NaBloPoMo Bye Bye

So, did you realize the date?

If you're doing NaBloPoMo I'm positive you know the date.

No question about it.

November 30th.

The very last finale day of National Blog Posting Month.

I am thrilled that NaBloPoMo is done until next year.

I am even more thrilled that I successfully posted every single day without too much stress.

Not only did I get in 30 posts in 30 days... this is post #33 for November.

Phew.

Now I have my own personal goal to make by the end of December. If I can get in 24 posts in the next 31 days... I will have written 200 posts in 2008. (Not as many as the 250 posts in 2007... but I didn't have a newborn then.)

Wish me luck!

A Little Bit of Zoe

I've had a lot of posts about Ana lately... and about Ana AND Zoe. I thought it was about time to have a completely Zoe post. Teeny tiny tidbits about my big girl. Random odds and ends...

- For Zoe... the word skunk has always been "stunk". I don't know why, but that one little letter switch makes Nick and I both completely hysterical. Some examples of Zoe... "I smell a stunk! Do you smell that stunk?" and "How come Alex, Larisa and Nina are stunks?" That was the best. Trick-or-treating and having Zoe let everyone know "My cousins are stunks!"

- Zoe is in the full blown "all by myself" phase. Everything is "I can do it ALL BY MYSELF!" She dresses herself, goes to the potty by herself, cleans up by herself, showers by herself... etc. etc. etc. Unless of course she decides "I NEED HELP. WWWAAAAHHH. SNIFFLE SNIFFLE SOB. I CAN'T DO IT!" Then of course "all by myself" goes right out the window... until 3 seconds later when we're on to another activity and another "go away, I can do it all by myself!" emerges.

- My world has been taken over by "Why?" I knew it was coming. As a preschool teacher I had experienced it. I still had no idea how irritating and seemingly irrational it could be. I had no idea that it would feel like I was having every nerve in my body repeated poked over and over and over again. I can't even think clearly. When do we get past this?

- When Zoe doesn't want something she will try telling us she doesn't like it (even if we know she does). There is one absolute best and memorable time she used her "I don't like it" tactic. We were having dinner, and after asking her to eat numerous, she announced "But I don't like chicken." We looked at her and said "Zoe, it's pork. Eat." She responded "Oh" and cleaned her plate.

- Like trying to get out of eating (or doing) something by saying she doesn't like it, she will also try to convince herself she DOES like something by just saying it repeatedly. One example would be jello. One time we were at Aunt Andrea's house and the kids were all having little bite sized jello squares. Zoe would announce "I like jello." and then put the square in her mouth. Then she would sort of gag and spit it back out into her hand. She repeated the same procedure about 5 times... "I like jello.", mouth, gag, spit, repeat. All of the adults just kind of watched with wonder. I finally told her to stop and that it was alright if she didn't like it. We haven't had jello again, but I am almost tempted to make some just to see if she'd try again.

-Zoe calls directions "Gretchens". It was extremely difficult to figure that one out the first times she said it. We couldn't figure out who or what "Gretchen" was... and Zoe couldn't begin to define directions. She was actually looking for a small piece of paper that came with a hopscotch game. I can't even remember how long it took us to figure it out... but it was frustrating all around.

-Some of the boys at school have told Zoe she's a baby. Most children I know have gotten upset by being told that. They whine, or cry, or run to an adult and do the "So and so called me a baby, sniffle sniffle." That's all fine... and normal. Zoe, she doesn't get upset... she gets annoyed. She sternly states "I'm not a baby, I'm a big girl!" in a tone that says "What are you, an idiot? Can't you see I'm not a baby? Now, Ana, she's a baby. Me, I'm 3 years old, duh." I love that she doesn't get her feelings hurt and just states the obvious with such a seriousness.

-Zoe has become a master storyteller. Her newest tale involves her living all by herself in a red house in Canada. Zoe - "Mommy, you and Daddy and Ana can live here in the green house. I live all by myself in my red house." Me - "Oh really. Where is your red house." Zoe - "It's in Canada. I go there on a big airplane. You can't come." Me - "Well, who is going to cook you dinner?" Zoe - "Well, Alex and Larisa can come. They can help me. And we'll have juice." The red house has been talked about for over a week now. I'm expecting her to pack her bag any day now and announce that we need to take her to the airport so she can go home.

