Annalise's First Dance Recital

Just thought I'd finally share video from Annalise's first dance recital.  Clara helped with the taping (most of the shaking and screaming is her!).  Hope you enjoy!

(If it loads slowly, you can watch it on YouTube here.)

Annalise is 3!

Okay...it's been awhile.  We had a nice little party at home with the Rindos clan and one of her best friends from preschool.  Here's a couple of pictures of our "growing up too fast" 3 year old!  Enjoy!

Passe!  Our first recital will be in January



Cinderella for Halloween!  We love the Disney Princesses




Sisters in Virginia




We can't forget our adorable Abby Cadabby (Elmo's friend on Sesame Street)



A quick word from our sponsor!

It's been awhile (okay, 4 1/2 months is a bit more than awhile).  Lots has happened since February, but that's for another day. 

Never one to be afraid of trying new things, today, Annalise had her first ER visit.  She was swinging on her new swingset and decided to let go in mid swing.  She landed on her face and bit through her lip.  She ended up with 9 stitches in the front and 3 on the inside.  She did extremely well and although scared, was very couragous.  Here's a picture after watching Dora & Diego and having no nap this afternoon.  The stiches will absorb and won't need to be removed.

Keep her in your prayers!

Orlando Vacation!!!

The Swanson's finally took a vacation...our first since Nov 2008 it seems that didn't involve work and was longer than a few days.  We made it to Orlando to visit Mickey, Minnie and the rest of the crew for a week. Dad is now at a review course studying for his upcoming test in March while Mom and the girls are safely back home.

We had an excellent time and the weather cooperated...for the most part.  Although it was a bit cold at times, the rain stayed away when we were at the parks.  Annalise had a wonderful time meeting Mickey, Goofy and the rest of the crew, and even got to meet Elmo at Sea World.  However, if you ask her, her favorite part of the trip was "running, jumping, and hopping" her way across the parks.  As for the adults, I think we can all say the best part was watching Shamu at Seaworld.  Here are a few pics and if you want to view all of Dad's 300+ pictures, click HERE.

Annalise either looked like this (like the new haircut?)....

or this (watching Shamu) all week.

She met Mickey, Minnie, Daisy & Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto, Winnie the Pooh, and Tigger but probably her favorite (based on no screaming or running from the large & loud character which was the typical most of the week) was Elmo.  Still not sure what he was doing at SeaWorld.

Of course, she loved everything about Nemo at Epcot as well...we had to go through the ride multiple times.

Clara had fun too...in fact she started to take her first solids...carrots and apples...and did great with them.

Okay, maybe she doesn't look like she's having fun...here's a better one!

The End of January

WOW...time flies.  It appears that the calendar has switched over to February.  We've done a few things, but not too much.  Mid-January we took an uneventful (thankfully!) flight to MN...Who flies to MN in the dead of winter for a long weekend???  Probably crazy people.  But Clara got to meet her cousins Ryan and Aaron for the first time and Annalise had fun getting reacquainted again with everyone.  Here are a few pictures...

First flight for Clara...and all went well.

Clara and Pop-Pop spent alot of time resting in the recliner!

Grandma loving every minute of the weekend!

The cousins meet (again, at least for Annalise!)

At the end of January, our good friends from Charlottesville (Chris, Brooke, & Austin) came up for a visit.  We went to the Crayola Factory for the kids but spent most of the time just hanging out!

And lastly...do they look alike now?  I think so...

Annalise (5 months)                                        Clara (5 months)

It's Been Awhile...

Looking at the blog, it appears that it has been over a month since our last post.  Quite a bit has happened since then at the Swanson household.

So, since December 9th (the last post), we've seen:
Annalise get her first haircut (from someone other than Mom!)

We met Santa Claus (Clara tolerated him, Annalise not so much)

We played in the snow (and Annalise found a new favorite drink....hot chocolate)

Clara had her first bit of solids (and still hates it!)

and of course there was this holiday called Christmas!

At the end of December we got the very sad news that Great-grandma Werth was called to heaven.  Although she never got to meet Clara, we know she loved all of her greatgrandchildren and everyone will miss her. (Picture July 2008)

Tomorrow, the NJ Swanson clan heads to Minnesota for a long weekend.  Although Mom & Dad are not looking forward to taking 2 youngsters on a plane, it will be good to see the Minnesota Swanson's for a brief visit.

For more December pictures, feel free to peruse them here.  For a short video of Annalise realizing that Santa isn't as bad as the picture above, click here.  Her expression is priceless.

On a side note, if you ever needed evidence that Annalise is her Mommy's daughter, here is a picture of Annalise (at school) and Mommy when she was two.  All Daddy can say is "Wow!"

The Past Week

We've all been under the weather for the past few days and Clara has decided she doesn't like to sleep for more than 4 hours at a time at night. But we're still having fun!  On Thursday, both Mom & Dad were off so we decided to take a little trip to Easton, PA to visit the Crayola Factory.  It's not really a factory, but they do show how many of their products are made and more importantly, it is a very "hand's on" place to play for kids of all ages.  Below are a few pictures...including Mommy's favorite pastime (shopping).

We also had the opportunity to visit Santa.  The beginning was fun for Annalise (fake snow and all!), but meeting Santa...not so much.  Clara, I don't think she really knew what was happening!

For those of you that got my last email and didn't see the Swanson Singing & Dancing Troupe, click here.  For those that want to peruse 200 or so pics of November, click here.