Build-A-Bear for Birthdays

Since E's birthday was on Friday and L's birthday is next Monday, we took the girls today to Build-A-Bear so they could create their new birthday friends.  The employees there seemed shocked that we had both daughters celebrating birthdays, but I'm sure other families out there have kids with close birthdays too, right?!?  L had a blast with it while E was a bit more apprehensive.  In the end, both girls got bears - L dressed hers in a t-shirt, flannel shirt, and drum sticks, while E dressed hers in a t-shirt and high heels.  It amused me greatly that neither girl got something to cover the bottom of the bear!

L being shown how to push the pedal to stuff the bear.

E watching her big sister go first.

L got the hang of it - yeah!

E watching her bear be prepared.

"No, Mama, I refuse to put my foot anywhere near that pedal, YOU do it."

Putting a heart inside her bear.

After the stuff, Bear needs to be bathed and brushed.

L showing off her final product - L the Bear (with drumsticks!)

L drumming with her bear

E with her bear.  I don't understand that girl's obsession with SHOES.

Also, I met my goal for the year - one post for every day of the year.  I may not have done it on that particular day, but I got it all in!  Woohoo!  May 2013 be even better for everyone, and I'll put together my list of New Year's resolutions tomorrow (I'm trying something new - actually setting goals!). 

E's and L's haircuts

Yesterday, I trimmed E's hair for the very first time ever.  It was about 1/4" off her bangs in the front, and trimming the extra long lock in the back to match the rest of her hair, but it was her first haircut!  She doesn't look any different, but I've got a lock of hair now to put in her baby book.  :)

The last time I cut L's hair, it was late March and I practically cried as I cut those beautiful long locks.  This time, when she asked for it to be all cut off, I was prepared.  We cut off almost four inches (I think), and she looks super cute.  My in-laws were over this morning and kept saying how much they loved it.  Thank goodness I did a halfway decent job!

L yesterday in the evening, pre haircut.

L this morning, post haircut.

I should probably also note that L's nose scrape is the result of her face/nose meeting the carpet/floor inside Columbus International Airport on Wednesday morning.  Nice, right?  All these holiday pictures (and soon birthday pictures) with that damn injury in the middle of her face.  Oh well, kids will be kids, I guess.

Running, you are kicking my...

...@$$.  I haven't run in 10 days, and so I thought I'd get back into this morning.  Aside from being 35F before windchill when I set out, I had a really hard time making it through just a 3-mile run.  Guess I'll have to run a bit more to get back up to the point I was at.  However, I did manage a 9:13 on my first mile, which probably explains why I was so freaking tired after it.  Tomorrow, I'll have to dress warmer see if I can go longer without walking and go farther.  Oh, Running, I love you but you totally kick my @$$ when I don't do you at least every other day!

E's 2nd Birthday

Today is E's 2nd birthday!  When she woke up this morning, I went in to her room singing Happy Birthday.  She was so happy - she had a huge smile on her face, clapped her hands, and was bouncing in her bed.  After breakfast, she and I went to the store to get her a balloon (Dora the Explorer, of course), her birthday cake ("pink cake!  pink cake!"), and chocolate ice cream and french fries for her party (healthy?  but of course!).  When we came home, we called Obaasan (she had called while we were out) and then OPENED PRESENTS!

Opening a gift (love the shirt!)

So excited!

Checking out her Baby Ernie doll with Daddy.

These were mostly gifts from Mama, Daddy, and L, with a few from Uncle C, Aunt K, and Granddad and Obaasan.  She was so happy ripping into each gift that she hardly noticed what the gift actually was before ripping into the next one.  Ha!  L was extremely jealous that E had all the attention and gifts - she kept trying to take the gifts, open the boxes, etc., and just was generally a bother.  It's hard to get an almost-four-year-old child to realize the world doesn't revolve around her! 

After a lunch of rice and nori (requested), we headed over to the new Buy Buy Baby at the mall for pictures with their cousins.  The pictures went great, and I know my in-laws will like having them.

My beautiful E, on her 2nd birthday!

Sisters

The W grandchildren

Then it was home for a nap, grab the stuff for the party, get pizza, and head over to the in-laws' house for a party!  E had a great time at her party playing with her cousins, eating pink cake, and getting gifts.  She was not, however, happy to be fighting for her own gifts from S and L.  "NO NO NO, MINE MINE MINE!" was the refrain for most of the afternoon/evening.  Ugh.  Hopefully this gets better with time.

E opening presents.

E getting sung to and attempting to blow out her candle.

E eating her cake and ice cream with TWO forks!

