A Great Wolf Adventure & 4 Years Already?

Catching up on a few weeks activities. A couple of weeks ago we went up to Grapevine to celebrate my Aunt Jan's 70th birthday. My cousin arranged for a stay at The Great Wolf Lodge. I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone with kids. I do have to say Haley was a little bit young to enjoy it to the fullest extent but she still had a blast. Everything is geared towards kids with an indoor water park, quest games and arcades. I felt like we were at a Disney Hotel. Haley had a great time playing with Sarah and Abby (or Babby as she calls her) and we had fun hanging out with the extended family. Jackson even got his first adventure in the water other then a bath!

Haley enjoying the toddler pool

Daddy took Haley and Jackson for a ride in the wave pool. They stayed in the shallow end for sure!

Jackson checking out the water. He looks so big trying to stand.

After a fun day of swimming we ate at the hotel. Haley is showing off her wand to Abby. You could point your wand at the bar and the lights would start dancing. It was cool.

And here is the lucky birthday girl. Happy 70th Aunt Jan.

After dinner we got together for a group picture that we had framed for my aunt. My mom and her sister posed for a picture with all their grandkids minus my nephew Matthew who lives in California.

Somehow Haley still had enough energy to go to the arcade. She likes to drive the bus with Jackson as her passenger.

The following morning we had a good breakfast and watched the storybook show in the lobby.

Every floor of the hotel had pictures and pieces of "treasure" that you would have to find to collect points for your ruins (not sure if I am explaining this correctly). It was a little over Haley's head but she had a good time pointing her wand at things and making it light up like the crystal below.

We wished we were able to stay longer but it just didn't work out with it being my first week back to work. Thanks Cousin Julie for putting the weekend together. We had a blast!

I'm already amazed at how big Jackson is getting. He has really started to put on the weight. The other day Buster decided he wanted to cuddle with Jackson. Buster is so good with Haley and Jackson. I'm pretty sure Jackson is going for a handful of hair so this cuddle session didn't last long.

On the hair front, he has really started to loose a lot. He had a pretty bad case of cradle cap that caused most of his top hair to fall out leaving him with a couple of patches on the sides and a little in the back. He looks like an old man trying hard to hang on to the few patches of hair he has left. I'm pretty sure judging from the smile on his face he thinks it's funny too!

On the house front, we are officially home owners again!!! We closed yesterday but leased it back to the previous owners for the weekend so we won't get the keys until Sunday. The house closing was just in time to celebrate our 4 year anniversary today. We have shared many memories in the 10 years we have been together but our wedding night is still the best night of my life (Haley and Jackson were both born in the morning). It was beautiful and we are so blessed to have shared the special moment with our family and friends. Here's a few pictures from that very special night.

Gosh we look so much younger (and thinner!)

Mr. and Mrs. Vara...finally

Saying our vows.

A trip to the fire station

The other day on the way to drop Haley off at school we were stopped at a light and Haley said out of the blue, "That's where Jackson was born" as she pointed to the fire station. Then she proceeded to tell me Jackson was stinky but he wasn't. We were going to stop by the fire station at Christmas but it was too hectic so we decided to make a trip up to the fire station today and bring some lunch. Jackson got dressed up in one of his firetruck outfits and was on his best behavior. Haley got a private tour of the firetrucks and even took Tiger for a second tour too. I thought for sure she would crash on the way home but instead she was wide awake. She was too excited to take a nap. Jackson on the other hand is taking a long nap, always NICE!

Jackson shaking hands thanking the firemen for a nice delivery (or at least that is what it looks like)

Zach and Jackson. It's kinda cool that Zach's name is on Jackson's birth certificate as the attendant at his birth.

Haley in the firetruck

Whoa! Look at me drive this big firetruck

Reenactment of the scene. This is our parking spot now :)

I'm beginning to see that Jackson's best time of day is the mornings (certainly not the evenings!). After a good night sleep he is full of smiles. The other morning Jackson was playing when Haley got up and wanted to join him. How cute they are playing together. Haley always holds his hand...

And give him kisses. Such a great big sister. Jackson loves Haley too always trying to follow her around the room and giving her big smiles.

Doctor, doctor, doctor, and new house

This is my final week of maternity leave before returning to work :( It's going to be hard to leave the kids but I know they are in good hands with grandma. I took the opportunity these last few weeks to catch up on some doctor appointments for both Haley and Jackson.

The first appt was a checkup at the eye doctor for Haley. She has been seen by a pediatric opthomologist since she was 6 months old just to make sure nothing was wrong with her eyes due to her torticollis in her neck. We are pleased to say that not only is her torticollis gone, but the eye dr gave her a clean bill of health and said there is no reason for her to visit again! YEAH! One dr. down.

