided right then and there she wanted to learn too. Andrew took her training wheels off and about 15-20 min. later Abby was riding on two wheels! She learned really quickly and has been obsessed with riding her bike since.

About 3 weeks after learning how to ride, Abby took a nasty spill which ended in a trip to the ER and 5 stitches in her chin. On the way to the hospital I was trying to reassure Abby that everything would be ok and told her that she would probably not even need traditional stitches because they have this "really cool new glue stuff" that can be used instead. Well, the minute they looked at her chin we were informed that there was no way the glue would work and we were in for real stitches. Abby did great though and was very brave and tough!!!

Here's a short video of her the day she learned to ride without training wheels!

Olivia's 3rd Birthday

2011-11-13T14:40:00.000-06:00

We had a small family celebration for Olivia's actual birthday. Grammy Susan was in Michigan so she drove down to spend the day with us. We opened presents and then went to Noodles for dinner per Olivia's request. After Noodles, we went to Cheesecake Factory for a birthday dessert. But, upon sitting in the booth, Abigail tossed her cookies so we got our cheesecake to go and took care of our poor, sick girl at home.

Olivia loved opening all her presents!

She was even nice and let William "help"

Me and the kiddos

Family shot

I love her face in this picture!

So poor Abby got the stomach flu on Olivia's actual birthday and poor Olivia came down with it the following Saturday which just so happened to be the day of her birthday party. Needless to say, we had to postpone her birthday party and Olivia spent the better part of the day drifting in and out of sleep on the couch and learning how to properly throw up in a bowl! Nice way to turn 3, huh?!?

Windmill Farms

2011-11-10T06:23:00.000-06:00

The week before Halloween we took a trip to Windmill Farms to go on a hayride, have a snack, pick a pumpkin, and play with all of our friends. The hayride was so much fun. We actually all sat on the ground in a big pile of hay and went on a 10-15 minute very bumpy ride. The kids loved it and we heard laughter the whole way! Even William enjoyed the ride while riding in the ergo carrier. When the hay ride was over we got a pumpkin cookie to snack on and the kids were able to pick out a pumpkin to bring home. We played on the playground and visited the animals they had on the property. After all the excitement we ate some lunch and took some pictures. It was a beautiful fall day and we had lots of fun. We can't wait to go back again next year!

Jenna and Olivia on the hayride

Abby and Blake on the hayride

Trying to get a picture of some of the kiddos together.

Abby and Olivia picking pumpkins

Olivia's pick

Abby's pick

Our friends!

My little pumpkins

Young's Dairy Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-27T07:42:00.000-06:00

A couple of weekends ago Andrew had to do one of his really long training runs (20 miles) so he mapped it out and it was a little over 20 if he ran from our house to Young's Dairy, so that is what he did and the kids and I met him there. We go here often, but I think fall at the farm is the most fun. They have lots going on and they have a HUGE pumpkin patch. We fed the goats, checked out the other farm animals, ate lunch, and then headed on the tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch. It was actually unseasonably warm that day (in the 80's) so it was perfect. The girls had so much fun picking out just the right pumpkin and William enjoyed trying to taste the dirt that the pumpkins grow in! After putting our pumpkins in the car we went over to the play area for a little energy burning. It was a fantastic fall day!!

Abby feeding the goats.

She always wants to feed the baby ones, but the big ones always push their way to the front and steal most of the food.

William checking out the goats up close!

Look at the corn!

Our sweet girls.

On the tractor on the way to the pumpkin patch

...so many to chose from!

Hmm, I wonder what this will taste like?!?

Playing on the tractors

My sweet boy!

Apple Cider Festival

2011-10-24T08:29:00.000-06:00

My Dad and Jane came to visit a few weeks ago. It was kind of a bummer because William was sick the whole time with a high fever and generally not feeling well so we didn't do much. We did get out one day and went to the Apple Cider Festival. It was a little festival and the activities were a bit on the expensive side, but it was nice to get out and enjoy the chilly sunshine! Andrew bought an apple pie from the little store they had and I must say it was probably the best apple pie I've ever had and the cider was yummy!

Grammy Jane and the girls eating caramel apples.

William hanging out.

I feel like I have a million of these pictures!

These were a sticky, icky mess....

...but oh so yummy!

Cheers!

Hot apple cider on a chilly fall afternoon.

The kiddos on the train ride.

William is only posing, he had to get off before the ride started moving!

Date Night

2011-10-21T14:04:00.000-06:00

So, the preschool that Olivia goes to this year offers a babysitting night one Friday every month. Andrew and I finally decided we were ready to take advantage of it and we hit the town last month without the kids! It just so happened that Kevin Nealon from SNL and Weeds was going to be at the comedy club that night. So instead of your usual dinner and a movie, we did dinner and a comedy show with some friends whose kids also go to the same preschool. We had an amazing time, it was so much fun and some much needed adult time!

We saw Kevin Nealon walking into the comedy club right before the show started, so I asked to have my picture taken with him. He is super tall!

The show was funny!

Curtis and Heather

We met them when we lived in Florida and Abby and her son, Collin went to preschool together there too! It really is a "small Air Force".

Me and my honey

My jewelry lady, Heather!

All 4 of us.

Air Force 1/2 Marathon

2011-10-21T13:39:00.000-06:00

About a month ago we ran the Air Force 1/2 marathon. Andrew did the full last year and was going to sit this one out since he is training for the Marine Corp full and he was going to be on kid duty while Becca and I ran together. But, unfortunately Becca got hurt and was unable to run. She did still come out to visit and very graciously watched our kids and let Andrew run with her race #. I was bummed she couldn't run with me, I was very much looking forward to it, but I was very grateful she let Andrew run in her place because for some reason this race got the best of me and I don't know if I would have finished if Andrew hadn't been with me. I was good up until about 10.5 miles and then I just hit a wall. I think I was dehydrated as my body started cramping up and I became very emotional and cold. It was bizarre and I felt horrible. But, Andrew was there to push me through and though I didn't do as well as I would have liked, I finished and that is enough for me at this point!

