January

Therese's expression here sums up how I feel about January...and February...and March...is it spring yet??
We had some really cold weather a couple weeks ago. Poor Therese had to wear this nice, warm and CONSTRICTING snowsuit a few too many times! She was always so happy once I took it off of her because she really can't move in it very well! But it sure came in handy.
No one really uses this crib at the moment, except for playing in--Greta especially loves to play in it. Therese hasn't quite graduated to sleeping in Greta's room with her because she persists in waking up every 2-3 hours all night still!!! I do look forward to the day when the girls officially share a room, and I get to sleep more than a couple hours at a time.

There is a Bio-Diversity Museum near Matthew's school, and he has taken Greta there a couple of times, she really enjoys it. Shortly after the New Year we went there as a family. Here Greta is beginning to show me the flashiest attraction there: the skeleton of a huge blue whale.
It is the biggest mammal that has ever lived on earth. It is amazing!

The little scientist.
Classic Greta.
Oh my girl! She really gets into life.
Playing in Therese's bed...Greta loves to jump in there with Therese first thing in the morning!
Apparently now it's Therese's turn to suck Greta's toes...
Getting ready to enjoy breakfast together.
Little rubber-band wrists...SO CUTE!!!
Little Sunshine.
Therese loves to go after these croquet balls we have as "decor" in our living room :-)
Painting!!!
SOOOOO into it!

These are some new dot paints she got for Christmas.

Therese is such a sweet little baby, always full of smiles (except in the middle of the night!)
She loves to eat!
The other night Therese ate a whole apple, a whole piece of bread with jam, cereal with milk on it, salmon, steak, rice with steak juice on it, and a big helping of peas. She can really pack it in!
Her "I'm not too sure about this food!" face :-)
Greta loved to play with this ball, and now Therese does too! A bit blurry, but it's such a cute picture I had to include it...
The girls love to play in this tupperware drawer together.

What a fun mess!!!
Greta gets really into taking the paper off of her crayons. And do you notice the sticker art on her wall?
Therese really gets a kick out of using a straw cup like her big sister. It's so cute!!
January has gone by fast. We have been busy, and have been enjoying settling into our bigger, brighter, BETTER home :-) We are so thankful for it!
Hopefully I will get another post up again soon.

Carousel in Spokane

Here's a beautiful picture of Therese that cousin Mary took on Christmas Day.
And the Carousel...Papa and Therese :-) This was Therese's first carousel ride on a horse, and she loved it! What a great picture. My cousin Mary and brother-in-law Dalton took these photos because we forgot our camera that day--I am very grateful for them.
Greta rode the carousel many times, and really liked sitting on the tiger (she's a little too nervous to go on a horse that moves up and down...), however, this time the tiger was in use. She was disappointed to have to sit on a bench!
Ready for a ride on the tiger! This is Greta's special camera smile :-)
The Bradsher family carousel ride!

Merry Christmas and Happy 2012!

Before we start, let me make sure you know this is an INCREDIBLY long post...and it is even missing pictures from our Christmas trip to Arizona, so stay tuned. We accidentally left our camera in Arizona, which was the first stop we made on our whirlwind Christmas 2012 tour.

Let's Begin!

After 4 days in Arizona, we got a plane to Seattle, and then a plane to Spokane on the 23rd. In the photo above are Greta and her Great Uncle Steve on Christmas Eve at Grandpa Ronnie's house.
This is the piano in the basement of my grandparent's house, which my cousins and I had tons of fun in growing up. Seeing Greta play in this basement now makes me a little emotional!
With Aunt Jenny on Christmas Eve.
Nana Kaka made the girls matching Christmas outfits.
Fun with Great Uncle Steve!
With Great Grandpa Ronnie.
Hanging out at Grandpa Ronnie's on Christmas Eve--Great Aunt Jerene read Greta TONS of stories the next day, which Greta appreciated immensely :-)
Jenny and cousin Mary, getting ready for poker.

Poker.
Greta entertained herself during poker by collecting things around the house and using strange items for hats (this hat is made from an armrest cover...)
We stayed at my Uncle Dave's house. Here is the beautiful Christmas tree on Christmas Eve...with TONS of presents!!! It even snowed on Christmas Eve, how perfect.
Getting things ready for Christmas morning after attending a late night church service.
Greta's Great Uncle Dave got her this kitten with a soft blanket inside of it, this was the first present she received as soon as she came downstairs on Christmas morning. She named the cat "Snowy".
Lots of work to do...
Therese got a sheep from Great Uncle Dave.
This is "Pat the Bunny" from Matthew and I--we wrapped it up and put it in her stocking...her first ever Christmas gift from us! She responded well :-)
Cozy in her new sheep blanket.




Unwrapping takes great concentration sometimes.
Nana Kaka made the girls new hats!


Uncle Dave, Aunt Maurina and cousin Michael. It had been a long time since I'd spent much time with Aunt Maurina or cousin Michael--this was very special.
Great Uncle Dave set out many sweets, and here Greta is finally getting to try the fancy marzipan! Yum.
A visit out to the snow on Christmas Day.



So sweet.



Later in the day Greta played ping pong with my cousins (her first cousins once removed...?) She LOVED doing this!

Dalton.
Therese conquered the stairs for the first time on Christmas Day! She LOVES to climb them now...too bad we don't have any in our home to practice on!
Determined to get to the top of the second flight!
So proud of herself, almost there!
A cousin reunion! Me, Jenny, Michael, David, and Mary.
Oh I love this picture :-)
Game time.
Seriousness.
More seriousness during games the next night.
Therese loved to stay up a bit late and be somewhat the life of the party for a short time :-)
The day after Christmas we went downtown and rode the carousel, and then played more games after dinner. Unfortunately I neglected to include the carousel pictures in this post, and starting all over would be quite a nuisance. I will post them separately ok? They are very cute, so they MUST be posted.
After 4 fun nights in Spokane we took our last flight back to Seattle to spend 3 nights at Nana Judy's house. The girls did really well on all the flights, by the way. It was all quite an adventure for us! (we've all gotten sick since getting home...just as I had predicted would happen!)

Here Therese is opening up a present from Nana Judy--a cute little dolly! She loves it.
Greta loves this dollhouse from Nana Judy. As soon as she saw it under the tree for her (it was out and ready to play with, she didn't even need to unwrap it) she got to work playing with it for quite some time.
Nana Judy made Greta a little "Greta doll"--so sweet.



We took a day trip to my Dad's to celebrate Christmas with he and Linda. He had many decorations out, and Greta loved playing with them. Here Grandpa Dan is showing her the little Santa's Workshop music box.

Great Grandma Hope got Greta a new (bigger) Tigger--she loves it!
Helping pass out more presents...
What? More presents??
For some reason I had to put this photo on. It just screams "Greta"--
Greta had been asking for an accordion for awhile, and she got one from my Dad and Linda--
...she was so happy about this gift, she said "Thank you for the accordion" over and over again and no one even prompted her to!
Woo Hoo--new clothes! (I am very grateful for these, Therese is growing fast!)



It was fun spending the day with my Dad and Linda--we even got to see Jenny and Dalton again later that evening.
Sweet baby girl.
The next day Aunt Melissa, Uncle Kristen, Ida and Poppy came over to Nana Judy's. Storytime with Aunt Melissa!

Happy times with Uncle Kristen!
After 11 days on the road, we were grateful to be home at last on the 30th. Greta and Therese had one final present to open, though--this toy piano we got them...
...they're a little too tired to appreciate it fully at the moment, but I am certain it will get the attention it deserves eventually :-)

It was fun celebrating with so many family members, and Therese's first Christmas will always hold a special place in my heart.