And they're off!

After working on everyones pictures and Christmas cards, I finally decided to do ours! So yeah! They are finally out! They came yesterday, I stuffed and addressed them last night and the girls helped me put the stamps on them and take them to the mailbox this morning! They had lots of fun putting the stamps on! Lucy liked to put more than one on the envelope and Sadie liked to put some on upside down. They were great helpers! Yes, notice Lucy's big girl panties...she is doing GREAT! She hasn't had any accidents for a LONG time! She is doing really good at telling us when she needs to go! YIPPEEEE!

So, keep looking for our Christmas card in the mail! They are coming soon! Happy Holidays!

Christmas Tag

1. Wrapping Paper or Gift Bags: For Christmas, wrapping paper only! It's so fun to have such a huge mess to play in on Christmas! We always have to take our picture in ALL the wrapping paper and then make it "snow." So the more the merrier!
2. Real or Artificial Tree: Artificial. It is just so convenient and easy.
3. When do you put up the tree: Some time after Thanksgiving and before Christmas! :)
4. When do you take your tree down: I Cry the Day that I Take the Tree Down! (Think The Forgotten Carols)
5. Do you like eggnog: I only like it at 50% I need it to be 1/2 milk and 1/2 eggnog.
6. Favorite gift received as a child: When I got a DOG! I asked for one EVERY YEAR! And every year I got a stuffed animal of a dog! :-P But one year I finally got one! I was so excited I cried!
7. Hardest person to buy for: Parents. They have everything and it feels like we have done all the cute and creative things already.
8. Easiest person to buy for: myself! :) Just Kidding! (but not). Our kids! I have such and easy time spending money on them. I just love how exciting it is for them Christmas morning. To cute!
9. Do you have a nativity scene: I have my favorite one, Willow Tree!! The girls have the Fisher Price one too and they love to play with that one.
10. Best Christmas gift you ever received: hmmm...maybe when Chris totally surprised me and got me a NICE brand new set of golf clubs!
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received: I love all gifts equally! :)
12. Favorite Christmas movie: White Christmas. I still need to watch it. As a child my sisters and I would sing the songs and dance together, we even lip synced to the song Sisters at a church thing. I also love to watch the Sound of Music on Christmas. I don't know why but we always do!
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas: It depends. Some things I buy way early, but then I usually procrastinate some!
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present: Probably.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas time: Toffee!!!! Chris' family has the best recipe! My Mom always makes peanut brittle and Chris loves that and is sick of the toffee. But boy do I love the toffee!!!! That and Stephen's Mint Hot Chocolate!
16. Lights on the tree: White.
17. Favorite Christmas song: Oh Holly Night, I get chills every time I hear it. Also, The Forgotten Carols!
18. Travel at Christmas time or stay home: Stay home. The stress of getting everything ready isn't worth it. I think if we want to visit family we'll do it after Christmas!
19. Tree Topper: A little Angel. I need a new topper.
20. Can you name all of Santa reindeer's: Of course. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Rudolph... with the help of the song.
21. Open the Christmas gift Christmas eve or morning: One on Christmas Eve, usually their new Christmas jammies, and the rest Christmas morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year: Annoying shoppers and it's always so crowded at the stores and I just need milk!
23. Favorite Christmas dinner: I usually like ham because it's not a lot of work!
24. What do you want for Christmas this year: a bike, and perfume.

Now everyone do it to! It is fun!

School Pictures

I am usually a big planner for "important" events and am overly freaky about them. Like, birthdays, holidays, pictures etc. But every now and then I totally space them. This is one of those forgetful moments. I totally forgot that it was picture day until we were going out the door! At least I am catching her on a normal/everyday look, right?! This is how she normally looks and not all froofy, so it is good that way. Well, normally she does look a little more run down and mismatched. :) But she IS 4 and we absolutely adore her and all her crazy, fun, sweetness!! I just want to tickle and tease her when I see these pictures!! She is so fun! (and don't worry, I bought the disc of the photos, so this is legal...I didn't scan them in. As a photographer that bothers me!)

