Keira enjoys her first blizzard!

The Blizzard of 2009 dumped about 18-20 inches on Northern Virginia over the course of the day on Saturday. Daddy and Grandma took Keira outside on Saturday while they shoveled snow. She was not a fan of the snow so she pretty much stayed inside the garage watching them shovel and shoveling a bit of snow that Daddy piled up for her at the edge of the garage.

After shoveling, they enjoyed some hot cocoa (Keira got some chocolate milk) and a warm fire.

On Sunday, the snow had stopped falling so Daddy and Grandma tried taking Keira back outside that morning to see what she thought of the snow when it was just on the ground. Still not a fan!

 Later that day, they tried again but this time gave Keira a snow shovel to push around (the neighbor across the street brought a kid-sized one over on Saturday for Keira as his boys are teenagers now). She liked that idea and suddenly they had a "Snow Monster" on their hands. She did not want to go back inside!

The only bad thing about the snowstorm was that it meant that they were home bound for the weekend! That meant they couldn't come visit Mommy at the hospital. We had to make do with Skyping instead. The plows finally came at about 7:30 pm on Sunday night so Ryan was able to come visit me tonight.

Walk in the park

Since it was a gorgeous Spring....err, February...day today, we decided to take a walk to the park this afternoon. It seriously was in the mid-60s. Fabulous park weather, without wearing a hat or anything! There was a nice breeze blowing and the sun was shining.

Daddy helped Keira toddle around our street before we went on our way.


































She's getting to be so independent.


































She was so excited to be walking "on her own."


































Are you coming, Mommy?


































Time to pose for the camera before heading to the park...












Are you still with us, Mommy?












Swinging is fun...




















































Time for the teeter totter...
























Crawling around on the playground...


































Daddy puts Keira back in her stroller...












Time to say goodbye to the park...
























What a fun afternoon...we are so blessed to have such a beautiful little girl.

Snow hysterics!

Last Tuesday it snowed here! Keira and I had plans with our friends Arria and Ellie to walk at the mall at 8:30 that morning, so we still went to do that despite the fact that it was snowing and, more importantly, the snow was definitely sticking to the ground.

After our walk, we went over to a friend D's house to play until lunchtime. We three moms decided it would be a great idea to take our three girls outside to let them "play" in the snow. Um, great idea? Not quite. We bundled them up in their snow gear (coats and hats, double layers, etc.) and took them out in the front yard. F and E can both walk and Keira cannot. So we thought the two walkers would do great and I would just let Keira cling to my legs. We just want to snap a few pictures and videotape before heading back inside.

The first few minutes go really well. A snaps a few pictures, while D shoots some video. Then, E toddles across the driveway and falls into the snow. She begins crying... F stands there bundled in her snowsuit and jacket and joins E in the crying jag. Keira somehow lets go of my legs, falls to her knees, and saves her fall with her left hand. As soon as she feels the snow covering her hand, she begins crying too! So now all three of them are crying hysterically. We three moms can't stop ourselves from laughing because it is just too funny that all three girls are crying at once and are inconsolable.

We hurry up and take them back inside thinking this will make them happy. Finally after about 5 or 10 minutes, we finally have them in happier spirits so we go upstairs for some hot cocoa (for the moms) and snack (for the girls). Disaster over!