Before the race

Nick also came out to run.

Andrew is showing off his race bib that says Becca.

A few people cheered for Becca as he ran by!

A celebratory drink later that night with our medals on.

The boys at the post-race celebration at The Greene

Abby's Birthday

2011-10-20T13:45:00.000-06:00

Abby's birthday present from me and Andrew this year was getting her ears pierced. She has been asking for months now and we finally decided to let her get it done on her birthday. It worked out well because she picked Noodles for dinner. The Noodles is at The Greene which is an outdoor shopping center with lots of shops and restaurants, and it just so happens that there is a Claire's there. So, in between dinner and dessert at Yogurt Mountain, we stopped into Claire's and Abby was very confused and couldn't figure out why we were there since the answer to getting her ears pierced every time leading up to this had been no. She was so excited when she realized what was happening, although it very quickly turned into a nervous excitement. Since it was a weeknight, there was only one employee there so she had to do each ear separately, but she did really well, only crying for a minute.

Not only did Abby get her ears pierced this year, she was also allowed to have a sleepover birthday party! She was so excited and we had a house full girls for the entire night. There were a few boys that came over for pizza, cake, and presents too! I was very nervous about having all those girls staying the night, but things went very smoothly for the most part. Only one girl ended up going home early (midnight), but it worked out because she just so happens to live right behind us and I just walked her home. The girls had a blast and Olivia loved being part of the action too.

Olivia and Joey eating cupcakes

Opening presents

This is what Olivia ended up doing when she realized ALL the presents were for her sister!

The kiddos before the treasure hunt.

Roasting marshmallows

Pure Michigan

2011-10-06T12:58:00.000-06:00

Over Labor Day weekend we packed up the car and headed north to Lake Michigan to meet up with Josh, Laura, Tyler, Peter and Susan. It was a fantastic weekend filled with memories, yummy food, and good company. We had fun playing in the sand, walking out to the lighthouse, checking out the craft fair, strolling around the cute towns, and playing at the parks. It was perfect, not to mention the house we stayed in was gorgeous! I would love to go back soon!!

We all traveled in style.....31 style!!

William chillaxin' at the beach

The sand is a terrible mess at this age, especially because he thought it would be fun to taste!

Olivia loved playing in the sand...

...and splashing close to shore.

A rare glimpse of the elusive Abigail fish.

She was always in the water!

I love this picture of Abby

Walking out to the light house.

William enjoying some sun at the park

What leaf?!?

Lounging in the swing.

Whee!!

Everyone loves the swings!

Olivia got a kick out of the geese dressed up in costumes at the craft fair.

Laura, Josh and Tyler in Saugatuck

Andrew and the girls trying to "hide" from the pirate ship in the harbor.

Since Abigail would be 6 in just a few short days, we had a little birthday celebration complete with cupcakes, party hats and presents!

William liked his party hat even though it was purple and pink!

Fake Football Draft Night

2011-09-26T15:13:00.000-06:00

Back in August we hosted a Fake Football (aka Fantasy Football) Draft at our house. Andrew's parents flew in for the event and his brother, Laura and Tyler drove in too. It was more fun than I thought it was going to be and we all got in on the action, even the kiddos!

William making some careful picks

This is serious business.

It was tense at times.

Laura, Olivia and Tyler doing some serious playing during the draft.

Josh concentrating hard.

The girls helped me make my picks.

We picked based on team and uniform color.

Andrew had a super-secret binder full of stats....not fair!

Olivia and Grampa Peep making some joint decisions.

Ribs.....

2011-09-23T07:20:00.001-06:00

....enough said!!!

Always surrounded...

2011-09-22T07:27:00.000-06:00

...by a sea of pink! Gladly taking donations for all things boy!!!

Trip to DC

2011-09-22T07:18:00.000-06:00

Andrew had a TDY to San Antonio back in August, and while we would have loved to have of gone with him we just couldn't make it work. So, I called up Susan and asked if she wanted to come out to Dayton and take a road trip to Virginia to visit Becca and the kids. We loaded up the van and made the 8 hour drive to Virginia! We had a wonderful time visiting with Becca and John and the kids always play so well together. We went into DC twice to do some of the touristy things and laid low, hanging out at the pool, relaxing on the other days. We all had a fantastic time and can't wait to go back!

The kids were not too cooperative with the picture taking.

It was nearly impossible to get them all to look at the camera AND smile at any given moment, oh well!

In front of the Lincoln Memorial

The kids were more interested in going up and down the stairs then seeing the statue....go figure!

Hailey, Becca and Wesley

We played musical strollers all day!

The highlight of the day for the kids was seeing the police horses drinking from the fountains!

The White House

This was the only thing Abigail was adamant about seeing while in DC

Trying to get a glimpse of the President or First Lady

On our 2nd day in the city we visited a couple of the museums.

Here are the girls looking at the ruby red slippers from The Wizard of Oz.

They LOVED the gigantic dollhouse and could have spent hours pointing out all the little details.

President Abigail

President Olivia

Playing with some of the hands on exhibits

...and here we are relaxing at the pool.

William loved the floaty!

Happy 6th Birthday Abigail

2011-09-10T07:04:00.000-06:00

My Dearest Abigail,
Six years ago today my life was changed forever! It was the day you entered the world and made me a Mommy. These past 6 years have been an incredible journey with both of us learning a lot along the way. I am thrilled with the little lady you have become. You are so sweet, sensitive, nurturing, and outgoing. You are creative and love arts and crafts, you can spend hours painting and coloring. But, by far, your most favorite thing to do in the world is play with your friends. You will be gone all day long playing with friends and the minute we get home you are on your way to see if the neighborhood kids can play. You are constantly asking what we are doing next, if anyone is coming over for dinner, and you and your friends are always planning play dates and sleepovers. If this is any indication of the social butterfly you will be as a teenager I guess I can plan on you only being home to sleep!

