Visit to Santa Claus!

Parade of Lights

Last weekend we armed ourselves with bellies full of pizza and mugs full of hot chocolate to brave the 30 degree weather at the annual Parade of Lights. After living here for so long and laughing at the people huddled on the streets, all lined up to see marching bands covered with Christmas lights, floats made entirely of Christmas lights and a huge Kermit the Frog balloon, we finally saw the light so to speak and we think it will become an regular tradition. Annie absolutely loved the parade from her perch on Daddy's shoulders and I think the bands were her favorite.

Christmas Cookies

Annie and I made some Christmas cookies earlier this week, she really loved doing this, I think even more than she loves making pancakes. She declared herself to be the official quality control officer - each cookie had the smallest bite taken out of it after it was frosted to ensure only the tastiest cookies made it to the finishline.

The Tepen Twins

I visited my friends Chris and Diane and their newest additions, Mia and Wesley today. Here are some photos...Mia first, then the proud parents with Mia, and Wesley, who wanted some time to himself.

The Search for the Perfect Christmas Tree

Last weekend we headed up to Buffalo Creek on our annual quest to find a the perfect Christmas Tree. After miles and miles of searching, we got cold and hungry and decided that this one was the one for us. Here are some photos we took along the way and another of our tree all set up, ready for Santa. It's not such a bad tree, Charlie Brown...after all the addition of the choo-choo underneath is all that Annie is really interested in.

Annie and her Pile of Leaves

The Nu-est Nuetzel!

Trick or Treat - from Annie Oakley!

First Snow!

She's here to pump you up!

We are down in the basement, I'm messing around with some photos I took at a wedding last weekend, and Tim is watching the Indians vs. Red Sox while lifting some weights and other workout stuff. Annie, not to be left out of anything, has found a few 2 lb dumbbells and is imitating all the moves Tim does, she's doing chest presses now...on to sit-ups! And next, squats. I guess it also helps with her counting because they are counting how many reps they do. So next time anyone has a run in with Annie, better watch out, she's going to be buff soon!

Annie is 21 months old!

Pancake Monster!

We’ve created a monster…now that Annie has been introduced to the joys of making pancakes, that is all she wants to do on the weekends. She wakes up, gets dressed and the first thing out of her mouth is “Dinner?” which translates into “I’m hungry, lets eat”, followed by “Pancake?” as in “no one will have a good day today unless I get to mix up a bowl of pancakes”. I have to say they usually turn out pretty good! In other cooking news, Annie and I made an apple pie on Sunday. I made the filling and she mixed up the crumble topping…tasty! Look out Paula Dean, we may have a professional chef in the making.

Our YES! Girl

Annie has started telling us what she does at school during the day...actually we ask her questions and she says yes or no. Our conversations generally go like this...
Me - Did you have fun today?
A - Yes
Me - Did you play outside?
A - Yes
Me - Did you see a herd of elephants?
A - Yes
Me - Did you see the President of the US?
A - Yes
Me - Did you take a trip to the Moon?
A - Yes
etc, etc, etc...must be a pretty nice daycare!

So after a few weeks of only saying no, no, no...Annie has turned over a new leaf and it's been yes, yes, yes!

What's Annies favorite thing to do on Saturday Mornings?

Annie's new favorite thing is to help mix up a big batch of pancakes...here she is this weekend mixing up some blueberry pancakes for breakfast.

Twenty Foot Tall Toddler Terrorizes Town!

Last weekend we took a trip to Tiny Town, which is just up in the foothills. Basically an old fart got bored one weekend and decided to make an entire miniature town for his daughter, it includes a mini steam train that you can ride all around the whole town, complete with a caboose that the kids can ride in. Some of the buildings you can actually go into, if you are Annie sized, and others have little dolls set up inside. Anyways, Annie thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and decided that she would really like to have a play house that she can call her own, not one that she has to share with the dogs...

Annie's Announcement

BIG NEWS!

Yes it's true! Annie's going to be a BIG SISTER! We are expecting our baby to arrive around March 20th and are very excited. We went for our first OB appointment last Tuesday and everything is looking very good. They couldn't get a good picture though because the baby was moving around, kicking legs and waving arms like crazy. More news to come...

Happy Day..Dada!

Tim turned 31 last Tuesday! Yippy! Now he is as old as me again...

Annie and I made him a fruit pizza instead of the traditional birthday cake, Annie really did well putting the fruit on top of the pizza, and got really excited when we lit the candle, but when we cut it, and served the pieces, she got upset. I think she thought that since she did the decorating, she should be able to eat the whole thing herself! We had been practicing "Happy Birthday" all evening before the dessert course, and when her big moment came to say that to Da, she shouted..."Happy Day!, Happy Day!"

The dogs have been evicted!

Annie has taken over the dog house as her own private playhouse. It is one of her favorite places to be when we are in the backyard. She loves to bring one of Bailey's balls in there, throw it against a wall and watch it bounce back and forth, against the walls and ceiling. I guess it is a good thing that we built the dog house so big. If you haven't seen it, it is tall enough for Annie to stand up, no problem, and roomy enough to fit 2 parents and one baby...and a few dogs if they really have to be in there.

Massage Therapist in Training

Annie has started to try and do everything by herself, get herself dressed, change her own diaper, put lotion on herself after a bath, etc...The last one, lotioning herself has made the transition into lotioning others, especially Mama! Well, all she really does is ask for some lotion, I put a little drop on her palm, and she will put the lotion onto my back. She isn't so good at rubbing it in though, but that will come soon. I'm hoping someday to lay down and have Annie rub the lotion all over my back, especially the sore spots...my own personal massage baby.

