Let them eat eggs

Last night Maddie did not eat her dinner. I don't know what the deal was, but when presented with macaroni and cheese (which I haven't made for her in months) she refused to eat and put on her I'm being tortured face. I refuse to have a battle struggle over food, so I told her fine, she didn't have to eat it. So, she went to bed with nothing more than some watered down juice in her belly. Let me assure you that she did not die of starvation while asleep. This morning I made her a pretty big breakfast because I was sure that she was probably hungry.....when I don't eat dinner at night I wake up STARVING. I made scrambled eggs with sauteed mushrooms (because that was what I was having), a thick slice of homemade banana bread and about a half cup of apple sauce. She ate every last bite!! And guess what she asked for more of?? Eggs. I don't understand my child sometimes. She doesn't want the macaroni and cheese but she wants seconds of scrambled eggs with mushrooms. Go figure.

Flying by the seat of my pants

The first half of my day today was really bad and I had a whole blog written venting my frustration but I never got the time to finish it because of previously mentioned bad day, but after Charlotte pooping three times, the afternoon turned around and I changed my mind about the awfulness of the first half of my day.....so I decided not to post my venting blog. That was probably the worlds second longest run on sentence, I can't presume that I would take first place.

Anyway, moving on.....we are totally growing out of our house. It's probably just a phase and if we waited long enough the kids would grow up and all the stuff that comes along with the raising of small children would disappear and we would have more space, but I don't know if we can just wait it out and see. Dan and I have been talking about buying a new house, a bigger house, but it's not going to happen soon. We want to have our van paid off and save up a big wad of cash to help bring down the cost of a new home.....oh, and we're also talking about keeping our current house and renting it out which is a big step all on its own. Money is the root of all evil, but in the good ol' USA its necessary to expand. Which can be tricky living on one income. We try really hard to live within our means, but obviously it doesn't always happen. It would be a lot easier financially for me to go out and get a full time job so that we could afford a bigger and better house, but I just can't bring myself to do that. I would miss out on so much of the girls' everyday lives, and at this point its not a fair trade for me.....more money, bigger house doesn't even compare to the blessings I get from staying home with my babies while they are babies.

With all that said.....a little unexpectedly.....I love my house. I love that (when there aren't a gazillion toys everywhere) it feels homey and comfortable and lived in. I love that I have memories all around me, and even though almost everything we own is used, it all kinda goes together and feels good. I love that my husband laid the hardwoods down with his own hands and I love that my daughters came home from the hospital to this house. I love that in three years we have had the Christmas tree in three different locations and each new place feels like the right place. When we do move, it will be very hard to leave this house because over the years we have made it a home.

We have had fun decorating for Christmas the past couple days. I always remember decorating with my mom growing up. We would put Christmas music on and get out the boxes of ornaments and spend the day reminiscing. It was always my most favorite day, more than even Christmas day, because it was good quality time with my mom. It was a day that was full of joy and little stories about kindergarteners making matchbox mouse beds and finding my favorite ornaments and making sure they had a special spot right in the front and setting up the nativity which was always my job. I always felt special and I always felt loved while we worked together to decorate the house. I want that for my girls. I want them to grow up and have a history rich with traditions that they can vividly remember. I want them to feel the magic that I always felt when getting ready for Christmas! I know that Maddie is still young, but this is the first year that she has understood what is going on....even if it's just a little bit of understanding. I am excited, I can feel it in my bones. I am so excited for her to be able to have her first real Christmas. I think she's gonna like it!!

I'm sorry that this blog is so all over the place. It's been that kind of day, and I wasn't even sure what I wanted to write about. It's a fly by the seat of my pants kinda blog. lol Have a grand weekend.....I hope it flies by so that I can have my weekend.

Snowflakes that Maddie and I made hung by our windows.

The willow tree nativity set that my mother has gotten for me over the years

Maddie's nativity set

This is how Charlotte contributed to decorating the house! lol

She also did this!

