It's the end of the world as we know it!

So.....um....holy crap!! I haven't posted anything since April! I've totally forgotten about blogging.

So many things have changed.......

L is 2 now! She and her b-day twin, R had a duo party. The theme was cops and robbers! It was pretty cute. They had lots of fun. And the weather was great that day, even though it had been raining for a week before the party. We somehow lucked out to have a dry, sunny party at the park.



We moved in July to a bigger rental. It's a duplex, but the only wall that touches is the garage....so it's like we live in our house, we NEVER hear the neighbors! =) The new place is a 3 bd, 1 3/4 ba.....the biggest place we've ever lived (at least on our own). The floors in the living room and hall are hardwood, the bedrooms are carpeted, the kitchen is linoleum.....all of the rooms have large closets (although not walk-in)....our master has its own bathroom (!) with a standing shower, and the hall bathroom is pretty substantial in size with a large linen closet in it. The kitchen is smaller than our last kitchen, but now we have a space for the kitchen table (as opposed to having it set up in the living room at the old place)....we were sooooo spoiled by how big the kitchen at the old place was, we knew we wouldn't find something comparable in our price range. We also have a patio and a backyard with a garden. We live in the woods now! I see deer on a nightly basis, and there are rabbits, squirrels, raccoons (that are afraid of no one! including my dog---yep she's been bit my one!), and several other wildlife in the area. We are now across town from where we were living, and we love this area so much more. Plus! Big bonus I'm only 4 minutes from work! And about 12 minutes from school!

School?.......yep! I went back to school, I'm in a Baking program at the local community college! It's so much fun, and I'm loving it so far. In the last few months hubby and I have found out that we have MORE food allergies than we thought. He now has a horrible reaction to any nightshade (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, egg plant, huckleberries, blueberries, etc), and has cut them from his diet completely. I have cut chocolate and ALL legumes from my diet. Chocolate, my best friend since elementary school, has turned on me!!! =( Woe is me! I don't know how I can be considered a woman anymore! Obviously I'm having a hard time with this one....soy, no biggie, other legumes.....okay, but I'm not happy about it....but chocolate?!?!?!? NOOOOOOOOOOO! So I'm learning to live life without my favorite food, and hubby is learning to eat without most spices.....even though I'm really upset about no chocolate......I still think hubby's allergies/intolerance's are way worse than mine....and I feel bad that he doesn't get to enjoy food like he used to. On a good note......we've both lost weight because of our food allergies! I've lost almost 20 lbs, and he's lost more.....I hope he can maintain his weight now, since he's gotten kinda thin, and if he loses more we may have to start worrying!

Let's see....my sister moved in with us, she and her two boys, D, and E. It's been really rough. I love my nephews, but they've been spoiled most of their lives....when you gotta say no, they don't understand it very well......but things are getting better....they are getting used to our routine and following most of the rules....getting better everyday. D is old enough to understand that he's gotta follow my rules or there are consequences (time out, no video games, no fun outings for him)...he's 4. E is only 1 and is having the hardest time transitioning to a different environment than he was used to. K, my sis, is doing okay.....she's got a lot of stuff on her plate, and I don't envy her place in life right now. I'm trying really hard to be supportive, but it's been really tough lately, especially seeing her make the same mistakes over and over again.

L is so big now.....wearing 3T clothes! And she's such a little diva! She has to wear pretty clothes and have "pretties" on her toenails....she's so the opposite of what I was when I was little......okay, so maybe I was a diva, too, but I was a tomboy....and she's so girly......it's cute.....oh and she's started talking back to me (thanks to my nephew D for teaching her by example), saying things like "MAMA, no nap!" and "MAMA, NO!" all the time....it's cute...but I'm sure it'll get old quickly! She also bosses her cousins around, saying "E, no!, Time Out!" every time E does something he isn't supposed to.....it's so funny, and when he takes a toy she's playing with, she runs after him, yelling "E, I nee nat!" (E, I need that). They all had a ton of fun on Halloween. We took them to a corn maze, and then trick-or-treating in my friend, Mama Z's, neighborhood. At the first house, E tried to just go inside when the lady opened the door....it was pretty funny.

Phone time.

Just set up blogger for my phone, maybe now I'll update more often. =)

Zoo's, Easters, and Laptops---oh my!

Wow.....it has been FOREVER since I've posted......I'm kind of a procrastinator if you hadn't noticed yet!

L, my friend Al, and I went to the zoo on Friday....L had sooo much fun, her favorite animals were the fish. She kept pointing at the tanks and saying, "shish, shish, shish!" It was super cute. She really liked the meerkats in the kiddie area, too. She called them kitties. We even rode on the carousal, which was a little scary for her...but I think she still had fun on it.
We went into the gift shop right before we left and she picked out an elephant toy to take home. So wish hubby had been there to see her, but he was working.

This morning we went to a photographer friend's house and L got her picture taken a few times. The friend is building up her portfolio so she did it for free and we even get a print of our favorite one and have the option to buy more if we'd like. I feel like a horrible mom....she's never had any professional photos taken of her....not even at a department store! =( I need to get her into a mutual friend's studio and have a bunch done of her and our family before she's a teenager!

