Happy New Year!

I can't believe that tomorrow will be 2012... the years are going by way too fast!

We went out for an early dinner tonight, and I will post those pictures soon. I did take a picture of the kids in their jammies before they went to bed - I've done this each year on New Years Eve and I hope to keep the tradition even when they are too old and cool for it. :)

Here they are tonight... looking tired and distracted (they were watching a movie). Notice Addison is still wearing a necklace and her shoes - the girl loves accessories!

And their first New Years Eve in 2009...

And their 2nd in 2010...

All 3 of their New Years Eves have been celebrated in different houses - 2009 in Charleston, 2010 in our rental house in Camden and this year in our new house in Ridgeway. Let's hope that we are still in this house next year!! :)

I had big visions of baking and decorating Christmas cookies with Addison and Fischer this year. I wanted to make the dough and the icing, and decorate them as a family....

But then I read up on making sugar cookie dough and realized there were quite a few steps that made the process sort of long. So I went ahead and made the dough one night after the kids went to bed. I cut out the shapes and baked them. That way they'd be ready to decorate the next day... and I never got around to actually making the icing. I bought the pre-made Betty Crocker cookie icing... Oh well. There is always next year. :)

Anyway, I gave Addison and Fischer each 3 cookies. Instantly, I knew I had made a mistake. My plan was for them each to eat one cookie after decorating it, and saving the others for our friends who were coming over for dinner that night.

Did I really expect them to not eat cookies that were sitting right in front of them?! Yes, I did. :) Lesson learned!!

So, they decorated all 3 cookies, and ate all 3 cookies. They were quite sugared up. But, they had a good time. Next year I know just to give them 1 cookie at a time, or come up with a new system. At least they had a good time, and I learned how to make sugar cookie dough!

Last Friday (December 16), Addison and Fischer had their Preschool Christmas program.  The 2 year old classes sang Jesus Loves Me and Jingle Bells. They had been practicing some at home, especially Addison. I was surprised to find out that Fischer was singing a lot during their "rehearsals" because he wouldn't sing the songs at home!

Scott and I walked them to their classroom to drop them off. Addison was a little confused and go upset - I think she was unsure about why they were at school on a  Friday, why Scott and I were both there,  etc... finally I got her to calm down and we were able to go find some seats in the gym.

Unfortunately, they didn't have any microphones or background music so we didn't even realize they were singing during Jesus Loves Me!  And we couldn't really hear anything except the "hey" during Jingle Bells...but if you'll notice in the video, Fischer is the "hey" leader! He was quite excited about it too.

I have been trying for days to upload this video and for some reason, it won't work. I'll try again soon!

Also notice that Fischer is positioned right in front of his teacher, Mrs. Susan. This is no coincidence, I'm sure. During one video we got, Fischer is moving all around, sitting down, turning around... I'm sure they thought he would bolt at any second. Luckily he didn't. :)

We were proud of them, and they were so proud of themselves when we went to pick them up afterwards! I can't wait until next year's program!

They wore these adorable sweatshirts that they made at school. I realized after we got home that the snowmen are actually their footprints! Even better!

Before this year, Addison and Fischer had never been to a parade. Today, they went to their 3rd (and most likely last) of the season! It was the best one too!

The weather was perfect - sunny and cool! There were a lot of animals in the parade, including 2 llamas (Fischer's favorite?!), which definitely helped keep them interested. There were also a lot of people throwing out candy, which they loved!

Here are a few pictures  - Fischer was wearing his cool puppy dog hat that Aunt Jenny gave him last year! :) And the one of the two of them is one of my favorite pictures in awhile! Addison laid down, so I told Fischer to go lay down with her. Instead he cuddled up on her and gave her a big hug! So cute. :)

Addison and Fischer got dressed up in their holiday wear to head to their Christmas party at school yesterday. Addison gets SO excited when she gets to wear a dress she's never worn before. I had visions of getting a great picture of them together, but that didn't happen.

In this attempt, I was clearly standing in front of the TV and in their way (I had turned something on for a few minutes while I was getting them ready for school).

I ended taking separate pictures so I could at least get a decent picture of each of them! And yes, that is a big scab under Fischer's nose. Last week he had a little run in with the edge of the couch.

At school, they got to eat lots of party food - I know for sure they had cupcakes because they kept talking about them when I picked them up. I think they had quite a bit of sugar because they were both slurring their words a little bit! :)

They also brought home a big packet of holiday goodies. It contained their crafts from December which included a few ornaments, which we proudly hung on the tree. The rest of the crafts are taped up on our windows. Scott and I each got a present - a painted ornament with all of our names on it - I love them so much and can't wait to get those ornaments out years from now!

The kids then took a nap (thank goodness!) to rest up for the zoo! Once they woke up, we headed out to get some dinner and then the Lights Before Christmas at the zoo. They liked the lights but were much more interested in seeing if the animals were still awake. :)  We rode the carousel too, which was fun. Addison even rode an animal that goes up and down this time - she usually prefers the peacock bench that doesn't move.

