Woznation

Christmas post on January 19th?  Yep.  We’re still catching up from the holidays.  Thank you notes will go by next weekend, promise!

Christmas was lovely, as always.  We drove to Indiana on a Friday night.  We left at 7pm and the kids (mostly) slept the whole way.  We stopped and changed diapers as needed.  But overall, it was pretty painless.  My whole family was together for Saturday and Sunday morning. We all went to church, had an awesome family dinner and our annual catch phrase competition (that is usually reserved for Christmas Eve – but hey, at least we got it in!). Phil, Maggie, Andrew and Jessie took off Sunday – and Woznation still had a few days with the Harrisons.  It was so great watching all the cousins hang out.  Evie and Elise are 8 months apart and will be in the same grade growing up.  Obviously, right now, 8 months in a big difference though!  Elise is walking all around and pushing Evie in the standing toys.  Luke and Wil are starting to play better together (Luke has always played nice, Wil is just starting to get the hang of it).  We were also able to spend a night out with friends in b-town.  Cels was down for a night and we got to see Brian and Kelly at Lennies!

We spent the rest of the week hanging out with Busia and Dzia Dzia.  Wil looooves the fisher price little people that they have at their house and kept calling them his ‘guys’.  Lets play with ‘the guys’!  He also had a blast playing with flash lights in and out of closets at their house.  Jessie and Andrew were back for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  We also got to hang out with Uncle Nick — and Great Uncle John from Hammond! The whole crew went to Christmas Eve mass (All 16 of us from both families!). Then Phil and I went to the Wozniaks for the traditional ‘wigilia’ polish christmas eve dinner.  The next day, we started the morning at the Watkins.  Wil didnt really have anticipation of Christmas morning, but it was so cute watching Luke wake up.  Wil got ‘eyes’ (binoculars)  that he loved! and Evie got 18-24 month clothes – thats shes already fitting in!

After we destroyed the presents at Mimi and Pop Pops – we went for more at the Wozniaks!  We were able to open presents via Skype with Aunt Em and Uncle Sam. Wil got a beautiful letter choo-choo that spelled his name – and a Choo-choo shirt that he promptly thew over his shoulder – just like you see in the movies.   CLOTHES?! Ha!  Where are the presents?  Evie loved the cellophane wrapping most of all! (Phil and I got Wil a few Octonaut figurines.  Its a newer disney show that hes obsessed with.  And Evie a pop-up toy…that we forgot in Bloomington).

During our Indiana trip, Phil and I were insanely fortunate to have the opportunity to spend a few nights away while all the grandparents took turns watching the kids.  Originally when we were planning this mini-vacation, I started my search in Peru, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Miami… — we ended up staying 3 nights in French Lick, Indiana.  1.5 hours away from Bloomington.  When it came down to it, we really just needed a few nights of pure sleep and no one needing us for >48 hours.  So we didnt want to spend our whole time traveling or all our costs going to a location where we would spend half the time indoors. While we were away – Evie didnt sleep through the night and Wil got a horrible upper respiratory virus — But our parents took it in stride.  I cant even describe how thankful I am for those few days away.  Especially under the circumstances.  It had been a very tough few weeks in Baltimore with my work, Phil traveling, and Evie (STILL) not sleeping through the night. As many of you know (I reached out to A LOT of you), I was starting to lose it a little bit.  Wil’s sickness might have been the straw on the camel’s back.  But when we got back – Wil was feeling better and we were refreshed.

It almost makes up for all the money we lost in the french lick casinos. 😉  Thanks Moms and Dads, siblings, and friends for a great christmas break – we REALLY needed it.

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We had a fun time getting in the christmas spirit in Baltimore.  Wil kind of gets the idea of Santa, but was still too terrified to sit on his lap.  We watched a lot of Mickey Christmas specials, so he liked the idea of trees with lights, ornaments, and presents.  He even lucked out and we were able to have our first sledding adventure!

Wil still loves all things underwater – so we decided to renew our aquarium membership.  We’ve been able to spend a few afternoons there – where Wilek likes to follow the sharks and count the fish (He is still learning to count, but his favorite numbers are 2 and 9.  So he ‘counts’ by just saying ‘2, 2, 9, 2, 9 9, etc..’).  There have been a few warmer days where we have gotten out to the park/swings, but I’m afraid those days are probably over for a bit.  We will be staying indoors for a while. Hopefully spring will come soon!

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These bunny pictures are sponsored by Pop-pop, who found this amazing camo diaper cover on zulily. I think he was channeling Phil’s love of camo shorts.  But she can also represents Emmy and Sam’s love of hunting.  Either way, shes amazing.

5 Months:

Not getting any skinnier at 6 months:

The biggest and happiest baby you’ll ever see.  These are 12-18 month clothes from Mimi.  7 months:

My last wilek lion picture, at 7 months.  I guess comparisons have ended…

Here she is in the same outfit, around the same age as the Wil/Lion picture. It fits, but she fills it out a bit more.

Shes come a long way:

3 weeks old!

She is 95th percentile for everything (though a little short on size).  Has 2 teeth.  Loooooves the pacifier.   Sits without assistance, but we still give her a pillow fortress around her, just to be safe.  Everything goes in her mouth.  She laughs constantly – mostly at Wil and Barney.  She loves pushing buttons – especially ones that makes noise or make screens change.  She is even eating small bits of solid food all on her own!  We give her either a puree or small bites on a tray every night.  It took her a few weeks to figure it out, but in true Woznation form, she’s caught on like a champ.

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Thanksgiving was definitely an eventful one this year.  Phil’s parents were visiting for the occasion.  Char was able to come the saturday before and Mark drove over on Wednesday night.  Phil and I took advantage of the free babysitting and went to Brewer’s Art for dinner on Saturday and then went to our first Raven’s game on Sunday afternoon!  It was a high of 22 degrees that day, but we bundled up and walked the 3-some miles to the stadium as a ‘warm up’ (we may have stopped at a few bars along the way).  The game was so fun and Baltimore won!!  The seats were great and all the fans kept things lively despite the cold weather.  Unfortunately, as we were away, Evie came down with a stomach bug. And this bug continued to make its way through the entire house.  Char had it next, then Wil, then I had it.  Phil never had a full blown attack, but definitely wasnt feeling himself.  We were a sad bunch Sunday through Wednesday. I even took Evie to the doctor just to make sure she didnt have an extra ear infection or anything.  When I got in, they asked if she could possibly be teething?  I said no way, no teeth at all yet (lots of drool though!).  And as soon as the doctor stuck her finger in to check, sure enough she had one! haha – i hadnt noticed at all!  Mother of the Year over here.  Oh well.  The doctor said she was handling things like a champ and to keep her hydrated.  Luckily, by the time Thanksgiving (and Mark) arrived, we were all mostly back to normal.

We had our standard thanksgiving meal:  Roast Turkey, my mom’s mashed potatoes, dressing recipe adapted from Mark’s stuffing, green bean casserole, jellied cranberry sauce for Mark, Char’s pumpkin squares, and lots of chex mix.  I was mostly happy with how things turned out.  Phil said it lacked cheese.  On Friday, we were finally able to get out of the house!  We went to the Baltimore Children’s museum so Wil could run off some steam.  Then we spent the afternoon baking cookies!  A great way to finish off the week.

Here is a massive Thanksgiving slideshow.  I tried to make notes where applicable:

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