Eric Hilary Sierra and Brooklyn

Christmas

2012-01-30T10:17:00.001-05:00

We took the girls to see Santa and they actually did surprisingly well! I thought they'd both freak out once they got on his lap but they were fine! Sierra was too shy to tell him what she wanted. She told me she'd tell him next time. haha

We spent Christmas with my family in Canada this year.

My mom digging for more presents. haha

Brooklyn and Auntie Amber

The cheery parents

Sisters

Christmas eve we spent at my grandma's.

Brooklyn was the entertainment for most of the night. I guess that's what happens when you're the only baby there ;)

Sierra loved playing dress up. It brings back so many memories. We used to put on fashion shows all the time with the same things when we were little.

We went to my Aunt Diane's for boxing day. Sierra and Katrina loved playing with Vanessa's barbies.

Our visit went by way too fast, but we had a great time while we were there!

Brooklyn as a 1 Year old...

2012-01-18T23:35:00.000-05:00

Brooklyn at 1 yr was 16 lbs and 27 1/4 inches tall.
She loves to eat almost everything which is amazing since Sierra has always been such a mouse when it comes to eating.
She took her first steps 2 days before her birthday, just like Sierra! She's mostly walking now and only crawls when she needs to get to something really fast.
She has 4 teeth on top and 2 on the bottom. They are such chiclets and it's hilarious when she gives a big grin.
She loves to say hi into any phone. And uh oh anytime she drops something.
She LOVES Sierra. Sierra can make her laugh at anything anytime. She thinks she's hilarious.
I just totally cut her off from breastfeeding, i felt kind of bad because she loved it so much but after a year, i can't take it anymore.
She also loves to climb on everything and try to pick up large, heavy objects. it's pretty funny.
Sierra still loves to call her "Brook-a-liss" other nicknames are brookie baby, brookalee, munchkin, girly and the little pterodactyl because she screams like a pterodactyl constantly.
Here are some pictures of the little squealer since her 9 month post:

Brooklyn's 1st Birthday

2012-01-11T00:15:00.000-05:00

My little pippy girl turned one on the 18th. I cannot believe one year has passed since I had her! This year seriously went by so much faster than Sierra's first year did.
We squeezed a little family birthday party in for her between all of the holiday madness. It was a snowflake theme for our little winter girl.

Trimming the tree

2011-12-31T22:06:00.000-05:00

We picked our tree up at the magical home depot this year. Sierra and Maci were so cute together running around.

Sierra absolutely loved decorating the tree and did the whole thing herself

well, with a little help from Brooklyn ;)

Sierra standing beside the tree-so proud. I thought i'd have to re-do most of it, but she did such a good job, I didn't have to touch it. :)

28

2011-12-28T00:30:00.001-05:00

I turned 28. Alyssa turned 27. Charlotte turned 1. We celebrated.

the birthday girls

birthday chaos!

little Charlotte

Brooklyn doing a trial run before her own 1st birthday

i think it's safe to say that Brooklyn enjoyed Charlotte's birthday cake a little more than Charlotte did...haha

my little girlies

Thanksgiving

2011-12-27T23:57:00.001-05:00

Apparently I've been too busy reading other peoples' blogs to update my own.

Ashley, Dorian & Charlotte came to visit for Thanksgiving.

the table... before we put the silverware and glasses on it. oops.

the whole group (minus dad taking the picture)

Charlotte and Brooklyn. Born just 2 weeks apart!

Maci, Dane & Brooklyn enjoying a little night cap together.

Halloween

2011-11-13T14:12:00.000-05:00

My camera battery died so the trusty iphone took over from this point on...;)

Sierra was in heaven trick or treating. We thought she'd do a few houses and then get sick of it and be done. Not so much. She was running from house to house and was really good about saying trick or treat and thank you. We stayed out until ALL of the houses lights were out. She LOVED it. I guess we should've known. Anything that involves candy, running and being outside is her ideal activity.

We found this little owl sitting quietly helping herself to a lollipop. haha

The cutest little skeleton sisters ever.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-10T19:35:00.001-05:00

After the wedding

2011-11-07T22:08:00.000-05:00

After the wedding, we didn't have Brandon and Brittany there to entertain us so we had to find something else to do.
Saturday Amber introduced me to the best home decorating store EVER. The Urban Cottage. I am in love with everything in there. Don't bother trying to google it. The one that comes up is NOT the same store. Unfortunately you can't order online. Canada-when will you catch up?
We also made a trip to Master Pita which was delicious as always. Baltimore-when will you get a decent pita place?
And then Russ cooked us some delicious steaks and we watched a movie while the boys watched baseball. barf.

Brooklyn & Tug became good friends.

with our two little babies ;)

Heather and her girls slept over Sunday night so Heather and I went to breakfast at Cora's together on Monday which was a nice treat. The cousins took a bath together. Who doesn't love taking a bath with their cousins? haha

And then we all went to Montana's for dinner which was also quite delicious. Sierra was disturbed that we made her wear the moose hat for a picture.

we love a good photo op

cutest picture ever

me and my little pippy

We drove back Tuesday. It was a quick trip, but we have to save up the rest of our vacay time for Christmas!

My little Brother's wedding

2011-11-02T15:21:00.000-04:00

My brother, Brandon, got married to his pretty little bride Brittany on October 14th! My last sibling to get married-it's so weird that we're all married and grown up now. Luckily this time the drive down went smoothly-we didn't hit any floods or anything so that was nice.
The wedding was beautiful, the bride was beautiful and we were so happy to be there for it!

The happy couple

With their little nieces: Talia, Katrina & Sierra

Sierra was too funny during the reception dinner. Eric was the MC and let me tell you I got quite a workout watching both girls by myself while he was up there. Not the most relaxing dinner I've ever had-but the food was delicious!

The little cousins going up to their room to be babysat so we could get a much needed break!

Sisters

We're so happy for you two and excited to have a new sister join the family! Congrats guys!

9 months old!

2011-09-30T15:25:00.001-04:00

Brooklyn's 9 month check up was kind of a disaster. She only gained a pound since her last appt. so the pediatrician freaked out. They took a urine sample and made me take her to get blood done and then they wanted to insert a catheter, put dye into her kidneys and do an ultrasound. WHICH I wasn't that cool with and denied.
She got sick with the flu after our trip to Canada and has really just started to get good about eating solids so I want to wait a month or two and see if she gains a better amount of weight before I put her through all that.
IMO my pediatrician gets a little out of control with wanting to do so much testing and is a little obsessive about growth charts.
Sierra was the same way as a baby (so was i) and she is perfectly fine.
SO that is the update. Anyone in my area love their pediatrician? ;) ...we may be switching.