Adventures

Yesterday I was on the phone with my sister Tara, getting some hopeful adoption news, when the girls ran in telling me they found a lizard and they wanted me to catch it. So I got a little jar, one that we put the last lizard we caught in. They showed me where it was while giggling with excitement and Lucy proclaiming the it tickled her tummy. When I saw it I immediately realized it was too big for our previous lizard home. Against my wishes, Sadie ran inside and got a bigger container. I am not too much of a lizard catching girl, I used to be when I was little, but not so much anymore. I told Sadie I didn't want to catch it, that it was too big. (The one I caught before was A. 2 inches long (tail included) and B. in the house so I had to catch it!) This one was a lot bigger and outside! I told her she could catch it, but she was too afraid too. So I built up my courage, Lucy found me a stick to scoop it with, and I tried to scoop it into the container. It was way up near the top of the swing set so I could totally see it falling right on me! After trying for a few minutes it finally jumped right into the container! I screamed and hurried to put the lid on! I DID IT! I was so proud! Then amongst my screaming, Sadie said, "You have a lady bug on your back." So I told her to get it off. She then told me she was scared. She had just caught a lady bug (Mr. Bug Catcher) the day before. I tried to remind her of that. Then she said, "It's not a lady bug, it's a scary bug!" So of course the screaming continued! She wouldn't even take the stick to scrape it off! Finally I flicked it off somehow and we all began settle down! Meanwhile, Tara is on the phone laughing at all of our excitement! We went inside and enjoyed our bravery as we watched our new friend trying to avoid a heart attack!

Aren't you so proud of me!?! He's pretty big! He was so cool. When we we catching him he was a brown color and then he turned green! Then later he turned a dark reddish-brown color! We didn't keep him long. I feel too guilty. I knew it would die if we kept it in this little container. Sadly, we let go in the woods. Sadie was whimpering but I was relieved! Keep in mind, that while we were doing this in the afternoon, Lucy was in her big girl panties, and panties alone. Yes, she is doing so much better with potty training. Initially when I start to potty train, I just like to go straight to panties, which I did. But then Lucy had a huge #2 accident on Chris' watch and he (being Mr. Germ freak) was disgusted and didn't understand why we wouldn't put her in pull ups. So I decided to switch to pull ups for a while. Well, Lucy then started to realize that she could just pee in them and wasn't even trying. So Friday we made the switch and she is now doing great! So back to the fact that Lucy was in just her panties, and Sadie was in shorts and a t-shirt. It was a beautiful day! Sunny, and gorgeous. Then in the evening a cold front came and it was freezing! This is what we went to bed to:
SNOW!!! It never snows here! It was full on slow drifting snow! At first it was sleet, but then we saw this as we were going to bed. It was exciting. We woke up to icy snow on the deck and trampoline. The girls loved it! Sorry I didn't take pictures of them, I was too cold and didn't want to go outside!! When Sadie was on the trampoline she said, "Mom, the trampoline is breaking!!!" Because the ice was cracking, it was too cute. She stood there motionless until I told her what was going on! Funny!
While they were out playing I was setting up for our photoshoot for our Christmas cards! YEAH!! They turned out so cute and fun. I love them. So if you are reading this and you know we don't have your address, and you would like us to send you a Christmas card, email it to me and we will send you one! :) chrisandlanae@sbcglobal.net

It's Beginning to Look A LOT Like Chrissstmassss!

(So the title is for Tricia - when we were in 4th and 5th grade we were in a Christmas show at our Elementary School and the crazy music teacher, Mrs. Sweat, told us not to emphasize our "S" sounds. Since we are sassy and we didn't like her, we OVER emphasized them in ALL the songs! How respectful!)

