Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas!

We would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! Hope y'all have a safe and happy holiday. Now, off to finish wrapping the last of the gifts. I'm thinking we could have saved lots of money if we bought Sydney a big bag of bows instead of all those toys :)

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Deer season is not for this southern girl, but Doug enjoyed himself.

After Thanksgiving, Doug ventured up to Potter County to do a little hunting with his family for the first time in 10 years. They should have come to DC and hunted pigeons instead. Why, you ask yourself? So I don't have to worry about another one flying into my head while I'm walking to the post office during lunch. Yes. A pigeon flew into my head today. Totally blindsided me. The sneaky bird. Is there any wonder why things with wings give me the heeby jeebys? Anyway, here are a few of the pictures he brought back with him…



That's Tim trying to relax under Ned and Fred. (Yes, I named the dead deer mounted on the wall. It’s somehow less creepy to see dead things hanging there helpless when they have names.) Personally, I’d need a few more of what Tim is drinking before I could sit there without jumping out of my skin. But that’s just my very domesticated, non-outdoorsy, totally-happy-in-a-shopping-mall girly opinion.



Here’s Marty eating some super yummy cheetos. Crop my head over his and you’ve got a pregnant me. My fingers were a lovely shade of orange for a couple months when the cravings got really bad!



This picture just warms my heart because who doesn’t dream of being able to pull off Daisy Dukes over long johns and a blaze orange hat? Seriously. There were many cold winter nights when I lived in NJ and couldn’t afford to turn on my heat that I compiled similar outfits to sleep in! Ahhh memories. Bitterly cold memories. Thanks Arnie :)



Awww. Tim and Ken are all tuckered out after a long day of sitting in the woods shooting at Ned and Fred’s long lost brother Jed.



ACK! Snow! I knew there was a reason I didn’t join the hubby on this trip. Well, besides the fact that I wasn’t invited. But if I was, I still would have made an excuse because this Mississippi girl does NOT fair well in the snow. Anywho. Those are the boys in all their snowy hunting glory.

When Sydney met Santa



At least I'm not the only victim to her hair pulling anymore. Hooray!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

La Isla Bonita

I have no idea what that translates to other than "I am one of Madonna's rockingly awesome songs that makes me want eat tacos and drink a pitcher of margaritas all while basking on a warm sunny beach with not a care in the world". It also segues nicely to this past weekend when we met up with some friends for dinner at the Mexico Restaurant. There were no tacos or margaritas, but instead, chimichangas and one corona with lime. There was also mayhem upon leaving with 1 infant and 2 toddlers in tow. Lucky I had my camera with me to document.

All through dinner, Gracie wanted to go play with Sydney. She finally got her chance and Sydney loved it! Ethan also loved jumping up and down on the benches.



Here's Logan silently cursing me for having a third appendage - my camera!



And here we have Adam modeling his wife's very cute Coach purse.



Good friends. Good times.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Hey hey mama said the way you move gonna make you sweat gonna make you groove

So now that you know what is currently playing on my ipod, let’s play catch up. Sydney had fun eating strawberries for breakfast.



Then there was Thanksgiving. And turkey. A fresh, uncooked turkey that needed cleaning. And me, with the best of intentions, to do said cleaning. Right up until it was sitting in my sink. Naked. All covered in dimply skin. And I choked (possibly on bile). I made Doug violate the turkey. I saw him pull the neck out. And I choked again and ran out of the kitchen. That decided things. I will never buy another turkey again, at least not one that isn’t already cooked. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen. And I have seen some gross stuff. I still have nightmares from junior high and watching Faces of Death with some friends. But alas, there was a happy ending. A lot happier than the poor skydiver who missed his target and landed in the alligator pit. Oopsy. ANYWAY. Here is our grand Thanksgiving feast for two and a quarter.



There was turkey, dressing, mac and cheese, green bean casserole, carrots, mashed potatoes, rolls, fudge, and birthday cake (more on that later). We woke Sydney up from her nap to partake in the festivities.



You mean you woke me up for this?



It didn't take Sydney long to dump the food from her plate onto her tray and begin feasting. Apparently it was worth getting her out of bed.



Daddy thought so too. You are getting the censored picture of Doug basking on the floor since he asked me nicely not to post the one of him with pants unbuttoned. I guess dinner was pretty good. Yay!



Hours later when everything settled, we had dessert in the form of birthday cake for Doug. The sprinkles were cute. The writing, not so cute. There’s a reason I don’t work in the cake writing business. See for yourself. At least it tasted good.