While you are on of the most friendly and outgoing little girls I know, I still see a bit of shyness in you when you are in an unfamiliar situation. You approach things with caution, take them in, and evaluate things before you jump in. I saw this most recently when you started kindergarten last week. You had been talking about school all summer and you were so excited to start. I, on the other hand, was still living in denial that my first baby would be taking that next huge step in life and starting "real" school. I kept my mind off the reality by keeping us crazy busy over the summer, and of course, the day finally came despite my best efforts! Somehow we managed to be ready, your backpack was ready, your lunch was packed and your new outfit was laid out. But, as excited as you were, you admitted to me a few times with big eyes and a shy smile that you were a "little nervous". Taking you to the bus stop and watching you get on that big yellow bus and then having it pull away into the morning darkness with you on it and knowing you wouldn't be back for 7 hours filled me with anxiety. I knew you would be fine, but I didn't see a little girl on the bus waving from the window, I saw my baby. How was I supposed to protect you and take care of you when you are gone all day?? But, I worried for nothing because as the bus pulled up after that first day of school you came hopping down the steps with a huge smile on your face and excitedly told me about your first day of school and all your new friends.

Kindergarten wasn't the only big change for you over the past year. Our family grew in January as we welcomed the arrival of your brother. And, I was once again blessed to see you relish and blossom in your role as big sister. You are so sweet to your brother and always helping by trying to keep him happy when I have things that need to get done. You LOVE when you are able to get him to smile and laugh at you (which is all the time) and you take it personally if he cries when you are around. You have also been great with Olivia during this transition and have taken it to be your personal mission to help her feel included. Don't get me wrong, the sister spats have definitely become a part of our regular day but you girls truly are best friends and I am so happy and proud that you always include her and let her play with you and the big girls. You are her biggest cheerleader and she looks up to you with crazy love and admiration. Its a big job being the big sister and sometimes you get the short end of the stick, but you take on your responsibility with pride and I couldn't ask for a better girl to do the job!

Abigail, you are an amazing girl. You have made our lives fuller, richer, happier, and brighter. You have given me the best present in the entire world, you made me a mommy, and for that I will forever be thankful! I love you my sweet girl....Happy Birthday!!

With all the love in my heart,
Mommy

August's Random Ramblings

2011-09-01T15:19:00.000-06:00

ABIGAIL

Abby was eating a bagel one morning and her tooth is ever so slightly loose. She told me that her tooth is sensible and she may not be able to bite into the bagel.
Abby has taken to calling William "bubby"
Abby came home from her first day of school and informed me that "kindergarten rocks!!"

OLIVIA

Abby was helping Olivia get her shoes on one morning and asked if she wanted to wear her hot pink ones. To which Olivia replied, they are not HOT they are cold!!
Olivia likes to help push William's stroller and she asks if she can help "shop him".
We went to the zoo and they have an incredible cheetah show which showcases the cheetah's running ability. While we were sitting there waiting for it to start Olivia kept asking when we were going to see the cheetos run!
Olivia tells William to hurry up and finish eating his booby!

WILLIAM

William has learned how to do the pterodactyl screech which he loves to practice in the car. He's not upset, just likes to listen to his own voice.
When he wakes up in the morning, Andrew gets him and changes his diaper and then brings him to me in the rocking chair so I can feed him and he reaches his arms out for me and practically leaps into my lap with a big ol' smile on his face....its a great way to start the day
William has got the rolling over thing down!! He can roll to where ever he wants to go. Its so cute and funny to watch, especially since his sisters rolled over a few times and called it good, not really rolling to get places.
He is very strong, he gets his but way up in the air and lurches forward...crawling is not far behind and then I'm really in trouble!! In fact, he is now rocking on all fours all the time.

A Big Day for the Girls

2011-08-31T20:12:00.000-06:00

The girls both had their first day of school on Monday, August 29th. Abigail started Kindergarten (I still can't believe it!), and Olivia started preschool for the first time! Abby will be attending all day kindergarten and she is taking the bus to and from school. She goes Monday and Thursday and alternating Wednesdays. This is the first year our school district is trying this schedule, we will let you know how we like and how it works out for us in a few months when we really get into the swing of things :-) Olivia will be going to school on Mondays and Wednesdays and already has some friends in her class so that made the transition a little bit easier. Both girls had great first days and they are excited for the upcoming school year. I am just hoping I can keep my days straight and get the girls where they need to be on the correct days!!!

The girls before school

Our kindergarten-girl

That's Abby waving goodbye as the bus pulled away the first morning.

It just about broke my heart watching the bus pull away down the street knowing she wouldn't be back for over 7 hours! I did good though, and kept it together till she couldn't see me anymore!

Olivia in front of her new preschool.

She was very excited to be going to "Anna's school"

Anna is a friend of Abby's that is now in kindergarten, but she went to this preschool last year.

William was just along for the ride!

7+ hours later she returns!!!

Daddy stopped on his way home to pick up a special "first day of school" treat for the girls.

Cupcakes from Gigi's, the icing is taller than the cupcake!!

Orange for Olivia!!

Pink for Abby!!

Hanging with the Ladies

2011-08-28T07:17:00.000-06:00

William and his "girl" friends hanging out at the park while the older siblings play!

Silly Kids

2011-08-27T07:14:00.000-06:00

Three peas in a pod....or crib!

Last Day

2011-08-27T07:11:00.000-06:00

Abby with her teacher Mrs. Murray on her last day of pre-k.....

Next up, kindergarten!!!

