Another Day, Another Birthday (31/365)

Happy 65th Birthday, Old Man! It was SO weird talking to you last night on Skype - probably the only time it will ever be my birthday and yours at the same time again. Love you, hope you're having fun with James.

By the way, can you all believe I've kept this up for a whole month?! I know I can't!

So You Say It's Your Birthday (30/365)

The flourless chocolate cake was pretty easy to make,
but let me tell you, that bad boy is DENSE!

So dense in fact that we stopped at two candles
because they were so hard to push in the cake.

Matt didn't really care for the texture, but I know at least one person who didn't mind.

By the way, as of today I OFFICIALLY made more posts in 2010 than I did in all of 2009 on my old blog! Thanks for the Birthday wishes to those of you who made my day special. You make having a kidney infection on a day like today much more pleasant.

Now Face North (29/365)

Guess who started pulling up to stand today (on something other than me, that is)?
She's also cruising now, she was all over the place once she got herself to standing.
She's quite proud of herself, and so are we!

She's also becoming increasingly harder to photograph.
I should have taken advantage of her immobility more often!

Insert Witty Title Here (28/365)

• Alice was all of a sudden very intrigued by her alphabet magnets today. She put them together and asked me why they stick together and why they move. We talked about it and as she walked away from me I heard her talking to the letters.

ALICE: Now you two QUIT MOVING! You will NOT move, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!

Hmm, I guess she really does pay attention to me.

• This morning, for the first time EVER, Alice woke up completely dry and asked to use the potty! She still hasn't pooped in the potty again, but I'll take any move forward I can get!

• And probably the best thing I have to share today, Izzy started saying Ma-ma!! Talk about getting my birthday present two days early!

This is a pic I forgot to share from Izzy's last cardiologist appointment.

We were very proud of Alice as she took this doll house from

completely trashed, to properly put together all by herself!

Now if only I could get her to do the same in our house!

KoolAid Man Sings Kiss (27/365)

Thanks, Tori. Now I have to teach my child what good music sounds like.

Ten on Tuesday (26/365)

• Matt and I are watching, what I expect to be, the terrible movie that is G.I. Joe . It somehow made it's way to the top of our Netflix queue, along with a bunch of junk by Jeff Dunham, and we didn't catch it before they sent it to us. We figured we should at least half watch it before sending it back.

• All of our snow melted this weekend - we didn't even get a chance to enjoy the lack of snow before Mother Nature decided to send a bit more our way. Yeah, she's a bitch.

• I'm making my own birthday cake this weekend. I've been DYING to try out this flourless chocolate cake recipe for ages and I've decided this is the perfect time to do it. If it's any good I will probably make it for Izzy's birthday too, along with another one that is less rich. So if you're going to be at Mom and Dad's house this weekend you'll get to have some leftovers. Sorry, Annie.

• Speaking of birthdays, after years of attempting to pester Matt into telling me what he got me for my birthday, he finally gave in - I'm getting a Wii Fit Plus! Granted, he told me that the only reason he caved was because he didn't want me going out and buying one with out him knowing since we discussed using Christmas money to get one. I'm so excited!

• Wedding planning is in the air - and I'm getting excited for summer and fall to come! I'm SO looking forward to Fred and Kathy's and Andy and Mary's weddings this year!

• Izzy's mattress HAS to get lowered soon - she's well on her way to pulling herself up and the last thing we need is her falling out of the crib!

• I can't believe I'll soon be planning Izzy's first birthday party! It's unreal how fast time goes with baby #2.

• Which reminds me, Izzy's birthday is on a weekend this year, but her party won't be until the weekend after because we are going to be in Indianapolis. I'm meeting up with about 10 or 15 of my friends from an online community I've belonged to since I got pregnant with Alice (we were all due in the same month). It's a fantastic group of girls and I'm REALLY looking forward to the trip.

• We (that means you too, Matt) will be walking in a Race for the Cure event while we are there in honor of those we know who have fought cancer, but especially for one of our own, Ellen, who was diagnosed with and underwent treatment for breast cancer while she was pregnant with her second little boy.

