19 months {nora}

What changed for you when you had baby #2?  Or should I ask, what DIDN'T change?  That second question would probably have a much shorter list.

If you've been around this ole blog for awhile, you have already noticed that I haven't posted nearly as many monthly updates for Nora...whoops.  I've just been too busy fulfilling my roles as mediator, 2am baby-rocker, maid, chef, chauffeur, wife, sister, daughter, cynic and family historian.  Obviously- I'm doing a pretty crummy job on the last one.  I do have lots of pictures, just not very many stories.

So in celebration of Nora finally learning how to walk, *mostly* sleep through the night and not screaming every time she is told "NO"- I present to you her monthly update:

Here's what happened in the 19th month:

• Because she won't let me get a close exam in, I can't really tell what all teeth are in, but she did gain her upper R molar
• I don't even remember this now, but I have written on the calendar that she had the stomach but in late September- I'm sure that was lots of fun
• (with assistance) counting to 3
• Tries really hard to run and jump.  She just learned to walk around 15.5 months though, so walking is still being perfected
• New words this month include, but are not limited to: coat, outside, ahhhh-bul (apple), call (chalk), mo (mole...b/c she finally found that mole on my neck), hawk (as in Jayhawk) and ock (sock)
• Went "running" to her grandpa (Sanders) and said "Hi Grandpa", first time of combining 2 words
• Still throwing tantrums.  We are either entering the terrible (which in hindsight with Emmy were the 'terrific') 2's early, or this is just a precursor to them.  Either way, we are in it for the long haul with this one!  You know that saying "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit"?  Well, if Nora could talk it would be "If you don't get what you want, then you hit, scream and scoot across the room on your back until your head runs into a wall or furniture.  That should teach your parents a lesson."
• Took a trip to the Carmichael's pumpkin patch 10/12, I got ZERO good pictures of the girls together.
• Favorite book is Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton.  She loves "stomping her foot", as stated in first line of the book.
• Still very frustrated, but doesn't seem to be as sensitive to being told "NO".
• Loves to shout "NO".  We sing "This Little Light of Mine" constantly to give her a cute outlet for that nasty "NO".
• Hates to have her teeth brushed, as in, I pretty much have to pin her to the ground and restrain her arms.
• Wears size 12-24 month clothing, size 5 shoe and size 5 diaper.  
• Will randomly tell us when she's poopy (and has been doing this for a few months)
• Tries to say names of her classmates and teachers.  Can also give correct sound for common animals.
• Love taking shoes to their rightful owners (I think big sis was infatuated with this as well)
• At her 18 month appt, she measured in at just shy of 32" and weighed 25#.  That's about the same height as Emmy and 2# lighter.  She seems much more petite than Emmy did.

All in all, I hesitantly say that things are getting easier with Nora.  She still loves to throw a good tantrum, but she is starting to figure out better ways to communicate.  We can ask her yes and no questions and we also ask us to "show us" what she wants.  

Here's to hoping she's a happy girl by 2 years old :)

Emmyism

"Daddy, since I'm your daughter and your princess- can I please have some of your drink?"- Emmy, age 4 years, 2 months, 6 days

No "no-nuts"

I need to write this down for memory's sake:

This morning, Nora woke up a bit early (620) with a major poopy diaper, so there was no way she was going back to sleep.  I took her into our room to change her diaper and then she crawled on Chris.  She was starting to get grumpy so I told her I'd go get a snack for her.  I came back with Kix in a bowl and she immediate started crying and hitting (well, swinging her arm in the air) and then slammed the bedroom door shut.

You know why?

Because Chris told her I was getting some nonuts (donuts) for her and she was THAT MAD when I returned with cereal.

We are SO paying for Chris' toddler years.

There's a reason his toddler nickname included the phrase "Bad Attitude".

A Day in Our Life

I made one of these posts a few months ago,you can find it here.  At the time, Emmy was 3.5 and Nora was 11 months.

The girls are now 4 and almost 18 months, and I think life IS a bit easier now.  I realize this post is going to be SO SO boring- but I treasure these life snapshots.

