Let's Go Bucks!

Last weekend Aunt Brittany and Uncle Troy (Mya's Godparents) stopped over to watch the Ohio State game. The girls were decked out in the their Brutus t-shirts that they got them and I put their buckeye bows on them. Stella was too busy dumping the candy bowl contents on the floor to take any pics but Mya was a real snuggler that day. She LOVES Britt and Troy and was ultra clingy to them. She wanted to leave with them when they had to go. I talked her into staying home (LOL) and she snuggled up to me!

Shutterfly Freebie

Well as you saw from my last post I am starting to think about my Christmas cards. I am a picture person. I personally don't really like getting just plain cards. I want to see what everyone looks like each year!

One of my friends from work told me about a pretty awesome deal that Shutterfly is offering. If you blog about them and post a link they will give you 50 free holiday cards! How awesome is that! And they are good quality cards with lots of choices. Here is a link to check out their options - http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards. I have no idea how I will decide which one because I like this one....

and this one.....

and this one.....

Who doesn't like free things????? I know that I sure do! These cards are very nice quality and I actually can't believe they are free. Now I just have to get the perfect photos to make our adorable cards! It's just too easy, however I have had several friends do this and it does work. So take them up on it and enjoy some beautiful free holiday cards! Enjoy!

Here is the link:

http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

Christmas Card Photo Shoot Attempt

Well we didn't get a picture we could use because Mya wasn't feeling up to it but we did still get some super cute pics. Most of them are of Stella, because as I'm sure you are learning from my blog she is a ham! In Mya's defense, I did attempt this right before dinner and darnit she was hungry! :)

She did perk up while eating some cottage cheese! She didn't want to miss a bite! Isn't this how everyone eats from a bowl? LOL

Recent Visits From Great Friends

Lately we've had some busy weekends. Now that we are feeling more settled in our new house we have had some friends visit. Wes always hated that I never wanted to have people over to our old house. I just felt that we didn't have room for people and so we just never really had people over. Now that we have the space, I love having visitors. You'll notice that we tried to take group kid shots both times and were unsuccessful. :)

Two weeks ago a few of my friends from work came over with their families. It was really only four girls that I work with but between all of us there were 12 kids! Well actually 11 but my sister had dropped Will off while she ran some errands. The kids had a blast running around. I enjoyed it as well, although I didn't get to chat as much as I would have liked. We ordered pizza and had some other snacks. It was a lot of fun!

Last Thursday night YaYa and YoYo came up to stay the night because they were babysitting for us on Friday. The girls loved having them here. We asked if they would like to stay Friday night too and they said yes because they didn't have anything planned. Besides loving the time we got to spend with them, they also told us they would get up the girls Saturday morning. Wes and I slept in until 10:45!!!!!! Seriously, I have slept in all of about 3 times since the girls were born so this was AMAZING!!!!!!! Our days normally start around 6:00 a.m. Thanks a million YaYa and YoYo.

Last Sunday we had a two of our friends from Loramie come up for a visit. As I've mentioned before our whole group of friends got married with the a year of each other and then proceeded to have kids in the same year. Actually every month or every other month for most of last year we added to our group! Vince, Vanessa and their daughter, Kiersten and Ryan, Julie and their son, Kendall came up that Sunday. We had a great time playing with the kiddos, while the guys watched football. I've said it before but they are fabulous friends and we miss them like crazy! 2 hours apart is just far enough to make it a hassle to get home and we just don't see them as much as we'd like.

Goal Update

In school, my students make personal and academic goals each quarter and we make a class goal each month. We talk about goals a lot and then we go back to see if we've met our goals. I think it is important that they set goals and strive to achieve them. They get really into it and I actually had several parents comment at conferences that they really like that we do this. The parents have to help them set their goals and sign off on them.

So I decided to go back and check my goals for 2010 that I set . Here they are:

"My hope for 2010 is that I can find some enjoyment in my job (although at this point I'm really not sure about going back to work), that I can continue to produce enough milk to breastfeed my babies until they are at least 1, that I can be the best mommy to my little ladies, that we can move into a newer and bigger house and that we can maybe even add to our little family. We'll see what the new year has in store for us soon enough! Happy New Year everyone!"

