My gosh, where does the time go, I can't believe it has been so long since I blogged. Our days seem to fill up so quickly and usually by the time I think about it, sheer exhaustion has set in. Here is a brief update.

Christmas (yeah it's been that long since I wrote) was wonderful. The girls had a great time and we truly enjoyed spending time with family and friends. The girls cousin, Ben, was in town - it was so fun to see all three of them together!



The girls were really good this year, so St. Nick made a specail trip to our house. St. Nicked stuffed the stockings full, Bella thought it was pretty great to get lots of treasures...Liv could have cared less!



The weekend we wanted to get the tree this year was cold, windy and of course muddy (I guess pretty typical of the midwest in December) so Adam and I headed to Eckert's and found the perfect tree.



And it's not Christmas without telling Santa exactly what you want. Bella was not so sure of the jolly old guy, but Liv LOVED pulling his long white beard.



New Years just isn't quite the same now as it was pre-kids. We rang in the new year (a tiny exaggeration - we did our toast I think at 9 pm) at our friend's Kim & Casey's house. They have a little guy named Brennan that Bella loves!! They toasted each other with sparkling grape juice and had good times running around playing!

Soon after the new year, Adam headed to Australia for TWO weeks...it about killed me having him gone that long. My mom truly is my savior, I am pretty sure I would have not made it without her:) Thanks Mom!!!

Valentine's Day was celebrated at our friend's Kate and Chris, who have two little guys. Bella loves her boy friends!! It is so funny to see how different boys and girls are even at such a young age!! It was a LOVE filled night. Kate made them chicken in the shape of a heart, mac n cheese out of a hear dish, they iced heart cookies and ate heart shaped jello. They all play so good together, it is wonderful to watch them grow up and learn new things together. Olivia too has a friend, his name is Grady, he is about 4 months younger than her and A-dorable!



Olivia is turning NINE months old in just a few days. My little baby is getting to be so BIG!! She doesn't crawl yet, just rocks on all fours, but she does walk around everything. Toys, furniture, you name it...as long as she can hold onto it, she can walk around it! Yesterday we got her pictures taken. If you need a photographer, Five Petals Photography is AWESOME!! Click on the link below for a sneak peak at my chubba baby:)

http://five-petals.com/

Santa visits Bella via the Web

http://portablenorthpole.tv/watch/b77242fca72bf343f0b0bf7da4266935
Copy and paste the above link into your browser!

Sick - Sick - Sick

All the girls in our house are sick! YUCK!! I took Bella and Olivia to see Dr. Mel today. Bella has a sinus infection and an ear infection and Olivia has a sinus infection. All of this equals a crabby house of girls! To top it all off, Adam is traveling this week! This time of year is no fun for anyone! We did all get antibiotics and I am praying we are on the road to a speedy recovery!!

On a lighter note, we had a terrific weekend together as a family and I consider the first Thanksgiving at our house a success. Lots of food and great company! We truly have oh so very much to be thankful for. I really think every day how lucky we are to have a beautiful and usually healthy family, wonderful friends and all the other countless blessings in our life...so Happy (late) Thanksgiving to everyone! We love you all!

Where or Where Does the Time Go???

I really feel like my life is always in Fast Forward Mode, never quite eneough hours in the day to completely accomplish all of my to do's...this always seems to get put on the back burner. Well alot has happened since I last blogged, so here is a recap:)

Bella celebrated her 2nd Birthday! WOW...two years old already (like I said earlier, our life is on Fast Forward)! Bella and Brody celebrated their 2nd Birthday at World Class Gym, it was super fun. Bella just loved it. She was having sooo much fun, she only stopped to open 3 gifts (and she had about 20 more that she left untouched). She was jumping, dancing and have a good ole time:) She did go to the doctor for her 2 year check up and here is how she is measuring up: 28.2 lbs (75%) 35.5 in (95%) and head size 19.75 (97% - I am guessing that is because she is so smart). Seriously though, she truly amazes me every day. She really is such a big girl. We are nearly potty trained, minus nap time and night time and she is talking so much - sentences even (occassionally the words get a little mixed up, but she can certainly get her point across).

Here are her 2 year pictures...

and Miss Olivia Reese could not be a happier, more smiley baby...I just can't get eneough of her. It is so hard to believe that she will be 6 months old on 12.06.09...AHHH!!! Where did my baby go??? I do understand why people have lots of kids, who can resist babies??? Lots and lots going on with her too. She now has two teeth (the bottom two) and we are working on eating vegetables, with LOTS of resistance. She really isn't a fan of baby food. So far we have tried peas, green beans and baby cereal and she could really leave them all. She makes faces that are so funny when you force it in her mouth. What can I say...she knows what she wants! Liv did not go to the doctor this month, so my unofficial at home weight is 17.8 lbs (pretty sure she is topping the charts too, especially in the weight category). AND the most exciting news is that she has slept through the night TWO times so far, I know 2 times doesn't seem like a big deal, but after almost 6 months, those uninterrupted nights of sleep have truly been a blessing from God! So if everyone would keep their fingers crossed that this trend continues, I would be forever grateful!!!

As for us, Adam continues to be gone A LOT, way more than I care for and I am only working 4 days a week, being off Friday, Saturday and Sunday sure is super fun with the girls. Sorry this post is so incredibly long, I will try to do more frequent shorter posts. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!

Pumpkin Carving

Last night we got the pumpkins out to carve - Adam really really gets into this - we were hoping Bella would enjoy it more this year...absolutely NO interest!!! She wouldn't even feel the goo inside of the pumpkins, "ucky" she said. So the night was really the girls and I playing while Adam carved - I must say the pumpkin did turn out very cute!!



(sorry if you are reading this and wonder why my header is all messed up? i am trying to be crafty, but for some reason i just can't get the size to work)

Zing Zang Zoom! Circus

On Sunday, Adam and I took Bella to the Zing Zang Zoom Circus

at the Scott Trade Center for part of her birthday present. It was AWESOME!! I am pretty sure that I liked it more than Bella - she did enjoy it though:) Adam got us super seats. We were in the first row - right on the floor! For part of the show we actually got to sit on the floor - clowns came and sat by us - it was super fun! Bella was really hoping to see Monkey's, unfortunately there weren't any monkies but we did see zebras, elephants, tigers, birds, dogs and lots and lots of CLOWNS! A very very fun day!

Happy 4 Month Birthday Liv Liv!

Happy 4 Month Birthday Liv Liv! WOW!!!

These four months have flown by!! I feel like Olivia has been with us forever. She is the happiest, smiliest little girl - we just can't get eneough of her!! She is a little snuggle bunny and a bit of a stinker when it comes to sleep. She does sleep best when she is cuddled up next to me - in our bed of course:) Sometimes we are lucky eneough to get her to sleep in her crib, I must say that I do enjoy the snuggle time though. Olivia is a chunka chunka just like Belle was at this age. She weighs 16 lbs 8 oz with about 4 rolls per leg...it is WAY too cute! pictures to come!!!!!