Fun Filled Family February

We had a great February. It started out with my birthday, so how could it not be great, and we had a whole family day together. We went downtown Dallas to the Children's Aquarium for the first time and then headed for lunch at Chik-fil-a and a ride on the round and round up and down as Chloe calls it, which is as us normal people would call a carousel. The aquarium was perfect. We spent just about an hour there and it wasn't too much for the kids. All of the displays are designed to be more at toddler/grade school age kids heights so Chloe could see pretty much everything without any help. Levi could also see most of the displays from his stroller. Chloe loved to stay at the "touch pool" even though she would not reach in and touch any of the crabs or fish. She kept wanting to go back to that area to watch the critters and fish.

 We also took a trip down to the stockyards. The annual stock show was going on in Fort Worth and I wanted to check it out and let Chloe walk around and see all the animals. So we checked to see when the best day to go and headed down there, however, we never made it. There is the Stockyards and the Stockyards Show. One would think that the show would be at the same place, but it wasn't. For all of you not familiar with the area the Stockyards is more of just an area of town that is now like a little cowboy town area of Fort Worth. So even though Zach and I talked multiple times how they are two different things somehow his directions sent us to the Stockyards and not the show, that had all the animals. It was quite comical as we drove in and parked and the parking attendant made a comment how many people get confused and we laughed....but we were one of those people so joke was on us. We still had a great time. There was a little petting zoo for the kids, some longhorn cattle on the property that we could go and look at, neat little shops, lots of horses on patrol and then a little cattle drive down the main street. The kids didn't know any different and they still saw animals so they were happy. Chloe actually rode on a real pony. She was excited and a little uneasy, but had a great time. The guy who ran the thing would say "Okay kids, lets say a big Yee-Haw" and so she would say "Hee-Haw". It was funny.

We now have a zoo membership which has been great. We have had a few nice days and have taken advantage of the pass and we will continue to go as often as possible. Chloe really enjoys seeing all the animals and throughout the time she would start calling out for Toodles, which is a character on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Not sure why she started that, but she would put her hand up to her face and yell for Toodles just like they do in the show. It was funny. She also really likes to walk on her own. She will walk the whole zoo if we let her, taking breaks for water but she does not want to get back in the wagon. She really wanted to pull Levi in the wagon so she pulled him in the wagon showing him all the animals and not wanting us to help her pull. She's getting so big.

The weather has been up and down. One day it is nice and sunny and the next it is cold and windy. We have been able to take advantage and go on walks and play in the backyard a lot. Both kids really enjoy the swing set that Zach built. We have also been going to ride on the round and round up and down a lot. Chloe has also found her love of peanut butter.

Chloe and her "swim" cap. She is ready for the beach!

To wrap up the month my mom came to visit on a quick trip because she somehow convinced herself that Dallas was on the way from San Fransisco. However she came up with the rationale to get herself here we didn't mind. When we told Chloe she said, "mama hold Chloe and papa hold Levi." That's what she always says and then we always have to remind her that she needs to share mama with Levi too. This time especially because papa was not here for the visit. We had a great few days. We took mom to the aquarium because it was too cold for the zoo and of course we had to make a trip over to the carousel.

Uhh Oh....Here Comes Levi

And it has begun...Zach has been wanting this to happen for so long (a month or so) and now it has started...(you must be on the full website to view video not on mobile or email version)

What's been going on..

Its been a great start to the new year. We've done a lot and the kids are just changing all the time.

Chloe is starting to say full sentences and really want to help with her brother. She enjoys giving her stuffed animals "check ups" like Doc McStuffins does on Disney Jr. She can be quite a little stinker and we have had to crack down again and not let her get away with so much, but she is getting much better. She is definitely going through a little phase right now. She just told Zach the other day "Chloe not nice girl, Chloe mean girl." Zach said she lived up to that statement that day. She still really loves to read and color and help out when she can. We have started potty training a little bit. She hasn't been too interested and in the past she has not liked the potty seat and would through a fit to sit on it, now she is at least sitting without too much of a fight. It will come when she is ready. She loves to have her nails and toenails painted and dance and sing. She is still really funny and big on copying what we do. Her recent phrases are things like "Oh my goodness", "Seriously", "No Fussies", "Are you okay?" and more of that sort.

Levi of course has been moving and grooving. He is starting to walk and climb and babble all of the time. He likes anything that his sister has. He now has 6 teeth! Levi eats real bananas and loves the little baby melt in your mouth Cheetos. He is doing new things every day.

Our Expedition was in the shop for about a week so we had to improvise just in case Zach and the kids had to go out for an emergency while I was at work. Luckily they never actually had to go out!

Levi will climb on anything and everything

Chloe's "silly face" and kool-aid mustache

We had to get a belt for Chloe and she thought it was a new headband

Like I said...he can climb on anything

This is what Chloe was wearing (by her choice) after saying she was a mean girl

What kid doesn't like unrolling an entire roll of toilet paper?!?!