Here is what tonight looked like for the Sanders fam:

445: Leave work to get girls
525: Arrive home and start preparing dinner (Earlier this summer I was really good about cooking in the evenings AFTER the girls went down to bed- and then we would have that meal the next night for dinner.  I fell off the bandwagon completely after vacation)
535: Eat dinner (Tonight Emmy and Chris left at 545 for church activities. On Tuesdays we leave at 600 for gymnastics)
600: Take Nora on a walk around block to hopefully distract her from temper tantrum
615: Take a dip in the pool and play with pink plastic boats.
645: Nora has a mini meltdown and I ask her what she wants, she leads me back to her bedroom
713: After a few books, songs and rocking- Nora is in bed
734: Nora finally asleep and I start cleaning the kitchen
748: Chris and Emmy home from church
859: Emmy comes out of her room (we have mandatory, solitary play time each night) and tells us she's ready for bed.  We usually go back to her room by 830 on normal nights but she was extra wired tonight and needed a little extra time.
910: Start up an episode on a past season of the Amazing Race and Chris and I each pick up a digital device and start our mindless evening activities.
922: Make mental list of things that need to be done still, they include: feeding dogs and moving clothes from washer to dryer.

All in all- a pretty relaxing evening.  Life is definitely easier now.  Emmy isn't fighting bedtime near as bad and Nora is sleeping much better.  She did wake up once last night around 145am and was VERY sad.  Chris went in once and I went in once.  I gave her an ibuprofen (molars are really hard for her) and gave her a few pats on the back and she went back to sleep.

927: My children's ears are always burning.  Emmy just came out of her room to declare her need for allergy medicine because she sneezed once in her bed.....maybe this post isn't finished but let's hope it is.

Nora's Shutterfly 8x8 Book

Finally ordered and soon to be delivered to my doorstep.  I love having a book for each girl and hope they will appreciate them one day too.  I was so pleased with Emmy's book, I am sure Nora's will be just as nice.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Create your own custom photo books at Shutterfly.com.

Colorado 2013 Day 2 {Saturday}

First I'm going to wrap up day 1 (Friday).  It ended well past midnight....

We rolled into Denver (Homewood Suites by the airport) around 115am.  We checked in and found out that we were in a smoking room.  They had NO other rooms available.  We checked into our room (sidenote: a girl had gone back to check it out and reported that the smell "wasn't too bad") and discovered that it did, in fact, smell like a smokey college pub.  Nora had been awake since 1030 and Emmy obviously woke up during the check in procedure, so we just let them play while we contemplated whether we wanted to just eat our hotel cost and find a non-smoking room at another hotel or just stay.  After about 40 minutes of calling around, walking to neighboring hotels and contemplating calling up Denver friends we decided to stay.  I think we all got to sleep at about 2am.

Then 6am happened...and both girls (in separate rooms) WOKE UP.  It's definitely a conspiracy theory.

We bathed the girls and played until the breakfast area opened at 7am.  We ate our breakfasts, packed up and then headed to Golden.  We walked around the cute downtown area and stuck the girls' feet in the FREEZING COLD creek.  After that we headed to a mall in Lakewood and got shoes at the Stride Rite outlet.  We were specifically going for Nora, but I knew there was no way we'd be able to leave without getting Emmy a pair.  They had a buy one get one 40% off, so it didn't end up too bad.

After shoe shopping (welcome to your life, Christopher Sanders) we went back to Golden to eat at Bob's Atomic Burgers.  We give it 8 thumbs up.  Nora had her first chocolate milk and we had some yummy burgers.  Then it was time to fight traffic and head to the mountains.  Traffic was traffic and there was construction.  Nora fell asleep about 5 minutes into the drive.  It took Emmy a bit longer but they each got a nap in.

Once we got to the condos in Granby, we went swimming and then hit the free ski lift with Mimi and Papa and the Jay & Eden clan.  Nora was a squirmy worm all the way up and all the way down.  Let's just say my nerves were running in high gear and I felt like peeing my pants the whole way!!

Mimi made a pizza and salad dinner, and thus the overeating began.  After dinner I'm sure the kids played a bit, I think we skipped baths due to the morning bath and swimming.  The girls went down easy and then Chris and I went on a date....to the grocery store to stock the fridge =)

It was a good day.

