4/30/11: Bathing Beauties

The girls right after bath time. 

4/29/11: A Royal Affair

I'm into all this Royal Wedding stuff but not enough to get up at 4am.  Nosireebob.  I did however DVR it and watch it with my little princesses that morning.  I'm carrying on the tradition of watching Royal Weddings as I watched my first (Charles and Diana) when I was 2 days old. I had to keep my streak alive!

Let's be honest, who doesn't love watching a wedding and two people in love getting married? It was so fun to see the outfits and the headpieces and the cars and coaches. All the horses and security and all the people that gathered to catch glimpses. I just thought the whole thing was stunning. It was something nice to watch for once instead of the news with tornadoes and gas prices and the economy.

I did of course have a few opinions:

-Where is all of William's hair?

-What is up with Beatrice's headpiece?

-Kate looked absolutely stunning, she definitely fits the princess role.

-Pippa became quite the fashionista - I loved both her dresses.

-Harry is definitely more attractive than William

-I really wish we could have gotten to see the receptions and luncheons and hear the toasts.

There is so much more and I'm sure I will watch the wedding over again. It's so neat to me to see all the different customs and traditions of other cultures. It would have been really neat to be a bystander out there today and witness it all. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for them.

To Will and Kate!!

4/28/11: Happy Birthday Stu

Today marks Stu's 8th birthday.  This also means that is how long Paul and I have been living together.  Eight.Long.Years. people. ;)  Stu was the first pet that Paul and I owned together.  Stu is actually a really really good cat.  He knows how to get close enough to you without getting in your way.  He's got incredible hair that is so long and soft but never manages to get tangled. Ever.  He's definitely the leader of our house as far as the pets goes and well sometimes the people.  He spends most of his time on the couch or the bed. He loves his treats and will only bother you if the food bowl is empty.  He's always helped Paul and I make our houses feel like homes and he sure has been through a lot with us over the last 8 years. Happy Birthday Stu!!

4/27/11: Happy 11 Months Rylee!

One more month and she's ONE!  Can you believe it!?!  I can't.  You know what else I can't believe?  Where is her hair!? Now, she does have a lot more than she did and it's hard to tell because it's so light.  This is so drastically different from Morgan.  For comparison here is Morgan's 11 month picture.

You can't see the other one but we have TWO full on pigtails in Morgan's hair. They both still share Mommy's love of the Tribe though!  This also becomes the stage where monthly picture taking becomes difficult. Rylee is more interested in scaling the couch and looking out the window because it is far more interesting than whatever I'm doing.  She's a nosy neighbor.

Right now she still loves any and all food.  She loves drinking everything out of a sippy cup (especially if it's Morgan's!) except her formula.  She has developed compassion for the dogs and must think I don't feed them  enough because she always shares her meals with them.  She likes to bounce up and down a lot and can stand on her own and cruises like crazy.  All of this though is on her own will.  If I try to make her stand she decides crawling is for her. 2 seconds later she'll do it on her own.  I'm just waiting for her to take those first steps any day now.  She likes to grin really big and wave hi and bye.  She also likes to say Hi and Bye, Mama and Dada.

Today was also Aunt Kimmie's birthday!! Happy Birthday Kim!!

4/26/11: Extreme Living Room Makeover

Our living room needs a makeover badly.  It's not going to be that extreme but it's time for new carpet.  Since we decided to get the new carpet we figured if we are going to paint it at some point we might as well do it before the new carpet comes.  Our carpet has been through 2 puppies, 2 children, 3 cats, and a Canale. I speak of my friend Ryan who does not miss an opportunity to spill something at any gathering. He doesn't discriminate either, he does it everywhere. Beware.  

Our carpet is not that forgiving either, seeing as it's cream.  It's also not very soft.  Doesn't make it very inviting to kids or adults.  We needed/wanted something soft, multicolored (because hey we all know we still have kids, and pets, and a Canale) and cheap.  When we carpeted our basement downstairs we got great carpet from the back wall at Lowe's.  We decided to venture back there and managed to find some for our living room.  It is the sample you see above.

