A and J's First Popsicles

Anna and John both came down with a fever last week. Who gets a fever in the summer??? John's got up to above 103 and Anna's stayed around 100.4 so we went to the doctor. She stressed the importance of fluids and suggested popsicles. Anna and John have never had popsicles before. Do you think they liked them?!

Summer Fun

Well it has been quite a while since my last blog post. Since then, the Briches moved to a new home out in the burbs of Cincinnati in an area called Kenwood. Another big change is that we moved from a three story home to a ranch. Let me tell you, life has definitely changed for the better! Anna and John love running around on one level, visiting their bedrooms and creating havoc wherever they go:) They're also loving our front and back yard along with the long driveway we now have. Things have changed!!! Here area a few pics of Anna and John enjoying their new yard.

 

 

Bubble Fun!

I love Anna and John' s pure delight over bubbles :)

Easter 2013

What is it about holidays that leaves the Brich clan all out of sorts? Someone please tell me!!! Poor John and Anna both had the worst colds they've ever had over Easter! It basically started the day we left Cincinnati and only got worse. John refused to sleep at night and would only nap when someone was holding him. Anna was a little better off- napping and sleeping at night but just wasn't herself. For the most part, they were good little travelers, so that was good! No one in the family made it to church this year, but all the kiddos had fun finding their Easter baskets and going on the indoor Easter egg hunt, Anna and John's first:) Nan pulled a delicious Easter lunch off in a flash, as we decided to leave a day early to try to get back to normal!!!  Ugh, when will the holidays get easier? A and J did look absolutely adorable though:)  We tried our best for a family pic. Take a look at how it went!!!

Bubbles for Anna, bubbles for John

Amelia and her "future husband"

Cutie Pies

Poor bud :(



Indoor Easter egg hunt.

Our sick little Easter chicks :(



Happy 7th birthday Amelia!!!

Easter weekend began with a celebration of Amelia's 7th birthday. We missed the roller skating party the previous weekend so we were really excited to be in Pittsburgh for the family party. Unfortunately little John had a horrible cold, so he stayed back at Nan and Pop's with daddy. Anna wasn't  feeling as bad as her brother so she was able to join me. It was a brisk, sunny day and all the kids had a blast playing outside. Amelia enjoyed riding her new bike:) Anna loved the Weaver's big backyard and explored every inch. We missed both of the Johns, but had fun celebrating Amelia!

Birthday girl and Anna

Nice ride!

Silly E

Cousin E as Anna likes to call him

Exploring!

Anna and Abby sharing Amelia's birthday cookie cake

18-19 Months

Our toddlers turned 18 months on March 17th. They are learning more and more each day and amaze us in so many ways. It has been a long winter for us all!!! Luckily gramma and papa got us Gymboree gift cards and Aunt Andi and Uncle Kevin got us a gift card to the Ozo play café. We are so happy that the weather is starting to turn and we can play outside and go on walks.

Ozo Play Cafe

Chalk time at Ozo

Playtime at the playground in Mt. Adams

Our 18 month check up went very well this time- only 1 shot!!! Anna and John still clung to both of us, but were a little less leery of Dr. Parks than the previous visit. We of course bribed them with toys and snacks:) Here are their 18 month stats:

Anna-
Length-2 ft. 7.5 inches
Weight- 24.5 pounds
Teeth count- 8 teeth (4 on the top and her fourth tooth on the bottom just broke through)
Words- hi, da for daddy, car, ooos for shoes, crocs, b for brother, b for baby, do for dog, cheese, bu for bus, pa for pop, mi for milk, kittie sounds like chee, to for top, choo choo, tweet tweet for birds, quack quack for ducks

John-
Length- 2 ft. 9.75 inches
Weight- 27.2 pounds
Teeth count- 12 teeth and working on his eye teeth
Words- oh toodles from Micky Mouse, car, da for dad, crocs, bu for bus, pa for pop, mi for milk, choo choo, to for top, tweet tweet for birds

Towards the end of their 18th month, A and J's language skills have really taken off. Anna is more verbal than her brother, but he says his fair share of words too. They love pointing to cars and buses when we are outside. They sound like they have a Boston accent when they say the word car- not sure where that came from, and they call buses "bu." They both still have a love for babies, kitties and doggies. Anna is extremely nurturing and loves taking care of her brother.  Since she almost always wakes up first from naptime, Anna loves taking John his water and snack when he wakes up. She shares everything with him and compromises with him many times a day!  She's a really good big sister to him!!

I was telling my friend the other day that I don't know why we have spent so much money on toys because they seem to play with everything but toys these days! They love trying to break into the toilet, tear toilet paper into the tiniest pieces possible, spread laundry all throughout the house, play with recycling, and one of the most popular activities is taking apart the pieces of the sippy cups and bottles. All of these activities keep them busy and content for a small time:)

They've enjoyed playing out front on our porch and have fun sitting on everyone else's doorway and enjoying their snacks and water.  We have to steer them away from the stairs that lead down to the sidewalk, but they are usually pretty good about it. They have become masters of the stairs, both inside and out so they think they can do anything:) Anna and John are very cautious on the steps, so no accidents so far. Fingers crossed on that one!

Hanging out on their favorite stoops:)

Outside dining :)

Playing out back. First day in shorts!!

Pretty cool!

Oh my goodness John and Anna are absolutely obsessed with shoes. They love wearing their own shoes as well as each other's. John especially loves wearing Anna's light up, glitter shoes. We have to pick our battles and some days he wins. He actually wore these shoes to the mall one day. Oh well!!

A and J's love of cleaning continued over the past few months, although their idea of cleaning usually ends up making more of a mess!!! They like carrying around empty spray bottles and a paper towel to clean just about anything. I have to say that it does keep them busy while I attempt to clean! They also like using wipes to clean, but we try to use those sparingly.

Clean up, clean up, everybody clean up!

We are ready for summer! We will be moving at the end of May and have lots of packing to do. We still aren't sure how the move will go with two toddlers in tow. We love our new neighborhood and can't wait to move!! So long Mt. Adams... hello Oakley:)

Christmas in Cincinnati



Christmas greetings from Cincinnati:)


Our traveling Christmas show began in Cincinnati the Friday before Christmas. We decided to have the babies open their gifts from us at home, rather than lug all the gifts and everything else to Cleveland and Pittsburgh.  Anna and John loved opening their gifts. See for yourself:)

It's a shopping cart ...

and play food!!!

 

 

Abby Cadabby tea set

LOL Elmo

A and J checking out the first snowfall of the year.