Brooklyn is 14lbs 3oz. (not on charts. sierra was 15lbs at this age.) 26 1/2 inches long (15th percentile)
Aside from that, here is what our little pippy has been up to:
-mastered the army crawl
-pulls up on everything
-has her two top and two bottom teeth in and is getting more
-favorite baby food is definitely anything mango. she'll eat pretty much any food that we are eating. she does ok with veggies but doesn't love them.
-so smiley and easy to get to laugh. really ticklish.
-definitely obsessed with me right now. if i'm in the room she won't let anyone else hold her. fun.
-loves playing with sierra (until sierra injures her. which happens often)
-babbles her heart out (including momommom and dadadadad.)
-newest tricks:blowing raspberries (esp. while she has food in her mouth.) and waving
-nicknames: pippy (because she is a pipsqueak) brook-a-liss (given by sierra) brookie baby and of course munchkin.

She is such a joy to have around. Sierra loves having a little sister and we just love our little Brooklyn so much!
All of these pictures were taken on my iphone so please excuse the fuzziness.

being attacked by the crab aka sierra

a little shopping with grandma

just hangin out in the bathroom. nbd.

watching Sierra

The 8 hr drive...that turned into 20

2011-09-21T18:53:00.000-04:00

Two weeks ago we headed out for our usual 8 hr drive up to Brantford, Ontario for my little sister's wedding. About an hour and a half into our trip we realized that the flooding in Pennsylvania was a lot worse than we ever could've imagined. We ended up driving for 10 hours that night and only got 2 hours away from our house. Every major interstate was closed and tons of other streets were blocked off due to severe flooding.

it. was. a. nightmare.

oh, and did i mention that earlier that day Sierra barfed all over our new sea grass rug (which is pretty much impossible to clean spills out of) and Eric's work laptop (which obviously ruined it)? Eric thought she just gagged herself because it happened right after she ate a goldfish cracker.

Not so much.

At the exact time that we realized we couldn't go anywhere Sierra barfed all over herself and her car seat. As if barf in the car isn't horrible enough, we couldn't get off on any exits to get her cleaned off because every exit just directed you back onto the interstate which would then be closed and send you back to a worthless exit again.

We spent the rest of the night thinking we could get around the flooding and get somewhere. It was horrible. We finally got into a hotel at 4:40am.

With hopes that things would be better the next day, we headed out again. We still ran into problems but managed to get there late that night. (it took us 10 more hours and we missed the rehearsal dinner. on the bright side, Sierra only barfed once this day compared to 6 the day before. including once on the floor at mcdonalds.)

But, at least we made it for the wedding the next day! It was the trip from hell.

sitting (uncomfortably) with her barf bowl. poor little girlie.

the little sick girl taking a much needed break from all the driving.

day 2 with no car seat (believe me, this was necessary. it didn't smell any better the second day)

Safely (and happily) in Canada. This was my dress when I was Sierra's age!

My brother Brandon and his cute fiancee Brittany with their wildflowers. lol

A lovely dinner out at Swiss Chalet

munchkin

reading with grandma. brooklyn is quite pleased.

On the way home we decided to take it easy and stop half way at a hotel. Ever since the first time we drove to see my family we've passed Clyde Peelings reptile museum and Eric has been dying to go for 6 years. So we did that too.

Alligators

black mamba

butterflies. one landed in sierra's hair. she was a little disturbed.

Despite the horrible drive on the way there, the trip was really fun! We'll be doing it again in 3 and a half weeks for my little brother's wedding. Lets hope the rain holds off for a while.

*wedding pictures still to come

Sierra's Birthday Party

2011-08-12T10:13:00.000-04:00

This year I decided Sierra was old enough to actually care whether she had friends at her party or not. So we had 9 of her friends over for a little Friday evening party. It was really fun. The kids were so cute and played well together and we got to hang out with our friends too!

Sadly, I was so busy planning things and making food that I didn't charge my camera and it died after taking 5 pictures. Luckily my friend Jen and my sister in law Alyssa had their cameras so it wasn't a complete disaster.

the invitations

the birthday girl

i thought Adelyn represented the lollipop theme fairly well

Victoria playing pin the candle on the cupcake

It was so much fun planning a party this year. Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us!

Sierra's Birthday

2011-07-07T15:21:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Sierra turned 3! I really can't imagine life without her. She is such a funny, sassy, smart, sweet and loving little girl! Right now she loves Dora, Cinderella, Belle, pet shops and her dollies. She loves to read books (it's amazing to me how quickly she memorizes the words), play outside and she is a candy maniac. She recognizes "Target store", Chic fil-a, McDonalds and Toys R Us right away if we drive by. She is so sweet with Brooklyn and loves her so much. It's hilarious to hear her talking to Brooklyn and saying the exact same things that I say to her. She knows how to navigate my i-phone way too well. We love our little girlie so much! Here are some pictures from her special day:

Pancakes for Breakfast-way too squirmy for a picture!

feeding the turtles

this is what 95% of the pictures i tried to take of her look like. she has wayyy too much energy!

her smile of choice these days

Another special smile haha

cute cousins Brooklyn and Dane

Maci, Brooklyn & Dane

Happy Birthday Sierra!

4th of July

2011-07-05T09:30:00.000-04:00

Happy 4th!

Gramma Cherry and Grampa Jack*

2011-06-25T07:49:00.000-04:00

My parents were just here visiting for the last week. As usual it was so nice to have the extra company and help! We shopped, we ate, we swam and we had a little early birthday celebration for Sierra. The week went by too fast and we miss them already!

Grandpa and Brooklyn

Sierra spent a lot of time in this princess dress that Grandma got her for her last birthday. As you can see, Brooklyn also enjoyed it. haha

We all went to Eric's work one day for a tour of one of the ships that go out. This is in the lobby of Eric's office.

On the ship

Those stairs up to the ship were a little dangerous. they tilted down for some reason and were kind of spiky. I didn't choose the most sensible shoes that day.

Sierra and her friends (that dolls hair has seen better days)

Sierra is obsessed with these cars at Toys R Us. Believe me, it wasn't a pretty sight when I told her it was time to go. She was also quite attached to that dog in the seat next to her. hahaha

Brooklyn and her favorite toy, Sophie the Giraffe. She seriously loves that toy so much. It's really cute.

The new barbie bike from Grandma and Grandpa

A trial run on the new bike. So far, she's more interested in pushing the bike herself and putting toys in the basket. lol

Delicious cupcakes from Flavor Cupcakery. The luscious lemon is to die for.

*Eric doesn't really love the fact that I taught Sierra our parents' names. But I think it's pretty funny.

Beach Trip 2011

2011-06-17T18:03:00.003-04:00

Last year we went to the beach with Ryan (Eric's brother) and Alyssa and our good friends Shawn and Krystal. We had so much fun that we decided to do it again this year! We doubled the number of children in the last year so this year we got a big house instead of a condo. The girls loved it and we all had so much fun!

me and my little angel baby

Maci digging in the cooler while Dane gets fed

Brooklyn basically spent the entire time at the beach sleeping. She's not really a fan of the outdoors.