Colorado 2013 day 1

Going to try my best to document each day of our vacation this year. It may be incohesive, full of sentences that en in prepositions- but I just want to remember what our life was like at this very moment: the good and the bad.

Today has already thrown us a few loops. I'm sure there are many more to come.

Today's schedule went something like this:


Work on last minute project at work
Go to retirement lunch for coworker
Come home and sweat like crazy while packing the car with the hubs
Pick up girls at school and depart at (330....was supposed to be 3pm)
Nora takes a "nap" from 830-1030
Emmy now asleep and Nora is still "trying" at 1145 okie time
Growl at hubby bc he wants me to go to the backseat to sing Nora to sleep.

Next stop is Denver, ETA 120am. We've got miles to go with lots of fun still to be had.


-jordan

for real?

I'm guessing this one came from school, because I don't think we say it too often at home: little miss thing is appending "for real?" to the end of most questions nowadays.

"Are you going to go to the store for real?"

"Are we going on a walk for real?"

"Are we having eggs for dinner for real?"

"Are we going to watch a show for real?"

It's hilarious because it is usually used in the correct context.  I can't decide, however, if she's using the "for real" phrase in a hopeful or cynical context.

She's my daughter, I'm just going to assume it's the latter case.

Who Put That Backwash In My Cup?

650pm, kid's table, our house:

Emmy opens Chick Fil A cup full of lemonade.

Emmy: There are french fries in my lemon-lade
Me: Let me see.  (peeks inside not knowing what may be hiding in there).  Oh, that is backwash.
Emmy: Who put that backwash in my cup?
Me: Well honey, backwash happens when you take a drink but you aren't finished chewing your food.  So I guess it was you that put that backwash in your cup.
Emmy: Oh

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15 months {nora}

Hooray, I have actually been keeping notes this month for a real monthly update.  The only problem is that the list is in my office!  So maybe I can find a few minutes while I'm eating lunch to get this updated.  Until then, here's what this past month of Nora's life has looked like.  I'll just say, here the past week or so there have not been a lot of smiles and fun times...

Here's a pic of the girls, each at 15 months.  What do you think as they get older: are they looking more alike or less?  I wish the pictures showed their hairlines better, Emmy had such a receding hairline!!!

WAIT...I just found a major similarity.  They are both wearing dried ketchup!!!!

Father's Day 2013

4 Father's Day celebrations with many more to come…

I love you Chris Sanders

14 months {nora}

This month has been such a fun one.  Nora is becoming more independent since mastering crawling.  She is also demanding to do/have everything that Emmy does/has.  In fact, just tonight she handed over her little bear paw for her nails to be trimmed.  She usually hates this tradition, but because Emmy was enjoying it- Nora decided to enjoy it too.  Now, if we can just work on modeling Emmy's behavior to be perfect then we could have 2 perfect children.  HAH.

Here's a little sampling of our last month: swim lessons, cuddling, sitting nakey in the sun whilst eating dum dums, Mother's Day, and more nakey bodies taking a bath in the front yard in a 56qt Rubbermaid tub.

And the obligatory photo comparison.

Moore

The numbers keep changing, the numbers keep increasing. 

EF4.

22 mile path.

Up to 1 mile wide

51, total death count. 

20 children gone, maybe more. 

$1 Million- the amount Chesapeake Energy just donated to clean-up efforts. 

So many homes are obliterated. Memories gone but homes replaceable. But my mind keeps going back to the parents and families of the children whose lives were lost. The schools held the kids at school because they felt it was safer. It probably was, but we will never know.

Although much different, this situation was so similar to Newtown. So many parents dropped their children off this morning with the anticipation of picking them up this afternoon and going to Sonic, soccer practice, a friends house, gymnastics, music lessons.... home. For 20+ families, they have a new reality tonight. For so many more families, there is no "home". 

My heart hurts. I feel so bad for the residents of Moore. How many more times can they endure a tragedy like this?

