December's Random Ramblings

• Abby was sick, throwing up and just miserable.  The next day she was still under the weather but starting to feel better and she informed me she wanted to get ready to go to school.  I explained that since she was sick and had been throwing up, she had to stay home.  She got very upset and was crying and said, "well, you just don't have to tell my teachers I was throwing up and then they won't know!"  I just wish she would remember this when she is 13 and not wanting to go to school!
• Abby insists chapstick is "chopstick"
• While I was out running with my mom for the first time Abby told her Grammy Jane that she hopes Gram-cracker can keep up her mommy because she is fast and Gram-cracker is pretty new to this!  Haha, I am NOT a fast runner and my mom has been running for YEARS, but it was very sweet of her!
• Abby told me when she is a Mommy she isn't going to move around so much.  It was kind of sad to hear her say this, but I hope she will look back at all the moving around as a wonderful opportunity that some people may never have.
• Abby says "Tabunga Do"  all the time.  I can only think that she is actually saying Cowabunga Dude but she refuses to say it correctly even though I have told her many times.
• Abby calls Olivia "a bucket of bolts" when she is annoyed with her.

Holiday Baking

We did a little holiday baking and decorating over at my mom's house one day.  We made fudge, sugar cookies, and cream cheese cookies.  Abby enjoyed baking and both girls enjoyed decorating the tree and cookies and of course eating the finished products.

Abby and Gram Cracker doing some baking

Ana and Mikey got in on the action too!

Decorating with frosting is the BEST!

Santa

We were at the mall one day and there was no line to see Santa so we took the girls. Unfortunately, they were not dressed for the occasion but Santa didn't seem to mind.  Abby went right up to Santa and told him what she wanted for Christmas with no problem or hesitation.  When she was done chatting with Santa I brought Olivia over for a little Santa time.  I thought she would do ok because up until then she had been seeing Santa everywhere...in books, on ornaments, on decorations and she would always point to him and say "Ho, Ho, Ho".  Well, I thought wrong.  She wanted NOTHING to do with the jolly ol' fat guy in the red suit.  I even gave her a pretzel to try to distract her.  The minute I let go of her she started screaming!  All the people that were near the Santa looked over and sighed then started laughing. I guess we will have to see if she is a little more brave next year!

Abby and Santa

Abby telling Santa that she wanted a Princess and the Frog Doll, Moxie Dolls, and a balance beam

Abby, Santa, and a not-so-happy Olivia

Zoo Lights

Back in the beginning of December we went to the Phoenix Zoo to see the Zoo Lights.  It was beautiful and the girls really enjoyed it.  As you can see we were all bundled up in jackets, but it was about 55 degrees outside.  At first Abby was a bit confused and kept asking where all the animals were, but after some time she decided that the pretty lights would do.  In addition to all of the lights Abby was able to ride the carousel, take a real-live camel ride, enjoy some cotton-candy, and watch the light show that was set to music in the middle of the zoo.  It was a great night and lots of fun!

Daddy and his girls

One of the displays

Abby by her favorite pink tree

Abby in front of the "zebra"

Mommy and Abby by the "peacock"

This tree was gorgeous all lit up in different colors....Abby and Olivia loved looking at it

Name the movie this is from:

Abby and Daddy on their camel ride!

A Run for Maggie's Place

Back in the beginning of November Andrew and I ran the Maggie's Place 9k and Abby did her first kid's dash.  It was a beautiful day and the girls did really good in the jogging stroller till the end of the run.  Olivia got a little agitated and bored and she was ready to get out of the stroller and stretch her legs.  I told Andrew to go ahead and run so that they could get done faster, so I ran the last 1-2 miles solo.  Andrew and the girls were waiting near the finish line for me and as soon as Abby saw me she ran up to me and grabbed my hand and finished the race with me and told me how proud of me she was, it was so sweet!  After our race Abby stretched and did her race, she had a ton of fun and was very proud of herself as were Andrew and I.

Andrew and Olivia before the race started

The girls right before the race started

Abby getting ready for the kids dash

Abby running

Abby with her post-race popsicle and her proud Papa

Olivia and Mommy relaxing a bit after the race

Turkey Day

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day complete with all the fixins' thanks to Andrew and Jane!  We had a pretty laid back day of cooking, eating, chatting, and laughing.  Olivia was feeling under the weather and spent a good chunk of the day sleeping.  We woke her up just in time to sit down to eat with us, I just couldn't let her sleep through Thanksgiving dinner!  Abby led us in our Thanksgiving prayer and she also let us know that she is very thankful for her friends and her family.  We all had a lot to be thankful for this year and I am grateful that we are able to set aside a day to remember all of our many blessings.  We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well that ended with full bellies and full hearts, just as ours did!

I wasn't too good about taking pictures but, here are a few from the day...

Our wonderful chef and the amazing turkey!  Yummy!!

Olivia LOVED the turkey leg!!

Abby was a bit shocked at Olivia's table manners!!

Papi, Abby, Mom (the rainbow on Abby's face is from the face painting they did at the gym that morning.  She told me she was going to sleep in her sleeping bag that night so it didn't rub off on her sheets, thankfully she forgot and slept soundly in her own bed!)

November's Random Ramblings

• Andrew and I both have our own bedtime routines for putting Abby to bed.  Andrew always tells Abby to have "sweet dreams of dancing princesses" to which she replies, "Daddy, have sweet dreams of handsome princes!"
• Abby always tells me she knows what Olivia is saying when she is babbling because she is an expert in baby talk.
• Abigail has become pretty good friends with some of the kids in her class.  One day we had a play date with the twins that are in her class.  After we left, she told me how much she likes her new friends but added, "don't worry, I still love my best friend Nolan even though we don't live by him anymore.  I will never forget about him!"
• When I pick the girls up from the play room at the gym Abby will look at me and say, "Mommy I don't want to leave yet, you need to go workout some more."  She also likes to ask what I did for my workout.  After telling her what I did one day she said, "well, that really isn't that much!"  I have also had her tell me how proud she is of me which is very sweet!

