3/31/11: Dubble Bubble

I don't have much to say about this day.  I bought this insane tub of Dubble Bubble at Sams. I think somehow I inherited the love of this gum from my dad.  I probably eat like 10 pieces of it a day.  Mostly because it loses its flavor so quick and mostly because I like it so much! Yum!

3/30/11: Happy 2nd Birthday Mackenzie!

It's hard to believe it's been 2 years since I became an Aunt. An unexpected Aunt at that!  I won't ever forget when Kelly told me she was pregnant. I think I was more nervous than she was.  Part of me was secretly excited for Morgan.  I had figured she wouldn't get a playmate until she got a sibling. Surprise! She got one 9 months later.  This also happens to be the exact age my cousin Allison and I are apart and we had so much fun growing up together. We still have fun together!!

Mackenzie and Morgan (or Mimi as Mack refers to her) are finally at a good age where they can do a lot of the same things and talk to each other.  Well Morgan does most of the talking but that's no surprise.  They spend most of their time together dancing, screeching, jumping, and chasing each other. Little Rylee is even getting big enough to join!

Mackenzie, you are our most favoritest niece/cousin in the world!!!  Happy Birthday!!!

3/29/11: Cricut, Parties, and Etsy

I mentioned before how I started planning Rylee and Morgan's Birthday parties. I got the time to do some rough drafts of some of the crafts I wanted to do. I also recently got a cricut and finally got some cartridges and the Sure Cuts a Lot software.

The ribbon ball centerpiece is a very rough draft.  The red ribbon was wired and didn't work as well as I intended.  In the end it will have some tulle added and a wooden dowel attached so it can be placed in a flower pot.  I don't explain things well so here is an example...

I really love to do this kind of stuff and now that I have a Cricut I really want to add to my Etsy shop that I'm embarrassed to tell a lot of other people exists.  I'm really afraid of the rejection and/or what if people don't like my creations!?! Ack?!  Now that I have the Cricut I'll be able to add the banners, cupcake toppers, centerpieces, etc that I make for the girls parties.  Right now I basically have some photo collages/things and the invites/announcements I've made for friends and family on Etsy.  I wish party/wedding/etc planning could be a full time gig.  That would be my dream job!  

3/28/11: Thunderbolt!

Ok let me start with, not the greatest picture I know.  I was finally able to get a new phone and I couldn't wait to trade my crackberry in for the HTC Thunderbolt (droid).  I have a love affair with Google and Paul has had the original Droid for about a year now.  I've really been counting the days as my Blackberry Storm totally sucked.

The day my contract was up I headed to Verizon and made a beeline for this phone. I'm in love everyone! I can now play words with friends, have all sorts of google apps, it's 4G (in certain areas), and runs super duper fast. Especially compared to the BB. I still need to play around with it a lot but so far, so good!

3/27/11: Happy 10 Months Rylee Lou!

Our little Loulou is 10 months old.  It's really hard to believe that she will be 1 in a few short months. She's changed from this little baby into a budding toddler in the blink of an eye.  She's able to stand on her own for a few seconds at a time and cruises all around the furniture.  I doubt it will be long before she is walking. Yikes! She loves to scream and play with Morgan. She also loves to get into everything she's not supposed to.  She eats everything and anything she can find and still loves to throw her sippy cup on the floor any chance she gets.  She has 6 teeth now which is so hard to  believe because Morgan didn't get her first tooth until she was 10 months.

This is also the day the girls discovered "the box".  You know, the huge box the dishwasher came in?  Oh the fun we had with the box.  "Mommy! Put me in the box!, Mommy! Take me out of the box!, Mommy! Cover the box with a blanket!" etc.etc.etc.  Mommy got sick of the box after about two days and it's now residing in the garage.

3/26/11: New Dishwasher

Today we got a semi-new dishwasher courtesy of our friends Jimmy and Amanda.  What should have taken Jimmy and Paul probably less time to install probably resulted in them being able to have a few extra beers.

When we moved in about 5 years ago, of course the house came with a dishwasher.  The house was a foreclosure when we bought it and there were some touch-ups that needed done.  One of them must have included painting. The cracker jack painters thought it would then be appropriate to clean their paint brushes in the dishwasher.  Brilliant.

Paul and I took that thing apart and tried every home remedy in the book. Little pieces of paint were still getting on dishes that we would have to end up washing by hand.  We ended up replacing a couple of the parts and that helped a lot but we knew we would eventually need a new one.  Amanda and Jimmy had just gotten a new one and were selling their old (ok not really, only 2 years old) one. I told Paul to go for it.  I'll tell you, it's made a world of differences with our dishes!

3/25/11: Little mama

Morgan has turned into to such a mothering little girl.  She makes sure Ducky and Brutus and any other various animal of the day are well taken care of.  She puts them to sleep and tells me to be quiet.  She carries them around.  She feeds them and gives them drinks of her milk. She makes sure I don't forget to take pictures of them in addition to her. She also plays with Ducky in the ways the adults in her life play with her.  It's incredibly cute. Oh, and she also talks in a different voice as if she is Ducky.