I have done nothing in this life to deserve my many blessings. But I am thanking The Lord tonight for my husband who is snoring beside me, my 14 month old who will probably be awake at 5am and my 3 year old who squeezed out 1/2 a tube of Aveeno lotion tonight. 

jordan

Bad Blogger/Baby Book Keeper

Wow, I'm really falling behind on Nora updates.  I don't even have things written down for the past 3 months.  Will I be forced to, gasp, read Emmy's updates and compare against Babycenter's milestone charts so that I can create updates for our littlest?  Maybe if I look through enough pictures, and the few videos that we have, I will be able to get a clear idea of what she was up to in her 11th, 12th, and 13th months?

Sorry Nora, and sorry to any future children I might have; because, I have a feeling that it's just going to get worse from here.

I also want to start writing about funny little things that Emmy says- like this:

(last night, at dinner table, Nora screaming her head off b/c we won't hold her while we eat).

Me: "Emmy please eat"
Chris: "Emmy, just eat so that we can go to gymnastics"
Emmy: "I want more smoolie" (aka smoothie)
Me: (tone changing) "Emmy, EAT"
Christ: "Emmy, please just eat your waffle.  You can have more smoothie after you eat your food"
Nora: (constant screams with a few "all done's" mixed in)
Emmy:  "I am VERY disappointed in you guys"
Me: (not taking the time to try to figure out what she's really wanting to say) "BE QUIET AND EAT".

WOW.

Really?

We are THOSE parents.

But guess what?  After that, she was quiet and she ate.

The girl's inside voice sounds more like a yell and her whisper is what you and I would consider a conversational volume.  So maybe our inside voice sounds like a whisper to her and she can only hear yelling?

Yeah, I'll go with that one.

Emmy See, Emmy Do

Last night:

Set Scene: Emmy on toilet, Chris sitting on side of tub waiting for her to finish, me in front of the mirror, Nora in bed

Me: (examining hair in mirror, open drawer, find tweezers, pull out a red hair). "Oh no, this hair was losing color, it was going gray".
Emmy: "Mommy let me see".
Me: (hand hair over to emmy to show her how the hair is black on one end and red/going gray on the other)

Next Scene: Emmy and I in bathroom this morning.

Emmy: "Mommy, can I have those squeezy things?"
Me: (open drawer, give tweezers to Emmy)
Emmy: (puts tweezers atop head) "Can you help me? It's right here" (points me in direction to strand of hair)
Me: (pull hair, give to Emmy)
Emmy: "Oh NO!  I think I'm going black.  I mean, I think I'm going gray"

Oh dear.

13 months {nora}

If you've followed any of Nora's updates at all then you know the drill: collage for now, update for later.

I'm goin through the big D and do mean Dallas

It's midnight!!! I am SO going to be paying for this tomorrow. I've mentioned it before, but its worth saying again: If I stay up late, then Nora wakes up early. NEVER.FAILS. 

Oh well. 

Tomorrow ill be going to the big D and I do mean Dallas. First stop will be to pick my sister up at Dallas Love Field then on to DFW to go pick up our friends(another sister pair).  This is my first trip away from Nora, bittersweet yet probably needed. I've been inexplicably more attached to her than to Emmy. Actually, I can explain it, but its a long explanation. Let's simply say that I am holding tight and enjoying every moment with her. Well, trying to enjoy it even though at any given moment in our house Nora is crying bc who knows why, and Emmy's crying because she's getting neither attention nor understanding from Chris and me. Oh, I digress. 

Anyway, per Chris' request I have left a nearly hour by hour schedule for Nora. Emmy is staying Saturday noon-Sunday afternoon in claremore with Chris' parents and Nora will be out there all Sunday while Chris works on our vegetable garden at our house. 

I'm not even gone yet I already miss my girls yet I know that this weekend is needed. I hope to even sleep in....maybe all the way until 6am? How sweet would that be.

12 month collage {nora}

I need to work on a 12 month update, but in the meantime- a collage from the last month of our baby girl's first year.  SO hard to believe.

