Valentine's Day

Wow, the month of January is almost over and Valentine's Day is already upon us. I remember Valentine's Day as a little kid. Picking out the cutest Valentines at the store and making sure each kid in class got one. It was usually a fun day in class too, a little party, some snacks and we usually got to watch a movie. Of course, this was elementary school, and once you left there, you left the parties behind as well.

Anyway.

For the past couple of years, I have let Cameron pick out a box of Valentines at the store and passed them out to his friends and family. This year, we are taking a different approach. Enter Tiny Prints. Right now, I am leaning strongly toward this design:

Ahoy, Valentine! : Paradise

Cameron is a wee bit obsessed with Pirates, so I think he would love that one. Hannah is probably old enough, so she could pass some out too. For her, I love this design:

Enchanted Princess : Lilac

Too. Cute!

Check out their other designs here:
Valentines Day
and here:
Valentines Day Greeting Cards

If you love Tiny Prints as much as I do, you can follow them on
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Stop by again! I'll let you know which design we went with. :)

Snowy days.

It seems that the snow hasn't stopped falling since we were graced with almost 2 feet at the beginning of this month. So instead of going out to join the crazies on the roads, this is how we're spending this snowy day inside.

Hope you're staying warm and cozy! It's time for me to head out and shovel the driveway. 

Until next time.. :)

Hannah's 18-month check up.

Excuse me, what? 18 months already? Since she has been 18 months old for 2 days already, she's technically closer to 2 than she is to 1 and that makes me want to cry. My baby is not a baby anymore. The only things that keep her a baby are her pacifier and her crib, and I'll be darned if either of those things go away anytime soon.

She had her 18-month check up this morning, and she has finally started to slow down a little on the weight front. At her 12 month appointment, she weighed 25 pounds, and this morning, she weighed 26 pounds. 1.5 oz. So in the past 6 months, she's only gained a little more than a pound. This is quite different from the 3 pounds she gained between every appointment (the appointments were 3 months apart) before now. She is also getting taller. Today she measured 32 inches, up 3 inches from her 12 month appointment. She has jumped from the 50th to the 75th percentile in that category.

And because I like graphs so much, let's take a look at how she's grown in the past 18 months.

And just for comparison, at Cameron's 18 month appointment, he weighed 24 pounds, 8 ounces and was 33 inches tall.

A post in which I whine about potty training.

Cameron is a little more than 3 years old. I've been working with him on learning to use the potty for a LONG time now. We have tried the 3-day potty training, which was an epic fail. Since then, I've become really chill about the subject. "He'll do it when he's ready," blah blah. Yeah, I'm sure he will. But there are many reasons that he needs to use a potty.

• Preschools around here won't take him until he is potty trained
• Buying diapers for 2 kids is becoming a huge PITA.
• He's old enough to tell me what is/isn't in his diaper, he can learn
• We've purchased a ton of 'big boy underwear' that he refuses to wear, and has now outgrown
• Because I want him to

I feel like those are all legit reasons. So what is he doing now, you ask? After watching 10 minutes of the Elmo potty movie, he decided he wanted his potty in front of the TV so he can watch Sponge Bob and sit on it. He's been there for close to 20 minutes and refuses to be moved off of it. Sigh. I will pay someone to come potty train this kid for me. 

Hello there.

Well, the first week of winter semester is over. If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be WOW.

I shouldn't complain. Since this is only my second semester, it might not be difficult to some people, but for those like me, who haven't been to school in 7 years, this stuff is tough. Big changes are on the horizon for me. I will be forced to come out of my shell in my Communications class. I will learn more about computers than I ever needed to know in my Business Computer Applications class. And I will be lucky if I make it out of Accounting with my ear drums still in tact.

On our first day of class, she went ahead and let us know that the class is hard. Awesome. Things MIGHT be easier if she would explain them once in a clear manner and then proceed to another topic, rather than ramble on and say contradictory things about said subject, but what do I know? I'm just a student! Anyway, my fourth class is an online Business Practices and Principles class. Bet you can't guess what my focus is on right now. (ha) That's right. I'm currently following an outline called 'Business Administration - WMU.' That speaks for itself, but it means that as soon as I finish up a measly 63 credits and KVCC, I will move onto Western to rot my brain a little more and hopefully obtain a Bachelor's Degree (WOOHOOO!).

Can't you tell that I'm excited for this semester!?

Anywho, in other news, we are in for another glorious snowstorm today/tonight/tomorrow. Sigh. We just got dumped upon two weeks ago, and within days it was gone. Now we are looking at another 6 inches and I am bummed. I was kind of enjoying wearing a North Face fleece instead of a huge heavy coat. Oh well. I guess saying that we made it to January 12th with little to no snow is something to be happy about. The best part of all is that I don't have class again until January 18th (thank you MLK Jr!) so at least I won't have to drive in this disaster.

