Videos!!

I took a couple of videos today so you can see Amelia!! :)








Since Amelia wouldn't nap, we took Maddy's naptime to have a little Mommy and me time... She really enjoys just hanging out. She doesn't always want to be held which can be a good thing, but also a bad thing... Good when I need to get things done... Bad when we're somewhere that she can't just lay on the floor!! :) All in all Amelia is a pretty good baby!! Maddy is finally adjusting to having Amelia around all the time. We're figuring out how to give everyone the attention she deserves!! :)

We're really looking forward to having Bryan home for more than 1 or 2 days in a row!! Next week can't come and go fast enough! It'll be quiet here on our little cul-de-sac as all of our neighbors have plans to travel for the holidays (some have already left), but it'll be nice to have our family together for the holiday!!

I am pleased to report that our "good days" have begun to outnumber our "challenging days"!!! I think we may be getting the hang of this 4 person family! The transition from 1 kiddo to 2 has been a bit trying, but I think we might just make it. No one will be getting voted out of the family any time soon!! Maddy and Amelia have even started to interact a little. Amelia is really starting to think that Maddy is funny... Another good thing/bad thing, though. Sometimes Maddy is doing something I don't want her to do, but Amelia smiles at her, so she continues doing it. Oh well... Better than it upsetting Amelia, right?!?! :)

Maddy is really getting into Christmas this year!! That is helping A LOT because with our 70+ degree temperatures everyday, I'm having a difficult time getting into the spirit of things... Go figure, right?!?! Maddy is all about it this year!! She keeps telling me that Santa is bringing her a baby doll... I guess I better find a way to relay the message to the big guy before he leaves the North Pole next weekend!! I'd hate to have a disappointed little girl on my hands! She keeps asking where Santa is, and I keep reminding her that he has to stay at the North Pole to make all the toys!! :) She's having so much fun this year, and I'm LOVING it!!

Ok, so now I'm just rambling because I'm waiting for the videos to upload... I guess that means that I should step away for a few minutes and stop boring all of you!!

If I don't get a chance to blog again before Christmas, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Love you guys!!

And the stockings were hung...

...by the LCD with care! Once again, we do not have a fireplace, so our stockings are hung on our special stocking hangar by the TV!! :) More on that later, but for now, we purchased our Christmas Tree yesterday and got it decorated... Here are a few pictures from that:


Maddy putting the star on top!!



Showing off her Little Engine that Could ornament from Papa Jay & GiGi:



Posing, but refusing to look at the camera! :)



In other news, Maddy and Amelia each received a letter from Santa in the mail yesterday. Maddy was VERY excited... Here's a little video from after we read his letter!!



Well, Christmas is almost here, and our cards finally made it in the mail yesterday, so hopefully you'll be receiving yours soon!!! :)

The girls' naps did not overlap today, and Bryan had to go to work, so I better get back to Amelia before she gets upset and wakes Maddy!!

Love you guys!! :)

New Photos

Hey everyone! I took a few photos of the girls today and thought I'd share them with you!

Please let me preface the unveiling of these photos with this statement...

Taking photos of a newborn is difficult... Taking photos of a 2 year old is difficult... Taking photos of a newborn AND a 2 year old together is ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE!!!

Here are the photos I took of the girls:







Needless to say, this was where the "photoshoot" ended... HaHaHa!! :)


In other news, we attempted some holiday baking today. Maddy stood on one of our tall kitchen chairs by the counter... Amelia was in the Baby Bjorn (and wasn't happy about it)... Needless to say, after the first type of cookie was completed, we called it a day. Maddy was a happy camper getting to lick the spoon, though...







I'll continue trying to post photos of the girls, but things are pretty crazy around here right now!! I don't know why... LoL. I hope everyone is enjoying this holiday season. I know we are!! Maddy is so much fun this year! She really seems to understand who Santa is and what his job is... Now, we just need to work on the REAL reason for the season... :) We have watched Dora's Christmas Carol, Shrek the Halls and The Polar Express more times than I care to count this past week, but she's LOVING it!!!

I guess that's about it for now...

Love you guys!! :)

Dinner With Santa

Last night I took the girls for the annual base Christmas tree lighting, then we went to have dinner with Santa!! We had such a great time! It was my first real outing alone with both girls, and I was very proud of them! They did so well! Maddy was a little wild, but she's 2, so who can fault her?!?! LoL. Here are a few pictures of our little cuties!!


The girls, all dressed up before we left for our evening:



Col. Frankel (the base commander) with the kiddos just before they lit the tree:



The girls and I after the tree was lit:



Sorry that all you can see are Amelia's toes. I didn't realize that's how she was situated until I saw these pictures... Oh well... Here's a rundown... She was SLEEEEPING!! We all know the rule... Never wake a sleeping baby!! :)

Unfortunately, Bryan was still at work and missed out, but he got to see pictures and heard Maddy's rendition of how the evening went... Let's just say that she often gives Boomhauer (from King of the Hill) a run for his money!! HaHaHa.

