The Elf Is One!

This post is about 8 days overdue, but I decided to wait until we had some fun pics from Annelise's first birthday party, which was this past Saturday. We had a fun time celebrating with our community group, and Hadleigh's friends Brennan and Jacob. Poor Annelise needs some friends of her own, as most of my friends decided to wait an extra year before embarking on two children...smart idea!
As usual Dave came through with a BEAUTIFUL cake, Pumpkin Spice with caramel icing...yummy! I think this might become a tradition. Annelise wore the dress Hadleigh wore on her first birthday, which surprisingly was the dress I wore on my first birthday...or maybe I wore it sometime around my first birthday. In any case, the dress is 30+ years old.
Enough about the birthday festivities, let's get to talking about Annelise! What a sweet girl she is! She is a little cuddle bug, and I LOVE it. She will be sitting on my lap and I can ask for cuddles and she will lean into me and make a little sighing noise. So sweet! When I ask for kisses she opens her mouth wide and leans in for a big smack...I try to aim her at my cheek!

She is still a bit particular. She isn't as tough as big sis, Hadleigh, and gets a little flustered when she gets bonked around. She still struggles a bit with her naps, and with eating, but we are doing our best. She seems to be a picky eater, but I am refusing to give in too much...she will learn to eat what we put in front of her.
She is a major cruiser, and will walk around the house with a little walker. I am SO excited about the prospect of having a baby that walks before 17 months! She is starting to climb which is interesting, and since we live in a split level I am going to have figure out how to handle that one. Yikes!
She is an oral baby, and everything goes into her mouth. For real? It is so gross, but not much I can do. As my friend Sar says about her Jill, I guess she is developing her immune system.

She is very persistent, and will sit at the outlet trying to take the covers off for at least 10 minutes at a time. It is so different to have a baby who is interested in those things. I know Annelise is going to be into EVERYTHING. If she is crawling and something is in her path she will pick it up and throw it behind her as she continues to crawl. This always makes us laugh, and she leaves a wake as she passes through.

She has become very social, always offering smiles and giggles which makes all our buds so happy. On her birthday she was passed from one person to another, and just enjoyed being played with and tickled.
She LOVES her big sis, Hadleigh and always squeals when HC is around. She also loves her Dada. The other day she spotted him through the window as he was walking into the house, and squealed and clapped so excitedly that I knew Dave must be home.

She loves to clap and wave hello and goodbye. She loves to babble, and loves to play with her new ball machine that Papa and Nana sent.
She loves bath time. Dave know has the girls help each other wash, so HC scrubs Annelise and Annelise scrubs Hadleigh. It is super sweet.

I love my little, particular, cuddly, social, persistent little girl, who is now 20 pounds and 28 inches (gotta love the formula to fatten them up).

My Day

My friend Jess, posted a blog last week about her day. It is always interesting to see what days look like for different people, so I thought I would post about my day Thursday...here you go.

5.45a Annelise was up. Dave fed her while I took a shower. Dave and I eat breakfast and chit-chat while Annelise "runs" around.

6.25 Dave leaves for work. I check email, strip my bed, blow dry my hair, throw the wash in the washer, make oatmeal and get Annelise's breakfast ready.

7.15 feed Annelise breakfast. Change her diaper, put her down for a nap.

7.30 get Hadleigh up for the day. Go potty, downstairs for breakfast. Make Hadleigh's breakfast.

8.00 Work on my Bible study- Romans 6, while Hadleigh plays and reads.

8.30 Pack Hadleigh's lunch, and snacks for Annelise. Stock diaper bags with changes of clothes, extra diapers/wipes. Get Hadleigh dressed.

9.00 Get Annelise up from nap, change diaper, dressed...out the door.

9.15 Get the girls in the car, remember a few things I forgot in the house, and get in the car again. Off to preschool!

9.45 Drop Annelise off at nursery and run up to Bible study.

11.30 Pick up Annelise, out to the car. We stopped by a bank (because we are looking for a new one), and asked about all their different accounts. Back in the car, and off to Wal-mart. Run in, buy diapers (using my cell phone to calculate which buy is a better deal...). Back in the car to pick up Hadleigh.

1.00 this is where it gets interesting. Pick up HC. As we get back on the road, HC begins to scream in pain, and as I look back I realize she probably has to go potty. I ask her if she has to poop. She exclaims, YES (while arching back and squeezing bootie cheeks together). We are at a light, so as son as possible I quickly pull into a parking lot, jump out of car and around to her side, but realize that since I smell something I am prob too late. I grab her potty, pull her out of the car seat, put her on the potty, and begin the clean up. Pull out the extra wipes, thank goodness for spare trash bags! I wipe everything down, put on new panties, and we are off again. As soon as we get back on the road we repeat the same process with Hadleigh. At this point we are almost home, and there really isn't anywhere to stop so I rush home. Pull Hadleigh out of the car and run her into the house and onto the potty. She begins to scream because she doesn't like to poop on the potty. I hold her down and she manages to poop while I promise her some ice cream if she goes in the potty. All is well, victory! We do the poop in the potty dance, and I tell her to jump into her booster while I grab Annelise (who is still sitting in her carseat screaming). I run Annelise up to her room and put her in bed...only to hear Hadleigh downstairs yelling again. Hadleigh has now pooped in her booster seat (to give her credit, she would have run to the potty, but she had strapped herself in so was stuck). I took her to the potty again and cleaned everything up. NOW it is time for ice cream. We also called Dave so Hadleigh could tell him that she pooped in the potty.

1.45 Everything is cleaned up and Hadleigh is finally in bed. I make myself lunch...FINALLY, and sit down (think I have earned it). Fold laundry...check email...fold laundry...check email...file papers, pay bills.

