Snowy Monday

Thank goodness for small miracles!

It was actually calm enough at work for me to leave a few hours early,

I didn't crash on the icky, icy roads on the way home, 

and my girls slept until after 7, allowing me over an hour of sleep before they woke up!

These Mondays are always tough on me, and I currently am hosting a nasty head cold, so I REALLY

wasn't feeling too super-dee-duper about it, but I have to say, the girls have been very good to me and as soon as I'm done with this post, I'm going to go take a nap!

I wanted to put up a few new pictures of the pups, as they are 6 weeks now!

playing with a pheasant wing

Frank and Tim posing:  "Cheese"!

The little buggers are feisty and noisy, but they are so fun to watch, and seriously... could they be cuter?

Frank the Tank and Average Joe are spoken for and will go to their new homes in 2 weeks.

Tiny Tim is still looking for that special family to take him home!

Who could resist that mug?!

Ellie is still sick, but sleeping better according to Ryan.  She is now standing on her own pretty well, ah... sniff, big girl! 

The puppies kept climbing on her which she clearly didn't love.

Lila is in sweet mode today, which I love!  

I was laying on the floor playing with them and I laid my head down on my arm,  Lila comes over by me and asks me "Is Mommy sick?" and I said, "Yes, baby... Mommy's sick".  She proceeded to lay down next to me and give me a hug and said "I give Mommy a hug, makes Mommy happy!"  

Later this morning I was changing El's diaper and she comes to me and says "I feel warm Mama, take my 'tempur". (aka- temperature), which I did, and it was normal, but I just thought it was so cute.

Lila is taking Tim for a ride!

I feel like I have no point to this post, and I'm just rambling, so I'm going to go take a nap.

Maybe I'll make more sense when I wake up.   Or not.

Big Girl Lila!

I'll go ahead and make it official...

Lila Kate is POTTY TRAINED!!!

Hooray Lila!

We are so proud of you!

Lila has been out of diapers for months and has been wearing Pull-ups at night.

This week I decided to try putting her to bed in big girl undies, since she has been waking up primarily dry for some time now.  We started Sunday night, and have had happy dry mornings ever since!

She is also getting quite self-sufficient about going potty all by herself (even occasionally locking us out of the bathroom!)  She tells us "I do it", which in truth, she says regarding EVERYTHING lately!  Then once she goes, and wipes, and washes her hands, she tells us "I do a good job!"

My independant woman! Ha!

Part of me is thrilled to be moving on, yet there is a little piece of me that is sad.

To me, this is saying Good-bye to Lila's babyhood.

Sigh.... tear....

Okay Ana, stop sniffling.

she was having fun fogging up the windows!

Here are a few other things I would like to mention about our firstborn!

1)  She has more energy than I can possibly imagine!  Seriously, I know toddlers are known to be busy, but Holy Cow... that girl can go, and go, and go.....  I wish there was a way to siphon some of that energy into me!

2)  She calls her little sister "Ellie Belly"!  How cute is that?  I don't know where that came from, but she says it all the time!  A few nights ago, I had Elaina on my lap and Lila was playing with her.  Squishing her cheeks and kissing her, it was just too darling!

3)  She knows how to work our iPad better than I do.  I'm not joking.  

4)  She is feisty!  Not a naughty girl, but she pushes you.  She knows that "no" means "no", and is really quite good at saying "Please" and "Thank you".  She also says "Bless You" when someone sneezes.  That being said, she does have routine tantrums, doesn't like sharing with her sister, and turns a deaf ear when told it's time to do anything she's not excited about.  I'm thinking that's all pretty typical of a 2 year old!

5)  She loves Dora the Explorer!  It's so fun watching her watch the show and listen to her follow the "instructions"!  Her face gets so animated when she sees Swiper the Fox, and she says "OH NO MOMMY, SWIPER the Thox!"

6)  She can't say her "F's" or "V's".  F= Th, and V=B. 

Example:  Fork: Thork, Frank: Thrank, Fox: Thox, 

Video= Beero (i don't know), Volovsek= Bull-o-shi**. 

(ask her to say her name, it's really funny!)

She's awesome!

What else can I say?!

Sweet Calvin turns 1!

Yesterday I got to take some very special 1st Birthday pictures!

Mr. Calvin was such a good little boy and gave me lots of smiles, 

after he warmed up to me!!!

Thank you Shannon for letting me play with my camera and capture 

such a special time in your lives!

This was the "alright already, I'M DONE!"

Soothing repetition ~ 4/52

This week's Project 52 theme was "Soothing Repetition".

I first was thinking of trying to somehow capture the quiet moment of Lila having her back rubbed.

She loves it.

(Who doesn't?)

