...and its GOOD!

FINALLY!  Eli ate Oatmeal - YEAH!  I was so proud of him.  After he recovered from the flu, I decided we should try again since we are in desperate need of weight gain, and once I figured out the perfect recipe he LOVED it!  He has to have it with 2 ounces of formula, not to thick but not too soupy, served HOT!  Very picky, but at least solids are now going into his belly!  Now off to try veggies, fruits and whatever else I can get into his mouth, without making him gag...

 Isn't he so precious!  Mama is so proud of you...hopefully we can see some fat rolls on you soon...

Christmas Traditions

We had a weekend full of Christmas traditions.  We finally got the tree up on Friday morning.  It took me all morning to get it out of the box, straighten the branches and get the lights in working order - but it's up!  Ashtyn LOVED the Christmas tree- she's been asking me for days now - "When we have Christmas tree?"  She hung out under the tree the rest of the morning...

Eli even thought the tree was pretty cool.  I had him laying on the couch so he could watch me and he scooted all the way to the end and then reached out to the branches and proceeded to shake them.  It's a good thing he's not mobile yet or I don't think we would have a tree up this year.

Eli was fussy on that morning - what's new though!  So I thought the only way to finish getting the tree up was to put him in the baby carrier, which seemed to suffice until I bent over and one of the tree branches stuck him in the eye - Whoops! But once the tree was in working order I put him in front of it and it kept him content for quite a while.  He sat there and just screamed at the tree - happy screaming though!

I finished decorating the tree Friday night after the kids went to bed - I wanted to enjoy this part and I am neurotic when it comes to the placement of ornaments and so on...So when Ashtyn came down the stairs Saturday morning she was very surprised.  She said "Oh, that look so pretty mommy - good job!"  She was so memorized by the tree.  She just sat there and looked at it for a good 20 minutes.  Then she starting playing with the ornaments, so we had to have a little chat about not touching, just looking!  Hopefully all the ornaments will stay in one piece...

On Sunday we went over to Mimi's house to make Christmas cookies with all the Aunts and Cousins - another Christmas tradition.  Ashtyn once again was the "sprinkle" girl!  Brooke and Ashtyn did great at adding the sprinkles to the sugar cookies - I think Mimi approved, except when we did orange sprinkles, that didn't go over that well.  Apparently orange is not an approved Christmas color! 

We made a ton of cookies as usual - and by "We" I mean my aunts (I was on baby duty the whole time) so the credit is all to them.  It was different this year though with Pam and the girls in Mexico.  I am sure they were having fun, but we definitely missed their company.  The cookies are delicious and beautiful as always - YUM!

Reality Check

Is this my life?

I am only blogging about this because I think one day I will find humor in the situation and I really just want to capture what 1 day of my life is currently like...

Friday was supposed to be a traditional Christmas outing - Meet Nana at the mall in the afternoon for some Christmas shopping, go to Build-A-Bear for the kid's Christmas bears, enjoy dinner at Red Robin with Papa and Matt and then visit Santa.  Sounds fun right?  Well, add a 6 month old who I thought was over the flu, but wasn't, and a 2 year old who didn't nap well and you have quite a party!  Shopping went ok...Ashtyn constantly whined, but Eli contently sat in the stroller.  Build-A-Bear put a smile on Ashtyn's face, so off to dinner we went...

Red Robin was very busy when we arrived, so we had the choice of either waiting 45 minutes for a large table or we could squeeze the six of us in a 4 person booth in 5 minutes.  Well we opted for the small booth given we had bed times right around the corner and still needed to see Santa.  So the six of us squeezed into a booth with all of our shopping bags, and then the fun began.  Eli got hungry so I made his bottle and fed him...afterwards he somehow got a hold of a coaster and had been sucking on it for who knows how long.  When I finally realized what he was doing - little pieces of the coaster were missing - oh crap!  So we starting swiping his mouth, but found nothing in there so we assumed he swallowed the pieces.  Next Eli grabs a french fry - which I gladly let him suck on since we are slowly trying to introduce solids, well once again the taste of the fry made him gag so he proceeded to throw up his entire bottle along with the pieces of coaster all over himself and me - the fluid just kept pouring out of his mouth.  You would think someone would help me at this moment in time - but Matt and my dad just stared at me with their chins dropped like they couldn't believe that just happened.  As soon as we got all that mess cleaned up, Eli then decided to poop - not only did it smell horrible, stinking up the whole area, but it starting leaking out everywhere - so I headed to the bathroom with throw up and poop dripping everywhere to clean us up the best I could - people just looked at me in disgust as I walked by their tables...

