No Rest for the Weary

So it is official. The Holidays are exhausting. We arrived home on Friday night, just tired. I have a few pictures of NH but not nearly as many as I would have liked. We are hosting a small New Years Eve gathering so we have been quite busy preparing for that. It will be nice to see our friends from PA and NC that we have not seen in a long time.

I will post pictures hopefully tomorrow.

Christmas in CT

We celebrated Christmas this morning since we will be in NH for the actual holidays. Rather than lug the large things to NH we decided that we would ask Santa to come to our house a little early.


Aly had a great time with opening the gifts, she opened everyones for them. Brianna just loved to carry the bags around.

Dear Santa

We have been talking to Aly about Santa and everytime she sees Santa she gets excited. I don't think she grasps the whole concept of Santa but she has been soooo excited about Christmas. She does get the presents piece.

Yesterday I picked her up from school and she had a present wrapped for Mom and Dad once buckled in her car seat holding the coveted "present" she promptly unwrapped it and showed me what she made for us. Have I told you that I love this age?

So we have drafted a letter to Santa from Aly,

Dear Santa,

For Christmas this year I want fruity snacks. I like Dora ones. My dad needs new gloves, I like purple ones for him, and new sunglasses for him since his broke.

My mom wants the sharing fairy to visit everyday between the hours of 3 and 7. I don't really understand why but she says that this will promote peace on earth.

Brianna needs sunglasses to because she keeps stealing mine. You can also bring her fruity snacks so that I can have my own.

Do you see why mom would like the sharing fairy to come?

I baked you some cookies yesterday. Mom still has peanut butter in her hair.

Thanks,

Aly

Getting Ready for Christmas

We have an extra special treat at our house these next few days. GRANDMA!!! My parents still have no power in NH from the ice storm last week, so Grandma came down to visit. Of course, we got right in the kitchen and started cooking. We made tons and tons of cookies. Aly helped decorate them. Check out the monster cookie she made for Daddy!

Brianna is getting ready for the stormy weather. Aly loved this hat too when she was little!

IOWA Recap

My sister Brooke reminded me that I had not posted the Iowa pictures. There are not that many since once sickness hit our family the camera kind of disappeared. Although Ryan is disappointed that I did not get snapshots of both girls puking on him.

I did however capture how adult like my husband can be as he is wrestling 3 or 4 of his neices and nephews. Now combined all 4 of them probably equal Ryans weight, and in true Ryan fashion he was not going to let anyone win. ***Please note the poor individual underneath -you can see his legs - Sorry Dallas***


Here are the twins. We visited Derek and Shelbys house in our second week and there were 5 girls ages 3 or under. What a madhouse. It was great fun to see all of the Miller girls play together. We are excited for them to come East this summer - hint hint.


This is a story in itself. This is the Iowa version of salad. Salad in the midwest takes a completely new meaning as it must include either whipped creme, or jello or both. This was strawberry pretzel salad. In the East we call it dessert.

This is one of the few pictures of the kids that I got. When we celebrated the Miller Christmas on Friday night. Brianna was fast asleep in her bed, so Aly got to enjoy opening presents without any little sister.

WE ARE HOME

I will post some pics tomorrow but I figured I would say that I survived the flight with Aly and Brianna by myself. It was not as bad as I had imagined that it could be. Thank you DVD player, Dum Dum lollipops, and M&M, I am forever greatful.

Where are the trees?

So yesterday we left Maxwell, IA and headed towards Cedar Rapids to visit Derek and Shelby and there three girls.  Yes, 5 girls under the age of 3 = a house full of craziness.  When we were driving, Aly wanted to know where all the trees were.  She then decided, it must be close to Spring.

If only the cold winters went that fast, Aunt Tara would be in heaven.

We head back to CT on Saturday.  YAHOO for my own bed.

On the Mend

It never seems to fail. We arrive in Iowa only to be hit with the recent bug that is going around. Brianna got sick on Friday and then I got it on Sat, Ryan followed on Sunday and we are anxiously awaiting Aly.

The good news is that it seems to be a 24 hour bug and not much longer. No pictures because we don't have our laptop. Hopefully the rest of the trip will be uneventful.

Holiday Decorations

Even though we leave for Iowa tomorrow, we have been decorating for Christmas. Aly has been getting really excited about the tree, and she spent most of the afternoon putting the remainder of the ornaments on the tree, while Brianna was napping.

I love the real tree, but man with two kids, the needles are everywhere. I think I have vaccuumed twice today and they are still everywhere.

When Brianna woke up, she helped undecorate the tree. How fun!

Last week in review

It has been a whirlwind week. We are back in CT and we spent the day getting ready for the holidays.

