Finger Foods

After Baby Girl chewed off a paper airline tag off Mike's suitcase last night, I decided she might actually be ready to try self feeding. Amazing how fast they grow up! There she is with her Zwieback Toast. Yeah! After we get the hang of the toast we'll try Cheerios.

The Crack Monster Live

Mike and I finally felt like real live parents this weekend. We took LB to his first live performance: Sesame Street Live... Elmo Grows Up. At first, LB didn't know what to make of it. He was excited. We had talked about seeing Elmo all morning. He ran to the car saying.. "Go get Elmo!" We got to the center, and had to walk up the large stadium stairs to our seats. He was very quiet. I think all the noise and confusion and hundreds of other children silenced him. When the room got dark, and he saw all his favorite characters running from behind the curtain, he was enthralled. I was so excited to watch his expressions! The one thing about the show that I would have changed was the length. We watched for 45 minutes and towards the end of that time, LB was starting to fall asleep. There was then a 15 minute intermission, then another 30 minutes of the show. During intermission, Daddy got suckered into buying an 8$ Elmo balloon, which I've seen at the grocery store for less, plus a blue snow cone. That snow cone left his lips and tongue blue all afternoon. Then the next day, it reared it's ugly head in his diaper. I've never seen such a shade of poop before. It was green and it stained his ass. I had to scrub it clean!!!!!!!! As we rushed out the door to make the show on time, I thought about taking the camera, but forgot. So Bad Mommy am I, no pictures of the big event. I do however have his ticket, so I can start up his collections of ticket stubs. But these days, most people to have actual tickets, just print outs! The concession stand did not sell beer. I heard that they did sell beer at the Wiggles concert a few weeks ago. Maybe the next family event will have beer!

Santa came early

To our house, and look what he left under the tree!

Saturday afternoon...

Guess what I did??? Can you, can you??? I had 6 hours to myself today!!! I Christmas shopped and had lunch with the ladies I work with. LOVED IT! I needed that time to myself. Granted, I didn't get all my shopping done, but I sure did get some of it. I'm just thankful to have hours to myself. And guess what? I made a bet with myself that when I got home the kids would still be in their pj's. I got home at 3:45 pm, and my kiddos were in pj's!!! Too bad I didn't bet money on it!

It's Friday...

I've had a crappy day.. yet Mya sent me her copy of this and it made me laugh, so I decided to do it myself
Check out my family of Elves.
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1229842438

TV

I admit it. I now use the TV on a regular basis to pacify my son so I can do things like cook, laundry, and occasionally sleep. Yes I know the daily allowance for TV should be no more than 30 minutes to an hour. I fully admit that LB gets more than that on the weekends. This past Saturday morning, we had him watching a movie at 6:30 in the morning in our bed, so that Mike and I could get a few more minutes of sleep before the baby got up. Because he had already watched over an hour of TV, I had asked Mike not to let him watch anymore. Mike shut it off, and went to get a shower. I had Little Miss and was putting away laundry and Mike was in the shower. I thought LB was with him. No. He wasn't. Mike went downstairs, to find that he had turned back on the TV (which was already on Disney) watching the Little Einsteins. Mike went to turn it off. LB looked at his father, and said: "No! My Einsteins!" and continued to watch his program. We've created a monster. At least when the show was over, he willing shut off the TV to play with his play dough.

Six Month Stats

Baby Bear was actually 6 months on the 11th of November, but we didn't have our appointment until the 28th of November.
At this time she currently weighs 16.4 lbs
Length 26 inches


This puts her in the 45th percentile for weight and the 47th for height. At LB's 6th month appointment he weighed 21.7 lbs and was 28 in long. Quite a difference!!
You can now see a bit of similarity in their cute faces!

Decorating

Last weekend after the men cut down the trees, we actually did decorate the tree. It's just taken me a bit of time to post. It's been a CRAZY week. But more on that later....

We did decorate the tree with LB's help of course. Nana was still visiting with us and she was a terrific help keeping on eye out on baby girl while we got out all the boxes. And I mean boxes. It's amazing to me that much of my storage is taken up by boxes of Christmas decorations. And each year it seems that we add one more.

Now every night when we get home from school, LB takes off the ornaments and plays with them and then puts them back on the tree or in the box, whichever he feels like at the time. This year, we won't have the most beautifully decorated tree, but we will certainly have a very well loved tree. I'm sure it will wind up looking like Charlie Brown's tree shortly.

Pictures of the day

Isn't she sweet?

I hold Bibi!!

LB's latest and greatest activity is holding his sister. He asks at least once a day. She is in to it for a few minutes and then she either screams, or he is done and tries to push her off. It sort of reminds me of my brother and me!

And so the season begins...

Today, along with Matt, Chrissy, and K., we went to cut down our first Christmas tree as a family. Mike and I usually take the easy way out and buy one from the lot near our home, but this year with the other side of our family, we went out into the wild blue yonder to become "Mountain Men", or as Matt said.. "Old Man River". There is never a dull moment when our families get together. LB got a ton of exercise. Enough to take a three hour nap!