Our biggest dilemma now is paint.  I definitely want some color in the room.  Right now it's all painter's white. We have grey couches with plum/fuchsia and black accents.  The end tables and TV stand are both black.  We've pretty much decided that the majority of the walls will be painted a beige color and that we would really like an accent color wall behind our main couch.  I wanted to make it something brighter and then adorn the wall with black picture frames and some vinyl designs.  I really thought I wanted to do the plum/fuschia. I bought a sample of this:

While I like it in theory it seems to have more of a pink undertone on the wall.  I think we still may go with it only because I'm tired of trying to decide.  That's a horrible way to make a decision I know but I'm really over it.  Anyone have any ideas?  I need help. I need it fast.

4/25/11: Randomness

This pictures has no story.  I swear this child is not always in her pack n play though. I promise you she wears clothes and gets to come out from there. I'm only able to get so much done with her being mobile.  If she would learn to sit still for 5 minutes things might be different but really, who are we kidding?  That will never happen.

4/24/11: Happy Easter!

The morning started out on a bit of an aggravating note.  We didn't put the girls baskets out until after we got up and let the dogs out (6:30ish). Sometime over the next hour or so a chocolate bunny from Morgan's basket met its makers in Kalie and Ace.  

Dogs:1 Bunny:0 :(   

When the girls woke up Morgan looked for both of their baskets and all the eggs.  They each got a book or two.  Rylee got some sippy cups, a toy story ball, and some candy.  Morgan got Bambi, a bathing suit cover up, some bubbles, a coloring book and some candy.  After our exciting morning we got ready and headed over to my moms for the day. It was nice to be at my moms for the day since she has places for the girls to nap and toys for them to keep themselves busy with.  Morgan's day basically consisted of eating tons of candy and having a day long sugar high. The girls had fun, we had fun, the food was so good, and we all had a great holiday together!

4/23/11: Easter Eggstravaganza!

 This morning was the neighborhood Easter egg hunt.  Morgan still wasn't looking that great but since it was literally right across the street we decided to let her hunt.  She went all on her own this year for the first time and managed to get all the eggs she was allowed!  Rylee got some help from Daddy and managed to win the grand prize which turned out to be a giant chocolate bunny that I'm willing to guess Daddy will end up eating.

Morgan got to stay up and color eggs and she did a pretty good job! We colored 6 all together.  We put each of our names on one and Morgan got to color on the other two. Then she put stickers all over them.  She was very proud of her final product.  Rylee will get a go at it next year but she was already asleep by the time we started. Plus I just imagine a giant mess when I put together an 11 month old and colored egg dye.

Daddy finally mowed our lawn that afternoon too and the girls had a fun time riding around after he was done. Their wagon is attached to the back of the lawn mower. Daddy pulled them all around the yard when he was done! All in all a productive, fun day!

4/22/11: The Middle

I'm calling this the middle because the end better involve Morgan feeling better.  I rarely if ever have to take Morgan to the doctor. I honestly can't even remember the last time she was there for something other than a well visit.  Unfortunately we had to make a trip today and I knew it last night.  I apparently passed on some dominant trait/gene where any kind of illness attacks the eyes. For instance I had mono pretty bad as a teenager and it took a long time for anyone to figure out what I had. Why, you ask? Well, instead of getting an incredibly sore throat like regular people (mine didn't hurt at all) my eyes almost swelled shut. Nice, huh?  Somehow Morgan has picked up the same thing.  Last time she had her one and only ear infection (like 2 years ago) her eyes had horrible drainage and got super puffy and red.  Last night I noticed the drainage from her nose had turned green. Warning sign #1.  Warning sign #2 happened when her eyes started to get all goopy.  I was fairly certain she had an ear infection because the day before last she was complaining that her ear hurt.  

Morgan was not a happy camper about going to the doctor.  She wouldn't get weighed, she wouldn't let the doctor look at her throat or mouth.  Another clue I knew she did not feel good because she is usually a little chatter box wanting to do everything. As soon as the doctor looked in her ears she told me they were infected. Both of them and pretty bad.  So we got an RX for amoxicillin (trying to give it to  her is a whole other story..) and headed on our way.  We head back to check up on her ears in 2 weeks since there was a lot of fluid built up.  She's so sad to look at right now. My poor little baby. :(

4/21/11: A day in the life of Morgan

The following is a series of pictures Morgan took over the day (and a video or two by accident) when I didn't realize she had the camera. Enjoy!

4/20/11: Hey, hey, hey, Let's Go Tribe!