My baby loves Thai!

A few days ago we had dinner at Tuk-Tuk, a Thai food restaurant. Of course I had to order some crab and cheese stuffed wontons, and my favorite noodle dish, pad thai. Well, Annie stepped up to the plate (literally, she was standing on a bench and took a few steps to get to the food) and she gobbled up 2 wontons...extra sweet and sour sauce for her. I thought, darn it, she isn't supposed to like those, they are my favorite and I have a hard time sharing a plate full of them with anyone! Oh well, onto the pad thai...she loved that too! I had scooped a bit onto her plate before adding some extra hot spices to mine, and all she wanted to do was eat mine, the spicier one. That girl is fearless.

Back from Vacation

We're back! From our Park City, Utah vacation that is. We had fun hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Nuetzel, and Mark, Piper and Jonah. It seems like we fit a lot of things into the week, train rides, trips to the zoo and children's museum, and Annie's favorite, hanging out at the pool. She is fast becoming a regular water baby, and by the end of the week she really wanted to swim off on her own, little does she know that she will probably sink like a stone to the bottom if we did let her go. Oh well, Tim and Reynee are back to work and Annie is back to school. She is excited because there is a petting zoo coming to her school on Wednesday, and she loves animals.

Yea Reynee, she turned 31 today!

Today we spent the afternoon back at Cherry Creek State Park. We packed a picnic lunch and hung out on the beach, playing in the sand and water, and making fun of the guy next to us that spent 45 minutes trying to get his canopy shade up. Annie had a great time and even dunked herself under the water a few times, and we finally got her to try and float on her back. She really didn't want to leave, but once we got back at the car she was already fast asleep.

Update on Annie and her vocabulary...her new favorite word is...."no". Darn it, she says it all the time now! Oh well, I guess it is a good thing that she is developing her own opinions. Next time around we are not going to use that word, we are going to simply say "I would prefer it if you wouldn't do that".

1st Camping Trip of the Summer

This weekend we went camping with our friends Tim and Erin, in the area around Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs. Towards dusk on Saturday night, the dogs ran off to the road and started barking like crazy! We couldn't guess at what was going on until we heard a long and loud MOOOOO!!! The area we were camped in is also used by cows and a herd of them had walked up the road, only to be turned back by two braking dogs. We could just barely see the cows running back down the road in the moonlight. Today, Annie woke us up bright and early, and we had a breakfast of sausage and egg burritos and some fruit, then headed off for a hike. Tim wanted to drive up a dirt road we had found on a map, we got to the first big turn and came face to face with a bunch of big rock, that's as far as the truck got! Tim, Tim and Annie made it to the top of the mountain for some great views of Pikes Peak. I'll post some photos of the weekend soon.

Happy 4th of July!

We had a great time on the 4th of July...after running a few errands in the morning, we set off to Cherry Creek State Park for a picnic lunch and a swim in the reservoir. Annie had no interested in the picnic, all her attention was focused on the sand, and burying her feet, Tim's feet and putting sand on my towel. After lunch, we headed to the water and Annie had a great time. It was all we could do to keep a hold of her, she kept trying to push away from us and swim off on her own. I don't think she realizes that she can't exactly swim. After that we headed to the shore and sat in the shallow water so Annie could splash around on her own. She loved it so much that I'm sure we will be headed back there sometime soon. As we were leaving we couldn't help but notice the line of cars waiting to get into the park, close to a mile long! Wow, I guess it is a good thing we showed up early! After the park, we went to a BBQ hosted by our friends Laura and Jeff and had some great burgers and a great time.

Weekend in Ohio

Last weekend we were in Ohio and Indiana to celebrate my grandpa's 89th birthday. We also spent some time in Eastern Ohio visiting Tim's family. Here is a photo of everyone at the reunion and also a link to some others.

http://annienuetzel.shutterfly.com

Oh Short Round!

We just got back from Annie's 18 month checkup...and we were right. She has a big head. Her head is in the 90th percentile for circumference, 70% in weight and 60% in height...short with a round head! Well, not that short, I guess. Anyways her doctor thought she was doing really well and was very impressed with her toilet skills, which she is still trying to master. Tomorrow her Great Aunt Ruth is coming to visit, so it should be a fun weekend!

Oh yeah! Forgot to say I asked the doctor about babies and kneecaps and guess what...they don't have them when they are born, they have very small disks of cartilage that start growing around 18 months, and then eventually turn into bone, and voila, by 3 you have your very own kneecaps. So, all you doubting Mark Nuetzels, now you know the truth. (and since you were wrong, Tim and I get the Queen sized bed in Park City!)

Word Explosion!

Annie's vocabulary exploded over our vacation. Now she can say Nana, Papa, Mamma (Grandma), baby, and many more. But the weirdest of all, is Elbow. Don't ask me who taught her that one. We've been telling her that her elbow is her hammer, long story. Anyways, she is definitely picking up words alot faster lately, now all she has to do is figure out how to link them together into sentences.

Our trouble maker

It seems like Annie is trying to get as much use out of her teeth as possible! Apparently things weren't going as smoothly as she liked on Monday, and so she bite another baby in her class! Annie! Oh well, Ms. Shelly says it happens every once in a while and they just took her aside and told her that it's not right to bite your friends, and told her to use her words...which is kinda funny to me, the only sentence she can really say reliably is "more milk please."

We are leaving for vacation this evening, so if you are in Ohio, we'll see you soon! Annie can't wait to show off her smarts, and new crazy haircut (courtesy of Daddy) to all her family back there.