Merry Christmas!!

We celebrated Christmas in stages...

Earlier in the week we celebrated with my dad and my brother.

Here is Ivy opening her new Elmo dvd...

A gift from Uncle Craig...

The night before...My dad gave Ivy a play kitchen so it had to be assembled. Here it is after the assembly was complete - all that was left was the stickers!

The finished product...

We covered the kitchen with a sheet. Ivy thought it was fun trying to figure out what was under it...

She knew it looked like something fun!!

Not a great picture, but she has a big grin on her face!!

Everything has buttons and makes real noises...she loves it!

"Hello?"

Christmas Eve was spent with my Mom, Dave, and Craig. We went to the family service at church and then headed to my Mom's house for dinner and presents.

Ivy doing a little taste test...

Helping Grandmama pour water in the glasses...

A new tea set!! And it's made from recycled plastic - even better!!

Christmas morning at home - here is Ivy going through her stocking...

Is it time to open the presents???

"ABBY!!!!"

(For those of you who don't have young children - this is Abby Cadabby from Sesame Street - one of Ivy's favorite characters).

A pegboard - something to help her with fine motor skills, colors and shapes...

Playing with Tucker and his new toy...

Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba (another favorite tv show of Ivy's).

Edisto Beach Trip...

Two days after Christmas, we packed up and headed south to Edisto Island, SC. We went with some of Richard's family and had a wonderful time. This beach was amazing! There were lots of things to do and see and we pretty much had the place to ourselves!! Here are some pictures from our vacation...

We took Ivy to the local nature museum/learning center. It was a quick walk through an indoor facility and then we were able to take Ivy out to walk on a trail through the woods. It was nice to be able to let Ivy just run and play without having to worry about her safety.

Edisto Beach is a little different than the NC beaches I am used to. They had these rock jetties that were even spaced on the beach. This wooden post was part of the rock structure. Ivy thought they were fun to climb on...

The favorite part of our trip was our December 31st visit to Botany Bay. It is a SC state owned property of about 4,600 acres. The property was originally 2 plantations that were eventually owned by one family. It is now owned by the state and they have a self-guided driving tour throughout the park. The tour includes stops at some of the remaining structures from as early as the 1700s. It really was a very interesting place. The best part was the private beach. It was a 1/2 mile walk to the beach. It is a beach that the state is keeping as wild and natural as possible.

Here is Richard pulling Ivy in our beach wagon. She could have walked the 1/2 mile, but it would have taken all day! She kept stopping to look at things. We were anxious to see the beach so we loaded her back in the wagon and continued on our walk.

Here is the last section of woods before the beach...

When we stepped out on the beach, it was like we were on our own private island! There wasn't anyone else on the beach. You looked left, this is what you saw...

You looked right, this is what you saw...

The beach was covered in shells!!

You aren't allowed to take shells so we took pictures instead. It was amazing...I've never seen so many shells in my life. And there were conch shells everywhere. You couldn't walk 5 feet without seeing a conch shell.

Here are some pictures of the shells and other things we found.

There were HUGE pieces of trees on the beach; Ivy liked climbing on them...

Back at the regular beach - Ivy playing in the sand...

More picture attempts. Ivy is really into saying "Cheeeeese" for all the pictures. So no real smiles...

"Ivy done..."

Ivy decided that since she had told me she was done and I kept snapping pictures, that she would just climb down on her own... She is still saying "cheeeeese" though...

"Ivy flying..." That is what she said - she saw the birds (you can see them as little black dots in the grass up on the dune) and was pretending to fly...

A family picture...

Ivy learning about snow angels...well, in this case, sand angles...

Back to Botany Bay. Again, we had the beach to ourselves...

Another family picture...

Last year and this year...

Here are the Christmas pictures from last year and this year...It is still amazing to me how much Ivy has changed in such a short time...

Christmas 2008

Christmas 2009

Don't want to brag...but I must!!