-Sometimes when Zoe wants something she will say someone told her it was OK... or that it was someone else's idea. Zoe will wake up from nap and something will come out of her mouth like "Mommy, I do need a cookie. Grammy said so. She said yes." Um, Grammy is in Florida. We are in New Jersey. Unless she flew here and snuck into our house and your room while you were snoozing... well then no... Grammy didn't say so. She did not say yes. (If she were here, sure, that would be true.)

Zoe could very well be the best big sister ever. Still, after 4 1/2 months, Zoe is madly in love with Ana. She still calls Ana her baby. Every day she tells me she needs to hold Ana, or that Ana needs to sit by her in her chair. She has taken on an exaggerated version of the tone I use with Ana... that sweet perky Mommy-voice... only sweeter and perkier. Zoe can get Ana to laugh and smile like no one else can. She is just so interested in all things Ana.

Some times all of Zoe's little quirky things will come together and I will get statements like "Mommy, Ana wants to sit with me. She told me she wants me to read her a book. You can go do laundry and do the computer. I can take care of her all by myself. I'm a big girl. Ana told me, yes."

She is just such a big girl. She's got a huge personality. She's friendly and talkative (so so very talkative). I have other parents tell me Zoe is just such a nice girl. Such a sweet child. It fills me up when other people will just volunteer their opinions about how "good" she is. I know there are moments that Zoe brings me to the end of my rope... and tries her hardest to poke at my very last nerve. She can yell, and scream, and throw tantrums with the best of them. But there are more times that she makes me smile... makes me laugh... makes me want to just squeeze her and cover her with smooches. Sometimes when all of her "Zoe-ness" just makes me realize how truly special she is. Sometimes my love for her is just overwhelming. Oh, you mommies, you all know what I mean.

SOOC Saturday - Madison Santa Parade

Every year, on the Friday after Thanksgiving, there is a parade in Madison (NJ) welcoming Santa and the Christmas season. This year was our second time actually going to see the parade. It was almost exactly the same as last year... chilly, dark, that big guy in the red suit was the parade finale, etc.

This year Zoe was less confused and more excited. I think Nick was just about as cold. Oh, and of course we had Ana with us this year. (Actually, I guess she was with us last year too... just in a much warmer place.)
Zoe was insistent that I sit with her on our blanket. (I swear when we weren't taking pictures we were paying much closer attention to Ana in the stroller.)
Once Zoe's cousins found us she had no more use for me on that blanket. I was just heartbroken.
After Santa came along we followed the parade to the center of town (which we could see from our parade watching place... good planning). I believe there was a much bigger crowd this year because it was warmer. The mob all huddled around the unlit tree waiting for Santa to perform his magic.
And after a little waiting, a few jingle bells, and a countdown... our town tree went from this...
to this...

After we ooo-ed and ahh-ed a little bit Ana reminded us that she was cold and tired and hungry and still annoyed that we were out in the dark so we headed home.

I guess for SOOC the photos aren't so bad. I truly need to learn how to use all the fancy settings on my camera. Maybe I'll figure it out by next year's Santa parade.

My Pink Fuzzy Babies

Zoe 2005

Ana 2008
Forgive me... but it's the day after Thanksgiving... and this is all I have the time or energy or brainpower to accomplish blogging-wise. I figured you would all be OK with just a couple fuzzy pink girls. The same but different. I actually have that hat for Ana too... but it wasn't quite cold enough for it today.

Gobble Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving!!!
I hope you're all having a wonderful holiday and that your lives are full of things to be thankful for. I know mine is!

(Zoe did her hand print turkey at school of course.)

Wordless Wednesday - Ana's Thanksgiving Attire

Nasty Copy-cats

I received a comment on my last post telling me that I had be a "victim of theft". The comment included a link to the thieving site. At first I was a little skeptical about clicking through. I'm very anxious about links left by strangers. But, after clicking through to the comment writer's blog... I felt comfortable clicking on the link to the copied post. (I will not link to them... just trust it was there)

Melanie at jellybeanangel came across a post of her own through a random chance search. She found her post... and realized there were hundreds of others just copied and pasted right onto the site. She was kind enough to take her time e-mailing and commenting to as many people as she could. She also wrote a post detailing what happened when she contacted the site, and then the site's server. Talk about a lack of assistance and understanding.

