Belated Merry Christmas!

Oh, there was much merriment to be had and much to be excited about over the past few days. After I have rested for at least a year or so maybe I can blog about how much fun the girls had during the Christmas celebrations of 2008. But since I am low on creative juices and have a bounty of new things to put away....today I will just leave you with the best family photo we could get. I hope that everyone had a fun (most likely not relaxing if you are like us) and happy holiday!

Christmas Eve 2008

WWJE?

During yet another snowy slow commute....

Me: "Lets say a prayer to Jesus for safety today."

Amelia: (who has a baggy of vanilla wafers) "Jesus can not take my cookies"

Me: "Jesus will not take your cookies. Jesus likes to share. He shares all things."

Amelia: "He does not like cookies."

Me: "What does Jesus like to eat?"

Amelia: "Ummmmm, eggs and potatoes."

Me: (laughing) "Really? Eggs and potatoes?"

silent pause........and then........

Natalie: "NO! He only eats baby food and drinks bottles"


Smart Natalie, she knows that the story of the season is about BABY Jesus. Come on people, everyone knows that babies don't eat eggs and potatoes!

Moon phases (according to N and A)

A quick astronomy lesson:

"Circle Moon"

"Oval Moon"

"Banana Moon"
(my personal favorite)

Every time the girls spot the moon they yell out one of these three names. They get so excited to describe the shape to anyone. I especially like it when it is the Oval Moon because without fail Amelia will also add, "Mama, we need to take our paints up there and color it in."

A girl after my own heart....she does not like to leave things unfinished!

Uncharted Territory

Today I am 26 weeks and 6 days pregnant...which means tomorrow is the beginning of the third trimester. I am now in uncharted territory because I had the girls at 26 weeks and 5 days. So technically I have had 2 kids and have never been this pregnant. Kind of funny if you think about it...2 kids and never been in the third trimester. Not many people can say that.

Of course as "D" day (delivery day) of the girls came and went delivering early has been on my mind. But rest assured I have been through more that one precaution to prevent a repeat performance.

Now I just adjust to getting bigger. Bigger at this point with one than I was with two. : ( And my husband....he is wondering what he is in for since he never had to live through the "crazy pregnant wife in her third trimester" stage. So far I think I have been completely rational at all times....now he may beg to differ. : )

Well worth it

So yet another long drive in to work/daycare today. Only 45 minutes instead of the usual 55 it has taken lately (in summer weather it takes only 25). In between the fighting in the backseat and the singing of multiple Christmas carols a conversation between me and Amelia made the hectic ride well worth it.

Me: "Amelia, who is your sister?"

Amelia: "Natalie........she is my best friend."

pause for a bit

Amelia: "And I love her very much."

pause....pause...pause...

Natalie: "Yep, that's me!"



What are wonderful thing to hear on such a bothersome commute. Though, about 2 minutes after this conversation they started fighting and stealing each other's blankets in the back seat.
(We will just pretend that the bad parts didn't happen and focus on the heartwarming stuff, ok?)

Snow!

Much to my frustration the snow in our area has made commuting to work a nightmare. In the past two days I have spent an hour and half more time in the car than I usually do at this point in the week. The girls have been doing fairly well...only annoying each other and me a little bit on these very long rides. I can't say I am looking forward to more days of slippery roads but since it is not winter break for work yet...every morning I take a deep breath, say my prayers and hit the road with two little kiddos.

On these long rides I try to remember that snow can be a wonderful thing. It can provide endless hours of fun. Here are some photos from past snowy days of fun.

Driveway fun

Cleaning Dad's car

Snow sliding

Natalie on the tire swing

Amelia

(I'd like to claim that I have great photography skills but in truth
this unusual effect was caused by a fogged up lens.)

A Lazy Sunday

I thought I would share a few pictures from our lazy Sunday at home. If you live where we live you know that the weather was dreadful that day. So it was indoors we were to stay!

Chili making

Amelia helping out

Coloring fun

Invading Dad's lap

Amelia's eskimo kiss

Quote of the Day- "Dad, Natalie won't get off of me!"

When I was younger...

I never thought there would be a day that I would be aggressively brushing blue* crayon from the back molars of a toddler's mouth.