• I just realized how ridiculously trained my fingers are for typing on an iPhone. I just double tapped the space bar on several occasions and wondered why my sentence didn't end up with a period at the end. Oh, iPhone, how I love thee.

What Are Uncles For? (25/365)

Apparently Alice either watches way too much TV, or she's been corrupted by her Uncle Freddy and his love of The Slap Chop (or at least his love of the commercial remix).

Scene 2

MOMMY is at the table getting ready to chop and onion for dinner.

ALICE: Mommy, are those onions making you cry?

MOMMY: No, not yet, but as soon as I cut them they will.

ALICE: Maybe you need a Slap Chop. It will make it so you don't cry.

insert hysterical laughter

ALICE: They have a thing for cheeeeeze too.

ALICE exits stage left, muttering to herself about what The Slap Chop has to offer.

Please enjoy the commercial remix that Freddy is so fond of.

And in other news - Alice had pooping on the potty success today! Hopefully she keeps it up; I'm not going to lie, I don't have my hopes up very high!

There Were Never Such Devoted Sisters (24/365)

This pic sums up one of my favorite reasons I love being a mom of two.

There just is NOTHING like seeing your first baby with your second.

Also, Izzy is getting growing so fast lately! As of yesterday she's been able to get to the sitting position from laying down, she's cutting four teeth, she's saying Da Da and clearly means Matt, she's doing peek-a-boo SO well, and she's finally got SO BIG down pat now!

I can't believe she'll be ONE in three short months!

Goobyes and Birthdays (23/365)

We had a short visit with Dad today. By now he should be well on his way to India to see James, but before he left he decided to stop by and say goodbye to his favorite child and her family - oh and he dropped off his car too. I'm hoping he makes it there safe and sound. We Skyped the other night and the man looked like he'd been up for days - he was very visibly tired and stressed (you'd never know by the amount of work that he does that he's actually "retired"). I'm happy to report he looked MUCH better this afternoon. Maybe it was all the sleep he got on the side of the road on the way here, or the the time he dozed off while driving (yeah, Dad, I could have gone with out hearing that one), or maybe he knew that he had an 18 hour plane ride ahead of him during which he could catch up on some much needed rest.

I hope the rest of the passengers brought ear plugs.

After Dad left we headed to my Mother and Father in laws house to celebrate Mom's 62nd birthday. The kids made dinner and we laid down the law with mom and told her she absolutely COULD NOT lift a finger or buy any ingredient. After much objection on her part, she conceded. I'm happy to report that she actually kept her word too. Dinner was great, and the company was too. And what was the best part, you ask? Might I refer you back to my post from last Saturday about going over to visit Fred and Kathy's new place.

The cake.

And this one was also provided by Fred and Kathy - by way of Costco. For the record, Costco makes THE BEST cakes. Just sayin.

Taken with Dad's new camera. He brought it upstairs so I could play
with it while we waited for his cab. He knows me too well!

Two Hours of Playing and OnlyTwo Useable Pictures (22/365)

Matt got me a lovely bouquet of gerbera daises for our anniversary (though the stupid flower company delivered them a day late). Being the photography enthusiast that I am, I immediately thought what a perfect opportunity to break out my extension tubes and my new tripod!

Sorry Matt.

My second thought was, aww, he got me the same exact flowers we had in our wedding seven years ago.

Ok, so I made that last part up. But I would have thought of that had my mind not been preoccupied with what shots I wanted to try and getting my gear set up.

They are were beautiful. I say were because no one told me that you shouldn't take the flowers out of the little tubes that they come in and they started to die by day two. At least that's what I'm assuming happened, anyway. That's what I get for thinking they were just to protect the flowers in transit. Next time.

Anyway, so, like the subject line says, I painstakingly shot about 80 exposures of various flowers before the kids stopped cooperating and I plain gave up from frustration.

Matt will just have to keep buying me more pretty flowers to take pictures of so I can have some more fun.

A Peek Into the Future (21/365)

We never got around to celebrating Izzy's 100th day alive like we did for Alice, to be honest I completely forgot about it, but I have a feeling that Izzy might just follow in her Grandpa's footsteps and become an engineer. She's SO into figuring out how things work that she's bound to be one of those people who takes things apart just so she can figure out how to put it all back together again. We've seen many examples of this over the past few months, but the most obvious incident that has occurred to date happened today at the doctor's office.