But how would I capture this?

She likes Mommy to rub her back.

She likes Mommy to rub her back before bed.

She likes Mommy to rub her back before bed in her VERY dark room.

Ah well... I'll just enjoy rubbing her back, forget the picture.

Besides... there is something else that is soothing to me!

And the fact that I enjoy it almost EVERY day, (sometimes more than once), well,

that makes it something repetitious.

Mmmmmmm......

my coffee......

Sigh........ aaaaaahhhhh!

 

Can you smell it?

Can you feel the warm cup in your hands?

I can!

(that's because I'm drinking that lovely cup that was brewing while I took this picture!)

~now I realize I'm taking a lot of "object" photos, so next week, regardless of theme

I will have a human element in my picture~

Elaina Grace ~ 9 Months

Last Friday, Miss Elaina turned 9 months old.

Today I took her to the pediatrician and she's just Perfect!

(Like we didn't know that already!?!)  

;)

She weighs in at 17lbs 12oz and is 29" long!

25-50% for weight and 90% for length, HA!  

Long and lean machine!

A few other tidbits about our lovely second child...

1) She is a Mama's girl, all the way!  I like and dislike this at the same time.  Sometimes it's so nice to feel like you are the most important thing in the world to someone.  You are the one who can make the tears stop, the one who can soothe and cuddle the best... it's Great!  This however, also means that you have a permanent attachment.   One that screams her head off if you leave her sight when she "needs" you, so just forget about doing the laundry in peace or trying to wash dishes.  (I have discovered these are incredibly difficult tasks to do one-handed).  Fortunately, she isn't in "mama-mode" 24/7, it's just tough when she is.

2) She is a Happy girl!  She has a great grin (big gap in her top teeth, just like Lila) and shares her smiles with almost everyone.  This did not include our pediatrician this morning, however.  He walked into the room with a smile and his soft voice and all he got was the serious glare of apprehension.  We giggled about it at the end of the visit, as she never cracked a HINT of a smile the whole time, but never once took her eyes off him!  "Who are you and just what exactly are you planning on doing to me?"  Haha!

3)  She is eating table food like a champ and has suddenly developed a Monster appetite!  She's always been a bit of a light eater, just a little bird... but she must be in a growth spurt, cause this girl wants more, More, MORE!!!

4)  She babbles all the time, "ba-ba-ba-ba", "da-da-da-da", and "spijsljfli;lgjfffffff" currently are her favorite words! She can walk behind her push toy very well, and stands on her own (when she isn't paying attention to the fact she can do it).  She is mesmerized by the Baby Einstein videos, just as Lila was, and likes when mommy sings to her!  

5)  She is so much like her Daddy, it's a little spooky!  From her looks, to her mannerisms, to the tiny personality peeking out more every day.... it's all Ryan!  I wonder some days if there is any of me in there at all?!

What a wonderful little girl we have! 

Ellie Grace, we love you to the moon and back!

Great weekend and Great Monday!

Really!  It was one of the best weekends we've had in a LONG time!

Fun, productive yet relaxing, and all around Enjoyable!

I think this is hilarious~  "Don't mess with me till I've had my cup of Hot Chocolate!"

Making pancakes with Daddy~ he used a smidge too much vanilla- hence the face!

After our date night on Friday, we had a great Saturday just running errands and doing odds and ends.

We spent a few hours visiting with some special friends, and went and picked up our little ones at

Ryan's parent house!  We had some quick takeout dinner, got the girls all ready for bed, bundled them in 

car and headed home.  Everyone went to bed easy and slept all night!  Sunday was awesome, we relaxed 

in PJ's most of the day.  Ryan and I put together a chicken pot pie, FROM SCRATCH while the girls were

napping. 

It was really Yummy too!  (at least Ryan's part was... he made the filling, I made the pie crust.)

Note**I will NOT be making pie crust from scratch again... thank you Pillsbury!

my miserable attempt at making pie crust~ never again man, never again!

Yummy end result!

Our neighbors popped over at Half-time to say Hello and get some puppy kisses and we had yet another nice

evening together as a family!  

This morning I was rather impressed with myself, as I was all together and ready to walk out the door with both girls this morning, ON TIME for Elaina's 9 month pediatrician appt.  I did however forget which clinic I was going to since we visit both Edina and Eden Prairie, so I called to check as I was just about to enter 169.  Wah-wah.... oh wait... Ellie appointment isn't until TOMORROW at 9:30.  (Edina by the way.)  Geez.

Okay, so now I'm fully dressed, hair done, make-up on, kids packed and in tow, and essentially no where to go.  Nice.

We went to the zoo instead!