Our family on E's 2nd birthday

E was so happy all day.  "My...birthday!"  Happy 2nd birthday, my sweet daughter, and I hope you enjoyed your day.  Mama loves you so very much and can't wait to see you celebrate many, many more!

HOME AGAIN HOME AGAIN JIGGITY JIG

This morning, the girls got up at 5:30am (damn time change!).  Ho-Ho made birthday pancakes for the girls, as we were celebrating both their birthdays this morning, breakfast pizza, and red-velvet chocolate cake.  HA!  The girls got completely spoiled again with their birthday gifts from her and Go-Go (American Girl dolls and accessories!) and completely loved it.  I am so grateful that they love their great-grandparents so much and have a chance to have a relationship with them.

Meet L and her newest friend, Rebecca.

Opening all the gifts up while the great-grandparents watch.

L's cake face!

The girls were in such a hurry to eat their cake that they couldn't be bothered to take it out of the pan.  This was also at 8am, mind you.  I laughed and laughed!

Then, we packed up all our stuff and drove back HOME.  So incredibly happy to be back in our own place.  We ate lunch, unpacked a few things, started some laundry, took a nap, and then went over to my in-laws' house for their Christmas.  It worked out well because the husband's brother, his wife, and my nephew and niece are all there right now too.  We had a great dinner, fun catching up, watched everyone open gifts, and listened to my niece have a tremendous poop (LOL).  Good times!

My brother-in-law and his adorable daughter V.

My nephew S and E opening gifts.

I'm watching L open up her Charlotte (Princess & The Frog) doll.

My nephew Clark Kent / Superman!

S is super excited to get train tracks!

Back in AZ!

We left Mom and Dad's house at about 4:30am this morning to get to the airport.  The weather forecaster last night had been all doom and gloom, advising people to travel overnight instead of waiting until morning because the snow would start in the city around 4am (earlier west of the city, where we were).  At 4:30am, it was just cloudy and slightly windy.  HA, take THAT, weather forecaster!  By the time we got to the airport at 5:30am, it was still just fine.  That made me feel better about my parents driving back home in the "storm."  When we took off at 7:30am, it was just starting to rain in Columbus, but apparently it switched over to snow fairly soon after we left.  Thank goodness we got out before it started coming down, because they apparently got about 12 inches of snow today!  Our ride out to Phoenix was fairly bumpy and long (~5 hours), but at least the girls were okay, no one got sick, and we're back in Arizona!!!!!

Got our luggage, got the car, and drove back over to the husband's grandparents' house.  You have no idea how grateful I am to be able to come back to such a comfortable place and spend time.  I could have hugged his grandmother a million times today for being free of everything in Ohio, but I restrained myself.  The girls got to celebrate their Christmas with their great-grandparents, and boy did they make out like bandits.  Phenomenal food, great company, and much relaxing ensued. 

I am so tired, and so ready for bed.  Back to Tucson and home tomorrow morning!!!!!

Xmas in OH, Day 5

CHRISTMAS DAY.  Merry Christmas!  The girls (and my husband) each had one book under the tree this morning from Santa.  E got a princess book, L got another Go Diego Go book, and the husband got a Green Lantern book.  I will admit that I was sad I didn't have anything under the tree Christmas morning, but I have to remind myself that my Christmases have happened prior to this trip and after.  Still, sad. 

Dad took us down to the firehouse this morning so the girls could see an ambulance and firetrucks up close.  They loved it.  They loved looking around inside the vehicles, walking around them, touching them, and even clanging the bell on the old 1920-era truck they still have there.

Granddad gave her a stuffed dog with a fire hat on in the ambulance.  This was E's reaction.  :)

Partners in crime on a firetruck.

Ring the bell on that old firetruck, E!

My mother made a turkey dinner today (as if the ham one on Sunday wasn't enough!), and so the six of us had a great feast with that.  Then, I spent most of the afternoon cleaning up the house from the hurricane that is my daughters, packing up our stuff, and listening to the news regarding an impending major blizzard.  YAY.  Thank goodness we live in Arizona, in the desert, where snow is a rare, rare occurrence. 

Riding Obaasan - neigh!

Home tomorrow, hopefully before this storm hits!

Xmas in OH, Day 4

Christmas Eve.  The husband took the girls so I could get a little extra sleep this morning (as I hardly slept at all last night), and they played with their aunt, uncle, grandparents, and Daddy all morning.  C and K left after lunch to go visit K's mom, so we kind of just bummed around the house the rest of the day.  The girls are fascinated with the toys in my room and the snow, and they even constructed a whole family of snowmen this morning (their first snowmen!).  Hopefully Santa remembers to come by again tonight and leave something under the tree for them!

