Bits and Pieces

Oh Wow.  Another completely random blog post two or three days after my last one.  Sorry folks, it is ALL sorts of craziness up in this house these days.

+ David is leaving tomorrow for Venezuela for two weeks for a father/son trip with his dad.  So, yeah, my parents are pretty much moving in with me and vice versa.  Beyond thankful that we are out here to have their help.  And, sort of freaking out because TWO WEEKS is a long time.  It's the longest we've ever been apart.

+ And, speaking of the husband, we got to go on our January date on Saturday night.  BDubs, y'all!  It was sooo good, too.  David and I have always loved going to BW3 for their wings and trivia.  And, we seriously kicked some trivia tail Saturday night!

This looks so gross, but tasted SO good!

Why yes, I did take a picture of our winning name on the screen.

+  Sydney is cutting her first tooth.  Yup, a whole two months before Olivia ever did.  {Not that I'm comparing.}  It's her bottom tooth on her left side.  She is hardly sleeping, has a runny nose and a cough {that I thought was what Olivia had, but since she never spiked a fever, I think it is due to that nasty little tooth} and literally wants to be held all the time.  I feel so bad for her because I know she is miserable.  You can just see it on her face.  Pobrecita.

+ Olivia is saying the funniest things these days.  She keeps asking for "a handful of UH-tella" instead of Nutella.  I've got her hooked.  Her favorite new song is Bare Necessities from the Jungle Book, but she keeps calling it Bear A Sesames.  I've had to have a little chat with her about my Do Not Disturbs.   They are now completely off limits and are not to be disturbed.  She has done a lot better with it than I originally thought.  The other night she asked if she could hold them and I reminded her that she's a big girl now and that she can't do that.  So, she said, "I'll just look at them."  Then, she took her nose right up to them, sniffed and said, "Mmmmm, your boobies smell SO good."  Oh goodness, she's gonna hate me for this when she's older.  I love you, Olivia!

+ We dyed rice yesterday and it turned out really cute.  I'll try and put a tutorial up in the next couple of days, but it was super easy.  Rice, rubbing alcohol and food coloring.  It's going to hurt me when it gets mixed.

+ So, the other night, I was sending my brother some video messages of Olivia.  I was trying to get her to say hi to "Aunt Hala" and she couldn't remember what to say and this is the little outtake.  I swear I have watched it 100 times whenever I need a laugh.  The way she says, HOLLLAAA and the look on her face afterwards is priceless.  Love that girl. {And, I love OxyClean.  Those blueberry stains came right out!}

+ And, just because she's so dang cute.  Oh man, I just love her so much.

Can you believe it's the last day of January?  One month down, eleven more to go!

Happy Tuesday from the Valley of the Sun

Oh Tiny Prints, You Know the Way to My {Valentine's Day} Heart

Okay, so if you know me very well, you will know that I love all things Tiny Prints.  I've created both of the girls' birth announcements from there {just browsing that section makes even this sleep deprived mama want another little baby}, Olivia's birthday invitations were from Tiny Prints, and our Christmas cards were from there this year as well.  During all of my recent organizing, I found a cute Valentine's Day card that I sent out when Olivia was around 9 1/2 months old.  Oh Tiny Prints, you know the way to my Valentine's Lovin' Heart!

         

So, of course, I felt a little pang of, So is Sydney not going to have a Valentine's Day card with her picture on it to put in her memory box? And, my fingers magically made their way over to....you guessed it:

http://www.tinyprints.com/tiny-prints-valentines-day-cards.htm

Talk about swoon.  I'm ready to decorate the house in heart garlands and cupids & arrows!  Wanna see a couple of my favorites?  Sure you do.

Love, love, LOVE this one.  

And, that precious family?  Just so happens to be from one of my favorite blog reads!

And, I just LOVE this photo collage.  

Their Valentine's Day greeting cards are gorgeous too!

http://www.tinyprints.com/greeting/shop/valentines-greeting-cards.htm

I mean, what grandma and grandpa wouldn't love a personalized greeting card?!

Especially one like this.

Now, if only I could get both of my girls to cooperate for a picture!

Like Tiny Prints too?

Follow them on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/#!/TinyPrints

Like them on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/tinyprints

Follow them on Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/tiny_prints/

Brain Dump {and a little TMI}

Sydney has gotten whatever it was that Olivia has/had and her poor little nose is running like a sugar train.  As a result, she is not sleeping unless she is attached to me, so little has been accomplished around the house and the Ergo has been my best friend.  David is currently wearing her and Olivia is eating dinner, so while I stuff my face with the yummiest pollo borracho I've ever made, I'm going to dump whatever's in my brain.