It was a fun, holiday-filled day! I love this time of year! :)

I've been dreading taking Addison and Fischer to the dentist. I didn't want to take them because I don't like going. I never let them know that though. :) And I actually enjoy it more than I used to because I choose to look at it as a chance to sit down and relax!

Turns out I had nothing to worry about. We took the kids to their very first appointment this morning and they did so well. Aside from being a little wiggly in the chair (which I'm sure is normal), they completely cooperated!

We only had to wait a few minutes before we were called back. They let us all go in together, which was nice. Luckily Scott was able to go too! Here they are in the waiting room....

Fischer hopped in the chair first, and after moving around for a few minutes he was ready to go. She looked at his teeth first, then brushed and flossed them. Meanwhile, Fischer got to brush the stuffed fish's teeth too! He also got to watch a few minutes of Shrek.

His turn was over in about 5 minutes and then it was Addison's turn.

She brushed the fish's teeth too, then asked to hold the doll baby that was on the counter. After getting her teeth looked at, brushed and flossed, it was time to wait for the dentist to come look at their teeth.

She looked at Addison's first, then Fischer's and said they look great! She said to keep up with the good brushing (we always do once a day and most days do twice a day). She also said to start flossing about 2 times a week, focusing on the teeth that are actually touching.

Before leaving, the kids got to pick out some goodies which made them very happy. Addison was most excited about getting a new bracelet - she is VERY into jewelry right now. I'm so proud of them for doing so well. Hopefully they will do just as well when we go back in six months.

We decided to go get our Christmas tree earlier than we did last year. Partially because Scott would be out of town for a week and we didn't want to wait until he got back. So the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we headed to a local tree farm that I found online.

It was a cute little farm (where you can cut your own or have them cut it after you pick one) - not a huge selection but it had just what we needed for a great price! We decided to go with 2 smaller trees this year for inside and it didn't take us long to find the perfect ones - they were the 2 smallest available, at only 3 feet each. :) We also got one a bit bigger for our front porch. We put the two inside up pretty high so that curious little fingers can't get into them. :)  And I just realized I haven't even taken a picture of them - I must do that ASAP!

Here we are while searching for our trees...

After picking out our three trees, we got to go on a little tractor ride.  I'm not quite sure what they are looking at in this picture... :)

Addison was the first to roll over, sit up, crawl and walk. But Fischer was always close behind, usually only waiting a week or two to catch up.

Fischer got each tooth first. Then Addison would always get the same tooth, usually within a week (even when they got a few of their teeth out of order!).

They each got their first cold in the same week - the week of their first birthday. So why should ear infections be any different? You may recall that Addison got her first ear infection a few weeks ago. Not to be outdone, Fischer went to the doctor today and now his very first ear infection. I wonder if they will always be this competitive. :)

Fischer had a rough night last night, but no fever and no other symptoms other than the runny nose he's had for a week. He did mention once that his ear hurt but he didn't say anything else about it. This morning he seemed fine, so I sent them to school. I got a call from their teacher that he had a fever and that she knew he wasn't feeling well because he actually sat in her lap and cuddled - she said normally he's a "wiggle worm" and won't ever hold still. So we headed to the doctor and she said that he has a very "nasty" ear infection. Poor little man. :( She went ahead and checked Addison out too since we were all there and her ears are looking great!

So, hopefully we are all healthy again soon.. but, at this rate, it doesn't look like it will be happening any time soon.

Here are the kids, in their new favorite place...

When will things slow down? Blogging has once again taken a back seat these days.

I last posted that we took the kids to get their flu shots. Since then, we've all been sick. Again. Just colds but still. Enough is enough! I was warned that this would happen since it's their first year of school, but I'm definitely tired of it! I hope this means that they will be sick less as they get older.

In addition, Scott left on Sunday morning for a week in Japan. A trip to Japan for him usually means that business is good, so yay for that!  But a week is a long time. Luckily my mom has been here helping me out a bit! Extra hands are always nice.

I have several pictures I need to upload to my computer - I'm behind on that too.  So after I get that done, I will post some new pictures - maybe tomorrow while the kids are at school!

Yesterday, we finally took the kids to get their flu shots. Luckily Scott was in town and able to go with me. I'm terrified of taking both of them by myself to get shots. I think it's because I've always hated shots so much, so I worry I won't be able to comfort them when they get upset....

But, there was really no need for me to worry yesterday. They were both so brave! The worst part was waiting 45 minutes in the waiting room with both of them! They were hyper and all over the place.  Once we were back in the room, we were in and out in a few minutes.

Fischer went first... he saw the needles when the nurse walked in and said "I don't want a shot!" He cried a little but stopped as soon as it was over. Addison, who watched Fischer get his shot, climbed up on the table all on her own and said "See, I'm not going to cry!" Then she asked me to hold her hand, which of course I did. She cried for maybe a second and then we were done!

After they got their "cool band-aids" and stickers (Diego for Fischer and Barbie for Addison), it was off to Krispy Kreme for a special treat, as promised!