On Tuesday, I took the girls to Bounce U, which is a place that has tons of inflatables and you can play and bounce. They loved it, there are a couple of pictures below. As we were getting ready to leave, Aly fell out of the last bounce house and dislocated her elbow. Thank goodness Aunt Brooke was able to meet us at the emergency room!

We had a great Thanksgiving - tons of good food and great company.


This is Brianna -- Thanksgiving Day!

Aly helped us peel potatoes the night before

Bri at Bounce U

Aly flying down the slide at Bounce U

Aly at our house this morning cleaning up all the snow.

In NH

We left on Saturday afternoon to head to NH for the holiday week. We have been playing and relaxing here for a couple of days. The girls enjoy the new toys and they went to school yesterday to see Nonna. Brianna was in and out of every classroom.

They were walking around the house pretending to be shopping - check out Aly's pants. Already falling down!

Is it Bedtime Yet?

So I knew today was going to be a looooong day, when I looked at my watch and saw it was only 9:30 am. It is cold and we are going a little stir crazy due to Brianna's two new teeth and Aly continuing to show us her "strong willed" personality.

Today I think I should get "Mother of the Year" here is what we did-

We went to Dunkin Donuts to load up on extra coffee and munchkins to survive our errands.

We played in Target for 45 minutes - in the Christmas section. Aly turned on all of the musical instruments and Brianna danced. Hmm I was pleasantly surprised they did not ask us to leave. Note- nothing was broken in the process.

We left Target with lunch in hand - Pizza Hut Breadsticks - yes thank you daddy, we cannot seem to leave Target without these now.

We had Breadsticks and fruit for lunch.

So much for nutrition.

Like my big sister

So Brianna loves Aly, which is no real surprise. Most of the time, Aly is pretty good with her. Yesterday our neighbors up the street dropped off a new box of dress up clothes that their daughter had outgrown. Needless to say, Aly was in heaven, and Brianna wanted to get in the mix.

So here are a few pictures of the girls, in their new clothes. They love them and Aly likes to dress Brianna now. Of course, Aly gets the wand and shoes and she is in charge of what they play!

The Terrible Two's

Today was one long day. I think it started around 6 am when Aly woke me up annoucing it was morning. I knew that it was going to be a long day since she was not interested in going back to bed.

Dance was a disaster, she did the tap part but decided she did not want to do ballet. That resulted in no lollipop, which resulted in a breakdown.

We headed home and I think she spent more time in her room than out. We did have a two hour reprieve this afternoon but it was meltdown central tonight.

We have only really had two of these incidents that have been day long occasions, but man are they tiring.

We put her to bed at 6:30 and Ryan and I are headed to bed!

Back from Chicago!!!

I returned from a great weekend in Chicago! It was so nice to be away with no one to interrupt dinner, the opportunity to sleep in - that really didn't happen. Something about the internal alarm clock. I think Tara was in shock when we were getting coffee before 9am on Saturday morning.

We did see this horrible musical, Dirty Dancing. It was so terrible, please do not waste your money on this high school lip synch.

Other than that it was back to reality on Monday night. Ryan did an awesome job with the girls. We decided that this should be an annual event --hmm wonder what Ryan will say about that one.

This afternoon it was raining and we broke out an early Christmas gift from Aunt Tara. A magnetic board. Man, Aly loved this thing. She spent an hour putting the letters on and off.

Brianna Birthday Pictures

TODAY IS BRIANNA'S FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!!

We celebrated Brianna's birthday this weekend, she loved the cake! Ryan weighed her last night and she was ......24.5lbs, Holy Baby! She is walking now - and she goes after everything that Aly has. Here are a few pictures:

This was the cake prior to the attack

PEACE

I am sitting here and my house is quiet. It is sooo nice for a change. Brianna is sleeping, Aly is at preschool and the dogs are snoring by my feet. How I have learned to cherish a quiet house. Of course this afternoon will be nuts, kids everywhere and the house will be a disaster again. Gotta love a little coffee and e-mail time.

Only 2 days till I go to Chicago - YAHOO! My first kid free weekend!

Conversations with Aly - HAPPY HALLOWEEN

This was the only picture in which Brianna was not bolting around the room. Yes - she is walking!

The other two pictures are to demonstrate how clearly obsessed my daughter is with the tutu. She informed me last night she wanted pink hair. She put the tutu on her head, and I said "You look like you are going to get married" To which she replied, " No mom, I don't have a lamb."

