Sole Mates

My little Sydney loves her auntie. She asks for Abbie at least 100 times a day, and I am not stretching that number. Everywhere we go she asks to see Abbie. When we play peek-a-boo, and I call out "I see you," Sydney says "I see Abbie!" We all miss her dearly when she is away at school, and I'm thankful we get to see her often when we go to the football games. Abbie is known for her love of Converse shoes, and I had to put this picture up to show you the converse Sydney wears. Syd has had a pair of pink Converse in every size since she was born, and this season she even has some red ones. "Converse?!" you might say, as you gasp in astonishment? I know, we are a Nike family, but did you know that Nike owns Converse? Also Cole Hahn and Jack Purcell (and if Jack Purcell doesn't bring back visions of 8th grade, I don't know what will). So, our love of Converse is justified and acceptable, and readily available at the Nike employee store. We miss you, Abbie, learn lots and we'll see you at the next game!

Becoming a Big Girl

If I was writing thig blog 10 years ago, I would have been talking about homecoming and football games. 5 years ago, it would have been about being a bridesmaid so many times and would I ever get married?! But, I'm writing it today, and I'm going to write about pee. Yes, that's right, pee. Little girl pee, to be exact. It's a big deal in our house that Sydney is mostly potty trained. She has her accidents, but she is very proud of being a big girl. Madison has been potty training, too, and both girls are doing great. When one of them goes potty, everyone gets a chocolate chip, even if they didn't go. They clap and cheer for each other, and Madison's potty even sings a song when she goes, so it's a very noisy time when they are both in the bathroom. It's sometimes a bit much for one mommy with 2 potty trained girls, but we have been managing, mostly by letting them run around in their undies because by the time you pull their pants back up, they just have to go again.




Another way that Sydney is becoming such a big girl is by imitating me every day and "putting on make-up." She loves to play with my make-up containers, sponges, and brushes. Every time we pass a mirror, she stops and pretends to put make-up on. It is so cute!

"Hilary and I don't agree on everything/anything."

Unless you've been living in a cave, you know that Tina Fey has returned to Saturday Night Live to play the part of Sarah Palin. This little clip is one of my favorites, it makes me laugh so hard. It amazes me how much Tina Fey looks and sounds like Sarah Palin, I can't even see Palin in an interview without thinking it's Tina Fey! I think this will end up on the "best of" movie for Tina Fey. Enjoy!

3 Years

Today Chris and I are celebrating 3 years of marriage. I can not believe how fast these past 3 years have gone. This last year was nice and relaxing compared to the first 2 years. Chris and I met and married in a year, then 14 months later had Sydney, then we moved. This last year the biggest change was Chris getting a new job, but there were no babies or moves this last year which made it nice and quiet. I can't promise the same for this next year, but that's ok. We are still so happy and in love, and it's amazing how having a child can make you love someone in completely different ways. I am so thankful to God that he prompted Chris to come up to me at that game at Autzen stadium and introduce himself. Exactly one year to the day later we were flying home from our honeymoon! Last year on our anniversary I posted some pictures of the wedding, but today I'll put some up of our honeymoon to Hawaii. It was such a beautiful trip, and we'll cherish those memories forever.

This is my favorite picture from that week.


There were so many beautiful waterfalls our island.


We were exploring some caves on a hike.