3.30 Annelise wakes up. Change diaper, feed bottle, play.

4.00 Hadleigh wakes up, immediately gets a consquence because she has gotten out of bed and is covered from head to toe in lotion. Clean her up, and try not to gag from the overwhelming smell of lavender.

4.30 THANK GOD, Dave is home!

5.00 Dinner for the girls. Baths, Annelise goes to bed.

6.00 Dave leaves again to go to hockey game, I put Hadleigh down, we sing, talk about how great God is, and I give her kisses and hugs.

6.30 I think REALLY hard about ordering chinese, but decide to save my money and make tomato soup...comfort food.

7.30 Do massive amounts of dishes left over from day, and community group the night before.

8.00 Survivor...thank goodness my pick-Sugar- is still in the game AND has the immunity idol.

9.00 check email, make bed, clean kitchen, find recipe for Annelise's birthday cake, make list for grocery store run for Annelise's birthday party and for another party I am having on Monday for a friend.

10.00 Dave gets home, and off to do a Sudoku puzzle and go to bed. (I do usually go to bed earlier, but...)

Happy Halloween

We had a fun time celebrating Halloween with the girls last week. We like giraffes! Hadleigh was a giraffe her first Halloween, and since Annelise is on the small side (no we are not worried about her size), she was able to fit into the size 6 month giraffe outfit this year. Last year I bought Hadleigh a new giraffe costume in a size 24 months. Amazingly, she was able to fit into the same costume this year! Wonderful! So, three years in a row, HC has been a giraffe. Maybe next year we will branch out, but it was super cute to have 2 giraffes this year. And maybe, just maybe we can stay far away from princesses...not trying to offend anyone here, we just aren't really the princess type (at least so far we aren't).

Last Wednesday we had our Playgroup Halloween Party here. It is always a little chaotic, but we all made it out alive, which is a positive. Hadleigh and Annelise like to be surrounded by boys, as you can see.

Here is HC with two of her fav buddies...I mean who wouldn't like hanging out with Superman and a real, live Cowboy?

Hadleigh had her first trick or treat experience on Friday. Dave took her up a couple houses on each side...she is really excited about the whole idea of candy.

Here are a couple pics from Halloweens gone by...above Hadleigh on Halloween 2006...below Hadleigh on Halloween 2007.

We Voted

Wow, my arm looks HUGE! Today I did my civil duty. I voted! It was SO much fun. I actually haven't voted in person in 4 years (because I used absentee ballots while in Germany and until we got a permanent residence here in Atl).

In GA there has been this push for folks to vote early...I am not really sure why. Someone said they were expecting 90% of GAs to vote...unlikely. Anyway, it seemed to make sense for folks who might be out of town or things like that...but never seemed to make sense for me to do it. Especially since I knew some folks who waited for several hours! It had never taken me longer than 30 minutes to vote in the past, even when I was going with the crowds before work, so I decided to stick to voting day.

I loaded the girls up in the stroller and marched down to our precinct. They had to open both dorrs to get me and my wide load in. Hadleigh was SO excited, and continued to talk about how she was going to vote...and she anxiously watched the screen as I voted...she agreed with all my choices. The dude at the end let HC have a sticker, so later today we are going to make a Bruesters Ice Cream run...$.50 off a cone when you wear your sticker!

Just Organizing the World

I really do have LOTS to tell and write, alas I am off planning and organizing the world, so I do not have time to write about it. But here is my sweet-almost-one-year-old, Annelise....though she is the size of a 6 month old (we will know more when we go to the doc on Monday).

More updates to come!

13 Reasons

Check this out...13 Reasons why you need to hire our buddies Grant and Jess.

Freezer

A couple weeks ago our brand new Kitchenaide refrigerator bit the dust. It was actually a complete nightmare. It died on Saturday (of course) and by Monday morning both sides were basically 65 degrees. Naturally I could only call the repairman on Monday, so by the time we could call we had basically lost everything. Long story short, by Wednesday we had a fully operating refrigerator (they had to order a new compressor) again. We tried for a couple days to keep things in coolers on ice, but then it just became painful (try doing that for 5 days). Dave was so irritated by the whole situation that he ran out and bought a small 5.5 deep freezer so we could save a few things (very few by the time he bought it). I was thankful for the freezer for an entirely different reason.

I had been wanting a deep freezer, but was just sure Dave would not allow it. He hates my innate pack-rat nature and tries to discourage it as much as possible. I knew he would be worried that if I had a big freezer I would begin to horde food that we would fail to use.

In any case, we now have a freezer and I am SO excited! I have been wanting to freeze meals, but was limited by space before. For the last couple weeks I have been cooking up a storm and freezing a bunch.

OK, true confessions, I LOVE cooking. It is one of my favorite things to do. We might not have a clean house, but we eat well, yummy, healthy, homemade meals. I love it! And the truth is if I can buy some things in bulk or when they are on sale I can watch our budget.

Dave works 4 long days during the week and he does not get a lunch break, so he packs his lunch and eats whenever he gets a minute. We have an obsession with soups which was fueled by our time in Europe. I had been getting him canned soup for his lunch which has been fast and easy for all of us. Unfortunately those cans are just filled to the brim with sodium. I bought him the new V8 Campbell's soups and his comment was, "they taste really salty, and aren't as good as your butternut squash soup." After I heard that I went to work. I made several big batches of some of our favorite soups, Lamb and Barley, Red Bell Pepper, Butternut Squash, Asparagas, and Mushroom and Barley. It was so fun to cook all day. I even made my own vegetable broth. Upon finishing I froze small 2 cup portions and labeled them all. Fun!

Since I have been in the mood I have also made mac and cheese, spaghetti, sloppy joes, chicken chili and chicken pot pie. Now I have several homemade yummy meals that I can just throw in the crock pot or microwave.

Nap Time

Yes, those are shoes on her feet. She is such a nut!

