NOLA Thanksgiving 2015

Food, food, and more food! What else would you do when it's both Thanksgiving and you are in New Orleans?! We had a delicious deep fried turkey, another turkey and all the fixin's from Whole Foods, red beans and rice from Sean's stepdad, Shrimp mirliton from Kara, pecan pie from Houston, po boys, beignets, and probably a lot more!

We enjoyed so many fun activities with the kids. Hunter (7), Kaelyn (5), Maeve (2), Finn (18 months), and Audrey (15 months) had fun at the Aquarium, Christmas in the Oaks, the Zoo, and City Park. We all survived staying in one house!

Christmas in the Oaks was one of my favorite Christmas memories growing up. It's a different experience with a toddler and they no longer let you drive through the lights and instead you take a train. After waiting 1 hour to ride the train and getting bumped off the train we were set to get on after telling Maeve we were getting on (because we were there on opening night and the workers didn't seem to have it all together yet) we were not very happy. You can see Maeve's reaction in the pictures. While the train ride wasn't worth it, we did enjoy seeing the lighted trees and tall poinsettia tree.

The aquarium and the zoo were a big hit with all of the kids. They also enjoyed the pool table at the house and playing with the Mardi Gras stuff around the house. It had a great backyard as well so we could get outside.

In between kid activities, I enjoyed brunch with friends while Eric hung out at the brewery with another friend to watch the Saints lose. Texas A&M lost to LSU when Paul and Marcia were at the game and Notre Dame lost to Stanford with Dad and Eric watching from the house. All losing teams this past weekend!

The lights display at the Roosevelt hotel was amazing. Of course Finn and Maeve weren't cooperating for pictures so you'll see that in the pictures. We were able to capture a few good ones, though! We also brought Maeve and Finn to see Santa Claus. Neither were interested in sitting next to him so we just looked from a few feet away.

We had great weather (75 and sunny), everyone was healthy (until they got home), and of course the weekend went by way too fast!

I hope everyone else enjoyed their Turkey day too!

2 year old check-up

Maeve had a great check-up today at the doctor! She doesn't have to go back for a well check until she's 3 so let's hope she stays healthy.

Height: 34" (49%)
Weight: 27.6 lbs (75%)
Head Size: 19.2" (90%)

 

Maeve is 2

We celebrated Maeve's 2nd Birthday at school and dinner out last night plus a Kirchner family party tonight. I know it's cliche but it really is hard to believe how fast 2 years have flown by! Our toddler is so caring to others, very energetic (up most days by 6am), and polite (says please, thank you, and bless you now).

We enjoyed visiting her at school yesterday where she said 'Maeve don't like it (cupcake)' and refused to try a bite. Eric ate it for her. She had crackers instead. We then opened presents from the Edmonds family and headed to dinner. She "sat" in a booster seat for the first time but we prefer when she's strapped in since she kept standing up on the booster. She enjoyed fruit and french fries and a few bites of ribs.

To prepare for the party, Maeve helped get the trail mix bar ready and helped herself to some (mostly M & M's). We saved her favorite meal for the night of her party - Aunt Cathy Garvey's macaroni ricotta casserole. She had two helpings and enjoyed it as you'll tell from the picture. She has loved that meal every time we've made it! For the party, we also enjoyed Dairy Queen cake but again she said 'no cake' and 'no happy birthday' but we sang to her anyway and she tried a few bites of my ice cream. She spit out the chocolate and just ate the vanilla. She's just like her mommy :)

At the party we also enjoyed a photo booth, coloring Mickey and Minnie, and opening presents. Maeve loves all of the gifts that she received even though she was overwhelmed after opening a few of them :) Handmade gifts by Grandma Jan (a beautiful hat) and Aunt Laura (zipper bags with toddler toys in them to keep her entertained in the car and on the plane) will be very useful in the coming months.

Thanks to all who helped celebrate her birthday! Happy 2nd Birthday, Maeve Leigh. Enjoy some of the pictures we took last weekend. We even got Sadie in a few of them although a toddler and a dog are hard to keep still.