Once we got back to the table, our dinner arrived.  By now Ashtyn is not enjoying being stuck between Matt and my dad - so she is bouncing back and forth between them and will not sit still - my poor dad, I am not sure how he even ate and Matt was scrunched up in the corner barley able to move his arms - So finally after watching Ashtyn bounce around to the point of complete annoyance I switched seats with my dad (not sure why we even sat where we did in the first place), so I could manage my child.  Well, as I am sitting down Ashtyn knocks a glass off the table and it breaks all over the place.  Which then makes Eli upset which then snowballs into making Ashtyn upset - again people's eyes are just staring at us - and at this point I have still not even had a piece of my food - So I scoop both kids up and head out to the waiting area so I can allow the sever to clean up the mess and give the people around us some peace.  I can only imagine what people were thinking about us - we looked like a circus show stuck in a small booth!  So I ask myself these questions...

• Why do I still think it's ok to go out to dinner with a 6 month old and a 2 year old?
• Why would I ever agree to sitting in a booth for 4 people when we have six people and two of them require more space then adults?
• Why do I leave my house?

Needless to say we never made it to Santa.  I was DONE after dinner and just wanted to go home.  I had throw up and poop all over me, a crabby baby, a whining little girl and a major headache!  To be honest I really didn't enjoy my day, not quite the Christmas Outing I had pictured in my head - and this set the pace for the entire weekend - but I guess this is just my reality.

Here Comes Santa Clause...

...right down Downtown Main!

We went to another Christmas Parade in Downtown Louisville on Friday night with the Ohlheiser family!  The weather was WONDERFUL - given it was 57 degrees and no wind!  So unlike last year when we froze with the negative degree temperatures.  So we actually enjoyed the parade, especially when Santa arrived on the firetruck - Ashtyn and Adam got so excited...

 Sweet Adam - always smiles for the camera...

After the parade we went over to the Ohlheiser's for some yummy apple pie dessert.  It was a great evening spent with good friends!  I love the mild weather and all, but it really needs to snow for it to feel like Christmas time!  Bring on the snow...

Go Donkeys...

...or not!  The Broncos lost again on Sunday, but we still enjoyed our day down at Invesco Field!  My mother-n-law LOVES the Broncos, so when I was able to get some tickets I jumped at the chance and treated my very deserving mother-n-law...
 

Once again it was freezing cold, seemed to be the theme of this Thanksgiving weekend - especially where our seats are!  But we all snuggled together and enjoyed some beers to stay warm.  Except for my darling sister-n-law, Emily, whom rather look cute then be seen in a big bulky, winter coat!  She wore a sweatshirt and Ugg slippers to the game - what?, but I so remember being the same way when I was 13 - you never know when a cute boy will be around...

Matt always likes to leave sporting events early - hates traffic - so of course when the Broncos were losing 36-13 we decided to leave - well sure enough as soon as we get up they score a touch down!  So we celebrated and then left - thinking that was probably the last time they would score - Wrong again!  They scored 2 more times and almost pulled out a win - I was a little annoyed that we left, so next time I think I will find a new partner for the game.  But he did buy me a Starbucks on the way home to warm up - so for that I was thankful!  I really hope the Broncos season turns around - they are so depressing right now...

Estes Park Parade

On Friday afternoon we headed up to Estes Park with Nana and Papa to see the Annual Christmas Parade.  Ashtyn LOVES parades and was so excited to see Santa come to town - so we bundled up and headed out with millions of other people to watch the parade.  It was pretty cold - so we put Eli inside of Matt's jacket to keep him warm - it was so CUTE with his little head sticking out...



Matt looked like such a dork with his light on his head - not even sure why he is wearing it in the first place - but this is so typical of my husband...

Ashtyn all snuggled up in the stroller...

Once the parade started Ashtyn wanted Papa to hold her...

 The horses were Ashtyn's favorite!  They are so pretty and BIG when you are up close to them...

Here comes SANTA!  Oh Ashtyn was so excited - she actually knows what is going on this year and has a very LONG list for him!  As Santa rode by Ashtyn said "Me want doggy pillow pet - please!"...

Oh, the Christmas Season is here!  Estes Park looked beautiful all lit up with Christmas lights and it was so fun to see the excitement in Ashtyn's eyes.  It's going to be a very busy, hectic, but hopefully FUN Christmas...so many memories to make!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!  Thanksgiving was pretty laid back this year - did the same ol' thing!  We headed to my mom's house for Thanksgiving dinner which is always wonderful and then headed over to Matt's parents for dessert.  The holidays seem to just fly by when you have kids and I don't find myself just sitting around like I used too...

The rest of the weekend was just as laid back.  We hung out around the house or with family - what could be better - right?  Now we move into the chaos of Christmas...oh BOY!