I just couldn't resist!!

randomness

We've been really busy the last few days, getting the house all decked out for the holidays, and working on art projects....I'll post pics when I have some time, but imagine snow flakes hanging from my ceiling!! It's been that kind of fun around here!! lol Dan works the next three days which means a very long stretch for me, and the girls. I am looking forward to life kinda settling back into routine....we are always way busier on Dan's days off, and our schedule usually gets tossed out in favor of fun. However, routine is easy and predictable and often welcomed. Small updates on the girls who run our days, and run around our days:

Maddie is back in diapers....she is just NOT ready yet. I'll get into more detail at a later date. She is however becoming quite the musician and has been playing her harmonica in the car to my delight and horror....all at the same time! lol She is not handling the Christmas tree very well, but its only been a day, so I'm sure it will get better. Hopefully. Maddie's vocabulary is getting amazing!! She can string together 5-6 words to make sentences and is asking questions. This is by far my most favorite stage to date.....the talking is incredible!

Charlotte has started eating butter nut squash and seems to really like it. We were pretty slow with the starting of foods, but now that she's liking it and not having allergic reactions to anything I'm all over the making of baby food. She now eats pureed food once a day in the evening. I think I'll do green beans next. (Becky....the eggplant was for us, not Charlotte!) She seems to have finally gotten over her fussiness and we're all mellowing out. I'm sure that it has something to do with the fact that she now poops every other day and doesn't have the crazy gas!! She really is a joy to have around most of the time, and I told Dan the other night that I could see having another one. Yes, I am seriously ILL!!! Not anytime soon, but maybe one more in a few years.

It feels like I haven't blogged in a really long time and in actuality its been like 2 days. I'm an addict and was needing my fix. Thus these random updates. I need to go to bed. I am really tired and I don't get to sleep in tomorrow so I best get my beauty sleep. And just in case you're curious, the diet is going well. It's been much easier these last couple of days and I am over that all the time hungry feeling. I haven't cheated once, but I have to tell you, Dan has been cheating a LOT. He took a jalapeno/cheese popper sample at BJs (like costco) the other day and totally ate it without even thinking about the diet. I am by far the awesomer of the two of us. Just sayin'. lol

My little fish

Maddie loves the water. She is my little fish. Growing up I was a fish too. When we would go to the beach I would be in the water from the time we got there until it was time to go home. Granted Maddie doesn't know how to swim yet and really the only water she comes in contact with regularly is in the bath tub, but she submerges herself and all but goes completely under water. Hopefully as she grows we will find a good outlet for her love of water......until then I get a lot of water splashed on me during bath time.

Diet day one

I am not going to be blogging about the diet everyday.....I just thought since today was the first day it deserved a mention. So far so good. I didn't cheat at all today but I felt almost hungry all day long. The reason I say almost is because I tried to stay one step ahead of my hunger with approved snacks, but I for sure was not full at any point all day today. It's normal.....the hunger.....at least for the first few days until my body gets used to being on a diet.

Overall I feel pretty good. I don't love that we decided to start dieting during the holidays because there are oh so many yummy things that could be eaten, but it's as good a time as any, and if it wasn't today then it might never happen. I'll update if anything major happens, but for now we are just gonna chug along. (or not chug lol)

Wish us luck!!

I can't think of a witty title....

This is pretty much all I have from Thanksgiving. There is one random picture of Maddie with a fishing pole which I find pretty funny, but the rest are just too big a project to take on.....they need a LOT of work. So, here are Maddie and her cousin Hailey on turkey day.

mellow monday

I'm starting to worry a little bit....Charlotte has been down for her morning nap for 2 hours now, and that is seriously not like her!! I'm sure she's fine, but it feels like someone replaced her with a different model. I actually would rather her wake up because Maddie is driving me crazy and I would like to take her outside (I'm still not okay with going out with Maddie while Charlotte is inside sleeping) so that she can get some of her wiggles out before nap time.

Today is going to be a mellow day. I managed to snag a turkey carcass at Thanksgiving so the past 30 or so hours I have been simmering turkey bones, carrots, onions, celery and spices to create turkey stock. I think that I am going to strain it tonight and be done with it. Then I will probably spend another 24 hours freezing the stock in ice cube trays for storage. Good times.

Maddie and I have been making snowflakes most of the morning. I am going to take the girls to the craft store this afternoon to buy some supplies. I have a mitten project that I would like to work on with Mads one day this week. I really like that she is able to work on crafts......she doesn't have a very long attention span, and she is limited in what she can do by herself, but she is interested, and willing and we do as much as she wants and then stop. I wish that I was more crafty and creative.....there are some really talented women out there, but I do what I can.

Charlotte is still asleep! My goodness. Maddie is standing on the bumbo chair and trying to get the microwave open. I best be off. Happy Monday!

We made turkey hats last week for Thanksgiving.