Thanksgiving

My favorite holiday of the year has come and gone. I love the smell of turkey cooking, bread warming, and pumpkin pie wafting in the air. I was fortunate to have Nana here with us, as well as Uncle Matt, Aunt Chrissy, Poppa, and many of our friends who stayed in town for the holiday instead of going home to their families. I'm always happy to have company and cook for many. I also then get to use my wedding china and my grandmother's silver, which I love to do!!! LB sat at the table this year! Last year he was in the high chair next to me. How he is growing! BB and K. wore their Thanksgiving Day dresses, and lo and behold, they were the same dress. Don't they look lovely?

Bath time fun

I've been a little busy of late, and haven't had time to post. About two weeks ago, my two bears started to bathe together. Do you realize how much time this saves me? Hot damn! I get two baths done in 10 minutes!! Granted, LB doesn't get to play and "swim" like he wants too, but on a school night, this saves me my sanity. Here are a few cute pics of them together.

Reading time

I've mentioned before how LB likes to read. Frankly, he LOVES to read. He asks for books 24/7. The only time he sits quietly is when he is reading. I cherish those precious few moments a day. Anyhow, I digress... LB has decided lately, that reading to his sister is fun. He is becoming such a sweet big brother. He has always loved Baby Girl, but now, he seems to really notice her and dote on her. I am loving having two!

Visitors from afar...

Our friends, Kate and Tom and their new baby girl V. are in town for the month to see family, friends, and attend Kate's brother's wedding. They currently reside in Jordan, at least for the next couple of years. We get to see them maybe once a year, so this was very exciting! Not only did we get to meet baby V., Kate & Tom got to meet Baby Bear and M.! We had brunch together yesterday and we were all in awe of how much our lives have changed in the past 3 years. We were at a HUGE table, had 3 high chairs, plus BB's infant carrier. Then of course there were the toys, the bottles, the sippy cups, the pacifers, and the noise. The restaurant was smart and put us all in the back where we wouldn't disturb everyone else. It was nice to visit with them. Hopefully it won't be such a long time in between visits again!

All the kiddos!

Baby Bear and Little Miss V.

Little Bear and his future wife.

All the girls, and Mike too!

New Trick

Baby girl has learned to blow Raspberries. Yesterday, LB looked at her as she blew one at him and said:

"No, no, Bibi! No pitin!"

I guess maybe he was listening when I told him to knock off the spitting?????

Sick Baby!

My poor poor baby. She has been sick since Thursday, but you'd never know. She is too busy smiling and laughing and bouncing to notice she is sick. Didn't she get the memo? She's not allowed to be sick until after January! Luckily Dad and Linda are here on their way south for the winter. It was nice they were able to take her for the day so I can work at least one day this week. Remind me again why I'm working????

Finally.. Halloween Pictures!

I've been wanted to post these for days, but the only pictures I got of the kiddos was at school. Baby Bear was sent home on Thursday with vomiting that has now turned to diarrhea... so that means I haven't been to work. BUT that is another story... here are my Little Bear and Baby Bear in all their Halloween Glory...

Yum!

My husband asked my brother-in-law and his family over to watch the Redskins game today. He requested chili. He wanted Hard Time's Cincinnati Red. I said, "Hell, I can make that!" If you live in the area, you know how absolutely YUMMY Hard Time's is. Well I found a recipe off Food Network that is so damn good you could take a bath in it. My picky son licked it off his plate. If only I had a camera for that one! Next time, to make it more heart healthy, I'll try ground turkey.
Try it!

Pumpkin Painting

We finally got the pumpkins painted. LB loved it! I also found that old broken ice cube trays make wonderful paletes for your paint if you are so inclined. Just a fun mommy tip!Front side.Back side.

And a picture of BB watching her brother!

Look what the cat dragged in....

To my surprise, my husband turned up 24 hours early! Hooray for Daddy!!! The kids were so excited to see him. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get some snuggling in myself, now that he is done putting to bed Little Bear!

And so the countdown begins...

72 hours until my husbands return. I hope is flight is on time and he is home when he is supposed to be!
Also, for those of you so inclined... please keep my mom in your thoughts, she is in San Diego, and if you've been keeping up with the news, you'll know that the wildfires are on their way. Luckily Mom is on an island, but it's still scary for those of us who have never experienced that kind of situation before... I'm used to hurricanes, not wildfires!!!!!!!

Cox Farms

My Dad is here for the weekend, giving me a hand with the kiddos while my husband is still away. We took the kids to the Farm to attend another fall festival. This one has SLIDES! All kinds of slides. There was also hay stacks to climb, animals to investigate, apple cider to purchase, TONS of Kettle Corn (forgot to pick up some of that!), plus a hay ride with NO wait. Last weekends hay ride had a 30 minute wait, there was next to no wait because of the amount of wagons. LB loved it. BB had a great time too. As soon as my dad emails me his pictures from the event, I'll have shots from the haystack and the slide we rode together! We also got to pick out 3 pumpkins to take home with us, as part of our admission. They are too small to crave, so we are going to paint them. When we accomplish that project I'll post those pictures!
(Isn't that sweet. He gave her a kiss, and then proceeded to tell her "No, No, No Bibi!")

Last weekends Pictures

These are the pictures from the Fall Festival we went to last weekend.