Spoon Licker

We made brownies last night....This was our favorite part.



DELICIOUS!!!

Yes Virginia, there is a Paci Fairy...

I never thought my (almost) 3 year old would still be sucking on a pacifier. Before I was a Mom, I would see big kids walking around Walmart with those plugs in their mouths and immediately judge the Mother..."I can't believe she lets her kid suck on that ....it looks ridiculous...not to mention bad for his teeth, speech"...blah blah. Oh how easy it is to be a good Mom before you actually have children of your own. How easy it is to judge other Moms when you have no idea how it feels to be in their shoes.
Alas, Hannah is a paci fiend! She must always have one for her mouth and at least one or two more to hold. If she's sleepy, or watching t.v., she rubs these extra pacis on her cheek. It's just her special little addiction that she's always had. Even as an infant, she seemed to always want one in her mouth even if she was playing. Lately, we've made a few guidelines for her pacifiers...1. She can't take them to school, and 2. She MUST take the pacifier out of her mouth when she's speaking. It drives me insane trying to understand what she's saying with that thing in her mouth.
You might guess (and you'd be right on) that I'm sick to death of pacis!! Sick of looking at them, sick of washing them, sick of looking for them when they've gone astray, sick of strangers we see in public who have the balls to tell me she's too old for one.
LOL ...yup time for the Paci Fairy to come do her work at 206 Combe Drive. Now, how to go about this?.....We are finally doing wonderful in the potty department and I really don't want to mess that up. I'm worried if I take the pacifier away now, she may regress. Maybe I should wait until the potty training is pretty solid before I take away her beloved nuks. I think I'm going to start banning the paci to the bedroom ONLY. She will only be allowed to have them while she naps and at bedtime. She'll have a total conniption when she hears that rule....and I'm scared. But I will let you know how it goes. Um..okay, that's the end of my pacifier rant. I feel better now :)

Nap Time?

Well, I put Hannah down for a "nap" this afternoon, Chad and I sat down to watch a movie. It wasn't long before I heard Hannah jumping on her bed and singing at the top of her lungs. I had every intention on going in her room, telling her to BE QUIET and go to sleep---but the sight when I opened her door was just too hilarious. I had to grab the camera. She had taken off all her clothes, gone into her closet and put on her red dress. Then she proceeded to jump on the bed singing "THE SUN IS SHINING BRIGHTLY!" She has been a little more defiant than usual lately...but she is a beeeeeautiful princess Cinderella....so who am I to judge?



Another example of her ...ahem... 'independence'. Today I told her she needed to go sit on the potty because it had been a while since she went.. She said "No"...and I said "yes, you need to go sit on the potty...you don't want to pee in your undies" Then the stinker covered her ears and shouted "La La La - I don't hear you!!!" I was so amused...lol. I had to turn away so she couldn't see me laughing. I have no idea where she got that from....maybe tv? I told her that's not a nice thing to do when someone is talking to her. The kid cracks me up.
We had a nice weekend...Man, our life is such a circus. Rarely a dull or quiet moment around here. Sometimes laughing about the craziness is all we can do. .

Sadie's Giggle Fit

My 6 month old thinks I'm a riot!



Also, I told Erin I'd put up some photos of the baby hooded afghan I just finished. I'd like to figure out how to crochet a big flower and attach it to the front of the hood. Sadie would only tolerate it for a few minutes :)

Pee Pee Princess

So, I think Hannah's finally on the right track to become fully potty trained....although, probably against her will...but I'll take what I can get! We decided to stop buying the huge box of diapers from Costco for her. Basically, we can only afford to diaper one child at a time...lol. So we told her, "you're a big girl.....your diapers are expensive...and your Dora undies are only 3.99 for a pack of 5....so guess what?- you're gonna use the potty!" Since we've been held captive in our house due to the ridiculously cold weather anyway, I've been keeping her in underwear all week. We take "pee pee breaks" about every 2 hours. She's doing great- a couple of times, she's starting peeing before she realized it- and ran to the potty to finish. Yesterday, we finally got out of the house- to the mall to play in the kid zone area. I put a diaper on her because I figured she'd be too busy to notice the signals, plus the idea putting her on a public toilet still creeps me out. She stayed dry the whole time we were out, and when we got home she started to pee in her diaper and said "Oh Mommy- I have to pee pee on the potty- Take my diaper off." She is still scared of the school potty, so maybe I will try tackling that next week if she stays in undies all weekend.
So that's our week....I think I've only been out of the house once or twice. Tuesday, I was absolutely glued to the T.V. watching the inauguration. Poor Hannah was bored to tears. I tried telling her that Obama is our new President.....and she said "Present?! Where's my Present??" So I gave up :) What an amazing piece of history! And to think that he will be the first president that my children will remember- SO COOL!!
Anyway, blah blah...cold weather stinks...the winter drags on....OH- but our snowman family endures!! They've been out there for 3 days :)

