Happy New Year!

I wish you all a happy, healthy New Year. :o) 

Down and Out

This little guy really made me chuckle, and it was a laugh I needed.  The post holiday blues have hit me particularly hard this year, and I don't know why.  :o(  Was it because I was actually home all day every day and I don't want to see my Christmas decor put away?  Is it I didn't get to spend much time with B because of his new job?  Is it a down yo (I don't think so, but who knows)? Is it just the holiday blues?  I don't know.

I do know the house will have to be undecorated before next Saturday.  We usually leave the decorations up until after Brien's birthday (the 12th day of Christmas), but with the girls' baptism the 8th, there is no time to do so that weekend, and we will have a houseful.  We need to be undecorated and ready to celebrate without Christmas in evidence.

Besides, I'm ready, I truly am ready for my house to be it's usual, fairly un-cluttered self.  I have absolutely glutted myself on sugar and butter and rich decadent food, and I'm ready for lots of fresh salads and to toss the sugar.  I had to chuckle, we took tins of candy to Nana and Pop's house for sharing, and Grandma/GG said she was going to "eat some of that crap Rachael brought", lol!  She meant to say "Trash", but "crap" came out, and is FAR more appropriate. ;o)

Anyhow, this evening B and I will bring in the tubs so the un-decorating can commence.  I suppose it will be nice to get my house "back to normal", but I'll sure miss my Christmas tree at night. :sigh:  And, really, there is something so sad about the removal of all vestiges of the holidays.  Winter is an awfully bleak season without the cheer of Christmas.  :oS

Next week, in preparation of Saturday, I need to steam clean the carpets, scrub the kitchen floor, and declutter the dining room and dog's room/laundry room.  That on top of my usual chores, and Lil and I resume Mommy School next week.  Maybe I just need to get back into my usual routine?  I just don't know.

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Today's Sparklies:

1.  I received a box of Aunt Sally's Creole Pralines from N'Awlins, and my goodness are they gooooooooood. ;o)
2.  The dresses have been ordered (thank you, Jessie!).  Now to get white cardis and shoes and socks, and a new white hairbow for Bitty.  Ella and Gracie will have the same dress (with pink cardis) and they'll all wear them again at Easter since we'll all be together then as well (since Jessie will be here for the Easter Vigil since I'll be entering the Church then), and we like to have the girls "matchy-matchy" while we can. :o)
3.  "Red meatloaf" for dinner.
4.  Nana and Dad just called to offer to bring Lil to lunch and a movie tomorrow.  I know there's no way I'll get out to see "Tangled" before it's out of the theaters, and I'm delighted they're going to take the time to take her. :o)  She could use a little one-on-one with her N and P right now.
5.  I'm still getting Christmas cards. :o) I LOVE that!

No milestones.

Miss Bean

Ah, how the Beanie is a growin'.  She is eight months old (is time flying, or is it just me?) and her little personality is really starting to come out. 

 We find her VERY entertaining and funny.  She loves (I mean loooooves) to be upside down, frequently throwing herself into that position. 

She particularly enjoys doing it in the middle of a meal.  She'll be nursing along, just fine, and then, BAM!, she's upside down (or as Lil would say, "side side down").  Grab her by her hips and swing her upside down and she's a happy camper.

I love going in to get her after a nap, or first thing in the morning.  She'll be standing at the rail, calling to me (she squeals and jabbers), and when she sees me, she'll begin bouncing up and down with delight, a HUGE gummy grin on her face. :o)

She is quite the jabberer these days, and I'm fairly certain she's saying, "hiiiiiiiii", "Yeeyee" for Lily, and "Mamamamama" for Mama.  Everything else is just a string of babbles, but she is so earnest in her "chatter" you have to take her seriously.

Physically she is quite adept.  Too adept if you ask me.  She is cruising.  She is cruising between objects, letting go of one to grasp at the next.  This morning, she was crawling over to me, decided it would be faster to walk, detoured to the ottoman, pulled up, and walked her way on around to me.  Heaven help me...

If she's not supposed to have it, you can guarantee she will go for it--Lil's art supplies, the ornaments on the tree, DVDs, the tuner.  :shakes head:  Her favorite toys are those items that aren't hers, and those toys which she can use to stand. 