No photos of the girls with Santa will be displayed at the moment. I chose the "best" one for our Christmas card this year!! No tears, but we still weren't too sure about the big guy!! :)

Check out this link for the base's news article about the evening... Photo number 3 makes Maddy our little celebrity!! ;)

I hope everyone's week is coming to a nice close!! I know I, for one, am SUPER thankful that this weekend is almost here!! We've had a long week!!

Love you guys!!

T-6 Solo

Just a quick blog to congratulate Bryan on his solo in the T-6 today!!! He did a great job!! I took the girls so we could watch him... Amelia slept the whole time and one of Bryan's classmates chased Maddy so I could watch. All in all it was a successful morning!! Per tradition, once he was finished with his solo, we got to walk out to the plane and take some photos together... Then, he was dunked in a big tank of (what appeared to be very cold) water. Maddy wanted to know when it was her turn to go swimming. HaHaHa. Here are some photos we took... Enjoy!!

This is what Maddy did while Daddy was flying... She played in the dunk tank with one of his classmates:



There he is:



This is what Amelia did while Daddy was flying... SLEEP!! :)



After the solo flight!! :)






There he goes:






That water looks COLD!!



I hope you all had a wonderful Wednesday!! We're over the hump and looking forward to the weekend!!

Love you guys!! :)

TIME!!!

I have finally found a few minutes of "me time"!!! I thought I'd use some of this time to fulfill my promise of posting photos of our little family (as has been promised for almost 2 weeks now)!! Can you believe it?!?! Amelia will be 2 weeks old tomorrow!! Not much has changed since my last post. We're settling into our new routine. Amelia is still sleeping great... Getting up just a couple of times every night... Maddy is still NOT sleeping well... Still getting up a couple of times a night. HaHaHa. I just bought this toddler alarm clock from Amazon.com today in hopes that we can kick this getting up all night habit once and for all!!! When the monkey's eyes are closed, she is supposed to be asleep, and when they open, it's okay for her to get up. I'll have to let you know in a few weeks how successful we've been. LoL.

I know you've all been waiting, so here are the promised photos:


Checking Amelia out for the first time... All Maddy kept saying was "look at the baby!!" She must have said it 3,000 times in the first hour she was visiting at the hospital. LoL.



Kisses for her baby sister:


Hugs for her baby sister:



Holding her for the very first time... Looking like a proud big sister!!



Amelia's first Halloween. Bad parents that we are, everyone had on their Titans gear except Amelia. We'll have to take another photo once Amelia can fit in her Titans onesies!! :)



First bath... The obligatory photo... Unfortunately, Amelia doesn't seem to care for her baths like Maddy always has. I'm hoping that once she's a little older, she'll enjoy them more!! :)



That's all I have time for at the moment. I have great plans of taking some newborn portraits soon... Once that happens, I'll be sure to post some of those, too!

Happy Friday everyone!

Love you guys!! :)

I haven't forgotten...

...to blog about Amelia's arrival. It's just that having 2 little people is a little bit of work, and, quite frankly, when they sleep (at the same time), I try to do the same!! I was planning to upload some pictures today because Bryan and Maddy went to San Antonio for the day to go to an airshow (thus leaving me with the little person that eats, sleeps and poops... emphasis on the sleeps), but I forgot to get the photos off the camera before they took it with them... I DO have one picture that someone else took on my computer of the 4 of us that I'll let you see as a little sneak peek!! :)


Amelia's arrival was just about as smooth as I could have asked for. You may recall that Maddy came 2 days before her due date, so when I made it TO my due date with Amelia, I decided (after some discussion with the doctor) that it may have been in our best interest to induce labor. This was certainly not my first choice, but with the impending arrival of a houseful of company, the pressure got the best of me. I will say, however, that when I got to the hospital and got hooked up to the monitors, my contractions were already pretty regular at 4 - 5 minutes apart... BEFORE the induction even started. This is actually when all the books say that you should head to the hospital... We may have ended up there that night anyway, even if the induction wasn't scheduled... There were 3 steps that the doctor suggested we try to encourage Amelia to "come out and play" as Maddy began saying to my belly the last couple of weeks. :) The first step was scheduled to take about 12 hours. About 6 or 7 hours in, it was go time!! Shortly after my contractions got so intense, Amelia was here!! Just like Maddy, once the ball was rolling, things happened very quickly. This time it was so quick that the doctor didn't even make it in time!! HaHaHa. I had no idea that a nurse could deliver a baby, but I'm sure glad they are trained to do that!! :) Weighing in at 8 pounds, 8 ounces, Amelia is perfect in every way!!! We couldn't feel more blessed with our happy little family of four!! Oh yeah, and after all of Maddy's sleeping problems (which continue to this day), Amelia sleeps like a dream!! I sure hope that she keeps this up!!

In other news, just days before Amelia's arrival, Bryan and I took some 2-year portraits of Maddy. Here are a few of our favorites:










I hope you're all doing well... Again, sorry for the delayed post... and the lack of pictures of our newest princess!! I'll see what I can do in the next few days about that!!

Love you guys!! :)