Fun with Pumpkins

We spent our family fun day at a pumpkin patch north of the city. I could not help remembering that last year during our trip to the pumpkin patch I was super large and in charge. It is nice to be a regular person this year!

Annelise enjoyed her first hayride out of the womb, and Hadleigh had a blast feeding fish and running around looking at all the pumpkins. She even wanted to take her pumpkin to bed with her (which we did not allow). Here are some fun picks from our day.

Bamboozled

If I was Dave, I would say, I have been mizled…but I am not entirely sure how he would spell it…and even then only my community group would understand the joke. It is true…I have been bamboozled and boy am I ever angry.

You know, I try to be super diligent about every penny I spend on groceries. I clip coupons, buy things on sale, cook for the season, I really try. I don’t always succeed in getting the best deals (I am not like that woman who buys groceries for her family of 5 for $38/week), but I really do try to be conscious of how much I spend and to save when I can.

So, as I clipped coupons on Monday morning I realized that Kroger was having several great things on sale this week. I didn’t need a lot of groceries, but just a couple filler things. Milk was listed at $2.99 and boneless chicken at $1.99/lb, avocados at 10 for $10, etc. I always try to stock up chicken when it is on sale, so I headed to Kroger. I try to avoid Kroger at all costs, but these things were just too good to pass up, so I decided I would make a little trip to Kroger. I packed up the girls (here is one thing in its favor, they have a grand selection of grocery carts that accommodate children…impressive) and headed in. My first stop was the avocados…sweet 10 for $10. Next I arrived at the chicken and was puzzled. It was posted as buy one get one free which put the price at $2.34/lb. I was a bit confused, but picked it up anyway and decided I would just ask at the register (I knew I was right about this…I had JUST looked at the mailer). I swung by the milk that was listed at $3.19…now I was getting worried and confused. I ended up at the register, and had to wait forever to get through (why is it that I never wait in line at Publix?). Upon reaching the register I immediately asked the cashier about the chicken. We had a 5 minute conversation as she tried to explain to me that once I scanned my Kroger card it would all be taken care of. I, in the mean time, was trying to kindly explain that half off is different than $1.99/lb. She finally called a supervisor (the people in my line were getting antsy), and I explained that the circular said $1.99/lb, etc. She understood and went on a trek…we all waited…and waited…and waited…Annelise begins to cry…I am feeling nervous.

The manager arrives back with the circular in hand, opens it up, and voila…there is chicken listed at buy one get one free. Wow, I was horrified and embarrassed! I humbly apologized (and was thankful that I had been polite), and made some comment about how it must have been cheaper at Publix. And went home. The minute I walked in the door I pulled out my circular…and it had chicken listed at $1.99. So confused, and angry, I looked to see what the issue was, did I have the right week, what was happening. I finally found it, in the fine print it noted that these were the prices for the Kroger up by Wal-mart…I never go to that Kroger, and it is at least a mile farther away than the one I went to. So, all the cheap prices that I went to Kroger for, were basically null.

And as I looked at my receipt I realized they charged me more for the avocados…$6 instead of $4. I was livid.

Dave got home, and I started packing up everything to take it back to Kroger. He actually talked me out of it…which I am still a little annoyed about. It would be a waste of gas and time to return those things and then drive to the correct store and try again. I also had coupons attached to my purchase, so it would have been difficult to get everything settled. So…I am eating the $8 I would have saved if I had gone to the right store…and am cursing Kroger in my head…NEVER AGAIN! I will not let you get me again. In the future I will always travel with my circular…and I think I am going to swear off Kroger for at least a month.

In happy news I did find red bell peppers for $1.59/lb at the farmer’s market…that sure beats $4/lb at either grocery.

Miss Hadleigh Claire is 31 Months

Oh my, what joy the little miss brings to me everyday...what drama and what joy! We have truly hit discipline in earnest this past month and I think I need a break! From the moment she wakes up we have a bit of a discussion about obedience. It pleases Mama when she obeys...and it pleases God. We are working hard...but oy...I think I need a break sometimes. But at the times when I SO do not want to discipline I think if I am consistent and regular, she will understand that I need her to obey the first time...and maybe the battle will be ultimately shorter than if I waver. It is hard to remember that sometimes the grace is in the discipline. Who wants to be around a 25 year old who acts like a 2 year old? And I have met some of them!

Our big discipline project of the month, other than the obvious "come to Mama", has been keeping her diaper on during nap/nighttime. What drama! She is potty trained, but we have some major poopy issues. I do not feel like going into it here, I have mentioned it before. So, we continue to work with HC on going poop regularly, and going in the potty. In any case she is still wearing a diaper to bed as I am just happy at any point when she poops. About a month ago she got into the habit of taking off her diaper which resulted in pee/poop in the bed/on her hands/nast! Thus the discipline began...for 2 straight weeks. Wow, really? And just when I thought I, myself, would die she woke up from her nighttime sleep with herdiaper and shorts still on. Victory! Did we ever celebrate! I created the "Shorts-on" dance which is really fun to watch/participate in (Annelise especially likes to shake-it). What fun! After every nap she greets me with a plea to do the shorts-on dance. I am actually thinking about making it a general obedience dance...how can we make obedience fun?

This has been a super difficult time, and of course I am terrified about screwing her up and it taking 5 years of therapy to set her straight...but she will need therapy if she is 25 and acts like a 2 year old...so can we really escape harming our children? I think it is inevitable. Even in the midst of the difficulties it has been a sweet time with HC, and I feel like together we are learning more about each other and also about the Lord. I am reminded myself that it pleases God when I obey him. That he will always love me no matter what I do/do not do. That choosing obedience has some fun results (Shorts-on Dance, anyone?). And that discipline is a form of grace, mercy and love. It is a lot of work, and tiring and emotionally draining. Ugh.