The Big Apple

2011-08-26T07:09:00.000-06:00

We took a trip to NY to visit my grandparents over Memorial Day weekend, my Dad, stepmom, brother and sister and my aunt all went out at the same time so it was like a mini family reunion. It was so nice spending time with family and we always have lots of fun when we go visit. We were able to go into the "big city" 2 days with all the kids and it actually went really well, we had lots of fun!

Olivia on the plane

This was William's first plane ride, he did really good!

When we landed in NY, we de-planed on the tarmac, the girls thought it was pretty cool!

Yay! We are in New York!!!

The girls loved coloring and playing card with Grandma-ma

In the city

William and I in the taxi

Taxi ride

William enjoyed his first trip to the Big Apple!!

Even big girls need a break from walking!

We ate at the world famous Gray's Papaya for lunch...

Yummy hotdogs!!

Andrew enjoying his hotdog.

William is still a little young for a hot dog

Maybe next year!!!

At the Natural History Museum

We were by the big whale, but it was so dark in there you can't see it.

The dinosaurs are exciting!!

A trip to NY is not complete without a stop at FAO Schwarz

Playing on the big piano.

Lots of train and subway rides

The kids did really well with all the traveling

Ewww!!!!

It was fleet week and they had a bunch of activities set up by the pier.

Cooling off with a snocone.

My Dad, Aunt Lynda, and Aunt Pam

Pop-pop and Grandma

Family picture

Magee Park Creek

2011-08-09T13:02:00.000-06:00

We went to Magee park the other day to play in the creek with some friends and had a picnic. The girls had so much fun splashing and playing in the water. What a great little park!!

Throwing rocks into the creek

7 Months Old

2011-08-04T19:19:00.000-06:00

I can't even begin to believe that my baby boy is 7 months old. Time has flown and it is apparent that we are busy with our day to day lives (as you can see from how far behind I am in blogging), but I wanted to take a minute and write some stuff down, because even though I swear up and down I won't forget these sweet day but I have learned with the girls that as the days get further away the memories fade away as well. That is the point of this blog, to go back and remember, reminisce and forever have a record of the days that seem to fly by without warning.

William is a joy and he smiles with his whole face in a wide open mouth grin which melts my heart. He has 2 teeth and is working on some top ones which can cause him to be cranky at times. He still loves to be held, but is finally taking naps in his crib (when we are home to do so). He is eating cereal, veggies, and some fruits, although he is starting to realize that the cereal has no taste and much prefers the veggies and fruit. He has even started to eat puffs here and there which he loves, and he is working hard at using a sippy cup. He adores his sisters and lights up when they catch his eye. He laughs easily and often, but no one can make him laugh harder than Olivia and Abby. William rolls with a purpose, he can roll to pretty much any where he wants and he can scoot his butt way up in the air and inch forward. Crawling is not too far away! I think I may have to invest in a big baby gate (baby jail) to keep him safe from all the little toys the girls have laying around everywhere! He is beginning to get "too smart for his own good" and when we go into his room, shut off the light, turn on his sound machine and turn toward the crib, he knows a nap is coming and he starts to cry. In the morning when he wakes up, Andrew goes to get him and changes his diaper and then brings him to me in the rocking chair for his feeding. As soon as he sees me he reaches his arms out toward me and throws himself at me with a big smile on his face, its a wonderful way to start my day! My baby boy is getting big so fast, and before I know it we will be celebrating his 1st birthday....crazy. I adore my little family of 5 and truly feel like we are complete!!

Ghost Crab Hunting

2011-08-02T14:37:00.000-06:00

One of the highlights of our trip to OBX for Abby (and Andrew) was ghost crab hunting. These guys came out at night and if you brought your flash lights down to the beach after dark the bright lights would scare them and they would freeze and then we would scoop them up into our bucket! I was amazed at how brave both girls were, they were both scooping up crabs with their bare hands. Abby was especially skilled at this and had such a fun time doing it. I thought it was pretty cool for about 20 minutes until I started to feel like they were crawling all over me....kind of like arachnophobia!!

OBX Family Photo

2011-08-01T06:11:00.000-06:00

More Fun at the Beach!!!

2011-07-31T06:09:00.000-06:00

Wes wanted his "hair done"....I think he looks like Coolio circa 1994!!

Playing with squirters

Sunshine and salty air makes for a sleepy baby!

Olivia was afraid of the water at first. But when she finally warmed up to the idea, she loved running away from the waves. She was just playing by herself for the longest time and loving every minute of it with a HUGE smile the whole time...so cute!!

Abby wanted to join in the fun.

Crab...its whats for dinner.

We loved OBX!!!

He's awake!!!

Currituck Beach Lighthouse

2011-07-27T12:33:00.000-06:00

We took a drive over to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. Abby wanted to climb to the top, but Olivia had no desire to climb. So, Andrew, Peter, Abby and William (in the baby bjorn) climbed to the top while the rest of us hung out down at the bottom. I was very proud of Abby for climbing all those stairs by herself and she was very happy to get her "I climbed to the top of the lighthouse" sticker. She was so sweet and asked the man for another sticker for her sister even though she didn't make the climb!

Lighthouse Facts:

Number of steps: 214
Height to focal plane of lens: 158 feet
Height to top of roof: 162 feet
Number of bricks: approximately one million
Thickness of wall at base: 5 feet 8 inches
Thickness of wall at parapet: 3 feet

The spiral staircase was beautiful!

Andrew, William, and Abby making their way back down.

The climbers!

Not such a good picture.

You can hardly see Abby, mostly just her sicker but it was the only family picture we got that day so here it is, shadows and all!

OBX--part 2

2011-07-27T12:17:00.000-06:00

We LOVED spending time at the beach. We would wake up in the morning, have breakfast, pack up and head over to the beach. We would stay for a few hours while the kids played in the sand and water and then we would head back to the house for lunch and naps for the little ones while the older kids swam in the pool. Most nights we would head back to the beach after dinner for a nice little walk and some splashing in the surf. It was perfect!!!

