Snow Again

We have gotten more snow! Mikayla and Daddy love to play in the snow so its been a great winter for that. We gave Mikayla a pair of snow boots for Christmas, and she has gotten a lot of wear out of them. During the first big snow, she wore her sneakers with plastic bags on them. Now she has great snow boots to wear!
She loves getting all bundled up to go play in the snow. The more layers, the better it seems. She is happy to bring me all of the things she knows that she needs in order to play outside.
I think her favorite part of playing in the snow, is spending time with Daddy. She loves, loves, loves to spend time with Daddy. I think that may be the real reason she loves to play outside. She is definitely a Daddy's girl.

Visiting Pennsylvania

This weekend we went to visit friends in PA. We usually end up visiting them in February, but since I am due to have the baby in early March, we decided to push the dates up earlier. Mikayla loves "Uncle" Jimmy. She talks about him all the time and loves to play with him when we visit. Mommy and Mikayla visit more often and have gone without Daddy, so she has a bond with "Uncle" Jimmy for those times when Daddy can't come with us.
Auburn tries to get Matt's attention when Mikayla is stealing her Daddy time. Matt has never really played with her much, because he is more uncomfortable with kids that are not his own. This time however, he played with Auburn several times. She was very comfortable with him because she climbed right into his lap with her new computer and Matt showed her how to really use a computer.
The girls also loved playing on the rocking horse. They fought over who got to play first, and then finally gave up and got on the horse together. They were a little too heavy to really bounce and rock, but they had a blast anyway.
Then they played ring around the rosie. They loved having a playmate. Mikayla usually does this all by herself at home, as Mommy can't fall on the floor with her. We really wish we lived closer so Mikayla and Auburn could play together more often. They love each other.
This is Mommy pregnant....everyone has been asking and here is a random picture from our trip to Pennsylvania.

Play Date

Today we had friends over to play and eat lunch. Nolan and Alison Lynch came and Audrey Bunch came too. The kids all had so much fun playing with Mikayla's toys, and Mikayla did an excellent job sharing her toys.
I brought our kids picnic table in and found a tight spot for it. It made things a little tight while the kids were playing, but it gave them a place to color and also to eat lunch. They all loved sitting together to eat.
Mikayla was sad when we had to put the table back outside once everyone went home. We had fun, even in our tight space.

Lincoln Logs with Daddy

Mikayla also received a set of Lincoln Logs for Christmas. She is really too young to put them together on her own, and I can't get down on the floor anymore, so I told her she could build with Daddy. Matt stayed inside on Saturday and they used the blocks for the first time.



They did a great job, and Mikayla was so excited to spend time with Daddy! Making memories.

Tea Anyone?

Mikayla received a new tea set for Christmas. We finally opened it, and I showed her how to serve tea. The set is the kind that the cups change color when they have water in them. We didn't use real water, but she loved it just the same.
She made several cups of tea to share with me, and we had great fun having a tea party. She played with only the tea set for several days.
She finally got tired of the tea partying, and decided to relax while using her new Dora rocking chair as a foot stool. Life is so fun and interesting with a 2 year old.

Christmas with family

After opening all of our gifts at home, we headed down to Mom Mom and Pop Pop Krupka's. We waited for Josh and Anna to arrive and then we began to open even more presents. Mikayla got so many gifts from all of the family, she just tossed them all aside and started coloring. She was very overwhelmed by all of the things.
One of her favorite gifts was a chef hat and apron. She wanted to wear it for the rest of the day. She helped me make an apron for Pop Pop, and they both wore them while finishing up making Christmas dinner. Mikayla wore her apron instead of a bib while eating.
The day after Christmas, we went to my Mom's house. All of her kids pooled money to buy her a new TV. She really wanted this particular TV, and she was extremely surprised that she got it from us. Needless to say she loved it!
Mikayla has recently started loving wearing scarves, so Kristi knitted her one for Christmas. She loved it and wore it most of the rest of the day!
Although she really loved the scarf from Kristi, her favorite gift was from Aunt Dana. She got a Minnie Mouse dress and light up sparkly shoes. She put the dress and the shoes on and walked around showing everyone how the shoes lit up. She was very blessed with so many wonderful things from both families. We have tried to keep her grounded, and she seems to not expect lots of things from people. We pray she continues to realize this.

Krupka Christmas

Before we began the exciting journey of opening all of our gifts in our small apartment.











Christmas morning Mikayla woke up to a surprise stocking! She was so excited to see Dora hanging from the beams. She wasn't super excited about Christmas morning, so we decided to surprise her with her new stocking. She thoroughly enjoyed opening all of the fun things inside too.




She loved watching and helping Daddy open his stocking gifts too. Mommy gave him a couple of yummy smelling candles to add to his collection.





Mikayla opened one of her favorite gifts, a Dora puzzle. It may be a little above her skill level, but she absolutely loved trying to put it all together.




We also gave her some fun things for using in the shower. Because we do not have a bath tub, and she has outgrown every kind of tub we can find, she now takes a shower. She loves having new toys and fun things while in the shower. We gave her some foam soap to shape in the shower. She really enjoyed that is smelled like candy canes!