She had to have blood drawn for a standard lead test. The nurse and phlebotomist really thought she was going to freak out, so nurse Jean decided to hold her while it happened. Know what the little stinker did? She stared at the little needle and tube the whole time with such inquisitive eyes. Not one peep did she make (until she had her shots, that is)! I really can't believe just how different she is from Alice. We made the comment that Izzy was going to be our little doctor or engineer, and Alice, being the drama queen that she is, is going to be our actress.

So while we're talking about doctor appointments I thought I'd share how Izzy is doing since her last visit to see Dr. Dan. She's currently 28.5 inches (75th percentile) and 17.2 lbs (15th percentile)! She definitely had quite the soggy diaper at the cardiologist the other day, so I'm not surprised that her weight is lower than what it was last week, but since she was weighed naked today it's a more accurate view of how she's really doing. Slowly but surely she's gaining the weight and going from the 10th percentile to the 15th is AWESOME! I'll say it again, I'm so glad that we pushed for the Zantac. I can't even believe the difference it's made. She's even started to sleep through the night now that she's eating more!

As someone who really values her sleep, not having to get up with her twice a night has been VERY nice!

What To Write Wednesday (20/365)

So I've been sitting here for nearly a half hour trying to think of something good to share with all of you, and the one thing that keeps coming to mind (due to the pain in my throbbing legs) I'm not exactly sure I want to share. But then I think back to the post a few days ago where I pretty much admitted that I have a hairy chin, and so I thought, why not?

It's no secret that Matt and I are overweight, and to some it's not a secret that as of January 4th he and I have been in a friendly competition with family members to see who can lose the biggest percentage of our starting weight by May 3rd. So far we've both done great - he's lost 10 lbs and I've lost 9 lbs. The major change in diet has been an easy one, all the salads and fresh fruits and veggies have been a breeze to get used to. Eating less has been a piece of cake to (mmmm...cake). Now the thing that is embarrassing to admit is just how freaking out of shape I am.

On Monday I decided to lap our stairs for my workout - if you've seen our stairs you know that they are quite steep! I wasn't able to do them as long as I had hoped, but what I did accomplish made me feel pretty darn good. Fast forward to yesterday morning when I nearly fell getting out of bed because my legs were like JELL-O and they were on FIRE! It was hell trying to get my legs to do anything, let alone try and work out again. Even walking or trying to sit down hurt like I'd done a thousand squats - and all I had done was walk up and down the stairs for 7 minutes! I thought for sure I'd feel better today, but I see no improvement. I've been trying to move them as much as I can, keep myself hydrated (which is so hard for me because I have never been one to drink enough in the first place), ibuprofen or muscle relaxers in my system, and now as I type this I've got a hot pad on them, and so far I'm still miserable.

Here's hoping tomorrow they finally start to get better. I don't want to push myself to injury, but DAMMIT this was only the start of my exercising! I'd like to get a chance to get into the habit of doing it before I start slacking off due to laziness. I have a freaking wedding to stand up in come July, for goodness sakes!

Oh, yeah, and I'd like to not be a fat ass anymore too.

Talk About a Rockin' New Years Eve (19/365)

I'm temporarily lifting the moratorium on Christmas/New Years posts to share this gem of a picture Matt took with his phone on New Years Eve. Maybe my New Year's resolution should have been to unplug more often.

Nah!

Where the Heck Did Seven Years Go? (18/365)

It seems like just yesterday. I love you 10.

Izzy's Been Hittin' the Bottle (17/365)

With all the toys we brought to Uncle Fred and Auntie Kathy's house,

the thing you couldn't pry from her hands was the empty 2L bottle!

And just because it had to be shared:

Daddy: What was your favorite part of Uncle Fred and Auntie Kathy's house?

Alice: The cake.

(Almost) Seven Years, and Not an Itch in Sight (16/365)

Thursday night Matt and I got a babysitter (thanks, Annie!) and went out for dinner and a movie for our seven year anniversary. It's technically on Monday, but this weekend was full so we opted to celebrate on Thursday instead. There is a dinner and a movie place just a few minutes from us that we've been meaning to check out for ages now so we decided to give it a go.