3 Generations of Vrabec boys!

Josh and Tyler watching the ocean

John and Bec

It was windy....William is all bundled up in Daddy's jacket

Some down time for the girls after dinner.

Playing in the sand!!

I spent a lot of time at the beach in a chair holding William.

He would look around and enjoy the fresh air and then take a nice little nap in my arms!

Our beach set up!

Digging and playing in the big hole!

William is napping again!

Beach Bums

2011-07-26T14:12:00.001-06:00

These girls are ready for the beach!!!

OBX--part 1

2011-07-12T14:06:00.000-06:00

Wow, things have been crazy busy in the Vrabec household (in a good way). All of our running around hasn't left much time for me to blog, so of course I am behind!! I am going to attempt to catch up in the next week or so, we will see how that goes.

Back in the middle of May (I told you I was behind), we went on vacation for a week in the Outer Banks, NC. It was one of the best vacations we have ever been on! Truly relaxing (as relaxing as having 3 kids can be) and the kids had a blast! The weather was wonderful (I was a bit worried with it being so early in the "season"), the food was yummy and the company was fantastic. We stayed for a week in my Aunt's house only a block from the beach with Peter and Susan, Josh, Laura, and Tyler and John, Becca, Wes and Hailey. We had so much fun playing in the sand, splashing in the ocean, swimming in the pool, relaxing in the hot tub, eating yummy food, and laughing and enjoying each others company. I was so sad when our week came to an end and I am already planning on a trip to go back next year! Who's in?!?!?

We were the first to arrive

Here are the kids on the front porch

Let the vacation begin!

We stopped for lunch at one of the local restaurants and Andrew had crab!

Andrew and William on the 1st of our nightly walks on the beach.

William LOVED our walks!!

....when nature calls!

....more to come soon!!!

Flying Pig

2011-06-21T11:01:00.000-06:00

The weekend Andrew got promoted was the same weekend as the Flying Pig race in Cincinnati. Andrew and his brother Josh ran the 1/2 marathon while Peter, Susan and I opted for the 5K. It was a fun race and the boys did great, running the 1/2 marathon in under 2 hours....maybe someday I will be able to do that! Anyway, we had a fun time in Cincinnati and a great time visiting with his family over the weekend celebrating Andrew's promotion and our runs!

Susan and Peter before the 5K

Abby playing by the fountain

We also visited the Cincinnati museum and saw the Cleopatra exhibit

Walk like an Egyptian!!

When pigs fly....

Andrew and his brother with their race bibs

Great Grammy Lo

Strike a pose!

89 years young, on the ground playing with her great grandson!!!

Rice Cereal

2011-06-17T08:18:00.000-06:00

William had his first taste of rice cereal on June 13th. He didn't really know what t think about it at first, but soon he was gobbling it up! Of course the girls wanted in on the action and took turns feeding their brother.

Olivia wanted her own bowl

Mommy, I'm a big boy...I can do it by myself!

Abby feeding Olivia, Olivia feeding William.

Cinco de Mayo Fiesta

2011-06-05T07:53:00.000-06:00

Our friends Ross and Jill had us over on the 6th to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. It was lots of fun, there were fun party props, delicious food, yummy margaritas, and lots of laughs! I had to steal some pictures from Jill's blog, she is really good with the camera and got some great shots!

Jill, our hostess with the mostess!

Hombre Ross and Bambino Will

Daddy and Son stache shot

I had the opportunity to shoot a gun for the first time that evening as well.

Olivia with her orange sombrero

Abby and Hayden

Major Vrabec

2011-06-03T11:49:00.000-06:00

After a very long wait, Andrew finally pinned on the rank of Major! We are so proud of him and all the awesome work he does. I sometimes forget how hard of a job he has and what he is doing all day while I am taking care of the kids. He is an incredible Air Force officer and an awesome Daddy and he is able to balance the 2 in a way that seems flawless and effortless although I am positive its not! I am so lucky to have him as my husband, the father of my children, and my friend!

Andrew's parents, his brother, and his grandma Lois all came out for the ceremony and it was it was so interesting to hear his Colonel talk about all of his career accomplishments. Andrew is not one to toot his own horn, but his Colonel did a good job highlighting all the major points/accomplishments/awards through out his career and its all very impressive. He has come such a long way from his days at the Air Force Academy and we all just couldn't be more proud of him. Congrats Major Vrabec!!!

May's Random Ramblings

2011-05-31T20:31:00.000-06:00

ABIGAIL:

I told Abby we were going to store to look for a Mother's Day present for Grammy Susan and she said, "Why would you do that, she's not your mother".
When I explained that Susan was my Mother-in-law because she is the Mom of the man I married. She said, well I guess Miss Sam will be my mother-in-law and when I asked her why, she said "because I am going to marry Nolan!" I guess she really understands what a mother-in-law is!
Abby asked me when the days were going to end. I asked her to clarify and she wanted to know when earth was going to end. So not something a 5 year old should be worrying about!

OLIVIA:

Easter

2011-05-25T08:09:00.000-06:00

The kids loved hunting for Easter eggs and got to do it twice. The first time at Becca's mom's house when they woke up Easter morning and the second time at Becca's Memaw's house where we went to spend the day. Thank you Becca and family for letting us share the holiday with you all, we had a wonderful time and felt so welcome.

All the kids before the hunt.

Top: Abigail, Brooke, Brittany, Brett

Bottom: Hailey, Wes, Olivia

My pretty girl!

Abby and Mimi, they were inseparable all day!!

Caught Wes enjoying a chocolate doughnut!

Look what I found!

Hailey and Olivia--best buds

Looking for Easter eggs

Me and Bec

Me and my fella!

Wes and John

Becca's mom and William

All the kiddos after the 2nd egg hunt

Family photo attempt

Olivia enjoying the fruits of her labor!