Levi enjoying his bananas

Chloe's "Kissing" face

Chloe watching a movie while on the potty

Sibling Love

Now that Levi is moving around a lot more, Chloe has really started playing with him. For the most part she  likes him chasing her and playing with her. Sometimes she doesn't like him taking her toys or chasing after her, but the past few weeks they have really enjoyed playing together.

Watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the iPad

On a side note...Levi is clapping and standing on his own now.

2012 Rewind

2012 was definitely a year of change. We added a new family member and moved about 1000 miles away from where we had made our home for five years. There were a lot of tears shed. There were happy, sad, frustrated and scared tears by just about everyone. A lot of decisions were made in hopes to better our future and focus on the big picture. We learned that change is not only a part of life, but necessary to move forward. Regardless of how big or small the obstacles this family of four can get through anything with a lot of prayer and a lot of love.

Happy New Year! Enjoy a look back at the past year with this Batsche bunch.

JANUARY - I love this picture for a lot of reasons, but I took this picture while going on a walk with Chloe in our AZ neighborhood. It was in the sixties or seventies, but yet I still felt that she needed to be bundled up because that was cold in AZ.

FEBRUARY - We spent a lot of days at that park. We tried to get as much time with the three of us as possible as we knew when the new baby came things would be different and it may be awhile before we could get back out to the park.

MARCH - Chloe spent a lot of her naps trying to get out of her clothes and her diaper. In this picture she has made it to where her leg was coming out of her neck hole. She was still being put down for two naps, but she would normally just sleep one and play in her crib the other. She was quite the magician.

APRIL - I had a hard time picking out my favorite photo as this was obviously when Levi was born, but this is my favorite because it shows how much Chloe was smitten with Levi. She wanted to be with him all the time.

MAY - Not the best picture of the three of us, but it was Mother's day and the best one we had that day of the three of us. My first Mother's day as the mother of two monsters...I mean kids.

JUNE - This one makes me sad and happy all at the same time. We went to Rustler's Rooste with the Fischers for Allie's birthday. It was a fun night and one of our last nights in Arizona. I love this picture because of the face that Allie is giving Chloe. Normally Chloe is giving Allie a strange look, but this one the table is turned and Allie is looking at Chloe like she is crazy. Probably because while Allie, Wes and Calvin were playing with their balloons Chloe was popping them with her mouth. The loud noise didn't phase her one bit.

JULY - This was an easy one. We may not all look the greatest..ie..Zach's scowl, but we were all together. It was a surprise for my sisters and a great surprise. I can't remember the last time that we all had a picture together.

AUGUST - This was not posed. Zach was getting Chloe up from her nap and he put Levi down in with her while he was getting something and when he came back this is what he found. They are smitten with each other and that makes this mom one happy camper.

SEPTEMBER - This is a strange photo, but I like it for a number of reasons. This was taken on a Sunday while we were outside on the patio watching football. I was playing with Levi as he had just started rolling around and Chloe was walking around being a mom to Minnie Mouse. This sums up some of my favorite family moments when we are all just relaxing together.

OCTOBER - We had family photos done and the first set of photos that we really had all four of us looking decent. This may not be the best photo of us all, but it is a real photo. Our kids are crazy and sometimes we feel like a circus, but we are happy and love each other and I feel like this photo really captured that without being posed.

NOVEMBER - CHLOE IS TWO YEARS OLD!!! I just love her silliness and happiness that is captured.

DECEMBER - Oh Levi...poor poor Levi...I love everything about this picture...words aren't really needed.

Was this Really Christmas?

Like I have always said I love Christmas and I love everything about it. This year we would have a bunch of new experiences because we were having our first Christmas in Texas. Now that Chloe is getting a little older I was excited about Christmas morning. I was excited to see her tear through the wrapping paper and dump out her stocking and be so excited with us. I couldn't wait to see her face on Christmas morning. Now don't get me wrong, I was excited about Levi's Christmas too, but I knew that he wouldn't be as excited or know what was going on like Chloe would.

Before Christmas comes you  have Christmas Eve. Normally what we do is we go out to eat at a restaurant and come back home to open gifts that one side of our family has sent. We normally open from whoever we didn't have Christmas plans with. So in prior years we always would open presents from Zach's family, but this year we opened from my sisters and aunts and uncles since we would be spending Christmas day with Zach's family. Then once the kids go to sleep we get the rest of the items ready for Christmas and stay up watching Christmas movies and playing games. I've been playing games on Christmas Eve since as long as I could remember as that is how my sister and I would spend our Christmas Eves. We would stay up late and play every game until we couldn't last any longer and then fall asleep and then wake up early morning to get my parents. So this Christmas Eve was really no different. We went to the mall so the kids could ride the carousel, grabbed some dinner and headed home to open presents. Chloe was so excited, although she thought every gift was hers and not Levi's. Then we put the kids down and started playing a new card game that my parents had given us. I think Zach and I played for about 3 hours. It was that addicting. So then we went to bed around 12:30am.