Well... long story shortened... I never even had the chance to try to contact the site on my own. I didn't have to write my own version of Melanie's letter. When I clicked back to the copy cat site it was gone. Removed from the server. Thank you Melanie!

Now I'll be anxious that other random posts are out there copied onto other random sites.

I do have a question for some of you out there who might be more familiar with copyrite laws. The site did copy and paste my post. (It seemed to be a site completely comprised of copied and pasted posts.) But... at the top of the copied post it said something like "contents credited to original author" and at the bottom there was a link to my site saying something like "to view content as original". (The site is no longer there... so I'm not positive what the actual wording was.) Is that allowed? I mean... obviously they were in the wrong. The site was put into question, people complained (and I would have been on that list of people if I was quicker), and now the site it gone. But... if someone copies something you've written... is it legal as long as they credit you? Or do they need to notify you and ask your permission, etc.?

Just curious and wondering if anyone has some answers for me before I go out and do my googling research.

Again... Melanie... thanks for the heads up!

The stockings will be hung by the chimney with care!

I haven't really begun to feel the desire to shop for Christmas, but I am currently drowning in holiday catalogs. Our mailmen started making double drop offs today (1 comes in the am with just catalogs and our normal mailman, Larry, comes in the afternoon on his regular run). 13 catalogs came in the mail just today. My recycle bin is already overflowing. It's just going to get worse.

I did make my very first holiday purchase of the season today. Christmas stockings! For years I have been wanting to buy really nice, keep forever, special family stockings. So I did it. I had decided on the stockings in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog... and as luck would have it... they were on sale today!!! Yippee!!! So... here they are... (and they'll be personalized too!).

Mom
Dad
Zoe
AnaIt's a little silly... but just ordering these has got me excited for jingle bells and visits to see jolly old St. Nick! I can't wait for them to be delivered and to see our family of stockings hanging by the chimney just waiting for Santa.

SOOC Saturday - Pitter Patter

Ana has started using the doorway jumper (jolly jumper? whatchacallit jumping thing that hangs from the door frame?). She's not quite jumping. Once in a while she gets in a bounce almost. Mostly she hangs out and randomly spins. And the spinning... it's not really on purpose. But, it's a new place to be that she seems to like for short spans of time.

For me... it just makes me realize how fast she's growing. She does a little spin on ballerina toes and stops to smile at me. "Look Mommy! I'm doing it!!! Don't look away... before you know it I'll be dancing around after Zoe! Are you ready?!?

I'm so not ready.

Plant her in the garden!

(After many many tries... it works!)

Zoe decided Ana should be planted in a garden. I'm not quite sure where she got the idea... but it was pretty entertaining. Well, it was fun for everyone until I was video taping... then Ana decided she wasn't too thrilled any more.

missed?

So... does it count as a missed posting day if you're trying your hardest to post a video but blogger isn't cooperating?

I'm still trying. It keeps coming up as an error. At 9:45 pm this post will be as good as it gets if my video keeps failing.

Just imagine a video here of Zoe and Ana. How does that sound?

ruby & roja giveaway

I saw this giveaway and just knew all of my blogging friends would be interested... so I'm sharing. But do me a favor please, don't go enter. I want to win... and if you enter and win... I won't. Well, maybe I would... they're having 2 winners. So I guess you can enter.

A little about the giveaway...

They are giving away 2 holiday blog designs (1 to each winner) AND (and it's a big AND) those same winners are going to get an entire years worth of blog designs (that's the holiday design plus 4 more designs) totally free.

So click on over to ruby & roja. Winners will be chosen on Wednesday, 11/26 at 10pm.

Organizing

I've come across quite a few people lately who have talked about backing up their photo files. I personally am very bad about this. Reading about people who have had their computers go crazy and eat up all of their photos... that gives me major moments of fear and anxiety. Still... I'm bad about the backing up.

We do have an external drive specifically for saving photos and videos. But... like the normal hard drive... it could suddenly fail. I also print a lot of our photos because I am stuck on having albums to flip through. And, I upload just about everything to Snapfish. And, of course, now there's the blog. But I still worry about losing my photos... my memories.

