Pilgrims and Indians

Mrs. McGough and her Pilgrims and Indians

Kiley and One of her biggest fans!

Emily B, Kiley and Mackenzie

Kiley's Kindergarten class put on a wonderful Thanksgiving play for us!  She had two parts, she spoke for the letter 0 and X.  Kiley made the perfect pilgrim.  Her two best friends, Emily B and Mackenzie were Indians.  We are so thankful for Kiley's amazing teacher!

The Farmer and the Pig!

Happy Halloween, y'all!  Ally has known for months that she wanted to be a pink pig.  I tried like crazy to get Kiley into a similar outfit, but no luck.  However, the farmer and the pig turned out pretty cute.  We had a great night of trick or treating in our neighborhood!

Kiley in Kindergarten

Kiley is having a fantastic year in Mrs. McGough's Kindergarten Class.  We can not be any happier with her school experience.   Here is a quick glimpse into the classroom and the technology they are using!  Check it out!
http://vimeo.com/foojee/review/51486168/12e3433ba3

Blogging....

Is not as easy as it use to be.  I find myself so tired at night or too busy with school/grading papers to even start to login.  Also, I keep wanted to go back in finish up a few drafts and well, needless to say, I am so far behind.  I didn't blog about Kiley's 5th Birthday, our Illinois Vacation, my "grown up" weekend in Boston, the cruise with my Mom and Sister, my trip to Jekyll Island with Misty and the kiddos, and Kiley's year in Kindergarten (WHAT??), JC's Granny's 90th birthday party, pumpkin patch.....well, maybe I will get to the last one.  We will see. The time is flying by and I am so in love with my family.  We are having so much fun together.  I will say though, that the girls are starting to fight (like siblings do), and it can be quite challenging! Anyway, back to blogging. 

Ally's 2nd Birthday

Happy 2nd Birthday, Ally Gray!

Thank you to everyone who made Ally's 2nd birthday extra special! 

Ally's Favorites at TWO:

• Swinging!
• Watchng The Grinch (new and old)  (Not proud of this but this is what happens when you have an older sibling!)
• Playing with babies
• Changing her babies' diapers
• Dancing
• Singing her ABC's
• Cuddling with her momma
• Playing outside (wishing she had a bicycle like her big sis)
• Riding with Kiley in the jeep
• Reading books

Birthday Banner

Goodie Bag

Allyson and Kiley (my favorite pic of the two)

Ally's party at "school"

I made the cupcakes-purchased the edible butterflies

Ally's real birthday celebration at home

Birthday Morning

Celebrating with the family!

Easter Activities 2012

The Easter festivities kept the Fanning Family busy this year. Here are a few highlights from our weekend.

Ally (23 months) Kiley (4 years, 9 months)

  I feel very lucky that I was able to join Kiley for her Easter Egg Hunt at school. If you look closely, her teacher, Ms. Sheila, made her shirt for her.  The students were working on number recognition.  She had to find all the eggs with the number 13 on them. 

Easter Egg Hunt at Kiley's Pre-K

I was so excited to take the girls to see the Easter Bunny this year. (Mainly because I want to take the girls to Disney in 2013 and I had hoped this would be fun for Ally.) I had them all prepared and ready.  Ally enjoyed looking at him, but that is about all she would do.  I tried getting her closer, even with me....no luck.  (Disney may have to wait!)

Girls getting ready to see the Easter Bunny



Only Kiley would sit by the Easter Bunny

We also visited Elmo that day.

The girls did a great job coloring eggs this year.  Kiley is really enjoying doing fun activities like this.  Allyson on the other hand, still makes BIG messes, it is hard for me to just let her do it by herself.

Coloring Eggs at home

Kiley and Ally preparing the egg dye

We were extra delighted that Grandpa Bill was able to join us for Easter . We had a fantastic time at Fort Yargo for the 1st Easter Egg Hunt on the bike trail.  Kiley was super fast and picked up LOTS of eggs.  I stayed with Ally and picked up a few here and there.  When we finished the trail, Kiley was so kind to put more eggs in Allyson's basket.  I am so proud of many of the choices she makes, and this one warmed my heart. I know the days of being nice to each other are limited, so I will cherish this one!

Next, the girls wanted to jump in the jumpy houses.  Ally really wanted to, but was scared.  After 10 or so minutes, I was able to get her to jump.  She was cautious, but loved it.  She was soon, going down the slide, jumping and loving it.  Kiley wanted to help her little sis, so she grabbed and tugged her down the slide resulting in a busted lip for Ally.  If that was not enough to make her change her mind about the cool jumpy house, somehow the "house" deflated with my girls in it.  The kids were frightened, but luckily JC and I were right there to pull them out.  This ended Ally's love for the jumpy house.  We had now tried a few times to get her on one, and she cries in fear.  She prefers to watch Kiley right now, and I can't say I blame her. 

