Skating with Annalise

Last weekend I took Annalise skating for the second time. It was sort of a reunion with many of my old skating teammates who were in town for Christmas (most of you know I was a figure skater for 12 years growing up). Those of us who have kids brought them along; it was their first or second time skating and it was fun to see the "next generation" on ice! Annalise did a great job and I was so proud of her! Here are a couple of pics & video clips of the event:

Such a Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas in the O'Connell house. Annalise really enjoyed the season, having a couple celebrations with her groups of buddies, and her school program at school was adorable. And as usual, she loved all of the Christmas lights. Ryan was rather oblivious, and thankfully paid little attention to our Christmas tree, only swatting at the ornaments a few times.

Looking at the Christmas lights at our favorite house - this is only a tiny view of the
thousands of lights and decorations at this house. We love it!

Above: Annalise's school program.

This year we also had a visit from our Elf on the Shelf. Annalise named him Rudolph Elf, and he kept a watchful eye on Annalise's behavior. He left notes for Annalise each morning, and unfortunately he had to give her a few warnings about her behavior and poor eating. Luckily she worked on it and Santa didn't have to put her on the Naughty List, as he'd threatened.

Christmas morning, Annalise was thrilled that Santa granted her request for a new bike. She got a 16" Huffy Princess bike, and she's taken to it so well! Ryan's favorite gift was a V-Tech Move and Crawl ball. After a morning at home, we went to my parent's house for Christmas lunch with my three brothers, their wives, and my two nieces. It was a lot of fun!

My dad with Annalise and my niece Caitlin.

Ryan's First Birthday!

I'm over a month late in posting about this, how pathetic! Ryan turned one on November 26th, the day before Thanksgiving. Because we were leaving for Charlotte to visit family on his actual birthday, we kept his birthday celebrations rather low-key. The night before his "real" birthday we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant with my parents, where Ryan had his first cupcake. He ate the ENTIRE thing!

The night of his birthday, we celebrated with Ricky's family who were all in town for Thanksgiving. My sister-in-law ordered him an adorable Elmo cake and he made a nice big mess with it. It was a lot of fun!

We can't believe our little guy is already a year old. This year has FLOWN by. It is hard to imagine life before our Ryan. He is so fun, always smiling, and such a cuddle-bug. He's brought so much joy to all of us, and we love him so much. Happy Birthday, Ryan!

A Late Halloween Update

This update is very overdue, but nevertheless, here are some pics of the kiddos on Halloween. As you can see, Annalise was dressed as Little Orphan Annie and Ryan was a pumpkin. We started the fun with a neighborhood parade, and then Annalise and her best friend Emily went trick-or-treating. Ryan stayed home to help Ricky hand out candy to our whopping one trick-or-treater - how sad!

Happy 4th Birthday, Annalise!!!

Annalise turned four years old on October 13 - I can't believe it! How time flies. It seems like only yesterday that she was born, yet I can hardly remember life without her. She has brought so much to our lives. She's filled this house with laughter, singing, dancing, hugs, tickles, and sillyness. She is a great big sister & a wonderful daughter. She's a true joy, and we are so proud of her.

For Annalise's birthday, we had a small party at Two Crafty Chicks, a local craft studio. She had her seven closest buddies there, and the girls made jewelry boxes and the boys made treasure chests. So cute! My sister-in-law Michele made an absolutely beautiful Ariel cake for the event that was the hit of the party. The kids had a great time!

Annalise and her beautiful Ariel cake

Annalise, Ricky, and Me

Annalise, Nee, and Papa

Issa and Annalise painting

Miss DeDe reading the kids a story

Today at school Annalise had a little birthday celebration during snack time. Her class is so cute! This is Annalise & her beloved teacher, Mrs. Walker.

A Whirlwind Weekend

A Visit to Chloe...

I have been wanting to visit my friend Corinne, one of my best high school friends, for over a year. Last July she and her husband welcomed their first child, a beautiful daughter named Chloe Anne. At her four-week checkup, the doctor discovered something was terribly wrong. It turns out that Chloe has Spinal Muscular Atrophy, which is the #1 genetic killer of infants and toddlers. Chloe's intellectual development is not affected whatsoever, but her muscles are very weak. Chloe is now 15 months old and has had a long road. I have been wanting to get to Orlando to visit Corinne & meet Chloe for so long, and I was finally able to do it last weekend.

We had a wonderful (albeit emotional) visit. Annalise was in good health so she was able to come along, and she adored Chloe. It was so sweet to see Chloe smiling while watching Annalise play, and Annalise would bring Chloe little toys and stickers to hold. At one point Annalise went over and gently kissed Chloe on the head. So sweet! Chloe was much more hesitant with Ricky and myself, which is to be expected since most strangers she sees are doctors, nurses, therapists, or others who are poking and prodding her. But, she finally warmed up enough so that I could sit down next to her and give her some gentle tickles, and she allowed me to stroke her sweet beautiful face as I said goodbye to her when our visit was over. And she gave Ricky a giant grin. We fell in love with Chloe, and we are amazed by my friend Corinne. What an amazing mother and caregiver she is! (And her husband Matt, of course, but he was working during our visit so we missed him.)

Thanks for all of you who have been praying for Chloe. Please keep it up!

Corinne & Chloe

Chloe's Sweet Cheeks!

Annalise admiring Chloe (Annalise loved Chloe's ponytail!)

...And a visit to Mickey!

We decided that since I was going to Orlando, it would be fun to take Annalise to Disneyworld for a day since her birthday was on Monday. We had a great time! We packed 10 rides in one day. The minute one ride ended Annalise would say "I want another ride!" She amazed me at how much "cooler" of a kid she is than I ever was. She went on Goofy's roller coaster, Snow White's Scary Adventure, and the Haunted Mansion and never got scared. I would have been freaking out! Ryan stayed behind and my parents took care of him (since he detests long car trips!). It was nice to give Annalise some time alone with us where we could focus our attention on her.

Annalise saying "Faster!" on the Tea Cups

Waiting in line for Dumbo

A GIANT mess with a Mickey ice cream bar (we changed clothes immediately!)

Exhausted!

Happy Birthday Monkey

Annalise has a favorite stuffed animal named Monkey. She loves him, although lately I'm thinking that Monkey is a bad influence on her because he seems to be blamed for everything naughty that Annalise does. I've been hearing "Monkey told me to" a lot lately. Oh well, bad influence or not, he is her beloved friend.

So, this morning Annalise announced that today was Monkey's birthday. She said we needed to "make a ton of birthday hats." We had nothing else planned for the day, so why not a Monkey birthday party? We decided to move the party to my parents' house, and my dad even bought some mini-cupcakes for the big event.

Before the party Annalise said to me, "Mommy, I have tears." I said, "Why?" She said, "Because Monkey is getting so big, isn't that sad?" Hahaha, good grief. Anyway, Annalise & I made party hats for everyone (even Monkey's "friends") and we all sang. Cheesy, yes, but not a bad way to spend a beautiful October afternoon. Happy Birthday, Monkey!

A closeup of Monkey

Monkey making a wish

Monkey's party guests

"Nee" passing out cupcakes

"Papa" and Ryan enjoying the party