Gingerbread House

Another COLD day outside, so we stayed in and made a gingerbread house...while still in our PJ's!! Hannah LOVED it and was so proud of her finished product! She asked me all day long when daddy was coming home. She kept saying, "I tell daddy I made that! I made that, daddy!" She loves showing off things that she's made...whether it's a picture she's colored or pancakes she's "made."

Getting Started. She can't WAIT to get her hands on all that candy!!!

She discovered that she could EAT the candy...and that made this project even that much more fun!!

Sharing the candy with Alice Anne.

So funny...she realized that there was a gingerbread man on their pajamas and she was telling the gingerbread man that she was making a house for him.

The finished product

Showing Alice Anne the "A" she put on the side for Alice Anne. There was an "H" on the other side and an "M" &"D" on the back for mommy and daddy. I guess she forgot about the gingerbread man because she said it was Alice Anne's, Hannah's, Mommy and Daddy's house.

A Cold Day!!

Alice Anne is such a little trooper! I found out when I dropped Hannah off at school this morning that today was her last day of school until January. I guess that's what I get for not reading the notes that are sent home...I thought I had 2 days left to shop and run around with only 1 baby. So, I dropped Hannah off and started running--and I mean RUNNING because it was freezing and 28 degrees outside all day long!!! Sweet little Alice Anne didn't cry a bit-she just smiled and laughed and talked as we went in from store to store. Alice Anne, why are you so sweet?!?! After we picked Hannah up we came home and the sweet pea took almost a 2 hour nap!! Doesn't sound like much, but for her that is big time!!!

I promise, this is not how I took her out in the cold...she was SO bundled up she was sweating!!

I think we've gotten Alice Anne's spitting up and tummy problems figured out and under control. At least I'm hoping that we do-for her sake. We have tried formula after formula and I have switched back to the soy formula because she seems to like that best. I am adding some rice cereal to her bottles to make it thicker so it will stick in her tummy better and not come back up. I just started adding the cereal yesterday, but we have hardly had any spit-up since then and she seems to feel so good! I'm so glad that we hopefully have it figured out!! And I think the little baby is cutting a tooth...

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Daddy's out of town tonight and Hannah is sleeping in mommy's bed. I let her watch Elmo in my bed while I took a shower. When Elmo was over, she rolled over and was out. She's all bundled up under the electric blanket right now. I'm hoping we'll both get some sleep :)

Snaggle Tooth

We had a fun dinner w/ the Ramseys last night. After dinner they decided to come over and we thought we'd let the big girls stay up late and play a while. Good idea...until they stayed up a little too late, took a bath in the big tub and started slipping and sliding a little too much. It was all laughs and fun until Hannah stood up in the tub to tickle Ava...and bit it. She screamed...and screamed...and screamed!!! We saw the busted lip and got the princess ice pack-that always fixes every boo boo. Even the princess ice pack didn't work. Every kid falls and busts their lip every once in a while, right. Does every kid fall in the bathtub so hard that they chip their tooth? Yes, while I was rocking Hannah trying to settle her down I noticed that not only does she have a busted lip but she also has a chipped tooth!!! Yep, a chipped tooth right on the top in the front. I tried to touch the tooth to make sure it wasn't loose--she was not going to stand for that. Poor little thing! Good thing her favorite uncle is a dentist!!! He said he'd have the little snaggle tooth fixed up in no time. But, for now I think we'll just stick with "Bubbles Daddy"!

A couple of pictures of the girls having a blast in the tub BEFORE the fall.

And after the little fall...they sat on the couch and held hands. It was so cute! Holding Ava's hand helped Hannah feel better. I couldn't get a picture of the tooth. I'll have to try that in a day to two.

The Big Birthday Party

Lucky Little Hannah scores again with a pretty nice birthday party for a "nearly two year old." Her real birthday isn't until December 20th, but we were able to share a really fun party with Milam... one of Hannah's very best friends. We had a petting zoo and a pony and the kids had a blast. The bounce house was a hit with all of the little ones, the weather was perfect and we all had a great day.