Letter to Nora, from Daddy

My Sweet Little Nora Lee,

Happy birthday to you!  Your first year has gone by so fast – too fast.  It really doesn't seem that long ago that your Mommy and I were going to the hospital early in the morning to meet you.  You came pretty quickly once we got there, I know Mommy was pretty happy about that.  We have had a busy year and I wish it wouldn't have been so busy so that I could have held you more.  You like to be held and rocked so I hope we get to do that plenty as you get older.  We really couldn't tell who you looked like and we still haven’t figured out.  You look a little like Mommy and me but you are your own, distinct, pretty little girl.  We get quite a few comments and looks from people when you are with us, just in awe of what a pretty girl you are.

You are such a sweet little girl also.  You give the sweetest looks and I just love how you look at me and other people that love you.  Your pretty brown eyes melt my heart every time I look at you.  You have been content to just sit in people’s laps or just sit on the ground, so you haven’t done a lot of moving yet.  When you do start moving around, Mommy and I think you will be moving a lot!  You are starting to talk to us more and point and do quite a few more things.  All of your talking and gestures are just so sweet, every time.  Every time you accomplish something new, you get pretty excited and I can tell you are pretty proud of yourself. 

You are going to be growing up around two wonderful ladies – your mommy and big sister.  Your big sister sure does love you, maybe too much sometimes and you don’t like it.  You will let her know about it!  I love seeing you two interact and I can’t wait to experience how you two will interact as you get older.  Like I told your big sister when she was born, God made mommy to be your mommy.  She loves you so much.  You are really a miracle and a blessing to mommy and me.  We lost two babies in between the time you and Emmy were born.  Those babies are in heaven and we have you here on earth.  God blessed us with you – we are so thankful for you.  I pray that I can be the best daddy I can be to you.  I have a lot to learn about raising girls and I hope that you know how much I love you through my actions and my words. 

Love,

Your Daddy

Letter to Nora, from Mommy

Nora Lee,

                Happy Birthday to my little girl.  Where do I even begin?  First of all, has it really been a year?  I vividly remember every detail of March 19, 2012.  I remember waking up in the wee hours of the morning to head to the hospital.  Your daddy and I didn’t grab anything to eat before we left, so we intended on stopping by a McDonalds to grab something only to find out the one close to our house is not open 24 hours!!!  So we trudged on to the hospital….hungry.

                I honestly cannot believe 365 days have passed since the day we first met you.  You came out crying, just loud enough to let us know that you had a set of working lungs.  Dark hair also abounded atop your head and you had the most petite little legs. We knew right away that you didn’t look like your daddy’s baby pictures, my baby pictures, or your sister’s baby pictures.  We are still trying to figure out just exactly who you resemble.  Do know this, you are beautiful.  Complete strangers stop us to tell us this.  But also remember this; it only matters if that beauty is also radiating from the inside.

                Doing things on your own time, not performing on command and just now learning to sleep well at night, you continually remind us that you are your own person.  Just lately your little personality has really begun to develop.  You are sweet.  So sweet.  You blow sweet little kisses, say your words so tenderly and love to snuggle.  And although we tried to not make a habit out of it early on, you love being rocked to sleep.  Content to just sit on a lap and watch the world go by, you have decided that you aren’t quite ready to be a mover and a shaker JUST yet. 

                I love watching you when you accomplish something new, your face lights up and you clap for yourself! You have become very vocal the past few weeks and you like to point at things (arm raised up, finger pointed down) and grunt repeatedly.  You have big stories to tell.  But I will warn you, you have stiff competition.  Everyone knows how much I like to talk and your big sister isn’t too far behind. 

                Nora, your daddy and I may not bring it up too often, but please never forget how much we longed for your safe arrival.  You see, we lost 2 babies between you and Emmy.  The pain that accompanied those losses was so deep, but we trusted then and we trust now in God’s promises and we know that He orchestrates every detail of our lives.  We know that without those losses, YOU would not be here. 

                My daughter, you bring so much joy to my life.  You have taught me to savor each moment and each passing milestone.  Never in one million years would your daddy and I have guessed that we would be blessed with 2 intelligent, sweet and beautiful little girls. I wish that you could stay at this sweet age forever, but I also look forward to watching you grow into a strong, generous, loving woman. 

I love you with all my heart,

Mommy 

Father....

Emmy has a new word for the hubs.

Father.

