Silly Sisters

Natalie is finally learning to share with her sister....finally. It's so much nicer to see her asking nicely to have something back rather than just snatching it away. Hayden is saying new words and making new gestures. She loves saying "byyyye bye" and waves with both hands. Saying "hi" is cute too, but that's just a one-hander. ;) We are teaching her how to say baby and she does a good job with that word "baaaaaa-by....baaaaaa-by." She crawls directly towards her baby and knows what books are too. I love her little baby chatter and her interactions. It's like getting to know a new person! :) One of my favorite moments so far in your little sisterhood happened this evening as I watched you playing and Natalie leaned in to give Hayden a kiss on the head, ever so gently. That's true love of a big sister....and a gift for my heart. :)

I love you both so much and I will spend every minute I can showing you just how much.

XO
Mom

What a December!

So Christmas has come and gone and we're all kinda sad about it. I guess mostly because Natalie was sick on Christmas morning so she didn't enjoy everything initially. She had thrown up in her bed and was so upset. :( Then anger came when she couldn't wear her monkey jammies cause well, they were SOILED with vomit. Anyway, we tried our best to make it a good morning for her, but all she wanted to do was lay down in between present opening. It just broke our hearts to see her so down. After she threw up the last time she was able to have milk and keep it down and was ready for the rest of her presents so Christmas got much better. I wish I didn't feel the need to get her so much. She barely plays with everything. Her little mind can't possibly have enough imagination for it all. I know she will eventually get to the mass of toys, it just takes time for her to come up with some creativity for them all.
December stressed me out. I always put soooo much pressure on myself to be the best for the best people in my life. I have to make cookies and candy, shop for presents, talk to santa, make sure our elf on the shelf Starry had a nice comfortable place to sit for the day, shop on line, wrap presents, stop for Eric's birthday, shop on line, wrap presents. Yea, I sad some things multiple times, cause I did them multiple times. UGH...it's stressing me out just typing it all and reliving the thoughts. I'm somewhat glad it is over, actually but I wish I had a chance to enjoy it a little more. It's my fault I didn't. I hope that I take a hint and take care of myself better next year.
Stress comes with my body image as well. I want so bad to drop the pregnancy weight ...TEN POUNDS!! THAT'S IT! It's the hardest cause I just want to eat whatever I want....and now I have to do a last minute training schedule for my half marathon. I should've started in November, but here I have 2 months left and I have to devise a plan...or I'm gonna exhaust myself. I just would love to dump weight and be 70 percent ready to do the half...that would be decent shape for me mentally. I can push the other 30! ha! here's hoping that I can get everything under control but as a mom of two little ones, I barely have time to blog and breathe!

Today we went to the Waco zoo. It is beautiful, one of the best zoos I've been to as far as scenery. It was chilly and the trees were full of fall colors, even though it's now winter :) Natalie loved it and all the animals. A few of them looked at her like she was lunch! ha!
We all had a good time...I think Hayden's favorite part was lunch at Chuy's. :)

So my girls, another year is coming to a close. 2011 was amazing because little Hayden came into our lives. We have so much to be thankful for and if I just keep remembering that my stress will disapate and I will be able to breathe a little more. My new year's resolution is to try to not put too much stress on myself. Make smart decisions and realize that nothing and no one is perfect, including myself.

I love you my little girls and trust in the fact that your mommy will be a better mommy with each new breath that I take.
XO
Mom

December Craziness

December always brings joy, but there is always stress in the back pocket. Did I prepare enough? Shut down holiday thinking and focus on husband's birthday that is 3 days before Christmas. I constantly have to remind myself not to forget. Then put that aside and make sure that everyone is covered that I wanted to shop for. So then I remember that I have a project to complete that is going to be a gift. Somehow I have to get myself out of this house to get the last remaining pieces of said project. Switch gears to my 3 year old's questions....and my whining teething baby who hates everything. ON TOP OF EVERYTHING...I have to worry about when and how I'm going to get the remaining baby weight off....oh and somehow fitting in a little training for the half marathon that I committed to (and shouldn't have!!)for February. Needless to say my head is spinning. I have so much going on that I can barely focus. My house is a mess, my christmas tree keeps "messing with me"...and I just need to start checking things off my list so I don't go CRAZY!!!!

Luckily my Christmas cards got sent off yesterday and I have cookies and candies made for gift boxes. That stuff lets me breathe a little....but there is still so much to do!

Sorry my lovely ladies, this was not at all about you guys and what cute things you are doing these days....mommy just had to vent!

I still love you to pieces....
XO..Mom

Elf on the Shelf!

So this morning the Elf on the Shelf arrived from the North Pole! He flew in to watch over the girls all day and at night, he flies back to the Pole to report to Santa. Natalie is over the moon excited about his arrival. Supposedly, every morning he picks a different spot to sit in. This is a whole lot more fun than I thought it would be. Daddy and I read the story to Natalie last night and you could see her little gears grinding as she listened and started understanding the story. We got to give our elf a name and Natalie picked "Starry Christmas." So hoping Starry works his magic on my little one! She keeps talking about him and wanting to know all sorts of things about him. I hope the game of finding him each morning will keep the excitement alive!

Here is our elf, Starry!

So much going on!