Miss HC is doing a lot of things herself. She can dress herself, put her shoes on, go potty alone, get in her carseat, get in and out of bed/stroller/booster. She loves helping me around the house. She helps with laundry, cooking, baking, cleaning up, dusting, etc. What a helper, I love it! She will go and find things for me and bring them to me. She really likes things in their place, and sometimes makes up where they belong. I will find juice cups in cupboards (because she wants them up off the floor). If there are random clothes in her room she will pick them up and put them in a basket. She is my funny little OCD girl.

She rode a mini zipline for the first time. After she did the mini one (holding on by herself) Dave wanted to put her on the big one, but after some convincing, main Kris saying ABSOLUTELY NOT Dave kept her on the mini one.

Singing is still a fav. SHe picks up songs and words really quickly and walks around the house singing. Her new fav is Rainbow Connection, "...someday we'll find it, a rainbow connection, a lovers, a dreamers and me, la da da..." in her words. HA-larious.

Oh how she loves her friends! We took the girls and our community group up to Knoxvegas for a weekend away. What fun the little miss had with all her big girl friends. She got to show off all her tricks for her friends AND for Grandpa and Grandma. Big stuff. Everyday she asks to see her friends and have them come over and play or go to the park. By 9 yesterday morning I was so tired of her asking about her friends that I made a quick call to Christy and Brea to secure a playmate for the morning. They are so cute together!

Going places is also a fav thing to do. She will say, "Let's go in the van". It doesn't matter where...let's just go! She is saying the funniest things with the funniest expressions. It is hard not to laugh sometimes, especially when I should be serious. She will just look up at me with these big eyes and begin to talk really fast in words that undiscernable...hilarious.

My New Endeavor

So here is my new endeavor...a compost pile. I am very excited. Dave is going to make a spot for it, and I have been reading up on them. I wanted to begin this fall so that I have lots of materials to start my garden in the spring. My mouth just waters when I think of my own tomatoes, squash and bell peppers. Yummy! I hope it will be up and running this weekend.

The Elf is 11 Months!

Annelise is 11 months old today. Amazing. She is such a little person these days.

She finally cut her eighth tooth, which she was working on for a while. Dave is concerned, of course, because she is a bit behind in the tooth department even though she got an early start, with her first tooth at 4.5 months. I keep telling him you cannot be advanced in EVERY area!

She is officially crawling, though it is not her favorite thing to do. She actually prefers to do this little one-legged scoot thing. Hilarious. And her favorite thing is to stand and cruise. This week I did a lot of cooking, and she would crawl from the playroom into the kitchen, grab onto my leg and stand up. She would stand there as long as I was standing still.

Annelise is now really attaching to Dave which is so fun to see. When Dave walks in the room she gets a huge smile on her face and immediately scoots toward him. She enjoys spending her early mornings with Dave while I get in my shower.

Of course the older she gets we see more and more of her little personality. Dave was laughing because the other day she spent a good 10 minutes trying to get the outlet cover off. Hadleigh would never do that, so it is funny to see how different they are. Annelise loves going for all the buttons, tv, computer, etc.

She is a very good natured baby (these days). She will easily go and visit other people (unless it is after church and she has been away from me for a couple hours. She gives lots of smiles and waves and claps to most anyone. She also has a fabulous giggle and laugh.

Yesterday as I was driving home Hadleigh and Annelise were making each other laugh in the back seat. Hadleigh was turning her head from side to side really quickly, and then Annelise was doing the same. They were both in hysterics, so funny.

She plays reasonably well on her own. I can put her in the playroom with several toys and she will entertain herself for a little while, but she is so happy when HC is around to play with her.

Annelise is just generally at a fun age. It is nice to have arrived, and I feel like we made it over the hump. Things continue to get easier, and I am thankful for a little break. She is sweet, hilarious, and cuddly. We look forward to knowing her more and more.

Red Bell Pepper Soup

This is one of our favorite soups.

Red Bell Pepper Soup
3lbs. red bell peppers, seeded and sliced
2 onions
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 serrano peppers, chopped
1 1/4 cups, strained tomatoes
5 cups vegetable broth
4 tbs. chopped fresh basil

1. Put the red bell peppers in a large, heavy pan with the onions, garlic, and chiles. Add the strained tomatoes and vegetable broth and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.

2. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until the bell peppers have softened. Drain, reserving the liquid and vegetables separately.

3. Puree the vegetables in a food processor.

4. Return the vegetable puree to a clean pan and add the reserved cooking liquid. Add the basil and heat through until hot. Garnish the soup with fresh basil sprigs and serve.

Antics of the Little Miss

We have had a few fun moments with the Little Miss recently and I just had to post about them. There are many fun moments with Hadleigh these days, but there are also many difficult moments. The past few days have been mostly filled with fun, which is a welcomed relief because the past two weeks have been VERY difficult.

Here are a couple funnies.

We went to the farmer's market this morning and they do not have carts that can hold two children, so Annelise rode in the front and HC rode in the basket. I began putting my produce in the basket with her and she was asking what each item was and was asking if everything was yummy. She kept asking about the mushrooms and I kept responding, "Yes, HC mushrooms are yummy". Then I looked at her and realized she had broken the plastic, taken out a mushroom and had it in her mouth eating it. Yuck!

I was putting some laundry from the eash to the dryer and when I came out of the laundry HC was no where to be found. I wandered around and continued to call for her until I heard her say, "Yup! I'm going potty." I walked into the bathroom and found her sitting on her little potty. This is the first time she has gone on her own! She did it again a couple hours later...yea HC!

Tagged!

Thanks Sar!
How To Play This Game of Tag: List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, and 3 facts about yourself. Tag people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

3 Joys:
1. Doing the "Short's On/Obedience" dance with Miss Hadleigh Claire.
2. Cooking. I love it.
3. Nights out with Dave...where he drops a chunk of change on a really good dinner with an awesome bottle of wine.

