Christmas 2007...Round 3 (Grandma & Papa B)

And the gifts keep on coming...

Christmas 2007...Round 2 (Santa)

We had a nice relaxed Christmas morning at home.

Carly was a lot of fun this year.

She enjoyed the whole Santa experience.

Carly also enjoyed helping her sister open her gifts and even tested most of them out for Emily!

Christmas 2007...Round 1 (Christmas Eve)

We decided to start a new tradition and allow the girls to open one present on Christmas Eve.

They each got new pj's to wear for the night and on Christmas morning.

One of Life's Divine Treasures

Carly has discovered one of life's divine treasures....the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. She moaned with delight the entire time she ate her first one. And now, she keeps asking for more.

It will now be a competition between her and Jeff when there are any in the house!

(I can't wait until she tries the fudge which she insists she won't like. Even though my fudge isn't as good as a Reese's PB Cup, I suspect that it too will become one of her favorites.)

Oh, the weather outside is frightful....

We had originally planned to go to Mfld today to celebrate Christmas with Papa and Grandma B, Auntie Schelle, Uncle Jon, Mason, Allie, as well as to see Great-Grandma and all of the other B's. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans for us. We decided not to brave the hour drive in the blizzard (especially since we no longer have a vehicle with 4wd).

The view from inside the house is a beautiful one.

Jeff and Carly went out to play, but only lasted about 10 minutes. It was a little too blustery for Carly. Eventually, Jeff did go blow out the driveway; however, as of this point, the plows still haven't been through. The street is still at least a foot deep. We were going to order a pizza for dinner, but decided that delivery was probably not going to happen...

Emmalemma Bear

Our little Emmalemma Bear will be 4 months old on Christmas Day. She is growing so fast! Here are a few recent picts. She can almost roll over (those elbows get in the way), and is getting closer to sitting up by herself. She has stopped sleeping through the night, as it appears she's become used to a midnight snack (or two). She blows many raspberries. She smiles often and has the sweetest laugh.

She enjoys many snuggles with Daddy.

The Children's Program at Church

Last Sunday was the Children's Program at church. Caroline was one of the barn animals. (Okay, this rendition of the story had many bears in the barn. Carly is the bear in the center of the photo. The one who's face you cannot see, but you can see her green dress, white tights, and green shoes. We were running late, and failed to get there early to get a good seat for pictures.) All of the kids did a GREAT job!

After the performance, Santa made a visit during dinner in the Fellowship Hall.

(Thanks for saving us a trip to the mall Santa!!)

Carly meets her idol....

There's a new pizza joint in town, and as part of their Grand Opening Celebration, Diego came to visit. Carly LOVES Dora and Diego. They are her absolute favorite cartoons right now. We told Carly we were going to get pizza for lunch, but didn't tell her that Diego was going to be there. She was completely in awe when she saw him! But, when it came time to meet him, she was a little scared (so no smile in the picture). Overall, she had a great time. She talks about Diego as if he's one of the family now. (It's definitely time to cut back the amount of TV the girl watches!)

Caroline's Tube Surgery

Caroline had bilateral tube replacement surgery today. This is her third set of tubes (in 2 1/2 years). The surgery went well. As anyone with children who have undergone surgery knows, coming out of the anesthesia was no treat, but it was better this time than the last two times. She is now curled up on the couch with Zola bear, her bunny, her blanket, and Murphy. She is resting comfortably watching the Charlie Brown Christmas Special from last night. I'm sure we'll watch a little Dora and Diego today too, as they are her favorite. She had a little discomfort in the left ear, which was the one we've had the most problems with. Tylenol seems to be helping with that. She's already acting much like her normal self. We've even seen her beautiful smile. She'll be able to go back to school tomorrow, which she'll be happy about. (She has already been asking about her school friends.) We'll go back in a month to see if the tubes are going to work any better than the last two sets. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Happy Birthday Melanie!

Today is the birthday of my oldest friend (not in age, but the friend that I've known the longest - that I'm not related to). So, I decided to go back and do a little digging to see what old picts I could find. Here are a couple:

We weren't products of the 80's!?

(The picture was date stamped '86.)

Oct 1998 - Mel made a beautiful bride!

Happy 33rd Birthday Mel!!

Emily's Baptism

We had quite the eventful weekend. We were fortunate to have our family in town visiting for Emily's baptism. We were able to get a lot of great pictures- too many to share all of them, but here are a few:

Not only was it a special day for Emily, but for our entire church congregation. Today was the first Sunday in our new sanctuary. Below are pictures of the lifting of the cross as it was moved from the old sanctuary to the new, followed by the bagpipe processional.


Once in the new sanctuary, Emily was baptised.

And he took the children in his arm,
put his hands on them
and blessed them.

Mark 10:16 NIV




Being together also gave us a chance to get some great family pictures:

We want to give a special shout out to Susan & Sheryl who made the long drive in the middle of the snowstorm. It was a long and treacherous day for them (literally, a drive that should normally take about 6 1/2-7 hours took them about 12!). We were thankful they made it safely. (Thank you to everyone else who also made the long drive as well! We were glad to have all of you here!)

Carly had a blast playing with all of her cousins!