I've started organizing my photo files in hopes of starting to burn disks, or save to a 2nd drive, or something (what do you do?). I've found it's very very easy to rename my files through Picasa. I'm so much happier having the file names all the same format (especially using the date the photo was taken since I no longer date stamp photos).

So that's what I'm working on while I sit here at the computer with a sleeping Ana in my lap. I figure I might as well be productive even while I'm trapped in this chair. It's a tedious job... but I've been enjoying it. My main enjoyment? Scanning through and finding photos like this...

Zoe exactly 3 years ago today.
How could I ever bear it to lose photos like this???

What methods do you use to backup your photo files? I'm still not settled on what I'm going to do.

Wordless Wednesday - Rotten Squirrel

Catch up!

If you hadn't noticed... so far I have been having a successful NaBloPoMo. It's the 18th and I've posted every single day so far. Only 12 days to go!!!

Other than that... I can't seem to catch up.

I can't catch up with reading my favorite blogs (and forget about commenting... please know I'm reading even if I'm not commenting).

I can't catch up with my laundry (I seem to be doing a load every day... and then the next day everyone has a full hamper again).

I can't catch up with food shopping (I thought we had food... where did it go?)

I can't catch up with the DVR (thank goodness we have it or I'd miss all the must see shows that are on right now).

I can't catch up with my e-mail (you should read these posts at halftime lessons and Decisionally Challenged ... it would make my e-mail responding a whole lot easier. I currently have 31 e-mails from "noreply-comment@blogger.com")

I can't catch up with my picture ordering (but... Snapfish has kicked my butt into gear by offering free shipping on your whole order... but JUST TODAY ONLY ORDER NOW NOW NOW! I'm in the process of ordering photos from August through October with FREE SHIPPING!!! Yippee!)

I can't catch up with putting my photos in my albums (and it's just going to get worse... see above).

I can't catch up with my tidying (my house is a big cluttered mess).

I need a hair cut, and my nails done, and my eyes checked, and my car washed, and my computer photo/video files backed up, and to fill out Ana's baby book (because Zoe's is rather complete).

Sigh.... I just can't catch up.

How are you all doing? Are you all caught up?

Best Shot Monday - Simply Silly

Technically not a great photo... but... I just LOVE this shot.


Yesterday Ana fully and for real laughed at Zoe. Can you blame her for giving Zoe her first real laugh that didn't come from tickling or wiggling? (She laughed out loud before... but only because I've tickled her in a really big way or done a "wiggle wiggle wiggle" while holding her).

Visit Tracey to see what moments everyone else is sharing this Monday.

A Momentous Occasion

Why are you putting me in this chair? You know I hate this chair. The mere idea of this chair makes me scream. Why do you torture me so?
Mommy? I thought you loved me.
Um... oh... wait. What is this?
What did you call this? Rice cereal?
Can someone tell me why you've all been hiding the rice cereal?
Oh Mommy... this is wonderful. I'm the happiest girl around.
Zoe... did you know about this stuff called cereal? Is all food so great?
Why yes Ana, it is. Just wait until they let you try pizza!
Hi Zoe. Thanks for helping.
That was so good. I cleaned the bowl. Let me just lick off that spoon.
And I get to wash it down with a little breastmilk in my bottle?
Man... I love this chair!
Oh... and by the way... Ana's first bowl of baby cereal was followed closely by a 2 hour nap in her crib. Rice cereal could very well be a miracle food in our house. Yippee!!!

SOOC Saturday - Story Time

My girls, a big comfy chair, and some books.


I imagine this chair is going to experience a wonderful life.

Visit Melody to see what everyone has shared straight out of camera!

Ana's Baptism (in mostly pictures and video)

Ana was baptized in the middle of October. Her (and Zoe's) Godparents are her Uncle Gene and Aunt Andrea. Father George performed her (and Zoe's) baptism.

Healthy Growing Girl

We had Ana's 4 month old well baby check up yesterday. Other than the vaccines causing some cranky crying demanding baby to come take her place for the rest of the day... Ana's check up went perfectly. I mean, look at that picture. Can you imagine that girl being cranky? I don't think so. It was all the fault of those mean shots.