3 Fears:
1. The dark. This really bugs Dave.
2. The future. That covers a bunch of stuff...
3. Providing for the girls.

3 Obsessions/Collections:
1. Survivor...love it...though I am picking 15th in the pool this time around, so I will prob get someone lame, like...Randy.
2. Organizing. Now if I can just organize my home.
3. Photos.

3 Facts:
1. I aspire to be a more disciplined person.
2. I could wear Ann Taylor clothing for the rest of my life and be happy.
3. I hate sorting the girls' clothing...packing up the old stuff, trying to determine what will fit them in the new season/age and filling in the missing pieces. This is especially painful because HC and Annelise are opposite seasons, so some things cross over, but not all things...and then Annelise is small so I cannot go by months (she is still mostly in 6-9 month clothing). Oh and it also bugs that I cannot find pants that fit HC well. She is ALWAYS showing a bit of crack. Any suggestions would be much appreciated...and yes I have tried 3 different brands of the adjustable waist.

One More Thing

I just wanted to clarify that MY girls throw tantrums and fits when they stay up late, and the following day is always painful. I do not think that all children who go to bed after 6PM throw tantrums.

On Bedtimes

I remember when my bedtime was moved from 7.30 until 8. I was able to stay up and watch the Cosby Show, and I must have been about 10 or 11. It was big news. My brothers' room faced the street and they never had a shade for their window. I remember that during the summer they would be in bed in their room and look outside to see families with 2 and 3 year olds out taking a walk. They said they would always roll out of bed onto the floor so that the little kids would not see these much older kids in bed SO early. All this to say, my family was an early to bed, early to rise family.

I suppose it is not much of a surprise, then, that we are an early to bed, early to rise family too. However it is not necessarily because of my roots. There is nothing inside me that likes getting out of bed. It is actually the worst part of my day. I am in no way a morning person, but have adjusted to my current life. We started putting HC to bed early after reading what I call the "Sleep Bible", and realizing that she was such a scheduled baby that she needed some major structure with her sleep. And we have never looked back. We wake-up at 5.30, I feed Annelise while Dave takes a shower, and then Dave takes Annelise while I take a shower. Dave is off to work by about 6.15 and home a little before 5pm. We feed the girls, give them a bath and bedtime routine. They are down around 6pm. We then eat dinner and hit the bed by 9pm. It works.

We often get comments about the girls' bedtimes. We hear everything, from questions about how in the world we get them to sleep that early to why in the world we put them to sleep that early. We have also heard some, well I might not exactly call it criticisms, but pointed questions about things we are missing out on because of the early bedtimes.


Yes, we are missing out on hanging out with other families in the evening, and missing out on doing things together as a family. However we are also missing out on tantrums and other things that might be associated with not getting enough sleep (Annelise gets up at 5.30 no matter what time she goes to bed).


So, I decided to list all the reasons why I am thankful our girls go to bed early.
1. I have a marriage! It is so nice to have some hands free time, time where we can play Yahtzee, clean the house, set goals and plan for the future over a nice bottle of wine, etc. I swear this early bedtime thing has saved my marriage.


2. The girls love their schedule and know what to expect every day in terms of naps and meals and playtime. And I love to be able to plan my days around these things.


3. We can have people over to our house in the evening and we do not have to worry about it running into bedtime. I LOVE this. We have folks over all the time, and I can just tell them to come over at 7 and have time to clean the house before everyone arrives. We have a community group that meets every week at our house, our ministry team meets here. We have people come over for dinner, we are just always busy, and thankfully folks do not mind coming here.



4. It is easy to go out. With all the hard work done by 6.30 I have no problems with Dave going out to get a beer with a buddy, and he in turn lets me go out for my pedicures or whatever else I want to do. When we have a babysitter, it is easy to just put the girls down and then the sitter just gets to sit here, eat pizza, watch TV and get paid WAY too much (when did babysitters begin getting paid more than minimum wage?).

I guess that is about all I have to say. We love the early bedtimes and I do not feel like I am missing out on anything, besides overly tired children who do not want to obey, oh wait I deal with that anyway.

The Verdict Is In

Thanks to all who commented and shared advise and opinions about our car search. Apparently we are quick decision makers, or actually, I should say Dave is a quick decision maker. This actually wasn't a decision we were planning on making anytime soon, just before the end of the year. However we did know that as we browsed occasionally, if we found something, we were ready to write the check.

This week we bantered back and forth. We flip-flopped a lot. We looked at Land Rovers (fun!) and BMWx5 (super fun!) and Acura MDX (awesome!). I gave Dave a list of criteria...if he could find me an SUV that is a stick-shift and fits 3 car seats across the back, in our price range and not 20 years old...yea...yea.

We had been reviewing Craig's List to see what price range cars were being sold, what year, etc. On Wednesday he sent me a link for a 2005 Toyota Sienna that was in our price range. He was all excited about it (though I was still stuck on the BMW), and wanted to look at it on Friday. It was being sold at a clearance dealership, which basically buys trade-ins off dealership lots, trade-ins that dealers won't resell because they are too old (dealers won't sell cars older than 5 years because it is hard to finance a car older than 5 years), or whatever the reason. The clearance place marks up the cars $300-500 from what they paid the dealer, so the price is good for buyers. The rub is that the clearance place turns over cars by the hour, so the Sienna he saw on Wednesday was sold by Friday morning. However dude told Dave he just got in a clean Odyssey that was worth a peak and added we should come immediately because it would likely be gone quickly.

We piled the kids in the car and as we pulled out of our neighborhood Dave leaned over and asked if I brought a check with me. I laughed...we don't need a check, I said...because we aren't going to be buying anything. I think he was a little frustrated, but turned around and kindly asked me to get a check just in case. I humored him and off we were to a distant Atlanta suburb. The clearance place actually reminded me of the place we bought our 1984 Mercedes Benz when we lived in Germany. It is on the same street as Vogelweh in Kaiserslautern. Funny enough, the dude who runs the clearance place here in Atlanta is Irish (though he speaks as someone from the south), and the dude in K-town who ran the car place was Irish too. OK, silly connection, but ah well.

