A long overdue Christmas re-cap

Well then. Turns out I didn't blog pretty much the whole month of December, which is precisely why this post will be a re-cap of the whole holiday season! HA! I can honestly say that this year, I think we succeeded in slowing down a bit. We skipped breakfast with Santa, a few day trips for Seth to hunt, and all other sorts of holiday "stuff." We did do Christmas Candylane at Hersheypark (which the kids loved, but it was FREEZING so we didn't last too long). The season was, all in all, really nice and memorable. 

We went to Bass Pro Shops for photos with Santa (the above is a photo of a photo). Carter LOVED it but Addison would have absolutely nothing of it. We do not have a photo to show for it because as soon as she got on Santa's lap, she lost it and sucker punched his glasses right off his face. He was thrilled. 

Seth's parents came to our house mid-December to celebrate Christmas since we would all be attending a wedding in north NJ when we were in right after Christmas. The kids loved the impromtu gifts when they woke up in the morning! Oma and Opa got each of them a toboggan as well, which worked  perfectly because it was snowing while they were here! 

Opa was a good sport and did crafts with the kids! 

I decided that while his parents were in, we'd have a bunch of people over to celebrate Seth's 31st birthday. My parents and brother were able to come as well, but due to the horrible weather, Michelle, Jason and the kids couldn't make it. Understandable, of course. We had dinner and yummy cake and ice cream! 

The next weekend, we headed up to Michelle and Jason's for a Christmas party and cookie exchange and then the next day for the Cook Christmas. Ironically enough, I have zero pictures of these events, so you'll have to trust me on that one! :) 

Then as we always do, we headed to my parents for Christmas eve day. The kids were WIRED--understandably so when they saw this in the basement! Let's just say five grandkids under age five is a lot of energy!

The "fab 5"

(I didn't take too many pictures this day either--TOO MUCH COMMOTION!) :) 

After lunch and presents, we visited Maw-Maw and Papa Ray's for more presents and dinner before the service at church. We PJ'd the kids up and headed home around 8:30. Thankfully, they fell asleep in the car and transferred beautifully inside so Santa was able to get to work. 

In the morning, Carter casually walked out into the living room, seemingly forgetting what day it was. I was, of course, waiting with the camera and it was cute. He dropped to his knees so excited and stated that he would just sit here and wait for Addison to get up. It was cute, but the patience only lasted about fifteen minutes. :) 

Sissy sees the presents. 

They were excited, but Addison really didn't even care about opening the presents. She preferred them unwrapped, so Carter was HAPPY to help with that. They were blessed little kids, that's for sure.

We had yummy egg casserole for breakfast and just hung out and relaxed. The kids took their normal naps and then we headed to Haucks for dinner and games. All in all, it was SUCH a fun holiday season this year. Life with two toddlers is chaotic for sure, but boy is it fun at Christmas! 

I LOVED having so much time off work with Seth and the kids and, unlike last year, they were SO good this year. Addison got her standard double ear infection (exact repeat of last year) but we dealt with it. And the kids even blessed us with sleeping in--most days, they slept til about 7:45, which is HUUUGE for them. It was so awesome!

I hope your Christmases were blessed as well! Ready to kick off 2014 and see what the year brings for us. Happy New Year! 

These are a few of their favorite things...

In the spirit of the (predictably awful) Sound of Music Live on TV a few nights ago, and in copying my brother-in-law's sister, I thought I'd do a little "our kids' favorite things." :) 

Favorite Book
Carter - Bang! Boom! Roar! (A super cute dinosaur, construction book)
Addison - Little Hands Love and Little Feet Love (a book with all different textures)

Favorite Food
Carter - right now, it's probably a tie between yogurt, french toast, and hot dogs. His all-time favorite food is french toast though. 
Addison - she is super, super picky right now and won't eat most meats, but she will eat basically any snack food as well as yogurt and corn. 

Favorite Movie
Carter - Planes or Cars (he talks about his "Planes" birthday party--in May, mind you, every single day)
Addison - she won't still for .2 seconds, so no movies yet! 

