Merry Christmas from Milk and O's!

We are back, and trying to crawl out from under the pile of Christmas gifts we brought home with us. We went down to Okabena on Friday after school, went to Great Grandma F's for the big family gathering on Saturday, opened gifts with Mike's family on Sunday morning, then drove to my parents' house to change and head to 4 o'clock mass. We had dinner and put the kids to bed, then played a game of Apples to Apples. We then opened more gifts on Christmas morning at Grandma and Grandpa J's. Bridget, Steve, and Maren left before lunch to get to their other grandma's, and we spent the day lollygagging at my parents' house in our pajamas. Monday evening, we finally got motivated to pack all of our stuff up and head back home. Mom and Dad followed behind, so they could watch the kids open presents from Santa at our house. What a marathon! All in all, it was a very nice Christmas, and it was fun to watch the kids' excitement.
It's been a tough transition back to being at home by myself, after a nice span of days being with other adults. Bridget and Steve stopped by for a visit yesterday afternoon, which was nice to spend some more time with Maren. She is such a funny little growler. She has a form of a crawl down, but backwards is her only direction. B was on all fours last week, and has been pulling up the past few days. He kind of grunts in frustration when sitting by himself, like he knows there is more he can be doing, he just can't figure out how to go about it. After sleeping terribly all weekend when we were away from home, the past two nights have been heavenly! He has skipped his 5:30/6 am nursing, and has been holding off until after 7, then going back to sleep until around 9 am!
Danielle says I should write more about myself instead of just my babies, so I'll try. I am going to complete a quick online CME once I'm done with this post, since I'm feeling the pressure of recertifying this year. I'm thinking of doing the take home exam, rather than taking the board exam online, but the take home option requires additional CME credits, and costs more. Well worth it, I think.
I am unsure what to think about my current hairstyle. I went for the bangs back in October, but if they are not cut above my eyebrows, they drive me insane! Also, they grow out so quickly, that it doesn't really fit with my usual trend of haircuts every 6-9 months or so. Haircuts every 6-8 weeks, are you nuts??!!? I'll keep practicing with the blowdryer, and see how it goes.
I'm planning on getting a handle on my eating, now that Christmas is over. I know, I know, such a cliche. Oh well, at least I'll be in good company. I haven't figured out yet how to get to the club- when Mike gets home, I don't want to rush out the door to workout, I'd rather hang out with him and the babies...so I'm going to work on my diet for starters. NO MORE NON-DIET POP! At least until I've lost the amount of weight I want to lose- then we'll see if I can learn the definition of moderation.
I got a Kitchen Aid mixer from my lovely children this Christmas, which also doesn't fit with the lose weight theme, since I can whip up cookies, cake batters, and pie crusts in a flash, but I'm very excited about the mixer none the less. I've wanted one for a very long time.
Hope you all had a wonderful time with your families at Christmastime; now, let's have a Rockin' 2007!!! Woo Hoo!!!!

Third Tooth!

Our little B has been working hard, and sometime between dinner last night, and 11:30 this morning, he popped out another tooth. Now he has two on the bottom, and the top left front tooth.

We had our last gymnastics class of the year, and after school on Wednesday and Friday mornings, we won't have any more activities to occupy us during the days of 2006! Aahrhrghgh- time for play dates to the rescue!

A said something the other day that totally cemented my desire to travel extensively- she was building a tower of stacking cups, and after putting the last cup on the top of her quasi-obelisk said, "this looks just like the Washington Monument!"

Frodermanns' Travels- Pics from Our Trip

Feeding My Two Year Old

"There are oats in my oatmeal, Mom!"....
"I don't want them in there."

Big Crabs call for Big Knockers

...or something like that- it was a t-shirt I saw during our trip to Maryland. We went Friday after school, and got back last evening. We went to visit our friends, Greg and Sasha, and their two boys, Alexi and Ollie. Mike and I fulfilled our seafood requirement for 2006! A tried calamari for the first time- she seemed to like it, as long as it was dipped in red sauce. We had Maryland blue crabs on two occasions, toured Baltimore and went to the National Aquarium, took a trip to Annapolis and walked through the grounds of the Naval Academy, went to D.C. to go up into the Washington monument, and hit the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

Our daughter was quite comical on Sunday afternoon, during our outing to Baltimore. She was whining in the double stroller, and when we finally stopped to see what was the matter, she said she had wanted to sit in the grass "for just a little bit." There was no grass around, but we came upon a patch on our way back to the parking garage. She ran over to it, spread a blanket on her spot, and proceeded to lie in the grass, "for a little bit." Oh, the ideas this one has!

B and Ollie were two peas in a pod- just loved looking at one another, laughing, drooling, and generally being easy to please.

Now that we are home, the laundry is half done, and the Christmas cards have been ordered. I'm happy to say that the Christmas shopping was completed before we left for Maryland. What's up with this weather??? Bring on the snow!!!

Application of Knowledge

Since many of my readers have backgrounds in education, I thought you would appreciate this tidbit of learning: A has been learning musical terms at preschool (piano, forte, rest, etc.) Saturday morning we were hanging out in A's bedroom, and she states, "I just had some gas. That was forte!" Couldn't be more proud...

'Tis the Season!

A is so excited for Christmas this year! We took a wagon ride down the alley last night, and bought our Christmas tree. After the kids were in bed, Mike and I got to have our annual struggle centering the tree in the stand (is there an easy way to do it?), and were too depleted to do anything else with the tree after that. On the way home from school today, A asked if I would lay underneath the Christmas tree with her. I'm so glad she likes to do that, since it is something I remember doing with my sister when we were little. I will certainly do that with A, once we get the lights up. She has taking a liking to the various decorations I've brought up from the basement. She asked me to take the basket of berries off the table so she could see it better, and has carried it around the house, with the snow people decorations, and a "baby's first Christmas" tree that she got when she was 8 months old.

Our Little Collector

Christmas Joy?