Again, no pictures... But I wanted to send out a potty update. Ivy woke up this morning with a wet diaper (no surprise there) but I sat her on the potty, and she went then. After she was done, she asked for a Dora diaper. It is a pull-up with Dora the Explorer on it. I have no idea how she knows who Dora is. We've never watched that show. But whatever toots her horn, if she really wants to wear the Dora diaper, fine by me! I want you to know, I took that same pull-up off of Ivy tonight before her bath. She used the potty all day today!! She didn't have a poopy diaper today (thanks to a late one yesterday!) so I'm sure we'll have to change more diapers tomorrow...

And a tooth update: Ivy's 2-year molars have popped through on the bottom. I had noticed she was chewing on her pacifier a lot but she never really complained. But tonight, she was saying "Ahhhhh" while I was brushing her teeth and I saw the new teeth! And they are like half-way in, so they've been there for a while, she's just never sat still long enough for me to really get a good look.

The more and more I post these things, the more I realize how fast Ivy is growing. I cannot believe she will be 2 years old in less than 3 months. How has the time passed so quickly?

Again, Merry Christmas! I won't post anymore until after Christmas so everyone have a safe and happy holiday.

Wolfpack fan...

No pictures this time...

Richard won 2 tickets to the NC State vs. Elon mens basketball game through his work. They do these random drawings and Richard won! I wasn't expecting much of a game, but Elon was leading at the half! And I think State only won by a little bit - less than 10 points. Anyway, we got to sit in the GSK box which was so nice. There is lots of room for Ivy to move around which definitely helped us enjoy the game a little more. Ivy had a great time. She learned to say "Goo Sate!!!" She tried to do the wolfpack hand gesture but really just looks like she is doing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". And by the time we left, she was leaning her head back and howling like a wolf. It was hilarious! We bought her a couple of pom-poms to shake and that was fun for a few minutes. When we got home and got out of the car, she wanted to shake the pom-poms. As Ivy walked up the sidewalk, shaking her pom-poms, she said, "Ivy shakin' pom-poms." That is one of the most complete sentences I've heard her say so far!

Potty Update: We had lots of errands to run today - first we walked at the mall, Ivy pottied before and after our walk (in the mall toilet). We went to Sam's Club, Ivy pottied there too! We got home unloaded the groceries, Ivy caught her nap in the car. She wouldn't go back to sleep, but pottied again. Then we ran back out to AC Moore (pottied there!) and then Panera for a bowl of soup (pottied there!!). Then home and she pottied 2 more times!! She is just amazing. That is 8 times that she pottied today! And I would say that she told me that she needed to potty 3 of those times. All I do is ask if she needs to use the potty and she says "Yep!" We stop whatever we're doing and run to bathroom. I am just amazed at how well she is doing. We are heading to the beach after Christmas, but when we get back, I'm hoping we can work on her telling me she needs to go. But I'm fine with the way things are going. She is doing great!

Okay, a busy week coming up. My Dad is flying in tomorrow, so I may not post anything until right after Christmas. But I'll be sure to post pics of Ivy and her Christmas fun!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Just cute...

I just thought these pictures were cute so I thought I'd post them...

Ivy enjoying a little snack of pop-corn...

Ivy with Grandma (Richard's Mom)...

Richard took this one...

On another note, Ivy seems to be potty-training herself. She has been very interested in the whole potty thing for quite some time. And for a while now, I've sat her on her potty after her nap and she will go. But in the past month, she has been telling me more and more that she needs to go and will go when she sits down. She's even going in the big potties at restaurants and stores!! All I do is ask her if she needs to go potty, she says "Yep!", I sit her down, and she goes!! So we'll see what happens, but hopefully this continues!!!

Some pictures...

Here is Ivy sporting her AC/DC t-shirt and new dark purple Converse shoes...

The cats have really been enjoying the Christmas tree skirt...there is always at least one cat under there...sometimes Ivy likes to lay under there too!

So I decided to wrap a few presents and put them under the tree...Ivy decided to start opening one. Here is the first picture I snapped after I told her to stop...

And here's what she looked like after I asked her to move away from the tree...

Ivy sitting on Tucker...

We've had more ducks!!

Richard got a Snuggie for me at a White Elephant gift exchange... I haven't used it much but here's a picture of me posing with my snuggie the first night I had it.