Here’s the birthday boy getting ready to blow out all 7 of his candles because I was nice enough not to add the other 31 that should have been there. Don’t worry sweetheart, I like my men older :) Not to mention I forgot to buy more candles the billion times I was at the grocery store over the last 2 weeks.



And now for some random cuteness. Here we have Sydney trying to eat an apple.



And dancing with her daddy.



Here we all are at our neighbor’s birthday party. It was held at the local ice rink after one of his games. Brrr!



My fur babies, Remi and TJ. PS, whoever invented the double-leash, I heart you!



Sydney prefers to dine with a view.



Remi and TJ will do just about anything so long as they can see outside.



No, your eyes do not deceive you. That is a girl riding a horse down our street. I’m not really sure what that was all about other than to drive the dogs completely NUTS!



One. Two. Three. Four. Yep, we’re up to 4 teeth now and possibly her one year molars coming in. But I’m too chicken to stick my fingers in her mouth to verify. Those things HURT!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Things that make me happy

Unlimited triple coupons at the grocery store.

Free stuff at CVS. Even if the poor kid working the cash register is wishing I would burst into flames on the way out of the door so I wouldn’t make him ring everything up separately.

Having dinner with friends.

Advance ticket sales at fandango so I don’t have to stand in line opening weekend for tickets to Twilight!

Mac and cheese. Although after making this I am going to do a few modifications, like adding a cup or two of sharp cheddar along with the white. And layering the cheese instead of just baking it on top. Though I did like the crust it made. Yum. Now I'm hungry. Stupid food blogs.

Puppy cams. Thank you Kate. As if I don’t have enough to distract me during the day. But I am completely ok with this :) And most anything else really. I’m easily amused. And I want another puppy. Like now. Or next week. I’ll even consider waiting another month. But no longer. Or maybe I will just dream of having another puppy. Because someone, I won’t name any names *coughdougcough*, has somehow decided the house limit on dogs is two. Give one, get one. And somehow my final veto power was overthrown on this decision. So I have to relish in cute pictures of puppies and puppy cams instead.

Going home for Christmas. Or rather, the day after. But still. Knowing I will be with my family in only 5 more weeks makes me giddy. And Sydney will get to see her grandma and grandpa, aunts, uncles, and cousins and they will spoil her rotten and I will get to take a MUCH NEEDED nap! Not that we are going home just so I can get some sleep. We're also going so I can put away my coat and enjoy Christmas in short sleeves. OK, maybe not for just that, but it's on the list!

A full night’s sleep. A blissful, uninterrupted 8+ hours of sleep. No fussy baby waking up at 2 in the morning. Though she is terribly sweet when I am holding her in my arms after I get her back to sleep. So sweet that I almost forget it's 2 in the freakin morning and I have to get up for work in just over an hour but I can't bring myself to put her back in her crib just yet. Just one more minute of holding her and watching her sleep, breathe, suck on her pacifier. No snoring hubby (QUITE loud in my ear). No snoring dog (also quite loud in my ear). No dog licking the comforter incessantly. Yes, Remi, the sweetest most precious shih tzu in the world (besides Jasmine and Sabastian), I am talking about you. Now come lay on my feet and get so comfy that I don’t dare move you, no matter how uncomfortable I am.

Peanut m&ms.

Enough said.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Black and white is the theme for today.

Sydney wearing her hippo ballerina pjs (and Ethan's penguin-fied leg)



Anyone know what this is?



Anyone? Anyone?


"In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of the... Anyone? Anyone?... the Great Depression, passed the... Anyone? Anyone? The tariff bill? The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act? Which, anyone? Raised or lowered?... raised tariffs, in an effort to collect more revenue for the federal government. Did it work? Anyone? Anyone know the effects? It did not work, and the United States sank deeper into the Great Depression. Today we have a similar debate over this. Anyone know what this is? Class? Anyone? Anyone? Anyone seen this before? The Laffer Curve. Anyone know what this says? It says that at this point on the revenue curve, you will get exactly the same amount of revenue as at this point. This is very controversial. Does anyone know what Vice President Bush called this in 1980? Anyone? Something-d-o-o economics. "Voodoo" economics."

Sorry. I just had to. But no, it's not VP Bush. Or Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller. Oh cool. According to imdb, Ben Stein shares a birthday with my brother-in-law. I get the pleasure of sharing one with Fred Durst, Al Roker, Robert Plant, and Isaac Hayes! Chef! Sweet. Wait. What was I talking about before I had a Ferris flashback? Oh yeah. Anyone know what this is? Anyone? OK. OK.



It's a wonderfully cute and sleeping Remi.

And the evidence I was telling you about in my last post.