I was skeptical about how it was going to work. Would the waiters going in and out the whole time bother me? Would everyone and their mother treat this like they were at a show and be quiet, or at dinner and talk the entire time? I was pleasantly surprised on all of those counts. No one was disruptive, if you don't count the woman and her two SMALL children who probably wandered in because The Princess and the Frog was sold out, the waiters were fantastic, and the only parts of the movie we missed we missed because WE were talking.

What would make me not go back though was the food. It was pretty good, but there wasn't much selection unless you wanted bar food, pizza, or burgers. Oh and don't forget the full two pages they had dedicated to alcohol. I'd personally rather go to a place that had a whole page, hell why not a whole MENU, dedicated to dessert, but maybe that's just me. Anyway, my sandwich was pretty good, but I would have rather had the option to have a lighter meal, then time to let my belly rest, and then chow down on movie foods. So in the future I'm sure we'll skip the all-in-one place and opt instead to do dinner separately.

Oh, I do highly recommend seeing Up in the Air, by the way. It was a FANTASTIC flick.

We sat in the most comfortable rocking office chairs.

I was pleasantly surprised that I liked watching a movie this way.

Ask Matt, I was concerned.

The place was absolutely STUFFED with this kind of stuff.

I could have looked around for hours at all the memorabilia.

Just for Alice:

"Everybody was Kung-Fu fighting! HIGH YA!"

Things a Kid Should Never Say to Their Mother #459 (15/365)

"Mommy, you have a beard.
Just like Grandma Cindy's."

I'll be the one in the bathroom, plucking every last damn hair from my
chinny chin chin.

7,881 Grams (14/365)

That's how much my baby (plus soggy diaper) weighed today at her last cardiologist appointment until July! If you're not a Communist and therefore don't know metric (I kid, really), that's 17lbs 6oz in Imperial Units. Which means she's put on enough weight since her surgery to move from the 10th percentile (where she's been at since about 1 month) to the 19th!! All the more reason for me to want to send flowers to the makers of Zantac. We'll get a more accurate weight next week (sans urine soaked diaper) when she goes in for her 9 month check- up, but for now I'll take it!

Another great bit of news we got today I already mentioned - she doesn't have to go back to see Dr. G for six months! We are so relieved and I, for one, feel so much more confident we did the right thing in deciding on surgery for her. Even her doctor is amazed and happy at just how well she is doing and what a difference it has made for her.

I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but her scar is very minimal. Not only is it on the small side for this procedure, but there is just an ever so slight hint of pink to it. Keep in mind she'll only be two months out next week! I have every hope that by the time she's grown there will be nothing more than what looks like a cat scratch scar on her chest - and only pictures to remind her of what she went through when she was oh so tiny.

She's Obsessed (13/365)

The first time Alice ever heard this song was on an episode of Glee. Yes, I've let my three year old watch Glee - don't judge me. Anyway, she's been absolutely obsessed with this song ever since. I don't know what it is about this song that makes her go bananas, but Alice definitely isn't the only one. See if you can catch her new dance move - the ijuststeppedonatoybutimnotgoingtoletthatstopme.

She learned it from me.

It's the Little Things They Say (12/365)

That make a hard day go away.

Scene 1

Lying in ALICE'S bed with both of my girls after ALICE'S nap.

(IZZY, who is pulling up to stand a lot lately, grabs ahold of my shirt in an effort to stand. Not only does she grab my shirt, but she also manages to pinch and claw the heck out of my chest and arm for the 900th time today.)

MOM: OUCH, IZZY! You're killing me, kid!

ALICE: Izzy don't kill Mommy! Mommy, I don't want you to be killeded - I love you!

I, for one, am throughly relieved to know that my darling three year old would be devastated if her sister killed(ed) me (like there was ever any doubt), but it makes me feel bad for wanting to strangle her. All. Day. Long. ;)

No kids were harmed, I promise. It's just been one of those days...

Alice Finally Got Tired of the Cheshire Cat (11/365)

And made a dress out of him. Lately I'd like to skin a cat or two myself.