The car was beautiful, 2003, silver, loaded, leather, dvd player, etc. Dave was busy checking all the parts, under the hood, under the whatever (I am glad he knows something about cars!). Before he took it for a drive around the block I asked the dealer the price (as it wasn't marked on the car). I literally almost laughed in his face when he told me the price, as it was less than half what the Honda dealers were charging for their 2004 Odysseys that did not have leather. And honestly this 2003 was a lot cleaner, no major spots on the carpet, etc. Dave took it for a drive and we went in to write our check.

We arrived at the clearance place at 10 and by 1030 Dave was writing the check. It was hilarious. But it was just WAY too good of a deal to pass up. Dave always wants a steal of a deal, and I was encouraging him that we should just look for a deal...well he got his steal. And I really feel like the Lord led us to the right place at the right time with the right car. That might seem a bit cheesy, but I do think he cares where we lay our heads at night, when we sit and when we rise, as well as what we drive. We so desired to pay with cash and to stay within our budget and I was afraid we might have to get a loan which we REALLY did not want. I think he honored our desires and provided in a wonderful way.

So, now I am a true mom. I have my carpool numbers on my front windshield of my minivan. It makes me feel really old, and it does not feel like me at all when I drive it, but I am thankful...and will be even more thankful when I drive the girls up to Knoxville by myself and can pop in The Muppet Movie for Miss Hadleigh Claire.

By the way, HC is obsessed with vans. She loves them, and I am not sure why. She is always trying to climb into other peoples...it is weird. So, she is super excited about it all. We had family fun day and went to the park this morning. After a while I said, "OK, let's go to the car!" And she corrected me, "No Mama, it's a van". OK, HC!

To Minivan or Not to Minivan

The time has come. Fear not, our faithful Buick has not bitten the dust, in fact it is going strong, however, we are nearing a point of decision. We are hoping to buy a new-to-us car in the next 4 months and are trying to decide what we should be looking for.

At this point, we are undecided and we are not in agreement. Dave wants an SUV and I would prefer a minivan...well, you see I would not prefer a minivan, but given our current circumstance I would prefer a minivan. There are many people on both sides of the spectrum who have tried to convince of us the "correct" side, but we remain undetered.

The sides:
Dave=SUV
1. Cooler than a mini
2. Can tow our boat (hmmm...what boat?)
3. Can use for camping/fishing/off-roading

Ami=Mini
1. Practical- has room for more than 2 carseats and still room in the trunk for strollers/pack n' plays/groceries.
2. Is smaller than a suburban.
3. Drives smoother than a truck/SUV

There are other issues, but these are the ones that continually come up. Here is the thing. Everyone in favor of SUVs are like...oh, but there are so many SUVs with 3rd row seats like Honda Pilot and Toyota Highlander, etc. So we went car shopping over the weekend and looked at Honda- the Odyssey and the Pilot. Let me tell you people...there is a way you can have 3 children and own a Pilot, but forget about having anything more than your stroller in the trunk if you have that 3rd row up. I know it is the same with the Highlander. Once that 3rd row is up and used as seating there is zero trunk space. If we were only going to have 2 children (which the jury is still out on), the Pilot of Highlander would be a viable option, but it doesn't make much sense to buy one at this point. I thought all that was a strike against SUVs. Dave, however, is unconvinced.

Now, he is certain we need a Toyota Sequoia, or a Suburban...I mean...really? Those are monstrous! And I have told him I refuse to drive it. He is slightly winning me with an offer of a BMWx5. Those are lovely cars and come in manual, and I am so wanting to have a stick! But they do not even offer a 3rd row seat, so I think even with this bribe I will stand my ground.

I think there will be a day in my future where I will be able to own the car of my choice, but I fear this is not that day.

Miss Hadleigh Claire Beings Preschool

Here she is...the big preschooler! The little miss had her first day of preschool this week. It was a BIG hit, and I know this because she had a huge grin on her face when we drove up to her school and when I picked her up. I was really nervous because this year I drive through the car pool lane...which is a bonus because that means I do not have to get out of the car with Annelise, but I had no idea how Hadleig would react to a strange lady getting her out of the car. It was pretty funny. She looked around, looked at me, but let the lady take her out of her carseat and never protested! What a big girl! She is going two days a week this year which seems so big. I love her little preschool because they just LOVE those kiddos, and honestly all I care about other than that is that she has lots of fun playing with her friends. She is two afterall...playing is what you should be doing at two. I thought I would include a picture of HC's first day of school last year.

Vaca 2008

Well folks, it is true, we had our first family vaca last week. Well, it was our first family vaca as a family of four. About three years ago Dave and I discovered that there are trips and there are vacations. We had gone on a lot of trips while in Europe, but for our 2nd anniversary we went to an all-inclusive resort in Turkey for a week...now that was a vaca. I made zero decisions besides did I want to lay in a hammock or learn how to shoot a bow and arrow (which actually left my whole arm bruised). Last summer we went to Napa with my family, and I would call that a trip/vaca. There was a little resting involved. However this was the first vaca we took as a family since we went to Costa del Sol two years ago. I was SO excited for us to be alone with just us. I mean I like being with friends and family, but that is not always a vacation either.

We rented a cabin in a little town in the Smokies (NC). I was so excited. There was a pool, a lake for fishing, boats, bicycles, swings, a farm, a restaurant...it had all the makings of a nice place to rest.

Here is the rub...we brought Hadleigh and Annelise. Of course we brought them...but we brought them. Apparently being the Mama to two children is stressful in Atlanta or in the Smokies...doesn't matter if you take away the phone and internet and house projects it is still stressful.