Friday we broke out the Christmas decorations and Saturday we put up the lights outside. We didn't do as much of the lights this year because Chris doesn't like to put them up and I don't want to do a ton. I was pooped after just the amount we did. But sometimes I think a little goes a long way! :) Chris was re-staining the garage door, which looks LOVELY, while I (don't read this Mom) put the lights up. I know, being pregnant I should NOT be climbing on the roof but I am stubborn and want them up and know Chris will probably never get around to it. I did however skip the high peak of the house which scared me AND Chris last year. (I was up there last year and Chris kept telling me how to lay down and blah blah blah, but it is TOO steep and too high! He got up there to try, thinking I was being chicken, and he quickly agreed with me! It is this high peak over the second story, plus our lot slopes down there so the foundation is probably 5 feet up right there too! So the ground is WAY far down! And the trees cover that section anyway.) So here is our outside.It is so fun to have the decorations out. The girls LOVE it too! This was the first year they really got into the decorations! They LOVED decorating the tree. They took turns wearing the Christmas tree skirt! Sadie was my little poser today! And yes, notice the outfit changes! Ugh...Every ornament they pulled out they ooooohed and awwwed over. They were true girly girls! They loved seeing all of THEIR own ornaments. Seriously, look how much fun they have together. (Today at church while I was taking the girls potty, it was my turn and they were sitting on this little bench and Lucy put her arm around Sadie and she said, "Sadie your my best friend everyday!" Sadie leaned over and gave her a big hug and they both looked at me smiling with their arms around each other! So cute!) They are so fun!

It is so fun to see them enjoying the moments that I loved as a little kid! I remember LOVING to set up the nativity. I loved the it was so beautiful and delicate. The girls LOVED figuring out where to put each of the pieces. We talked about how we try to face all the people and animals towards Baby Jesus. Sadie loved that! They LOVE that they have their own Nativity to play with over and over! I woke up to the music of it this morning. Although we have added a few characters to the original ones in attendance. :) Notice how they are facing. And Cinderella is totally petting the donkey! :) So funny!We have been LOVING the advent calendar from Aunt Tricia! Isn't it the cutest you have ever seen!?! My girls do not understand it yet though. I have refilled the tins with candy a bunch of times and finally I figured they will understand better if I DON'T refill it. So if it's empty, they don't get a treat because they already ate it. We still get to do whatever fun thing it tells us to do though, like make snow flakes, write a letter to Santa, color a Christmas picture, etc. We have had so much fun with it! And I just love how cute it is!So now that we are done with decorating, maybe I should start my shopping! Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas is coming!

To start our Christmas fun, Sadie found these cute ornaments that you can color and decorate yourself at the store when we made a few quick trips on black Friday. So we thought it would be fun to decorate them! The girls were so excited about it! Since I still don't have our tree up, they carry them all over the house clanking them together. Hopefully they make it to Christmas! They seem to be pretty sturdy. :) We are getting so excited for Christmas! Sadie has asked for a scooter with "one wheel in front and one wheel in back." (a razor) Lucy doesn't seem to care too much. But she is excited about Christmas coming. I have to agree with them on the excitement...I can't wait!

The report is in!

It's a GIRL!!!!

We are so excited! Yes, we were all thinking it was going to be a boy, (since this pregnancy has been so different) so needless to say we were shocked. But we are so excited about it! We do love girls in this family!!! Sadie has needed a little more reassurance that it is exciting because she wanted a brother since "she already has a sister." I told her how Mommy AND Daddy only have sisters and that it is tons of fun. So we talked about all the girl stuff that she loves and how her new sister will love to do those things with her! And that it was good because we don't have a lot of boy dress ups. So she is getting used to the idea. Here is a cute picture of her all curled up. We can't wait to add another girl to the family! I am glad I get to still be into bows and frills. YEAH!!!! Now the hunt is on for names and room decos! Exciting!!!! We love you sweet baby girl!!