Oh- the Mommy snowman didn't get any facial features because Hannah had eaten all the candy hearts by then :)

Snow Day

Yay! We finally got some snow that actually stuck to the ground! Just a dusting...not enough to make a snowman. Hannah kept asking if we could build a Frosty the Snowman..so maybe we'll head back out there this afternoon before it all melts and make a ghetto little snowman.
I got some really cute shots of the kids in the snow. This has to be my new favorite picture of Sadie. She could hardly move in that suit, but she liked watching the snow fall. Hannah, of course, had a blast- swinging in the snow, making snowballs and throwing them at Dave, and trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue. After about 30 minutes, I thought Sadie was getting cold, so I said it was time to go inside and get some lunch. She cried and had a fit about having to go inside, ...she had on like 3 layers, so she probably could have stayed out longer...but I told her after a nap we'd go back out. Hope everyone is staying warm today!

Today Little Gym, Tomorrow The World!!

This morning was Hannah's final Little Gym class. So, we took Daddy, Sadie and the camera along--Hannah even received a medal! She was so excited to get it that when the teacher finally called her name, she shot up like a bullet and ran up the steps. She was proud that Chad was there too...she kept saying "Daddy, watch me!!" She showed him all her little tricks...her monkey jumps, frontward rolls, swinging from the bars, and her spider walk. The parachute is one of her favorite activities at Little Gym, so I'm glad she got to do that one more time. We decided not to sign her up for another semester. It's fun, but just not really worth the money. I really liked having this special time with her every Saturday morning, so I'm going to find something cheaper for us to do together. The county parks & rec. offer classes..and so does the University.





Here she is doing her frontward roll- on the balance beam!


Parachute ring around the rosie...


Doing her Monkey Jump :)


Accepting her major award!


I'm going to put the rest of the pics in the web album...so I'll email them to ya. We had a busy day today. This afternoon, we went to Katy's princess birthday party. Very cute! Katy shared her dress-up clothes and all the girls dressed up as beeeeautiful princesses! Hannah was Tinker Bell. (technically a fairy princess, I guess :) They did a craft, played princesses, ate cupcakes, and opened gifts. Good times!

Hannah's been up since before 5am , so when we got home from Katy's house I put her down for a nap...I think she was snoring before I even closed the door behind me.

Week Update

Well, I'm bummed because my camera battery is dead and I can't find the charger anywhere. Mom, did we leave it at your house?...Haven't seen it since Christmas. So, until Chad brings his work camera home, or I buy a new charger...I've got nothing new for you to look at, people. Sorry. Extra bummer because Hannah looked cute as a button this morning...it is Pajama Day at school, so she wore her Dora PJ's and Dora shoes and I put her hair in pig tails. I don't normally tackle her hair in the morning, but school was 2 hours delayed today, so I had until 11am to get her ready. Today, they are making trail mix, and everyone signed up to bring an ingredient...Hannah took Skittles.
We've had a nice week. Hannah's having fun at school..and yesterday we went to a cute place for the kids to play, called Little Thinkers. Becky came armed with her camera, so check out the pictures on her blog....crunchymonkeys.blogspot.com. Little Thinkers is the ideal place to take the kids when it's freeezing and nasty outside. 5$ and they can paint & do other crafts, and play with tons of toys & games for an hour. It gets us out of the house, and I don't have to clean up the mess- fabulous! Anyway, we had fun..and will probably be back soon.
Lets see, other than that, we've been staying warm and watching movies and playing Polly Pockets!

Watching Curious George (the movie) ....it's her new fave.

Magic Jams?

So, Chad's parents (Mema & Mepa) sent Sadie a bunch of warm winter pajamas with footsies in them. They are that thin flannel material, size 12 month. At first I didn't put them on her because I thought they'd be a bit too big, so I washed them all trying to shrink them. They fit her perfectly--and EVERY night that she's been wearing them (they sent like 10 of them, so we haven't run out yet)---she has slept the ENTIRE night through without waking up for a bottle!!! She will wake up and we'll hear her fussing...we'll go in and stick her paci in her mouth and she'll go right back to sleep. Getting up 4-5 times a night to slip her paci back in, is MUCH better than getting up 2 or 3 times to feed her and then rock her back to sleep. It could just be coincidence, but I think these jammies are her magic sleeping jammies. Maybe I'm just being superstitious and ridiculous, but I'm not willing to find out. I've had a taste of more sleep and I'm not turning back now! These flannel winter jammies rock! All other pajamas have been abandoned. :)

Happy 6 Month Birthday, Sadie Bug!

