Friday, December 28, 2007

Merry Christmas to all..and then some...

Happy holidays! We're back from our trip to NJ to celebrate Christmas with the family. As usual, it took us forever to make the trip because of traffic and bathroom trips. The way up took us about 6 hours (including a 20 minute bathroom stop for C, and 45 minute dinner break). Luckily I had the foresight to send most of our presents up with my inlaws so we weren't cramped on the way up. The way back was a completely different story. Alas, I'm getting ahead of myself. Here's a rundown of our week:
  • C and M had a blast playing with Aunt C (J's sister) who was in from CA. We only see her twice a year, so it's one of the main reasons we head up for Christmas. C really remembers her so she was over the moon to see her, but M was a little resistant. She warmed up the next morning and had a blast from there.
  • C and I arrived to NJ with allergy/cold issues. Both of us were pretty miserable the first day or two, but recovered. J and M seemed fine for a while, but are getting it now.
  • C was able to see her friend Sophie who moved away this summer. To say the girls were excited to see each other was an understatement. They were adorable together. We met up for lunch and then headed to a local B&N to let them play a bit. They sat and read books which was just soo cute. Pictures from that will come...
  • Christmas Eve was insane as always. The festivities started around 2 pm at my inlaws and by 4, the kids had opened presents. Early, yes but they were running around in circles so it gave them something to do. C enjoyed everything she got and loved playing with her cousins. By the time we headed over to my mom's house at 7, it was another story. Both girls were fried and acting up. Moral of the story: one Christmas Eve for us from now on.
  • Santa came in with a bang on Christmas morning. Both girls LOVED all the presents and excitement. While I didn't get pictures, I have video that I'm going to edit and post. The biggest hits were C's Barbie dolls and M's Little People Garage. They are still opening new toys at home and loving it. I ,on the other hand, am trying to figure out what to do with all of them!
  • Aunt C and I made a Rice Krispie house instead of the traditional gingerbread. It was much easier to build (thicker pieces) but harder to decorate since the surface was uneven. We all loved to eat the "debris" though! :)

I think those are the highlights from the trip. The week also included family drama, bad weather, and a trip to the ER. Yup, that's right...the ER. M was running a 104 fever on Wednesday so I called our pediatrician and she wanted us to get checked out. The dr. at the ER said it's probably viral and M seems to be feeling better today. She's back to eating, so I'm taking that as a good sign.

The trip home took over 9 hours which was horrendous. The weather was bad, the traffic through Nj was worse, and M was running a fever the whole time. To say we will never travel the day after Christmas again is an understatement.

So there you go...the holiday according to us. Hope you all had a wonderful one and a happy new year!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Procrastination at it's finest...

Yup, that's me procrastinating. You see I should be getting ready to get on the road and head up to NJ, but instead I'm writing this blog. I'm tired, correction exhausted, as my kids were up from 4:30-6 am. I then had to dash out the door by 9:30 am to go get bloodwork. Now it's time to pack. Or is it??

I realized that I neglected to provide M's 18 month update. Bad Mommy, I know. So, here you go...



M had her checkup last Thursday while I was in bed recovering from a stomach virus. Her stats are as follows:

Weight: 25 lbs. 3 ozs.
Height: 33 1/2 inches

She says the following:
  • Please
  • Thank You
  • Welcome
  • Mommy
  • Daddy
  • Mema
  • Pepa
  • Mimi
  • Samby (Sammy)
  • Tubby
  • Cup
  • Drink
  • Cat
  • Kitty
  • Milo
  • Baby
  • Puppy
  • Birdie
  • Monkey
  • Boots
  • Dora
  • Diego
  • Super Why
  • Show
  • TV
  • Pancakes
  • Bagel
  • Dip
  • Carrot
  • Yummy
  • Roni (Macaroni)/Pasta
  • Yes
  • Ok
  • No
  • Let GO!!
  • Stop It!!
  • Get Down
  • Done
  • Cleanup
  • Nose
  • Eyes
  • Ears
  • Mouth
  • Teeth
  • Tongue
  • Cheek
  • Chin
  • Head
  • Hair
  • Buckle
  • Open/Close
  • Up
  • On/Off

There are a ton more but that's all I can think of right now. She can sing "Twinkle, twinkle", "See Saw", "Cleanup", "Go to Sleep", and "ABC's". She's running, trying to jump, and loves to dance and spin. Overall she's really happy all the time. She's just started throwing tantrums when she gets mad. Fun, right?

Her sleeping is still being worked on, but we'll be dealing with that after the holidays. Ok, enough procrastination. Off to pack. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Winter Wonderland Recital

C's recital was Saturday. I haven't had a chance to put the video online yet, but here are some pictures from the day. This is the best one. The called C's name and she ran across the stage. Unfortunately, her tutu decided not to stay on her hips...

Here she is shaking her thing. She was a Rockin' Rudolph and danced to "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer".
To say the whole thing was hilarious was an understatement. It is truly the best money I spend. I get the whole mommy pride thing going as well as sore sides from laughing! Her teachers really do a wonderful job at preparing the kids, but the kids have their own agendas. Here's one little girl deciding to take a "seat":


She wound up sitting down right on the end of the stage. Priceless!! I'll post the video once it's up.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Catching up

It's been a busy December here so far. We've been busily decorating and preparing for the holidays. Miss C had her school concert on Tuesday which was really cute. I'm going to try get some up on the computer and will post it once I do. Now we are busy in preparation for this weekend. C has her winter dance recital on Saturday which also means our house will be overflowing with out of town guests. Time to clean!! :)

To make this week a little crazier, I got hit in the parking lot of a church right before C's concert. Luckily no one was hurt, and I'm hoping the damage is minimal (seems like my mirror was the only casualty), but it's a pain to deal with. We're heading up to NJ next week, so I don't have a ton of time to get this done. Oh well...just need to get through this week, right??

We'll be taking some pictures tonight in the hopes of getting one in front of our tree we can use for our cards. I'll (hopefully) have a great shot to post on here later.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

A visit with Santa and other things...

On Sunday we headed to our local mall for a "Breakfast with Santa". Boy, what a rip off!! I paid $30 (M was free) for the four of us to go for breakfast and a visit with Santa. I thought there would be pancakes, etc...but it was actually nothing more than a 2 star quality hotel continental breakfast. Meaning there was fruit, tiny bagels, tiny danishes, and munchkins. Yippee!! Needless to say we all left starving from the ordeal, but Miss C was ecstatic that she got to sit with Santa. As you can see, Miss M didn't feel the same...

By Wednesday, M was acting really crabby and had a snotty nose so off to the doctor, and in a snowstorm no less, we went. Turns out she had a sinus infection that backed up into her ears so she's on a course of antibiotics. Hopefully she'll be all healthy before the holidays!