5..4..3..2..1....Happy New Year!!!

New Years Eve.

It is funny how a date can spark so many memories and so many feelings.

My dad's birthday is today.  Growing up we spent every New Year's Eve with some family friends.  We would either go to their house or have a party at our house.  I remember always looking forward to that and as I got older I don't remember actually wanting to do anything else.  I wouldn't have thought of it.  Being at home with my family was what it is all about.  That is what it is still about for me.  I want to create New Year's memories with my children and be surrounded by close friends.  I want my kids to look forward to 'partying with mom and dad' for New Year's.

December 31, 2002.  The night Brian proposed to me.  That night we were actually at a party with our friends and as it got close to midnight, Brian had requested a song for me.  The DJ announced it and the song "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton played.  We danced and at the end he was on one knee.  I get butterflies in my stomach thinking about it again.  Here we are married for 7 years and have 2 beautiful little girls. 

Since we have been together we have spent New Year's Eve with the Busta's.  The last few years we have gone over to Tammy and Josh's- with the Busta's.  It is perfect. 

The boys always treat us to a magic show.

The girls always crack us up with their imaginations.

There are always plenty of snacks.

Plenty of crockpots.

And plenty of smiles :-)

(she was taking pictures...or at least pretending to)

I think I may have accomplished what I have set out to do...

Happy New Year!

This

is the camera

that took the picture of this baby

that generated this moment

Hannah (while holding the 'camera' to her eye) :  "Say cheese baby!"

Hannah (while bent over walking to the baby):  "Ohhhh look at you baby, you so cute.  Look at the picture baby."

Hannah (while suprised at what she sees):  "See this picture baby, oops, I see a booger in your nose.  Should we get it?  Should we get it?  Mommy, will get it cutie.  (wipes her nose)  There, doesn't that feel better baby?"

Honestly....if she grows up I am going to cry.

Good idea? Not sure yet.

Who's bright idea was it to create a doll that you can acutally feed that will then poopie and potty?

Is this somethig that if it didn't exist people would actually say "A guy should...."?

I am not really convinced.

However, the three year old in our house couldn't imagine it any other way.

Tonight after dinner we fed Changing Baby Diaper.

She had pears and water.

Afterwards she wet herself.

Hannah was thrilled!

This baby not only eats, drinks, does poopie and potty...she also burps, cries, coos, and giggles.

Before, during, and after her snack/meal/treat she will make noise based upon her needs and it is the job of the 3 year old in the house to read her cues to determine what she needs.

Amazingly, she got what she needed and at the end of the night feel fast asleep next to Emerson in the baby crib located in Hannah's room.

Lucky.

Wish I were here

I wish I were somewhere in the middle of all of that!

Another reason why I never get much done when I plan to.

I get in the mood to clean the house or pick things up so the girls get settled in our bed and I find them a how to watch.  It should give me at least 23 minutes of free time. 

Instead I find myself standing in the doorway watching how sweet they are and hoping that as they grow up things stay this peaceful.

Copycat

I was laying my head on a towel that was laying on the toilet tonight watching the girls in the bath.
My little Hailey Bird Monster was watching me and then proceeded to place her washcloth on the tub and lay her head down to look back at me.

It was a Baby Christmas

This is what you get when you have two baby-obsessed little girls :-)

I was happy to see that Emerson didn't take a back seat to Changing Baby Diaper.  Now Hannah is just real busy with two!

Merry Christmas Round 2

Today Brian and I hosted Christmas at our house for my side of the family.
We had homemade Money Bread, fruit salad  and mimosas for breakfast.
Then we opened gifts.

*Proud Mommy Alert*
With each present that Hannah opened she gave a personal lank you (thank you) and a hug to the gift giver.  It was so sweet to watch her react to the gifts that she opened and I was so proud that she genuinely seemed appreciative of receiving those gifts. 

Some of the gift highlights (can't possibly list them all)
Hannah:  Changing Baby Diaper, Blue Princess baby, books, clothes/jammies, games, movies (Wizard Ba Boz was a hit!), baby highchair, monkey lunch box, barbies, new backpack, Easy Bake Oven
Hailey: Peek a Boo Baby, twin babies, baby highchair, books, clothes/jammies/socks, new backpack, play microwave
Brian: iPod adapter for truck stereo, Sears gift cards, LOTS of Chicken Wild gift cards, shoes, t-shirts, new pots and pans
Amy:  clothes, gift cards, Sony Cybershot camera, necklace, purse skirt, new bag for work, an iPad

How could you not fall in love with that purse skirt???!!!  It is so cute!

Merry Christmas Round 1

 We spend Christmas Eve at the Parmley's.
It works out perfectly since we then can spend Christmas Day with the 'Miller side'.

The kids LOVE seeing each other and look at this.  They are actually sitting still (almost) and sort of cooperating while Jennifer, Judy and I snap away taking pictures. 

We cheated this year using the TV as a distraction  :-)

Grandma and Grandpa got each of the kids a Pillow Pet.