Ana is back to herself today. She actually went into her crib last night at 7pm (she usually goes at 10 or 11 after some Mommy and Daddy TV viewing). She stayed asleep (except for an 8:30 binky replacement) until 12:35 when she woke to eat. Then she woke again at 5am to eat. Then I woke her just before 9am to take Zoe to school. Vaccines make my kids VERY cranky for a few hours... and then it turns them into Sleeping Beauty. I suppose it's not a bad deal.

Tonight she was in her crib just before 8pm and she's still happily snoozing at 9:30. Maybe we've turned a bedtime corner. Time will tell.

So, all is well with my chunky monkey Ana banana. On to the stats....

Ana at 4 months...
Length - 25 1/2 inches (90th percentile)
Weight - 14lbs 7oz (75th percentile)
She actually had 6 immunizations combined into 3 injections and 1 oral medication.

And for comparisons of my own interest (even though, yes, I know... you're not supposed to compare your kids... they're all different... blah blah blah).
Zoe at 4 months...
Length - unknown (she was in her pavlik harness)
Weight - 12lbs 12 oz (40th percentile)
She only had 5 immunizations because they didn't have the oral (Rotavirus) vaccine then.

So... Ana is a whole 1lb 11 oz heavier than Zoe was at 4 months. Looking ahead in Zoe's chart... I can tell you that Zoe was 25 1/2 inches at 6 months. Ana is that same length 2 whole months earlier. Guess I shouldn't be at all concerned about my breast milk production huh?

And Zoe... you better be nice to your sister... she's gonna outgrow you any day now.

Wordless Wednesday (with words) - Going Crazy

If you're looking for wordless... stop here... click away. Ignore the words.

OK... so I was going to just post some pictures, because it's Wednesday... and I have the excuse of Wordless Wednesday. But, I just can't leave it at that.

I had an actual post in mind for today. A wordy post. A post about Zoe and her silliness. A post to remind us of some of the things she does... the things that make her Zoe. It's started... but it won't be done for today. I don't think anything is actually "done" today. Laundry still in the dryer. Dishes still in the sink. Bathtub full of toys.

Nick is in Calgary for work all week. It's Wednesday. It's that halfway breaking point. Today has been hard.

Actually, I take that back. This morning was great. Zoe was great... a miracle of listening ears, dressing herself, eating her whole breakfast, putting her shoes on herself, trying her coat and getting right in the car. No arguing. Just all sunshine and roses. It was heaven. Ana slept until I woke her to take Zoe to school. She slept a little more when we came home... had a happy content morning.

This afternoon was hard. Very hard. Zoe's teacher said she had a rough day. Every little thing caused a breakdown. I realized when we got home that not only was sand stuck all over her tush because the sandbox was wet... but she'd had a potty accident and didn't tell anyone. Thank goodness she was agreeable to a nap and didn't argue with it (much). I was able to leave her asleep when Grandma came to stay with her. Phew.

Ana had her 4 month pediatrician appointment. (All is well... I'll update on that later.) She was a big ball of happy chunky monkey for the nurses and doctor. Then... she had a combination of vaccines resulting in 1 oral, and 3 injections. She is sore, and cranky, and clingy, and crying. Tylenol did not seem to help. Enough said on that for now.

Ana wants all of my attention. Zoe wants all of my attention. Nick is in Calgary. There is not enough wine in the fridge. sniffle sniffle sniffle. I want my Mommy.

I was able to sit Zoe down with some water and paint books. I was able to cook us some dinner while Ana sobbed and stared at me from her swing. I was able to get the girls both in the bath (the peepee sandy one... and the sobbing sniffly drooling one). I was able to get Zoe to read books alone in her room while I gave Ana a tummy filling bottle of formula (because the breast was just not cutting it). I was able to get Ana to snooze in her crib and Zoe to watch a little Dora (thank you 24 hours a day Noggin).

The night is not over. Ana is snoozing but I can hear her stirring. The snoozing is great. The stirring is going to cause more issues. She's stirring as it's time to put Zoe to bed. Here we go again. Wish me luck.

