Thanksgiving 2010

We had a great food and fun-filled Thanksgiving yesterday. We started the day with our traditional breakfast casserole (a recipe my mother-in-law shared with me). Up until this year Jonathan and I were the only ones who would eat it. This year Abigail decided that she liked it-I guess that means less for me :-)

We spent most of the day with my family. My Uncle Joe treated us to a wonderful Thanksgiving feast. He made turkey AND ham along with traditional sides. The girls got more food on the floor than in their stomachs, but they enjoyed themselves. At one point during our meal they decided they would feed each other. I didn't mind this at all as long as they were actually eating.

Dessert was INSANE! There was close to one pie/dessert for each person there. I love dessert, but I do not love making decisions, so I had to have a taste of a few things (and brought a plate home as well). Sarah had chocolate pudding pie and, well, she made a mess.

A family tradition of ours is to put up and decorate our tree on Thanksgiving or the day after. We joined in on decorating my parents' tree because my brother and his fiancee were in town and our whole family was together. I'm glad the girls got to join in on the fun because we won't put a tree up this year. We'll be spending Christmas with the Kapaldo's and didn't want to go through all the trouble of setting up our own tree. PLUS, I'll spend less time trying to keep the girls from messing with the tree.

Abigail really enjoyed decorating the tree. Sarah really enjoyed taking ornaments off of the tree.

We decided to give each of the grand-daughters a chance to put the angel on top of the tree. We have pictures of my sister and I doing the same thing when we were kids.

All in all it was a great day. We have so much to be thankful for, the biggest thing being our family, so it was great being surrounded by family all day long (we also had a chance to talk with the Kapaldo's face-to-face using the computer-which the girls loved). We hope you all had an awesome Thanksgiving!

Photo Fridays 11.26.10

What I'd like to be doing right now...

The Best Part of Waking Up...

Jonathan and I were never big coffee drinkers when we first got married. Like I've said before, we've started drinking more since we had kids. In an effort to save money I've sacrificed "quality" a bit when it comes to the coffee we drink. Jonathan prefers Starbucks while I am happy with other, less expensive brands (like Eight O'Clock, New England coffee, even the upscale version of the store brand). I can't really taste a difference, but Jonathan can. So, we had a little taste test Sunday morning.

Jonathan could taste the difference. However, he thought the Eight O'Clock brand was Starbucks and the Starbucks was Eight O'Clock. As a compromise though, I think we'll have Starbucks every so often (i.e. when it is on sale).

Good Idea, Bad Idea

Let's start with the bad idea, because that one came first. Sarah's one year appointment was today. I decided to take both of the girls to the Pediatrician's office. No big deal, Abigail can look at the fish, drink some milk, play with her puzzle game on my iPod. As long as the three of us were in a room with a door then all was well. Once I was in the waiting area making flu shot appointments it was a different story. Abigail ran off into the main lobby, down the hallway, and out the front set of doors. I was humiliated! This was also, by the way, after Sarah had four vaccines and was already upset. All three of us ended up shedding a few tears.

On to Sarah's checkup. She is on the tall and slim side. She is in the 75 percentile for height and on the low end for weight, so we have to work on the whole eating thing. She tries all sorts of food, but doesn't always end up eating it. She had four shots including her first round of flu shots. Then she had blood work done. I felt really bad for Sarah because they tried getting blood out of her right arm, but then had to move to the left because they were having problems. So she got stuck with a needle in six places today.

Now for the good idea. Both of the girls were thrilled to get a mid-day bubble bath. The icing on the cake was blowing bubbles in the tub. I think I may try this again sometime because they really enjoyed it.

Now I'm hoping for a great afternoon of long naps. We'll see how that one goes :-)

Photo Fridays 11.12.10

The Price You Pay for Increased Mobility

Sarah is a champion cruiser. She also spends a good deal of the day strolling throughout the apartment with her walker. Lately she is letting go of living room furniture and her walker and is venturing out all by herself on her own two feet.

With this increased mobility comes a greater risk for injury. Sarah has been really good about landing on her bottom, cushioned by her diaper. However, last night was a different story. I heard a bang, ran and scooped her up.

I grabbed a piece of ice to help with any swelling. Sarah decided that instead she wanted to taste the ice. At least it took her mind off of any pain she was in. Hopefully she won't have any more significant bumps and bruises in the near future.

Killing Time

In the "olden days" for Daylight Savings we could say, "Yes! One more hour of sleep! Yahoo!" Nowadays it is a different story. The girls don't get that we have that extra hour that could be used for precious sleep. So, we decided to push their bedtime for tonight 30 minutes later than normal with the hopes that they only get up for what seems like 30 minutes earlier than normal.

Time seemed to crawl by. Plus, we were all kind of getting tired of being cooped up in the house due to illnesses. We needed to find a creative way to make the time pass. Here is what we ended up doing:

Photo Fridays 11.05.10

This week has been a bit of a yucky one. Abigail came down with a virus and a bacterial infection. Once she started getting better, Sarah caught a cold. Abigail decided to pick up on that too. To top it all off Jonathan hasn't been feeling well either. I'm the only one who has managed to stay relatively healthy.

So, while I have taken a few photos over the last week, none of them are pretty. So, how about a cute picture of Abigail from a year ago?