Christmas 2008

We had a lovely Christmas eve and day spent at our house. We opened one present Christmas Eve, which was pajamas for the whole family. We changed into our new pajamas, cuddled together, and Randy read the Night Before Christmas. Lily put out a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. The next morning, as we all walked down the stairs, she gasped as she looked at the Christmas tree and the wonderful gifts Santa brought us. We had a nice morning opening our gifts, playing with the new toys and games, and enjoying a nice breakfast. We later remembered to check the stockings and found more goodies to play with. It truly was a peaceful and enjoyable day.

The day after Christmas we travelled to visit both of our families. We had 2 more celebrations and the kids received more gifts then they knew what to do with. Unfortunately we all got hit with the stomach bug and the kids had the worst of it. Lily was sick every 3 days for over a week and Harrison's projectile vomiting only occurred once but he was still under the weather for a few more days.

We are now healthy (fingers crossed) and back to daycare and work. We had been home together as a family for 2 weeks and it was wonderful. It was hard at times to work with kids around but Randy and I tried to tag team when we could. It was nice to spend so much time with the kids and now that they are back in daycare it's been a little rough being away from them during the day. It definitely makes 4:30PM much more exciting when I leave to pick them up.

Photos from Christmas 2008...

Santa brought Lily a Show White dress and shoes (which she loved!)



















Harrison got a remote control car which he loved and feared at the same time
















I love the look on Harrison's face when he noticed Santa's cookies were gone...















It didn't take long for him to eat up the few crumbs Santa left behind.















Lily loves to take photos like her momma















Harrison had to make sure his toys were durable



















Lily helping Harrison unwrap his presents

















Playing with all the new toys















The family photo 2008

Happy Holidays from our house to yours

Randy did buy a new camera and gave it to me early.
He's a great man...I'm very grateful for my wonderful husband and beautiful kids. I've taken over a hundred pictures and a handful of video (much bigger memory in my new camera!!!) but it's Christmas eve and time to spend with family...but here is a little present for my readers...

If my darling husband is really buying my Christmas present today...
If my darling husband is buying me a pretty new camera...
If my darling husband will give my present to me early...

I'll actually blog with pictures!

He's pulling in the driveway right now...

Photo time

Lily loves to play with play dough. Harrison does too but it normally ends up in his mouth. We decided to make our own edible (1/2 cup salt=yuck!) Kool-aid play dough. Lily enjoyed her clown nose.
















This is why we made edible play dough. Harrison caught in the act.















Happy Birthday to Randy. Lily helping to blow out ALL those the candles.
















This was too funny to pass up a photo op. Sort of funny I'm not participating in this vaccum fun.

Halloween 2008

Harrison the happy(?) giraffe




















Lily, AKA Snow White, is always happy in costume.
















Any candy in here?
















Halloween 2008















The giraffe is escaping...get him!















Trick o' treating at Ted's house



















I'll take some of that.




















Too much candy makes the bag too heavy




















Saying Thank You to the nice lady















Harrison's back seat view



















What makes a little girl happier? Dresses and candy!



















Now he's Harrison the happy giraffe




















Poppa and his Princess
















Can't forget about the dogs, although they would have preferred to be forgotten on Halloween.

VOTE!!!!

Vote!!!!!!!!!!! Go Vote!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Vote! Vote!! Vote!!!

Another reason to love Hy-Vee??? Early voting last weekend while buying eggs. No line. Sweet!

My vote goes to Barack Obama. Go Obama!

Whoever you vote for just vote!

Happy Halloween

Sneak peek at our Halloween costumes. Last night was our daycare party. We'll get full use out of our costumes this year.

Myself as a gypsy and Harrison as a wizard




















Harrison in his full wizard gear




















Randy stole Harrison's hat (not really since Harrison kept throwing it off)




















Cutest wizard ever
















Happiest Snow White ever




















Snow White doesn't mind posing for a few pics


















Princess Lily playing with her new doll house

Harrison's Halloween costume ordeal

Daycare asked last week if Harrison was going to be a cat for Halloween. I laughed and said no. Apparently Lily told her he is going to be a cat.

Yesterday while I was sewing his wizard costume Lily asked what I was doing. I told her I was making Harrison's costume. She asked if I was making a cat costume and I told her no. She got a little upset and again told me Harrison was going to be a cat.

Not that there is anything wrong with Harrison dressing as a cat it just wasn't a plan at all. Not sure where that all came from!

Tag...I'm it.

Dawn and Ann tagged me so here it is...

The rules are below…
Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person that tagged you know when you’ve answered the questions on your blog.

10 years ago I was:
1. A junior at the University of Iowa
2. On my 4th year of dating Randy
3. Working at Orange Julius
4. Asked to be a God mother to my niece, Sydney
5. Hanging out with my nursing buddies, Darci, Vikki, Tracy, Ann and Sara

5 things on today’s to do list:
1. Get a IA driver's license
2. Mail baby gifts
3. Put dinner in the crock pot
4. Watch presidential debate!!!
5. Snuggle my kids and hubby

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Goldfish
2. Fountain pop
3. Dakota Style sunflower seeds
4. Carmel apples (had one at Oktoberfest.yum)
5. Chex cereal

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Buy a hybrid vehicle
2. Pay off all our student loans and house
3. Take care of my family
4. Buy a vacation home and share with family and friends
5. Travel with the kids (and take along family to help "nanny" :)

5 places I have lived:
1. J-town
2. Mayflower dorm (I think I stayed there one night:)
3. 1st apartment with Jody and her crazy ex-boyfriend
4. 5 apartments/townhomes/houses with Randy
5. As of 2 months ago we moved into our new home

5 jobs I have had:
1. Waitress at a gazillion different places
2. Babysitter
3. Receptionist at a salon
4. NICU nurse
5. CPR instructor

Passing the torch onto...Staci, Heather, Pamela, Josephine, and Renee

Just funny

Randy??? Lily???? Harrison???

Cute kids

Beautiful fall day

Enjoying the gorgeous fall day and playing outside. Lily loves to push her stroller around and Harrison has taken a liking to the car.
















Playing together
















It didn't take long for Harrison to figure another way out of the car
















Sitting quietly and enjoying the scenary




















Picture of our new house. The kids have a lot of front yard to play in. :)

Oktoberfest, Amana Colonies

Last weekend we went to the Amana Colonies for Oktoberfest. Our friends, Ted and Kristie, came along too. It was a beautiful fall day and we had a lot of fun. We arrived late for the parade but the final few floats emptied their candy bags right in front of Lily. She scooped up as much as her little arms would hold and had a huge smile on her face. We walked through town, Lily and I did some crafts, played at the petting zoo, and had a great time.


Randy and I couldn't resist this photo















Lily decorating a pumpkin















Family picture opportunity















Lily and Harrison having fun at Oktoberfest

Daycare update

After moving we found an inhome daycare we thought would be great...wrong. It was too big (husband and wife were both licensed) and our kids didn't feel comfortable and showed signs over the 10 days we were there. We switched daycares and now go to Ms. L's house and it's great. It's very similar to our Colorado daycare and the kids love it there. They are excited about going and it feels so much better for all of us.

Ms. L had some pre-planned vacation days so we found a college student to come to the house for the morning hours. It worked out well and I was able to work during the morning, put them down for their naps and work a little more, then got to spend more time with them after naps. If I could have that schedule every day it would be awesome. We played and had some extra quality time together. Here is evidence we all had fun...

Mobile baby

About 10 days ago, Harrison started to walk more and more each day...


Last weekend he took off and never looked back...