+ I haven't pulled out my actual camera in at least a week.  Therefore, all pictures in this post are from my iPhone.  And, I did my best to jazz them up with one of those fancy phone apps.  But, they're still pictures from my phone.

+ My parents have been absolute lifesavers for me this week.  I blogged about Tuesdays being wonderful, right?  Well, my mom came over on Wednesday, or at least I'm sure she did.  To be honest, I can't remember what Wednesday even looked like, but I'm pretty sure I've seen her all week.  Oh wait, now I remember.  We took Olivia to a new playground and then multiple tantrums occurred.  But that may be a different bullet point.  Anyway, yesterday, she called to say that Dad wasn't golfing and he would take Olivia to the park if we wanted to go walk Sydney.  Hallelujah.  An actual walk that didn't involve us stopping every ten minutes to encourage Olivia to stay in the stroller?!  Yes, please.   As if that wasn't enough, we went to Wendy's for lunch where he treated us to a Frosty, we ran to the Dollar Tree, and then we came home and he MOPPED. OUR. FLOORS!  God love that man.  He is too good to us.  {Mom too!}

Toddler boot camp.  It's going to be the latest trend.  You just wait and see.

Having too much fun at Toddler Boot Camp.

+ Speaking of Wendy's - have you all seen the new "freestyle" coke fountain machines?  I wanted to take a picture of the one at Wendy's, but there were too many people around and I was embarrassed!  But, there are over 100 drink options - you use the touch screen to choose diet coke and then you can choose all sorts of flavors to go with it.  I want to go back to Wendy's today just to use it again!

+  I can't remember if I have blogged about this or not, but we were doing really well with Olivia's potty training and then we had a little set back.  Long story short, I think Olivia wanted something to control and, well, she chose pottying to be that thing.  More specifically, pooping on the potty.  {Hey, you never know what you are going to get when you read this blog, do you?}  We were pretty much at our wits end, trying a zillion different things.  Well, when we were out looking for stuff to send to Jill in Guam, I found these little Mickey Mouse figurines at the Dollar Store and put them in the "Poopy Reward Box" and within two minutes of her seeing what she could get, she put a poopy in the potty.  Within the past 4 days, she's earned all four figurines.  {Thus, our trip to the Dollar Tree yesterday to get the Toy Story, Winnie the Pooh and Disney Princess figurines.}  Whatever it takes.

I will hold something back {like the picture of it}, but let's just say she earned Mickey while at the playground with Poppy!

+ We went on a short tricycle ride {YES, Olivia can ride a tricycle really well now} and had some fun at the play structure that's super close to our house.  We met a really nice mom with a little baby just a couple months younger than Sydney and, small world, she works with my other friend who we go on play dates with.

+  This just in:  Sydney is asleep!  And in her swing!  And, Olivia earned Belle from Beauty and the Beast!  {Too far?}

I cannot handle her cuteness.

+  I got these heart freezer trays in the dollar bin at Target a few weeks ago and they have turned into Olivia's new lunch plates.  It's so fun arranging the food in them and it's a lot more fun for her to eat them.

+ Another Dollar Tree find were these foam letters and numbers.  I bought a large bag of rice and Olivia had fun throwing rice finding the letters and putting them back in the puzzles.

+ This just in:  Sydney's awake.  So, I'm off.  Happy Friday, y'all!

Sydneygrams + Somebody's FIVE months old

My sweet little Sydney,

Please,  please, please slow down on your growing up!  I may be excited for the days when you and Olivia can play together {or maybe even the days when I know you can defend yourself against her}, but I'm not ready for you to outgrow my lap and the comfy little nook in my arms.  So slow it down.

I can't believe that you are already big enough to sit and play in your excersaucer!  You love it.  And, I'm so glad to have an extra spot to put you while I am working away in the kitchen.  You really like your new bouncy seat too.  Seems like only yesterday you seemed so tiny even being in your car seat.

I'm making tummy time more of a priority for you these days.  I woke up in a sweat the other night thinking you might never learn to crawl if I didn't give you more practice.  We can't have that now, can we?

Oh, dear.  It seems you are going to turn into quite the tolerant baby.  Your sister can be awfully touchy with you - she loves to take your socks off and roll you over onto your belly.  Nothing is scarier than hearing her say, "Mommy, look what I did to Sydney!"  The other day while we were doing tummy time, she drove her Little People SUV right over you.  And, you didn't bat an eyelash.