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

Yes... I realize it's a little early to be thinking about Christmas. I just wanted to make sure you were all aware of the giveaways going on over at 5 Minutes for Mom. They started on November 6th and they are continuing with tons of goodies for 3 whole weeks. Just click on the button and head on over to read the rules and directions. Giveaways are ongoing from now until November 25th and entries will be closed November 28th. The winners will all be announced on December 1st.

This year they are also doing something called Under the Tree. In addition to prizes for readers to win they are also providing presents to families in need. They are looking for nominations... so if you know a family that is going to have a hard time putting presents under the tree, click on the button and find out how to nominate them. Nominations are open until November 20th.

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving and all of the trimmings... but it's never to early to get into that Christmas spirit. Make sure you give 5 Minutes for Mom a visit!!!

Thinking of Catie

Today my thoughts are with my friend Mary and with her daughter Catie. Catie is 2 years old... and she's having hip reconstruction surgery today. Like Zoe, she was born with hip dysplasia... and we're hoping and praying that this surgery will be quick and successful and that the weeks of wearing a cast will fly by. (She's going to have a 2 year old in a hip cast. Can you imagine???)

When Zoe was born with hip dysplasia in 2005 I looked online and searched for information about it. I could barely find anything that wasn't from hospital journal type websites and full of medical terminology I didn't understand. It was so frustrating.

Now... if you look for information on hip dysplasia you can get so much more. So many more personal stories. It's still not easy to find them... but it's much easier than it was. Even now that Zoe is just fine and her x-rays and follow up checks are going well I still do searches at random times... just to see who's out there.

That's how I met Mary. One day I just decided to do a search. Mary's blog popped up. Catie was getting her first spica cast. We connected over our girls' hips... and I now consider her a friend. Today I know she is worried and anxious for the surgery to be completed. She's praying Catie comes out of this with perfect hips that she never has to worry about again. Please keep Catie in your thoughts today. And, if you have a moment pop over to her blog and give her a few words of support.

Ana's 3 month portraits

We had Ana's 3 month old portraits done at The Picture People in the middle of October. Yes... she is actually going to be 4 months old tomorrow. Time is just slipping by. I keep thinking that one day I will catch up... one day I will get organized again. I really hope that happens. But, I guess until then I'll just keep chugging along with my posting. If there is one thing NaBloPoMo is helping me with, it's catching up. Yeah!

Ana was not thrilled with the whole idea of getting her picture taken. The moment the photographer adjusted Ana's position the first time she became a big crying mess. Between giving her some bottle, trying the pacifier, jiggling her a bit, and trying all I could think of... they actually got some great shots of her. Mostly serious looks with a couple of almost smiles.

I came home a very happy mommy!







So... at 3 (and now 4 months) old, what is Ana doing?

-She's smiling big huge full body smiles. Smiles that get everyone around her joining in.

-She's almost laughing. I say almost, because when I put her on her changing table I will tickle her and she sounds like she's almost laughing. I can feel her body tense up though, and it's almost like she's nervous and isn't quite sure what to do. Any day she's going to just relax and full belly laugh though.

-She's sleeping in her crib from about 11pm until about 5 or 6am almost every single night. She snoozes while we watch TV before 11 and then gets one last nursing... and then she wakes to feed around 5or 6 and then goes back in her crib until about 8. Yeah sleep!!!

-She's sleeping on her tummy. I am breaking the "back to sleep" rule. Ana is a tummy sleeper. She just is. I put her on her tummy, give her a binky, pat her tush a few times, and she's off to dream land. Bad mommy.

-Since starting her tummy sleeping she now lifts her head to look all around. She has started working on her "baby push-ups" too.

-She rotates. One day I put her on the TV room floor and went to fold laundry. When I came back her head was where I put her feet and her feet were where I had put her head. I finally saw how she's accomplishing this. She lays on her back and lifts her legs up in the air (so she's a 90 degree angle). Then she tips over on her right side. Then she straightens her legs back out and lays back onto her back. Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. I have a little rotating baby.

-She's still just getting breast milk with the occasional formula bottle. I'm sure she'll start getting some baby cereal soon, but my milk production is not what is was with Zoe... so I'm almost afraid that if I add in cereal... nursing will be almost history. I'm not quite ready for that yet.