Recently, Aly has been cracking me up - Here are two recent conversations:

S: Aly on Saturday, we are going to celebrate Briannas birthday

A: Ok Momma, and on Monday we celebrate Aly's birthday

S: Your birthday is in March, how old are you going to be

A: TWO

S: Well, you are two now, in March you will be three

A: No, I will be thirty two

This next one - I must preface. Aly colored a page from a coloring book a long while back. Since it was her first one, I put it on the side of the refrigerator. It was a picture of Curious George. She has since colored about 100 of these and we have picked a couple to hang on the wall beside the fridge. This week we were making cookies for her Halloween Party. The picture kept getting in the way and I finally took it down and threw it away. Well, she went to put a wrapper in the garbage and found the coloring:

A: Momma, why is George in the trash

S: Well Aly, you have colored beautiful pictures for me, George kept falling down, so I put him in the trash

A: That not nice, (looks at the paper) I so sorry George, Momma say you are sorry

S: Sorry George

A: Are you okay George, momma won't throw you in the trash again, that not nice

S: (At this point I leave the room because I am laughing)

A: Holds and strokes George for a few minutes, then gets tape and hangs him back up.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Welcome CALLUM

Yesterday we went to meet baby Callum! Actually I got to meet him on his birthday which was October 17th, but Aly and Bri had not met him yet. It was so nice to hold a newborn that does not bolt out of your arms or talk back! Brianna was a little jealous of the glider, she attempted to climb in with him. Aly thought he should have some goldfish if he was hungry. All in all it was a great trip and we look forward to spending time with Callum this winter.

Congratulations Barry and Shelley

The Pink Shoes

We have a problem. The pink shoes that Aly is obsessed with. When I say obsessed, the term should not be taken lightly. Every morning when she wakes up, the shoes go on. It does not matter what the occasion, the shoes go on. We started to implement rules, you can't wear them to the gym, or outside, only in the house. However, that has become a bigger problem.

When I was working, I tolerated the pink shoes, she would come running down the hall in the morning. It was like Corporate America in your bedroom, the click, click of the heels, and man they are loud. Then I really put them out of my mind, they would appear the moment we came home but it was only a short time before bed and bath.

The pink shoes need to disappear. Maybe it is jealousy, I never really walked well with heels, however, my 2 year old can run. No, she can sprint, in a moments notice as Brianna was trying to get her coveted lollipop this afternoon, she all out sprinted around the house waving the red lollipop. It sounded like I was in the NYC subway at rush hour. Secondly, she acts like she is wearing the most comfortable shoes around. They are plastic, they are too big, and hello, they are heels. I digress.

So now that I am home, I must begin Operation Pink Shoes Go Missing. However, I am at a loss as to where they can go. I know that I can hide them while she sleeps, but she asks relentlessly for them when they are missing. Any Ideas???????

Let the festivities begin - HAPPY HALLOWEEN

We went to our first halloween party this weekend at our next door neighbors house. Brianna was taking a nap - but she did show up with Dad just in time for dinner. We had a great time making picture frames and decorating cupcakes. We got all loaded up on sugar and then came home!

Aly loves her fairy princess costume - it is hard to get it off of her!

Special thanks to our great neighbors Andy and Cheryl for a fabuous party!

These are our neighbors - we are so lucky to have such a great group

Changes

I am tired. I began my new "job" this week being a Stay at Home Mom. It's sad on a Friday night at 7:45 pm, the thing I am most excited about is my bed. No doubt, this is the most exhausting job I have had in a while. It is amazing how much energy they have, and how many questions Aly has.

Today was great. We met our friend Amy, who has 2 girls Sophia and Ava. They are similar in age to Aly and Brianna. We went out to lunch and then to play. Today, I can't imagine trading in my new "job" I am truly blessed to have the ability to stay and home and to have friends we can play with.

This past week we met a photographer Denise Gammel for family pictures. She did a nice job. Our link to our pictures is here:

http://www.denisegammellphotography.com/gallery/6322028_NJ32X#401291325_wTJ9E

I really like this one - she did a nice job capturing both girls, and man it was chilly!

This weekened we are going to our first halloween party! I will be sure to post pictures! Good night

The Tractor.....

We headed to NH this weekend to visit Franklin Pierce University and my parents. My mom had us pick up this new addtion to her already overflowing toy room, the John Deere tractor, of course Brianna jumped right on and even though she could not reach the pedals she made sure that she looked like she was driving. Aly was more tentative, it took a little coaxing to get her on and driving. Once she started though, she drove Brianna all over the yard. The weather was great and we had a great weekend.

Special thanks to Aunt Brooke who babysat for us! She also introduced us to the Wii - Ryan, Brooke and I tried our skills at bowling, baseball, and the Fitness test. We have a lot of work ahead of us.