And here's my update:

*Finding enjoyment in my job was very tough last year, going back in the middle of the year. My saving grace was that I had a phenomenal class. They were really great kids but I just wanted nothing more than to be home with my girls. This year is very trying because everything has changed and I miss working with all of my friends. I have lots of new teachers on my team and while they are nice it is very draining. But again I have a fabulous class and the best group of parents I've ever had and that makes a huge difference.

*I made more than enough milk to get the girls to their first birthday. In fact, I am currently still nursing them in the mornings when they wake up and they are 17 months old! This is probably one of the accomplishments in my life that I am most proud of. It was so very important to me and I am just so glad that I was able to give them the best start possible.

*Being the best mommy that I can be is a little hard to determine my progress. I can say that my family is my number one priority and I put their needs above my own at all times. Their happiness is of utmost importance to me and I will always do what I can to be sure they stay that way.

*We did move into a newer and bigger house. In fact, our old house was 1300 square and built in 1915. Our new house is 2600 square feet and built in 1989, so I'd say we took a big step up.

*As far as adding to our little family, that hasn't happened yet but who knows??????? We are definitely planning to at some point.

All in all, I'd say I met almost all of my goals. I can check those off the list. Who doesn't like to check things off of a list? It just makes you feel accomplished!

Halloween 2010

Our final Halloween event took place on the actual day. We dressed our ladybugs up again and headed over to Aunt Ashley and Uncle Craig's house for snacks, picture taking and trick-or-treating. It was fun to get the kids together with everyone. Uncle Taylor, Aunt Amanda, my cousin, Molly and her husband, Brian and their kids, Cora and Lincoln, and Craig's sister, Kelly, brother-in-law, Steve and their daughter, Cecelia were there.

We plopped the costumed kids on the couch for a fun picture! Cecelia, the bunny, has the funniest expressions!

Cousin kisses!!!

Miss Mya was a bit out of it because I had to wake her from her nap to get ready for the night. So for the first hour or so she was really quiet and shy, which is VERY uncharacteristic of her. Aunt Amanda stepped in and snuggled her up! Mya loved it!

Stella on the other hand was content to wander around and snack with Daddy!

We put black paint ladybug spots on their faces.

Soph was the cutest little strawberry in the patch!

Will loved being a giraffe. Before we left we gave him his Halloween present. Soph got her's the day before when she came to our house. We got Will a Dora book (of course), a Diego magic towel that grows in the water, a Halloween cup, a pumpkin Pez dispenser and a recorder. Yes, a recorder! It was a thank you to his parents for getting the girls a band in a box gift for their birthday! Sophie got a book, a recorder, a Halloween cup, some Halloween marshmallows, and a Dora magic towel. Will was so excited about trick-or-treating and kept telling everyone what you say when you get to a house. "Trick-or-treat" and then he reminded us that he would say "Thank you" when they gave him candy. Craig asked him what he should say if they don't give him candy and he replied...."No thank you". LOL He ran from house to house and when Ashley stopped to chat once he said "Mommy, you are the slowest....let's go!!!!!" Too cute!

Cora, the adorable frog!

Baby Lincoln.....ridiculously cute!

We loaded all of the kids into wagons and strollers and headed into my parents neighborhood across from Ashley's house. We only stopped at a few houses because it was cold and the girls really weren't going to eat any candy so I felt bad taking any. We just stopped at Lisa's, some of my parents friends, Aunt Lori and Uncle Dan's and then Nana and Papa's. Wes and I left the rest of the group at that point and just stayed at my parents. My cousin, Bryan and his girlfriend, Kelly were there too. Wes went and got our car and we headed home from there. It was a very fun night! I can't wait for next year when they are a little more excited for the event although they really do love getting dressed up.

Classic Taylor ~ Cute Amanda