Your Daughter is a Flap Ripper

Hello, faithful readers. I know I have enticed you in by that very catchy title. "What is a flap ripper?" you might be wondering, and wonder you should. It's not something you hear everyday, or ever. This title was bestowed on my daughter by my best friend Melissa, and she meant it well and with love in her heart, but it's true. If there is a flap in a book, like a piece of paper that you lift up to see something else, Sydney will immediately rip it off. Pop-up books last about 2 seconds in our house. For some reason it bothers her that there is extra paper on the page and she seeks to remedy it. What a helper she is. Anyway, that's just one of the many interesting things about my little Sydney, who is now almost 22 months old. How that happened, I'm still not sure. I'm so sorry there are no pictures to go along with all this, but I thought you might like to hear about some of the things that Sydney has been up to when she is not busy ripping paper out of books.
Sydney can count to 10, and she does it all the time. And I do mean all the time; in the car, in bed, when she's eating, ALL THE TIME!! It's her favorite thing to say. She still doesn't like to eat, but Melissa did get her to take 2 bites of an apple yesterday and I was so excited I made her take a picture. She's not really into fruit. She still loves Drew Carey and is starting to take an interest in Elmo. She is doing great with her potty training and goes most days without an accident (although Melissa's floor would beg to differ after being peed on twice yesterday). Madison has been teaching Sydney bad things like how to unzip her jammies and take them off, which she frequently does when she's supposed to be going to bed. She loves to pray and when we sit down to dinner she holds out her hands and says "pay" and "men" when we're done (so precious!). She is starting to recognize that some people go together. For example, if my mom comes over, Sydney asks for Papa and Abbie, too. And if she see's my aunt, she asks for "Mike, Shep, and Bre" which is Uncle Mike, cousin-in-law Sam, and cousin Brianna. She laughs and giggles and loves to read, and she is learning to express herself in lots of new and interesting ways (think, screaming bloody murder in the middle of Target). We're exploring the different ways of communicating and disciplining for a toddler. She's mostly good natured, but she has her days. It's crazy a lot of the time, but we love it and wouldn't trade her for anything. We're moving in with my parents this week while the inside of our house in being painted, so stay tuned for some fabulous before and after photos.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

Today I took Sydney in to get some pictures taken. She hasn't had any since Easter and she's grown and changed so much that I couldn't resist. We're going to have to move soon because our walls are full of pictures already, but oh well.
This first set is the reason I wanted pictures now. This is one of my favorite outfits for Sydney. Simple jeans and shirt, but super cute with the stitched flowers and butterflies on the jeans. Too bad her shirt is rolled up in the last one, but it's still cute.





I had high hopes for this outfit. She looks like a little private school girl in this skirt, sweater, and knee high socks, but the skirt kept falling down today because she's so thin and skirts never fit her. She did like the pumpkin, though, and I can't wait to take her to the pumpkin patch and show her real pumpkins, not plastic ones that a million kids have drooled on.



This last set is of Sydney in her Halloween costume for next month. In case you couldn't tell, she is Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. She loves her red sparkly shoes, she calls them "bling." I couldn't be prouder that my almost 2 year old knows what bling is. She doesn't like the creepy little Toto, though, so we just snuck him in the picture.




I probably won't send these out to everyone until I send out Christmas cards because, well, there's a lot of you and only one of me. Just don't judge me too harshly for sending out Halloween pictures at Christmas!

Let Them Eat Cake

For the last few weeks, Melissa and I have been taking a beginner's cake decorating class. I think we thought we'd be a lot better at it than we are, but we are learning quickly and having lots of fun! Tonight was the last night of the beginner's class and next month we'll move on to level 2. We each have our strengths and weaknesses. Melissa is fabulous with the roses, whereas I make fantastic people (clowns, pilgrims, etc.). We are both ok with basic flowers, but she can tackle a sweet pea like no one I've ever seen, and I've got the twisty little drop flowers down pat. As long as we make every single cake together, we should be fine! Tonight was the finale cake. Mine was a bit lopsided, and Melissa was having frosting issues, but we are both very pleased with our results and I can honestly say that ours were the best in the class. I know that sounds big-headed, and I don't mean to be, it's just that we put in lots of effort and apparentely others didn't find it as important as we did.

Here is my cake...


...and now Melissa's cake...


...Melissa's perfect roses...these look like the rose soaps my Grandma has in her bathroom, right next to the knitted toilet paper cover...but anyway, aren't these beautiful?...


...the top of our cakes...


...and the side view of mine.

Don't those look delicious? It is always sad for me to cut into them after we worked so hard on them! If you are really interested in all of this (and I know you are, I know you all wait breathlessly for me to post another blog and you all really care about what I'm doing each day), you can look at pictures of some of our earlier cakes on Melissa's blog.

Duck Family Dinner

This past weekend we went to Eugene for a Duck game and after the game we went to dinner with my family. Sydney always has so much fun visiting and of course, eating pizza. She is at that age where she remembers people even if she hasn't seen them for a while, which is lots of fun, and she remembers their names. I can't believe she's almost 2. This weekend was lots of fun as we saw Chris' stepdad, my aunt, uncle, cousin, and cousin's husband, and my grandma as well as Abbie and my dad (I hope I didn't leave anyone off that list). I can't wait to see you all again!

By the way, I totally copied this slide show from Melissa! My pictures, but her background! Thanks, besty!