This is how I found her this morning in the living room. Take note of a few things:

1. All those blankets are from her room - she must have 20 of them.

2. Ducky has his own special small monkey pillow.

3. Both of those large pillows are from her bed.

4. Brutus is probably sitting up in order to watch Dora or some other Nick Jr. show.

She is perfectly content to bounce away.

Say cheese, Ducky!

3/24/11: Rockstar Patient

I'm talking about this little girl.  I had to get bloodwork done at the lab and I figured while we were there Rylee could have her lead test done.  I had to get it done sometime before her 1 year well visit and there's no time like the present!  

We got to the lab and she went first.  I was totally ready for screaming, wailing and basically her just not having it. They put the little blue band around her arm to look for a vein. She didn't make a peep but started looking around like heyyy what's going on here...  She got sad looks from every nurse that walked by because who wants to see a wittle baby get a needle in her arm!  Anyway, they found a good vein and got the needle ready. I waited, and waited, and waited. They put it in, drew her blood, and took it out.  She never.made.a.peep.  Not even a noise. I couldn't believe it. I think when they drew MY blood I made more noise!

This is the best I could get of the both of them.  I have to add that Morgan was exceptionally good when we were at the doctor but didn't want anything to do with watching them put a needle in her baby sister. She did get a cool Hannah Montana sticker though.

What a trooper!

3/23/11: Responsibility Chart

We got this chart for Morgan a couple weeks ago to set some goals for her each week.  If she gets 10 magnets a week she gets to pick a prize.  She's doing really well with it and LOVES to put her magnets up every night before bed. The first week she got 10 magnets and I took her to Walmart to get her a toy. I wanted to make the first one a good one so she kept interest in her chores/responsibilities.  After a LOOONNNGG deliberation she finally picked The Little Mermaid, Ariel as a princess, doll.

This week is our second week of the chart and as you can see it doesn't look totally filled up at the moment but we did give her some bigger challenges this week like no accidents all day and sharing with her sister. We will see what the end of the week brings!

3/22/11: Give and Get

Give and Get amounts to this.   Gap/Old Navy GET a lot of my money and in return they GIVE me some clothes.  In reality it's 30% plus whatever other internet deal I can find.  This time it was 20% cash back at Ebates. (Which, if you aren't signed up and using it why not!?! Sign up here and we both get $5 with your first purchase: Ebates Rules!)

Our clothes came in the mail today and we had a fun morning trying them on!  I love getting the clothes in the mail and getting them all out of the box. It makes me happy. LOL

Here is Morgan in her new set of PJs.

Her new shoes that she insisted on taking a nap in AND sleeping in that night. They are REALLY cute!

Morgan's favorite - her bathing suit (well one of them), complete with poses. She immediately asked if her and Rylee could jump in the pool.  I had to break it to her that A) We don't have a pool and B) it was 30 some degrees.  She didn't care.

This is the best I could get of Rylee. How cute is that suit?!

Trust me, I got a lot more and a couple things for Paul and I that I'm sure you will get to see over the course of the year.  Love my Gap/ON sales!!!

3/21/11: Shoes

Shoes rule.  It's the only item of "clothing" that you don't have to worry about being too fat/too skinny in.  They always fit! I bought these shoes a while back and guess how many times I've worn them? Zero.  I mean if you count the times I've worn them around the house for fun: 4-5. I'm clearly not wearing them for a long time since they STILL HAVE THE STRINGS ON THEM.  I'm assuming they will get more use when the weather gets warmer.  I picture these with a pair of skinny jeans.  Not sure what sort of top yet but probably something Spring-ish.  I can't wait to actually wear them but I'm guessing it won't be practical to wear these to the Tribe home opener?? ;)

3/20/11: Mini Egg Obsession

Hi, my name is Kristy and I'm addicted to Mini Eggs. Hiiiii Kristy!

These things are the best things ever. I don't know if in fact they would be as good if they were available all year round.  I think their exclusivity makes them slightly better.  At least now they are out not only at Easter, but at Christmas time too.

If you haven't had these...RUN OUT AND GET THEM RIGHT NOW BEFORE THEY ARE GONE!!!

I could go on and on and on about these but I doubt the internets cares about my obsession with a chocolate candy.  Try them and I'll let them speak for themselves!

3/19/11: Super Moon

Pictures of the Super Moon from our back porch.  Pretty cool.

I unfortunately only saw this through the window because I spent the entire weekend in bed, sick as a dog. It totally rocked. Who needs to have fun on the weekend anyway!?!

3/18/11: The human vacuum

A.K.A.  Rylee Lou Stoicoiu

Rylee chows like she may never see another meal again in her life. I wish her big sister would go back to those early toddler eating habits. Rylee loves sitting at the table with us when we eat and mimicking everything everyone is doing. She bangs her cup like Morgan. She also plays this fun game of how many times will Morgan (or Mommy and Daddy) pick my cup up from the floor before she gets mad.  Answer: Morgan is usually livid with her after a time or two.  Rylee usually gets a stern lecture about throwing your cup from big sis.