And last but not least, Cameron is headed to the dermatologist tomorrow to see what can be done with the lovely warts he has on his hand. He also has some interesting skin issues going on with the fingers that he refuses to stop chewing on. His fingers are really heartbreaking to look at. Poor guy. At his 3 year checkup, his pediatrician said they could probably get rid of the warts, but that this dermatologist might have a less painful way to do it. So after being referred (IN OCTOBER!) we are finally getting him in tomorrow. Cameron's pediatrician said something about a cream they might be able to use to get rid of the warts, so here's hoping. Poor guy will probably never escape his skin issues.

Stay tuned for a Hannah update on Tuesday. She has her 18 month check up bright and early and I'm excited to see how she's grown. At this point, I would guess that she is still a little chubbier than Cameron was at his 18 month appointment, but not by much. Ever since she started walking, sister has been thinning out. Gone are the days of delicious chubby cheeks.

See you soon!

My first semester in college.

I have talked about it briefly, but I recently finished my first semester in college. Wooo! Some people would say "big deal, you should have done that 7 years ago." Yes, they're right. But 7 years ago, my mind/body were just not up for learning. I had just graduated after 13 years in school and I had other things on my mind. Looking back now, those things were completely stupid and shouldn't have interfered with my life, but they did. That is my past, and although I try not to live with regrets, I do regret those decisions a little. Anyway, it is what it is.

Let's get to the good stuff. The grades. I was pretty lucky with classes that weren't too challenging, so my GPA is awesome. :)

I don't know what Quality Points means, but the most important number is my GPA. That makes my entire high school career run and hide. I think my best GPA in high school was somewhere around 2.7. I told you, I just didn't care. Boys were more important, duh!

Anyway. The winter semester starts on Monday, and my classes are a smidge more difficult, so here's to hoping I can maintain that beautiful 3.95. Wish me luck!

Fun times in the snow.

Depending on where you live, you may or may not be familiar with the snowstorm that rolled through our area on Sunday. It was the first real snow fall we've had this winter, so we can't really complain, but still. No one wants to deal with a foot of snow at once.

Meteorologists predicted a good amount of snow, shown in the picture above, and while we didn't get as much as expected, their estimates weren't too far off. I went out to shovel the driveway in the morning while there was a break in snow fall. After 45 minutes in the freezing cold, I was done and came back inside.

It was like a freaking blizzard. Hours passed and the snow continued to fall. By the time the radar showed that the storm had done it's damage, I went back outside for another 45 minute shovel session. It was a good thing that I was in the mood for a decent workout, because I got it. Cameron didn't mind though. After he woke up from his nap, he got snowsuited up and headed out to play with Daddy. He stayed out for about 15 minutes and cried when he had to come in. He has a bit of a cold, so his nose was running pretty badly. Maybe next time he can enjoy the snow a little longer.

Christmas Recap.

Like always, I've been a terrible blogger and haven't posted about our Christmas yet. We were spoiled.

We started off with Christmas Eve at Josh's mom & stepdad's house. They always order pizza and we open gifts together. Cameron and Hannah had been trying to open the presents at home for weeks at this point, and seeing the gifts at Nana's house made it even more exciting. I didn't take very many pictures while we were there, but these are the best ones from Christmas Eve.

We stayed there until 7:30-ish, then came home to put out our cookies and milk for Santa Claus.

Soon after the kids went to sleep, Santa came!

Hannah's loot

Cameron's pile

Gifts from Grammy, Auntie, Mom & Daddy.

I woke up early (without crying kids, ugh) and got ready for the day. By 7, I couldn't wait any more and woke the kids up. Cameron is usually pretty cranky if he gets woken up, but not on Christmas!

The kids played with their new toys while Josh and I tried to clean up the living room around them. It looked like Toys R Us and a neighboring wrapping paper store exploded in our house. It took us about 2 days to find a home for all the new toys and to move older ones out. To say our dumpster was full for trash pick up last week is an understatement.

Late Christmas morning, we loaded up the kids and drove to my grandparents' house. I've been doing that for as long as I can remember. We always have an awesome brunch there, and everyone got to see the kids. I didn't take my camera with me, so no pictures from there. The kids were spoiled there, too.

The day after Christmas (still in the middle of clean up at this point) was a pretty relaxed day. We cleaned up at home until noon, then went back to Josh's mom's house. There, we did Christmas with his grandparents and his aunt/uncle/cousins from out of town. Once again, the kids were spoiled. One of my many new years' resolutions is to stop buying them so much stuff throughout the year so that when Christmas comes, it's more fun for them.

Anyway, pictures from that party -

I know what you're thinking. "Geez, this chick's pictures are freaking terrible!" But not for long, folks. Thanks to the post I made last week on this here lovely blog, I am now the proud owner of a speedlite flash for my camera. Gone are the days of terrible pictures due to low/crappy light. Look forward to better looking pictures in 2012. :)

Before we start enjoying 2012..

..let's take a trip back and remember 2011. And if you're REALLY feeling reminiscent, here is a look back on 2010. :)

It's fun to see how much they've grown in the past year. Hannah especially. She started off 2011 as a little chunk with huge cheeks, and now she's a walking machine that has slimmed down. I look forward to watching my babies change even more in 2012 and enjoying them while I still can. By this time next year, I will have a 2 year old and a 4 year old. Hold me.