Shawn, Victoria, Krystal & Nora

The boys

The girls

Delicious crabs

Shawn working away on the last crabs

These little girls spent a lot of time watching Cinderelly and Belle (and walking around the house in dress up shoes)

a story with daddy

love my little girlies!

cute girls in red sunglasses

We also played pool, dominoes, made yummmmy meltaway cookies (and had to borrow a mixer from the owner of the house, which resulted in her buying herself a new one), shopped, got ice cream and went out for dinner.
We can't wait until next year!!!

p.s-i just updated my blog so i could fit bigger pictures and i have no idea what im doing. it looks ridiculous right now. i can't figure out why some of the font is miniature and some is normal size. maybe my next post will look more normal.

Cupcakes & Ice Cream

2011-05-26T18:53:00.004-04:00

...not the real kind. Although I do wish I had a cupcake to snack on right now. Remember when my mom came to visit and we stayed up all night making Sierra and Brooklyn t-shirts? No? Well, we did and here are the pictures! I think they turned out so cute! (i guess i kind of already posted some pics of Brooklyn in this in my last post. fail.)

it's so hard to get a decent picture of your kids when one can't sit up yet. Brooklyn kind of looks like a zombie in the last picture.

The little 4 month old

2011-05-05T21:26:00.005-04:00

Well, she's almost 5 months old at this point. Ever since I got my iphone I hardly ever open my laptop! Therefore blogs don't happen very often.
At Brooklyn's 4 month check-up, she weighed 11 lbs 6oz (10th percentile) and was 23 1/2 inches long which was, i think 25th.
She hated her shots again but was a lot better afterwards throughout the day than last time.
Right now she:
-has outgrown most of her nb clothes and is wearing almost all 0-3 mo now
-rolls from front to back and back to front
-sleeps on her belly
-sucks on her fingers
-loves her bath but hates getting out
-LOVES her sophie the giraffe toy
-loves her swing, which is so nice since Sierra hated it (so it wasnt a total waste of money!)
-is on a good schedule but always cries herself to sleep which i hate!
-loves being bounced on daddy's knee
-sleeps through the night usually between 6 and 8 hrs and then goes back down for about 3 or 4 hours. it's been so great! now if only we could get ourselves to bed before midnight we'd be in great shape!

She is so cute right now and is really easy to get smiles amd laughs from. She really is such a joy to have in our family. Sierra loves her (sometimes a little too much)and she has such a sweet temperament.

Good Friday, Easter & Oma

2011-05-02T15:40:00.015-04:00

Last week we drove to Canada for my Oma's 90th Birthday. It was so fun to be back home (it's been a year) and see all of my family and friends there!

This was on the Good Friday walk with my sister and our friends growing up-Robin and Sarah. Now we each have 2 kids! I haven't been back for the good friday breakfast and walk for YEARS! So it was fun to be there for it this year.
Katrina, Sierra and Talia with their walking sticks.
Me and Sierra with my dad

Little sleeping Brooklyn
my cute nieces: Talia holding Brooklyn above and Katrina below

my mom was being ridiculous putting this bonnet on Brooklyn haha poor girl
Amber and me after dinner with Russ and Eric at Crabby Joe's
Sierra's easter baskets. I wanted to do something outside for her but it was so cold and rainy that day.
My mom with her granddaughters. Katrina, Brooklyn, Sierra & Talia
Oma with Brooklyn. Funny story. She kept telling everyone that Brooklyn was 'heavy'. We were just like 'I guess so....She's in the 10th percentile, but whatever" lol Later we find out that she was hinting that she was getting tired from holding her. Oops. Sorry Oma. :)
All my cousins on my dad's side. It's so fun to all be together again. We grew up really close and saw eachother all the time. I miss them!
Everyone with Oma, the birthday girl!
Girl cousins (minus Heather) Kimberly, Amber, Joanna, Hilary, Vanessa & Denise my cousin Rob holding Brooklyn

This is my Oma with her niece Mannon who flew all the way from Holland to be at the birthday party and to meet all of her relatives in Canada. It was so cool to meet her and she was so sweet! She brought back presents for EVERYONE!

Me and Amber with our cute 'little' brother Brandon.

Looking at these pictures makes me want to go back and visit again already!

Big Girl Bed

2011-04-20T16:15:00.004-04:00

On Friday we finally decided to turn Sierra's crib into a toddler bed. We talked about it for a while, but I kept putting it off because she LOVES her crib and i didn't want her getting out of her bed during naps.
It's been going pretty good. There have been a few Sierra sightings so far though. I actually think it's really funny when she just appears at the top of the stairs when she's supposed to be napping or in bed for the night. (of course i don't let her know that) But she has been pretty good.

The only problem is, now she thinks its really cool to climb into Brooklyn's bed. I don't think Brooklyn appreciates it. haha

Yarn Wreath

2011-04-14T09:16:00.003-04:00

I have been lusting after these for a while now and finally made one last weekend. It was so much fun! I already have plans to make a mini one for Brooklyn's room.

I didn't use a specific tutorial for this, just looked at several different ones and made it up. Same with the felt flowers, I was too impatient to find a good tutorial so i just made them up and the first ones i tried worked so i just used them. haha

Crayon Roll

2011-04-14T09:11:00.003-04:00

A few people asked me where I got the tutorial for the crayon roll on my last post. It was from Skip To My Lou and was really pretty easy! (other than the ric rack which was a bit of a pain to get right) We made it a little taller than they did to fit the twist up crayons.

Mommy visit

2011-04-05T19:28:00.011-04:00

My mom came for a visit a couple of weeks ago. It was SO nice to have some extra help and to get out of the house every day and do something! We had lots of fun eating, shopping, sewing, and [some] relaxing! all dressed up for church

playing in the nordstrom lounge while Brooklyn eats

Sierra eating dinner at La Tolteca in her'barbie' shirt

the crayon roll i made with some assistance from my mom

We also made cute shirts for Sierra and Brooklyn, but we stayed up until like 3am the night before my mom's flight doing them and didn't get Brooklyn's done. So my mom took it home to finish. I'll post pictures of them once I get them reunited (the shirts, not the girls).

Ashley, Dorian & Charlotte come for a visit

2011-03-30T15:41:00.006-04:00

My sister-in-law Ashley and her husband Dorian came to visit in mid-February to bless their sweet baby girl, Charlotte. It was so fun having them here! Dorian did a little photoshoot of all the babies, which was chaos-but hilarious. Ashley brought back a St. Patrick's day craft for the girls to work on, while the boys watched the babies. It's so fun to have 4 little cousins the same age-we can't wait for them to grow up and be old enough to all play together!

my sweet little niece Charlotte, looking beautiful on her blessing day. The whole group: Kye, Dad, Mom, Ashley, Charlotte, Dorian, Ryan, Dane, Alyssa, Maci, Me, Eric, Brooklyn, Clyde & Jess with their babies (Sierra had already run off to nursery) Sierra & her little friend Summer (Dorian's niece) Our cool St. Patrick's day craft

ZzzzZzzz

2011-03-10T08:35:00.003-05:00

Brooklyn finally slept through the whole night! I put her down at 11:30pm and she woke up at 7:30am. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am one happy, well rested, momma! Now, lets just hope she keeps it up!

Oh, what a night!

