Let it snow!

On Tuesday night Indy was hit with the the biggest snow storm in 13 years! We have a foot of snow! Ava begged all day Tuesday to go out and play in the snow. She had to wait until daddy was done working since I couldn't take Anderson out. The wait about killed her At that point we only had about 3 or 4 inches so it was just the perfect amount for her to play in. When we woke up Wednesday morning there was 3 times that much. She came outside with me when I went out to shovel the drive, but she couldn't even hardly stand up in it. Thankfully some neighbors came over with their snow blower to help me clean the drive out. It would have taken me hours by myself. We have yet to venture out of the house, but I'm sure the roads are fine by now since schools were back in session today. Guess we'll see tomorrow!

Is it Friday yet??

What a week this has been so far. Ava continues to beat up her brother no matter what I say or do. I feel like I am a referee! They can be sitting and playing so well together and then something suddenly sets Ava off...kids! What can you do!

Yesterday I loaded up the kids to go to Winamac to stay at my parents. My goal was to leave at 2 since that is Anderson's afternoon nap time. I was running right on schedule...for a short time. I went out to the garage to back the truck up and start it so it could warm up. When I came in, I found that Anderson had dumped Toby's water bowl. He was soaked! So I tried to get him changed quickly since the car was running. However, changing this boy is no easy task. I can hardly manage to get a diaper on him without manhandling him. I had to completely strip him b/c even his onesie was wet. When I finally managed to get that done, I got everyone loaded up including the dog. I got about a mile away and realized I had forgotten Toby's leash. So I turned around to go get it. Now we are off. I get 2 miles down the road and I am stopped by a train. I should have known better than to go the way I did (there is another road that goes under the tracks), but it this particular road is the most direct way...just my luck. Sometimes these trains take over 30 minutes too! Luckily we were only stopped for 5 minutes. So after about 3 hours, I finally make it to my parents (it usually only takes 2 hours!). Yeah...Tuesday is finally over!
This morning I got up super early to drive my mom to an appointment for an MRI. This was my reason for coming. The trip to and from Lafayette was uneventful. It gets exciting after I drop my mom off and try to leave to come back to Indy. We pulled in her drive and I didn't want to unload the kids so mom stayed in the running truck with them while I ran in to get our bags and Toby. I put the bags in the back and let Toby in after mom gets out. In the 10 seconds or less it took me to walk around to the driver's side door, Toby had managed to lock the doors. The truck is still running and both kids are in the car. GREAT!! Luckily, we have a family friend who runs an auto shop/towing business just minutes from mom's house. He was able to come get me into the truck within 15 minutes! Thankfully the truck was running so the kids stayed nice and toasty. Whew...crisis resolved. Now onward to home...
We made it to the halfway point of the trip and Ava decided she needed to go potty. Fabulous! So I stopped at a gas station, unloaded both kids and ventured in to find the potty. Of course, the restrooms are all the way across the store so we have to walk by all the junky gas station food. Then Ava promptly announces she's hungry. I successfully squeezed all of us into a tiny stall in the nasty bathroom so everyone could potty. As we exit the bathroom, Ava immediately starts begging for some chips. It takes awhile, but I finally make it to pay for the chips. It's amazing to me that some people can be so rude. Here I am, by myself, trying to juggle a baby, a toddler, a bag of chips while digging for my wallet...people cut in front of me and didn't even bother to help me with a door. The best part was that there was a group of policeman that just stood there smoking the cigarettes and staring at me. After what seemed like a lifetime, we were back on the road. At least Ava was silent b/c she was shoveling chips into her mouth. I probably should have been a "good" mom and bought something a little healthier, but it wasn't worth the battle! ;) Now we are home, the kids are in bed, and I am off to clean purple crayon out of the bathtub! Here's to an uneventful Thursday!!

Odds and ends

I thought I would give you all a quick update on what is going in in each of our lives....

Dan has been able to work from home for the past month. It has been fabulous! It is so nice to have help with the kids in the evenings. It has also made me start cooking again, which is a good thing. I enjoy cooking meals, but I never really cook when it is just me and the kids at home. He is considering trying to transfer to a different position in the company which would require less travel. He was also nominated by his boss for a consultant of the year award! He works so hard and has sacrificed so much. I hope he wins b/c he deserves it!

I have been staying busy with the kids and holiday/post holiday stuff. I haven't been able to get into the gym as much as I should this month with all the traveling and illnesses we've had, but I was able to reach my weight loss goal for the end of the year. I actually beat it by 1 pound! Now only 4 more pounds and the baby weight will be gone! My goal to lose that is by Anderson's first birthday.