My nephew turned four this month....he's getting so big and way too smart. He knows his abc's and no one's ever really sat down with him to teach him....we went to visit the fam on his b-day and he kept trying to get L to say them with him....she just said "e" over and over again.....it's so fun to watch her interact with her cousins...it'd be nice if we lived closer.

Easter's coming up and I'm so excited for L to participate in egg hunting this year.....I think she's totally going to love it! We've already signed up for a local egg hunt on the Saturday before. She'll be 19 months on Easter so she will actually be interested in it this year...last year she was only 7 months and wasn't really impressed by the basket my grandma bought for her....but we did visit my great grandmother that day and got some five generation photos with her, my grandpa, my dad, myself, and L. Not too soon either...since she has now passed away....I'm so glad that L will have those photos and I can tell her about her great-great grandmother when she gets older!

We went and looked at laptops after L's photo shoot....I was drooling so much over them! I fiddled around with one that I'm really interested in buying.....it would be awesome to get rid of this dinosaur of a computer from 2003.....can't believe how much 7 years dates a computer! Plus hubby and I are both looking forward to having the ability to take our computer with us somewhere....even if it's just to the other room! =)

Stuck in Toddlerville

Argh....it's been so long since I've posted....I can't keep up! Life is just too busy for me!

L is doing really well....she's talking so much more in the last few weeks and even strangers are able to understand what she says sometimes.....she's been super cute lately, too. This evening, while I was making dinner, she just kept saying Uh, Oh.....over and over and over again....it was stinkin hilarious---especially cause she says it like "Wha, Oh!" She's getting so tall, too. She can see over tables that she used to not even be able to reach and she thinks it's funny to climb on things (like the coffee table, the couch, any sort of pile), even though she can't get back off of them by herself without falling. She's gotten all four of her first molars in now, and 3 of her canines---both bottom ones and the top left.

I've found lately that I'm really missing the baby she used to be! I can totally see why women have kids that are roughly 2-3 years apart....but we are sooooo NOT ready for another....we're not even sure we'll actually have another! Still I find myself missing how small she was, and how easy we could make her smile, and the time before the "terrible-twos" started....but there are definitely things I don't miss--sleepless nights, bottles (Oh! She's off the bottle! New Year's resolution, CHECK!), reflux---that was really horrible I don't wish a sick child on anyone! And I do love that she's found some independence....I'm sure in a few years I'll eat those words, though. =)

Well, it's way passed my bed time, so goodnight!

Holiday fun!

L's had a cough at night for awhile now.....I think it's just allergies....but she does the cutest thing.....she's learned to hold her arm up while coughing because I've held her arm up before while she's coughed.....she cracks me up!

We celebrated Christmas with the extended fam in Yaktown over the weekend. Was lots of fun! It was so good to see people we haven't seen in sooooo long. It's just too hard to get over there most of the time, so it was really nice to get to spend some holiday time with our families.

We went to an Ugly Sweater Xmas party at a friend's house on the 12th.....it was so fun! We bought some pretty hideous sweaters from the 2nd hand store down the street and donned them for the party. We even got the host to take our picture:



I sent the photo out with the cards I made this year! LOL I love how "classy" the pic is! =P

I also finished all of the goodies that I planned on making for gifts for our immediate families for this year....I handmade soap (hubby says it looks professional!), I made dog treats--since our families are dog lovin, and I made biscotti....we also gave out a pound of SBux coffee to each fam....I'm so proud of myself for getting it all done and on time, with almost no stress because I planned ahead-----thank you FLYLADY!!!!!

Halloween pics finally!

Updating!

Alright.....it's only been forever (think of how the kid in The Sandlot says it!) since I've posted something!

Here's a little catch-up:

Thanksgiving was great! Food was good, family was good.....and thanks to the Flylady system, we were able to help a friend in need of a place to stay for a couple of nights during that week.

Hubby and I have had another dentist appointment since then....we've got horrible teeth....I guess that's what happens when you don't go to the dentist for several years in a row! Ugh.....we still have more work to be done before the end of the year.

Speaking of teeth--L has gotten 3 of her four pre-molars....still working on the last one, and she's been such a turd! And super slobbery. Poor baby, I hope it comes in soon for her!

I've made all my xmas cards already! They're even addressed....but I'm hoping to get family portraits done in time to send pictures with them. One of my friends came over to work on some, too.....it was really fun.

I've also made the non-food item that will be gifts for our family, and it turned out great! Hubby says it looks professional. =)

Today L got a haircut at a local children's hair salon....they do such an awesome job there....and they are so great with the kids. She sat in the pink Jeep chair and they even have little tv's that L watched. She was really behaved and wasn't scared until the very end (when the hairdresser blow dried her hair-hehe). There was a little boy in the salon--probably 2 or 3 years old that was screaming the whole time he was getting a hair cut! I felt so bad for his mommy, she looked so stressed and embarrassed......but you can't control how your kids are going to react to things!

L has been dancing so much lately......she loves to dance to most types of music and even dances to the little tune on a computer game I play sometimes.....it's super cute. She also claps whenever there is any sort of applause on tv, it's so hilarious!

She's also been expressing interest in using the potty.....we've gotten her a little potty seat that goes on top of the toilet. She even goes sometimes when I put her on it, and claps a whole bunch! She even claps if she's in the bathroom while I'm going. It's so fun to be a parent!