Eggs!!!!

2011-05-23T15:50:00.000-06:00

We had lots of fun dying Easter eggs this year, there were lots of eggs, lots of kiddos and lots of fun. We also had an egg painting kit which was a huge hit!

Because I am Your Mom

2011-05-08T07:55:00.001-06:00

Abigail, because I am your mom...
...I bring ranch dressing in my purse when we go out to eat at restaurants that don't have it!
...I gave up listening to the radio in the car in favor of books on cd or The Laurie Berkner Band.
...I get to witness firsthand what an amazing big sister a little girl can be.
...I get to hear all the preschool "gossip" on the way home from picking you up.
...I am able to see that compassion and empathy start at a young age.
...I am constantly on the receiving end of beautiful pictures, paintings and flowers picked from our yard!
...I see glimpses of my 5 year old self in you, and I am often reminded of things I did or said as a child when I watch you.

Olivia, because I am your mom...
...I know that you are cranky after you sleep, both in the morning and after your nap, but it's nothing a little snuggling or a joke can't fix.
...I have come to realize that a persons sense of humor is something they are born with, and yours seems much too complex for a 2 year old!
...I get to see a special bond between two sisters and that little sisters will always look up to their big sisters.
...I have to remind myself that you are only 2, and often when your behavior is not what I
would like, that it is actually very on par for a 2 year old!
...I am constantly on the search for anything orange, its your favorite color and you remind us of that constantly.
...I get to see an amazing imagination at work on a daily basis.
...I know the words to the UW Badgers fight song, because you insist on signing it every night.
...I know that with stubbornness and strong-will there comes confidence and a love for life that are hard to match.

William, because I am your mom...
...I get to be a Mommy of a little boy.
...I have learned to change diapers a little more quickly than I did with your sisters!
...I realized that my heart was capable of loving another child just as much as my first two.
...I get to see you smile with your eyes and laugh with your belly.
...I get to linger with you sleeping in my arms just a little bit longer.
...I someday get to be a mother-in-law.

Abigail, Olivia, and William, because I am your mom, I am the LUCKIEST woman in the world!!!
I love you three more than I could ever express in words. Being your Mommy is the best gift a woman could ask for.

XOXO,

Random's from Kentucky

2011-05-06T20:53:00.000-06:00

Here are a few random pictures form our time in Kentucky!

Abigail, Wesley, Olivia and Hailey

Andrew had mentioned how it was nice that the kids could get together and get "reacquainted" before our trip to the Outer Banks later this month. Well, there was no reacquainting necessary, the kids played like a day had never passed!

I was able to see another military friend, Emily, while I was in Kentucky. Emily actually sold our house in Crestview, FL. I was so happy we were able to catch up a little bit and I was able to see her son Jack, who was just a baby when we left and meet her newest addition, Molly. Molly is a couple of months older than William, and she is a doll! A 2 hour drive is nothing in military life so I am hoping to be able to get together again with Emily soon and see the rest of her family!!

....and this is my Buddha baby!

Here are a couple of pictures of the flooding. This is the driveway that leads up to Becca's Mom's house. The stream is NOT supposed to be there. Andrew kindly waded through the water before we crossed to make sure it was safe :-) Becca and I later decided we were brave enough (or desperate enough) to again cross the flood waters to make a trip to Target without kids.....totally worth it!!!!

Fish and Bonfires in Kentucky

2011-05-04T20:49:00.000-06:00

So the planets and the stars aligned and it turns out Andrew had a TDY to Kentucky the same week Becca was in town visiting her mom, so we packed the kids into the van and headed south for a few days! I miss having Becca around, she is just such a wonderful friend but I feel blessed that if we can't be close at least we are able to see each other quite often with us living in Dayton and only being a little over 2 hours from her Mom's house. Anyway, we had a ton of fun visiting with Becca, John, Hailey, and Wes and Becca's family and like always we stayed very busy! There will be a few different posts from our time in Kentucky and these are from one day when we went fishing on their lake and then had a nice bonfire to roast marshmallows and make s'mores. All of this of course in between crazy rain storms that caused lots of damage and flooding! So much fun and wonderful memories!

Aww, my sweet friend Bec doing some fishing!

Olivia actually turned out to be the master at fishing, catching the 2 biggest fish of the day!

She even insisted on kissing them before throwing them back in the lake!

Group shot of the fishing activities.

Abby also became an old pro

She was baiting and unhooking fish all by herself by the time the afternoon was over!

Wes taking a break!

Daddy, Abby and her fish!

Kissing the fish goodbye!

Even when you are out enjoying nature, nature calls!!!

Brooke and Brittany are Becca's twin niece's and they all had a blast fishing together!

Bonfire time!

Olivia is soaked from splashing in the puddles while gathering wood.

Waiting for marshmallows

Roasting marshmallows

The kids had been waiting all day for this!

Hailey and her marshmallow

I think she ate her weight in marshmallows that night!

mmmm....s'mores!!!!!

Wes trying to figure out how to tackle the ooey gooey goodness.

Me and my fella enjoying the fire!

April's Random Ramblings

2011-05-04T20:31:00.000-06:00

ABIGAIL:

Abby asked me if I had ever heard of the "golden rule". I told her no, what is it? And, she replied, "Do onto others and they will do on top of you!"
Abby asked me if William came out of my bum. Apparently one of the neighborhood kids told her that is how babies are born.

OLIVIA:

Olivia has changed the saying " you get what you get, and you don't get upset." To, "I pick, and I don't get upset!"....well, ya!
Olivia has recently become obsessed with peacocks and talks about them all the time.
Olivia has started to use "baby talk" more often than I would like, I think this has something to do with William and we are working on it!