-She was 7lbs. 8oz. at birth. At 3 months she weighed 12lbs. 14 oz. She goes for her 4 month check up this week. I can't wait to see what she weighs now. You can see in the one full body pic that she's got chunky little thighs... oh my are they even more chunky now. I could just eat her up. And those cheeks!!! I'm just constantly smooching those chubby cheeks.

-She loves the swing. She is not a baby that enjoys the bouncy seat, or vibrating. Get her in a swing and she's a happy girl.

-She's just about as flexible and easy-going as Zoe ever was. She's in and out of her car seat to take Zoe to and from school, and dance, and swim and to run errands. She's generally easy about letting other people hold her. She will breastfeed or bottle feed. She will drink breastmilk or formula. She doesn't care if it's one brand or another. She goes out to restaurants, parties, stores, church, wherever... and is just happy to look all around and smile at anyone who gives her a glance. But when she's mad or upset, oh man, look out. It's like she's being stuck with hat pins. She's got a major set of lungs and a scream that could pierce ear drums. That... is also just like Zoe was (and still is) though.

So, that's Ana. 4 months old tomorrow. Where does the time go?

SOOC Saturday - So similar it's scary.

It shocks me sometimes to realize how much these girls look alike. They could be twins born 3 years apart.

Zoe and Ana love TV almost as much as their Mommy! I bought Zoe a new booster seat for the dinner table and Ana a "Bumbo Baby Sitter". Zoe decided her booster would be perfect in from of the TV... and Ana's seat should go right next to her. She just loves her sister to be with her. And Mommy... well, she was thrilled to have a few minutes of both girls being totally content.

Halloween - The quick version.

Halloween started off pleasantly enough. Everyone just loves a little pumpkin.
Then a little witch showed up for a while.
The witch left... and then a while later we had a bat show up. (Zoe made sure to tell everyone "I'm a bat, see my wings?!?" and whenever anyone would say "Oh look! A scary bat!" she would say "I'm not a scary bat! I'm a nice bat!")
Then we were infested with a family of skunks. Pee-you-stinky! (Cousins Larisa, Alex, and Nina went trick-or-treating with us.)
We had a lovely Halloween family photo taken. (Zoe's like "Alright already, enough with the camera. Let's trick-or-treat."... Ana's like "Enough! It's bad enough you dress me up like this... now you have to take pictures too???" Mommy's got on cat ears... but lost her cat tail. Daddy's wearing a creepy skull t-shirt. But... look... family photo!)
We had a really fun time, but thank goodness it's all over.
And, thanks to the candy, I'm making it through the time change.
And everyone lived happily ever after.
The end.

Pumpkin Picking

I know we're kind of beyond the whole topic of pumpkins and pumpkin picking. I realized that after the one photo I did post I never got around to posting any more of our pumpkin pictures. So... you'll have to just sit back and look at a few late pumpkins. I'll keep the post short and sweet and heavy on pictures. (Oh, and if you didn't realize... I haven't posted our Halloween pics yet either. Maybe you'll get to see them by Thanksgiving. heehee)

Zoe always loves trying to push the big pumpkins around. It's pretty amazing how heavy they are.
Our little model posing with the pumpkins.
The big mountain of huge pumpkins is always fun to climb.
We squeezed Zoe in between a couple pumpkins and she wasn't too thrilled about it.
Well, she wasn't thrilled until she got to hold Ana... then she wasn't feeling too squished.
Ana seemed a little confused about what in the world we were doing.
Our little pumpkin in the sunshine.
Family picture among the pumpkins. (Ana looks like she's trying to figure out how to get that doughnut away from Zoe.)
On top of the world. Well, on top of the pumpkin.
Ladybug.
Ana was happy with her tiny pumpkin. Look at those chunky legs!!!
We finally picked out the pumpkins we wanted to take home. Loaded up, happy, and ready to go!
Our fall display. Zoe just HAD to have a JoJo pumpkin. Nice addition, right?

So, much like last year... our pumpkin picking was successful.

Wordless Wednesday - Who needs slippers?

Crafty Tuesday - Bedroom Cornices

Woo Hoo! Look at me being all crafty.

Of course... it took me weeks to complete three cornices. (And I only took pics of 2 of them.)

Oh, and my mom helped me put together the Styrofoam frames.

She put on all the batting, too.

But the material... that was all me. Cutting, wrapping, pinning. All me.