2011-03-08T10:25:00.007-05:00

February 19th was our 6 year anniversary.

We went to see Jersey Boys on Broadway. Last year when we were in New York for our anniversary we wanted to go because it got really good ratings, but the tickets were pretty expensive. This year it was in Baltimore so we decided to go. I didn't really know much about it (except that they sang Sheri Baby which my mom's crazy friend used to always sing to her on the phone) Who knew Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons sang so many good songs? I didn't. It was really good, but we were definitely one of the 10 youngest people there. It was kind of embarassing. haha

It was so nice to go out for dinner and to a show without the little kiddies and just enjoy each others company. Happy Anniversary Honey, I love you!

2 Month Check Up

2011-03-01T19:14:00.008-05:00

On the 22nd Brooklyn weighed 9lbs 10 oz and was 21 3/4 inches long. 25th percentile for both!
She got two shots and was miserable for the rest of the day-it was so sad! Sierra always did pretty good with her shots.
We've been sick a lot around here lately and Brooklyn's managed to get the worst of it. First she got the flu (complete with vomiting and getting dehydrated-so scary!) And now she has a horrible hacking cough and is really congested. She's been coughing so hard that it makes her throw everything up. Poor baby! I can't wait for her to get better and get back to her normal cheery self. (and for me and eric to be able to sleep at night)
Before the sicknesses she was smiling a lot and cooing-really cute. She rolled from her belly to her back last week and she's been a lot better with her schedule.
EVERYONE who sees her says she looks exactly like Eric. Including the manager at Buckle. haha

she loves to escape from the swaddle

you should see the other attempts of a picture of the two of them. disaster.

She is so freaking cute, I can hardly stand it!

Valentines Day

2011-02-24T10:52:00.006-05:00

two cute girls on valentines morning
getting ready to bake some sugar cookies!

Sierra with her little valentines surprise

Homemade chocolate pretzels and 180 calorie pack pretzel m&ms for Eric

Sierra definitely ate more pretzels than Eric did haha

Decoarating cookies

mmmmm pretty

the little baker

Later that night for our romantic Valentines dinner, the four of us went to Chili's!

1 Month Check-up

2011-01-26T23:44:00.007-05:00

8 lbs 6oz (13th percentile) 21 inches long (20th percentile)

Brooklyn has such a sweet personality, we have loved having her as an addition to our little family. Although I will say she never wants to be put down and definitely doesn't want to sleep at night so we've been pretty exhausted around here. Today I started babywise. I am determined to have her sleep through the night and not have to hold her every second of the day! I don't know why I didn't start earlier, because I used it with Sierra and it worked like a charm! Wish me luck with this little one.

Our little christmas baby

(this pic and the 1st one are a little sneak peak into a photoshoot my sister did. i can hardly wait to see the rest!)

the cute sisters (brooklyn looks a little stunned, it's basically impossible to get a good picture of the two of them together. actually brooklyn usually looks a little stunned when sierra's around. haha)

2011-01-24T12:04:00.006-05:00

while my family was down for brooklyn's blessing...

we opened presents (sierra with her horsie from heather's family)

took turns holding Brooklyn

took lots of sibling pictures

wore matching pjs

ate popcorn

ate chinese food

played with cousins

held cousins

played outside

and went to church.

Thanks for coming family! Let's do it again soon!

Brooklyn's Blessing

2011-01-19T17:06:00.013-05:00

Brooklyn's blessing day was perfect. My whole family came for it and a lot of Eric's family were already here.

The prayer circle included Eric, my dad, Eric's dad, Ryan and Kye (Eric's brothers) Brandon (my brother) Ken (brother in law) Shawn Atkinson (our good friend) and Bishop Brady.
Brooklyn was perfect during it and looked beautiful in a dress that mom made (also perfect).

the whole group
de Jong side
Stephenson side

My sister, Heather's, family
my cute siblings

Brandon, Heather & Amber
in the adorable little slip

with grandma, the dress maker
proud, happy grandparents

Thank you so much to everyone who came! It made the day so special-we love you all!

Fingerpainting

2011-01-13T15:46:00.008-05:00

Sierra got finger paints for christmas and couldn't wait to use them! She was so cute and funny with them. She loved it!

Christmas Day

2011-01-10T12:25:00.011-05:00

We spent christmas morning together as a new little family. It was nice and relaxing, and so fun to see Sierra get really into it this year. She was so funny and LOVED all of her presents.

We spent the evening at Eric's parents house

Sierra finished off the night by vacuuming & loved every minute of it. haha

Christmas Eve

2011-01-10T12:14:00.004-05:00

We celebrated Christmas eve at Eric's parent's house. We had lots of good food, watched a movie and just enjoyed each others company!

The three bundled babies! Brooklyn, Maci & Dane

...and those are the only pictures i took. lol

Brooklyn Rose

2011-01-09T20:18:00.007-05:00

Our sweet little baby girl was born on December 18th at 6:04 pm. She was 6 lbs 9 oz and 18 3/4 in. long.

Here is a little rundown of how the day went:

Originally I was planning on going into labor on my own (since I was induced 3 days early with Sierra) but when I saw that my due date was Christmas eve, I quickly changed my mind! My OBGYN didn't even ask when he saw what day I was due, he just immediately said he'd induce me a week early. haha I guess he didn't want to be in the hospital on Christmas day either!

We went in at 7:30 am. I was dilated to a 2 and 75% effaced.

They started the pitocin at 8:45am.

At 2:15pm they gave me my epidural. I got really lightheaded. The color drained from my face and my heart rate dropped, so they stopped the epidural and quickly gave me ephedrine to bring my heart rate back up. It was kind of scary and took a while to feel normal again. Once my HR was back to normal, they gave me the rest of the epidural.

At 5:49pm I started to push and Brooklyn was born 15 minutes later!

She was perfect and I got to hold her right away which was so nice since I didnt with Sierra.

A lovely before picture. I'm so ticked because we took a before picture, in normal clothes and somehow I managed to delete it off my camera TODAY. If only I hadn't waited 3 weeks to write this post...

So happy to finally be holding my little Brooklyn.

my two little girlies

with my mom

the proud daddy

granddaughter #4!

Leaving the hospital-notice Sierra on the right, too hyper to be in the picture.

A visit from Maria, Trevor and Little Reese!

2010-12-28T11:26:00.006-05:00

A couple weekends ago, our good friends, the Gilbert's, from BYU-I were in Pennsylvania visiting Maria's family. We usually try to get together everytime they come and have only missed one year so far since parting ways!

We met up halfway at Chili's. It was so fun this time because Sierra and Reese are the same age and could actually communicate. They were so cute together. I didn't get any pictures of the adults but I did get a few blurry ones of the girls playing outside after lunch.

they were pretty excited to find the rocks.

For some reason Reese's face is blurry in every picture. Oh well, they're still so cute. See you next year guys!