We were obviously struggling for pictures today. When you are taking pictures before you fall asleep of what you are watching on TV you didn't really think ahead did ya?  I had two pictures to choose from Grady Sizemore and Jack Hannahan. Obvious choice ladies, obvious.  I'm going to implore you again to watch the freakin Tribe. Don't be one of those people like my dad though who bitches about them when they are losing (the beginning of the season) and then tries to talk to me about "his Tribe".  More or less he does it strictly to annoy me but I suppose he wouldn't be my dad if he didn't.  Back to my original point, the Tribe is the best team in the majors currently.  I don't know how much longer we'll be able to say that so I suggest you start watching ASAP. If for nothing else, Grady is back and that's enough to bring a smile to your face!

4/19/11: The Beginning...

This was the beginning of when I knew Morgan did not feel good. The day this child voluntarily goes to bed she's definitely sick. Give it a couple days and see what happens....

4/18/11: Vitamins

Ah yes... My drug of choice to keep me awake with energy.  A "B" Complex, comprised of a large amount of various "B" vitamins.  Its better than caffeine, and you need B vitamins in your body to begin with.  You have probably all heard of "5 Hour Energy."  Well all that is, is a large amount of B vitamins.  No caffeine, no sugar, just B vitamins.  Why pay $5 for two 5 Hour Energies, when you can pay $5 for 250 High Potency B Complex vitamins.

Only has one side effect... Glow in the dark pee.

** I hope by now you guys can figure out which posts are Pauls and which are mine.  It might get confusing I know..**

4/17/11: York Peppermint Baby!

How cute is she?  Side note - I seem freakishly taller than her. I'm not.

 I'm very fortunate to still keep in touch with a good handful of friends from high school even though many of us live all across the country now. Let's be honest people, high school was 12 years ago..YIKES!  One of these lovely gals, Erin (hereafter referred to as Moytes) moved her silly ass to Colorado with her hubby a while back but was in town this weekend for her baby shower. Moytes likes to act like she will have no idea what to do with a baby and let's face it, who does?  I know for a fact though that she will be an awesome mom! While I miss Erin dearly, it was so nice to see her and I'm so happy for her and her new family!  I can't wait to squeeze little Oliver! ;) (That's the name she's pulling for! Her last name is York, hence YPB right now.)

4/16/11: Tiger Woods

No, I am not about to go ripping into Tiger, telling jokes like "Tiger Woods has a new sponsor. Durex." No, I am going to tell you about his new game, Tiger Woods PGA Tour '12: The Master's.  Its the first golf game to allow players to actually make their way up the ranks and have a chance to play at The Master's.  They have, for whatever reason, never had this course available in the game.  I traded in some of my beloved games, Madden 11 and NCAA Football 11.  But, it was well worth it.  This is hands down the best version of Tiger Woods (even better than the real thing!). 

4/15/11: Beef O Bradys

We had a nice meal out tonight with my parents at Beef O Bradys. Beefs is a nice little sports bar and grill in the back corner of the Walmart/Kohls plaza in Brimfield. It's family friendly and always has a game on.  They also have kick ass beer prices.  Paul got a tall Dortmunder (the beer of the month) for $2.75!  You can't beat that! Morgan is not the easiest child to take to dinner anymore because she usually has to pee 800 times and the rest of the time she wants to jump around.  Rylee is no angel either as she likes to throw her sippy cup and/or bottle on the floor and grab at anything she possibly can.  She is becoming quite the cheeser (like hardcore) lately and I managed to catch her in action at dinner. Cute, no?

4/14/11: Grandma and Grandpa's House

I've been trying to find a time to take the girls over to my parents for a while now but believe it or not the retirees lead a busy life.  Today they were actually at home and didn't have plans except for my dad's jaunt to Kale Creek that afternoon or the Country Club as he likes to refer to it as.  I brought the girls over around lunch time and we had a grand ole time.  The girls played with blocks and threw the ball.  Rylee mostly tried to escape the living room as she has learned how to climb the steps now.  I actually got to take a nap :shock: while I was there. Later that afternoon Grandpa Ralph taught Morgan how to shoot the nerf gun at Grandma while Rylee continued to get in to things she isn't supposed.  All in all a great day at the Grandparents!

On a side note today was Aunt Calli's 22nd birthday!  Happy Birthday Calli!