Catching up

I haven't had much time to sit and write anything on this blog in a while. Between work, the holidays, work, spending fun time with the girls and Bill, work, treasurer duties for our HOA, and did I mention work, there hasn't been much time to sit and write. But, right now, Liv, Addie, and Bill (not feeling well) are all taking naps so I have some free time. I finished doing our taxes last night and feel pretty good about taking a 1/2 hr or so to do something fun instead of turning on the ol' work laptop to get some work done. So, I thought I'd catch up here.

Back to December:
We all had fun decorating for Christmas. Everything was rushed this year but we did manage to get decorations up relatively early. We even got a dusting of snow on the weekend we put up the outside decorations. We all bundled up and went outside to put out the decorative penguins and see how great of a job Bill did on the lights. Another year of not falling off the roof!!



Olivia helped us decorate the Christmas tree but we did it while Addie was asleep so she didn't get to "help". She was amazed to see it when she woke up from her nap. Decorating it was the easy part, trying to get a really good picture of the girls in front of it was the bigger challenge. Here are some of our attempts:



The girls were excited waiting for Christmas to arrive and Santa to come and bring them toys. Olivia could not wait for Santa to come and bring presents. Addie didn't really know what was going on but loved the red and white Santa hat.

We spent Christmas Eve at my parents' house pigging out on pierogies, as is the family tradition. No one makes better pierogies than my Mom....and of course they are perfectly sealed by me, Aunt Tori, and which ever siblings are able to make it for Christmas Eve. This year, it was Meredith and I who were solely responsible for pinching the edges and surprisingly, there were almost no pierogies that ended up not sealed. Hmmm...wonder what that means?! Anyway, we missed those who couldn't be there but had lots of fun eating great food and visiting with each other.

Later in the evening, special Christmas pajamas were delivered by one of Santa's elves for Liv and Addie because they had to go home and sleep well so that Santa could stop by with their presents. Liv was so excited that they had matching "zip-up jammies". She put them right on and was so excited. Since Addison seems to always have cold hands, we decided to get her the really warm zip up fleece pjs as her winter pjs. Liv kept saying that she wanted pjs just like Addie's. So, getting the zip-up jammies from Santa was a very special treat.....and she and Addison had ones that matched. That was until "the incident".......

Olivia and her Grandpa were playing. Olivia must have had a very full bladder and Grandpa either tickled her too much or squeezed her too tight and didn't stop when she said stop and she peed in her new, special, Christmas pjs from Santa. She was devastated!!!!! Grandpa got scolded by me and we changed her and went home to get the pjs in the washing machine. We couldn't get them washed and dried in time to wear them to sleep because it was late but I had them washed and dried for her to change into in the morning to open her presents.

There was a lot of excitement in our house when the girls (esp Olivia) went downstairs and saw that Santa did bring presents for her and Addison.



We had a nice Christmas day visiting with my family, I worked Friday, and then we spent the weekend visiting Bill's family back in his hometown. It was nice to visit with everyone there since we see them very infrequently but the time goes so fast. Soon, it was time to jump back in the car for the drive home and then it was back to work for me.

Bill was home with the girls between Christmas and New Years and they loved getting to play with all of their new toys and puzzles and read their new books. The hard part for us was figuring where to put everything but somehow we managed.

The New Year.....

We didn't have any big plans for New Year's Eve. A relaxing evening of not having to go anywhere sounded good to me. Bill and I decided to start watching Season 4 of Lost (thanks Jamie & Katie). We (really I) was able to stay awake until midnight. We stayed up a little bit longer and went to sleep. I know, not so exciting but it worked for us.

Early in January, Jinx seemed to be having more problems and we had to make a vet appointment for her. We were afraid the doctor was going to tell us that her kidney failure had progressed to the point that it was time for us to make that dreaded decision. We took some pictures of her with Addie because Addie is so entertained by Jinx. Yes, by Jinx the cat that does nothing more than lay around different spots of the house and beg for treats. Addie just loves to crawl up on the couch by her and pet and tickle her. (She doesn't understand that cats aren't ticklish.) I actually took some pictures of Addison with Jinx because I know that at 18 months, she won't remember her when she is older. Fortunately, her kidney's aren't as bad as we were afraid. Her kidney disease is progressing but her main problem was a urinary tract infection. Not a good think for a cat, esp. one with kidney problems but it was better news than we thought it was going to be.

January was a busy month but still pretty quiet. There was lots of playing......

Some shoveling of snow...........

(Yes, that's Addie standing on the window sill watching her Dad and sister outside. The girl can climb!)

A visit to the Farm Show to see the animals.....

(When you next see Addie, you have to ask her what a pig says!)

More fun and silliness........

And some relaxing.........

The only picture I have to post for February so far is of Olivia. She had her first dentist appointment where they actually cleaned her teeth and took some x-rays. She was so brave!!

The girls are both growing like weeds and keep us busy, tired, and totally entertained. You never know what they will do or say next.

Olivia loves to wear dresses every day to school, except gym days. She loves to pick out her dress and the sock/leggings or tights that go with the dress. Some days, she totally goes to school not matching but she's happy. I try to help her match her colors but she if she wants to wear green socks with her pink dress, so be it. Olivia has gone to 2 birthday parties for classmates and keeps talking about her own birthday party. We weren't really planning on having one but may reconsider and let her have a party and invite her classmates. She does not want to invite the boys in her class because they are all bad, according to Liv. She said we can invite the good boys but then said there weren't any in her class. Olivia has hit the point where she doesn't really need a nap at naptime but is a bear in the evening if she didn't have one. We've had some problems with her having accidents at home and school over the past week and it has been really frustrating, especially on the day that she wet herself right before I picked her up from the after-school care program and had no clothes to change her into. The spare clothes at school were in her locked classroom. I now have a spare outfit in the car but was glad that day for the blankets I keep in the car.

Addie is 18 months old but I don't think she knows she's any younger than Liv. She wants to and tries to do everything her big sister does. She loves to play with her baby dolls and put them to sleep. Other favorites are Elmo, her "baa-baa sheep", and she still loves Pablo (the Backyardigan). I swear she will grow up to either be a football player (like my Dad thinks) or a female wrestler. She will jump on you, dive at you, and body slam you if given the chance. She may bite you too but we're working on that! Despite these things, she is still the sweet girl she has always been. She is also a great dancer - you should see her moves!! People tell me all the time that they have never seen a happier or more smiley girl than Addison and they are right. Her vocabulary is growing and growing and she is even starting to put some words together. She love to drink her "milp" (aka milk) and is learning the names of the different characters on Sesame Street. After Elmo, Ernie is her favorite. She has a tough time saying Liv's name but somtimes can mange a "Wivy" (Livy).