Alice decided it would be a good idea to have her hair done up like

Kaylee's was the other day on Uncle Mike's blog.

She looked pretty damn cute, but definitely

emphasized how badly she is in need of a haircut!

My Girls Are Geeks (10/365)

Both of my girls crawled for the first time towards laptops. I had no doubt Izzy was a geek, what with her immense love for the iPhone, but now I have the proof on video. Enjoy.

By the way, the song is a video that was playing on YouTube called The Elephant Song - by Eric Herman. We first heard of it because it's also a free app for the iPhone and Izzy just can't get enough of it.

Blah, Blah, Christmas, Blah, Blah - Part 4 (9/365)

Click to enlarge to see the pretty starbursts - thanks for the tripod, folks.

I'm sure you're probably sick of reading about Christmas as much as I am about writing about it, so this will be my last post on the subject. In all fairness we did have about 12 days of it so 4 posts worth of content seems about right. Today is also the day we are finally taking our Christmas decorations down so the post seems even more fitting. I'm not looking forward to breaking a certain three year old's heart - the kid definitely has her Grandma Susie's love of Christmas.

So, to continue, after Christmas we packed our bags and headed south. Unfortunately our destination wasn't the southern part of the country (unless you're talking to my in-laws, or any other Chicagoland native) where it was most assuredly warmer, but I could deal with the chill with family near. And boy was there LOTS of family near - at one point there were 14 of us at the house at one time! Thankfully we didn't all have to sleep at the same house. James, Mike, Rae, and Kaylee were of course missed, and I'm sure we all long for the day when we can all be under the same roof together again. I know I do.

Ryan wasn't able to stay long, but most of us were together for about a week - and we enjoyed every last minute of it. Most of the trip we spent simply enjoying one another's company. Charles and I made foldovers (ok, I made them, he watched and we chatted), Matt fixed computers, Tori and I ate "must haves" before starting our diet on the 4th, Cindy DIDN'T work, Dad DID, we took down Christmas, Alice threw many a tantrum (ahh, gotta love age 3), we saw movies, Tori got smashed. Oh, and don't forget the turkey with all the fixin's. All in all it was a pretty damn good trip home.

Ry, Izzy, and Erinn cheesin'.

Izzy loved playing with Ry's dog tags.

Erin's younger sister and her Mom joined us for Christmas dinner and gifts.

The reaction from the 'rents when Matt brought in their real gift.
OK, so the story goes I ordered a rather large canvas
of the pic of the girls I used on our Christmas card.
Well I wasn't 100% satisfied with how it turned out
(something that would only bother me),
so I had the printer fix it. When I asked them about sending
the first one back to them, they told me to just give it to someone else!
Mind you, this sucker is huge, and not cheap!
So the logical choice was to give it to Dad and Cindy.
Merry Christmas from Canvas On Demand!
(whom I HIGHLY recommend, by the way. Their work is AMAZING!)

Izzy and Tori chillin' on the blow up bed.

Precious moments caught on film flash card.

Izzy "eating" a lil' smokey. Auntie was teaching her
early about the Carlson's favorite breakfast food.

Thank goodness for Grandmas.

I know, this post is exhausting!

Snow Day (8/365)

Well, not really, but I wish it had been. Yesterday and early this morning mother nature dumped a ton of snow on us. Part of me wished that the big snowflakes that made everything look like we were inside the world's prettiest snow globe stuck around through the day. Partly because I wanted Matt to have to work from home (I'm selfish like that) and because I really wanted to break out the extension tubes and do a macro or twenty of the snowflakes. Hopefully I'll get a chance to do that yet this winter.

click to enlarge

Izzy & Cher (7/365)

Just call her Cher.

click to enlarge

This is Izzy's new smile. I don't know where she got it from, but we came home from vacation and this is how she's been smiling, for the most part. It's damn cute, but let's hope she doesn't start strutting around air craft carriers with little more than a strip of duct tape covering her naughty parts. :)

How We Spent Our Christmas Vacation - Part 3 (6/365)

Despite the fact that Annie and I slept on the couches Christmas morning, Santa still came for the whole family. Can't say that I heard the Big Guy, but he sure did leave quite a good amount of loot in his wake. Matt was upstairs with the girls - unfortunately he didn't get much sleep. I don't know what it is about those girls, but they just do not like to sleep anywhere other than their own beds.

