Happy Birthday Little Dude...

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy

(actually, his birthday is December 30, I'm a day late)

One year ago, you came into our lives and changed our family. You melted my heart from the moment that I laid eyes on you. By FAR the most handsome boy ever. You are so sweet and affectionate. We love you buddy!

• Right now: You are walking very well (you started walking around 9 months), you love only table foods, are very attached to your paci, you love balls, you smile all the time and have a very infectious giggle, and you love your milk
• Your favorites: mac-n-cheese, hotdogs, milk, balls, chasing your sister, your blue doggie and blanket, your paci, and your mommy (HUGE mommy's boy, but that's okay!)

we love you sweet boy. I cannot wait to see what your future holds!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl.

3 years ago you came into our lives and changed it forever. You are so sweet and bring joy to my life, daily.

• Right now: you are totally potty trained (and have been for about 4 months), are a very picky eater, love playing pretend, pick out your own clothes in the morning, love animals, adore singing and dancing, are not afraid of being in front of crowds...in fact, you enjoy it, can count to 20, able to sing you ABC's, hate showers but love bathtime, can be so sweet and yet so not-sweet to your baby brother, and love being outside.
• Your favorites are: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Jesus Loves Me, spiral mac-n-cheese, Beauty and the Beast, fishing, playing in the sand, sledding, green peppers, Dora, Little Einsteins, and chocolate milk
  

photos that did not make the Christmas card...

enough said.

Beauty and the Beast

Our performances this year were Nov. 18-21. We sold out every show. It was amazing. The kids were beyond talented and it was a dream come true to direct this show. Here are a few of the shots from our dress rehearsal:

Gaston getting the Beast

The Mob Song
Lefou being chased by the enchanted objects

Belle and Maurice

Cogsworth

Beauty and the Beast

Lumiere, Beast and Cogsworth waiting for Belle

D'Arque plotting to take Maurice away

Beauty and the Beast

Mrs. Potts backstage reviewing her lines

If I Can't Love Her

Belle

Every night we had Arianna come on stage with us, dressed as Belle, to show the audience how to use the enchanted roses we sold. It was so much fun having her on stage with us. She LOVED the spotlight and never wanted to leave the stage...maybe a bit of her mother in her!

if you want to see more photos: justalexphotogrpahy.com and click on BB2009. They are amazing.

someday...

someday i will post again. when my computer gets fixed and i can get all 200 pictures off my camera. i won't post all of those pictures, that would be crazy, but someday..i'll post again.

a nice dressed man...

seriously, could eat him with a spoon. so darn cute.

I know...two posts in one day?! crazy.

Breakfast with Belle

This year, the musical cast did "Breakfast with Belle" which was a chance for all the little kids to come and meet the characters, eat breakfast, sing some songs and get autographs. It was so much fun. Although it really doesn't look like it, Arianna had a blast. She LOVES Beauty and the Beast and loved seeing everyone...except the Beast. Wasn't a fan of the beast.

Arianna and Lumiere

Arianna and Cogsworth
Arianna, Gaston, Lefou and the Silly Girls

Arianna and Belle -- her favorite!!

This is before we went...all dressed up. She loves being a princess

great hayride of october...

our neighbor have a tractor trailer that they filled with hay this past weekend. they then took the trailer in the field behind our house. the kids loved it and had so much fun. these are the pictures that our neighbor, Alex, took. he's amazing with a camera!

maybe not the best idea to take the trailer out in the field after 7 days of straight rain...

Arianna had a blast!

fall happenings...

I've been insane busy lately with teaching and musical so the blog has taken a back seat! So, today I decided to take a 'mental health' day and enjoy my kids! I had an impromptu photo shoot...

Arianna in her boo-tiful shirt

Neal in his glow-in-the-dark skull shirt

such a cute boy

I also had Arianna dressed as Belle today. She let me curl her hair. She kept saying it was beautiful and she was a princess

Her is her dress. She LOVES wearing it. While wearing it, she usually has to dance around the room, singing a song from 'Beauty and the Beast.' Too funny!

