Looking Back...

Aric went from this:

To this:

To this:

I still look at him some days and can hardly believe how quickly he is growing.  I wish I could slow down time and keep Aric small (at least I do until he starts throwing things or having a tantrum). 

Kellyn went from this:

To this:

To this:

She's our little miracle, the one we had to entrust to God.

It's hard to believe how much our lives have changed in the past year. We went from celebrating the holidays with one child to celebrating as a family of four. Last year at this time we had no inkling of how quickly our lives have changed. How glad we are that God is in control and knows what is best for us. We look forward to what He has in store for us in the New Year.

Christmas Photo Take Two

It wasn't in front of the tree, but at least they're both looking at the camera.

Merry Christmas from Our Family to Yours

What better way to start Christmas than with a photo in front of the tree?

Too bad no one wanted to cooperate.  Sadly, this is the best photo of the bunch.  Aric was also quite mad when we took away the cup to open presents.  (And yes, we gave him a potty chair for Christmas and I'm a horrible mother because I didn't wrap their presents.)

Aric's year was commemorated with Rocket from Little Einsteins.

"Pat, pat, pat, pat... Now raise your hands as high as you can and say 'Blast-off'."  He loves that show and will "Blast-off" when we're in the car, going down the slide, etc.

Kellyn's year was easy to commemorate.

She wasn't too aware of what was happening, but she was awake through it all.

...And apparently terrorized by the happenings.

Aric wasn't overly excited about any of his gifts (he was pretty excited about Kellyn's gifts) until he opened these trucks which brought on an excited laugh.

They also brought him "Nose and Toes" to the wall when he decided to deliberately throw one at Kellyn's head.

The rest of the night we hung out and watched Aric play with his toys and Daddy put them together.

Kellyn was pretty peaceful watching everything happen around her.

While Aric tore apart the house.

We hope you have as much fun as we did!  Merry Christmas!

Thankful

For awhile now I have followed a blog of someone I don't know.  She gave birth to a sweet little girl at 26 weeks on Wednesday.  I have a coworker, pregnant with twins, who is 29 weeks and showing signs of early labor.  My Her OB put her on bedrest with the hope that she'll keep those babies in for another 2 weeks.  She's already preparing for a long road with two little ones in the NICU.  It makes me realize how close we came to walking down the same path.

This morning I am feeling thankful for God's blessing of a healthy, big, full term little girl.  While there are times her crying might be the death of me, and days I feel like turning in my mom badge, I am humbled to have been given the opportunity to raise my sweet daughter.

Dear Starbucks...

Dear Starbucks,

If you're going to ignore my last letter and not take my suggestion of adding delivery to your services, then you should at least not be completely sold out of your gingerbread syrup.  And the rumors that it's backordered and I'll probably not get another one this season are horrifying!

Sincerely,
Regan

Not Too Thrilled...

...to see Santa this year.

Daycare Contract

Ryan told me he was filling out Aric's daycare contract.  I should've known better:

Dear Starbucks...

Dear Starbucks,

Will you please deliver?  I'm sitting here half asleep dreaming of a tall gingerbread latte.  I really think one would brighten my day.  You see, it's been quite an ordeal already.

In the wee hours of this morning my daughter woke up hungry.  I dragged myself out of my nice warm bed to change her and feed her.  After being up with her for an hour trying to soothe her back to sleep, I heard a small voice down the hall say "Uh, oh".  I laid her back down and went to tend to my son.  I think his room was too cold and he woke up.  It's been snowing outside and the house is quite chilly upstairs.  I turned up his heater and brought him back to my bed to warm up.  In all I think I was up for two hours overnight tending to my children in a drafty old house.

Since waking up this morning I've dealt with a little 18 month old tornado, who almost gave me a black eye by head-butting me and who colored his face blue with a crayon.  Yes, apparently you can color your face with a crayon.

