I know, it's been a long time...

I know it's been a long time since I've updated my blog... sorry. There hasn't been too much going on and I still can't get my camera to download pictures.

We have had some fun family nights with the Batka's. A few weeks ago we got together for our 2nd annual Christmas cookie baking with the kids. This year we had Jay & Brad here with us. We had a great time. The kids always start out being really helpful but then lose interest after a while. I guess maybe next time we should do so many cookies! It took us a while to figure out the right combination of how thick the dough should be and baking times. The first couple of batches were well done blobs... they still tasted good.

Since the first family night was a success (kids fell asleep instantly!), we got together two weeks later and did homemade pizza night. Again, some trouble with baking times but in the end they tasted great. If you ask Jay & Brad they will tell you they are going to start a franchise of their special pizza they made. They both said it was even good cold the next day.

Christmas was a lot of fun this year. Our Christmas tree started out completely decorated but by the end of the first week it was up all of the ornaments ended up on the top half of the tree. Mr. P enjoyed taking all of the bulbs off and throwing them around the room! Hannah was really into opening presents and just more interested all around. We put out cookies Christmas Eve for Santa and she wanted to open all of the presents. Of course, she ripped through them so quickly that I still don't think she knows what she received. She kept saying "thank you, this is just what I wanted... can I have another present?". The only two things that she asked Santa for were a hat & a kite. She did get both but she had to point out that she asked Santa for a purple kite and he brought her one with a ladybug on it. Nothing gets by that kid.

Parker didn't want much to do with opening gifts this year. I felt guilty that he didn't have as many gifts as Hannah did to open but he didn't even care.

Our downstairs living room looks like a toy store exploded in there. Our kids are so blessed (by that I mean spoiled!) by grandparents, great grandparents & aunts. We had a wonderful holiday with our families. We are so lucky to have such amazing people in our lives.

Oh yeah, my good friend Cheri is in town this week so she & her little boy Jackson came over tonight along with Michelle & the Batka kids and we had a fun play night. We ordered pizza and let the kids run around and destroy the house for a while. I love watching the kids run around and be carefree. I don't care how messy the house gets, they have such a good time. Michelle, Cheri & I were able to sit and catch up. Thanks for coming over girls, I had fun.. hope you did too!

I hope every one had a Merry Christmas! I can't believe another year has gone by. Have a safe New Year.

Random stuff

I was able to get my camera to download some pics from the apple orchard and from Hannah baking. She has been so into baking lately! We have made cupcakes & cookies galore! Needless to say, I have had to go to the gym a lot to work off all of the extra goodies that are around my house. She loves it though and I can't tell her no! Enjoy the pics!

I love this picture (even though Hannah refused to take off her sunglasses!).

Parker & Jay on the Apple Express

Hannah & I on the Apple Express

Hannah and I making cupcakes.

It's been a while

Not much has been happening in our lives lately, just normal every day stuff.

Parker is walking like a champ now. His little legs look too short to support his body, I can't help but laugh at him. He and Hannah are interacting and playing together all the time now. I love watching them play.

Hannah is still doing well in dance. She is participating the whole time now! Last week they started practicing for the dance they will do for us the last day of class. Her teacher suggested that the parents not watch so it's a surprise. We have had issues with her being sassy and time outs just don't work anymore. Our new punishment has been to take her tv out of her room. Last night was not fun and she ended up being put to bed at 7:30. I can only imagine what her teen years are going to be like! I tell my parents this stuff and they just laugh at me. But on a positive note, potty training is going great. She still only wants to pee on the potty but now she says she's too big to use the potty seat and just wants to sit on the toilet. That works for me!

We went to Lewis' Farm Market on Saturday. Jay checked their website and found out they were doing a big thing with a bunch of activities for the kids from noon until 4 that day. Luckily I was able to get out of work early so we headed up there around 1. That place was huge and so busy! They have a petting area with goats, bunnies, llamas etc... Hannah wanted to feed them but she didn't want to let them eat out of her hand, she wanted to throw it at them! A $10 wristband allowed Hannah to do any activity until 4 and she did all of it. They have a pillow bounce (basically a big trampoline). I did take Parker out on that, he enjoyed it. They have the "Apple Express" that takes you on a ride through the apple orchard. I believe the property is about 700 acres. We were able to pick our own pumpkins too. We got 2 very large pumpkins for $7!! We took a ton of pictures and I have tried at least 10 times to download them and it keeps freezing up on me. Hopefully I will get it figured out soon. It was a really great day though. The weather was perfect and we all had fun. At one point I told Jay that I was so happy I could have cried! I love doing stuff like that with my family.

Well, we have a busy Monday to get ready for so I'm off!

