Random Goings Ons

Daci is sick.....again! If this winter is anything like last winter she will be sick all the time. The other day she came up to me with two hats and her gloves on. I laughed and said, "Daci, are you cold?!" and she said, "Yeah, freezing" very matter of factly :)

Daci looked so cute for church on Sunday I had to snap a pic


My mom sent Daci a little package in the mail and we got it today. She loves it when she gets mail! There was a sucker, a Mickey Mouse Christmas Coloring book, and her Christmas Ornament. Its a tradition in my family that the grandkids get an ornament each year.

Enjoying her sucker

Trying to open her present, didn't work out very well because she wouldn't let go of the sucker! I untied the ribbon for her.

Pulling the ornament out


Its a Santa on top of a light up snowball. She loves it! Oh how I love the holidays :) Happy Thanksgiving this week everyone!

A week of celebrations!

Carly, Micah and their baby Eleni came out to visit us this week because......wait for it.....they are moving here in the Spring! Micah got a job with the company Rick works for so they came out looking for a place to live. I had lots of fun watching Eleni while they house hunted each day. Daci loves her little cousin and was very helpful with her. She did show a few signs of jealousy though during this trip :) There were moments that she didn't like sharing her mommy and her toys. I think it comes with the age though :)

Daci always wanted to hold Leni and she loved putting her binkie in her mouth for her :)

My adorable neice. She is about 6 1/2 months old now.

While Rick was in Dallas this week he had his 26th birthday. I was sad that he didn't get a celebration on his actual birthday so I planned a little "party" for him. When he and Carly and Micah came in from Texas they walked into a decorated house (don't mind that it looks like a little boy's birthday party:) ), Giordano's Pizza, Oberweis Ice Cream, a birthday cake, and Rick's very favorite homemade oreos. I spent the whole morning preparing!

I got these balloons the night before and by morning they weren't floating anymore :( I guess there wasn't high float in them :) Daci had fun playing with them though!

Daci was excited to see her daddy after a whole week of him being gone

Rick blowing out his 26 candles.

Daci helped him open his presents. I think this Christmas will be a lot of fun because she actually showed interest in opening presents!

We had fun with Carly and Micah and are glad they were here to celebrate Rick's birthday with us!

This is the Life

Daci has been sick the last few days. Although many would argue that being sick is absolutely miserable, I would argue that being a baby and sick is not too shabby. She has spent the last three days watching Sesame Street, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and The Tigger Movie (notice she can't even peel her eyes from the tv to look at me when I am standing right in front of her). She sits on her throne and demands many, many things of me. "Cracker!", "Ja-Juice!" (orange juice), "bear!", "tigger!", "baby!", "bunny!". Eventually, the whole house is piled up next to her. And then, when she has snot all over her face she yells, "booger!" and I come by and wipe it from her face. Wow, wouldn't it be nice to be waited on hand and foot, have everything you want brought to you, and have someone wipe your own boogers? Ah....this is the life.

In all seriousness though, I hate it when my doodle bug is sick. It breaks my heart. I hate that she coughs her head off, I hate that she has a fever, I hate that there are boogers all over me, my house, and my baby. Thank heavens there was some improvement in her "condition" today. Hopefully tomorrow I can go back to making her get her own things....we don't want her to think she is a princess, do we? Love you, Daci-bug!

Trick or Treat!

Last night we took Daci out for her first trick-or-treating experience and she had such a blast! Since we don't live in Utah and they don't do trick or treating on Saturdays for a Sunday Halloween, our ward put on a trunk or treat. This was the perfect way to do trick or treating for a 20 month old. We were done in 20 minutes, she didn't get too much candy and she was in heaven! Rick and I dressed up in our 80's costume again and Daci was her cute little Minnie self.

She insisted on taking the candy and putting it in her bag herself. After each and every trunk we had to stop so she could put her candy in her bag :)

Daci with her friend, Kate

As soon as we got in the car Daci started yelling "Can-y!! Choc-ate!!" So we busted out a few pieces to keep her happy til we got home.

Once we got home we dumped out all of her candy and she sat right in the middle of it. She wanted me to open every piece for her!

We had so much fun taking Daci trunk or treating. Both Rick and I aren't much of Halloween fans but it sure makes it so much fun when you have an excited little girl!

Halloween Fun!

Yesterday we had a little Halloween Party with some of the kids in the ward. Daci was so excited to get dressed up in her Minnie Mouse costume! She LOVES the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and watches it everyday. She yells "Minnie!" every time she sees her on the screen so I've known for a while now that she just had to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween :)

Showing off her new pumpkins :)

I got myself some Minnie Mouse ears and a Minnie Mouse t-shirt to sorta match Daci. She loved that I was wearing Minnie Ears!

