Happy Birthday Mom

As with every year since 2003, December 28th is always a little difficult for me. My Mom's birthday.

I always start my day by wishing her a quiet "Happy Birthday" and of course think of her all day. This year something special happened. I am not even sure if Greg caught it or not.

Although we both wake up when Sydney wakes up, Greg is usually the one who gets out of bed and gets her. She expects this and looks forward to it. On the days I get up and walk into her room, she looks past me like "Nice to see you BUT where is my Daddy?" and she precedes to look right past me to the door!

Sunday was no exception to our routine, Greg got up and went into her room to get her. She likes to tease and giggle with him in her crib for a short time before he picks her up. I love to listen in on this. Sunday, as I listed to them play and as I was quietly wishing my Mom Happy Birthday, I heard Sydney say "Hi Grandma" in her sweet high voice. It was so beautiful and very touching to me.

I think I have mentioned this before, that I have a picture in Sydney's room of my Mom and I from my wedding. It's been there since before she was even born. I want her to know her Grandmother and so we frequently look at the picture together. It was just so touching that Sydney said "Hi Grandma" at just the right moment. It was exactly what I needed to hear to feel like today was going to be OK.

We love you Mom and miss you so much.

Happy Birthday!

Christmas Pictures

We had an awesome Christmas. The build up to Christmas Eve was so much fun with Sydney. We had Aunt Peggy and Uncle Mike and their kids and Annie over for Greg's famous sauce and meatballs and wine. It was fabulous!!! It was such a joy for me to watch Sydney and Jordan play together. He is so good with her and she loves him so much. It felt good to be surrounded by family. We then woke up early Christmas morning and opened Sydney's Santa gifts. She wasn't so much into opening them as she was in having us open them and her saying, "What's in there" over and over until we had her gift unwrapped. It was very cute. I have included many pictures...our camera sucks...but it's good enough!!

Enjoy...



Sydney's 1st Christams!!!





Jordan gave her the Elmo chair and she loves it!!

She loves to bounce on the Zebra!!

Taking her babies for a ride in her new pink coupe.

She looooves this bunny!!

Sydney was in bed already!!

Aunt Peggy and Mike eating Sauce!

Sydney loved the gifts from Aunt Peggy and Uncle Mike

Her dress was sooooo pretty!

Of course she smiled up until the flash was done!!!!

Daddy's little girl!

My Sweetie

NO, NO, NO!!

My " Sweetie" has mastered the word NO the last few days!!! It's usually pretty funny when she says it (of course I don't let her see me laughing) but sometimes...it's a little frustrating.
"Sweetie, don't touch that lamp cord"
"NO"
"Sweetie, we don't touch lamp cords"
"NO"

"Sweetie, it's time to take a bath"
"NO"
"Come on, let's go take a bath"
"NO"
"Come on, let's go take a bath"
"NO"
(Pick sweetie up, take her upstairs, put her down"
Okay, time for a bath"
"NO"
(Put sweetie in bath"
"Bath time is fun"
"NO" - as she is playing with her toys!!!!

This was pretty much the way many of our conversations went today. What a joyous day!!

In all actuality, it was a fun day. We baked cookies and talked about Santa (she is infatuated by him), played, went hiking, finished some shopping, played and then took a bath. In between all of her "NO's", she was very happy and a joy to be with. I just love her so much!

Too Fast...

I am sitting here thinking of how quickly my little girl is growing up and it scares me! Right now I can hear her downstairs playing with her Daddy. She is counting her toys...one her own!!! Seriously, what 16 month old even knows how to do that! She also does this funny thing where I will act like I am sad and she will come up to me and hug me and say "Mommy happy" (remember...only 16 months old)!! She also does this thing where we pretend to be sleeping and she gets down in a laying position next to us and screams, "wake up" as clear as day...again, only 16 months old! Its so awesome that she is so smart but that means she is growing up so fast!

Since she loves the movie Madagascar so much (we have seriously seen it around 100 times), we decided to take her to the Madagascar 2 movie. We only made it half way through and we had to leave. She is not quite ready to stay that still yet! She was so captivated by the large screen for the beginning...her eyes were huge, but all of the excitement in the movie made her want to run around. We didn't want to disturb the other movie watchers, so we left. It was fun while it lasted!

No knew pictures to share yet. I will post Christmas pictures up soon.

More Christmas Adventures...

So after I wrote my blog entry last night, I returned home from work and Greg had a glass of wine and a very delicious dinner waiting for me. It was very sweet. He knew I was having a rough day. I went to bed relaxed and finally, after weeks of not sleeping well, I slept!!! I felt refreshed today. Sleeping has been a big issue for me lately. I have tried soooo many things, even Ambien, but it just hasn't helped. Last nights rest was so much appreciated.

Today, Sydney and I had a cookie exchange party with our play group. I made candy cane cookies for us to exchange with everyone. They turned out very yummy! My Mom and I used to make them when I was young. The party was very "busy"! Many, many children and Mommy's everywhere. The Mommy group that we belong to is pretty big. We all do group activities and then we divide up into smaller groups throughout the week (according to ages) for smaller playgroups. Today's activitiy included all Mommy's and children!! Sydney was a little overwhelmed and not quite herself. She doesn't know how to defend herself when it comes to older kids so she had a couple of melt downs, but overall, we had a good time. And the best part is that we left with several different kinds of cookies!!! It's been so nice getting to know all of these other Moms and their kids. We look forward to these events.

