Resolutions

I am not big on making New Year's Resolutions...I like to think I make changes in my life throughout the year if I need to. Or maybe it's just because I am no good at keeping them :) There are a few things I can think of right now that I'd like to do, so I figured I'd loosely call them resolutions. Drum roll please...

Take a photo each day for a year (Project 365): Does not have to be of anything super important or special...just a fun, quick way to document something from the day, and hopefully help me learn to use my camera better too. I'll blog my pictures from the week each Saturday.

Make a new dinner at least once a week: I often feel like I'm in a cooking rut, making the same few things over and over again. Since joining Pinterest I have collected a lot of recipes that I want to try, so this will be a great way to get through them! Regardless of how the meal turns out, I'll try to blog about this along with my daily photos each Saturday.

Get in shape to run a 5K: Most of my you know that I was a distance runner in high school. I have fallen WAY out of shape since having kids (and before that, to be honest) and I'd like to get back in to it. I am not brave enough to run in the winter when it super cold, but come April or so, I am hitting the pavement.

Now, don't any of you dare to ask how I am doing with these goals...I reserve the right to chicken out on them and not have to report to anyone ;)

Sesame Place

I totally forgot to post these pictures! On the same day that we had our early Christmas morning at home, Brad took Natalie to Sesame Place. It was a coooooold day, but they went and had fun for several hours...went on almost all the rides, saw several shows, and even caught the parade! When they got home Natalie said her feet felt "frizzy," (that feeling when they are all tingly from being asleep or cold), but she had a great time anyway.

Six Months Old

This is the best I managed to get on her half birthday, Christmas Eve. Oops!

One Month Old
Two Months Old
Three Months Old
Four Months Old
Five Months Old

Santa!

Running to check out the goods.
Natalie's pile.
Julia's mini-pile.
He ate cookies! We left a Christmas tree and a snowflake and all that was left was part of the snowflake!
Fancy shoes. I guess Natalie had never heard the term "heels" before...she said Santa brought her fancy shoes with "stands."
And the coveted Minnie Mouse cup.
Santa's big gift this year was a scooter.
It is always appropriate to scoot in your heels, fairy wings, and tiara. Right?
Oh yeah...Julia got stuff too.
Opening a present from Mommy and Daddy. She also apparently needed a different crown for this task.

Ballet slippers! Even though Natalie does not take a dance class, she loves doing ballet around the house, so we knew she'd love this gift.

Notice the blue toes. That polish came in her stocking.

Point those toes!
My parents sent Natalie a baby cradle. She immediately tucked her baby in for a nap. She loves it!
I tried a new recipe for our "Christmas" morning. Homemade orange rolls. If you like the Pillsbury orange rolls from a can, you must try these! Or maybe you shouldn't, because they are WAY better than the canned ones and you'll never want to go back! They were a lot of work, but worth it.

Rolled Over!

Julia finally rolled from her back to tummy. I was beginning to think she wouldn't roll over until she was 5 years old. She just wasn't all that interested. She worked SO hard on it yesterday for nearly 2 hours straight, and ended up throwing a fit of frustration. But she finally did it this afternoon! So here we are in the fun phase where she can roll from back-to-tummy but not tummy-to-back. Let's hope she figures that out soon, or learns to enjoy sleeping on her belly. Otherwise I have some restless nights ahead of me!

Ho Ho Ho

We took Natalie and Julia to sit on Santa's lap yesterday afternoon. Natalie was a little confused because we walked past Santa at a mall last week, and then we visited Santa at a different mall yesterday. That Santa sure is tricky! ;) Santa agreed that he could come to our house this weekend since we will not be home on Christmas Eve. He is so accommodating! Santa also might be in a little trouble because Natalie added something to her list that she had not mentioned before. She has not learned that last minute requests are typically frowned upon.

Natalie was really excited to sit on his lap, and did a good job of telling him what she wanted (a Minnie Mouse cup, a Daisy Duck cup, a Dora movie, a robe, and frog sunglasses -- she got these in her stocking a couple years ago but they have since broken), but she was still visibly nervous or embarrassed or something. Julia, on the other hand, was all smiles the whole time!