One of the nice fall afternoons the kids were playing on the deck together

a prince and a princess...

what a stud...our little diva...

a true princess. she won't ever look at the camera so this is all I could get, but she LOVES dressing up as a princess -- with wings.

Arianna LOVES her bunny coat. She cracks me up!

Blessed...

I am no professional photographer, but I love taking pictures of my kids. They are my blessing in life. They drive me crazy but can melt my heart all in the same day. They complete who I am as a person and make me want to be a better person -- someone they can look up to in life. They are my blessings...

beautiful, sweeet baby boy. Not so much a baby anymore. Where does the time go?

TRYING to get a 'group' shot. This was it...

this ones for Grandma and Grandpa Nikkel (and daddy too!)

couldn't you just eat his sweet chubby cheeks? Have you SEEN anything cuter?!

she gets more beautiful with every passing day...

this is the typical Arianna shot. She's always looking at me with a 'what' look...

this was my cue that our photo shoot was over...walking away.

a few new pictures...

I've been messing around with photoshop and my new camera. here are just a FEW of the shots I've taken recently. I have so many more...just need more time ;)

My BEAUTIFUL girl. She's growing before my very eyes. She talks non-stop and can tell me stories of the day. She is (almost always) going potty on the big girl potty. She LOVES Beauty and the Beast and playing dress-up. She is such a joy and a fun 2 1/2 year old.



Here is my handsome boy. He is growing daily! He is crawling all over the place and is going to be walking any day now. He is always smiling and loves to cuddle. He is starting to sleep through the night (kind of). It rocks! He is such a wonderful baby.

I promise to post more pictures as soon as I can. Life is very busy right now with work, 2 kids, musical...the list just goes on and on.

updates

sorry it's been so long, here are just a few updates. I'll post pictures soon!

Neal Updates:
still not sleeping the best. We're getting there. He finally popped his top two teeth, so that makes 4!!! He LOVES crawling around and pulling himself up to the standing position. We've been working on 'so big' and waving bye-bye. He is always happy during the day and adores his big sister.

Arianna Updates:
She is getting more and more grown up by the minute! She seems so old to me! She talks non-stop and it amazes me what she can comprehend. She loves to color, play outside and read books. She also loves singing!! Her current favorites are Twinkle Twinkle, Jesus Loves Me, Itsy-Bitsy Spider, The Tree Song, Belle, and the Iowa Fight Song ;) We are trying (desperately) to potty train. She loves to sit on the potty and she says that she's going, but...not yet. We're hoping someday soon!!

Family Updates:
Jason and I are back to work. School is going well for the both of us. I think we're finally getting back to the fall schedule. I'm doing the musical again this year; we just finished up with auditions last week. This year's show is Beauty and the Beast which is why one of Arianna's favorite songs is Belle. She loves dressing up as Belle and dancing -- it's very cute. We have a new nanny this year and it's going amazing. It's SO NICE not to have to get the kids up in the morning and Arianna loves having Miss Anna to her house. It's wonderful and a true blessing.

That's about it. I promise...pictures soon!

The Fair and a Beach Day

Every year we have a local fair. Arianna LOVES going to see the animals and riding the rides. She has NO fear of any rides and wants to keep going. I didn't get too many pictures because it was dark and the rides move pretty quickly.

Daddy and Arianna going down the big slide

Arianna like sitting by all the big tractors on display as well. Daddy made her sit on the CASE one...

This is Arianna and Madison (family friend) on the train. These two girls elbowed their way in to get the best seat.

Towards the end of the night, we had a few ride tickets left. Loralee (Madison's mom) and I decided that we would use them. We went on this ride, The Orbit. Seriously...what were we thinking? It was spinning like crazy and we were screaming like fools. It was so much fun. However, it did remind me that I'm not 15 anymore...

We also been enjoying some really fun time at my parents beach lately. I've been trying SO hard to get some cute pictures of Arianna and she is a stinker. This is the best I could do.

By the slide

Neal peeking over the boat...of course, smiling.

Neal crawling away from Arianna and into the lake...

the summer is coming to a close and I start school next year. I'm going to miss my babies so much...

(I know...2 posts in one day!!)