The snowman family, in the morning:  Kid, Mommy, Baby (on the rock), and Daddy.

After it rained, Kid fell over into Mommy in the afternoon!  LOL!

Aunt K and Uncle C read a Go Diego Go story to E.  Uncle Clint makes GREAT whale noises.  :)

Me playing with E in my bed after her nap.

Me playing with L in her bed after her nap (honestly, she was pretend sleeping here!).

Xmas in OH, Day 3

Today was the Big Christmas Get-Together at my parents' house.  After a morning of playing in the snow, my brother C and his wife K came over. 

L in the snow, wearing my old rain boots.  :)

E attempting to make a snow angel.  Her stop-drop-roll method was hilarious.

We had a big Christmas dinner, opened up all the presents (much to the girls' delight), hung out together all day, and enjoyed each others' company.  Aside from my mother not listening to one f*ing word I said all afternoon (I actually had to leave before I screamed at her for awhile), it was good.  L got Princess Yahtzee, to which the husband and I immediately requisitioned to play, and she got Candy Land.  Candy Land was easy enough that even E could play, but E kept trying to eat her game piece.  Oops.  Also, I can't wait to try out my new Jillian Michaels workout DVD when I get back to AZ!

Mmm, Christmas dinner (and a hungry toddler peeking at the pickles).

Sitting at the table with the girls and my sister-in-law K.

E is stickerfied during gift-opening time.

Xmas in OH, Day 2

Thank goodness the girls slept until 7:30am.  I don't think I could have dealt with them waking up any sooner.  Thank goodness for the time change too, lol!  All L could talk about during the blizzard yesterday was making a snowman, playing in the snow, doing anything in the snow.  It was almost comical how reverential she sounded when talking about the snow.  While she had played in it previously as a baby, I'm sure she doesn't remember it.  E has never played in snow (aside from our trip to Mt. Lemmon in February), so this was all a novelty for her.  After breakfast, we headed out into the snow.

Though we only stayed outside for about 30 minutes, it was so much fun to watch the girls play.  Too bad it was powder snow, but they had fun anyway!  L tromped around everywhere, E wasn't so sure she wanted her hands/mittens in the snow, and they both had huge smiles on their faces while they got freezing cold.  When they came inside, they had snow everywhere, but I guess that happens when you don't have proper cold weather gear because you're from Arizona!

L tromping through the snow in Mom and Dad's driveway.

E "throwing" the snow.

E trying to shake the snow out of her mittens.

My favorite picture of L during this trip, aside from the booger.

After a nice nap, we headed out into town to go to Wal-Mart and the Chinese buffet place Mom and Dad like to visit.  I think I saw about 5-6 people I went to high school with at Wal-Mart, and as my husband jokingly pointed out, at least none of them were employees there!  The Chinese buffet was mediocre, but the girls were thrilled by the amount of desserts available and the amount their grandparents were letting them have.  Ha!

To bed, to bed, off to bed.  We're all sleeping in my bedroom since it's the biggest room in the house.  The husband and I have my bed, L has the twin bed my brother and his wife gave my parents a few years ago, and E has the converted crib/toddler bed near our bed.  It's funny to listen to everyone snore, whistle, talk, and groan in their sleep!

Xmas in OH, Day 1

Last night, we drove up to Phoenix and stayed with the husband's grandparents overnight.  Then, we got up and drove to the airport in Phoenix this morning for a 10am flight to Columbus.  The flight itself was alright until landing.  We were trying to land in the beginnings of a blizzard, so the turbulence was awful.  L got sick (luckily into the doggie bag), I got sick (yay bag!), and E was screaming and crying from the turbulence and not being able to be in my lap.  My poor husband - he should get a medal for dealing with us during that landing!  Mom met us at the airport and then proceeded to drive us back to the house.  The trip usually takes about 60-65 minutes.  This time, with all the snow, wind, ice, and horrid conditions, it took just over two hours.  Horrendous.  We were going 35mph on the freeway!  Mom had to fill up on gas on the way back too because she was afraid we might get stuck.  We saw a lot of cars stuck in ditches or in accidents because of the weather, but luckily our trip wasn't so bad.  The girls slept on the way back, and my poor husband was stuck between their car seats.

Um, honey?  I don't think this is our flight...

Once we got here to the house, we had a pizza dinner and then the girls manhandled Granddad and Obaasan.  E is absolutely enamored with the cat, and L canNOT stay away from my bedroom with all the toys that my mom left out for them.  Can't WAIT to sleep.

Granddad reads a story to E at bedtime.