They all opened them at the same time and were very excited about them.

Our annual family picture.
Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Special bracelet

When I got home today Hannah greeted me holding this bracelet in her hands.

Hannah:  "Here mom.  This bracelet is for you.  Manda got it to me at Jackie's.  I want you to have it cause you are a special moder and I love you very much!" 

 (insert HUGE hug here)

Maybe she isn't such a stinker after all...

No mom, I'm not

Tonight in the bath Hannah was drinking the bath water.

You can only do so much to try to stop it and believe me I was doing all I could while also assuring that #2 was being watched as well.

She kept laying on her belly and then opening her mouth to get a large mouthful of water.

Me:  "Hannah Elizabeth!  Stop doing that.  It is nasty and you are going to choke!'

Hannah:   mischevious smile and mouthful of water- some spit out, some swallowed

Me:  " Bean, I am serious.  Stop it."

Hannah:  cough, cough, gag, gag

Me:  "What did I tell you?  Are you ok?"

eyes watering while she catches her breath

Hannah:  "No mom, I'm not choking.  I just playing my favorite coughing game"

Little stinker.....



^ gulp ^

Tonight was the Christmas edition of the Grandpa Dan Show.  Also the last scheduled show for the next few months since Grandpa will be going to Ecuador next Tuesday and staying until March!

Anyways, Hannah thought it would only be appropriate to have Christmas cookies while she was watching the show.

Can't disagree with that logic so she was able to pick out one of the decorated sugar cookies that she had made with her 'people' this past weekend.

The cookie she chose had a lot of sprinkles on it.  Those sprinkles ended up in her orange pop (she put them there).
That orange 'sprinkle pop' ended up in her belly.

Watching her drink that actually made me want to throw up in my mouth a little bit.

You know you have a problem when....

You want to eat an M & M for a treat but don't take your nuk out of your mouth while you are eating it.

Tonight I could have sworn that I gave Hailey an M & M and I swear she put it in her mouth but when I look over at her she is sucking away on her nuk (aka crack for babies).

I pulled the nuk out of her mouth, heard a crunch, and then saw the questioned M & M in her mouth.

Not sure how we are ever going to break this one from her habit.

TGFA

TGFA

A = Aunties

Yesterday I dropped Hannah and Hailey off at my moms where Jennie, Kim, and Kristin were waiting to spend the day with my girls.
They came loaded up with frosting, candy, and all the tools and ingredients needed to make Christmas cookies.

What a help it was to have an afternoon all to myself to shop!  Up until yesterday I hadn't done a ton of shopping.  Work has been crazy busy, the weather has been out of control and by the time I get home at night I am just too exhausted to leave after the girls go to bed.

Got a lot accomplished yesterday and after I picked the girls up from grandma's we stop home to get daddy and then went to 'Chicken Wild' (aka Buffalo Wild Wings) for dinner.  Yummy!

Bath toys

Who needs bath toys when you have spoons, cups, and bowls?

Just like all the stories you hear about kids getting expensive toys and then playing with the boxes that they came in.  My girls prefer to play with kitchen utensils in the bath instead of bath toys.

They use them to make ice cream, kool-aid, and restur-lant food.

Moving day

Five years ago when I joined the EHR team our office was in the basement.  Today was moving day.  Our team moved to the 2nd floor.
It is a nice space.  There is a main hallway and then 4 offices off of the hallway.  This is my new office (pre-move in).

I am excited to get my new office all set up and pictures hung.  I am sure it will take me a while but there is no hurry.   We will be there for a while :-)

Nothin' cuter than a baby in a towel

I should really bring my camera into the bathroom with me at bath time. 

There is nothing cuter than a baby all wrapped up in a towel!

My camera phone stinks but it is so convenient. 

Hailey especially looks cute in this bright pink towel with her bright blue eyes- AUGH- it just makes me crazy she is soooo cute!

That's a baby in her tummy

Tonight Hannah's artwork included a mommy with a baby in her tummy.

(the baby is drawn on the white paper that was then glued to the mommy's belly)

They are learning about kangaroos at daycare this week.

Number three

My girls love babies.

This isn't the first time you have heard me say that.

Sometimes it even feels like I have three children of my own.

Meet, Emerson (we are away from Soda for now).

The bedtime routine starts with Hailey (kisses and night-nights), then Hannah (teeth brushing, potty, goodnights), and now Emerson (luckily she just needs kisses).

At least in the morning Hannah tends to Emerson.  She wakes her, feeds her, and carries her to the couch to watch TV. 

Who is raising this child??!

We have our moments.
We also have our fair share of evidence that messes don't always get cleaned up.

We also have our fair share of moments like these.
I was washing dishes and Hannah came to me asking to use a towel so that she could help clean up the kitchen.  She brought the dishes to the sink, tossed the trash in the garbage can, washed and dried the table,  and filled Nash's water dish.  Such a big helper!

Grooming

I don't know about this girl and her Dankie.