Hannah got so many goodies for her birthday. Lots of dress up clothes and shoes, baby dolls, clothes, a Little People nativity set, a camera, lots of Play Doh stuff, bath toys, books, several Melissa and Doug toys, and the drumroll please...a REAL Elmo that knows her NAME!!! She was so excited about this and couldn't believe it when Elmo said "Hannah!" She was in awe!! She will be busy playing with this stuff for a long time. She is one lucky little girl. She has more than anyone could ever want or need.

More pictures to come...

Around the House

Alice Anne loves school days. They are her days with mommy and I try to give her as much attention as I can. She is such a little pumkin and is my biggest fan! She thinks I am hilarious--will laugh at me all day long and of course I eat that up!! Here are a couple of cute pictures of her sweet smile.

Hannah loves her baby sister more that we could have ever hoped for! She is so sweet to Alice Anne and Brett and I are so proud of Hannah and how good she is with her. She wakes up every morning and the first thing she asks is, "where is Ayice Anne?" She goes downstairs and gives her a big hug and kiss and tells her good morning. Alice Anne's face always lights up when she sees her silly big sister.

Hannah's new entertainment are her babies and animals. She has brought most of them downstairs and she is obsessed with placing them in certain chairs at the table. She strategically places them where she wants them and then steps back, takes a look and makes adjustments. It literally takes her about 15 minutes to get them all how she wants them and then she will sit down with them and share her snacks.

She eats her meals at the bar and there are 2 other barstools besides the one that she sits in. I have to tell her well before meal time that we are about to eat, and to put her babies where she wants them to sit. She usually gets frustrated that there are only 2 barstools for all of the babies and animals to share (because they HAVE to sit where she sits and where she can see them), but she eventually gets them where she wants them and she is pleased. It is really funny to watch how ocd she is...wonder where she got that :)

Rolling Around

Sweet little Alice Anne rolled over today!!! We've been working on it for a while and today she did it...3 times! I cheered and showed her how proud I was of her and, of course, Hannah chimed in. Hannah got down on the floor and started rolling around to see if she would get the same praise, but she found that she just made me laugh. I don't think Alice Anne realized what she had done, but she thought our cheering at her was pretty funny...and her little laugh just melts my heart! She probably gets so tired of me trying to make her to laugh all the time, but I can't resist!!

Visit with Santa

So we got our tree up and stockings hung. In the midst of all of the Christmas decorating, we told Hannah that Santa was going to come see her and Alice Anne if they were good girls. We told her the whole story...that he was a man with a big belly and lots of white hair on his face. He would fly from his toy shop with his reindeer to Hannah and Alice Anne's house and he would come down the chimney and eat the cookies that we made for him. After he eats the cookies he will leave toys for good girls. We told her that she would need to tell Santa thank you for her toys.

Hannah was so excited about Santa. She talked about him for the rests of the day and woke up on Saturday morning asking about Santa and asking where Santa's cookies were. We told her that he wouldn't be here for a while, but that we could go and see him at his toy shop. She talked about going to sit on his lap for hours. She said that she was going to tell Santa thank you. She told Alice Anne about it over and over. She said she was going to tell Santa that she wanted a hot dog and a kitty cat. So we made the journey to Santa's workshop and waited in line. She was so excited...kept pointing Santa out to Alice Anne and everyone in line. It was our turn to go talk to Santa and Hannah said with excitement, "come on Alice Anne!!" She got about 3 feet from him and her excitement turned to fear and the fear turned into full blown out screaming!!! I mean terror! The little girl was terrified! Santa even bribed her with stickers and that didn't phase her one bit. The screaming was getting louder. We didn't push him on her. We told her that she didn't have to talk to him, but that Alice Anne still wanted to sit on his lap. Brett picked her up and she held onto him so tight. She did not want to have anything to do with the man with a big belly and a lot of white hair on his face. She got her stickers anyway and continues to ask about Santa. She has even asked several times to go see Santa. We'll see...if not this year, we'll try again next year.