Morning came and we all changed INTO our Christmas PJs - yes I said into. My mother in law decided last year that 2009 was going to be Christmas PJ Christmas so we could all be comfortable. Needless to say I think we are going to continue the tradition next year! It was so nice to sit in super comfy PJs all day and visit with family. Fred out did us all though - his fiancee bought him some footie jammies - complete with trap door.

Everyone got lots of great gifts, and of course the girls made out like bandits. My fav was definitely the book Matt had made from my Alice in Chicagoland blog. It's nice to have it in print and to be able to look back on that time in our lives. Plus it was the motivation for me to make this blog!

After dinner and the ornament exchange that I mentioned the other day, the crew and I packed up and set out for home - with twice the amount of stuff in tow that we came with! Despite having fallen asleep nearly as soon as her head hit the carseat, Alice was ready to dive into her presents that Santa left for her at home while we were at Grandma and Grandpa's. After giving her about a half an hour to wake up, that is!

We also showered them with gifts, but the one I was most excited for Alice to open was her American Girl doll. She had actually been mine for 20+ years, but for the last 10 or so she's had a broken limb. As far as Alice is concerned, I sent Santa my doll and his elves fixed her up for me and he brought Kirsten back to our house for Alice to enjoy. The joy on her face when she first saw the doll really made my Christmas.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Alice and Izzy Christmas morning in front of the massive amount of
presents at Grandma and Grandpa Bathje's house.

Izzy enjoying Uncle Freddy's puppet.
Too bad you can't see Fred's PJs in all their glory.

"Oh my GOODNESS! Look what Santa brought!"

Can you tell she's in love already?

Izzy needed a bit of coaxing, but she seemed to enjoy herself
despite not knowing what was going on.

We saw this reaction, or better, several times through out the day.
My favorite was when she opened the Hungry Hungry Hippos from Auntie Annie.
She about died!

God Bless Zantac (5/365)

Today marked a milestone for Izzy that was followed by much rejoicing on my part - she ate half a container of sweet potatoes for the first time! For those of you who don't know, Izzy has always had major eating issues that we attributed to her heart condition. Once that was no longer a factor and she continued to eat poorly, we began to wonder if there was something else going on. Her doc just wanted to give her another month because she could simply still be adjusting to life after surgery, but he mentioned trying her on acid reflux meds if in a month she was still having problems. That part really stuck in my head.

I never thought she had signs of acid reflux (or in her case, what they call silent reflux), but Matt and I decided that we'd take a look at the common signs and symptoms of it just in case. Sure enough Izzy had nearly all of them! After much urging from friends and family I decided not to wait the month her doctor wanted to, and I called and asked if he'd write a prescription for something now. This was right before Christmas and like a present from up above I'm happy to say the Zantac seemed to help her almost immediately! Gone was my baby who would take an hour to choke down 4 ounces of formula and here to stay (I hope) is my baby who nearly always finishes her full bottle with out putting up a fight.

It was DEFINITELY the best present I could have ever asked for.

So back to today, Izzy actually ate solids for the first time with out turning her nose up and cinching her lips closed. In fact I think she would have loved to have had more if I would have let her (I really didn't want to press my luck). Here's hoping that this is going to become the norm and not just a fluke. My fingers and toes are crossed!

EDIT: Before bed, she finished the rest of the container. WOO HOO!

How We Spent Our Christmas Vacation - Part 2 (4/365)

Christmas Eve we spent, as usual, with Matt's family. This year we decided NOT to do midnight mass (turns out that was a WONDERFUL idea) and opted for the 7pm mass instead. Thankfully both girls were very well behaved and that Izzy didn't need to eat or poop while we were there as we absentmindedly forgot to bring the diaper bag to church (I blame Matt for I was already in ornament making mode).