When we got to the playgroup we had all of the adorable little kids gather together so we could take pictures of them in their costumes. Daci is going through an extremely clingy stage right now and she freaks out if I leave her side. I set her down on the grass. For a second she didn't realize I left her because she was busy with her candy. Just wait......

All of a sudden she realized I was gone and she totally lost it! It was actually quite hilarious. She was in the middle of all these happy smiling kids just screaming her head off!

I know this should make me sad, but really it just makes me laugh. How funny is that? She is so cute, even when she cries :) (PS. I stole this pic from my friend's blog that was also there snapping pics....so glad you got this shot Jami!)

After pics we brought them in, changed them out of their costumes so they wouldn't get them dirty, and let them decorate sugar cookies and pumpkins. I seriously can't believe my little baby is old enough to be sitting at a kiddie table with all of her friends! So strange!

So excited that she gets to eat a cookie!

Intently frosting her minnie mouse cookie

Love my munchkin!

Pumpkin Pickin'

We wanted to take Daci to go pick her pumpkin out. We had to go to Home Depot anyway so we had her pick it out there. I know, kinda lame on the pumpkin patch, but she is too young to know the difference anyway. She loved seeing all the pumpkins and took a very long time deciding which one was just right for her!

She was very intrigued by the big, warty, crazy-colored ones!

Oh! I think she found the one she likes!

She had to hold it herself. She wouldn't let us help her :)

Perfect size for Daci bug.

This was the best smile we could get of her. She is right in the middle of saying "cheeese!"

Slumber Party!!

I watched my friend's little girl, Lyla, last night while she and her husband went on a date. Lyla is Daci's most favorite person here in Naperville. She LOVES her and is so good with her. She likes to take care of her like she is her very own baby (Lyla is 7 months old). She likes to bring me her diapers and wipes, and wipe her face off after she eats, and bring me her blankie when its time to put her down. They had a lot of fun playing before it was bedtime :)

Lyla has a GREAT smile and it is so easy to get a giggle out of her. I love how happy she is!

Daci had fun running around the living room and getting her energy out before bedtime.

Daci wanted to hold Lyla and this is how it turned out :) I think she expected a little baby like her cousin Eleni but Lyla is older and a little more chubby than Eleni :) I LOVE Lyla's adorable baby rolls and pinchable cheeks!

Daci gave Lyla a million hugs and kisses that night!

We are so thankful to have such great friends here!

Enjoying the Weather!!

Fall is in the air! We got back from Utah to chilly weather. We are really enjoying it! Yesterday we went down to the pond to feed the geese....the ducks have disappeared with the cold weather and the geese have taken over the ponds. We discovered that geese are pretty snooty. The ducks would just come right up to us and eat our bread but the geese wanted nothing to do with us and our bread. Daci was pretty disappointed until I pointed out that there were a bunch of pinecones where we were sitting. She had a blast picking up pinecones, putting them in a straight line, and going back for more :) Is anyone else jealous of how easily children are entertained?

Today was park day with our little ward group. Daci has been pretty difficult in stores lately. She throws big tantrums and tries to climb out of the cart constantly. So far, I haven't found a good bribe yet that will keep her calm the whole time. Today, I told her if she was good in the store we could go to the park after. That did the trick!! She was so good in Target today :) The only problem is, I can't bribe with a park trip everytime, especially with colder weather coming. Anyone else have any tricks they use to keep their children calm in the store? If you have any I would love to know! Here are some pics of Daci at the park today. She was in heaven. I promise she does smile. Its just that when I pull the camera out she instantly looks down and refuses to smile. I must take way to many pictures :)

And here is a little video of my big girl. I can't believe she is 20 months tomorrow! How does the time fly so fast? Where did my little baby go? She has really grown up A LOT this last month. If you listen to what she is saying in the video, you will here her trying to count the rungs on the stairs (she can say 1, 2), she points out that the rungs and the slide are green (she knows all of her colors!), and she says "go!" right before slides down. She also asks me for my hand before she slides down, I'm a mean mom and won't do it. She knows how to do it on her own, she just needs me to tell her she can :) She also knows her shapes. Sorry I know its annoying when moms brag about their kids but I think I am entitled to when its on my own blog. Plus, there are lots of family members that like to keep up on how she is growing and maturing. She is such a big girl and I love her to death!