Visit with Santa

We took Meredith to see Santa yesterday.  We weren't sure what she would think, but she walked right up to him and sat on his lap.

Santa asked Meredith if she had been good and she smiled and said yes!  Then he asked her what she wanted for Christmas.  Meredith told him she wanted a princess castle (check), princess dolls (check), Pocahontas movie (check), Strawberry Shortcake (check) and a Zhu Zhu pet (what???).  I bet Santa was surprised to hear her ask for a Zhu Zhu pet.  Santa probably thought he was done with Meredith's list until she mentioned a Zhu Zhu pet!

When we left we tried to ask her a few questions without being too obvious.  What did you tell Santa you wanted?  Same list including the Zhu Zhu pet.  I didn't even know how she knew about Zhu Zhu pets.  She said she saw it on TV.  We normally just watch Disney and Nick Jr.  Those channels do not have commercials so she has never been introduced to the wonderful world of $19.99 products!  However, we have watched several Christmas kid's movies on the major networks so she has now seen commercials, hence the request for a Zhu Zhu pet.

No big deal, right?  A Zhu Zhu pet hamster is around $10.  Wrong!  We asked her "so you told Santa you want a Zhu Zhu pet hamster?".  "No" she replied, "I told him I wanted all the Zhu Zhu pets with the zoo and park!  I also told him that I loved him and that I have been extra good."  Hmmm...

"What do we do" Kyle asked later.  What do we do, what do you think?  This is her first year to be really into Santa.  We make sure Santa gets her a Zhu Zhu pet, and zoo...and park!

Best Big Sister...Ever!

I'm sure people will think we are a little biased, but trust me when I tell you Meredith is the best big sister ever!  Kyle and I are so proud of her.  We heard countless stories from family and friends about how the older child will rebel when the baby comes.  We have had the opposite happen. 

When Meredith first saw Charlotte in the hospital we knew everything would be great. She could not stop smiling when she saw her that first time.  Her cheeks were sore by the end of her visit!

Meredith is so sweet and loving with Charlotte.  She never tells me to put the baby down or make her stop crying.  In fact, when Charlotte cries Meredith runs to her to give her a hug and tell her she loves her.  She loves to hold her.  She is convinced that she should be allowed to walk around while she is holding Charlotte because she promises she won't drop her!  For now she has to settle for holding her while sitting down (I know, Kyle and I are crazy strict with our rules!).

Sometimes Meredith wants to hold Charlotte more than Charlotte wants to be held!

The best big sister thing Meredith does is share.  She even shared her movie player with her little sister!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We have been busy putting away our fall decorations and putting the Christmas decorations up.  I love Christmas time and this year Meredith is really getting into it.  Kyle put the tree up this weekend.  On Tuesday Wes came over.  He and Meredith "helped" me put ornaments on the tree.  They put about 90% of the ornaments in one spot on the tree! 

In other news, we are crazy about Elf on the Shelf around here!  We recorded the Elf on a Shelf movie and Meredith watches it about 3 times a day.  Our elf, Ooddle, came about a week ago.  We love Ooddle.  If you are not familiar with Elf on the Shelf let me tell you about him.

Santa sent us our elf last year and now he is back.  Each day Ooddle watches Meredith and Charlotte to make sure they are being good.  At night when we are asleep Ooddle flies to the North Pole to report to Santa how M & C's day was.  Then he flies back and sits in a new spot for the next day.  Every morning the first thing Meredith does is look for Ooddle.  The crazy guy has been all over the house.  If you come to our house this time of year please follow one rule...do not touch Ooddle.  If you touch him he will lose his magic!  That is Santa's rule that comes with the elf.  Here are some of the places we have found Ooddle.

Day 1

 Here he is the first day he came to our house.  Do you see him?

There he is!

Day 2

Day 3

I'm sure Ooddle was relieved to discover these weren't reindeer antlers!

Day 4...and 5

Ooddle was in the dinning room on day 4, then a funny thing happened.  When Meredith woke up on day 5 much to every one's surprise he was in the same spot.  We figured he liked the spot so much he went back to it!

Day 6

Day7

Hanging on the curtain rod in Meredith's room.

Day 8

Do you see him?

There he is.  This has been Meredith's favorite place to find Oddle.

We really love Ooddle. I wonder where he will be tomorrow? 

Quality time with Meredith

Kyle and I try to schedule quality time with Meredith whenever we can.  We don't want her to ever feel like we are spending all our time with Charlotte.  She has been an amazing big sister! She is very patient when we have to rock, feed, change and carry Charlotte all the time.  There have only been a few times that she has told us to put Charlotte down.  Kyle and I are so proud of her.  We know things could be much harder managing two kids!

A few weeks ago Kyle took the day off so we could take Meredith to the zoo.  Charlotte stayed home with Teresa so it was just "Meredith time".  She loved the zoo.  The elephants were one of her favorite animals.  There were two baby elephants splashing in the water and throwing hay around.

When we got to the giraffes she got a huge surprise.  She got to feed the giraffes!  The zookeepers gave her lettuce to feed them.  She held the lettuce out and the giraffes ate it right out of her hand!  She absolutely loved it!

When we were leaving we passed the gift shop.  Meredith said she thought she "needed" a stuffed giraffe because she got to feed a real giraffe.  How could we say no to that?  She played with it for five minutes in the car.

Then she fell asleep! She still sleeps with her giraffe.

Last week Kyle took another day off.  We took Meredith to the children's museum and then out to lunch.  She loved spending time with us doing just "Meredith things" no errands!





Charlotte has some big news!

Hmmm ... something feels funny.

What!?!?!

I have two teeth!

Summer 2011

It has been a busy and wonderful summer for us.  Here are a few pictures of our summer.

Meredith's third birthday



Charlotte joined our family!

Fun at the Children"s Museum!

At Hank and Wes' baseball game.

Now it is Fall, which means football is back!