Grandpa and two of his girls... he's running out of arms!!
There was a hug... I just wasn't quick enough.
Weird guy in a red suit? Not a big fan of his.
Already got that Pritchard (Freeman?) rhythm!!!
Having a tea party!
Having a tea party and watching porn?
Grandpa being a goof.
Dani's new dollhouse
Doesn't he know it's dangerous to fall asleep with the stove on?
The "sunglasses" - a.k.a. goggles - were a favorite of hers at Grandma Doris' on Christmas day.
Her puppy bag is lots of fun. She takes the puppy out and puts the bag on her head. ??
Amma and Dani having a nice quiet moment together.
Boy, that is a very serious game!
Helping Grammy with the dishes!
What a mean Grammy - putting my babies in a box to ship them away. I know she was teething and cranky and all, but geez Grammy!!
We had a great time in Bottineau for our Christmas celebrations #4 and #5. It was great to see the Sandens and Yarkes again for Christmas Eve! We all survived the chaos with very little bodily damage. Christmas day at Grandma Doris' house was just as bustling... again, survival was our main focus. The next night brought a night out on the town for us - the first in a very long time! It was great to see old friends again.MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!
What a great way to celebrate all that God has done for us! By getting together with family and friends and eating, drinking, and being merry. We're looking forward to getting to Bottineau tonight to see some family we haven't seen in a long time. Dani is especially excited to see Averie and Tate! And I'm vowing to remember my camera this time so I can actually capture some of those precious moments. Stay tuned...
Dani and I went out to Target this morning to get some sick-friendly items (yep, she's sick). On the way out, we had quite a hike to get to the van, and then some under-the-breath cussing from Mama as I tried to get her and everything else in the van before I froze to death. Once I got in I asked her, "Can you believe we moved here... what were we thinking?" And without missing a beat she yelled, "NOTHING!!" Wise beyond her years, that one.
Having so much fun with her tent!
She got her very first Bobby (Barbie) from her cousin Anna.
Christmas #1 and #2 are now a memory. We had a GREAT time in Garrison this past weekend. Saturday we spent the day with all of Duane's family. Danica had a wonderful time playing with Hannah and ignoring baby Brenna. :)
We had a very yummy dinner of Oyster stew (didn't try it), Nefla soup (did try it... very yum), and chili burgers (OF COURSE I TRIED IT!). Then we opened gifts downstairs by the Christmas tree. Hannah and Danica were very helpful passing out gifts to everyone... boy, was that cute!! And they were VERY excited to open their presents. Everyone got some very nice gifts. Danica's favorite so far is a Dora tent that Grandma and Grandpa bought her with a tunnel attached. I'm sure it will make for hours of fun, and for that, I THANK YOU!!! :)
Yesterday was spent at Kate (Brian's sister) and Gary's new beautiful, and very big, house. Dani had the best time running around with all the kids. The first hour or two were pretty shy, and then we don't know what happened, but she became the life of the party! All the way back to Minot last night she was talking about playing with the kids. She was so wound up, she wouldn't go to sleep! Not the greatest end to a great weekend, but it'll do.
Now we have a couple days of rest, and then off to Bottineau for Christmas #4 and #5... #3 is spent with just our immediate family Tuesday night.
Hopefully some very nice brothers and sisters will send us some pictures soon so we can post them... I forgot my camera, of course.
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next."
Amen.
During all this hustle and bustle, I think remembering this prayer can be very helpful. I especially need help with the part about taking the world as it is, not as I would have it. I struggle with wanting things and people to be a certain way... the way I want them to be or think they should be. When really they are the way they are supposed to be. God's way, not my way. What do you struggle with?
I took Danica to K-Mart this morning because there was a gift that I could only buy there. I don't think I've ever in her life taken Dani there before. We drove into the parking lot and she said, "Going to K-Mart?" HUH????? So I asked her, "what?" And she said again, as plain as day, "Going to K-Mart?" Whenever we go to Target or the Mall or the grocery store she always tells me where we are, but we've been to those places many times. I have no idea how she even knows what K-Mart is. But I'm a little bit amazed by her.
Sweet success! I put Dani's jammies on inside out so she couldn't unzip, and it worked. I just checked on her, and she's a sleeping beauty fully clothed!!! WOO-HOO!!!!!! It's a small but meaningful victory for all of motherhood.
Our girl sure does know how to lounge!
Always got her shawl on... and a hat. She's very into style. ;)
We're having a lovely little girls' time now that Daddy's gone for a couple days. Although I think Dani is wanting some testosterone around. She started asking to go see Papa, then to go see Grandpa and then to go see Afi.Tonight we're going to try putting on her jammies inside out. Say a prayer that it works!
Walter Mathow and Jack Lemmon are in my kitchen putting in a range hood. Who needs t.v. and movies when you've got this kind of entertainment!!
Last night brought another night of putting clothes back on our nudist and cleaning up pee. She's getting good now... learning how to spray it all over. It was on her sheets, the crib rails, and the floor. I'm trying to think of a way to keep those jammies on... safety pins, sewing on snaps, etc... Any ideas?
We're really battling with our little nudist. We're having to go in and check on her while she's still awake so we can catch her in "the act." It's happened a couple times now. If anyone's been through this with their kids, let me know what you did. She seems to think it's pretty darn funny. Last night as I layed her down for the night, I told her to keep her clothes on... don't take off the jammies. She cracked up laughing at me and gave me a very unsettling, "okay." Two minutes later we heard over the monitor, "MAMA! Clothes!!" Yep, they were off. Sheesh!