Boy, was I wrong.

Thanks, Nat for making life interesting...that's for sure. But honey, please even though the box says non-toxic I am not so sure crayon eating is so good for your teeth!



* Why blue? I wonder if it tastes different than the other colors. I can't really say I am willing to find out. : )

In the closet

I never thought I would write a post about this. Someday when the girls look back at what is written here they may be greatly embarrassed. If you are a person who hates discussing bodily functions...STOP READING NOW!

This post is about pooping and the funny way our girls go about it. Every night around 5:30 our girls poop. This is bad timing for all as it is usually when Mike has just placed the dinner food on the table. Day in and day out this happens. You would think we would just start eating a bit later to avoid this problem. But I swear, those two little girlies would adjust their "schedule" and scheme against us.

Both Mike and I know when our girls are going because they start arching their backs and walking on their toes. Their body language is very agitated and some times they both even stretch their arms up into the air.

Can we get them to go on the toilet? No way...our girls have a preferred pooping spot.

Our girls love to poop in the closet...any closet. And they prefer to go together.

When one feels the urge they immediately start running down the the hall on their toes yelling "come on, come on..let's go poop!" If you try as an adult to check on them the standard response is "close the door we are pooping!" And trust me for the sake of your nose it is better to close the door! We hate it when they choose our closet because of how our clothes smell for a while afterwards.

It amazes us that even though they are on the same sleep schedule, activity schedule, and eat the same things that they can have their bowel movements within minutes of each other.

As they say, "females always prefer to go to the bathroom in pairs."

I guess Natalie and Amelia are following what seems to be a social norm.

Tree Farm

Today we went to our friend's tree farm in search of the perfect christmas tree. This is the first year that we brought the girls. While Mike and I scoured the rows of beautiful trees, Natalie and Amelia spent time with Mike's parents exploring farm animals, viewing Santa (from afar), taking a hay ride and of course enjoying some cold weather treats.

cold weather gear fashion show

sharing apple cider with grandma

Amelia licking her cider lips

Natalie looking cute

Thankful for..

I am thankful for so many things that listing them here would take me forever. Even though I don't say it enough I am so grateful for the wonderful people in my life that have supported and continue to support me and my family everyday. Yet, ultimately my thanks goes to God for all that he has given me. I am so thankful for Mike in the loving husband and wonderful father that he is. And of course, I am beyond a doubt most grateful for the happy, healthy, funny and irresistible daughters I have. Considering how their lives started how can I not get down on my knees and thank God for them?

Lastly, I am thankful for God's grace and peace that I did not completely lose control when I found this 20 minutes before leaving for our Thanksgiving Day festivities.

The bare shelves in my closet.


The completely still-in-our-pajamas-and-
not-ready-to-leave-the-house-in-our-thanksgiving-day-outfits
culprits and the pile of clothes to prove it.

Blowing Smoke

On the way to daycare today...

Amelia: "Hey look Mama, a volcano!"

pause....while I am trying to figure out what she is talking about.

Natalie: "Oh, I have never seen a volcano before."

pause....as I am trying not to laugh as I realize what she IS talking about.

Me: "Amelia, what is coming from that volcano?"

Amelia: "air Mama, air."


Care to guess what she was looking at?

Fruit Snack Folly

Setting: Our basement family room

Main Character: Amelia

Supporting Cast: Mom, Dad and Natalie

Props: Barrel full of monkeys


While playing with a newly rediscovered old toy that had been forgotten for months....

Amelia: "Five little monkeys jumping on the bed one fell off and bumped his head. Mama called the doctor and the docto...hey look, a fruit snack in here!"

You can guess what happened next.....yep, she proceeded to pick out the VERY old snack, pop it in her mouth and chew for quite a while to get it down.

All I could do is laugh. I know I should have been concerned but as Mike pointed out it is not like there is anything natural in those things anyway. I am sure they have a shelf life of at least 5 years or so!

Story Time

Amelia: "Natalie, please read me a story."

I thought this was the sweetest thing ever. Too bad Natalie couldn't read Amelia a story with a pacifier in her mouth. (For the record, Natalie is only allowed to have her pacifier in bed however somehow on this particular morning she managed to get it into the living room.) I just couldn't resist the wonderful sisterly moment.