It only comes out at the dinner table.  Why?  I don't know. But on the way home from the zoo today she told us "Daddy, I only call you father when we eat dinner".

And she doesn't just say it once or twice, she probably says it 20 times per meal. 

"Father, here is your placemat"

"Father, please sit by me"

"Father, I need a drink".

It's hilarious and (no lies here)  a little annoying all in one.  It is only annoying because her obsession is so great with saying the word "father" that it becomes a struggle to get her to eat. So to combat the eating issue, I just squirt a little more ketchup on her plate and throw her a bribe.....

Bathroom Remodel pix

We aren't quite done with wall hangings, shower curtain, bath rugs, etc...but the bathroom finally looks good enough to share pictures of the recent remodel.  We love it!

Nora {11 months}

Collage for now...written update to come later

an evening 'round here

This post is mainly for me. I just want to document a typical evening (and beyond) around here, because someday I hope to look back on this time in our lives and remember it fondly.

445: leave work to get girls

505: on a good day with no dawdling by Emmy, we are leaving their school by this time

525: arrive at home. 1 out of every 15 days Nora might fall asleep on the way home, we have a monitor base that we keep in the car for those times. 

540: dinner is served. I'm the fastest chef this side of the Mississippi!

600: play time/ quick family walk/ clean up kitchen

615: bath time for both girls

635: Nora and I head to her room to rock/nurse while Emmy watches "Elf on the Shelf"

700: Nora asleep

715: Emmy goes potty and brushes teeth. This is followed by us reading a book to her, singing a song and saying prayers.

730: leave Emmy's room so she can have 5 minutes of "reading" books to herself. 

735-740: lights out for Emmy

740-830: listen to Emmy thrash/cry/do yoga in bed/remake her bed/ rearrange pillows/sing/make demands and cough. This usually requires a few trips into her room, threats if the spanking spoon and removal of privileges. 

900: I shower

930: pump, wash parts and all other baby things from the day, pack Nora's bottles for the next day. Then we feed the dogs. 

1000: to bed

(The next few items happened last week, and although the time of the events usually vary- the events themselves almost always happen)

1130: Nora wakes up and is wide eyed. I pull her into bed with me on the daybed in her room. 

1245: she's still awake and becoming very agitated.

100-115: I give in and feed her and she falls asleep

116: I go into our bedroom, pound on bed to wake the hubby and proclaim "we have GOT to fix Nora's sleep". Side note: we never had to "train" Emmy to sleep. She just did it on her own. Nora is giving us a run for our money. 

215: Nora wakes up crying. A few pats on he back and paci reinsertion later and she's asleep

400: coughing attack that wakes her, she needs help getting back to sleep. 

445: another coughing attack that wakes her and me, she needs help getting back to sleep. 

610: Emmy wakes. Goes peepee and then back to bed, where she stays until her clock turns green at 640. 

We get ready for work, do our morning stuff and sometime around 8am I settle in at my desk to, ya know, enjoy ALL that kid free time I get as a working outside the home mom. Because, as everyone knows, when I'm at the office I can just shut my door and not answer to anyone.  I have no one that needs me here and I can just rest ;)

our budding broadway star

Emmy LOVES to sing.  She always has.

Around 2 months old she found "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes" to be about the best thing since the invention of boob juice.

Music has always caught her attention, and she always tends to like shows that have more music.

Lately, we have been on a Christmas kick.  She tends to do this.  It was 2 years ago that we were watching "Rudolph" well into April.  Well this year it was Charlie Brown Christmas (until it self deleted from the DVR) and now it is Elf on the Shelf.  Another favorite is listening to "Oklahoma" from the musical.

Ok...there's the intro, here's the story:

The other day we were driving home from work/school and she is singing "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing".  I look back and and I see her nose pointing up to the sky....just like all of Charlie Brown's friends.

Also one night this week, Emmy was very adamant about putting on a dress and sitting up on the arm of the chair.  Chris kept picking her up and she kept expressing her displeasure with what he was doing. This happens quite often that her 3 year old words don't keep up with her racing 3 year old brain.  She has a great vocabulary, but she gets so wrapped up in what she wants that she has a hard time expressing it.  She eventually said "I want a long dress that goes over my boopies" and DING, DING, DING....I finally knew what she wanted. (Keep scrolling)

She wanted to re-enact THIS scene!

