How to Make a Snowman

X2

Hey, do you know what's more fun than a two year old who thinks he owns everything, wants to do everything himself and freaks out when he doesn't get his way??
That's right!
2 two year olds. That way they can fight.

New Year

Last year at this time I had a free pass. The 'Pregnant Lady eats what she wants' pass. But I knew exactly how I'd be feeling this year... yucky!
I knew that with the baby being 7 months old and after the holidays, I would be feeling annoyed with the squishy baby belly and oddly shaped body I have acquired.
So I join the millions out there wanting to eat better and feel better about my physical self.

We're off to a good start. I spent a good part of New Year's day roasting, steaming, toasting, pureeing, souping turkey leftovers and freezing. I've got myself some interesting new cookbooks and feeling motivated. I'm a little afraid it won't last, but I'm trying to carry on the momentum.
I'm not saying that I'm cutting out all treats or being super strict. MrMittens is taking a more vigorous approach.
I figure I'll go in phases. Healthier eating is step one (less junk, more whole foods). I know I may still crave some comfort foods, but less of them and of a more healthful variety.

My next phase will incorporate more exercise. I'm going to give that another couple of months. Realistically I need at least a little more sleep, and getting outside will be more incentive.

And then the third perhaps final stage will be the drastic measures/suck it up/work it off phase. I'm saving that for late spring/early summer. Whatever I can do (in a healthy way) to finish it off.

I don't want to lose a ton of weight. I'd actually rather trade some muscle and tone for it. I'd just like to go down about a size or so and look better in my clothes. And then I will buy some new ones!
If I can look ahead to next year, I'd just like to be happier with the way I look, and the way I feel. Stronger and fitter.
And a Happy Healthy Fit and Fun 2008 to you too!

Holidays

I feel like we had a really great Christmas. We've enjoyed time with family and friends. And each other. I enjoyed my kids enjoying the lights and music starting to understand some of what's going on. I also enjoyed that they still don't quite get it. They had to be persuaded into seeing what Santa brought them Christmas morning. And as soon as they opened something they just wanted to play with it. No need to open anything else! It took us quite a while to finish. They started to get the hang of it by the end. Now they will unwrap anything. Regardless of who it's for.














The sweet Babe chewed as much paper and ribbon as she could get her hot little hands on. Happy as she could be.
Santa was very generous with me this year too. I'm sure I didn't do anything to deserve it. Unless birthing a human counts. Maybe it does. She is adorable.

Happy New Year!

Baby Girl 7 Months

Amid all the chaos and fun The Babe is officially 7 months old.
It has been a busy month. She has 4 teeth and another one trying to break through. She is eating solid food. She likes cereal and fruit of course, the orange veg such as sweet potatoes, squash and carrots, but definitely did not like green beans or the weird meaty stuff I tried to give her. She spit that right up. I don't blame her. It was gross. (the health nurse suggested we try some proteins early on)


And I think I may have mentioned that she was sleeping better...I can't remember because it was so short lived and I don't remember anything due to my continual sleep deprivation. I blame the teeth. She is napping so much better during the day (not just a cat-napper anymore) but she usually wakes up several times a night. I don't have the heart or the energy to let her cry it out. But that day may come!

She is on the move now. Not exactly crawling, but scootching. Mostly backwards. If you don't keep an eye on her she will disappear under the couch.
And her arms seem to have grown oddly long, as they reach out and grab things out of nowhere. Fast. Grabby little baby hands getting stuff you didn't think she could get.




She is still a little ray of sunshine most of the time. She is smiley and happy and loves to be
tickled and talked to.





Did I mention I love this age? If I could I'd keep her this way for just a while longer. Kind of like Maggie Simpson. Sweet and cuddly without any tantrums or backtalk. And chubby little cheeks you can chew on for days.
Absolutely scrumptious!

Merry Sticky Christmas!

Baby Glow

34 Months

It feels like the past month has gone by quite quickly. I guess that's what happens when you're life is a bit of a blur...
We've been having fun lately getting ready for Christmas. Helping Daddy put up lights, listening to music, decorating and getting together with friends.




The Bee loves to sing more than ever and Jingle Bells seems to be one of his favorites. I think because it's easy. We heard him down in his room the other day singing away, jingle bells, jingle bells. So cute.He's also a pretty talented athlete. The boys have a little hockey set and The Bee is good at hitting balls and pucks with his stick. He's also a somewhat prone to just swinging his stick at whatever happens to be around. The first rule of hockey is that you don't hit your brother with your stick. Or anyone else.

The Bug likes to get into small spaces and hide. He'll push the hockey nets together and 'hide' in between them. As much as you can hide in a net. He also likes to hide in our little coffee table box. He takes his blanket and his cars and curls up. But then The Bee closes the lid on him and he gets stuck inside. The first rule of hiding in small places, is don't lock your brother inside.


Both boys jabber on a lot, but The Bee still chatters on more so. He seems to have problems with 'r's and he will often omit them completely from a word.
He loves to watch the 'G*inch', eat 'g*apes' and 't*eats', he likes the 'Ch*istmas T*ee' and G*amma and G*ampa'.

Last night we were putting decorations on the tree. I had put up some of the more breakable ones higher up, but we had a bunch of beaded kid friendly ones for the boys. The had such a good time putting them on the tree I wish I had more.
The Bug was especially good at it and put them on very carefully, mostly on the same two branches. He is very meticulous that one. He's a little OCD like his father. Yikes.
To illustrate, I got them both a jingle bell on a string. The Bee happily put his around his neck. The Bug put his on the tree. The Bee kept taking it off the tree which made The Bug terribly upset. He had to go and carefully put it back each time (and repeat). It's hard to have a brother sometimes!

