Athena and her Chicks

This requires a closer look.

Oooooh. That's cute. I wanna tickle it.

Kitchy kitchy koo!!

It started out innocent enough. Chick in an Easter basket.

Then we thought, "Hey, this chick would totally fit in Athena's Barbie car."

And it should dine at Cafe Athena with Ken.

See? It loves it.

Then it relaxed in a comfy chair with Barbie.

Have a good nap, chickies!

Athena's first live show - Sesame Street Live

Patiently awaiting Elmo's arrival.

Show begins.
Baby is hypnotized.

It was super fun. We've never taken her to anything like this before. We went with Annabelle and her parents, who had generously given us the tickets.

Athena goes to a birthday bash

Swinging with her Papa. She couldn't be happier.

She had no fear. Some of these slides were HUGE.


Athena's cousin Micah. He's the birthday boy!

Micah's super cute (and super tasty) cake.

She loves Jay Z. She actually said "Jigga jigga bounce with me."

They should have called the slides "SUPER FAST BABY CANNONS."

Lights Before Christmas Show - Toledo Zoo

She LOVED it!

It was Athena's and my first time visiting the lights at the zoo. I can't believe I've never gone before! She never got bored or cold, and we visited everything. The lights with the music were her favorite. We sat there for a super long time munching on soft pretzels and hot chocolate.

We highly recommend going!!

Athena the athlete

She's got her game face on.

I'm sure you can understand why I've called her Mommy!

Easy mistake, right??
My cousin Brittany and me.

Ashley and baby Daisy, Mommy, Me, and Brittany.
Daisy and me talking about crippets.

Athena as photographed by Brittany

LOVELY visit with the California cousins

Athena and Lila

Here Lila is putting her arm around her cousin for a photo op.

Athena LOVED tickling her coot widdle footsies. (Who wouldn't?)

Athena and her Dad can TOTALLY handle everything.

Yep, she's 2 alright.

2 Years Ago.

1 Year Ago



I loves me Da!


Cousins RULE!



We are a GOOD lookin' family, no?
(I wish I had biceps like that. Alas, it's just squashed against my boob.)




She happily shared Brobee with Evan ONLY
because she loves him.

Her yearly birthday hat photo :)

I can NOT believe the title of my email is "Your Preschooler."

I do not have a preschooler.... I have a baby, right???

Handling Big Emotion:

Two-year-olds give the biggest hugs, flash the biggest smiles, and yes, throw the loudest, most spectacular tantrums. Because they live in the moment, their feelings are especially transparent. It's tempting to want to keep things happy for your child at all times. But it's also important for her to experience emotions like sadness, frustration, and anger without always being "rescued" by Mom or Dad, so she can learn to cope better with small setbacks. (I'll work on that I promise.)

Athena and Daisy

Remember the Cute Baby Alert!? Well she and her family came to Ohio for a visit and we got to spend some time with her cute self!

Daisy and her mommy, Ashley.

Athena being SUPER nice and playing with her.

Athena's Gammy.

"Excuse me, but that's my Gammy and I'm not sure I'm OK with this."

The Bunny Hop

Steps 1 - 3 :)

And then the finale:

The Beach

It was in the 80's and just lovely. We finished off the day with a trip to Gammy's and a fruit market.