Could it be?? Is Sadie's first year really half over?! I can't believe it. Most of all, I can't believe I actually griped about having no free time when I just had 1 child---Man, I didn't know how easy I had it! LOL
Juggling two babies is slowly getting easier for me...as both of them get a bit older. Hannah is becoming a little more independent, and Sadie isn't a fragile newborn anymore. Sadie is amazing-Her milestones are just rolling on by. She can roll over and sit up by herself now. She has two teeth (working on #3) and has tried nearly every fruit/veggie baby food that Gerber sells. She still hasn't really figured out how to eat because she never opens her mouth on cue or when she sees the spoon coming, but I think she'll get it eventually.
Sadie is so sweet and easygoing...and she's easily the cutest baby I've ever seen. I have to remind myself to slow down and enjoy the rest of her first year because I know it will be over in a blink. Before long, she'll be running around the house with her big sister.
But for now, she's still our little Sadie Bug....or "Sadie Boo" as Hannah calls her!

Cabin Fever

Nothing very interesting going on around here this week. The weather is rotten, so we've been stuck inside with cabin fever. I'm ready for warm weather, already! Unless it snows, there's no good reason for it to be so miserable and cold outside! And it doesn't help knowing it was 65 degrees today in Va Beach....!
I woke up this morning with such a sore throat I could barely talk. Chad stayed home with the kids while I went to the doctor. He said I have a minor sinus infection..gave me some drugs and sent me on my way. The pills are humongous, bigger than prenatal vitamins..so I practically gag on them. But hopefully they'll clear this up soon because I'm so tired of being sick! I'm sure part of it is that I don't get nearly enough sleep. I just need to start going to bed earlier- it just feels so good to have several hours in the evening to myself when I can actually complete a sentence or even a single thought! Hopefully the weather will cooperate tomorrow, so that Hannah can go back to school. Here are some pictures of the girls from today.

Our year in photos..

2008- Our year in review :) (or at least the stuff i could find pictures of)

Happy New Year :)

Wow- I can't believe 2008 is over. We had such a busy and wonderful year- and it just FLEW by! We have officially been in our house for a whole year! This is a picture I took when Hannah and I first drove up here from the beach. Chad was at work, so I made the 4 hour trip by myself with Hannah watching Elmo in the backseat, and Tinsley crying the entire time in her crate in the passenger seat.


Man, the house was a disaster zone when we first moved in. Major plumbing issues, major carpet issues, and major filth issues :). But, the "bones" of the house were great, and all it needed was some TLC. A year later, we have settled in...still don't have every room painted or decorated the way we would if we didn't have 2 small children take care of. But it feels more like home to me than our house in Hermitage ever did. Maybe that is because our family has grown and I can picture our daughters growing up in this house. I'm happy here- although I miss Opryland Mall dearly!
Yes, 2008 was good to me. The house is nothing compared to the gorgeous baby girl I gave birth to in July. Sadie has made my family feel complete. She's such a sweet baby.... a true joy.

Hannah is an attentive and caring big sister, and she's blossomed so much this year. I never thought I'd put her in school so early, but I'm glad I did. That's another unexpected (and good) thing that's happened this year.
I'm so thankful for all the blessings in my life- my wonderful husband, my healthy-smart- and beautiful babies, our home, our families. What can I say?...I'm one lucky blonde :)

Sadie Sitting Up/ Crochet

Sadie is sitting up! Today she sat up for 15-20 seconds by herself before losing her balance. She was really working hard at it, and I could tell on her face that she knew she'd figured something out- lol. Usually she's too tired to even try to sit up on her own, but we went to the mall this afternoon and she slept pretty much the entire time in the stroller. Hannah had fun- after we ate lunch, she rode the Christmas train all by herself. Then we went to JC Penny's - they were having a monster sale and Chad needed some new shirts for work. Hannah was sipping my coke and dropped the whole cup on the carpeted floor of the men's department. Of course, the lid went flying off and the sales associate had to call "Clean up in the Men's department- dress pant aisle!". We dumped the evidence and scurried away...







I started making a baby blanket...decided I'd made it too small...so I'm gonna finish that one off and start a new one with Baby Soft yarn this time. Chad and Hannah were inspired and tried to crochet with me :).....didn't really work out though!