So much to be thankful for....

Ah, the holiday season is upon us once again!  Even with the stresses that come along with this time of year, I LOVE it!  I love the decorations, the food, the smells, the sights, the music, the love, the shopping, and most of all the magic.  I have a lot to be thankful for this year so just to name a few...

First and foremost I am thankful for my family.  I am thankful for my 2 healthy, sweet, beautiful girls.  They bring joy to my life every single day and remind me of my purpose in life.  They challenge me, teach me, make me laugh, and love me unconditionally.  I feel like I have hit the jackpot with them!  I am thankful for my husband who is the glue that holds us girls together.  He is such a hard worker, a wonderful husband and the best Daddy in the whole wide world.  He is understanding and compassionate and I am lucky and thankful to have him as a partner in this journey.  I am thankful for my extended family who is ready and willing to help with anything and everything when ever they can.  I am thankful that our families are so close and get along so well, and that they are teaching my girls the joy of having such a loving family surround them even though we are not close in proximity.  I am thankful for my friends that are spread out all over the country.  I am thankful that they have let us into their homes and hearts.  I am thankful for their help, their love, and their support.  I am thankful for the Air Force and all the opportunities it has provided for our family.  We have seen places and met people that otherwise would not be in our lives.  It has afforded me the opportunity to be a stay at home Mom and raise my children, which is the greatest gift I have ever been given.  I am thankful for this and so much more, but there are a couple little turkeys calling my name....Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!!!

My Guy and Me

Yesterday was a very special day at school for Abby.  It was My Guy and Me day.  It was a day for the kids to bring a special guy in their lives to school with them.  It could be a Dad, Grandpa, Uncle, ect.  Of course Andrew went with Abby and they had a very good time.  Abby was so excited to show off her Dad and to show Andrew all the fun stuff they do at school.  After school, Andrew was able to go to Spanish class with Abby and get a glimpse of what goes on there as well.  I have to admit, I am a bit jealous that he got to go to school with her...I always wonder what she is doing while she is away.  I will have my chance in March when it is My Gal and Me Day,  I can't wait!

Abby and Daddy all ready for school

Sail boat project

Playing with the sail boats they made

Andrew said Abby LOVES playing with Lincoln Logs....maybe she will get a pink set for Christmas!?!?

This is the project they made before My Guy and Me Day.  They gave it to their special guy at school that day.  It's very sweet and definitely one of the projects that is going to make it into the "must keep" folder.  Andrew also received a very special footprint bookmark.

This is the inside of the above project.  Very sweet!

Pardon the Dust

I am in the process of updating my blog, please bear with me as I make the changes.  I am far from a "computer person" and don't have "mad computer skills" but I am doing my best.  Also, we are in the process of organizing and loading all of our pictures onto our new Mac (desktop).  Our MacBook (laptop) crashed last week which sucked but in the long run it was a good thing because we got a brand new hard drive and more memory for no charge.  Essentially we got a brand new laptop and a brand new desktop...score!!!  

Hiking at Hole-in-the-Rock

One of the days that we had family in town we decided to go on a small hike. We went to Papago Park and climbed up to the hole-in-the-rock. We happened to get there right around sunset and it was absolutely gorgeous! Here are a few pictures:

This is looking out over the city from the hole in the rock

Andrew's Brother Josh and our nephew Tyler

Olivia enjoyed climbing around on the rocks

The Hole-in-the-Rock

You can see the hole in the rock to the right of Abby

Trick or Treat

Halloween was lots of fun this year. Andrew's brother Josh, his wife Laura, and their 5 1/2 month old son Tyler came to visit as well as Grammy Susan. The girls were thrilled to meet their baby cousin (whom Abby has been asking for since she could talk) for the first time and I think Susan was in Grammy heaven having all of her grandchildren under one roof! We spent the day carving pumpkins (see prior post), enjoying the outdoors, and of course trick-or-treating. Abby was so excited to go trick or treating this year. We dressed up all the kiddos and headed out around the neighborhood. We did a nice little loop around the neighborhood and it was just the perfect amount of trick-or-treating, Olivia even got in on the action this year (see below). We ended the night with some yummy pizza and candy sorting!

I thought this was very appropriate for out Halloween in Arizona!

Baby Tyler the Lobster and Olivia the fishy. (I love the fishy lips!)

My beautiful mermaid princess with her sea creatures

My girlies

Getting ready to head out!

So, Olivia started out the night in the stroller. She was content for a little while, then the whining started. I tried giving her snacks, I tried giving her something to drink, I tried giving her her paci all to no avail. I finally gave in and got her out of the stroller thinking I was going to have to carry her home. Instead, she insisted on getting down and holding her pumpkin and actually trick or treating with Abby. All of a sudden she was as happy as a clam (or fish)! She would walk right up to the door and when the people would answer she would say "boo" and hold out her pumpkin, then she would flash a huge smile and walk away on to the next house. If anyone tried to hold her or help her with her pumpkin she would let you know (loudly) that she could do it all by herself. It was so funny and absolutely adorable and Abby was of course as sweet as pie to her little sister!

Abby was almost as excited to hand out candy as she was to get it. This is her sitting by the door after we got home waiting for the door bell to ring. By the time we got home we only had a few more trick or treaters much to Abby's disappointment. At one point she came into the kitchen and told me that since there were no trick-or-treaters they must be a myth....where does she come up with this stuff?!?!