Favorite Toy
Carter- pretty much any matchbox cars, his matchbox car garage, and a snap together race track
Addison - the Melissa & Doug pegboard puzzle 

Favorite Word
Carter - Mommy (not kidding. All. Day. Long.)
Addison - Da-eeeee 

Favorite Song
Carter - Twinkle, Twinkle, The Doxology, Jesus Loves Me 
Addison - anything you sing her :) 

Favorite Show
Carter - Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Henry Hugglemonster, Handy Manny
Addison - none yet. 

Favorite Time to Wake Up
Carter - anywhere between 5:30 and 6:30
Addison - on school days, I have to wake her up; on other days, usually between 7 and 7:45

Favorite Snack
Carter - pretzels, "trail mix" (a homemade mix I make of raisins, cheerios, and mini marshmallows), or squeezie applesauce
Addison - literally loves all snacks, but especially loves goldfish, pretzels, trail mix, and squeezie applesauce

They are literally growing up SO stinkin' fast. The holiday season has been lively and fun. Carter talks about Santa quite often and has a hard time coming to grips with the fact that daddy's birthday actually comes first! I'm certain we're in for a lively Christmas morning--and a pretty early one, too! 

It's the holiday season...

Every year at this time, I find myself at a loss for words. Not that there's not a TON going on, because there is. Always. I think it's because I find myself wanting to save any "spare time" over the holidays and relish in them as much as I can. But, because I want to look back at my blog (which I have printed out in a hardcover book at the end of each year) and remember all the fun things we did as a family, I need to keep up! :) 

This was take one of the kids' photos for the Christmas card. Not a huge fan--the sun was too far set and they just didn't turn out the way that I wanted. Plus, it was FREEZING this day.

We had JUST arrived to Aunt Polly and Uncle Dirk's house for Thanksgiving and they were woken up when we arrived. I had them dressed in their finest, so we had to do it right then, and they just weren't really having it. I'm not sure if I have the energy to try for a third time, and am toying with the idea of not even doing a Christmas card this year (it sort of pains me to even say it!).

The kids had so much fun at Thanksgiving. They were the only kids so they soaked up the attention big time. And both were OUT COLD within minutes of being on the road to head home.

The night before Thanksgiving we went to see Santa at Bass Pro Shops. It was free and really pretty. We have a non-digital file of Carter with Santa that is just precious, but Addison freaked out (that's putting it mildly, if I'm being honest). She knocked his glasses right off his face! Hysterical. (Does it make me a bad mom if I think crying Santa pics are precious?) :)

Both kids are full-on hyper right now. The holidays have them in a buzz-like state at all times. It's cute yet tiring. Ha! Carter is into making messes for no reason and we're working with him on the concept of respect for other people's hard work. So, we've introduced a cleaning chart in which he can earn stickers for cleaning up his toys without complaining before he moves on to another activity. We'll see how that works. Twenty stickers earns him a small toy. Oh, and he's also into his birthday right now (not until May 6). He talks about his birthday ALL THE TIME and has already declared that he's having a "Dusty Crophopper" (Planes) themed party. He tells everyone he meets about this and that he'll be 4 on his birthday. Bless their hearts, everyone thinks it's coming up soon.

Addison is a teething machine and is, thankfully, still a sleeping machine as well. Carter is doing great too but went through a phase of getting up super early after daylight savings time. We are getting back to a more reasonable 6:30/7:00 a.m. and hoping we can continue to work later.

This is my favorite time of the year and the kids' holiday energy is palpable and super sweet. The innocence and excitement is so intense! :)

We're Alive!

Pretty much every day, I say I am going to jump on and blog and pretty much every day, I decide to just sit and chill when we finally get the kids to bed. Nice on one hand, not-so-nice on the other...mostly when I put my blog into a book for us as a keepsake and I have nothing to speak of our lives for weeks at a time! :)

We're alive--getting through the madness of work the days before a holiday and we are excited to relax (hopefully) and enjoy some downtime Wednesday through the weekend.

Our house is decorated for Christmas really early this year though we are still "respecting the turkey." But, when you find an ounce of spare time with two toddlers, you RUN WITH IT. :)

More to come (with some pics) soon on our trip to Christmas Candylane on Saturday with the kids. As a summary: FREEZING.