The Many Faces of William

2011-04-25T19:38:00.000-06:00

Random pictures of William in no particular order. He continues to add immeasurable joy to our lives everyday. His sisters love him and they love when they are able to make him smile, which is often! We are a busy family of 5, but we love it and wouldn't have it any other way!!

Papi and Grammy Jane meet William

2011-04-25T18:06:00.000-06:00

In February my Dad and Jane came to visit and to meet William. It was so nice to have them there to help with everything. My Dad even stayed while ZAndrew went on his first post-William TDY, and they watched all 3 kids one night while Andrew and I went out to dinner at Flemings to celebrate our 9 year anniversary! Of course we stayed busy while they were here, we went to story time, visited the mall and build a bear, chick-fil-a, The Newport Aquarium, and went to a Dayton Gems hockey game. Thank you both for all of your help!!

Grammy Jane and Will

Papi, Will and Abby

Papi and the grandkids!

Daddy and William before we left for our anniversary dinner.

Yay, dinner out to celebrate 9 years together!

The girls at the Newport Aquarium

Checking out the jellyfish

Playing music out on the riverwalk

Watching the hockey game.

William slept through most of his first hockey game!!!

Valentine's Day

2011-04-15T06:16:00.000-06:00

Andrew made a reservation for us at PF Chang's for a Valentine's Day dinner. It was wonderful, the girls were very well behaved and William slept through our entire dinner. Olivia LOVED the chicken fried rice and the crispy green beans and both girls loved using the kid friendly chopsticks. It was a very nice evening out with the family!

I was smart and had had some ranch dressing in my bag for Abby!

Not the best picture of Olivia but the only one I had of Andrew!

This is how William spent the evening!

Go Pack, Go!!!

2011-04-07T17:55:00.000-06:00

Andrew was very excited that the Packers made it to the Super Bowl and even more excited that they ended up winning! We drove to Michigan to watch the game with Josh and his family in his new "man cave". The drive up was a little tense, the 3 hour drive took us a little over 5 hours due to the snow storm that came out of nowhere after we had already left. I think we counted 21 accidents/cars in the ditch along the way. Needless to say, we were very happy when we arrived at Josh's house safely. We had a fun weekend introducing William to his Uncle Josh, Aunt Laura, cousin Tyler and "Gramma" Patty.

Uncle Josh and his nephew William

Gramma Patty and William

Uncle Josh and Abby watching a video of Josh doing an eye surgery.

Cousins

Getting ready to cheer on the Packers in the Super Bowl.

Poor Andrew missed a lot of the touchdowns the Packers scored because he was busy helping Olivia go potty and I was busy with William!

Silly faces

Not the best lighting, but I don't have many of me with William.

The Packers newest fan!

Daddy and William getting ready for the game

Ice Storm--The Second Edition

2011-04-06T13:24:00.000-06:00

Here are a few more pictures from the ice storm we had back in the beginning of February. In my first post about the storm I mentioned that I was happy that we didn't loose power. Well, that all changed. At about 10:45 at night we saw a blue flash of light out our sun room window, the lights flickered, and then all was dark. Fortunately I have a very smart husband who had cranked up our heat a few hours before and got all of our supplies ready in case of such an event. We hunkered down for the night with lots of layers and extra blankets but even with all this, by 4 am we decided it was too cold in the house for a newborn and called the nearest Marriot to see if they had power and any more rooms left. We were very lucky to get a room and at about 7am we braved the roads and headed for the warmth, with a stop for breakfast on the way! The girls had fun watching tv, coloring, and swimming in the hotel pool. After dinner we decided to call a neighbor to see if the power was back on and it was, so we headed home for the night but kept the hotel "just in case", but lucky for us we didn't!!!

You would never know there was an ice storm looking at these two bathing beauties!!!

Grampa Pete meets William

2011-04-04T17:06:00.000-06:00

After Grandma Susan left, Grampa Pete had to come for a visit to meet his new grandson for himself. He was here only for a day, but it was great to have him visit!!

The girls got in on some snuggling action too!

Catching a few zzz's together!

No visit with Grampa Pete would be complete without a little cooking!

March's Random Ramblings

2011-03-31T07:15:00.001-06:00

ABIGAIL

Abigail lovingly told me I had a big bottom (thanks a lot!) I guess she noticed the look on my face and asked what was wrong and I told her that it made me sad. In an attempt to make me feel better she said. "well, your hair is pretty!"

OLIVIA

We were making bracelets at a princess party that was put on by the church we do MOPS at and they are taking a mission trip to Haiti so the girls were making bracelets (one for themselves, and one for the princesses in Haiti) and Olivia kept asking about princess Hailey!
Olivia asks questions all the time and sometimes follows my answer with "how do you know?" and one day she said "what do you know?" (possibly a more appropriate question).
William has some pants with dog paw prints on them. He was wearing them one day and Olivia ran up to him and pointed at his pants and yelled, "A clue, a clue" (from Blue's Clue's)

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

2011-03-15T17:44:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures from my birthday. I had a wonderful day and loved turning 30 (again). We went out to lunch and shopping, which is my idea of a wonderful day! We finished out the evening with dessert from The Cheesecake Factory, yum!!!! My family showered me with birthday gifts, but the best present is my beautiful family!!

Enjoying my yummy cheesecake.

Me and my girls...the 2 oldest

...my 2 youngest!

My babies!!!! A Momma couldn't as for anything more!

My favorite people in the world. I am blessed beyond words!!

William--Weeks 3&4

2011-03-08T14:17:00.001-06:00

Ice Skating

2011-03-08T14:17:00.000-06:00

Abby has been taking ice skating lessons since the week William was born. She absolutely loves it and is on her second session now. They start with the basics like learning how to get up when you fall and how to "march" on the ice but its also gotten more advanced with some swizzles and even skating backwards. Of course Olivia didn't want to be left out so we brought her to open skate one day. She had fun for about 10 minutes and then she had enough, we had to drag Abby off the ice!