Big day

Yesterday was a great day for us. Parker is finally starting to take steps on his own!! Hannah and I had a blast making him walk back and forth between us. He is probably taking about 7-10 steps on his own before he gets too excited and falls down. We made him do it all night long, his little legs are probably sore today. I have been waiting for him to start walking for quite some time. Everyone says it means more work but I don't think it does. I think it makes things easier. I won't have to carry him all over and it will make playing outside much easier. I love it!

The other big thing yesterday was Hannah actually participated in dance!!! I was really proud of her. At first she was shy but the teacher took her hand and got her out there and she was fine for the rest of the class. It was so cute to watch. The girls had a lot of energy though, they didn't want to listen to the teacher much... they wanted to run around most of the time. It was fun to watch though.

Every day I know more and more that I made the right decision by staying home. I am very happy and enjoying every second with my kids. Even when they are being naughty and testing my patience I wouldn't change a thing!

They grow up too fast!

Sorry this is my third post tonight! I promise it's my last. I'm digging this picture thing. I just had to put some pics of the new "big kid" things for my kids.

First up, Hannah...

This is her dance outfit. She looks so darn cute.

These are the stars she gets to put on the back of the bathroom door when she goes potty. She has a lot more now, I think she's up to 17.

I tried to get a picture of her in her big girl panties but of course she ran away from me.

Now for Mr. P. He got a big boy hair cut. This is probably his 5th hair cut but this is for sure the shortest it's been. He looks even more like his dad now. This is before (with pop tart all over his face!).

And this is after...He looks like a big boy!

It's scary how fast they grow up. It seems like we just brought Hannah home from the hospital. We sure are lucky to have two beautiful, healthy, happy kids. I really promise I'm done for the night now!

Silly stuff

Tonight was a pretty silly night in our house. We went for a walk to the park so the kids could run off some energy. Too bad we didn't have the camera for that, Jay and I both went down the twisty slide because Hannah wanted us too. That would have been a great pic to see Jay going down that slide. The things you do for your kids. We took a ton of really great pictures of the kids tonight. Here are a few:

Parker being cute, I love that smile.

Hannah doing the "airplane". She doesn't like us to take her picture so it's nice to have one with a real smile.

Hannah and I being silly. I love these moments that we get to have together now. I am really taking to this new role. I was talking to my aunt tonight and I said that I finally feel like a mom. I love the fact that I do everything for my kids now. I was so afraid that I wouldn't be good at this but I feel really good about myself and my family right now.

Super Parker

I'm going to give the whole picture posting thing a try. My mom bought Parker Superman pj's for his birthday and we tried them on him tonight. He was a little cranky being that it was close to bedtime but we got some pretty cute pics of him.

He's a super hero with a fake hot dog in his hand!

Too cute! The cape detaches for when he goes to bed. Thanks Grammy Patti, we love it!

Update on the potty training

It is with much pride that I can update Hannah is still going on the potty!!! I think she's finally got it. Almost... she hasn't had any accidents with the pee but she still won't go #2. We put a diaper on her last night in the hopes she would go and thankfully she did. It had been almost 2 days! Poor peanut had such a belly ache. Anyway, I couldn't be more proud of my big girl. She gets to put star stickers on the back of the bathroom door and she gets a couple of skittles every time she goes. I think she up to 10 stickers on the door now. I didn't think this was ever going to happen. Yay Hannah!! I'm so proud of you!!

Potty Training

That's right, I'm giving potty training another try with Hannah. Yesterday she wore her big girl panties all day and she actually peed in the toilet once!! Yay Hannah! She only wore a diaper when she went down for a nap. Jay said she had an accident last night when they got home from his parents. I think that's because he left her alone in the bathroom while he ran out to his car for a second. She's trying though and that's all I can ask. Yesterday was better than any other day in all of our attempts. I'm very proud of her and I hope this is the end of diapers... for one child at least! Maybe I should start working on Mr. P now since it's taken Hannah so long?!?

Dance? Maybe next time.

Well, all of my plans for yesterday were pretty much a bust. I called the gym to get some info about the toddler class and found out that class is Monday and Wednesday, not Tuesday and Thursday like I thought. We'll give that a try next week. We did go to the gym though and the kids played while I worked out. It's nice being at the gym in the morning. There were only about 5 people in the whole place.

Dance didn't go so well. Hannah was so shy, she didn't want much to do with the whole thing. That's okay, we'll keep trying. Maybe she'll warm up eventually. Hannah's friend Claire was just as shy. Claire did get out there toward the end and she was so cute! Of course, when we got home last night Hannah was doing all of the things they did in the class. Next week I think I'll try sitting in the hall where she can't see me. Who knows!