Me=Crafty.

Now... if you want to see real actual craftiness... go visit Carrie at Barely Controlled Chaos.

Best Shot Monday - Halloween Sweets

I just had to share my current favorite photo of the girls together. It was taken the day before Halloween. Aren't they just sweeter than candy?

I promise I'll share plenty more Halloween photos, but right now Ana is even protesting this short post. Make sure you head on over to visit Mother May I to see what other sweet shots everyone is sharing.

4 x 4 (x 4) by Nick

I was tagged by Kristi at Music Mom of 2 (ages ago) for the 4x4 Meme. I was excited because it was a simple meme that I could do quickly. I long to come up with quick posts lately (which I'm sure you can understand). Unfortunately it ended up not quite working out as a "simple" post.

Let me explain.

Here are the rules...

1. Go to your pictures file.
2. Go to the 4th file.
3. Go to the 4th picture.
4. Post it and tell the story.
5. Tag 4 more people.

Sounds easy right?

Well... I opened up My Pictures. The 4th folder was "Nick's". Inside were more folders (instead of just pictures) so I picked the 4th folder again. That folder was labeled "Beer Bottle Collection". Inside that folder I picked the 4th picture. And behold...

So then I was all set to post the picture and tell the story... except I told Nick that my post would be something along the lines of "My husband Nick likes beer." He said there was so much more of a story and was not happy with my version. So he started telling me all about what I should write and I finally said "If you don't like my version then maybe you should write the post yourself." And Nick (shockingly) said "Well fine, I will."

So without further ado... Nick will post for the first time ever on my blog. Maybe if it goes well we'll do it again?


Nick's post...

My friend Jeff and I write, record, and play music together, mostly in the basement. We are also beer geeks and drink a fair amount of American micro-brew and European classic beer. In the spirit of the juvenile nature of the man room we also collect the bottles of the better beers we drink. When we run out of room I try to take pictures of the bottles of the good-but-not-amazing beer before recycling them. This picture is of a Weyerbacher (Easter, PA) collection.

Fitting for the fall season, on the far right, is Weyerbacher's Imperial Pumpkin Ale, which is one of the best spiced pumpkin beers I've had. One has to be careful though, it's 8% alcohol. Another fantastic pumpkin beer is Southern Tier's Pumking. I prefer it because it has no spices in it.

My current favorite USA brewers are Stone (Escondidio, CA), Southern Tier (Lakewood, NY) - particularly the big bottles, and Dogfish Head (Rehoboth Beach/Milton, DE). My favorite beer is Sierra Nevada (Chico, CA) Pale Ale.

So there you have it. That's what comes of picking 4x4(x4). I'm very curious to see what other photos randomly come out of this meme... so now for my 4 tags....

Allison at The McGeary-Stella Family (I thought you might like this photo and post!)
Mary at My Life as Me
Carrie at Barely Controlled Chaos
Jeanette at Jenty's Ramblings

I can't wait to see what happens to be your 4x4!!!

Here we go... wish me luck!

Um... yeah... it's November today.

I did post this morning... but I was feeling the need to acknowledge that it is actually November 1st. It is the official first day of National Blog Posting Month. I'm signed up and I'm going to work my hardest to get a post up each and every day.

I do have quite a few post ideas in the works. Some post titles and tags in my post list just waiting to be written. I have a lot of pictures just waiting to be shared. Nick still has to add his part to the post he said he's writing. So... I have a good chance of succeeding.

I also thought I would ask if anyone had anything they would like me to write about. Maybe you'd like an update on something I've written about before and haven't thought to update? Maybe there is something you are just curious about? Maybe you'd just like to help a NaBloPoMo-er out and throw me a topic (or 30)? If you got anything for me feel free to leave ideas or questions in the comments or e-mail me.

Now, as long as the girls are agreeable to Mommy posting every single day, we've got it made!

(If you're doing NaBloPoMo let me know... I'd love to check in on you!)

SOOC Saturday - Goodies

Halloween was a success! Yummy, yummy, yummy!


And, do you see that right there in the middle? A toothbrush!!! At 3 years old Zoe is just as excited about that toothbrush as she is about all the sweets.

Head over to see Melody and check out what everyone else has offered up Straight Out Of Camera!