And to make matter worse Hadleigh actually probably had the worst week of her life. We have now truly discovered that she is a creature of habit and likes her own bed, her own house and things that she knows. She did not sleep well, either at night or during her naps. She had a lot of nightmares, and was just restless. That led to numerous fits and tantrums and fights and just overall unpleasant behavior.

And of course in a small cabin if one child is restless the other one has a hard time too...ugh.

We spent the first half of the week trying to readjust our expectations...yes we still had to get up at 5.30, and we still had to care for our children. Dave and I actually kept looking at each other asking each other when we would ever get to spend time with one another. At one point he asked, "Do you think we could pay someone to take them for a while?" It was actually slightly depressing, but once we adjusted our thoughts about our "vacation" things got a little better. There was no slowly eaten dinner over a glass of sipped wine...ah well...those days are over for a time.

So, no that I have depressed everyone I will talk about the fun things we did. Every morning Dave would take Hadleigh out (so that Annelise could nap). They generally went down to the lake to fish, and so Hadleigh caught her first fish last week! She even pulled it in and held it in her hands. She was always so excited about her morning outtings with Dada. One morning he took her on a bike ride and she loved going fast over bumps.

There were a couple wooden swings and a couple hammocks on the property and we all enjoyed a mid-afternoon swing. There was a farm with goats and chickens and turkeys and horses. It was fun to sit on our front porch and watch Hadleigh go and feed the goats grass. She loved it.

We went to the Western North Carolina Air Museum. Hadleigh was able to sit in some cool old planes, and then Dave bought her one of those little paper airplanes. They put it together and then spent some good time flying it...until it got stuck on our roof.

We went to a children's museum which was super cool and Hadleigh painted and played with legos and other things.

Dave tried some local beer which he liked. I read a book, played Sudoku and cheered Federer and Roddick on while they played at the US Open. We went on a couple hikes. We went to a park. Hadleigh discovered gaterade...it was a good trip. I am glad to be home.

Miss Hadleigh Claire is Two and a Half

Little Miss Hadleigh Claire turned two and a half yesterday. She is growing and learning each new day and it is fun to observe her learn and interact with the world.

She still seems to be on the shy side, though we are daily overcoming that with pep talks about greeting people. She will now at least do a little wave of the hand when she sees someone, as opposed to giving them a stare down. I try to give her lots of warning, so for example, yesterday as she was eating breakfast before church I told her we were going to church and that she was going to get to see all of her friends. She gets really excited and immediately begins talking about her buddies Brennan and Jacob, and there are also other random friends she mentions, like Luke (who apparently now talks about Hadleigh too). I knew that she was going to see some of her "big girl" friends (which means my friends who love her almost as much as I do), so we went through the list of who else she might see...Jess and Courtney and she will go down her list talking about her big girl friends. And I remind her that it is always important to greet her big girl friends with either a wave or a hello. She did well yesterday and was running around giving folks a general wave, or sticking out her tongue...not sure where she picked that up...um...Dave?

Speaking of that, a couple weeks ago Jess came over to watch the girls while we attended one night of Living in Grace (a recent leadership training at Intown). I had been telling HC that Jess was coming over and she was getting really excited, which usually happens when I tell her someone is coming over. Usually when the person actually makes an entrance she will not look at them or greet them, but become shy for a few minutes...however this time when Jess walked in the door she screamed JESS and then got off the couch and started running toward her, as if to give a hug. She got almost to Jess and then paused like she realized what she was doing and thought better of it, but with some coaxing she followed through and gave Jess a big hug...we were all amazed, but hoping that will continue.

Hadleigh loves Annelise. They will sit in the playroom and just laugh and laugh and play together, so it seems for the time they mutually enjoy each others company. The other day Annelise was fussing and Hadleigh went over to pat her back and tell her it's ok. I then watched this hilarious transaction...Hadleigh looked at Annelise and said, "Oh Baby, do you want a cheerios?" (which always makes Annelise quiet) then, "Ok Baby, say 'more please'" then she took Annelise's hand and helped Annelise rub her tummy (which is the sign for more), then "Good job Baby, here you go" and she handed Annelise a handful of Cheerios. Hilarious!

She is becoming more independant and wants to help choose her own clothes, including panties (by the way I hate that word, but it is so cute when HC says "panties" so we continue to use it). Every morning I ask who she wants wear...Curious George, Elmo, Zoe, Minnie Mouse, Tinkerbell, it does get tiresome, but if she is in a good mood upon waking up it generally goes fast. She also likes to dress herself, and the only problems she seems to have is getting socks on, so that is fun to watch.

We learned some new things about the little Miss this month. It has now become completely clear that she is really attached to home. I thought that one of the reasons she struggled to sleep while we were in California was the time change, and while I think that did not help things, I have also come to realize that she just sleeps better in her own bed. I mean, who doesn't? However, even our week trip to Asheville seemed to cause massive amounts of turmoil in the sleeping area. This was difficult to handle. She woke up in the middle of the night crying several times, she struggled to take naps, she woke up early, it was a struggle. And then that made all the rest of the day REALLY pleasant let me tell you. That is kind of a bummer overall. Of course we are still going to take trips, but I am going to have to weigh these things more into consideration when we do travel.

Of course now that we are home she is back to sleeping 14 hours at night and 3-4 hours in the afternoon. And honestly, she NEEDS that much sleep. She sleeps more than Annelise, though honestly Annelise could use some more sleep. HC is a different child when she has slept well.

Our church schedule has switched around and we are now attending the first service and will have our fellowship the second hour. I am actually glad for this because Hadleigh will be joining us in the big service for singing. She LOVES singing, but when we attended the second hour I did not feel comfortable dropping her off for nursery, picking her up in the middle and then dropping her back off. She would not have handled that well at all. Now she comes with us immediately and before the offering we took her down to her class. This happened for the first time yesterday. I actually did not get to be with her and Dave because I was greeting in the nursery (since I am a room mom this year). However Dave said she LOVED it. He said that in between each song she said, "In Christ Alone?" I cannot wait until she gets to sing that in the big service, or any of the other songs she knows.