We went to Duane's uncle Jay's house yesterday so Duane could watch football and Dani could play with the kids. She had so much fun... even though she was a mute for the first 2 hours! She was so excited about it, she layed awake in her crib until after 10:00 last night! Just couldn't settle down I guess. Or maybe she was just figuring out a master plan on how she can be naked all the time without getting caught.
Being such a big girl before her very first haircut!
She wasn't quite sure what to think.
She kept her head down the whole time with a very pessimistic look on her face.
Starting to get a little worried now... a little pouty.
My cute girl and her new bangs!!
Getting the pouty lip out... hurry up lady!!
And it's a whole new you!!! What a beauty! She was so good and so brave. We kept her little locks of hair and they even gave her a certificate for us to put in her baby book.
Everyone in the mall was going, "Aaawwww!"She goes through spurts where she has to label everything for me. I think she thinks I'm an idiot and don't know what anything is. Maybe she's right. Maybe all the toddlers are right!
She's been insisting on wearing this hat the past couple days.
She's loving Averie's old Dora robe.
Another hat she found!
Such a cute outfit from her big cousin Averie!
Itty-bitty baby Brenna!
A good one!
Not quite as good.
Definitely not good.
Grandpa reading "Apple Dumplin's Day" yet again!Naked baby butt strikes again. And yes, it is 11:30 at night again. I don't understand it. I go to bed at 9:30 every night for the past 3 years, and the two night I happened to be up until 11:30, my daughter is freezing her little tushie off in her crib. This time we weren't lucky enough to find a dry crib either. So it all got changed... the diaper, jammies, sheet, and matress pad. I think we're going to have to have a little Mommy/Daughter talk about this tomorrow. And this is how I predict it will go:
Me: Danica, why are you taking off your clothes at night-night?
D: Because!
Me: Because why?
D: Because Snoopy a Chi Bon a Snoopy a Veggie Tales!
Me: Well, stop taking off your clothes at night, okay?
D: OKAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She never gives me a straight answer.
I was just changing a very stinky p.u. diaper (that's beside the point). Dani was laying there and said, "Guess what?" So of course I said what! "I got baby sisser Brenna and Snoopy! A baby sisser, a Snoopy!" Um, okay.
Well, we are finally getting settled. Everything is unpacked and put in it's rightful place... exept for the basement full of opened and unopened boxes. We still have not found the camera cord so I can get pictures on the computer. If we don't find it, we'll buy one this weekend. I know some of you blog junkies are getting the shakes and sweats... hang in there, your fix is coming soon. Just remember, the first one is free, but then you gotta pay.
This palace of a house is messing with me. The doorknob on the bathroom door is broken now, so no one can shut the door. One never knows when a little monster will come barging in... either on two legs or on four. And this morning the toilet handle broke off... at a very inappropriate moment. What next, eh? I guess this is God's sense of humor at work. Well, I don't think it's very funny!!
Duane and I watched a movie last so we didn't get to bed until 11:30... VERY late for me. I thought about whether or not to check on Danica, and decided to go ahead and check. I walked in and let my eyes adjust a bit, then I saw a book in her crib. So I grabbed the book to take it out, lifted it up, and saw that it was a diaper! Duane walked in too so he saw the look of hillarity and horror on my face. He checked the crib for wet spots while I doubled over laughing at the site of Danica's bare butt sticking out. My poor girl was so cold, so I got a new diaper on her, got new jammies on her, and she never woke up. What a champ. She must have been bare bummed for about 3 hours... just imagine if I decided not to go check on her. That decision will be a much easier one from now on.
My poor sick girl! Dani woke up yesterday with a fever (but she doesn't need more cowbell... some of you will get that). She's been acting like she's fine, but had quite a fever and threw up all over Grandma's couch last night. Poor Grandma... I think we've overstayed our welcome!! :)
Her fever is gone this morning and she just finally ate half a banana, so we'll see!!!! She gets to stay here with Grandma and Grandpa while Mom and Dad go to a Christmas party tonight. Say some prayers that all her food stays down while we're gone!!
SHEESH! What a dump! I was not a happy spoiled girl when I saw the house we're renting. Crap everywhere, dirty broken blinds, smelly dirty fridge, ish ish ish. It's much better now however, so we're unpacking and making it our own. Danica is having a ball running around exploring the new place. She's been so good through this whole moving process, and she's been loving having Grandma and Grandpa around!
We were driving back to Garrison today and Dani was yelling out of boredom. I was trying to focus on the snow-drifted road so I asked her to please stop while I was driving. She said, "OKAY!!!! So sorry!" I have no idea where she got that. What a goof.
Pictures are to come as soon as we find the box the cord is packed in.
We're heeeerrrrre!!!!
The move went very smoothly... so far. Danica was a real trooper when the movers came and took all our things away. We were expecting some tears and confusion, but she was on her best behavior. She was wonderful on the drive as well. The only tantrums came from Mommy and Daddy when the traffic got too bad. We're very thankful that we won't have to make that trip anymore!!!
We had a great Thanksgiving, first in Bottineau and then in Garrison. Lots of yummy food was eaten, and again Dani was on her best behavior, even though she's got a molar coming in... ouch!
In copying Jill's blog, I'm going to list some things we're Thankful for this year.
My list:
1. My healthy family
2. Duane bringing us home again
3. A very helpful extended family who've done so much for us this year!
4. DVD's to make long trips happy for toddlers
5. Our house getting sold soon... I have faith!!
Dani's list (my interpretation):
1. Mommy, Daddy and Emma
2. Blankie
3. Veggie Tales
4. Milk
5. Goldfish crackers
Ah, to be young and carefree!!!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
