We ♥ Valentine’s Day

I will admit I have a bit of a Valentine's Day obsession.  In years past, I was not all that focused on this 'holiday', but I think this year it symbolizes our baby's arrival (2 days later) and the end of pregnancy.  So when I go to stores and see all things red, pink, and heart-shaped, it makes me so excited because it means our second little Valentine's arrival is near!

So the house is decked (for Valentine's Day, yes) and Wells has his classmates' cards ready for school (2.5 weeks early), and he has plenty of red and white outfits ready to go.  So bring on February 14th!

And in the meantime, we are loving, kissing, and doting on this sweet little guy!!!  He stole our hearts 2 1/2 years ago and we couldn't love him more! 

Ding Dong! Special Delivery!!

We are counting down - 3 weeks to go!  We talk to Wells a lot about his baby sister - and I know he picks up on the fact that there are lots of preparations going on around the house (washing and hanging of pink clothes, pulling out playmats, swings, etc.).

On top of all that, my nesting instinct has definitely created more frequent visits to our house from the UPS and Fed Ex guys (Matt rolls his eyes every time he sees another box).  Last night, the UPS man rang our doorbell and Wells jumped up from watching Dora and SO EXCITEDLY asked, "Mommy, is that my baby sister?!?!"

No, buddy.   If only it was that easy...

Thomas & Friends Live

As one of our last "family of three" outings, we took Wells to see Thomas the Train at the coliseum.  He was so excited!

We met Charlie there (apparently all boys ages 2-3 are obsessed with Thomas, and Charlie and Wells are not exceptions).

Popcorn time

Percy & Diesel on stage. 

W loved telling us the names of the trains, singing along to the Thomas song, making choo-choo sounds, and playing with the $15 Thomas flashlight I bought him (which Daddy said would be broken before the show was over - and he was correct).

Monkey Business

Thank goodness Monkey Joe's opened right down the street from us!  I seriously think Wells may have gone 5 times over the past week between various playdates, a birthday party, and a weekend visit with GG.

He loves this place.  When you ask him what he's going to do with his sister, he says "I take her to Monkey Joe's."

GG took him on Sunday and Uncle Pat met them there (hard to tell who enjoys the sliding more)

With Monkey Joe

Popcorn break

Back at it

And finally....exhausted!

A Sprinkle!

My friends were so sweet to host a "sprinkle" for our baby girl (not to mention treating me to lunch and a pedicure:).  I loved celebrating with everyone and all the wonderful pink gifts made me so anxious for her arrival - just one month from tomorrow!  I can't believe it!!

SNOW DAYS

So the meteorologists were right - we got a LOT of snow in Charlotte.  Snow that is now topped in ice and showing no signs of melting off. 

Wells is loving mornings cooped in, visits to neighbors' houses to play, and of course being outside in the snow!  Mommy & Daddy on the other hand - are ready for routine again!

W all bundled up 

Snow

Daddy took Wells sledding with the neighborhood boys over to the golf course at Myers Park.  And they ran into Uncle Pat and Mo!

Evan, Robert, Wells, and Pat getting ready to go down the big hill

Aftermath - not sure who is who.  Daddy said they picked up pretty good speed....

And before they left Wells found the sand trap and did some raking:

A Winter Weekend

Wells had a great weekend.  We had his friends Connor & Lawson over on Friday night and the boys played with Wells' new Hot Wheels ramp for HOURS (Mommy didn't get pictures of this unfortunately).

And Saturday he went to Carson's Winter Wonderland Prince & Princess 3rd Birthday Party!

Carson's mom did such a good job transforming their garage into a winter wonderland!

Wells serving as Carson's "prince" and helping out with some of the magic tricks

He didn't have any regal prince-type attire to wear to the party - but at least his pretty blue eyes blended in with the theme.

Getting ready for cake - Happy Birthday Princess Carson!!

Today W & I braved the cold and went to church (poor Daddy woke up with an ear infection and had to go to urgent care) and then GG took him for a quick trip to Starbucks and Monkey Joe's.  Now we are all waiting on the real-life winter weather that is supposed to be headed to Charlotte!!!

And while I'm bracing for the disappointment that comes with virtually everything being canceled tomorrow and likely Tuesday (preschool, gym class, etc), at least I have my optimistic Wells who grinned ear to ear when we told him he might get to make snow angels:

Fiesta for Rosa

In the mix of all the holiday fun, we had a mini-celebration for our sweet Rosa.  She has been in Wells' life since he was a few months old, and does SO much for our whole family.  I really can't imagine life without her.  I love the fact that Wells seems to understand almost everything she says to him and follows her directions (all in Spanish), and that he's picking up on little Spanish phrases of his own.  He calls juice "jugo", refers to his friends as "amigos", and has a special love for Hispanic-inspired foods (mango & arroz con pollo might be two of his favorite things to eat!).  She loves him so much and is so excited about his sister on the way.

In addition to watching Wells, Rosa also keeps his friends Carson & Bryant on Wednesdays - and their mom wanted to do something special for her too. 

So we put together a breakfast celebration & a few gifts to let her know how much we appreciate her:

Rosa with Carson & Wells (sweet baby Bryant was napping and missed out on the fun):

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  We are excited about the coming year and our expanding family in 2011 (only 6 weeks to go!)

Mommy made it to midnight on NYE! 

Wells did not - he kept his usual bedtime of 7:30pm.  But he was still exctied about his special milk glass before going to bed.

CHEERS!

Christmas Wrap Up

Our final round of Christmas was held on Tuesday and Wednesday with KeKe and Poppy. 

Wells had so much fun opening more presents!

Dancing to his new Thomas that follows the light

New easel

Where are we going to put all these new toys???  While he was here, Poppy built Wells some shelves in the playroom!  Yayy for organization!!