Next we had a 2 month checkup for Jackson at his pediatrician. The dr. said he is doing great. His neck muscles are very strong and he was pleased with how he is looking. We brought up some concerns over Jackson's crying at night and stinky stinkies. The dr. said it sounds like colic and he should grow out of it by 4 months. He already seems to be doing better so we are keeping our fingers crossed. He also recommended adding some probiotics to his formula to help with the bacteria in his intestine. So far it has helped some but it's probably just the soy formula causing the stench :)
Here are his 2 month stats:
Weight: 10.3 lbs (10%)
Height: 22 inches (25-50%)
Head: Can't remember exactly but it was in the 10%. Opposite of Haley who is always in the 75%!

And then we were back to the pediatrician for Haley for a checkup. She is now 23.5 lbs. She has gained 1.5 pounds since October. Maybe by her 3rd birthday we'll have a 25 pounder?!? We did get a recommendation to send her to a pediatric dermatologist for her birthmark on her face. They likely won't take it off until she is a little older but we are going to have the specialist check it out. She has seen a normal dermatologist already. We will probably get it removed by a plastic surgeon when the time comes since it is on her face. So in a few months we'll see what the dermatologist suggests.

Finally done with the dr's for this month. And our big news....we found a house! After 6 months of looking and a couple offers that we lost out on, we found the perfect house for us. We are very excited and can't wait to move in the last week of February. It has been a long journey but worth the wait as we feel this will be a great place for Haley and Jackson to grow up. We would post some pictures of it but honestly we are a little freaked out by anybody seeing where we live so for now we'll post a picture of our backyard :) Hopefully you can all visit us soon.

Enjoy our pics.

Happy Jackson at 10 weeks. This is my favorite picture of him so far



Hanging out with mom one afternoon

Jackson's favorite toy. This was Haley's favorite too as this used to be hers. Uncle Mark did a great job picking this out!

Haley making some Valentine cookies

Little cook

Our soon to be backyard!

A Pacific Northwest Vacation

(I apologize in advance for some of the formatting. I wasn't watching when uploading the pictures and selected the wrong format)

We started of 2010 with a 10 day vacation to the Pacific Northwest. We flew out New Years Day headed for Seattle where we spent the night downtown then headed to Anacortes for the weekend. The kids did great making the traveling much easier. The weather was another story. It managed to rain most of the time and was cold and pretty cloudy but that didn't stop us from having a good time. Here's a look at our vacation in pictures.

A view of Anacortes, WA from Cap Sante nearing sunset (4:30 pm).















Haley and Daddy





We took a Ferry ride to Friday Harbor. In the winter they do not run as many ferries so we were only able to stop long enough for lunch but Haley really enjoyed the ride on the boat





Outside on the deck with Mt. Baker in the background. It was too cold for Jackson

Haley's favorite place to hang out

Arriving at Friday Harbor

The ride back. Haley giving her baby brother kisses
The weather cleared up just enough to get a beautiful picture of Mt. Baker

We then drove up to the top of Mt. Erie. It was really cold and windy up there. Good thing the kids fell asleep in the car.

Next we went down to Deception Pass. Jackson was hungry by now...

A view of the Deception Pass bridge. It looks really small but it is huge.










And on to our trip to Whistler, British Columbia. It is about a 4 hour drive from Anacortes. Again the kids were great travelers. Haley watched movies most of the time while Jackson slept almost the entire way.

Haley outside of the hotel

One night Matt and I took Haley down the bottom of the ski slope on the sled. It was COLD but we had a blast. She kept saying "again".

Daddy and Haley built a snowman outside our window

Haley named the snowman Frosty

(oops...switched the formatting again!)

Grandma took Haley up for a ride on the gondola where she got to see all the skiers and had a snack at the top. She had a good time.

Matt and Haley at the bottom of Whistler Mountain

A closeup of Princess Haley

Jackson came along for the walk but slept out in the fresh air.

While Haley was on her adventure with Grandma, Matt, Jackson and I did some shopping in the village and had some lunch. Walking back to the hotel we took a wrong turn and ended up on a cross country skiing path. It was beautiful...

But not easy to push the stroller in the thick snow!

We finally made it back home and took a rest from all the walking :) We enjoyed our time in Whistler but by the end of the trip we were ready to get back home.

We had an early morning flight out of Seattle so we decided to hang out in Seattle Monday night to break up the trip some. We had dinner at the top of the Space Needle with the entire family (us, Grandma, John, Nathan and John's girlfriend Kendall).

A view of downtown Seattle from atop the Space Needle

A ferry coming to dock

We had a great vacation and a wonderful way to start 2010. One thing I have learned with two kids now is that it is a little harder to take pictures. My resolution for the new year is to take more pictures. The kids are growing so fast! Happy New Year!!!!