She has definitely settled into a routine.  She is up around 6 or 7, naps from 9-10 or 11, eats at noon, down again at 1:30 or 2:00-3:00 or 4:00, has dinner at 5:00, bath at 6:00 and bedtime at 6:30.  That said, would we like it if she had a slightly later bedtime, say 7:00?  Oh, yes, but this is what she wants and needs.  No sense in making the rest of the family miserable because she's exhausted.

She is still up to nurse at 10:00, like clockwork.  If she's not hungry, there is no way you can entice Ellie to eat.  She's not going to do it, so give it up. Both Han and Lil would nurse like pros at bedtime and then sleep through to morning.  Miss I'm-always-on-the-go needs a few more calories a day, I guess.  She won't eat at bedtime, but has a heavy duty nursing session around 10:00, and then is up anywhere from 3:00-5:00 most nights.  I know that magical day will arrive when she will sleep through to 6:00, I'm still waiting, though.  ;o)

She's still a little peanut, like her big sister, wearing 3-6 month clothing.  She has been drooling up a storm, and her bottom gums are so swollen.  Surely that tooth will poke through soon, surely. 

She has some long pieces of hair that didn't fall out, that make us all laugh.  There are some pieces on her crown, and then, a long piece on the back of her head (I'll have to try and get a photo).  She has her toddler hair growing in and is filling in quite nicely.  I can already see the fauxhawk is going to make a reappearance, as the hair is standing up all over her head.  ;o)

I do believe mealtime is Ellie's most favorite time of the day.  She LOVES to eat--but only if it's table food.  None of this baby food stuff, please.  I have run into a few items she wants nothing to do with--yogurt and bananas in particular.  A baby who doesn't like bananas and yogurt? Really??  Huh.

She is a carb junkie like her mama, and adores fresh, homemade bread.  She also enjoys green beans, any sort of meat, cheese, mandarin oranges, cottage cheese, eggs (yes, they've been introduced...), toast, puffs, Cheerios, and anything we're having for lunch or dinner.  The other morning, she was begging for my oatmeal--and she snarfed it all up.  Oh my.

If we want Ellie to try a new food she seems resistant to, all B and I have to do is take a bite or eat some of it, then she's MORE than game, shoving the food in hand over fist.  And, you should see the girlie use a sippy cup.  Goodness.  She can grab those two handles and take care of herself, thankyouverymuch, I don't need you mommy.  Oh boy.  She has water and expressed milk in the cup.  I have a freezer of milk I'm trying to use up, and I figure that's a good a use as any.

Miss Beanie is one funny funny little kiddo, and she's beginning to experience some separation anxiety.  She has absolutely no problem going to anyone (whether she knows them or not), but if leave a room for a moment, she begins sobbing and chasing after me.  It's all quite pitiful, really, as only an eight month old can be.  :shakes head:

I can't believe my teeny Beanie is getting to be such a big girl (okay, not size-wise, but you know what I mean)!

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Today's Sparklies:

1.  Oh how I love my Nook app on my phone.  I don't have to run out to the store to get the newest release, I can just purchase the Nookbook and be done with it. :o)
2.  Pink chicken for dinner--enjoyed by all.  :oP
3.  The snow is still hanging around, but the warm temps have cleared off the roads.
4.  I think I've found baptism dresses for the girls--and a good thing too, since they'll be baptized the 8th!  Whew!
5.  Vaseline.  Seriously, it's some good stuff.  


No milestones.

December 26, 2010 Snow

I had every intention of taking the girls out in the snow today.  However, it is beyond windy and nippy, and I just don't think they would have fun or last very long in the cold.  It is beautiful out, but I just can't see bundling everyone up only to come in within five minutes. Me?  I don't get cold very easily, and it doesn't take me forever to warm up once I do get cold, so I can stay out much longer.  I think that may be one of the reasons I love snow as much as I do.

We did bundle everyone up yesterday to experience the falling snow.  It was extremely blustery, and we didn't last very long--maybe my motivation for not taking us out today...

I tried to snap a picture of my family in the last significant snowfall of 2010, and got this:

Good Ellie, no eyes on B or Lil.  Next.

No Lil.  :oS Next.

