Happy Valentine's Day!

Allison is One!

Last week was her birthday, and on Sunday we had a party to celebrate.  I need to figure out how to connect my new camera to the computer to upload photos!  Here's a couple from just before her birthday.

Mommy and "baby"

Can't forget my little man!

Showing off her funny teeth!

Allison is definitely turning into more of a toddler every day.  She is walking quite well now, and is saying a few words.  Mama, Dada, Ball, Baby, Kitty, Hi, and Balloon(or at least I think that's what she's saying-she's looking at the balloon when she says it!).  She's in 12-18 month clothing now, and she's thinned out quite a bit.  Still a little chub, but not the ham hock she was before!  She is such a little sweetie and loves to cuddle.  She loves to nurse, and has taken well to solid food since I stopped trying to give her purees and just started to give her bits of what I'm eating.  She and Colin both go to the doctor on Feb 7th so we'll see how big they are then!  I'm hopeful that the fact we haven't seen Colin with hives in awhile means he is outgrowing his allergies.  Either that or we've become so good at managing them he's been fine. 

Jumping on the Bandwagon

January

February

March

April

 May

June

July

 August

 September

 October

 November

 December

Happy Christmas!

This year we are lacking a bit in holiday decor.  We were on vacation/at a wedding the week of and weekend after Thanksgiving (when I normally decorate), then I came down with the flu and strep throat.  I'm very excited to say I'm feeling way better (though still on amoxicillin).  However, with less than 2 weeks to go until Christmas, I'm not feeling the decorating.  We put up the tree (Jim and Colin did), threw some garland and stockings on the stairs, and some lights outside.  I also hung my apple garlands on the window box.  Other than that, I'm done.  I feel sort of badly, but not that much.  There's always next year!  The kids are little still anyway.

I'm basically done with my shopping-I need some cards, a couple gift cards, and to make the charitable donations I give as gifts to most family members.  Now I just need to clean out my junk dining room so we have somewhere to eat on Christmas morning.  We are going to do brunch again, like last year.  It works well for us to have the grandparents come to us and I make breakfast.  Colin is SO excited about Christmas.  Allison doesn't seem to know what's going on, but she does like to try to eat ornament hooks. 

Speaking of Allison, she's turning into a toddler!  The 3rd tooth appeared while I was on my death bed (thank you a million times to my inlaws for watching the kids), and she's been taking more and more steps.  Now we just need to get her to sleep!  At her appointment last week she was 27.5" long and 19lbs 10oz.  I forget what her head measured-I think 17.75".  The physicians assistant was a bit concerned that she's dropped to the 50th percentile (she was way huge before) but she was born at the 50th so she's not too upset-yet.  If Allison is anything like Colin though she will now continue to drop until she's barely on the charts.  We will have to see what happens.  Fortunately she hasn't showed any signs of food allergy so far.  She's slowly learning to eat solids. 

Colin is such a little person these days.  He says the funniest things and he speaks so well.  He also has an excellent memory, which has proven to be a double edged sword.  Unfortunately he has some temper tantrums and random moments of "bad" that I have trouble dealing with.  Just last week we walked to the house and he said "come back for me" down the porch stairs (I was carrying Allison).  We've done this many times so I said ok and went up to open the door.  The darned kid took that opportunity to run into the road!  I about had a heart attack.  All I can think of now is what could have happened.  We need a garage!

In case I don't get to post, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas full of love and cheer. 

Happy Tuesday!

Today was a lovely day off with the kiddos.  We went for a ride to visit my mom at work (ice cream store on a farm-Colin likes to see the cows!), then stopped at Target to get The Lion King on DVD and a couple house items.  When we got home Colin chowed down some lunch and watched part of his new movie.  Then my grandparents came for a visit!  It was great because despite the fact that they only live about a 40 minute drive away, we only see them every few months.  They like to visit the casino near us, so they stopped on their way.  The best part (other than seeing them, of course): they brought us fruit!  It wasn't organic, but beggars can't be choosers.  I'm so happy they decided against TOYS as gifts and brought some nutritious things that Colin (and the rest of us) can enjoy.  Allison was terrified of them at first, but she warmed up and gladly sat on their laps after a little while. 

Another awesome part of today: one of my friends had a baby!  Head over to Our Small Tribe and congratulate Kirsten on her new little one!

This is a photo from Saturday.  This was the 7th year we've participated in the local Light the Night walk to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

 And a couple from yesterday!

A Somewhat Proper Post

It's been a crazy house as usual.  I can't get Allison to sleep in her crib...ever.  So I haven't been able to do anything after she goes to sleep because I need to be next to her.  The last couple nights I've had Jim hang out next to her in bed and read or whatever while I clean up and do stuff, so I have 5 minutes to update!  Here are some photos from the last few days.

Allison is now 8.5 months old, and Colin is 2 years and 8 months.  AAAhhhh!!! Where did the time go?  Allison (finally!) got her first 2 teeth to erupt in the last couple days.  Colin has turned into a little person.  He's definitely more preschooler than toddler most of the time, save the diapers and tantrums!  It's hard to believe that 2 years ago he was Allison's size, just crawling around and babbling sounds. 

Update!

I'm not sure why I put an exclamation point, because this is in no way an exciting post.  My spending freeze led to a few weeks of super bargain shopping rather than not shopping.  I guess when I tell myself not to spend money it makes me WANT to spend money even more.  So I got some awesome bargains, but still spent money.  Oh well.  Let's try for October. 


Allison is now 8 months old and that's crazy!  She is such a big girl.  I'd love to do a big post about her.

I will hopefully also be reviewing my cloth pads and Diva Cup in a week or 2!