Fort Yargo Easter Egg Hunt

The terrible slide incident

Fort Yargo- Easter 2012

Ally and Grandpa Bill
Fort Yargo-Easter 2012

Kiley and Ally
Easter Morning 2012

Having Fun!

Kiley's Big Debut!

We caught Kiley singing "Green Solo Cup" promoting a St. Patrick's Day Party put on by a local radio station.  We recorded her singing, sent it in to the radio station and they played her singing on the radio.  She was even able to hear herself on the radio too. She didn't have  much of a response, just a big smile!

Bug Bites?

Kiley and Ally have been enjoying the  neighborhood kids, Gracelyn and Eli.  Tonight after playing soccer with them in their yard, Gracelyn and Ally (both will be 2 in April) starting crying and pointing to their legs.  We did not see anything on either of the girls, but Ally's cries became louder and stronger.  It was evident, she was in pain.  I  rushed home to put her in the bathtub to "make it all better."  It did not get better, along with Ally crying hysterically, soon Kiley began in too.  Not to mention that my arms felt like something was pricking them also.  Yep, all  three of us developed a rash on some part of our body.  Ally, however, had it the worst.  Soon our neighbor was knocking on the door, holding her child  wrapped in a towel, benedryl and hydrocortizone cream.  Thank goodness for medicine!

Ally's Leg

Sleeping Girls

St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  While JC and I enjoyed a few hours visiting with friends, Kiley and Ally had a great day playing with our babysitter, Raven.  We are so very lucky to have her!

Allergy Alert!

  Last week, Kiley was taken to the doctor for an ear infection.  After about 7 days on Augmentin, Kiley broke out in hives all over her  body (including her face).  She was extremely itchy.  Like a good mama (ha ha) I sent the poor girl to school because I had convinced myself it was a reaction to the antibiotic.  After school, we visited the doctor and confirmed my thoughts.  However, it was a lot worse than I first thought.  I felt so bad because at this point, Kiley's fingers, hands and feet started swelling.  She was in so much pain at dinner time that she actually asked me to feed her!  Poor baby!  Started her on steroids this morning....this should be fun!

They just keep growing up!

Each milestone with my girls, just reminds me how quickly life is passing by.  Although I am enjoying watching them grow--I'm realizing that I no longer have a baby....

Last weekend, JC officially decided it was time to buy Ally some big girl panties.  She had been putting on Kiley's undies and occasionally peeing and more in the potty.   I don't really think of us potty training, it seems so early, but I guess she is ready.  On Monday evening, I put panties on her after school, and she kept her panties dry until bedtime. Yay Ally!

I think Kiley is the true "trainer".  She is such a big cheerleader for Ally.  After Ally pottys, Kiley rewards her with treats.  (Something I guess we did for Kiley and she remembers!)  My poor Ally has had more candy than Kiley ever did at this age.  In fact, I would go as far to say that chocolate is Ally's favorite food...and food group.  Anyway, the point is that Ally is doing an awesome job at being a big girl!

And it is bittersweet, to watch the girls grow up. Love being the momma of these two sweet girls!

Growing up too fast....

For three weeks now, Ally has been sleeping in her big girl bed.  She is doing awesome!  She climbs up in it and actually goes to sleep!  We are so proud of her....now if she would just sleep through the night!  To be completely honest, I really don't mind when JC brings her into our room around 3 in the morning.  She is such a cuddle bug!

January update

Well, two months since my last post.  No way can I catch up...but here is what is going on at the Fanning house now....

Soccer-Kiley is enjoying her indoor soccer experience, practice every Tuesday and a game every Saturday.    Although we LOVE watching her,  JC and I decided that we are not as impressed as we were when she played outdoor with girls only.  We laughed this past weekend, when the ball passed right by her--she pointed at it and watched it pass by.  As frustrating as it may be, we continue to smile and praise her.  She loves it...what can we say??

Ally--Well, she is pretty much telling us that she needs to be potty trained.  She went potty twice this weekend and sat many times on the potty.  She even takes of her diaper herself!  Yes,  I am ready to be through with diapers, but it is not easy doing anything with a potty-training child.  I remember when Kiley was little, we would get in the car to go to school, and it would be minutes in the car and "Hey Mommy!  I need to go potty!"  We would pull over or go to thenearest gas station.  However, now I have to get two children to get out of the car...not. ready. for. this!And now it is really feeling like I don't have a baby anymore!

On top of this, JC changed Ally's crib into a big girl bed.  She is doing  AWESOME!  Again, where did my baby go???

Nightly-Each night when we come home from school, by girls turn up the music on  Kiley's MP3 player and dance.  It is so fun to watch them interact with each other.  They do tend to fight now and then over things, but seeing them play with each other is amazing.  Love watching my girls...but they are growing up way too fast!