Candy Cane Crack Heads

Today feel like the real first day of Christmas around here. CH put up the tree last night (while I was at book club) with all the pretty lights. We still need to decorate, but it's so pretty.
This morning The Bee was excited to see the tree but kept saying we need a star. I'm not sure why he thinks we do, but he's right we do.
The Bug exclaimed upon see the tree for the first time...TURN IT OFF...???

We made our first trip today to see Santa with the help of our own elves, Grandma and Grandpa.
I had low expectation and I was not disappointed! The Bee played it shy and sad while The Bug was just totally uncooperative. Except for helping himself to candy canes. And somehow I ended up in the photo. Uhg. I should have just had The Babe with Santa. They were cute.
And no, no pictures will be shown here although I did get a sheet printed so I can use it against the boys later. Ha!
We still managed to have a fun time with Grandma and Grandpa though.

And then this afternoon I made a final attempt to get a group photo with all 3 kids. In a stroke of brilliance I bribed them with candy canes. It wasn't exactly a glaring success, but not a total failure either. I'll post some more photos, but here is one out-take.









Then after the kids were all cracked up on 'the good stuff' they were giggling and gettin' sticky and singing Jingle Bells through dinner...note the crazed look in his eyes... and the goop in his hair...












p.s. No babies were actually cranked up in the making of these photos. I just let her eat the plastic.
p.s.s. No babies actually ate any plastic either.

More Elf

Just for fun here's the same shot below with different actions/effects...
(ok, maybe it's just fun for me)

Baby Elf

More Textures

G.L.A.M.O.R.O.U.S

This 'glamorous' shot was taken in the doorway of the van...the breeze was a perfect hair fan...

Frosty

Mostly I hate winter.
And most of the time winter is a barren, brown, ugly bleakness, or a brown, muddy, slushy chinook-ness. And while a bright sunny day lighting up the snow can be beautiful it is rarely that picturesque.

However...in the midst of our deep freeze right now I can't help but feel a little misty magic in the frosty wonderland. On the rare occasion that I venture outside.




And just try to say hoar frost without laughing. I can't.

Sneaky

Things The Bee has tried or successfully 'snuck' downstairs:
screwdrivers
batteries
(these two go together as he has figured out that anything deemed as 'boken' can be fixed with a screwdriver and batteries)

utility knife (can't open by himself thankfully)

peppermint extract
maple extract
(which he emptied on the carpet...and while not the worst smell in the world, mixed with spotshot mingles to form a weird medicinal/soapy/cookie smell that is not appealing. and made a very dark stain)

and today....a spaghetti squash...go figure

It seems the pantry is his current 'go-to' place.

Baby Girl Stats

One of the events this weekend was shots for the baby girl. 4 stabs in total (including a flu shot) OUCH! Not happy.
The boys also got a flu shot and for the first time they seemed to remember that the little clinic room was not a happy place. They tried to escape. Not happy.

Regardless we got it done and the worst was over pretty quickly. And I had my flu shot last time. I sure hope this helps!

Now, I told you I thought Baby Girl was tall. At 27inches she is in the 90%. And with her weight combined (15.6lbs) she is in the 10%. So even with her yummy chubby thighs she is considered tall and thin-ish.
We've started on cereal which is going quite well and there are plans for veg and meats in the very near future. Yum! (ok, it looks gross, but whatever)

AND...she has another tooth through. It seems that all the crankiness and fussing was for a reason. I feel bad when I only realize this after the fact. Top right side poking through.

AND now that it is through (the tooth) and she is over her cold...SHE SLEEPS!!
Not always right through the night, but longer. And more often. And when she is cranky and fussy I put her in her bed AND SHE FALLS ASLEEP. Often.
Do I need to explain how exciting this is?
I think you get my drift...!!











p.s. trying out new photoshop actions on photos...much to learn...these ones are vintage...supposed to look old!

Party Party Party

Whew! 3 parties in 3 days. Fun but exhausting.
The kid party for CH's work was amazing as always. It's unbelievable.









We started out a bit rocky...
(he put himself in there)












But soon we were eating and crafting and having a wonderful time!












And again the gifts were fabulous. We let the boys unwrap them and told them they could play at home. That was it. They wanted to go home.













They had the biggest smiles on their faces as they hauled the boxes out to the van.

Where Was I...?

I too have been suffering from brain scatter. I'm all over the place. I can't focus. I'm trying to maintain several different thoughts in my head and IT'S NOT WORKING.
I'm trying to learn some new photography things and just get some photos up on our walls. You'd think that would be easy enough.
And read a book.
And we're hosting a get-together and getting shots and attending 2 kids Christmas parties this weekend. Which is fun, but requires planning and organization.
And mostly it's just the usual 'I go to get something out of the cupboard and get distracted by the laundry which needs stain spray and then somebody cries or gets into something and I want to check my email, is that toast I smell burning?'.
The more I get involved in my head focusing on a project the less attention I can pay to what the kids are up to. Or what they want for lunch. And the more laundry and bathing and cleaning floors I have to do, the less I can concentrate on anything interesting.
It's a vicious circle for me.

I need a fabulous haircut. Have you seen my glasses? How do I load this action in photoshop? What size prints do I want? Is that a cheerio over there? Should I make meatballs?

I'm not sure where I was going with this....