Here it comes.

BOOM.

You are getting to the age though where it's time for me to start putting you in hats, so get ready.  We started with this one on Saturday and I think you rocked it like a super star.  Trust me, there's plenty more where that came from.

You are still pretty darn easy-going.  And, for that, I thank you.  However, there are times that your screams can rival that of your sister's when she was a baby.  I apologize if it seemed I was insensitive when I took this picture, but I just couldn't resist.  I didn't want the world thinking you were too perfect.

And let me apologize again, sweet baby.  It seems you've inherited my thighs.  

I still just want to nibble on those all day.

Last night, you were boobze'n it up at the open bar ALL. NIGHT. LONG.  Here's a warning - that late night bar is going to be closing up shop real soon.  But, thanks for paying your tab with extra cuteness.

I love you forever and a day, my dear.  Thank you for letting me be your Mama.  Happy 5 months.

Tuesdays With Nana and Poppy

Tuesdays just may be my very favorite day of the work week!  {So, that doesn't include weekends, even though, let's be honest here, every day is a day of the work week when you are a mom.}  But, back to Tuesdays.  I love 'em.  Wanna know why?  Because we get out of the house and head over to Nana and Poppy's house where the adult to child ratio goes from 1:2 all the way up to 3:2!!  Dad doesn't play golf on Tuesdays {he is either golfing or volunteering every other day of the week} and Mom doesn't have any of her singing commitments.  So, it's just us and the kids.  Two extra adults not only means two more sets of hands to hold them, but it's four more hands for fixing lunch, changing diapers and cleaning up messes.  Plus, we can be as loud as we want around here and don't have to worry about disrupting David while he works.  {And, it's an added bonus that we don't mess up our house...}

Today was wonderful!  Dad played with Olivia for a couple of hours while Mom and I went and ran some fun errands for my friend Jill who is living in Guam.  She needed some craft supplies and fun trinkets for her reward box {and it would cost about 5x as much for her to buy it there}.  We had a lot of fun searching for things that we thought the girls would enjoy.  It's always more fun spending someone else's money, isn't it?!

Dad had lots of fun playing doll house, pretend zoo and sleepovers with Olivia.  He's such a good Poppy!  And, did I mention that Nana is in the kitchen making all of us dinner?! We are truly blessed.

A Very Happy Tuesday from the Valley of the Sun

Go Take a Hike

We have been a little under the weather here the last several days - and poor Olivia has been the one suffering the most.  After our play date last Tuesday, she started getting some sniffles and a barky cough.  Those sniffles have turned into a full-on snotterfalls {get it?  like waterfalls, but with snot.  gross, right?} and that cough has not given up.  Throw in her spiking a fever every once in awhile and you've got a whiny little toddler on your hands.  Bless her heart.  We've tried keeping her down and trying to make her watch movie after movie, but we are all getting a little stir crazy. 

On Saturday, we decided to head out to San Tan Mountain Regional Park for a hike with the girls and mom and dad.  We ended up hiking up to the very top of Goldmine Mountain.  It was a perfect day for a hike - the sun stayed behind the clouds for most of the day keeping it just the perfect temperature.  Olivia was such an awesome little hiker - we were all so proud of her.  She walked a lot of the trail, but when it came to the really steep parts, she was bound and determined to climb those rocks all by herself!  

A huge shout out to my mom for doing such a great job on the hike!

David stuck right with Olivia the whole way.

Our little rock climber!

I look like I just got finished with boot camp.

Sydney did great the whole trip - slept almost the entire time!

This picture was taken about 1/2 mile from the very top.

My dad climbed to the very top, but Sydney and I stayed down on solid ground with David and Olivia.

On the way back down the mountain, we took a slightly different trail to get back to the parking area and I'm so glad we did.  We encountered the sweetest lady who was taking "Pepper" out for a ride.  Olivia asked the lady nicely if she could pet the horse and the lady even offered to let Olivia sit in the saddle with her.  I guess Olivia noticed that a horse is a little bigger than a pony and decided to stay in Nana's arms instead.  

And, then onto Poppy's shoulders.

This little love bug woke up right about the time we were exploring the snakes and gila monsters in the park museum.  We gladly opted out of that part.  Thanks, Syd.

All in all, it was a great day.  We stopped by San Tan Flats for a late lunch and then felt zero guilt in being completely lazy the rest of the day.  I LOVED the hiking and can't wait to do it more often.

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend.

Happy Monday from the Valley of the Sun