Santa 2008 here and here
Santa 2009 here and here
Santa 2010 here

Christmas Tree

Can you believe I put up the Christmas tree all by myself?! There was some heavy lifting involved, but I managed ;)

We have SO many Christmas ornaments, many of which have special meaning behind them. I had to pick a few favorites (plus a few that made the cut because of their smallish size) and go with it. So this is our tree for this year...with flying to Houston in 10 days and not having a fake tree in the basement, it didn't seem worth the effort to buy a real one.

Merry (mini) Christmas!

Big Girl

Just posting some pictures I took of Julia the other day since the last few blogs posts were all about big sister. She is getting so big so fast! She's pretty good at sitting up on her own, but still folds forward or tips over after a few minutes.

I put two of the legs on the activity table so it leans diagonally and she can sit up to play with it.
She LOVES the exersaucer and will play happily in it for 15-20 minutes.
This is how she sucks her fingers -- left hand, palm out. Usually her index and middle fingers, but sometimes her middle and ring fingers. Guess we better start saving for braces now! ;)

Tis The Season

Our house is only minimally decked...for now we just have the wreath on the front door and the mantle decorated. But it sure is fun to have a fourth stocking hanging up this year!


Natalie and I made gingerbread cookies this afternoon. And we can all agree that the best way to make cookies is in your pajamas and a sparkly tutu, right?






Take a look at this beauty. I think I am experiencing a sugar rush just looking at it...she called it her "mountain cookie."

A Tribute to Kitty

As most of you know, Natalie has had a very strong attachment to her lovey, very creatively known as "Kitty," since she was about 9 months old. Slept with her every night, and used to take her almost everywhere she went (we nipped that in the bud when she moved from her crib to twin bed right before she turned 3). Natalie is allowed to sleep with two animals at night, and it was always Kitty and one other of her choosing. Well, Kitty has now become just one of the stuffed animals. She still sleeps with two animals, but sometimes Kitty is one of them, and sometimes not. I have to admit, when this all went down last weekend, I was a complete mess. Her attachment to Kitty was truly the last little bit of babyhood left, and so I had a hard time with her letting go (and so easily, at that). I know it is good for her to grow up and learn to be OK without Kitty...but it made this mommy sad!

So in honor of Kitty (which she very first pronounced as "Kee"), here are some pictures of Natalie and Kitty throughout the years. I will warn you: there are a lot of pictures. A LOT. I couldn't decide which ones to put up and which ones to leave out, so I'm just not leaving any out! I think it's a fun trip down memory lane though :)

June 2008: First ever picture with Kitty!

November 2008: This was the first time I ever found her snuggling with Kitty during a nap. My heart melted!

November 2008

November 2008: Thanksgiving with Kitty

December 2008

January 2009

January 2009

February 2009: It just wouldn't be a family photo session without Kitty in one of the pictures!

April 2009: Easter with Kitty

September 2009: Watching Brad mow the grass soon after we moved to New Jersey.

September 2009: This is classic Natalie. Snuggling with Kitty while sucking her left thumb. As an aside, the point of one of Kitty's ears is more worn than other parts of Kitty (and that is saying a lot since all of Kitty is pretty darn ratty at this point!). Natalie liked to flick Kitty with her fingers right there. She would say, "this is my favorite part of Kitty." So silly!

September 2009: See her flicking Kitty's ear?

October 2009: Kitty momentarily tossed aside to throw the frisbee.

October 2009

October 2009

October 2009

October 2009: With Minnie and Emma.

February 2010: Checking out the goods from Santa (yes, our "Christmas morning" was that belated. Oops! Good thing she was still too young to notice.)

February 2010

June 2010: Kitty went with Natalie to her first trip to a movie theater.

October 2010

December 2010: Coming downstairs for our Christmas morning.

February 2011: Moving in to the big girl bed with Kitty.

February 2011: First night sleeping in the big girl bed.

Thanks for everything, Kitty! You'll always have a special place in our hearts!