Was a fun time too!  Both girls were great and had lots of fun. 
We ended our visit on a sour note, and I feel I should mention that metal revolving doors should NOT be used a play toy.  The older, rowdier kids ahead of us, were apparently not aware of that, and as we were just about to go through the revolving door, one of them gave a giant shove to see how fast it would go, and managed to knock Lila down and smash her face in between the bars.  After a "oops, sorry" their parents and them quickly departed, leaving me with a screaming toddler who keeps repeating "the door got me mama, the door got me!!!"  Poor baby :(

Thankfully, she's tough and is just fine.  Just has a small war wound that will be fine in a day or two!

She LOVES the fish and diver ~ don't worry, I went and made her sit down right away!

Revolving door ~1, Lila ~0

I hear Miss Elaina talking in her crib, so I'm out for now!

(I'm enjoying my week off, so I will apologize in advance for the plethora of postings to come!)

Frank, Tim & Joe - 5 Weeks

The guys are growing

and MAN ARE THEY CUTE!!!

5 Weeks old on Friday!

They can go to new homes in about a month,

know anyone looking???

Typical "Mom" look.... being clobbered, climbed on, pulled at... haha!

The big guy! His tail never stops wagging!

Our little man, but the feisty guy!  He's a little scrapper!

Our mellow fellow~ calm, cuddly, loves the pheasant wings!

Date Night!

Last night the girls went to Grandma and Grandpa's.

The hubby and I went on a date!

Some much needed and appreciated alone time!

Nothing too exciting, 

a little dinner out, 

a few Colorado Bulldogs (not our usual, but yummy),

some Angry Birds...

enjoyable!

I love you honey!

taken with my tripod... yes, I know we're dorks.  ~Ok, I'M a dork.

We took our puppies to the vet this morning

(after sleeping in, of course!)

~can you call 7:30am sleeping in?....  Ummm, YES!~

Now we have a few errands to run and some visiting to do, 

then off to pick up our sweet girls and another night to enjoy together as a family!

What a great weekend so far!

Shades of gray~ 3/52

Pure comfort

Knowing that slipping this on will make you feel warm and cozy.

Well... maybe not so warm anymore

It has a lot of, ummm... ventilation.

But cozy, definately cozy!

I haven't worn this sweatshirt in awhile.

Ryan doesn't want me to be seen in it.

Lie.

Ryan doesn't want to SEE ME in it.

(almost as much as he doesn't want me to be seen in my camoflauge sweatpants.)

What?  They're cozy too!

Shut up.

Anyway, 

I haven't been able to bring myself to throw it away.

It's been in my closet, a dark corner of my closet.

One that holds my secrets.

Or maybe just ratty old cozy sweatshirts.

This week for my project 52, the theme is "Shades of Gray".

I struggled, because all I kept thinking of was the dreary, gray weather outside and

when I look out the window, I think "why the heck would I want to take a picture of that?"

Yuck.

But then I thought of my dear old friend, in the dark corner of my closet.

and light dawned!

In honor of this photo, I just may go ahead and wear this today!

at least until 4:30 when Ryan gets home from work.

Sunday stuff

Sunday is here.

A busy week, followed by a busy (and productive) Saturday.

Now, for a calm relaxing Sunday.

Well... Kinda.

Girls were up early and I never really did get to sit and enjoy my coffee,

but it's still been a pretty good day.

Ryan got a wild hair and decided to get rid of some junk we had in our basement.

You know, just the usual...

a couch...

a queen sized bed...

I go downstairs and see this...

He just decided to hack it all to pieces, drag it down the hill, and burn it.

Well... that's one way to do it!

The girls are doing well.

Both of them seem to be pretty much over the colds they had.

Ellie's nose is still running like a faucet, but no more coughs or fevers.

Thumbs up!

Ryan has been talking about putting up shelving and storage in our garage forever,

and yesterday with his Dad's help, finally got it done!  Looks pretty great too!

Thanks Rich! (and Thank You Barb, for all your help around the house! I love you!)

Lila "helping" Daddy and Papa in the garage!

I've been grumpy the past few days.

I'm tired.  And sick of the gray weather.

I'm in serious need of a little sunshine, and CAN'T WAIT for the next 3 days of work to go by

so I can enjoy my week off!

Pups are growing like weeds and cuter by the second!  If you know anyone looking... let us know!

They'll be ready to go to new homes in about a month!

Here are some pics from the past week.

My sicky baby :(

Feeling better!  She was helping us organize yesterday!

Playing with the puzzle Papa Dave made us

Cutie in Mommy's glasses!

Being a sassy pants (but still cute... how do they DO that?!)

Kissing her buddy Tim

Got lots more to share, but I'm looking at Ellie right now and seeing a photo opp...

later...