Sydney loves to point out Santa everywhere we go. Today we had to go to Walmart for diapers and stuff. To keep her occupied, I would say "ho, ho, ho" and she would yell out "Santa" and I would get excited with her and ask her to find him. She would look everywhere - she was drawing much attention from shoppers whom played along with us. It was all very sweet and exciting!

After our play date, it was dark out so I decided to drive by homes with Christmas lights. She loved it. She kept saying "See pretty lights" and of course was quick to point out Santa whenever he made an appearance! She is so smart!

Well, time for me to clean up and cook dinner and rest up for whatever adventures come our way tomorrow!

Rambling...

Today, as I was at work, worrying and stressing over financial "stuff", I started getting depressed and feeling a little overwhelmed. I then looked at our desk and saw Sydney's Santa and Christmas picture and it made me feel better and refocus. Yes, money is tight and we would probably be doing better financially if I got a job using my degree, BUT that was and is not part of our plan. So many special moments we have with Sydney EVERYDAY! Moments that we would not have if she were to be in childcare. All of the hugs, giggles and "I wuv ooos" that we would miss out on if I were at work everyday. And, I really believe that Sydney is so smart and joyful because I am home with her everyday giving her one on one attention and taking her to events and playgroups. Yes, maybe Christmas will be a little different this year...not as many presents under the tree or to family and friends in Minnesota...BUT, 10-20 years from now, no one is going to remember what we did or didn't get them for Christmas in 2008. The things that they will remember, the things that WE will remember, are the loving memories over the years passed - all the special moments that gifts could not replace.

I am not really sure why I felt the need to write this in my blog today. It was not my intention when I signed on to write. But I guess sometimes I just need to let go and let the words come out without the controlling side of me wondering if what I am writing is witty or grammatically correct. And, I do have to admit, I feel better:)

Now I am off to go home and see my sweeties...and that makes me very grateful!

Santa!!

We are having so much fun with Sydney during the holidays. We have had several events with our play group and a few more still to come before Christmas. Sydney is doing really well with the Christmas tree and is enjoying all of the Santa shows on TV - the same ones I enjoyed while growing up. She knows who Santa is and loves to say his name. She will often point him out and say "ho, ho, ho!!" We took her to see Santa on Sat. and got an awesome picture. She didn't realize she was on his lap until after the picture was taken, at which point she was terrified. No crying though!


So much more to write about and I promise I will write more tomorrow when I have a few more minutes.

Weekend fun!

Our sweetie is just getting more and more awesome as the days go by. EVERYDAY she makes me laugh. She has become so loving also. She comes to me and gives me hugs and will say, "I love you" at just the right times! I have never known such joy! I love to see things thru her eyes...for instance, several of the pictures below are of her collecting rocks. She LOVES to collect rocks. I love to watch her look down at the rocks and carefully chose just the right rocks. She would seriously spend hours doing this if allowed! She never puts them in her mouth...she just likes to hold them, or have Mommy hold them or put them in a container. Who knew rock collecting could be so fun and exciting!!

She makes the cutest expressions and says words that you just wouldn't expect a 15 month old child to say. She blows the mothers away at play group! Last night we were talking to Nana and she got on the phone and said clear as day, "Hi Nana!" Last week her Nana was reading her a book and Sydney pointed to broccoli and said "broccoli" - I don't remember teaching her that word! She says short sentences. She understands emotions and if she sees someone cry she says, "see baby cry". She loves to run and says "run, run, run..." over and over while she does it. She uses correct words to tell us when she needs to eat, what she wants to eat, drink, etc. Seriously, the list goes on and on. I just wish you all could see her and experience these little "big" things that just melt my heart and make me so proud to be her Mommy.

Enjoy the pictures...

She found the perfect rock...




Looking over her new treasures.



Watching football with Mommy and Daddy!

Sippy or bottle...hmmm!!!

Bath Time

Seriously, could she be ANY cuter???

She will not smile for the camera anymore. Wasn't Ella the same way Jess?

A Busy Monday

Yesterday was the first day that I have really felt "human" again in over three weeks!! I cannot WAIT to get back to running/hiking. Don't worry...I won't rush it! When your sick for that long, it really makes you appreciate feeling good.

Yesterday, I took Sydney to see the big Christmas Tree at Desert Ridge Marketplace. She was SO excited to touch it! It was very difficult to get a good picture of her because she does not like to look at the camera!



This was the closest I could get to a "stop and smile at the camera" picture!


We had our Monday playgroup yesterday. Very interesting trying to get all the kids to sit on the sofa at the same time. Here's the gang (minus one)!

The little girl pulling on Sydney is Kendall. Her mom and I have to keep an eye on her whenever they are together. She isn't quite one yet but she is quite a toughy (she has two older brothers). Since day one, whenever she spots Sydney, Kendall goes right for Sydney's hair and pulls! Poor Sydney doesn't know what to do when it happens...she just gives me this look like "help". In our group, there are two boys and four girls. Lots of fun for Sydney and sanity for Mommy!!