27th Birthday

2010-12-28T11:14:00.003-05:00

I just realized I never posted about my actual birthday. It's only a month late. haha We didn't do much this year since I was about to pop and Eric's parents were out of town. OH and Eric left for Spain the day before. Just a small detail. Luckily I have awesome friends who took me out for dinner while he was gone, so it was a little less painful. ;)
a little celebration 2 nights before Eric left. i don't look very pleased. maybe i had severe heartburn. (also all the other pictures sierra had her eyes closed or they were blurry-don't worry we got a new camera for christmas!)

Shelby, Jen, Krystal, me and Alyssa at Bertucci's. Thanks girlies! Whose birthday is next?

A Winner!

2010-12-09T09:54:00.004-05:00

This morning I was going along, reading my blogs and at the end of a decorating blog that I follow called A Soft Place to Land, I saw my name! I actually won a giveaway! I was so shocked! Ocassionally I'll enter giveaways and NEVER win so I was pretty excited to see that I finally had.

I won two ornaments from Lisa Leonard Designs. She makes really pretty necklaces and bracelets and a few other things too. I think I'm going to get an ornament for Sierra and the new baby with their names and 1st christmas engraved on one of these little beauties:

Aren't they SO pretty? Thanks Kimba and Lisa!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-29T19:28:00.006-05:00

This year Eric's parents were in Utah and Ryan and Alyssa were in Texas for thanksgiving so it was just us and Kye left. We invited our good friends the Atkinsons over and I did my first thanksgiving! It was actually really fun. Krystal and I split up the menu and everything turned out great!

the adult table

the little girlies table

i was so mad because this centerpiece that i made wouldn't fit on the table with all the plates and stuff! Oh well, it still looked cute on the food table. ;)

sierra and victoria were so cute. they loved their little table and were so funny together the whole time.

chowing down

kye, eric, shawn and krystal

me, eric, kye and shawn

the little girls got a little out of control with some stickers. haha

Early Birthday Celebration

2010-11-18T16:53:00.005-05:00

My birthday's not until next Sunday, but Eric's parents are going out of town tomorrow to be there for when Ashley has her baby girl for a month so they won't be here for my real birthday. My sister in law, Alyssa's bday is the day before mine so we usually celebrate together. We had a little cel e bration last Sunday!

my little helper

licking icing off the counter...

the hilarious cake. it had some sliding issues. it looks like a little mouse got into the side of it too. dont worry though, it tasted delicious!

the two birthday girls with our little girlies.

ragamuffin

sierra with grandpa

our little family

ryan, alyssa and maci

maci wanted some presents too

the girls made christmas wreaths while the boys watched the kiddies and sports and talked their hearts out. it's what they do best!

Happy Birthday to us! More celebrations to come...

1st Haircut

2010-11-12T17:17:00.006-05:00

Sierra's hair has been getting pretty straggly lately. I've been putting off getting it cut, but it finally had to be done.

She did great, we took her to Planet Kids and everyone was so nice there. She got to watch Dora while she was in the chair and didn't get upset at all!

Here is a really good example of a before:

She looks way too grown up now and I miss her long hair, but I suppose it had to be done. She was starting to look like a bit of a raggamuffin.

The little kitty

2010-11-01T11:45:00.004-04:00

Sierra was a kitty this year for halloween, she dressed up a total of 4 times and was probably so sick of that costume by saturday night!

Thursday morning we went to a little halloween party

Victoria, Nora, Sierra, Abrams, Jake and Josh

Thursday night we took Sierra to a photoshoot in her costume, I can't wait to see how the pictures turned out!

Friday night was our ward trunk or treat. Sierra loved going to all the cars, getting candy and saying trick or treat! she thinks her candy bag is a trick or treat and asks where her trick or treat is daily now. lol

Saturday night we had a family party. The food was delicious! We didn't do as much as last year, this year just seemed more hectic for some reason, but it was still fun! We had wisconsin cauliflour soup with panera bread's french baguette, ghostie potato skins, chocolate witch cupcakes with cream cheese icing, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, ginger snaps, old bay seasoned pumkin seeds and mimi's yummy punch!

I can't wait until next year when we can actually take Sierra out, door to door trick or treating, I know she'll love it! Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-10T23:34:00.005-04:00

This weekend we took Sierra to the pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins. It was pretty fun, besides the fact that I had to use the port-a-potty and it was really hot, which I didn't realize until we were dressed and going out to the car. Basically we shoul'dve been wearing shorts.

Sierra loved the hayride. It was reallly slow.

29 weeks prego, and looking it.

I love the way she's leaning on Eric's leg in this picture. Too cute.

boiling hot in all her layers,

Rochester, New York

2010-10-05T20:27:00.010-04:00

My little brother, Brandon, got back from his mission in Sacramento, CA right before we left for Hawaii. Which worked out fine, because we planned to get back 2 days before his homecoming talk, and drive down for it.
Too bad I managed to leave my permanent resident card (you know, the little thing that allows me to visit my family in Canada, takes at least 3 months to replace and costs about $400 to do so) in our hotel room.
Pretty sucky. So we missed it. I was heartbroken, and we felt terrible.
So to sort of make up for my hideous mistake and so that i wouldnt have to wait 5 months to see him, we drove up to Rochester and met my family there for a few days.
Mostly we ate, swam, shopped and went to the zoo.

Sierra loved hitting the buttons on the dvd player with her toes. (amusing? not so much)

Sierra loved the pool and especially the hot tub.

The carousel at the mall with Auntie Am

Before it started moving...

She was terrified

"Don't like it!"

Safe on the ground eating nuggets :)

At Red Robin after a loooong day at the mall. I could really use a milkshake right now.

Grandpa and Grandma with Sierra. A few minutes after this picture was taken Sierra dumped a pretty full milkshake all over the booth and my mom.

She was a little excited. Maybe it was all the sugary lip gloss she basically drank.

Zoo

so cute. love the height difference. uncle brandon is a little bit tall.

seeing the tiger, the main animal she was excited about.

sierra loved the sea lion room. not for the sea lions, for the running around without shoes on and pushing her stroller. i think this was her favorite part of the zoo. lol

a little pose. such a grown up girl!

wild

tired. we spent a lot of time in this room. haha

she also loved this elephant. a lot more than the real one which she had no interest in.

a couple monkeys. this was not an easy position to get into with a huge belly. haha

tuckered out.

See you all in December when baby #2 is here!

Love you guys!

2010-09-30T10:46:00.003-04:00

So last night I went out to the car to get something and on my way back to the house, i ran up the stairs and tripped and banged my knee and hurt my wrist. as if that wasnt embarassing enough, my flip flop went flying off in the catastrophe and i had to stay out there looking for it! As the night went on my knee got more swollen and my wrist got more sore.