There has been so much going on between thanksgiving, teething, decorating for Christmas, teething, etc...etc...etc

Hayden is getting her second big front tooth which is driving me bananas! My poor baby gets in these "moods" and I just can't ever make her happy...well, unless I hold her. She's starting to play peek-a-boo with anyone who is watching. She will pull up her blanket up to her face and wait for someone to say, "where's Hayden?" and she pulls it down fast. It's so cute....cause she's so proud of herself. :) Hayden is also dancing when she hears a good tune and seems to obviously really like music. Another thing she likes to do is empty things out and put stuff back in so Santa will be bringing her some appropriately fun toys this year! She's such a good eater and really seems to know how to handle chewing different things. No real interest in crawling, just wants to walk...on her own. Scares me, but I'm pretty sure she is going to take her first steps a little sooner than her sister did. She's always chasing after Natalie in her walker so I'm sure she can't wait to really go after her. Riley and Hayden seem to be becoming friends. He will lay next to her while she plays on the floor and just likes to be around her. She's getting used to him and tries to share her "cookies" with him. :)
My sweet Hayden, I can't believe you will be 9 months old in a few days!! Seems like just yesterday we were in the hospital getting to know each other. You are so funny and loving with a spark of "stinker" in you....and I love you so!!

Natalie is SO into Christmas! She loves holidays like her mommy does! I guess that's why, cause I make such a big deal out of the ones I like. She has a set of plastic decorations that she decorated the tree with. She has her own little funky white christmas tree in her room and lots of christmas books and dolls. I can't wait to see her face on Christmas morning! Last year was good, this year will be even better. :)
Sweet Natalie you are learning so much and talking up a storm. You don't fully understand some things still, but you are learning so fast. We straightened your hair for the first time and it was sooo beautiful. The next day you said, "oh no, my hair's not beautiful anymore :(" haha...awww.
I love the way you love your sister and the way she stares at you with delight. You are already best buddies and I hope it stays that way!

I love you both so much and am looking forward to this Christmas season and all the fun it will bring!!

XO
Mom

So Very Thankful

I am a lucky girl.
I am so very thankful for...kids and their kisses....hugs and hilarious moments....teething and talks...crafts and cooking...play time and nap time....baking and book reading....my picky child and my non-picky child....funny faces and fun places....movie time and moving times....controlled chaos and complete chaos....friend dates and mommy-daddy dates....secrets and silly dances.
I am so very thankful for all of the above and so much more but most of all I am thankful for love and for life. The love of my husband, my best friend and who I am meant to spend my life with. The love of my babies, who do so unconditionally and never cease to tell me or show me just how much I mean to them.
I am so thankful for the life I was given, the life my husband was given, and the chance to give life to my Natalie and my Hayden and to join all of our lives together into ONE. You all are my dream come true and more than I could have ever asked for or ever thought I deserved. I love each one of you to the moon and back times infinity.

XOXO
Mom (Lori) :)

Perfect Day

I couldn't have planned a better day than my family and I had yesterday. Literally could not sit down and write it out any better.
We started off with going on the metro rail to downtown Austin. My husband and I have been trying to plan out more activities for the girls to do and thought Natalie would enjoy the Children's Museum. She had been there once before when she was about 15 months old, but this experience was MUCH better. It's more fun with her walking and talking. Hayden got to play with a few things too, so that was a bonus. It was pretty crowded so we spent about an hour there and walked over to get lunch. We had hot dogs at a place called Frank which I'm pretty sure is sitting in an old club I used to frequent...a LONG time ago. ;) and :( After lunch we walked back to the train station and rode it back to our car. I couldn't have asked for my girls to behave any better. No melt downs. No fits. NOTHING. Natalie did fall a couple of times, but she was ok and kept on going. When we got home they both went right down for naps and slept a couple hours. After they got up we went to eat pizza with Grampa and headed to the hockey game. Natalie kept telling me she was tired and wanted to go "home to sleep." haha...a mother's DREAM! But we stayed 2 periods and the Stars got a goal with 2 minutes left in the 2nd! It was exciting! Hayden and Natalie didn't mind the loud music and noises (even though we blocked Hayden's a little). Nat was kinda getting into it but was ready to go home. It was just a really awesome day. One of those days you wish you could repeat over and over. Although, hubs and I were super tired too! ha! :) We both fell asleep quick.
I just love watching you girls excited and happy. Exploring all the new things and faces in your environment. It's completely amazing to see you both learning and soaking things up like little sponges. You both have similar but different personalities. You both loved the train ride. Hayden, you laughed and played during both rides. Natalie, you looked out the window and talked to Daddy and when it was time to get off and go to our car, you said.. "Mommy? can we go on the train next year?" :) SO sweet! Of course I told you YES!! That's your new thing, saying "last year" or "next year." LOVE. :) Nat you waved bye bye to the train and said "see you next time, train!" :) again...LOVE.

You both have done so well today too! We are on a roll! Hoping that the cowboys don't lose tomorrow and ruin our "perfect" weekend!

Thank you for being testy and difficult and happy and joyful and SO MUCH FUN. Did that sound weird? Well, if it weren't for the former I wouldn't appreciate the ladder sooo much! :) I love you both for all that you are. You are a crazy mix of me and of Daddy that I completely adore. I can't wait for our next adventure! Christmas activities...here we come!

Now, onto making cookies! LOVE YOU!!
XO
MOm