Apparently he needed to be brushed.

Why? you ask...

He needs all the polka dots to be the same way.

Great Buddies

While the snow was falling outside, Hannah and I decided to do art projects.

Hannah:  "Mommy, can I use that glue stick?"

Me:  "I don't know honey.  I don't want you making a huge mess.  I got you some of your own glue sticks.  Maybe you should use your own."

Hannah:  "How 'bout I have a good idea.  How 'bout we both use that glue stick?  How 'bout I share with you?  How 'bout that mommy?"

Me:  "Ok, that would be fine.  You can use it but you need to use this side (pointing to the larger more kid friendly side).  OK?"

Hannah:  "Ok.  We are sharing mom, just like great buddies!"

What's with the hat?

Chloe (well, Tammy really) gave us that hat and Hannah loves it.  Brian was outside snow blowing the driveway and Hannah was wearing her hat "just in case her head gets cold while daddy is outside".

Baking day

Tammy, Stacey, and I spent the day baking.

We made cream wafers, peanut butter blossoms (the ones with the Hershey kiss), Chewy Surprise (Milk Dud ones), pumpkin with icing, Jingle Bell Butterfinger cookies (like a chocolate chip cookie but with crushed butterfingers instead), and homemade caramels (my favorite).


Homemade Caramels
1 cup butter
1 lb brown sugar (yes, that does say one pound)
dash of salt
1 cup light Karo syrup
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter over medium heat.  Add sugar, salt and Karo syrup.  Gradually add milk.
Stir continously until temp reaches 245 degress (firm ball-use candy thermometer).
Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Pour into 9 inch pan.
I like to use a disposable pan so that you can bend the pan around the caramels to get them out.
Cut, wrap, and enjoy!

That is if you don't eat the whole pan while you are cutting them

False alarm

Hailey woke up with a rash this morning.
It was all over her body.  All over.  Not as bad as the rash she had this summer but it didn't look good.

It looked to me like chicken pox.  I called and brought her in to see Dr Kelly.  Luckily she does not have chicken pox.  He thinks that it is just a viral infection.  Whew!

The girls and I went to McDonald's afterwards. 

After we were done eating Hannah got to play with this

Hailey got to play with this

Poor kid got jipped!

(I looked it up, that is the urban dictionary way to spell it)

She didn't seem to mind too bad.

Kiss Monster

Last night I was reading to Hannah and Hailey and for some reason Hailey started nose diving to the pages that contained animals and babies to kiss them.  She would bend in half and give out a HUGE smooch!

Hannah and I were cracking up.

The more we would laugh the more she would do it.

Favorite Treat

One thing that I love about this time of year is that the Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark candy bars are available.

These things are amazing! 

If you haven't tried one yet, treat yourself to the $2 slice of heaven. 

You won't be disappointed.

Hannah wasn't.

She has eaten two of these candy bars so far.

"Mom, I have a great idea! (sounds familiar right?!)  How 'bout I have some of your favorite treat?  Is that a good idea?  How 'bout we do that?"

I have gotten a taste or two but I may have to stock up before Christmas is over.

The pickle family

Hannah:  "Mommy!  I have a great idea.  Let's have those baby pickles for lunch.  Sound like a good idea?"

Me:  "Sure thing.  How many do you want?"

Hannah:  "Three.  Cause I am three."

I scoop out three pickles and hand them to her, she cups her hands and starts walking to the table-all while bent over talking to the pickles

Hannah:  "You want to go see your mommy and daddy.  Yes?  OK, I bring you to your mommy and daddy.  See, now you all on the plate.  Now I going to eat you."

Don't judge me....

So my kid picks up snow from the carpet and eats it after it has fallen off of our pants and gloves (and probably boots)....big deal.  (I think I just threw up in my mouth a little...)

Vic's Party 2010

For the past 18 years (pretty sure that's how many) my aunt Vicki has hosted an all girl's Christmas party.
A few weeks before the party she will mail the invitation along with the instructions.

The instructions are always given in poem format and are the same each year.  Use this item (usually that is included in the envelope) and make something. 

This year the assignment was ribbon.

Being a scrapbooker and having a cabinet of ribbon to choose from, this was easy for me.  I had a lot of ideas right away and it was just a matter of putting something together.

It's always fun to see what people come up with. 

My cousin, Lee Ann, made this bag. 

Left: Santa ornament made by my sister Jennie. 

Right:  Santa in a sleigh made by my cousin Teresa.

This was an ornament made by my aunt Anita.

It was as large as it looks :-)

Left:  Placemat made by my aunt Vicki

Right:  Clipboard made by me.

Left:  Coasters made by my sister Kristin

(SUPER cool....made with curling ribbon)

Right/front:  Sucker ornament purchased by my aunt Mary

Left:  Ribbon candy Christmas tree made by my aunt Diane, with help from my dad's glue gun

Right:  Wrapped box to look like a present made by my great aunt Joanne

Christmas tree garland made by my sister Kim.