Take three...:shakes head:

Take four.  I quit.  :oP

I'll just stick with one subject at a time, thanks. ;o)

So, let's talk Holly dog, shall we?  The snow is deeper than she is tall.  She is usually my escape artist pooch who delights and getting loose and running up and down the streets and through the neighborhood.  Needless to say, B and I do NOT think this is a fun game.

With that said, I knew there was no way she could go tearing off through the deep snow, since she has to bound through it like a bunny.  Now, she LOVES the snow, so I knew she would want to be out with us.

I figured she would be just fine without a lead since the snow was SO deep.

Color me silly.  I had trekked from the front stoop to the mailbox, thereby making a path to the road.  CRAP!  Holly, being the smart terror, er, terrier she is, saw that path, saw an opportunity, and took off.  B had to chase after her, but not being equipped with non-skid pads on his feet like his furry tormentor, was unable to go very fast. 

I set Ellie down in the foyer, had Lil run in and get a lead, and stood in the yard calling for Holly to come and go for a walk.  Yes, while she may be smart, she lacks some common sense.  She came running for her "walk" (after B had chased her to the back of the neighborhood and almost been hit by a truck, mind you), I clipped on the lead and led her back to the house. 

Before the Great Holly Chase, I snapped a few pictures of the front of the house.  You can see how the snow was blowing.

I took a couple of measurements.  We had 10" in one spot,

and eight in another.  By the time the snow stopped falling last night, I would say we had anywhere from 10"-12" of snow.  Wow! :o)  The girls and I should be able to get out and play in it tomorrow.

B was home with us today since the further east you got, the more snow was dumped on you.  LAFB (his place of employment) is 35 miles to the east of us, and as it is a military base, they would have to do a fair amount of snowplowing/shoveling for everyone to be able to safely access it.  We're waiting to see what they decide to do tomorrow.

I say this because, as I have mentioned before, we don't typically get snow like this around here.  We aren't very well-equipped to deal with removal of this amount of snow, and it takes time.  When we were first married (1999, 2000), we had a foot of snow fall and schools and base were closed for a week.  We had to import snowplows from the western part of the state.  So, we'll see what happens tomorrow.

I just love the look of a snowy evergreen with lights.  :happy sigh:

Because we were unable to have our "traditional" candlelit Christmas Eve (we were out way too late for the girls to be able to do so), we had it last night.  We lit all the tea lights and votives, as well as the jar candles, and had a fire in the fireplace while we watched a Christmas movie.
 

Lil spent the first part of the evening snuggled down in her beanbag in front of the fire.  By the end of the evening, she and I were ensconced in the black chair, cuddled under her snowman blanket. :o)

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Today's Sparklies:

1.  B home with us.
2.  Mommy School is on Christmas Break until January 3.  :oP
3.  I ordered two puzzles from Amazon and they arrived today.
4.  Brien made chili for dinner.  It cooked all afternoon and smelled heavenly.  Ahhhh.
5.  Down comforters--SO toasty warm! :o)

No milestones.

So Happy!

Lil was happy to have yet another pajama day, reclining on her pillow pet while playing with her Tag.  Me? I've been happy to just sit and watch the show:

These were taken around 8:30 this morning, and FAR more snow has accumulated since.  In fact, the NWS is now saying we could see around a foot!  Holy moly!!! :oD

I've been sitting in at the kitchen table, coloring in my new coloring books (yes, I still color in coloring books...) watching the birds at the feeder.  Many of them are dining carry-out style, getting a beakfull, then carrying it to a more sheltered location, such as under the porch swing.  They have also been sitting on the porch swing while awaiting their turn at the feeder.

The cardinal is back.

As is his missus.

I was chuckling over my little decorative trees.  You see, they are cashmere trees, so they appear to be snow covered at night.  I find it ironic they are now seriously coated in snow.  I can't WAIT to see them tonight.

There must be close to 8" of snow on this table.  I'll take a more accurate measurement after nap when we all go out to play. :o)

And, a couple of videos from today:



Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing
Can you hear how unhappy Holly was I went outside without her? ;o)



Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing
Ah, the sounds of the Bean messing around with the Blu Ray player. :oP

I'll try to get some photos of the girlies out in the snow later this afternoon.  It's all so beautiful and perfect.  :happy sigh: :o)