(She idolizes all of the big kids!)

Here she is wearing part of her fairy costume.

Emily enjoyed lots of snuggles.

Thank you to everyone who came. We had a wonderful weekend!

The end of an era...

Well, it's official...after 10 years of working for the same company, I'm taking the plunge and changing employers. Yesterday was my last day with TPC. It was a good 10 years. I met a lot of great people during that time and was given a lot of great opportunities, which I am thankful for. But, it's time for a change. Jeff and I have had a lot at stake by both working at the same company, especially during today's economy when housing starts are low. (Maybe Jeff and I won't discuss work and windows so much? Somehow, I think fenestration and the housing markets will always be a common subject at our house!)

I will be officially unemployed for two days, then start my new job at Graebel Companies, Inc. on Wednesday. I'll be doing the same type of work: credit and collections. I'm looking forward to new opportunities, but I'm most excited about the shortened commute! I'll be about 5 minutes from home (vs 25 minutes) and only about 3 minutes from the girls' daycare. That's reclaiming almost 5 hours a week just from drive time!! (What will I do with myself with all that extra time??? I'm sure my girls will help me figure it out!)

Grandma's Gang

Today is my Grandma's 86th birthday. Here she is with all 9 of her great-grandchildren: 5 girls and 4 boys -- with a 5th boy on the way. (Okay, it's a little difficult to get 9 kids between the ages of 6 weeks and 8 years to sit still and smile for the camera!) Happy Birthday Grandma! We love you!

Mr. Murphy

Today is also Murphy's birthday. He turned 7. The poor guy hasn't been as high of a priority since the girls came into our lives. He was quickly demoted from #1 to #3. He rates pretty high with Caroline though. She wanted to have a party for him, cake and all. She settled for singing Happy Birthday and giving him a hug. (Better luck next year Murph!)

The third time's a charm....(at least we hope!)

Next Tuesday, Caroline will be having her third set of tubes put in her ears. The second set, much like the first, continues to remain blocked on a regular basis. Please say a little prayer that this third surgery will go well without any complications and that this surgery will have the success that the other two didn't!

Rub a dub dub....

It was bath night for the girls. After Carly's bath, she was a big help in giving Emily her bath. Not only did Emily get clean, but the counter, cabinet doors, and floor are now all clean too! (Ok, sometimes Mom's gotta learn when to let kids be kids and deal with the mess later!) Most importantly, both girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves!

Emily is 12 Weeks Already!

Emily is 12 Weeks old today. She's starting to be more active and is a lot more fun! She laughs, coos and smiles often. She will reach for, grab, and hold a toy. She especially loves rattles, chimes, or squeaky toys. She loves to watch her big sister (who also enjoys giving her lots of attention) or Murphy, the dog. She loves to suck her thumb. She hates getting dressed, especially when it comes to putting her arms in; but when it comes to taking the clothes off - she's all smiles! She has been sleeping through the night on a regular basis for about a month now. She also likes to watch tv, especially when it's bright colored cartoons that sing fun songs - at least she and Caroline should be able to agree on a show! She also has become a drool and bubble factory. Most of all, she has brought our family great joy!

Best Friends in the Making

These two sisters are going to be the best of friends!!

Fall is Here....

Even though we live in the city, we tend to see Wisconsin wildlife pass through our yard on a daily basis. But a sure sign that fall is here is when the turkeys come. This year we counted 16 turkeys total. We didn't capture it with the camera, but for those of you who have never seen a turkey fly into a tree, it's a sight to see!
This morning's visitors were a 9 point buck and two does.

This afternoon there were 5 does feasting in the backyard.

Our Two Little Pumpkins

Carly was quite excited for Halloween this year. She was particularly excited to wear one of the hand-made costumes that Auntie Schelle let us borrow. Because she couldn't decide between the two, she decided to be a "Pider" for her school parade/party.... and an elephant for trick or treat! Thanks Auntie Schelle!
The best part was going trick or treating with cousins:

Mason (revolutionary war hero) and Allie (a friendly witch).

Carly had a blast trick or treating, but after only the third house did say

"I want to go back to Auntie Schelle's house and eat candy!"

Meanwhile, at home.....

Emily was not as happy to be dressed as one of my favorite treats.

She was a little more comfy just in her pumpkin hat and pants.


HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Emily @ 2 Months

Emily is two months old!! She is 2' tall and weighs 13 lbs 7 oz.

(95th percentile for her age for both height and weight)

In search of the Perfect Pumpkin...

Back at the end of September, in an attempt to bribe Caroline to smile for our family picture, we promised a trip to the pumpkin patch. It didn't work, and we never got to see the big pearly whites in the family picture. But, since she has us wrapped around her finger, we decided to go to the pumpkin patch anyway.

Jeff and Carly looked and looked for the perfect pumpkin.....

Carly enjoyed hunting in the patch, and found a few pumpkins worth loading into our wagon. But, her idea of the perfect pumpkin was the miniature gourd pumpkin she found in the pumpkin house.
At last, we got the smile we had hoped to see in the family portrait!

Decorating the pumpkins was quite fun too. Next year, we'll actually carve them!