I did forget in my last post to fill every one in on my last day at Northland. It was a very emotional day from start to finish. I am very blessed to have worked with such wonderful people. The waterworks started as soon as I dropped the kids off to Julie. We both cried. We've been very lucky to have Julie there to take such great care of our kids. I then cried all the way to work and for about the first 30 minutes I was there. I could smell flowers before I even got to my desk. Cathy had a beautiful bouquet of white lillies for me. She also got me some really great books.. creative play, silly snacks & a devotional book. Oh and Hannah's favorite thing, silly straws... one pink, one blue. I don't know how Cathy does this but she always finds the most appropriate cards to give. Thanks Cathy!! That card was the best. Jenny got me the same craft book that Cathy did. Great minds think alike?! We got a laugh about that. I was able to dry up the tears to make it through the rest of the morning and through our potluck. When we were finished eating they gave me more great gifts. They gave me a gift certificate for Lyn Phillips (where I get my hair done), a gift card for Bed, Bath & Beyond, an engraved beer mug (either they really know me or they really know my kids!) and a basket full of yummy smelling candles and that kind of stuff. Ed, Kelli, Cathy, Jenny, Sylvia, Michelle, Gail, Bev, Deb & Warren really made my last day very special. Don't worry guys, you haven't seen the last of me. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart for every thing.

So the last "good bye" we had to say was to Julie. Jay and I stopped and picked up some flowers for her. Of course, we cried again when we picked the kids up. I don't think I can ever express how much it has meant to have Julie watch our kids. I have known Julie since the 3rd grade. I know how wonderful she is with her own kids and she loves our kids like they were her own. Julie, thank you for being there for most of my kids "firsts". I wouldn't have it any other way. Julie made us a dvd of pictures of the kids at her house. She put it to music (Rascall Flatts "My Wish" and another song called "Remember Me"). It was beautiful and again I cried! Jay couldn't watch it, he made it about 1/4 of the way through and had to get up and walk away. I called her to thank her again and what did we do?! Cried!!

My goodness, I've rambled on a lot in this post. I promise, they won't be like this anymore.

Day one...

Well, my first day without a "real" job is over. It was quite nice actually. Mr. P slept until 8:45 so Hannah and I layed in bed and she watched cartoons while I tried to sleep a little longer. I didn't have Addyson so we went to the Dee Lite for lunch and then both kids took a 2 1/2 hour nap. I used some of that time to get some cleaning done and then I snuck a little nap in as well.

Yesterday I was able to clean, do laundry AND make dinner. I never do all three in the same day. After dinner, Hannah and I went grocery shopping while the boys stayed home. I really think I can get used to this new life. It was a great day, but maybe that's because the kids were so good all day, we know that's not going to happen every day! Today we are off to the gym so Hannah can do a toddler class. I hope she enjoys that. They really like to play in the day care at the gym so that will be a fun little outlet for us. Addyson is coming over at 1 and then Hannah has dance today. Hopefully I can figure out how to put pictures on here tonight. I hope she loves it.


Mr. P is done with breakfast and he's yelling at me. Til next time!

The end is near...

I only have one more week of work at Northland. I am sitting here trying to clean up my desk and get things ready for the new person that is staring on Monday. As I sit in this chair that I have planted myself in for nearly 10 years now, a lot of things are running through my mind. When I first started here (the VERY first time) I was only 18 years old!! I worked here for about 6 months through Manpower and was not hired in. About 3 years later I received a phone call from Kelli (my boss) asking me if I would be interested in coming back to work. This really is my first "real" job. I think back to what my life was like back then. I was completely irresponsible and really only cared about myself. For whatever reason the people that work here never leave! We have very little turn over in our office which is very rare in most jobs. So the people that I work with have watched me grow up. If it weren't for this place, I would not have met Jay! My co-workers have been with me through all of my major milestones. They were at my wedding, when I bought my first house and now they watch me tackle motherhood! Kelli, Jenny & Cathy probably know more about me than my family or closest friends. I am going to miss them so very much. I hope that they will miss me too. I hope that they will miss all of my crazy stories about my kids, my venting about Jay and all of the other frustrations in my life. I hope they know that I will miss hearing their stories as well. So here I sit at my desk with tears streaming down my face, completely dreading how hard next week is going to be for me! Sorry for the rambling. I know many of my thoughts are scattered. I guess that's really how I am feeling right now.

Oh my, I can't believe I'm doing this!

Okay Cari and all of my other wonderful friends, I'm jumping on the bandwagon as well! As I get ready to start my new adventure of being a stay at home mom, I thought this would be a fun way to keep some contact with the outside world. Since I'm going to be home with my kids every day I will be able to capture moments that I have never been able to! I am both excited and very nervous about the changes in our lives. This will be my new way to vent since I'm not going to have my girls at Northland to share these stories with.