Yes. I know it's not black and white. Well, not completely. Just the bags under my eyes. Oh, what I wouldn't give to take a nap right now.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Aunt Kate comes to MD

How is it that you can have an extra long weekend, yet STILL feel like you need more days off to recover from that long weekend? And there wasn't even any drinking involved! I shudder to think at the bags under my eyes if there was. They are bad enough with only infant-induced sleep deprivation (evidence below).

On Saturday, we drove all the way to Reagan to pick up Aunt Kate.



It was totally worth crossing the Wilson Bridge because look at the cute barrette Aunt Kate made for Sydney! She's so crafty :)



We took the metro into DC on Sunday and went to the Spy Museum. I wonder what she's thinking about.



My guess? She was plotting how to keep mommy up all night last night. She succeeded. Again, see evidence below.



This is the only picture we took inside the museum - no cameras allowed. Also, no strollers so we had to carry her through the entire thing. I'll know better next time to bring the Snugli. Better yet, we'll not go back until she's walking!



Someone missed naptime while we were downtown and easily fell asleep on the train ride home.



On said train ride, Aunt Kate taught me there were different settings I could use on my camera. I was drawn to the B&W.



Look who can sit by themselves now.



Sydney REALLY loves her Aunt Kate.



Can't you tell?



She's very spoiled.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Come Twink! I mean Tink...

I know you have all been on the edge of your seats waiting to see Sydney in her Halloween costume. So without further ado, meet Tinkerbell!



Trick or treat!



Believe it or not, there's candy in that there pumpkin.



Check out the stash.



Not too shabby for her first Halloween, eh?

And now for some random cuteness. We just got new windows installed in the house. Guess who likes to leave her sticky little handprints all over them?



Tonight was also military appreciation night at our local Chick-fil-A. In case y'all don't know, I love me some Chick-fil-A. I could live on a #1 with a Barq's, although they don't have Barq's at this particular store so I have to settle for Dr. Pepper. There's nary a bad thing to say about this little piece of heaven on Earth. Those 2 crucial pickles on a warm buttery bun. Man. You just can't go wrong. And then there's the whole cow campaign. Love them.



So does Sydney :) That's my girl!

Friday, October 31, 2008

Messy. Cute. Monstrous. In that order.

As promised, here are some pictures of Sydney attempting to feed herself. They don’t really do justice to the true mess that she makes, but I think she looks adorable, even with sweet potatoes up her nose :)



I'm not sure why her foot is all blurry. Maybe it was the smearing of her food all down her leg.



We’re still working on her spoon technique.



And leaving the bowl ON the tray.



Because that’s how her food ends up EVERYWHERE.



More cuteness coming your way with Sydney showing off her new winter hat. I LOVE the tassels!



And last night while I was making cupcakes, Doug called me into the living room to watch Sydney crawl back and forth down the hall chasing after her toys. She was so cute that I had to take pictures.



Yes, she even dragged her jacket with her. I guess Tigger was cold.



I was spotted.



She charged me.



And crawled up on me.




Because she loves her mommy so much, right? And she likes shiny things like the zipper on mommy’s hoodie :)



And COMPLETELY unrelated to adorably cute and sweet Sydney, I had a glorious dream that I would make these witch cupcakes I found on parents.com to bring into work. Aren’t they adorable?



In the beginning there was hope…



That hats are cute, no? Surprisingly there was only one casualty in 2 whole boxes of very fragile Oreo ice cream cones. I should have foreseen the disaster looming on the horizon though right after I knocked over the tub of orange jimmies and they spilled all over my kitchen floor! That is how the hat rims came to have black jimmies on them instead of orange, BTW. I finished making the hats, mixed the green icing, set out bowls with eyes (chocolate chips) and noses (mike and ikes), lips (decorator icing) and pupils and hair (chocolate and white icing in Ziploc bags) and began to decorate.

And here I present to you the monstrosity that is my witch cupcakes. They are special. Special as in they look like they got dragged under the short bus to school special. Don’t believe me? Just look at the poor little witch on the right. That’s what happens when you let me decorate you. I do you so little justice that you dive face first onto the plate to the point where there is no hope of recovery. So I manage to decorate a few more of your friends and hang up my piping bag, well, Ziploc bag with a snipped corner, and send you off to work with Doug because I’m too embarrassed for anyone at my job to know I made such repulsive looking cupcakes.



Answer me this people at parents.com, how in the world did you get the hair to look so nice??? And how did your witches not faceplant themselves onto the plate when you stood them on their sides??? These are the burning questions that keep up me at night.

I guess all I can do now is find another baking project to massacre for Thanksgiving.