Thankfulness

They're everywhere, those "30 Days of Thankfulness." I like to read them and often agree that I, too, am thankful for many of the things people are writing.

But if I'm being frank, lately I'm stressed and low on patience. Therefore, I sometimes find it hard to "be thankful in all circumstances." I'm not the first mom to have two toddlers but parenting has been especially tough lately for some reason. Mostly on those days where they gang up on us, fight non-stop, and get up at o' dark thirty (in Ran terms, that translates to roughly 4:53 a.m. I wish I was kidding). I find myself short with Seth, yelling more than I should, getting annoyed at the hundredth "mommy?" in a 10-minute timespan...you get my drift.

We've been convicted lately to work on our patience with the kids. Some days, I literally have to grit my teeth to maintain composure, and we're not perfect. I still lose my ever-loving mind sometimes (though who doesn't with small kids, a full-time job, a marriage, and a house....at the holidays?!?). :)

I read something a few days ago about making your home a place of safety--where you, your spouse, and kids can always go to feel safe. No "attacking." No rudeness. No opinions that aren't building someone up. If your home isn't "safe," there isn't a reason to seek refuge there, and that's downright scary when you're married and raising children.

I want to take time this holiday season to--first and foremost--slow down. I find that most of our stress comes from booking our weekends solid, always doing something or going somewhere, and generally just not being together. I literally cannot imagine my life without my husband and kids (on days when they're annoying to me or not), so it's time to kick up the thankfulness factor a bit and create a safe place for our family.

Halloween Festivities

Phew! That was quite the busy Halloween season. This year, we had a little cowboy and a little ice cream cone....and then a cowboy who changed his mind and became Lightning McQueen's pit crew. ;)

 

We kicked off the "Halloween season" by trick-or-treating to Aunt Michelle and Uncle Jason's, Gramma and Pa's, and Maw-Maw and Papa Ray's two weeks ago. As you can see, Addison had a death-grip on that baby doll throughout the experience. Ha!

 

Knock knock! Trick-or-treat!



Then, their daycare had two parades! My mom and grandma went to the one on Wednesday and I attended the one on Friday. Here is Addison, strapped in the baby buggy. I couldn't stop laughing because she had such a bulky costume on already and then a huge winter coat. Looked like a little marshmallow. :)

 

Chaos in the lobby of the assisted living facility!

 

Last night was our town's trick-or-treat. Carter chose to be the pit crew again. They were dying to go and were gearing up WELL before the 6:00 p.m. start time.

 

They had SO MUCH fun and Carter would have gone door-to-door for HOURS if we let him. Every time someone opened the door, he proudly said "trick or treat" and was very polite too. Addison didn't say much but was at the candy basket at each house just like him!

Their pumpkins were overflowing by the end of the night, and next week will promptly begin the get-rid-of-this-so-it's-not-a-temptation plan. All in all, a lot of fun with two cute kids who love to dress up! Now, onto Thanksgiving...love this time of year! :)

Eight.

Well, if I'm being honest, I wish that number was more like twenty. Eight is the number of pounds I've lost since I began my quest to go to the gym regularly and track what I eat. I actually thought I would lose faster, but I have been meeting with a registered dietician/nutritionist through my health insurance and she says that this is just perfect. Slow and steady wins the race!

I am on a calorie-intake plan that should allow me to lose 1-1.5 pounds per week, and so far, it's been just about spot on. I began my healthier lifestyle approximately seven weeks ago. This is not a post to pat myself on the back, but I'm going to be frank with you. I generally HATE working out. I get wickedly jealous of the people who love it. BUT--for the first time in a long time--I can say that I am enjoying it. Joining the gym at my job has been the ticket. One, I do not go out for lunch or shop on my lunch break like I used to (and our credit card bill shows it, too!). I blocked my work calendar every day from noon-1:30 p.m. so that people cannot put meetings on my schedule. Two, and probably most importantly, I do not feel guilty when I sit down and watch TV after the kids go to bed because I've already worked out.

I literally feel an obsessive desire to go to the gym right now--just makes me feel so much better. Plus, I go with a friend so that helps. AND, I almost exclusively take classes. See, here's the thing. When left to my own devices, I don't push myself. I just don't. If my legs are tired, I stop. But the classes are intense, there are mirrored walls so everyone is watching you, and there's someone giving you encouragement/telling you what to do--and that's exactly what I need!
SO--there are nine weeks to the day until Christmas and, by then, I really hope to be reporting a 17 pound weight loss (at least).

