Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!

If you scroll through the blog and take a trip down memory lane you'll see the progression of our trips to visit Santa. Eva slept through her 1st, screamed through her 2nd and today was in complete awe. Kellan is turning out to be just like sis. This picture proves it. My hope is then that next year I have 2 kids equally as intrigued. :-)

'Tis the Season!

Perfect Morning

A mom could get used to this!

After starting my morning cuddled up with Kellan watching cartoons.....

We had breakfast and did some housecleaning from yesterday's fun. 

While I thought I'd take advantage of some quiet time to obviously catch up on the blog, I look over to see the sweetest thing. Sesame Street is on but they could care less, my sweet kids are wonderfully reading to each other. I wish I'd gotten video of their voices... while Kellan's is still more of a squeal, Eva is reading her Elmo book and doing exactly what it says "touch your eye, touch your nose...."

Next up on our day off is showers and Target then lunch with Dad (since he has to work). I am loving this quiet day with my kiddos and could definitely get used to it!!

Gobble Gobble.... Happy Turkey Day

The two cutest little people in the whole world are what I am most Thankful for this year. Jon and I couldnt be more blessed to have such great kids! After two thanksgiving of newborns it was super nice to enjoy the holiday with toddlers. Amazing what a difference a year makes!

Little Sunshine Preschool had a parent/child Thanksgiving Lunch that was too cute. 12 kids around the table very confused why there were 20 adults sitting on the floor by them.

All in all a wonderful week of fun!

My Little Lady

I am constantly reminded of how my little girl is growing into such a little lady. She is my joy and my heart and just had to show off some of her 'big girl' pictures.

Eva ready to go shopping.... what you dont see here is 2 seconds later she went and grabbed my little coach wallet that has a strap, put it on her wrist and said 'lets rock n roll'!

She's been really into 'mommy's helper' as well. So the other night we busted out some Nestle Tollhouse cookies and went to town!

Dancing on our ottoman is her fav. This has become her stage but this day she insisted on having her red shoes (which she wore when she was Dorothy for Halloween) and her purse that has a little stuffed puppy. What more could a girl want??!!

And this one warms my heart. Her first big girl nightgown. We let her pick out whatever she wanted for being so good at Target and a Minnie Mouse nightgown was the choice. For any of you who know my aversion to licensed clothing you'll know this is huge for me. But how can you resist this girl. 

First time for everything.....

And our first ER trip happened on 11/8/10. Eva came home from school and was fine but just fussy.... typical two year old one would think. After our dinner/bathtime routine, Jon was putting on her PJ's and called me into the living room. Not just a 'hey can you come in here' call but a 'something is wrong, hurry' call. Thats when we both noticed two orange 'somethings' in Eva's nose. I tried the hospital booger sucker (you all know what I am talking about) and to no avail, i threw a jacket on E, shoes on me and off we went. I called the pediatricians office who agreed going to the ER was the right course of action. I must say, I am impressed with how calm I was through it all. Jon stayed back and put Kellan down to bed but he was a mess texting me for updates the whole time :-) Too sweet.

Once we got to Washington regional the real fun began. Eva was quite the hit with the nurses.... being super good and so much fun. Other than what felt like the longest wait of my life, all went well. After a small vacuum was the tool of choice to remove the objects we were able to quickly confirm that two small berries off a wreath at school were the culprits.

We headed home and both crashed at 11pm. the next morning at school was funny as I got to describe the event to all the teachers at her preschool. Thankfully they promptly removed all wreaths and decor that had said berries and Eva had a great day.... and Mom and dad have a funny story to tell.

'Time Flies When You're Having Fun'

For the past few weeks/months, Jon has reminded me I havent updated the blog since Fathers Day... I almost didnt believe him and then I thought about everything that's been going on in our lives since then and it unfortunately made sense. So for the few of you who followed the blog for kiddo updates, I send my sincere apologies. 

And to that point I am just going to put it out there.... there is no way I could adequately update you all on June 21st - November 2nd.... But I will, once again, recommit myself to better and more frequent updates moving forward.

So... here goes the latest post.... 

Saying 'times flies when you're having fun' is no exception for the Whittakers. Its hard to believe that just last week we celebrated Eva's 2nd and Kellan's 1st birthdays! I thank my lucky stars for the amazing kids they have become and that Jon and I successfully kept our sanity through what everyone told us would be the 'hard part' of having two kids so close together. While the blog suffered a bit, I must say that may be it. Yeah we dont all travel together much and maybe we dont eat out much anymore, but thats about it. Life has continued, I have been fortunate to still travel with my job, Jon always steps in as 'mom' when need be, Eva is a ball of energy, talking up a storm and fully embracing her two -year old self. Kellan, what can I say.... for all of life's many surprises, he could very well be the best one ever. He's the sweetest, cutest little man. He wakes up excited to be alive, loves giving hugs, waves, saying Dada, Momma, Ball and points at what he wants. 

As of last week we can say we're off formula, out of 'baby clothes' in most stores and have two forward facing car seats. We celebrated their milestone birthdays at the same pumpkin patch we did for Eva but with sunshine and more friends than we could ask for. We are 'that' family at a restaurant apologizing for the mess, our living room looks like a toys r us. We snuggle up and read Dr. Seuss and Goodnight Moon more than we ever imagined and go through 2-3 gallons of milk a week... my Tahoe has more crayons, goldfish and DVD's that I thought it could ever hold....but you know what.... I wouldnt have life any different than it is right now!

Even if time keeps flying by, these 4 Whittakers will just keep having that much more fun!

To the Best Daddy in the World

Nothing makes this mom's life better than a father who is as great as this one!!

Jon, 

There are no words to describe how our kids look at you. Everyday I see admiration, unconditional love and joy in their eyes. The words Daddy warm my heart as much as I know they do yours and thank the Lord daily that you are the other half to this parenting duo. The sacrifices you've made, the support you give us all and the dedication to being the best husband and daddy ever make me love you more and more!! 

Hope you always remember you are our hero!

Happy Father's Day, 

Eva, Kellan and Amanda