under the weather

My sweet girl wasn't feeling any better today.  I hate that she is sick, but I sure did love the extra snuggles and the chance to hold her while she slept! 

She was very content just relaxing in my lap and watching tv.  Love her hands!

I thought a lollipop would help, but she wasn't really interested in it.  She normally eats it up.

 A little birthday mail later in the day helped!

I'm slowly working on a few details for her party this weekend.  I pulled out our Christmas card holder to display Emmy's monthly pictures (birth - 11 months).  

We're excited about her party on Saturday and won't let a little cold slow us down.

I needed a day like this

There's nothing better than a warm January day to get you out of the cold winter funk!

I figured it was too nice outside to make Bryce take a nap today so we stayed outside all afternoon while Emmy napped.  He was a big help washing the car.  It was much needed after all the snow.

 

 

We relaxed in the sun when we were done!

 

 

Then we headed to the backyard to ride his bike, scooter, jeep, and jump on the trampoline!  All the things we haven't done because it's been SO cold!

 

 

When Emmy got up we went for a wagon ride. 

 

 

Bryce and Emmy have been passing a cold back and forth all winter.  Bryce just got rid of a horrible cough and now Emmy has it.  Up until now, I was just satisfied knowing that it was just winter junk going around and they were fine.  Emmy was just miserable at dinner tonight so I finally decided to take her to the doctor just to be safe.  If she did have something more than a cold, I wanted to take care of it before her party on Saturday.  Of course, it's just a cold.  Oh well, better safe than sorry!

 

Last night we went out for frozen yogurt for the first time in a long time.  I'd say it was a big hit!

monday mish mash

It's been cold.  It's been snowy.  I've been lazy!

We had snow on Thursday so Bryce got to miss school.  We played in it while Emmy napped and then it melted by lunchtime.  Then we had snow Friday afternoon/evening and we woke up to this pretty scene!  This morning we woke up to freezing rain and ice everywhere.  Last week the highs were in the 20's.  A few days this week are going to be unseasonably warm!!!  However, I have heard varying reports of snow again on Friday and I.DON'T.WANT.IT!!  Emmy's party is Saturday and I really don't need weather to interfere!

Our friend Avery came over to play last Thursday.  It was impossible to get a picture of the girls together!

Emmy took four steps on Saturday!  It's exciting, but I still don't think she is close to actually walking.  

Bryce spent the night with Chase on Saturday night and they used a little of Dave's hair products before church!

Bryce has been working on his birthday invitations for his friends.  Next we have to tackle Valentine's for his friends, oh boy!

I may have mentioned these last year, but they are my absolute favorite!!!  I don't like the traditional conversation hearts because they taste chalky and they are just yucky!  The tart and sassy version remind me of smarties!  These are the kind I remember as a kid.  I got a bag at Target the other night, but I may need to stock up for the year, ha!

hair raising issues

For lack of anything better to blog about, I thought I'd share my love/hate (mostly hate) relationship with my hair. I have really thick curly hair. Only it's really curly underneath and just wavy on the top. I have spent my entire life drying and straightening my hair (everyday....much to my stylist's dismay) inevitably frying it and making it super unhealthy because I color it too (I'm just not ready to accept the fact that I'm not a blonde anymore). In an effort to grow it out, I have decided to embrace the curls. I have to admit that I love how quick and easy it is, but I just don't feel totally put together (kind of frumpy). And after six months of growing it out, I think it may have grown an inch. Not enough to make me feel like this whole curly thing is worth it. And at the end if the day, I look like this. 

 

 

TOTALLY.NOT.WORTH.IT

So for all of you with thin straight hair who are cursing me for not wanting this hair, it's not all it's cracked up to be! Maybe in five years when it grows five more inches I'll change my tune, but for now, I'm just a hot mess!   

Ice skating

 

We headed down to the city today with some of our middle and high school students in our youth group to go ice skating. I was a little shaky when I first got out on the ice, but it all came back to me pretty quickly!  The best part about it, we got in for free!  We didn't have to pay the $5 admission or $5 skate rental because we just so happen to have our home owners insurance through the sponsors of the rink!