Then I couldn't fall asleep. I finally fell asleep at 8am. At 8:20 am i woke up to a drip on my pillow. Oh, did i forget to mention that it had been raining all night, and still is? sierra didn't get up until 10 so i at least got to lay in bed for a while listening to drops.

so now i have bowls all over my bed catching water, it's still raining, my knee is still swollen (my wrist doesnt feel too bad though haha) and i am up with a little munchkin on 20 minutes of sleep.

nap time cannot come fast enough today! (assuming the ceiling doesnt fall down on my bed before then)

Kauai, Hawaii

2010-09-21T09:33:00.010-04:00

At the beginning of this month Eric had a business trip to the best place you could have a business trip, really: Hawaii! AND I got to go! It was so great, best vacation place ever. I've always wanted to go to Hawaii and it was everything i'd ever imagined. It's so relaxing and beautiful there. Eric was supposed to have 2 days of meetings but they ended up cutting it back to one so it was perfect. I could've stayed there for another few weeks (but i'd have to have shipped Sierra out. Eric's awesome parents watched her for us while we were there and we definitely missed her a lot by the time we got back.)
OK, now on to the pictures! (which i didn't take enough of because i'm pregnant and no one enjoys pictures of themselves while they look hideous)

At Duke's with their famous Hula pie

Eric enjoying lunch, poolside

At Eric's work reception dinner thing (looking rather whale-ish)

Dinner at Kintaro-a japanese steak and sushi place. We went with Eric's boss and another friend from work and their wives and basically ordered everything off the menu

This was hilarious because a guy offered to take our picture for us and told us he had the perfect spot because the lighting was really good. We thought the setting was kind of hideous.

We went on a catamaran ride/dinner cruise with Eric's work to the Na Pali coast. Eric felt sick the whole time (7 hours) The dolphins were so pretty swimming along with our boat and we were SO close to them, it was really cool.

It was a little windy haha

Eric lasted for about 5 minutes snorkeling because the waves were making him sick. Poor boy. So I snorkeled around like a loner for a while. haha

One of the Indiana Jones movies was filmed here.

Eric thought it would be attractive if I did the same thing as this guy for a picture. It was a little difficult to get my knee up so high.

The beautiful pool and resort

Eric loves his Jamba Juice

Our pretty room

On our last day we went on a kayak/hike adventure to a waterfall on the wailua river. (Thanks for the recommendation Michele!) It was so worth it, probably our favorite part of the trip.

Us with our sweet water shoes and hiking sticks.

Our crazy guide, she was SO out there, but fairly amusing. She told us that she planted all of her children's placentas under trees at her house so that when they eat the avacados or whatever kind of tree it is, it has their dna in it and keeps them healthy. she also has all of her kids umbilical cords in her freezer and told us to do the same with our next baby.

Someday we will definitely go back. The flight is torturous but it was well worth it. Sierra was so cute when we got back and still tells me a couple weeks later a few times a day "I missed you mommy!" So cute!

Duckies

2010-09-14T11:49:00.004-04:00

We have a really pretty man-made duck pond near our house that we took Sierra to last year for her birthday. She was terrified of the ducks.

This year she loves feeding them! She gets a little apprehensive when they come too close though, since she's gotten nipped on her fingers twice. ( sometimes she gets distracted and holds a piece of bread out without throwing it and the ducks get a little antsy and just take it out of her hand)

It's hilarious to look back at how different she looked one year ago. Good thing she finally got some hair!

Chuck E Cheese

2010-08-04T12:05:00.003-04:00

Last week we went to Chuck E Cheese with some friends. It was Sierra's first time AND my first time going. The food was pretty gross and over priced but we had a good time and Sierra loved all the rides and games! It was kind of hard to get good pictures of the kiddies because they were always moving so fast!

They don't look very excited about being there, but believe me they were! Maybe because we were making them pose for a picture, and holding them from the fun!

Seth, Sierra & Victoria

A Lovely Awakening

2010-07-28T19:10:00.007-04:00

Eric left for a business trip to New Hampshire on July 12th.
At 6 am on July 13th I awoke to what I thought was our neighbors chucking wood at my window. (i was still half asleep)After laying in bed for 5 minutes wondering what was wrong with them, I finally went to my window to see what was going on, only to find my mom and sister throwing pool toys at my window. I was so shocked! They had decided the night before to drive all night and surprise me and Sierra while Eric was away. It was such a fun surprise and it was the day of their birthday (they share a birthday). Luckily the Happy Birthday banner was still up from Sierra's bday. haha
So we basically played for the week until Eric got back and then they left a couple days later. It was so much fun!

Everytime Amber took a picture of Sierra with her camera (it had an orange light before it flashed) she made this face. It was so funny. We tried several times to get a normal one.

Happy Birthday!

Getting a little out of control with the 'chap stick'

Amber is obsessed with Rita's

Ready for the beach!

Our beautiful sand castle

Cinderella

Sierra just realized they were leaving. Apparently she wasn't too happy about that.

Alyssa's Baby Shower

2010-07-27T09:37:00.006-04:00

I'm a little late on this post, but a month ago I threw my sister-in-law Alyssa a baby shower. She should have her twins any day now! It was really fun planning it and putting everything together! Of course once the day came I was running around like a crazy person and didn't even have time to get my camera. Luckily Alyssa took a few with her camera and then I used it to take pictures of her opening presents and of the guests and stuff.

the invitation

sugar cookie favors

before the guests arrived

me stressed out haha

pinwheels and diaper cake

birdie water

Aunt Carol and Eric's mom (who helped me with the food) They are so cute!

Aunt Carol's delicious fruit tray

Alyssa, Eric's mom, Aunt Carol, Mary Ann & Krystal

The lighting is horrible, I guess I should've shut the blinds. :)

Kim, Carrie, Audrey, Carol, Kara & Valerie playing baby bingo

Sommer & Elinor

How did I end up with a 2 Year old?

2010-07-09T17:17:00.006-04:00

Sierra turned 2 on Tuesday. I have no idea how time flew by so fast but she definitely doesnt act like a baby anymore. She is so grown up! She is putting sentences together, communicates really well and is actually back on the charts! haha She had her 2 year appointment yesterday and weighs 22 lbs. Still just a little munchkin but she is healthy and active!

Here are some pictures of her birthday party:

She was really good at unwrapping presents this year and definitely 'got it' she was saying 'toys!?' all day and kept asking to open her presents.

She went into the room by herself and started opening this one. She even managed to get the heavy box off the table!

laughing with Uncle Duke

She LOVED being sung happy birthday to. She's still saying 'Happy Birthday to you!' today haha

Malfunction.

She loved every single present she got.

We love our little girl SO much and can't imagine life without her. She is so much fun, so sweet and has such a funny personality. Happy Birthday little princess!

Ocean City Trip 2010!

2010-06-22T22:23:00.005-04:00

A couple of weekends ago we rented a condo with our good friends the Atkinsons and Ryan and Alyssa. It was so much fun! We went to the beach, walked the boardwalk, stayed up late talking, ate lots of good food and plenty of treats! Here are some pics:

good thing Ryan's got 2 kids on the way. he was looking pretty lonely digging that hole all by himself ;)

Alyssa, Me & Krystal-3 preggos

It looks like that pail might be a little heavy for this little one.

Dippin dots!

Sierra & Victoria LOVED this pantry closet. It was so cute. They spent so much time hiding in there together and laughing.