When we got back to the house the girls went to bed with Matt (more on this later) and I went to work on my masterpiece that was my ornament this year. You see, it's a Bathje tradition to secretly make an ornament from items you have around the house, then wrap it up and don't include a tag. Then on Christmas we do a grab and one by one we open the ornaments and try to guess who made what. It's actually a fabulous tradition that I hope we all carry on in the coming years. As per usual, I waited until Christmas Eve to make mine, except this year it took me a lot longer than I had anticipated, so I ended up not so secretly making mine in the living room at my in-laws until about 12:15am Christmas morning. Oh well, it was definitely worth all the effort. So much so that I think I may just make another one for myself. I'll have to have Andy, my soon to be brother-in-law, take a picture of it for me as I forgot to snap one before I wrapped it. Oh, and Andy, if you're reading this, NO MORE GIFT CARDS!! If there is another Duncan Donuts gift card masquerading as an ornament next year you're getting it back! :)

ANYWAY, I forgot to mention the funniest part about Christmas Eve this year. Annie let Alice run around the house with her camera and out of the blue Alice just started talking about how she had to take pictures for Aunt Rose (my Aunt on my Mom's side) and that Aunt Rosie has to have a picture of XYZ, etc. Well being the great Aunt that SHE is, Annie forwarded me all the little gems Alice took that night and now I'm sharing them with you. Please enjoy the 30ish pics from a 3 year old's perspective. Click to enlarge.

How We Spent Our Christmas Vacation - Part 1 (3/365)

We were fortunate enough to have a few special visitors before Christmas. Tori was here for a few days and we had an absolute blast hanging out with her, and I really enjoyed laughing our butts off at Denny's at 12 in the morning. Ry was in the area visiting Erinn and her family, so one night he came out this way and spent some time talking and making cookies with Alice. I'll have you know, Ry, that your candy cane cookie that you meticulously created tasted fantastic. :) Tori and I made drop sugar cookies, sugar cookie cut-outs, ooey gooies (which Ryan loved), Mom's foldovers, PB blossoms, puppy cow chow, and some VERY nasty chocolate PB bars. It was a tiring day, but we had lots of fun. The highlight of the night for me was watching Alice get so excited making sugar cookies, closely followed by Tori trying to figure out how to add 2/3 cup of sugar to the frosting when I only had a 1/3 measuring cup. All in all it was a very good day.

This one warms my heart - I just love the way she's looking at me.

Alice enjoyed this much more than I thought she would,
what with her short attention span.

We all enjoyed our short time with Ryan. Miss you, Ry!

At least she got SOMETHING from me -
she's got artistic genes in there somewhere!

Classic Alice - she's a ham by nature.

Bliss. And no your eyes do not deceive you, that is in fact Ryan feeding Izzy.

I Can't Believe It's Been a Year (2/365)

We miss you like crazy, kiddo. Wish you were here. A year ago today my nephew was suddenly taken from us very unexpectedly. This past year has been hard on the whole family as one would expect. It has been especially hard on holidays, birthdays, and family gatherings because there is always someone missing. I miss a lot about him, I especially miss his humor and the way he was with his siblings. He was the quintessential big brother. My absolute favorite memory of him was from the last time I ever saw him - right after Christmas last year. Matt, Alice, and I went over to their house to give the kids their gifts and as a gag gift we gave all of the kids whistles that you play with your nose (every kid needs one, right?). Well you'd think it would be an easy thing to do, just blow, but there is actually a technique to it. Right away the younger kids were able to do it, but Wes and Ally weren't able to despite a good effort on their part! Watching the two of them laugh and get so frustrated put such a smile on my face and definitely made the purchase worth it. Even now it makes me laugh just thinking about it. Now I don't know if it's my favorite because it's the last time we saw him, because certainly I have many fond memories of him, but it's definitely one I think about often as I remember good times we had with him.

You were taken before your time, and I will forever miss you.

Happy New Year! (1/365)

Happy New Year from Jacksonville! I'm looking forward to starting 2010 off right by ringing it in with some of those who mean so much to me, but we're missing those of you who aren't here! A lot happened in 2009: Izzy came into the world, a wonderful trip out east to see family, my nephew passed away very suddenly, two of my favorite people got engaged, Izzy had open heart surgery, Alice's Halloween 3rd birthday party, etc. Here's hoping that this year is full of much less stress and heartache and lots more good times and happiness to be had by all!

and here's to keeping up with New Year's resolutions. ;)