The Bright, Bold and Beautiful

Here is a sneak peak into the new color of the "Baby Brother's" room. It is an eye-catching room that will be perfect once we get the furniture, rug and wall decor in place.


And no...we are not Packer fans! So don't even think about suggesting that they were our inspiration.

Evidence

You know you have kids when your sink looks like this...



and your fridge looks like this.

Snowy Cars

We live in a state blessed and cursed by many months of winter. Today was the first morning we woke up to snow accumulation on the ground. The girls were fascinated by this and on the ride to daycare this morning they loved to point out everything that had snow piled on it.

Natalie: "Look Mama, snow on the trees"

Natalie: "Look Mama, snow on the grass"

Natalie: "Look Mama, snow on the street"

Amelia: "and snow on the cars, we need to use soap and a sponge to clean them off."


Where do they come up with this stuff?

Quote of the Day

Student: "Hey, you are starting to look chunky!"

This is what you get when you are 21 weeks pregnant and teach in a middle school.

Just in time...

for the big football game.

(That is not a shining star of magnificence in the middle
of the t.v. just the flash from the camera.)

At the counter...

I wanted to show you where the girls would prefer to eat. These pictures were taken one morning during breakfast. We do not have an island for eating at so the girls have improvised a new eating spot. Usually we only allow snack time at this favorite location but this particular morning I decided not to fight the battle.

Keep in mind we do have one of these.

Leaves, Leaves Everywhere!

I love fall. The colors, the smells, the food...everything about it. The girls love it too. Especially the fun all the leaves bring to our yard. What I don't love is the 40 large bags of leaves we have to rake along with the 5 trips to the compost site.

Natalie

Amelia filling her wagon


Uncle Kevin giving the girls a ride on the leaf tarp

(This was their all time favorite activity which I
refused to do but Dad and Kevin did alot.)


Here the girls are watching the cars pass by on the nearby street.
This photo reminds me of one taken last year about this time.


Watching the street and passing cars Fall of 2007

Happy Belated Halloween!

So, I am a bit late posting Halloween photos. Please forgive me. The girls had a great time even though they were running on "no nap" energy. It must have been the excitement of the day that kept them from resting before the big night.

Pre-trick-or-treating jack-o-lantern fun

Trick-or-treating penguins

Waddling Amelia


Natalie examining her loot

Excitement and Disappointment

There is a sense of excitement in our house today as we had our hour long ultrasound and got to see so much more of our new family member. Everything about this little one is perfect and we could not be happier.

Profile view


leg

There also is a sense of disappointment in our house as the girls want the new baby to be a sister. If you check out the anatomy the arrow above is pointing to you will understand why the girls are feeling a bit down and out. Needless to say their disappointment was fleeting as they soon were curious to look at photos of their new baby brother.

Happy or Mad?

Tonight is the night that the girls chose between happy or mad. The story is that every time in the past two weeks we have seen a jack-o-lantern face they yell out whether or not the pumpkin looks happy or mad. Both girls were very involved in the pumpkin guts removal and were thrilled to make a collection of pumpkin seeds. Check out the following photos and the "happy" or "mad" end result.

Stage 1: The Blueprint

Stage 2 : Guts Removal
(Amelia prefers the spoon technique)

Stage 2 continued
(Natalie prefers to dig right in)

Stage 3: The Gross Out
(Can't you just hear what Nat is saying?)

Stage 4: The Final Swipe
(Amelia prefers her pumpkin really clean)

Stage 5: The Last Seed Search


Behind the scenes work by Mom and Dad
while the girls watched their nightly cartoon....
Stage 6: The Dissection
Stage 7: The Clean-up

Stage 8: The Finished Product

(The consensus is "Happy" pumpkins this year!)

Home Sweet Home

Mike and I just returned from an anniversary trip (more appropriately titled "the last childless trip for a while before #3 comes along"). Care to guess where we were?


The next one is a dead give away...

We had a wonderful time. The girls had fun spending time with both sets of grandparents. I hope to be updating with some fall pictures soon. First I have to recover from my vacation and shin splints. (If you have ever walked in this town you know what I am talking about.) Then I will be back to blogging. Talk to you all soon!