Sierra got sick of the sand getting on her feet so she played in a pail of water.

The Atkinsons! (Krystal I put this one up just for you. I knew you would love it.)

Matching jammies. Their mom's must have really good taste.

One last stop before going home at Smoker's BBQ Pit

Munchkin #2

2010-06-17T10:52:00.004-04:00

This little guy (or girl) is due to join our family on Christmas eve. We are so excited!
I'm also excited that this pregnancy hasnt been quite as bad as the last one for nausea. Although, I am still nauseous everyday, just not completely debilitated by it.
I'm also definitely showing sooner this time around, and I definitely can't do any of my pants up.

2010-06-02T21:32:00.006-04:00

So at the end of May Eric had a trip for work to Spain planned. As soon as it was confirmed I booked tickets to Canada for me and Sierra to see my family while he was gone. As soon as they were booked, Eric's Spain trip got cancelled. Cool, huh? Not really. But we had a lot of fun anyways even though Eric was just chilling at home alone for a week and a half.

mini Russ

ready for the beach!

Port Dover

me & amby

my dad and sierra

Sierra and cousin Katrina playing at the park

my mom, me, sierra and my grandma (we took about 50 pictures and not one of them had us all looking normal-i figured sierra wouldnt mind if i posted this one haha)

Talia and Sierra playing in the pool on Victoria Day

Sierra and Robin's little boy Jack-lookin a little WT

So precious

We went to a petting zoo. Sierra was a little scared of the horses.

my dad, heather, katrina, and talia eating ice cream in the extreme heat

my mom with sierra who did not appreciate the heat

we got bored and decided to paint sierra's toes

she is obsessed with them now. she keeps pointing to them and saying "toes! pink!"

Jewelry Frame

2010-04-24T10:40:00.004-04:00

I'm hesitant to post photos of this because it still isn't what I want it to be. I can't hang all of my earrings because a lot of them are either studs, hoops, or the kind that clip together and only the hook style works in this screen so I need to find a solution for that. But I LOVE the way it displays my necklaces and bracelets, I might add more hooks down the sides for more bracelets and really I need about 5 more frames to be able to hang all my necklaces but at least I can hang my favorites! haha
Originally I was gonna buy a frame and paint it but I loved this rustic looking one so I just left it alone.

Book Page Wreath

2010-04-24T10:33:00.004-04:00

Project #1 complete! This was so easy! And I think it looks pretty cool. I just need to find a place to hang it now. I got the tutroial from www.livingwithlindsay.com - hers looks better, but what can you expect from an amateur? haha

DIY

2010-04-23T15:39:00.002-04:00

My SIL Ashley introduced me to some design blogs and I have been spending/wasting A LOT of time on them over the last few days.
I love design and this design blog obsession is getting a little out of control because my list is getting fairly long of all the things i need to buy to do a bunch of these crafts.
Spring = craftiness apparently. Last week before I started reading these blogs i had already painted a mirror frame that i didnt like, painted a picture frame i didnt like and made a jewelry holder because my jewelry collection was a MESS. I could never find anything.
Well Sierra just woke up, but possibly some pictures coming up in the near future if any of these crafts turn out good and are actually easy!

random post, i know.

Bee!

2010-04-16T10:23:00.004-04:00

Easter

2010-04-09T14:17:00.003-04:00

yes, i did make Eric hold his easter basket up for a picture.

Sierra loves this train set.
a little chewy. and not very tasty.
Happy Easter!

Spring Visit

2010-04-06T11:15:00.006-04:00

My parents came to visit last week. We played, we ate, we shopped, i went back to blonde, and it rained a lot. Here are the pics!

Speaking of morning hair...

2010-04-04T23:07:00.003-04:00

Woah.

Dolly

2010-04-04T15:45:00.003-04:00

Sierra lost her favorite doll a little while back while we were shopping at Macy's. She is obsessed with this doll and it was quite depressing when after an hour of searching the department store she was nowhere to be found. We decided either the clean up man threw her out or some other child decided to take her home because we seriously searched everywhere in that whole store and made follow-up calls.
There may or may not have been a few tears shed by me on the way home as she cried for dolly.
We searched the internet and even considered making a special trip back to NYC to see if dolly was still being sold at FAO.
Luckily my parents took a vacation to florida and stayed at Vacation Village where they happened upon a doll store that had Dolly! We could hardly believe it.
Sierra hasn't been able to put her down ever since she got her back. Her favroite thing to do with dolly is to hold a piece of her hair and smell it. Strange, i know, but it's pretty much her favorite thing to do.

Please excuse Sierra's ratty morning hair.

Just surfing the net...no big deal.

2010-03-10T10:39:00.001-05:00

These streets will make you feel brand new

2010-02-20T23:36:00.005-05:00

Eric and I went to New York this weekend to celebrate our 5th anniversary. I can't believe we've been married for 5 years! I'm turning into a real geezer. hahaha It was a lot of fun and went by way too fast! I'm ready to go back again already!

heart ice sculpture. do you love the mcdonalds cup discarded to the left?

At the New Amsterdam Theatre.

We went to see Mary Poppins. They added some pretty interesting stuff in there that was NOT in the movie. ie: naked (painted silver) statues instead of penguins in the park. Slightly disturbing.

Our hotel room. It was nice, but small (as most new york hotel rooms are) but it was roomy compared to the hotel we stayed at in Paris!

We also went to see Next to Normal. A tear jerker. We won the lottery tickets for this show and got to sit front row center! (downside to front row-you can see the actors spit when they sing and the bruises on their legs)

After the show we hurried over to pinkberry. Do not be deceived by my huge smile. This was before digging in. Laguna Beach talked this place up way too much. Not my favorite dessert i've ever had. At least I can check it off my list and never go there again.

We also did lots of walking (freezing our rumps off-it was SO cold), eating and shopping! Happy Anniversary Honey! I love you!

Valentines Day

2010-02-17T11:58:00.006-05:00

Play Group Valentines Party-Sierra didn't want anything to do with the icing getting on her hands. She was digging at her cookie with a popsicle stick so she didnt have to touch it. haha
We were cracking up over how loaded Sarah's little boy's cookies were
look at the sprinkles on that baby!

We had a lovely dinner at Liberatore's
Our Valentine's day Spread
Valentines from Grandma
Valentines from mommy & daddy

In Sierra's words: "Wowee!"

2010-02-07T15:12:00.007-05:00

We got TONS of snow this weekend, but at least we were warned and prepared and had lots of good food and entertainment ready for a weekend in. It started Friday night and didnt stop until Saturday afternoon. Sierra LOVED being out in it and didn't want to come back inside. The funniest part was that she had to be standing in a foot of snow. Standing on the steps wasnt good enough.

It may look like she's screaming in terror here, but that is, in fact, a look of delight. She was laughing she loved it so much.

watching daddy shovel snow from the window

Saturday night Ryan and Alyssa came and picked us up with their 4 wheel drive at the end of our street where we trecked through the path in the snow that the boys made for us and drove over to Eric's parents to watch the UFC fight with Kye.
Like our street, their street hadn't been touched by the plows so we found ourselves a little nook on the side of the rode to abandon the car and made our way through the knee deep snow all the way to the house. It was exhausting!

