Whitney's Half Birthday

Whitney is 2 1/2! My sister and I always liked to make note of our half birthdays growing up. Not that anything special happened but I guess we liked to feel just that much older!

I do feel half birthdays are a big deal at this young age. I have seen a pattern that as Whitney crosses each 6 month mark, she seems to go through huge changes. When she turned two I saw this little girl emerge and my little baby start to fade. How heartbreaking it was but how exciting too. The last 6 months have been filled with so much fun!

The biggest change is definitely her talking. She talks all the time and you can tell she loves learning to say new things. Though sometimes it comes out half words half gibberish, I have seemed to pretty much cracked the code. She is getting good at 4 word "sentences" and I am feeling as she crosses this 2 1/2 mark that more words are just going to come flying out!

I will give a brief mention on the success of moving her to a big girl bed and becoming a 100% diaper free house! Both were much smoother transitions than I ever anticipated. The pacifier on the other hand, I am a bit terrified. Though she only uses it to sleep, I know it is the next big girl step. Aaaah!!

Curious George is still #1 in our house, but Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is a definite second. It is fun to watch her watch these shows as she repeats things they say or acts them out. Best of all is her boisterous laugh that she gets from her Papa!

Our newest game is hide and seek. After dinner you can count on a good 15 minute game with Tim hiding in very obvious and hilarious spots. Like standing on a dining chair with a blanket over his head. Whitney is getting better at staying in her hiding spot and keeping quiet until you find her.

Her favorite song to sing along to in the car is "I like to Eat Apples and Bananas". One that was a favorite of mine as a kid. She seems to be picking up on the vowels and "u" is her favorite one to shout out.

Whitney is a huge helper around the house. Any trash she finds she shows me and takes it to the trash can. She puts her clothes in the hamper, loves to stock the toilet paper in the closet, helps me unload the dishwasher and loves to bake with me!

Our little girl is just so sweet. She is very affectionate and covers us with hugs and kisses!

Smashing bananas for our muffins!
Enjoying her hard work!

Thanksgiving

We made our annual trip to Charlotte for Thanksgiving with the O'Neills! Whitney was perfect on the 7 hour trip. As long as the DVD player was running and snacks were in hand, she was content. We arrived at 11:30pm on Tuesday and Whitney woke ready to play with Grandma and Grandpa. We all made it to bed about 12:30pm and Tim and I got the luxury of sleeping in all week since Grandma was ready for Whitney's 7am wake up call!

For me, the week was filled with shopping. Between the fantastic kids consignment stores they have and a few black Friday stops, I stocked Whitney up. Plus, a few little boy things a long the way! I got spoiled and didn't do any cooking! Tim and his Mom took care of it all! Tim got to spend time golfing with his brothers and a several hours of playing video games.

Niki and Brady hosted Thanksgiving at their house which was beautifully decorated for the holiday! Good friends, Ed, Michelle and their adorable little girl Jasmine joined us and the girls had a blast playing together!

It was a wonderful trip filled with lots of laughter. I am so glad Whitney got to create more lasting memories with her O'Neill Family!

Looking for lighted trees!


Still princess of the house!
A little "Ring Around the Rosie"
The table top beads kept them busy for hours!
Sharing Iphone secrets!
Crashing in on the boys video game
The Family
The McDevitts

We are due 10 days apart!
Posing in front of Frontgate at the mall...who needs to wait in line for Santa!

Her Buddy in the backyard!

Carrying on the O'Neill Name

We are so thrilled that we will be welcoming a baby BOY to our family! Since about 12 weeks I started having very strong thoughts that this baby was going to be a boy. I had little signs along the way but the higher heart rate kept throwing me off. (There goes that wives tale!) Finding out halfway through the pregnancy was such new territory for us, it seemed so strange that we were going to know who was kicking us in there! We wanted to do something special to find out the gender, so with a little brainstorming with our good friend Jennifer Saville, take a look at the photos below...

We got a pair of pink baby shoes and a pair of blue baby shoes and identical boxes. In the morning, Marguerite selected which bow went on which box and wrote it on a card. At our appointment they told us which color bow to open. So, we waited all day until Tim got home to find out the big news! Traffic was horrible, so of course it took him forever to get home!

The anticipation of opening the box was killer! We were super excited! We had the sono tech circle the gender just to have back-up confirmation!


Time to Skype with the families! I held up both pairs of shoes and dropped the pink one's to reveal it was a boy!
Whitney holding her baby brother's shoes!
Lots of cheers!!
Excited Big Sister!

Halloween

This year Halloween was a whole new experience. Whitney was beyond excited as we had been building up this day for weeks! A huge thanks to Grandma/Sue for making the cutest Minnie costume out there! I will let the pictures tell the story...

Helping me organize the candy. I know it sounds crazy, but the kids love seeing what they get to choose from!First treat of the night. A KitKat we shared.
Formal shot. Haven't gotten into carving yet, stickers will do!

Walking to her first house of the night!
Eagerly knocked on the door...a duty she quickly passed off to me.
Auntie Ann's of course!
Very uncertain of these strange characters, but not too uncertain to grab some candy!
Family photo in front of the best house in the neighborhood.

Warming up between houses...and giving her head a break.
Whitney's dramatic approach on insisting that we go to the door with her.
Time to see what she got!
Yummm...Skittles was her first choice!
She liked handing out candy just as much as collecting it!

The question is...do I have enough will power not to eat all her candy!

Sunday was a Fun Day!

This past Sunday we took Whitney to her first play. I have been looking forward to this day ever since I knew I was becoming a mom. Theatre has impacted my life in so many ways and I couldn't wait to pass my love for it onto my children. The official day had finally arrived. Now of course Whitney and I sing and dance around the house just about everyday, but going to see a play is a totally different experience. When I started looking around I came across a title that stood out to me and soon realized we had been given the book as a gift. "Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse". To top it off one of my actor friends was playing Lilly. We had shared the stage a few years back in "The Araboolies of Liberty Street". To prepare for the weekend we read the book everyday. A long book for an almost 2 1/2 year old, but Whitney was zoned into every page. Seeing her face while watching the play brought me such joy. I look forward to seeing many more plays with my little lady.

Since it was Halloween they invited all the kids to wear their costumes.

Meeting Felicia who played Lilly. Though she looks a little nervous she loved it!

To finish off our fun Sunday, we traveled up to Hagerstown to celebrate the 6th birthday of two special friends, Sophia and Damian. They are so sweet to Whitney and Whitney loves playing with them. On Monday I swear she was talking more...that's what big kids will do!