Let's do this.

Growin' girl!

Addison is growing like a weed. It's sort of unreal to think that, at this time last year, she was just four months old. It's been awhile since I've done a "monthly" post on baby girl, so I thought I'd do so now. She just turned 16 months old a few days ago.

- She weighs about 27 pounds and is 32 or 33" tall (Bad momma--I forget!).
- She wears size 4 diapers and size 18 month, 24 month, or 2T hand-me-downs. She wears a size 5 shoe.
- Says a few words - mama, dada, baby, uh-oh, dah-doo (exactly the opposite of what Carter said at this age -- doo-dah) for doggy, hi, doctor, bye bye, tayne too (thank you), peas (please), and a few more I'm probably forgetting.
- She has 10 teeth and is getting more molars.
- She goes to bed around 8 p.m. and sleeps until 7:30 a.m. or so on the weekends; on almost every week day, I wake her up at 6:30 to go to school. She naps for 2-2.5 hours every day (once a day). She is a rockstar sleeper, thank God.
- She adores Carter and sweetly says "ay-ay" to him all the time while she hugs him. Brother is slightly rougher on her, but she'll be tough! :)
- She LOOOOVES to swing and play outside. She gets dirty all. the. time. (see photo below for proof)
- She has the most gorgeous blonde, ringlet curls and her hair is getting LONG!
- Addison is a DADDY'S GIRL through and through. She loves him oh so much.

Halloween parade

Last night, we took the kids to the Halloween parade. I didn't want to take my good camera down into the madness, so I snapped a few pictures of them before we left. My goodness, I love those babes!

 

 

They had a great time. Carter was the candy policeman. He waved and waved to the people in the parade to get them to throw it and when they did, he was ALL business. It was adorable. We left about 50 minutes into the parade because Addison was getting antsy, and Carter cried and cried because he wanted more candy. Granted, the child had a pumpkin HALF FULL of candy only 50 minutes in. Can't imagine the damage that would have been done if we stayed the rest of the time. (Funny sidenote: he ate only 2 pieces after the parade and hasn't mentioned it since. Guess it was just the act of collecting!) :)

 

They both had HORRIBLE nights of sleep. Carter seemed scared, which I wouldn't doubt because there were ugly, obnoxious things in the parade that would scare any 3-year-old. Aside from cute kids in innocent costumes and all things pumpkin, I'm definitely not a fan of Halloween. We had to distract him to look at something else like 10 times during the parade to keep his eyes off the gore! Gross.

 

But, all in all, it was so cute to see them so happy! 

Apple Picking 2013

I seriously love fall. If I could bottle up this 70 degree weather and sun with cool nights, I would for sure. Every year, we go apple picking--usually the first weekend of fall. And we almost always go with Oma and Opa, Aunt Polly and Uncle Dirk, and sometimes the Stones as well. We attempted to go with Oma and Opa and AP and UD on September 21, but of course as we prepared to walk out the door, it began raining....HARD. So, those plans were thwarted and we instead went out for (a really yummy!) dinner, which was fun too.

 

Turns out, the next day, my sister, Jason and the kids and my parents were going (to the same orchard we were going to be going to on Saturday), so we ended up meeting up with them. It was a beautiful day!

 



 

Running like banshees through the aisles.

 

Silly boys.

 

This little miss was adorable. When she had an apple in her hands. Heaven help you if you took it out of her hand for ANY REASON. Add in molar teething and let's just say we didn't anger the beast too much. So, apple at all times it was! :)

 

I do this picture every year--Mr. "Golden Delicious." I know I'm the mom, but seriously. He's so cute I could eat him up.

 

TWO golden delicious loves! :)

"So what" Wednesday

I always think these things are sort of funny, so I'm linking up to Life After I 'Dew' for So What Wednesday...a confessional of sorts.

SO WHAT if...

- We got our credit card number stolen on Thursday and then Seth lost the new card not even three days later.

- I haven't deep-cleaned my house in a month. At least.