Alyssa and Ryan trecking through the snow back to the car. A horrible picture, I know, but you get the point!

This morning our street was finally cleared out and Eric is outside shoveling our cars out.
our front lawn
It's been fun snow! But please don't come again until next year!

Lemon Tea Cakes Recipe

2010-02-02T13:06:00.002-05:00

After many requests (okay, 4)
Here is the recipe for the Lemon Tea Cakes:

1 1/2 teaspoon vinegar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon zest of lemon
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice

preheat oven to 350 degrees. stir vinegar into milk. cream butter and 3/4 cup sugar until fluffy. add egg and zest; beat well. sift dry ingredients together. add to creamed mixture alternately with the milk, beating smooth after each addition. drop from teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheet. bake for 12 minutes (until set but not brown). remove at once from baking sheet and immediately brush tops with glaze made from remaining 3/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup lemon juice.

do you give credit when the person deserving the credit is being stalked?

Candy Cane Syrup a.k.a quit while you're ahead

2010-02-02T11:56:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I decided to make candy cane syrup thanks to a recommendation on my sister's blog.
i made it and it turned out good.
but i wanted it to be a little peppermintier.
so i put it back on the stove on low and added a few more candy canes.
then i took sierra and went to get the mail.
she wanted to walk up and down the sidewalk a few times.
when we got back the syrup was boiling pretty good.
i poured it in my glass jar and it seemed to be hardening.
i was discouraged.
it seemed my candy cane syrup was no longer syrup but some sort of rock candy.
before i chucked it and started a new batch i thought it would be a good idea to try heating it in the microwave to see if it might still taste ok.
once it was liquified i STUCK MY FINGER IN IT to get a taste.
it was boiling hot and i decided to stick my finger in it. who does that? it immediately fused onto my finger and started burning the crap out of it.
so what would be the sensible thing to do?
put it to your lip maybe?
no. probably not. but that's what i did. (who can think clearly when their finger is getting a 3rd degree burn?)
so now i have a burn blister on my finger and my lip.
and no syrup to show for it.
cool huh?
maybe i'll try again today.

'mouse'

2010-02-01T18:36:00.004-05:00

My parents went to Florida for a week and picked up a little minnie mouse for the granddaughters while they were there. We got ours in the mail today. Here's Sierra's reaction, mostly for my mom and dad.
who knew my baby voice would get even more hideous as she got older...

Thank you Grandma & Grandpa!

delish

2010-01-29T10:42:00.003-05:00

this morning i made these Lemon Tea Cakes.

they were to die for.
i got them off of a delightful blog that i stalk. i don't know this person personally, she was just in my book of mormon class my 1st semester at byu-i and i happened upon her blog one day. if you're reading this, you may know who you are...
creepy, right?

Nursery Girl

2010-01-28T13:49:00.003-05:00

3 weeks ago my little baby started going to nursery. She's done really good. The first thing she said when I dropped her off was "TOYS!"
I hear some of the things they do in there are a little too big for her. They play with toys for the first hour and then they have singing time where they're supposed to sit on mats and do actions...yeah, that isn't happening quite yet. Then they have snack where she puts gummies in her mouth and spits them out and dumps her water cup over. Then they have ring around the rosie where she will only go around the circle if she's holding two adults hands. There is no way she's holding onto another toddlers hand and walking around.
She is a funny girl. No tears so far. As long as the babies heads in the nursery don't fall off (they're hanging by threads) we should be in good shape. lol

Christmas and New Years in Canada!

2010-01-20T15:52:00.011-05:00

After Christmas we packed and took a flight to Canada to see my family! Sierra did great on the flight. She was obsessed with the pamphlets, magazines, etc. in the seat pocket and even fell asleep in our laps which NEVER happens. It was so nice to spend the second half of the holiday's with my family, we are so lucky to live close enough to our families to always see both sides every year!

We always getting matching pajamas on christmas eve and wear them down christmas morning!

Eric(concentrating on the candy from his stocking), Talia, me and Amber

first time opening a stocking

pleased with her lip gloss...

eating her lip gloss...

wearing her lip gloss!

Ken and Katrina

Talia got a chest full of dress up clothes and accesories and she LOVED it. It was so cute!

Thank you Grandma!

Sierra was obsessed with the fireplace. She loved stepping up onto it. Apparently Talia is fanning her. haha

Sierra wanted to play dress up too

Getting a ride while Grandma opens a gift

We got my mom a purple purse for Christmas

Dinner at Turtle Jacks with Amber and Russ. SO TASTY. We will defnitely be going back!

Sierra was hiding from my cousin's little boy. haha

The cousins. Talia, Katrina and Sierra.
she loves to smell her bunny's ear.

Sierra with Robin's little boy Jack. You may remember him from this post.

Happy to be drinking out of her own cup at East Side Mario's

I guess the lime isn't her favorite fruit.

Christmas '09

2010-01-20T12:43:00.008-05:00

This was the 1st year that we had christmas at our house with our own tree and presents christmas morning. It was really nice and so fun with Sierra at this age.

Christmas morning...

We thought for sure she'd run right to the kitchen set, so it was pretty funny when she went straight to the wrapped up broom.

ooooh!

mid-air. too much christmas excitement! haha

This year Eric's whole family came to Maryland for Christmas. It was so fun having everyone together! Sierra with Grandma Kye, Alyssa, Ryan, Ashley, Duke and Eric Eating her candy necklace-notice it all over the floor. lol Alyssa, me and Ashley at Friendly's

Family Pictures

2010-01-13T21:30:00.009-05:00

Here are some of my favorites of our family pictures that we got done back in November by my amazing friend Krystal! I was waiting until after our christmas cards were received to post them so here they are! Thanks Krystal! We love them!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2010-01-11T21:34:00.004-05:00

Just a little shout out to my dad (and his twin) who turned 59 today! Where does the time go? My dad is so giving, loving and such a great example. He is the best and I love him so much and miss living by him. We hope you had a great day and wish we could've been there!

My Uncle John and my dad. The birthday twins a couple years ago.

When Sierra was a newborn July '08. So precious.

feeding the little birdie June '09

My dad with Sierra in March of '09 i think

Eric's Birthday

2010-01-11T17:10:00.005-05:00

Eric turned 29 on December 19th. Since his birthday is so close to Christmas and not even a month after mine it seems like it never gets celebrated as much as it should. Plus this year we were in Paris until the 12th so it was extra rushed!
We celebrated with family a day or two before and had ice cream cake.

Ryan, Eric, Kye, Andrew & Dad

Sierra LOVES attacking the dogs. She calls Apollo 'Paul'.

On the actual birthday day we planned on going out for dinner and to the movies but that was the day of the huge snowstorm and we were snowed in!

But we still did presents
And a couple days later we went out for sushi.
YUMMY!
Happy Birthday Honey! You are the best, I love you!