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8 things about Lilly

1. I am high maintenance and very strong-willed, but also very sweet (when I want to be :)

2. I LOVE my pink blankie--especially when it is wet.

3. I like to change clothes (including my underwear) about 10 times a day. I also believe that crowns, lipstick, and clip-on earrings are must-haves for any outfit. I also have a strong opinion about what my mommy wants me to wear.

4. I am obsessed with ALL things princess. I also love baby dolls, make-up, and dress-up clothes.

5. I am a great napper, but if I don't get a good nap--watch out. Seriously, WATCH OUT.

6. I have a great imagination and I love to make up stories and funny songs. My favorite made-up song is, "If you ever ride a bicycle, you keep you helmeck (your helmet) on!" I sing it ALL the time. My parents are not sure where this came from.

7. My favorite things to watch are Little Bear, The Wonder Pets, The Little Mermaid, and Dora.

8. I LOVE to go to the doctor--especially to have my ears cleaned out. I never cry at anything they do and all the nurses think I am going to be a doctor when I grow up.

8 things about Mamie

1. I am low maintenance, laid-back, and mind well.

2. I love my silky bunny and my binky.

3. Changing my clothes is a 15 minute event and really requires 2 people. It is exhausting for my mommy and daddy. I fight so hard and I am SO strong.

4. I am obsessed with my big sister and try so hard to do everything she does. When she takes a nap I like to sit outside her bedroom door and try to wait for her.

5. I am not a great napper, but I am so happy all the time and sleep great at night (with a pillow--shhh, don't tell the pediatrician!).

6. I LOVE LOVE LOVE books and say "book" all the time. I bring books to my mommy and daddy so they will read them to me. This is my favorite thing in the whole wide world!

7. I can walk almost all the way across a room by myself. I am so proud of myself. I am so big!

8. Bath time is one of my favorite times of the day. When I hear my daddy running the water, I crawl as fast as I can into the bathroom, squealing and laughing. When mommy comes to get me out, I push her away and cry.

We tag Grant, Claire, and Cade.

Mamie's 1st Christmas

This is fun! I get to hit things with a hammer! I love how serious her little face is.

She was mesmerized by her stocking. She spent forever on it and I couldn't believe it--we had been opening gifts forever! I loved this picture of her peeking in the top, like "Hmmm...let's see what good stuff is in here."

After she had it all pulled out. She went through and looked at every little thing like she was just so happy with all of it. Notice silky bunny is never far away in any of the pictures.

I'm posting twice tonight-- I felt like Mamie needed a separate post for her first little Christmas. She was so precious and so excited about all of her toys. She actually played with everything. I don't remember Lilly really playing with her toys like that when she was Mamie's age. She got so many cute things--a cow lawnmower, a leap frog table, puzzles, books, and all kinds of fun toys. She had the best Christmas and it was so much fun watching her enjoy all of it.

Crazy Christmas

We had a very wonderful and very busy Christmas. My sister, brother-in-law, and nephew, and my mom and dad all came on Dec. 23rd and stayed for four days to have Christmas at our house. It was so much fun having a house full of family. We never get to see my sister because they live in Tampa. Dylan, my nephew, is 11 now and is so good with Lilly and Mamie. They are crazy about him. Jon, the girls, and I went to his parents house on Christmas Eve to have dinner and open gifts while my family went out to eat. Lilly and Mamie had so much fun with Sassy and Papa Al and all their aunts and uncles that spoil them rotten! Once the gifts were opened, Mrs. Homebody (Lilly) was ready to go home and get ready for Santa. It was so much fun seeing her get so excited this year. She left Santa milk and cookies and helped me write him a note (Santa left her a note the next morning, but she wasn't interested in hearing it once he mentioned "sharing with Mamie"). Christmas morning they were both so excited to see what Santa had left. It took all morning to open presents with everything that my parents brought up with them. Jon still has a smile on his face from his new gift--his parents and my parents gave him money for a new TV and he and my dad and Tim went and picked it out the day after Christmas. He's like a little kid about it. It's cute to see him get so excited. It was a great Christmas, and certainly not just because of the gifts--we are so blessed to have such wonderful families.

I did a terrible job of taking pictures this year. I had my whole family together at my house (which is a rare occurrance) and didn't get a single family picture. I also failed to get any pictures of any of Jon's siblings with the girls. It makes me so mad! Anyway, I realize I am posting way too many pictures, but oh well! Be sure you go all the way down to the last picture for a special treat!

The girls with Sassy and Papa Al on Christmas Eve

Chaos in my den on Christmas morning--notice we are all in our pjs and my mom is dressed cute

Lilly waiting on our bed until we tell her she can go see her gifts Christmas morning--I thought she was going to pop

It was a "princess christmas" for miss lilly

She had to leave mid-gift opening to get her blue flip-flops. Too bad Santa didn't need to take those to some little girl who needed them...

Trying out the princess bicycle

Uncle Tim playing with Mamie

My sister and Dylan with Lilly at the Opryland hotel

Literally THE ONLY picture of me from the entire holiday --I LOVE my earrings courtney!