- I sat in front of my children's tubs of outgrown clothes and got all weepy as I sorted through them for a yard sale, even though I want no more kids. So many memories! I can literally remember where they were and what they were doing when they wore pretty much every outfit.

- I sometimes tell my child that it's "the middle of the night" when he wakes up at 5:15. That's early, people!

- There are ZERO shows on TV right now that I even care about. We are thinking of canceling our cable and going with Netflix for shows. (Thoughts on that anyone?)

- I need a date night once a month (even though we don't do this). I firmly believe you can't be the best parents unless you focus on your marriage. Though hard to comprehend, it's to be the first priority.

- I want to rip my hair out between the hours of 4:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. right now. Teething SUCKS. It's sad to get the grumpiest hours of the day, but thankfully, teething is just a phase!

Happy Wednesday!

Out of mouths of babes.

So let's talk about Carter and the things he says for a teeny tiny minute, shall we?

Last night while I wrestled him, my shirt came up a little. I saw it right away. He noticed my stretch marks. And let me tell ya--they ain't too pretty.

He looked concerned and said "what is THAT?" I asked him to clarify, knowing full-well what he meant. "Those wrinkly things."

"Oh, those are stretch marks, buddy. YOU caused them!" as I tickled him to the floor.

He chuckled and hit me hard with the truth (apparently): "No, I think you ate too much dinner."

Touche, my little boy. Touche.

Can't make this stuff up, folks. Kids really do know how to make their moms feel fab, huh? ;)


SIDENOTE: However, with my 3-4 times/week gym plan, and my eating plan from the nutritionist, I have lost 5 pounds. CARTER. NICHOLAS.

Accountability

Gotta stay accountable. Here's how the five goals from last week stacked up!

Goal one: Work out or go to the gym five days. I joined the gym at work and have gone every work day so far. I know that I won't continue to go every single day because I like to still hang with my friends sometimes, but moreso than not, I need to be at the gym. Jean season is upon us. On the days I'm not at work (Friday-Sunday), I will find something else to do to be active. A walk. Yard work. Something--anything--five out of seven days. Already did the gym at lunch today and yesterday, we walked to the grocery store, did our shopping, and walked home with all our groceries, so that's two! Seth jogs at night, so his goal is probably similar. :)  Results: PASS. I walked to the grocery store to shop (and home with the groceries) on Sunday, went to the gym Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (and therefore could hardly move all week. HA!), and took walks, went to the zoo, and raked the leaves in the yard on the other days.

Goal two: Be more intentional about effectively disciplining Carter (not all negative! Many positive "disciplining" and reinforcement as well). We attended a toddler discipline class on Sunday and we got some great advice and tips. We've implemented many in the past 24 hours and we want to keep this going. Result: on-going, but things are going slightly better.

Goal three: Have a dinner plan before we even leave for work. This helps us avoid last-minute dinners out or picking up a pizza (hence making goal #1 worthwhile). :) Results: Passed, everyday!

Goal four: Do not go shopping. Results: BOOM. Passed. Didn't shop once--for me or the kids. (I mean, technically we grocery shopped but that's not the shopping I meant.)

Goal five: Do something fun with the kids. We may take them to the zoo nearby this weekend, and the weather is to be gorgeous! Results: Passed. Took 'em to the zoo. Addison even got bit by a donkey.

My goals this week!

In an effort to make our lives slightly less hectic, we've been chatting about ways to save money, live stress-free (or with less stress, since "stress-free" is not likely), more content, be happier, etc.

So, I've come up with a few goals for this week. I think we do better when we focus on short-term goals, and I think this will help me be more accountable. :)

Goal one: Work out or go to the gym five days. I joined the gym at work and have gone every work day so far. I know that I won't continue to go every single day because I like to still hang with my friends sometimes, but moreso than not, I need to be at the gym. Jean season is upon us. On the days I'm not at work (Friday-Sunday), I will find something else to do to be active. A walk. Yard work. Something--anything--five out of seven days. Already did the gym at lunch today and yesterday, we walked to the grocery store, did our shopping, and walked home with all our groceries, so that's two! Seth jogs at night, so his goal is probably similar. :)

Goal two: Be more intentional about effectively disciplining Carter (not all negative! Many positive "disciplining" and reinforcement as well). We attended a toddler discipline class on Sunday and we got some great advice and tips. We've implemented many in the past 24 hours and we want to keep this going.