 

Jason was having too much fun showing off which caused him to take a couple of falls. I wish I had gotten a picture of him when he was laid out face first on his stomach Pete Rose style (his words, not mine).  I guess if you can wear that hat in public a little fall can't really hurt your pride. 

 

Once the kids were cold and tired of skating we headed to the Starbucks across the street to warm up. I opted for a hot chocolate and got the kids size and couldn't resist taking a picture of the miniature cup!

Afterwards we went to Cook out for dinner. We had never been, but have always heard how good and well priced it was. I guess any $5 combo you can get with two corn dogs as your side is a steal, ha!

snow day

It snowed!!  I'm not a huge fan of snow.  I really only liked it when I was teaching because there was always the chance of a day off of school.  However, Bryce's excitement over the anticipation of snow makes is much more tolerable!  

We didn't have a snow suit for Emmy so I bundled her up in an outfit and then put pajamas over it to make sure she stayed warm for the obligatory "first snow" picture.  I sat her in the snow saucer to help her stay dry and possibly a little warmer.  She didn't like her first snow experience as much as Bryce (seen here).  Maybe she was cold or maybe the sun was too bright!

She did a little better once we put Bryce in the picture.

Bryce enjoyed jumping on the trampoline in the snow last year.  It wasn't as much fun this year since the snow was so icy.

Bryce loved Jason pulling him around the yard on the disc (what is that thing called anyway).

Bryce has been talking about building a snowman for months.  A few weeks ago we were eating carrots for lunch and there was a carrot that was much larger than the others and shaped like a real carrot (not a baby carrot).  Bryce said it was the perfect carrot nose for a snowman.  We set it aside in it's own bags in hopes of getting enough snow for a snowman.  The snow was so icy and didn't pack well so we just made a head! 

Life through my iPhone

I finally broke down and spent a little of my Christmas money on a new phone cover. I really wanted a fun monogrammed one, but just wasn't sure about the quality of the cases from online pictures and they are a bit pricey. I'm excited about this fun chevron print though!

 

Bryce has had a horrible cough for the past week, but it doesn't seem like anything more than a cold. I try to get him to be still and less active, but the boy is full of energy and won't sit still, not even for cartoons!

 

These too just love each other so much!

 

We were out shopping the other night and came across this deal that was too good to pass up!  Three hats, 6 cents!

We sang this song in church last week and I just love it! I could listen to it over and over.

 

Emmy had her first donut the other day. After Jason posted the picture on Facebook, we were reminded that in this donut loving, bakery owning family, this may not have been her first donut after all, ha!

Stay tuned for our first 2013 snow pictures.  We have been holding on to the "perfect" carrot for a snowman nose.  Bryce can't wait to get out and play in the snow tomorrow.

swimming

Bryce started swimming lessons today!  He learned a lot and gained a ton of confidence after his lessons this summer, but he still had some anxiety in the water at the end of the summer.  I decided to enroll him in some winter classes in order to practice the skills he had learned and to build more confidence in the water.  He was a little nervous at the start, but nothing like last summer!

I think he enjoyed that there were other kids in his class this time, rather than the individual lesson.  I personally like the private lesson because they get more attention and time to work on a skill.  Thirty minutes goes quick with 4 students.

Emmy enjoyed playing while we watched.

Something about goggles changes a kid's entire appearance, ha! He looks evil.

He's looking forward to going back next week!

it's hard not to compare

It's really hard not to compare Emmy's development to Bryce's when he was a baby.  I know they are different people and they will do things differently and at different times, but it's just hard not to.  I also think because their birthdays are so close, I think about the time of year Bryce was doing something and think Emmy should be doing it too.  Emmy is definitely proving that she will do things in her own time and differently than Bryce, but today she did something new and it brought me back to when Bryce did the same thing for the first time.  Luckily I have both on video!

We have a Mickey airplane that you can push and walk behind or ride and use your feet to drive it.  The seat lifts up and holds four plastic shaped blocks (square, star, circle and triangle).  Each side of the car has two of the shape holes for sorting.  I have been working with Emmy on the circle, but have never seen her actually get the shape in on her own.  My mom said she was able to do it for her last night so we tried again today and sure enough she picked out the circle block and put it in the circle hole.  She was so proud of herself!  