The grand finale of my Christmas...I had my tonsils out the morning after everyone left. It was nice because I didn't really have time to think about it and get all worked up. I had heard SO many horror stories I was expecting the worst, but it was actually not bad at all. I only ate ice cream, jello, and broth for about a day and a half, and then I started eating normal soft stuff like green beans and mashed potatoes. The worst part was just feeling tired and groggy and getting sick from the pain medicine. (Now I can add yet another medication to my mile-long list of drug allergies.) I would not have been able to do it without my mom and dad and Jon's mom keeping the girls. I will say it was definitely the most rest I have gotten in at least three years!

I had a cheeseburger tonight--I had been craving one since the surgery. It was incredible. I also ate well over half of an entire lemon cake I made last night--making up for lost time! If you look closely at the blurry picture, you can see the white scabs on the back of my throat--yum!

Ho Ho Ho

At Sassy's house after having pictures made for Christmas cards

Sassy got them matching Christmas nightgowns--they are so cute!

I just had to post this video. Mamie says "ho ho ho" and I think it's adorable. I've had a hard time getting it on video, and this is not the best example, but oh well! She'll even say it sometimes when she sees Santa in a book--so cute! Please excuse my hideous voice. If I could take it out, believe me, I would.

Did you know that Santa Claus is watching you all the time? When we went to the mall to have the girls' picture made with Santa a couple of weeks ago, Lilly had a life-changing experience. She has been known to be less than kind to her little sister and loved to hit her and push her over. I always told her, "Santa's watching you," and it worked somewhat, but what happened at Cool Springs mall has forever changed her little life. First let me start by saying that Lilly was SO excited to go see Santa she could hardly stand it. First, I gave him her Christmas list, and then he talked to her and she sat in his lap. The conversation went something like this:

Santa: Have you been a good little girl this year?

Lilly: Yes

Santa: Are you SURE?

Lilly: (looking a little worried now) Yes?

Santa: Well, last week when I peeked in on you, you were hitting on your little sister, and that's not very nice. Big sisters are supposed to take care of their little sisters and be sweet to them--not hit them or be mean to them.

Lilly: looks like she might cry for a minute--I feel terrible and chime in that she's really a pretty good girl.

At this point Santa gives her a big hug and kiss on the head and asks her all about what she wants for Christmas, to which she responds "princess stuff" and then she sat in his lap as happy as she could be, but also in AWE of this super power that Santa seems to have. You could just see her thinking, "How did he know that?" She has talked about it and talked about it, telling everyone that Santa sees her all the time and that she has to be nice. She hasn't hit Mamie once, and has been so sweet to her it's unbelieveable. I wonder how Santa knew?

Christmas Chaos

Do you think she likes it?

Checking out the kids' table

You want us to be still while you take a picture? Yeah. OK. Sure.

Here are just a few pictures of our family Christmas on my mom's side. My uncle has 13 YOUNG great-grandchildren, plus the two of mine, making a grand total of 15 kids. It is crazy! Not everyone could be there (my cousin Eric's wife just had the 13th!), but almost everyone was. It was actually a few weekends ago, and the weather was beautiful. We tried (in vain) to get a picture of all the kids. It was basically pointless. Some of them kept running out of the picture, and half of them were crying, but at least we have proof that we tried! It's so cute to watch them all play together and they all get along so well --most of the time! They all got to open gifts from my aunt and uncle, which are their great-grandparents. Lilly got a Sleeping Beauty doll that sings. She was so excited and has slept with it every single night. She loves "sleeptin booty."

Debbie Downer

Those of you who know me well know I am a complete freak about things like MSG & other chemicals, hormones, and antibiotics in food, artificial sweeteners, plastics, Teflon, pesticides, lead paint on toys, etc. Well, now I am going to be scared of cosmetics. Jon came home today telling me about an article on MS NBC about Minnesota banning mascara and other cosmetics containing mercury. It turns out, most mascaras and eyeliners contain it. Anyway, I found a website that will let you search cosmetics by name and find out how they score and how safe they are. You can even search baby products such as diaper creams and baby washes/shampoos. It was very interesting. So interesting, in fact, that I have wasted my night (that desperately needed to be productive) sitting in front of the computer typing in every single one of my cosmetics, moisturizers, shampoos, conditioners, and baby products. I was amazed at some of the things I thought would be so harmless that were ranked really poorly--Neutrogena moisturizer, Huggies Baby Wash--it's crazy! Also, when I was doing another search about products containing mercury, these common household products came up. I was surprised by how many I have used. There are truly hundreds of them, but these few really surprised me and I thought I should share them.

Ajax powder
Comet powder

Soft Scrub

Dove soap (bars)--can you believe that one?

Ivory dishwashing liquid

Joy dishwashing liquid

Most soft dishwasher detergents

nasal sprays (afrin, etc.)

laxatives

BLEACHED FLOUR--how scary is that!?

here's the link to the cosmetics database
http://www.cosmeticdatabase.com/index.php?nothanks=1

Sorry to be such a downer at Christmas! I promise to have a happier post next time!

sweet mamie

A couple of weeks ago Brooke took Mamie's 9 month pictures and pictures for our Christmas card. I don't have the link yet to share them all, but I just had to post this one. I know I'm slightly biased, but I think she's pretty darn cute. I love her little teeth showing--I can't ever seem to catch them in a picture. Brooke is fabulous--if anyone needs a photographer, she's great! I've been using her since Lilly was born, and people always comment on the pictures she's done when they come over to our house.