This girl keeps us on our toes.  She frustrates us.  She makes us laugh.  She makes us want to pull our hair out.  She gives the best hugs. She wakes Nora up in the morning by having a fit. She calms Nora down by singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".  There is only one Emmy Christine and we love *most* everything about her :)

10 month collage

 (L to R and Top to Bottom)

1.  Playing with her new "Nora" bench

2. From Emmy's point of view

3.  Our new dog, Perry

4.  Tummy time on Christmas morning

5. (center pic) Tummy time on Christmas eve (notice Nora is still not getting UP on all fours)

6.  Sister time every morning in mommy and daddy's bed

7.  The Sanders girls, minus the mama

8.  Matching jammies with the baby

9.  Opening presents Christmas morning

10.  Matching jammies with Emmy

(Notice there is no picture with all 3 of us and our matching jammies.  This is because Emmy had a classic case of "the threes" that particular night and did NOT want to wear her jammies while Nora and I had on ours)

What's for Dinner Wednesday

I love to cook, I love to bake, I hate to clean up, I make big messes, and I have 2 girls who are ready for dinner the moment we step in the house after a long day at school/work.

Anyone else in the same boat?

I can't promise you, or myself that this will become a weekly habit- but I need a place to keep track of our weekly menu (because you can usually find the weekly menu, on a piece of paper with the grocery list, in last week's trash pickup).

So here I go, starting something that I probably won't stick to....oh well.  Start project, don't finish it.  Make messes, don't clean them up.  Are we seeing a pattern?

Monday:  Buffalo Wild Wings, since we had a gift card.  My order was not ready for pick up when I arrived so they threw in 4 extra boneless wings for Chris, score!  I joke about his boneless wings b/c I call them "fake".  I eat the real ones: bone, skin, lots of fat, lots of goodness.

Tuesday: Slow Cooker pork chops from here.  They were delicious.  I added some honey to the original mixture.  At the end of the day, I took the juices and combined with pineapple juice and a cornstarch/water mixture on the stovetop to make a thicker sauce.  Poured it over the chops, pineapples and rice.  Next time I'll add some steamed broccoli in there for more nutritional goodness.

Wednesday:  Avocado stuffed sweet potato from here. I'm not into following directions unless I'm baking, so for this recipe I usually just make an avocado pico de gallo and add some drained and rinsed black beans.  It makes a nice meat free meal, although shredded chicken would also be a great addition.

Thursday: Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup.  The high is supposed to be 38* and Chris will be working late, so no need for a big dish.

Friday: Bubble pizza from here. I made this last week and it was delicious.  A few minor adjustments:  I used an oval casserole dish and only needed 1 tube of biscuits, cheese on 1/2 the dish only as I'm still dairy free for Nora and we did canadian bacon, pepperoni, mandarin oranges and pineapple.  This week we are going to use sliced sausage, pepperoni and sliced olives!  We are going up to Kansas this weekend and if we don't finish all of this dish before we go, I will take some with me for breakfast the next morning!!!

What are you having for dinner this week?  Please feel free to share your "go-to" and "no-fail" recipes, I'd love to add some more dishes to my list!

2012 picture recap

Let me just say that I am SO relieved that I have a picture, from each month, of the girls together!  I started making this collage thinking I would just pick my faves from each month.  However, the collage took a turn and this is what I ended up with.  They may not be the best pictures, sharpest pictures, most smiley pictures…but I love what it captured from this past year.  I cannot believe how each girl has grown in the past 10-12 months.  

I need time to slow down.

In 2 months and 2 days, Chris will be turning 31.  That means that in 2 months and 3 days, Nora will be turning 1!  How can this be possible??????  I know I have said that statement before and I will probably say it again.  This year has absolutely flown by without asking me for my opinion!

So here is our 2012 collage in chronological order (left to right and top to bottom).  Do you have a fave picture?  I think if I had to choose just one as my favorite, it would be the "August" picture. 

Or December…

Or June…