Here is Bryce mastering the same thing.  You may remember THIS blog post.

sweet Emmy girl

It has become nearly impossible to take a good picture of Emmy because she is so active.  Her 11 month pictures were not the best quality, but I used what I had to work with.  We have baby dedication next Sunday at church and I needed to send in a picture.  I had originally planned on using an 11 month picture until they turned out blurry and she barely looked at the camera.  We tried again today after church and we had much more success.  

it's friday and it's random

I've sat down to blog so many times this week and I've just got nothing!  I haven't been taking pictures and I've just been trying to keep us busy (fun busy, not errands busy)!  So today I just have a mish mash of random!

I subbed at my old school on Wednesday and Thursday.  I can really admit that I don't miss teaching.  I think I just got overwhelmed and burnt out in my career.  I did however enjoy walking into the classroom both days to lesson plans already written and papers run and ready for the day.  I love the subbing side of things because there is little stress and no planning!  I still get to do what I love and teach, but I don't have to deal with the "mess" that comes along with it.

However, while working those two days, I realized that maybe I'm better off at home.  Bryce only goes to school two days a week so it's pretty easy keeping up with his schedule (ie. chapel, music, library, etc.).  He has library on Thursday so he has to return his book he checked out the previous week.  When I got home Thursday, I noticed he had gotten a new book from the library.  And I thought to myself, oh no, I forgot to send his book back.  But I was glad they let him check out a book anyway.  Later, come to find out, Bryce reminded my mom in the car before they left the house for school that he needed his library book to take back to school.  How he knew it wasn't in his back pack, or that it was library day because it was Thursday, just surprises me.  I was so proud of him for being so responsible when I was not!  Guess it's a good thing I only sub a few random days because who knows what else I might forget for his school.

I've tried to start watching less tv during nap time and after the kids are in bed.  Well I've tried to start watching a lot less TLC since that's about the only channel other than ABC, CBS, and NBC we get since we don't have cable.  I bought this book over the summer and never read it.  I started reading it this week and it's pretty good so far.

Jason and I will celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary this summer.  We had planned to go to San Fransisco, Napa Valley, and to see the redwoods.  After thinking about it, I decided I didn't want to go that far while Emmy was still so young and I was worried we wouldn't have enough time out there since Jason will be using most of his vacation days for a mission trip this summer.  So we've decided to go to Charleston instead.  I'm so excited!  

I'm in the midst of party planning.  Emmy's birthday is February 6 and it is sneaking up on me!  I found this adorable dress on a Facebook auction which led to her birthday theme.  I didn't buy the dress because it was just too expensive for me, but my mom found another pink and gray dress that will work just fine!

I had my talented friend, Beth, at Sunshine Ink Digitals, design this super cute invitation for the party.  I'm in the process of sending them out, well mostly handing them out because I was too cheap to spend $17 on 100 envelopes when I only needed 15 and they were too big anyway!  As far as decorations go, I get too overwhelmed because I see fun decorations and ideas, but I just don't have the budget or the creativity to put something together.  Luckily for Bryce's party, I just have to order him a bowling themed birthday shirt, cake, and  make goodie bags!

I just love target diapers.  I was never a fan of Pampers, but I always used Huggies with Bryce.  Once I started staying home, I gave the off brand diapers a try.  I found the Target diapers to be most like Huggies,   and I actually like them better!

Target curtain

I had a yard sale back in September so I could make some money to redecorate our living room.  I did a few things back in September/October but then I quit when I got to window treatments.  I really wanted chevron curtains.  I thought about buying fabric and having them made, but I just was never in the mood to go look.  I read on Kelly's Korner blog last week that Hobby Lobby had chevron curtains.  We went last Friday and I found some that I liked. They only had 3 panels so I had to order the 4th.  While waiting for it to come in, I found another pattern at Target that I liked too.  I debated for days, but decided on the Chevron because the ones from Target were too short (however, I did find that I could order longer ones online).  The chevron ones are too long, but my mom is going to take care of that.  I hope to post pictures soon.

Well I think that is enough random for one day.  And Emmy is up and wants to push every button on my computer!  Hopefully I'll be back sooner than later with a real post so I don't end up with a bunch of miscellaneous nonsense again.  Happy weekend friends!