I love that wild, blue tornado, but I really do think a tall gingerbread latte would make it all better.  I would go get one myself, but it's snowed quite a bit and we do live fifteen miles out of town.  The thought of driving that far is wearing me out.

Yes, it does look like my driveway has been plowed,  (My "helpful" neighbor just came by and did plow the snow and $3000 worth of gravel onto the side of the drive.  It's going to be a long spring raking all of that gravel back into place.) but it still is fifteen miles to town.

So please, consider adding delivery to your services because it might just improve my day.

These Boots Are Made For Walkin'

It wasn't snowing this morning, though, it was very cold. In the rush to get out the door and on our way to the grocery store at a reasonable time, I made Aric wear his snow boots since I couldn't find his shoes. He loved clomping around in them. Oh, to be young again...

PS- I told you he makes that Mad Dog/Stink Eye face ALL of the time!

Smiles, Frozen Pipes and Work

We've hit the point of smiles.  I love baby smiles.  They are so random and melt my heart every time I am at the receiving end of one.  It almost makes dragging myself out of a warm bed at 3am to feed a crying child worth it. 

Speaking of cold- it is so cold overnight now that our washer pipe is freezing.  I discovered this yesterday morning when I was trying to wash a load of cloth diapers.  What a mess; thankfully contained in the washing machine.  After being unable to light our butane torch to thaw the pipe, I used resourcefulness and placed a small space heater in the entryway/dog room where I knew the pipe was frozen.  It took longer, but it eventually thawed everything out and I was able to finish washing the diapers.

And my maternity leave is rapidly coming to an end.  I have a little over a week left before I have to return to work on December 13th.  Ick!  I had a bit of a problem this week with my work over the shift I would go to on my return.  My supervisor had promised I could return to days.  I lined up daycare for Aric and then my supervisor wouldn't tell me when/if I was returning to days.  It was frustrating, especially because I still needed/need to line up care for Kellyn and I didn't want to lose my deposit for Aric's daycare slot.  I left the kids with my friend yesterday and went to work prepared to yell at them for lying to/leading me on.  My pent up aggression was deflated, though, when my supervisor's supervisor told me he was going to call me that day and let me know they changed the schedule and I was returning to dayshift starting on Dec. 13th.  He even apologized because he didn't know I was returning so soon or that Ryan is starting a new job that will require a commute.  Thankfully Aric's daycare is set up, my friend will watch Kellyn for the next month giving me a little time to find something more permanent for her until she can get into Aric's daycare, and I didn't have to yell at and threaten anyone yesterday.

Mad Dog/Stink Eye

Lately, Aric is trying out a new facial expression.  Ryan calls it the "Mad Dog" face.  I refer to it as the "Stink Eye", which was coined by the guys at the Harley Store.  (No, I don't frequent Harley Davidson stores in case you were wondering if I've turned over a new leaf.)  Whatever it's name it isn't the nicest expression either, and if you've been around Aric lately then I'm positive you have been the recipient of it.  Good thing it is easily turned into a smile once you try to engage him.

Note: Photo does not do it justice.  It is much worse in person!

Bumbo Chair

I don't really remember the age limit or weight limit on a Bumbo chair, but I'm pretty sure Aric has surpassed both:

The Polar Bear Club

I've had a couple of requests to explain the story behind the polar bear club photo in my last post.  Here goes:

Ryan's parents have a pool in their backyard.  The temperature had been up in the mid to high 60's during the day, but was pretty low overnight.  In spite of that Ryan's nieces were still jumping in the pool albeit rather briefly.  Aric saw his cousin in the pool and kept walking over to the edge of the pool.  In an attempt to discourage him from getting into the pool, I took off his shoes, socks and pants to allow him to dip his feet in the water.  Unbeknownst to me, the frigid temperature of the water was no concern to Aric.  He loved splashing and playing in the icy water and had a grand ole time.  Not to worry, though, shortly after these photos were taken he was given a warm bath to conclude his induction into the polar bear club.