Ava...where to begin...She has been struggling with some jealousy issues this past month, but it seems to be improving. She was having "accidents" in her pants sometimes up to 3 times a day. She has also really started to beat up on poor little Anderson. I caught her slamming his head in the cabinet door once and she likes to push him over. She is getting better at sharing with him, but she has panic attacks every now and then when she thinks he is after something of hers. They are quite the pair! She is still really enjoying "school". She is so VERY verbal. There are sometimes when I wish she had a mute button! She is still a super shrimp...nobody believes me when I say she is going on 3 until they hear her speak. I figure Anderson will catch up with her eventually.

Anderson is now into EVERYTHING! He has started pulling up and is surprisingly sturdy. He unloads the dishwasher as fast as I can load it. Now that his ears are healthy, he has started to talk so much more. He says dada, mama, and ba (for ball), and baba (for bottle). He also also recently started clapping and waving. He is now getting to the age where they really start to do new things and really interact more. I love this age! I now have 2 children who LOVE music. If you have seen any of the videos of Ava, you probably noticed she sways side to side...Anderson does the exact same thing...check out the video.



We have had a busy 6 weeks or so and are looking forward to things slowing down. At least of of us is always sick...I'm ready for the cold and flu season to be over!

Meet Ramona

Meet Ramona...She became a member of this family on December 21st.

Ava meeting Ramona for the first time.

Ramona now walks where we go....(notice Ava "walking" her around by her hair!)

She even eats babyfood...

and chicken fries...
and of course has her own cup of milk.


Ramona also sleeps with Ava (though I don't have a picture of that). She is now truly a member of our family.

It is so funny to watch Ava play with her. She puts her down for naps (on the couch) and then demands that we all be quiet. She also tells me that Ramona is a little shy. I caught Ava stealing one of Anderson's diapers the other day and she had it opened up and was doing her best to actually put it on the doll! So funny!

Christmas card

Here is a copy of our Christmas card this year. I couldn't send to everyone...stamps are so darn expensive these days!

PS- If you like our card, check out The Peek a Boo Image!

Let the games begin!

I really didn't think I would see a true sibling rivalry between the kids just yet, but boy oh boy has it started. Anderson may not be able to speak yet but he is getting pretty good at making his feelings known! Ava has started being really possessive and she continues to take toys away from Anderson. I think has has finally gotten sick of being bullied so he screams at her now when she does something he doesn't like...I mean literally screams at her! Dan and i also witnesses something funny today...Anderson was trying to crawl into the toy room and apparently Ava did not want him to go in so she stepped in front of him (with her back to him). He wasn't about to let that stop him! He continued to crawl and ram his head into her repeatedly! She eventually got the point and moved out of his way. As Anderson is getting older, his personality is really starting to come out. He is usually very passive, but he is starting to show his temper!

Merry Christmas!

This past month has been insane! We have had Christmas celebrations every weekend since the 13th all of which had some kind of drama involved. Here's a brief recap...

On Saturday the 13th, we celebrated Christmas with Dan's dad and his wife and also Dan's sister. We hosted the event this year so I spent time that week cleaning and cooking. Over the course of the week, Ava had had numerous accidents (as in the wetting her pants kind). This was so untypical of her, but I figured it was because I had been busy and really not paying as much attention to her bathroom activities. She had also complained about her bottom hurting. I brushed it off b/c she often has aches and pains and they usually just require a band aid to go away. By Friday, it finally clicked that maybe Ava's trouble was due to a UTI. Of course by the time I realized that the Dr.'s office as closed. So...Saturday morning we were expecting company and I had to get up earlier than usual to take Ava to the pediatrician. So we hurried to get there and back so i could still get lunch prepared in time. Everything got finished...I even had a little time to spare but I was exhausted. We had a fun day of eating and opening gifts. Ava got her first video game...she loves it! Oh and it turned out she didn't have an infection so i rushed around for nothing. Better safe than sorry though!

The following weekend we celebrated with Dan's mom and sister. The drama surrounding this party started on Thursday evening. Our hometown (to which we were traveling to) was hit by a huge ice storm on Thursday evening/Friday morning. Many homes in northern IN were out of electric, including my mother in law. As were we leaving Saturday afternoon, she still had no power. We couldn't stay there with the kids b/c she had no heat. We had a backup plan to stay at my parents but fortunately her power was back on around 4 pm that day! Christmas was saved! We went to church on Sunday morning and then had a brunch and opened gifts. The ice was actually very pretty on the trees, but it caused many limbs to fall. With the strong wind on Sunday you had to be careful to not get pelted with ice falling from the trees!

We spent Christmas day at home with the kids. It is really nice to be able to just relax and play with the kids and their new toys!

This past weekend we celebrated with my family. We spent the weekend at my parents, which gets a bit crazy with 8 adults, 4 kids (2 1/2 and under), and 2 dogs. We had a great weekend with the exception the my sister got the stomach flu and in turn passed it on to Ava and my parents. Hopefully no one else will get sick!

I guess that wasn't so brief...I hope you all had a great holiday season. It's hard to believe another year is gone!

Making (or eating mostly) Christmas cookies with mom!

Our Sunday best!