Goal three: Have a dinner plan before we even leave for work. This helps us avoid last-minute dinners out or picking up a pizza (hence making goal #1 worthwhile). :)

Goal four: Do not go shopping.

Goal five: Do something fun with the kids. We may take them to the zoo nearby this weekend, and the weather is to be gorgeous!

Let's do this!

Vacation to Deep Creek Lake, MD!

About two weeks ago, we got back from our second summer vacation. We stayed in a lake house in Deep Creek Lake, MD. It was a privately owned house with a private pool and hot tub, but was in a community, so it had some nice amenities like free par-3 golf, free mini golf with your own putter, and a catch and release pond. We went in the middle of August but the weather was very chilly the week we were there. The highest it got was 78 and that was only one day. Most of the days were in the 60s. Brrrr! I actually only got in the pool one time the entire week!

 

We went on vacation with Seth's parents, and both brothers and their families. There were ten kids under eight-years-old, for a total of 18 people! The house was perfect, though. There were six bedrooms, and we seemed to have plenty of space. Carter slept on the floor of our room on an air mattress and Addison slept in the closet. Ha!  



 

The house - called Midnight Dip

 

 

The gorgeous living room, viewed from the loft up above (which served as the main post for the kids in the nerf gun wars!) :)

 

 

On a hike to explore the trail behind the house. We stopped for a quick photo op.

 

 

There was a nice fire pit out back, so we definitely had to make s'mores!!

 

 

Oma celebrated her birthday while we were there. I made chocolate cake with peanut butter icing!

 

This day (I think), we went to the movies. Seth stayed back with Addison but I took Carter to his first movie. We saw Planes. It was pretty good and he did really well sitting still!

 

 

 

We also took a day to go to Swallow Falls State Park to do some hiking. It was super pretty but it passed some INTENSE rapids which had us all watching the kids like hawks. It had rained a lot recently so the falls and rapids were much more intense than normal.

 

 

 

Carter was Opa's boy on the hike.

 

That afternoon, we did family pictures. Oma purchased shirts for each of the grandkids that had their name and age on it. It was a cool way to show the diversity in the grandkids (though there sure are a lot of threes!) :)

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty much the only photo of the grandkids with Oma and Opa that was useable. With that many kids, someone was always unhappy. There came a point where it almost became humorous (or maybe because if you didn't laugh, you'd cry?? Hmm.).

 

 

 

This would be the view from the ice cream shop. Insane, right? There was a delicious creamery just a few miles away, so we had to try it!

 

 

We also did a pontoon boat tour. I've got to be honest--this one had me worried. My kids HATE life jackets. Carter did okay with the life jacket but does get motion sick so I was watching him out of the corner of my eye the entire time. I kept him distracted as much as I could. Addison wasn't a fan of the life jacket, as I suspected. We pretty much kept her hands full with a snack at all times so she wasn't attempting to rip it off.

 

 

 

 

On one of the last days, we checked out the Deep Creek Lake State Park discovery center. There were life animals (like turtles and stuff) and a class about aquatic life in the lake.

 

 

This is Carter looking in the aquascope at what's in the lake. He didn't see much, I'm told. :)

 

 

On Saturday, there was a local airplane, antique car, and EMS vehicle fair at a local county airport. We took the kids to it and they enjoyed going from plane to plane checking things out.

 

Oh! And one of the days, we went on a mountain coaster. Basically, it's a single or double rider coaster that goes all the way to the top of the mountain and then you come down on tracks just like a coaster. You can brake if you want or fully accelerate. Carter rode with me and Seth rode alone. We all did the "full acceleration" method and it was a BLAST! Carter loved it. I don't have any pictures except one cell phone picture because cameras and phones had to stay secured during the ride.

 

We had such a great time on the trip. We actually did get to relax a decent amount, too, which I wasn't so sure would happen. Seth got to play golf with Matt a few times, fish with Carter, we played games, went out for dinner, found a dynamite coffee shop, went shopping, and more!