She begins preschool this week. Last week was actually the first week of school, but we missed it since we were on vaca. I am excited to see how she does, and I am sure she is going to love it. Some of the same kids from her class last year will be there this year too, and of course her buddies Brennan, Jacob and Anne Marie will be with her too. Her teacher is wonderful and I look forward to hearing all about it. We actually get to do carpool this year, so I drop her off and pick her up and never have to get out of the car. That will be super since I have Annelise, but I am wondering how she will do when they go to take her out of the car this week. Time will tell!

One hap that I forgot to mention...the little Miss is swinging in a big girl swing. She has occasionally asked about swinging in a non-baby swing but I have always ignored the requests. Or I would let her sit in it but really would not push her. Imagine my surprise when I happen upon Dave and Hadleigh at our place in NC, and she is swinging, not only in a big girl swing, but on a plank of wood swing and flying higher than Dave's 6'2" head. Yikes! But she is amazing and apparently gets the whole "hold on" thing. So she has graduated and now gets to go "real high" in a big swing. Who knew?

About Photos

Just a side note, because some of you have commented about the pictures I post. If it is a good one, Dave probably took it. He does a great job of taking pics...of course he takes them and then I use them before any editing or anything, because well, he doesn't have time to edit and I have to get these pictures up! He has a Nikon DSLR, one of the cheaper ones, and has had it for over 4 years, it works great and he can do some amazing stuff with it.

The Elf is 10 Months

We are a little behind the times here, but it is for a mostly positive reason. Last week we were on vacation. It was long awaited and anticipated and well...I will have to write more in another post, because it is Annelise's turn. So, here is my crazy elf.

One of her new nicknames (well it is not really new, we have been calling her it for a while) is Munch. This can be short for two things, Munchable (which she can be) or Munchkin (which she always is). It seems to fit her, so we go back and forth with Munch and Elf. Dave has also been calling her Annalala, because she LOVES to say "LALA" and she pronounces and emphasizes it wonderfully. I, on the other hand, have been calling her Lieshka. Before she was born, when we were choosing a name, this is what I knew I wanted to call her, but only recently really started using the name. I got it from this movie that is infamous in the F family..."Christmas in Connecticut". There is this whole debate because my brothers think we should not watch this movie on Christmas because it is not a Christmas movie, as in it isn't about Christmas, it only occurs around Christmas. I think that is LAME, especially since they wanted to watch "It's a Wonderful Life", which I would argue is not about Christmas either...but I digress. In the movie "Christmas in CT", the heroine's name is Elizabeth. She has a Hungarian "Uncle" who calls her Lieshka (of course I am using the German spelling, so who knows what this all means). It seems fitting, and I know my mom would LOVE to know I call her that.

One hap this month is I have started weaning. As you may or may not know, the Elf is a biter, and after getting my second breast infection I decided two strikes and you are out. I made it to almost 10 months and I feel that is an accomplishment. I think I might have considered doing this sooner, but the crazy has hated bottles until about a month ago, and formula is pretty foul in general, and sorry folks I am not going to pump for the next two months. After a week of giving her apple juice with the formula she is finally taking it straight up. I am still nursing her in the morning and before bed, and for now that is a decent compromise. I am now only putting my bobs in harm's way 2 times a day. I am not a big gushy nurser, but I definitely felt guilty as I was cutting her off, but I am over that now. Annelise is also such a cuddler that she has made me feel better about the whole weaning process, and now Dave gets to share in the cuddles. After she takes the bottle she gives me this big sideways hug and just rests on my chest and smiles up at me. I *love* me some Lieshka cuddles.

Eating food seems to be a fun habit for her, and she is weighing in at 16.5 pounds and 26.5 inches long. Both are below 5% which I only know because I looked it up. I guess the doc isn't worried, but he doesn't worry about much so that works for me. She is gaining weight and growing, which is the point. She has started this thing with her hands, she waves them in the air and twists her wrists when she wants more...though if I was being technical that is the sign for all done...but she hasn't quite picked up on the whole sign language thing. Funny side note...the other day Annelise was sitting on the floor and fussing. Hadleigh went over patted her on the back and said, "Baby do you want more Cheerios? OK, Baby, say more please" and then she took her hand and made Annelise rub her stomach (which is the sign for more) and then poured her some more Cheerios (yes we let her eat right off the floor).

Crawling does not seem to be in Annelise's future, although she is completely able to get from one place to another...she just doesn't crawl. She will scoot on her bottom, she will creep on her tummy, she will reach out to things and pull herself around, but will not crawl. I have seen her up on all fours maybe 2 or 3 times. She is not interested. Her main interest these days, and for the past month has been pulling up and cruising. She pulls up all day long. Her fav position is to pull up, be bent at the waist (because whatever she has pulled up on is short) and to walk around that way. It is funny to watch. I do not know what that all means. Maybe she will walk soon, or skip crawling, or maybe not. Who knows...in any case we are moving her up to the crawling room in the nursery. That is a BIG graduation.

Annelise LOVES Hadleigh and just spends her days watching her. Hadleigh can do almost anything to Annelise and she will not get upset, which is good so far. She loves putting anything in her mouth, pulling hair and shirts, and giving huge wet kisses. She is still sleeping relatively well...not as well as I would like, but probably decent by others standards...the thing is there is always someone who does worse and always someone who does better.

This month has been busy for her, she added the great state of Cali and South Carolina to her list of places she has been, and also added a bike and a boat to things she has ridden. She met some important peeps like Uncle Chris and Aunt Rubie. Overall she has really mellowed out and is such a joy to be around these days. I love my little elf!