Soon everything would change....there was a rain storm coming in, which is no big deal. It was suppose to be cold, but not enough to ice over. No big deal. The storm woke Zach and I up a couple of times because our dog Buster is afraid of storms so he was pacing around the room whining. Then about 2:15am the storm started getting heavier. Shortly there after we heard a big boom of what we thought was thunder. Then Chloe's monitor started beeping like it lost power or connection....and that's when we realized we had no power! I laid in bed and asked Zach how long he thought the power would be off, he didn't think it would be long. I logged into our power company's website and it showed that they estimated the power to be back on around 4:30am on Christmas. Okay, not that terrible just two hours. I was a little freaked out because I was terrified that I couldn't hear the kids now that the monitors were off and what if one of them woke up in the middle of the night. Zach decided he would stay up until the power came back on and watch a movie on his ipad. So I fell back asleep while he watched a movie. Something woke me up and it was about 5am. Still no power. I checked online and they said it would be on about 7am. I told Zach that was silly for him to stay awake and I would go sleep in the hallway between the kids rooms. Zach had only had a few hours of sleep if that and I wasn't going to ask him to stay awake any longer. So I got my pillow and a blanket and slept for the next two and a half hours in the hallway until I heard Chloe awake around 7:30am. I checked again and still no power now they were saying about 10am we would have power. I got Chloe up and headed back in our room to see if she would go back to sleep, but she was wide awake. So I talked to Zach and we decided to go ahead and get Levi up as it was really cold in the house and just start Christmas.

We had no power...we have seven windows in our family room, but because it was so dreary outside hardly any light was coming in. We started a fire and opened our gifts by fireplace and flashlight. Not the exact Christmas I had in mind, but a Christmas to remember. We weren't suppose to go over to Zach's parents until later in the day around 1pm, but because we had no power and it was freezing inside we called over and packed ourselves up and went over. Our heat and water heater are both electric so taking a shower at our house was completely out of the question. We had a nice time eating brunch and opening gifts with Zach's family, but my mind was pretty much stuck on when we would have power. I kept checking online and each time the time was pushed out further and further. It was around 2pm and it looked like we had power...so when the kids went down for a nap Zach drove over to the house only to find that we still didn't have power. He talked to our neighbor and he said that he talked to the power company and they now estimated it wouldn't be back on until 9am on December 26th. Zach packed up an overnight bag and grabbed the dogs and headed back over to his parents. Looks like we would be spending all day and night over there. It was about 11:45pm and I received a text message from the power company stating that our power was back on. A little sigh of relief, however, I wasn't going to fully believe them because it had previously said online our power was back on many hours prior. So at midnight Zach drove back over to the house to check. We had power!

The next day I woke up early and went over to Walmart to get groceries now that all of our refrigerated items were bad. We didn't think to pack those up and put them in his parents' fridge/freezer until it was too late. So I woke up and went to Walmart right when it opened back up got some of the essentials and items I knew we had to replace, went back to our house cleaned out our fridge/freezer and then went back to pick up Zach, the kids and the dogs. We made it home around 10am on the day after Christmas. Now the kids...really Chloe...could see and play with her new Christmas toys. She was very excited and played all day with her toys. We were able to get down all the inside Christmas decorations and get some of the things we wanted to get done done.

So to say that this was my favorite Christmas would probably not be the case. However, we were all safe and spent the entire day with each other and with family who was nice enough to let us crash their Christmas day as I'm sure that is now how they envisioned it either. We were also able to spend some good time with Jeremy and Mandi as we don't see them very often and Chloe had a playmate with Mandi all afternoon. So to sum it up it was a unique Christmas. We didn't take that many pictures, but below are a few for you to enjoy.

Chloe excited about her new glasses from cousin Allie...hoping this isn't a look into the future! This was on Christmas Eve...notice the power is on :)

Chloe thinks she can fit into anything. She loved playing with this little doll house from her great grandma Wills. She also got some little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse figurines which fit perfectly into this house. Chloe says that this is Minnie Mouse's house. This was on Christmas Eve.

Opening presents from Santa on Christmas day by flashlight...it was really dark!

Levi in front of the fireplace on Christmas morning. Levi loves watching the fire. I think he was more excited about the fire than any of his presents, but who could blame him since he couldn't really see anything but the fire.

The snow is falling on Christmas day! You have to look closely, but it is there.

Levi and his Tia Mandi on Christmas day.

Levi again in front of the fire on Christmas day, this time it was at his Grumpy and Grammie's house.

Our backyard the day after Christmas. We actually got some snow overnight. Nothing to write home about, but we did have a white Christmas.

Levi the day after Christmas at our house as he was the victim of a run by coloring.

Do you really think she could have done the run by coloring on her brother?!?!?! Look at that sweet smile she has. She was very excited about her easel with a dry erase board that Santa brought her. Luckily Santa knows to get washable dry erase markers.