Thanksgiving Recap Part 2: Blogosphere Besties

As if the family bonding, delicious dining experiences, and aquatic adventures didn't make our Thanksgiving fantastic enough, a reunion with the blogosphere's funniest family was the cherry on top!  We were beside ourselves with excitement to be in the presence of this little delight:

Miss LC was even kind enough to introduce us to her brand new baby sister, Effie.  We were all captivated by this dainty little doll.

The indoor playground where we met allowed Josie the opportunity to witness LC's gross motor mastery.  We were hoping that Pudge's kinetic spunk would inspire Josie but as the morning wore on, it became evident that this was not happening.  It all came to a head at the top of the slide when Pudge's impatience with JoJo's stationary stance prompted her to lend a hand; when modeling won't inspire action, a good, old-fashioned shove will suffice: 

At that point, Josie decided the only risk-taking activity she wanted to participate in was pickpocketing.  With a room full of moms, there were plenty of diaper bags to rifle through.  It was a kiddie kelpto's dream come true!

 Thank goodness that savvy sweetheart, LC, came to the rescue with a diversion captivating enough to lure Josie away from her larceny: singing animals!  This, my friends, is how you become Josie's bestie for life!

You know behind every funny and fabulous toddler is a funny and fabulous mom.  I lie prostrate at the feet of an unflappable woman who wrangles two vibrant toddlers, welcomes a newborn into the fold without skipping a beat, and hauls them to school, medical appointments, therapy, and play dates, and she makes it look EASY!  You wouldn't find me venturing on an excursion and further than the bed to the sofa when I was three weeks postpartum; I don't know how she does it.

Courtney benevolently agreed to allow me to publish a group photo of us, contingent upon some generous photo editing.  I think she underestimated my digital makeover abilities.  With a few clicks of the mouse, we went from Midwestern moms to third-rate Vegas showgirls:

No need to thank me, Courtney.  That's what blogosphere besties are for!  However, we owe all of the lovely Heigele ladies a heartfelt thank you for welcoming us back to KC with unparalleled warmth and kindness.  And a special shout-out to the Heigele men, who couldn't join us because of work(Justin) and illness(Jace).  We'll catch you next time, boys!

What a day!

Well, the day started off perfectly.  There's no better way to kick things off than with an early morning physical therapy session with Josie's beloved Kody.

Even though gross motor endeavors rank pretty high on Josie's list of most dreaded activities, she always wears a smile when Kody is around.

 She makes just enough progress to impress him but not nearly enough to graduate from his program. It's a fine line.

 Then we took a little road trip to our feeding therapy appointment.  Never having been accused of being apathetic, Mom insisted Josie continue to practice her walking, so we ditched the stroller and took the walker through the long hallways of the Down Syndrome Clinic. 

So you can understand the overwhelming guilt mom felt when Josie took a big spill on the way to the car, which resulted in this:

Hello Pavement!  I'd like to introduce you to my face.

I'm not sure who was more traumatized.  My heart broke for our little JoJo and I felt like a big pile of maternal failure. 

Lucky for Josie, Dad knew just what to do to get her mind off of her little ordeal; he shuffled us into the car and we set out for Chuck E Cheese.

Nothing is quite as healing as a few rounds of skee ball, some hokey rides, mediocre pizza, and a fist full of prize tickets.  But the absolute best part of the evening was the sensational serenade by life-sized singing animals on stage!  Josie danced so enthusiastically, I feared she may have a second spill of the day out of her crusty wooden restaurant high chair.  She kept shouting requests, "La Bamba!  Piña Colada!" but they fell on deaf ears.  Perhaps the band just needed a little more time to rehearse those classics before performing them live. 

Regardless, it was exactly the prescription to turn Josie's frown upside down.  Here's hoping tomorrow is a little less eventful - for everyone's sake.  We could use a little "boring" around here.

Whodunnit?

In the time it took to make one customer service phone call this morning, our playroom became a crime scene.  The victim: A singing dinosaur named Love Machine.

What we have here, ladies and gentleman, is a good, old-fashioned "Whodunnit".  With no witnesses, no alibis, and no confessions, we must turn to the circumstantial evidence.

Perp #1: Josie "The Catfish" (aka "JoJo")

 Don't let those big blue eyes fool you.  She's a deceptive diva in a dress with a history of  "nice hands" infractions.  Remember this?

 Perp #2: Merryn "The Maniac" (aka "Banana Split"...or shall we say "Dinosaur split"??)

 Don't let these big blue eyes fool you, either.  This one has a clear motive: a deep-seated hatred for Love Machine that dates back to the day she set eyes on him.  The question is, could this crime of passion have been committed by someone who is too terrified to even approach the victim?

So which one of these shady characters offed the singing dinosaur?

You be the judge.  Voting buttons can be found on the right-hand side of the page.  Voting closes at noon tomorrow.

Love Machine

Dad is back from his business trip to India.  Boy was he missed!  The girls were delighted to see him.

 

As if his sheer presence wasn't thrilling enough, he brought the girls gifts: singing animals from India!

The upside of having a dad who travels for work is that their international singing animal collection is expanding rapidly!

 Of course some of us are happier about that than others...

Dad sure has a knack for picking out singing animals.  Just when we think they can't get any weirder (or uglier), he amazes us.  I can't even venture a guess as to what he'll return with next time!

Josie's Birthday Extravaganza Continued...

The birthday celebration that commenced last weekend with YaYa's visit just ended yesterday.  Yes, it was a week long extravaganza.  Therefore, from YaYa to conclusion, it will likely require at least five blog posts.  Let's get started...

I racked my brain to figure out what to serve Josie as a special birthday meal.  We've already established how eating isn't exactly one of her favorite past times.  However, she does have a few favorites: Cheetos, Bread sticks/Pizza Crust, and asparagus.  Yes, you heard right.  The kid loves asparagus.  I literally have to cut her off.

Following her bizarre birthday meal, Josie opened gifts.  She has a rather unique approach to removing wrapping paper...

Being an occasion, of course mom had to attempt a birthday photo shoot with the girls in their matching strawberry outfits.  It was about as successful as all past photo shoots:

Problem solved with a little cut and paste action.  Note to self: learn to use Photoshop.

And if you liked the monkey who sings "Escape (the piña  colada song)," you'll love the chihuahua who sings "La Bamba."  Josie sure does. 

We now have a grand total of 11 singing animals in our home.  We're still trying to convince dad to build risers for our choral group.  When they all sing in unison, it's a party for the years, let me tell you.

On the next episode of CCE - Josie's Birthday Extravaganza, Mama Hop and Aunt Leanne join us to celebrate.  Stay tuned!

We caved in

...and gave Josie one of her birthday gifts early.  We couldn't wait to see her reaction: 

Travis and I knew she'd love it.  What we failed to consider is the inappropriateness factor of her trotting off to preschool next year singing "If you like piña coladas..." while all the other kids are singing "The Alphabet Song".  Not to mention the eyebrows raised when Josie requests her Pediasure be served out of a hollowed out coconut...oh well!

Stay tuned.  There's more where that came from!