Suitcases and Dinner

My mom left to go home yesterday and Audrey really, really wanted to get on the airplane with her. We toyed around with it for a few minutes, but decided in the end that this wasn't the best timing. In any event, in exchange for not going to Florida, Mim told Audrey that she could go pick out one of her Christmas presents early ... a new Princess suitcase that Audrey really, really wanted at Target. We went yesterday afternoon and, being the astute mom that I am, decided that two suitcases at our house would be better for my sanity than 2 girls fighting over one. So we bought two. Here they are yesterday, sitting in them ... Audrey was pretending they were carseats and that we were driving to the airport.

The other pix are of some good friends of ours who came for dinner tonight. Since our dining room is so small (and won't easily hold 8 people), we let the kids eat at the small table in the living room and watch Blues Clues while eating. I'm surprised they had time to eat anything, in between all the staring at the TV! The first is Audrey, Avery and their friend Elisa. The second is Avery and Massi sitting in the corner and playing together (well, really, just next to each other). It was so cute ... from the back, they look like twins.

Decorating for Christmas

We put up our Christmas tree on Sunday. Audrey was very interested at first in hanging ornaments on the Christmas tree, but after a few minutes, all they both wanted to do was either (1) take ornaments out of boxes (especially the glass and other fragile ones) and wave them around or (2) take ornaments off of the Christmas tree. We had a great time, though, and my mom was here to help.

Notice Avery's Camelbak ... because you never know when you'll need to re-hydrate during Christmas decorating. Also notice the Mardi gras beads ... they bring their own party in case the one we're throwing isn't fun enough. Now, does anyone have a good suggestion to get a 2-year old and a 1-year old to smile for the camera at the same time (or, for that matter, at all sometimes)??? =)

My Beautiful Niece

There does not exist a cuter 5-month old on this planet!

We're Back ... & We Have News

First, and most exciting these days (in case any of you who read this haven't heard; I'm sure there aren't many), we are expecting Baby McConnell #3 on June 7!! We aren't going to find out if it's a boy or girl, so don't ask. =) We also don't know whether we'll use another "A" name, so don't ask about that either. =)

As for the rest of life, I know it's been a while, but following is a quick timeline of our last month of life:

Oct 21: Put our house on the market (thinking it would take months to sell)

Oct 23: Receive a final contract on our house

Oct 25: Decide we better start looking for a new house to move into for the next 7 months of life

Oct 27: Find another place to live

Oct 28: Decide we have to move in the upcoming weekend because there will be no more free weekends between now and date of closing

Oct 28 - 30: Pack (with a lot of help from 2 little girls, who really like to unpack more than they like to pack)

Oct 31: Move into another condo (same complex, short commute, same big hassle) with the help of some great friends Nov 1: Drive to LA for the day to visit some awesome friends

Nov 3 - 5: Allison goes to NY for a business trip

Nov 7: Try to unpack some boxes

Nov 8 - 14: Super family trip to Hawaii; I get to meet my little 'niece' Addyson for the first time, who is super-cute

Nov 17 - 18: Allison goes to CT for a business trip

Nov 20 - 25: Allison's brother, sister-in-law, and cutest 5-month old in the world, Ava, visit SD

Nov 22: Allison goes to ER for some crazy stomach bug

Nov 23 - Present: Allison's mom visits; the whole family gets sick; Thanksgiving is postponed by a day; Now we're all feeling great!

So I know that was a lot of drama and probaby way too much detail, but I just wanted to prove that I have some legit excuses for being so far behind in blogging. Now the bad news is that in the midst of the unpacking, I am still unable to locate our card reader (so no still pix on the blog today). I'm also sorry to say that I was extremely lax in taking any videos either in Hawaii or from Ava (and B&B's visit), so I'm includng only one video from Hawaii. Thanks to our very cool friends Dirk & Annie for their extreme hospitality (and just overall coolness) during our visit!

Audrey's First Haircut

I've cut Audrey's bangs many times, but yesterday was the first time she's had the rest of it cut. We went to a kids' salon and she got to sit in a little red car as the "hair-cutting chair." She didn't really love the cape that went around her, mostly, I think, because she couldn't use her hands. But the woman did a great job and she put a little braid in the top of her hair when she was done. It's so cute and I need to learn how to do it!

So here are a couple of pix (I had a hard time getting her to pose, so these will have to do). Also a couple of them from the children's museum yesterday.

Random things

First, I have the most amazing husband and children in the world!

Second, we listed our condo for sale today, so if you know anyone who needs a really awesome place in SD, send them our way. =)

Third, how do children learn to lie? Last night, Audrey was playing downstairs with Iain (cleaning the front porch; see point #2) and when she came up, she was filthy. I told her it was time to get into the bathtub. Her first reaction was to run between her headboard and the wall and say "I can't, I'm too far away." What? So I told her to come closer. Pretty simple. Then she said "I can't, I'm sick." What? You're not sick. Where does she get this stuff.

Fourth, a very cute shot of them at their music class today, dancing together.

Dance Class

It's been a busy few weeks since I last posted anything. The girls are growing and learning and keeping us very entertained! Audrey wants to know about everything. "Where is the airport, Mommy?" I tell her it's about 2 miles away. "What does 2 miles away mean, Mommy?" I tell her it means it would take us about 5 minutes to drive there. "What is 5 minutes, Mommy?" And this could go on for hours. Meanwhile, Avery is copying everything Audrey does (which is usually good, but sometimes not so much). Last night, Audrey sang ring-around-the-rosie for about 10 minutes non-stop, while the 2 of them ran around in circles around the table and threw themselves down at the appropriate times. When Audrey stopped singing, Avery stopped running, looked up, and started to whine until Audrey started singing again. So cute.

We also found out this week that Iain was selected for grad school next year, so all signs point to us being in Washington DC at this time next year. We like SD, but we're ready for the next adventure (especially since the next adventure takes us closer to family)!

Here are a couple of pix from Audrey and Avery at their dance class today (which is mostly a 'listen-to-music-and-shake-cool-toys-to-the-music class', but which is awesome for them). They are going to have a recital in December (Audrey has to learn how to bend her knees and put her arms in the air), and I'm already anticipating a whole lotta' cuteness coming out of that!!