I'm really trying to enjoy the fact that she will eat anything I put in front of her because if she is anything like Morgan we only have about a year and a half left before pickiness sets in. :sigh:  

3/17/11: Happy St. Patty's Day!

Happy St. Patty's Day all!  We started our day out by dressing festive!!

Next, we gave ourselves green milk mustaches.

Then we ate green frosted cupcakes for breakfast!  Our mom is either really cool or should have her parenting license revoked.  We vote for super cool!

Then Grandma came over so Mommy could visit her friends at Johnny Malloys and watch some tournament action.  Later we went to spend the night at Grandma's so Mommy and Daddy could both go to Johnny Malloys.

This is our Aunt Ashley.  Mommy and Daddy say she should stop while she is ahead.

Uncle Corey and Aunt Ashley with Uncle Corey's friend Heath. We said Uncle Corey looks like he had too much pee* but Mommy assures us it was just a bad picture.

*Morgan refers to beer as pee because, well, I told her that one day while drinking a Corona because I was tired of her asking me for some. That was probably another 2 points on the ole parenting license.

Here is our Daddy with the happy couple and Uncle Corey's friend Eric. 

 We hope you all had a happy green-pee filled St. Patty's Day!!!

3/16/11: Baby butts!

Who doesn't love cute baby butts?!?!

This child is on the move constantly.  Diaper changes and after baths are becoming a daily battle for control. I never had the diaper changing problems with Morgan, surprisingly.  She was always pretty good about sitting still. Rylee, on the other hand, it's like being involved in a wrestling match.

I like to refer to Rylee as our silent assassin.  She never seems like she's capable of causing trouble but without a peep you can turn around and there she is doing something she KNOWS she isn't supposed to.  She always gives you this look to like "Who, me? I wasn't doing anything."  I was giving the girls a bath one day and got Rylee out first and then went back to help Morgan out.  I turned around oh, about 15 seconds later and there she was making a bee-line to Morgan's potty.  2nd children are designed to age you faster the the 1st one I believe.

*For those of you wondering what that mark on her back is..check here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemangioma

It's a tuumor*! (Said in my best Ahhnold voice) 

*Don't worry folks not a bad kind!

3/15/11: A full house

This is what our bed looks like all.the.time. Except usually Paul and I are both in it too.  4 of the 5 animals sleep in our room at night. Kalie sleeps at my feet.  Ace sleeps on the floor on his own big pillow.  Stu is usually in the room somewhere, sometimes at my head, sometimes at Paul's feet.  Roman starts off who knows where, and always, ALWAYS ends up in between Paul and I, under the covers, with his head on the pillow. It's really annoying and cute all at the same time. As much as it may be uncomfortable or annoying there is something comforting about having your animals near you when you sleep.  It just feels different if they aren't there.  So while I get tired of the meowing and the barking, I really do love these guys!

3/14/11: A tale of 2 computers

I mainly use Paul's computer when he isn't around because well, mine sucks. Check out one of my posts from January.  It usually has its place on the couch where we use it.  On this particular day I had the recliner out and had the laptop on the leg part.  Paul came home and something was happening and I went to get up and that damn computer slid off the couch and literally crushed my foot like a dagger.  It didn't land flat it landed vertically if you can understand that.

It hurt. Paul laughed when I said dagger, but if you saw the theatrics when he hits his foot, hand, enter random body part here, it would far surpass mine. Anyway, here is the damage.  It's hard to tell in this picture but the "ring" toe and the middle toe were the ones that took the brunt.  Also, please do not pay attention to my non-pedicured feet. The middle toe is mostly black and blue...super hot for when it's almost time to bust out flip-flops.

In other computer news, Paul fixed mine so that I don't get that damn white screen everytime I move my leg, finger, nose, etc.  After he fixed it he got a beer, came back in, looked at the computer and gave it the WWE Suck It. (Which in an interesting side note, the football team did at a pep rally once in HS and got in trouble for, some people just don't understand humor...)  

3/13/11: Love and Logic

Morgan has been struggling with listening lately and we were pretty much at our wits end.  She's in the middle of Terrible Twos and headed towards Traumatic Threes.  We need to get this under control.  I asked some friends on my wonderful mommy board for some tips and one I got was this book.  OMG - I LOVE IT!  It's totally my kind of book.  It's an easy read, simple concepts and tons of examples.  We've been putting some of the advice to work the last week and it's been helping.  It's not great but it's definitely a start!

3/12/11: Look Ma!

This child is going to be walking any second. That's why when we try to get things done she is confined to baby jail.  She does get snacks in there as referenced by the puff on her chin above.  Apparently she is also morphing into a vampire by the looks of the way her teeth came in.  No front teeth yet, but fangs.  Clearly, she is Team Edward.

Morgan on the other hand has some sort of thing going on here about not wearing pants.  She must be Team Jacob.  I mean he's always ripping his...

One more thing....Rylee has been crawling for months.  She's known how to crawl on her hands and knees but always preferred the army crawl.  Now that she pulls herself up and moves all around she's decided she likes hands and knees better.  Mostly because she likes to sit on her knees now.