This is how William enjoyed our skating adventure!

Taking a break and watching Abby from the bench!

William--Week 2

2011-03-06T07:29:00.000-06:00

Here are some highlights from William's 2nd week of life!

Grampa Pete came for a short visit, to meet his new grandson!

William--Week 1

2011-03-04T11:43:00.000-06:00

In an attempt to get caught up, I am going to post some pictures by week. Here are highlights from William's first week of life!

Christmas

2011-02-27T21:53:00.000-06:00

Wow, Christmas feels like ages ago. In an attempt to get caught up, Im not going to write much and just let the pictures speak for themselves for the most part.

Monkey bread for breakfast

Doctor Olivia!

A very preggo Mommy!!!

Enjoying a movie, Toy Story 3

Snuggling w/Daddy!

Christmas is such a happy time!!!!!!!

Christmas Eve

2011-02-10T16:39:00.000-06:00

Ok....we have to back waaaay up, so I can get somewhat caught up on this blog! We had a very nice Christmas eve. The girls were very excited and super cute.

Making Santas cookies

Our yummy Christmas Eve Dinner

They enjoyed tracking Santa on the NORAD website.

The girls loved getting cookies and carrots ready for Santa and his reindeer.

Reading Twas the Night Before Christmas

Our traditional Christmas Eve book.

Ice Storm

2011-02-01T15:02:00.000-06:00

While much of the country was hit with lots of snow, we got ice in Ohio. All of the schools and even the base are closed because of the ice. I went outside to take a few pictures and our deck is like an ice skating rink. I am just thankful that we haven't lost power and that Andrew had the day off to help me with the kids since we have been cooped up in the house all day!

January's Random Ramblings

2011-01-31T07:16:00.002-06:00

Having a new baby in the house has sparked many interesting conversations and comments from the girls, as well as sweet moments that I will cherish forever!!

ABIGAIL:

Abby is smitten with her little brother, but she is quick to tell me that he is hungry and I need to feed him whenever she hears him cry!
Abby has been so sweet since we have been home from the hospital and very helpful. I often find myself feeding William right around the time Olivia needs to go down for a nap and Abby has graciously offered to put her down for her nap for me. I was a bit skeptical at first but they both seem to love the idea and Olivia goes right to sleep. Somedays the monitor is on and I can hear Abby singing to her, its the sweetest thing ever!!!
While Andrew was still on paternity leave and Susan was still here, they went out to the store together leaving me at home with all 3 kids for the first time by myself. Olivia was napping, William was eating and Abby was doing a craft. About 10 minutes after Andrew and Susan left, Abby came over to check on me and William and asked if there was anything I needed. It was so sweet, she is such a thoughtful little girl!!

OLIVIA:

I am breastfeeding William which means that I have a lot of "down" time where I am not able to help the girls with stuff. They have been very good about it but have taken a real interest in the whole breastfeeding thing. Olivia will often say, "Is he eating your boobies AGAIN?!?!?"
William is also known as baby brudder.
I am constantly telling Olivia to be gentle with William. She is fascinated by him and always wants to know where he is and what he is doing. She wants to hold him all the time and help out any way she can. I know she isnt trying to be rough with him but like I said, I am always reminding her to be gentle. One day she looked at me after I said that and said, "I'm not going to break him!"
I often find Olivia standing over William saying, "wake up sleepy head!"
Olivia wants to know "where is that baby?!?"
Olivia calls Abby "my Abby."
She has started calling Peter, Grampa Peep.
Abby recently found one of our wedding albums and both girls love looking at the pictures. Olivia points to the pictures of me and wistfully says, "Mommy, you a prinpess!"

A Visit from the Tooth Fairy

2011-01-31T06:59:00.000-06:00

Sometime late in the night of Jan. 18th or early in the morning of Jan. 19th Abigail lost her first tooth!! Before bed that night while Abby was brushing her teeth she showed me her tooth that had been loose for a couple of weeks was now just hanging on by a thread. If I had been a little braver I probably could have pulled it out myself that night but I decided to let nature takes its course. When I was talking to Andrew about it after the girls had gone to bed he informed me I probably should have taken action because he thought Abby would probably swallow it in her sleep. Well, the next morning Abby came downstairs and after about 5 minutes she shrieked, "My tooth is gone!" Then she got really upset because she didn't know where it was. I assured her that if she swallowed it or it was lost it would be ok because we would just write the tooth fairy a letter explaining what happened and she would still come to the house. After a little reassurance Abby and Andrew went up to Abby's room to look for her tooth and lo and behold they found the tiny little tooth in her bed! She was very excited, in fact she was so excited she insisted on bringing it to school that day to show all of her friends and teachers! She was the first kid in her class to loose a tooth! She put the tooth and a drawing she made under her pillow that night and woke up to find a dollar bill in its place the next morning!

Yay! We found the tooth!!

Look how tiny it is!

Where once there was a tooth, now there is a hole!

Hospital Pics

2011-01-28T11:30:00.001-06:00

Here are a few more pictures of our time in the hospital. It was tough being away from the girls for 2 nights, but thanks to Susan we knew they were in good hands and they came to visit us lots! We were definitely ready to go home by the time we were released on Thursday evening which was just in time for a nice snow storm! Overall, we had a great experience and were blessed that everything went well and we were able to bring home a healthy baby boy to join the Vrabec family!

William sleeping in his tupperware.

Abby holding William.

She looks so happy!

Abby is introducing baby William to Grammy Susan

My beautiful kiddos!

This was taken when they brought William back to us from his circumcision. I guess you can see how he felt about the process.

Getting ready to go home. Shortly after this picture was taken, William ate and then promptly spit up everything he has just consumed all over himself!

Anxiously waiting to be discharged.

Can we go home yet?!?!

Time to go.

William's first car seat ride!

Bye-bye hospital