Counting Ally's Teeth

Last week, Sydney had her first dentist appointment. Being the ever-proud, slightly overbearing mother that I am, of course I took some pictures to remember the big day! Sydney did so well and only cried for a quick minute during the exam, but she was happy the rest of the time. They were so great with her, they let her play with all the instruments and she even got a new toothbrush, which she did not want to put down.

Here is Sydney playing with the toys in the waiting room.


The little alligator is named Ally, and they had Sydney count her teeth to prepare her for the exam. Sydney can count to 10 now and was very proud to show off her counting skills for the dentist!


All in all, the visit went great and Sydney has no cavities. Her teeth are perfect and she even got to pick a toy AND a sticker, and for an almost 2 year old, there is no greater joy than a toy AND a sticker!

Baby Baby (not ours)!!

Let me just start off by saying that, NO, I am not pregnant. But, I am so happy for my best friend Melissa and her family! Madison will be a big sister sometime around June 4th of next year! I couldn't be happier for them because getting pregnant the first time was a big challenge for them, they had to go through months of waiting and fertility issues, so it's such a blessing this time around to get pregnant so easily! Take a look at their blog for some cute pictures of big sister Madison!

Fort Night-Night

This morning Madison came over for a few hours to play. The girls are so cute together at this age, they really play with each other instead of staring at each other like they used to. They are very affectionate and hug a lot. Today was kind of grey outside, so we didn't go for the customary walk or play outside, so I was thinking hard of something they could do. This is why I'm a nurse and not a teacher. Finally, I decided to bring out some blankets and the kitchen chairs and I made the girls their first fort! They were looking at me like I was crazy when I was hauling the chairs over the baby gate, and they kept trying to pull down the blankets I was putting up. Madison got freaked out by some of the blankets because they are baby blankets and she thought she had to go to bed! She kept saying, "No night-night." Sydney liked the blankets, but didn't want to go under the fort, just around it. Finally, they both realized they didn't have to go to bed and it was something to play with, and they had lots of fun. At least it filled about 30 minutes. Which reminds me, I should start thinking of something fun for next week.

A Seventh Grade Lesson

When I was in the 7th grade, my English teacher was named Mrs. Shigemasa. My sister, who was six at the time, called her "Miss Shiggy." She was a very good, tough teacher. I remember learning about poetry in her class, something I still don't really "get" but can appreciate thanks to her diligence. I also remember learning about libel and slander. Now, I can't remember which one means exactly what, but that in no way is a testament to her teaching. It's just that it was 13 years ago, and at the time I was more concerned about Curt Cobain's death and finding my locker than I was about an English lesson. But, I do remember that the basic idea is that you can't copy or steal someone's idea and put it in print without asking their permission first. You can even go to jail for it. All that to say that the following pictures were not my idea. I never would have thought of something this cute. The Mattos Family blog featured their family doing bath beards, and I thought it was so cute that a few nights ago I busted out the bubble bath and taught Sydney about bath beards. We had so much and made such a mess! Thanks for the idea, Mattos Family!

Naughty New Car

Chris and I decided it was time for a bigger car, and since a minivan mom I am not, we decided to join the ranks of gas guzzling American's and buy an SUV. So last week we got a new (to us) Chevy Trailblazer LT. The LT means "extended." I don't know why they don't just call it a Trailblazer EX or something, but anyway...
Chris can tell you all about the cylinders and horse power, but since I'm typing this post, I'll tell you it's cute and black, it has a great stereo, and has lots of room for the stroller. It actually has a third row of seats that we will leave folded down for more trunk space. We're very happy with our new purchase!


Sydney likes her new car!!


On a completely different note, I had a very big pet peeve I must discuss. I hate it when you hear about foreign places that have signs up or food items where they have tried to translate into English, but it went terribly wrong. Like, a cheeseburger in China that was translated into "cow-pee burger." Or, a newspaper article in Mexico that says Obama is "running" for president, except it was saying he was actually running, as in jogging. Can't they hire someone to translate for them? I know, it's kind of funny, but still. But what makes me REALLY mad is when it's somebody who speaks English who commits one of these mistakes. Case in point, a pet grooming place by Chris' step-dad's house. I had to stop and take a picture of this.

Even if they're really old or crazy or something, they have to know this has a different meaning! What a naughty name for a pet store! I think I might send this to Jay Leno.

Duck Season

It's that special time of year in our house when we all fly south for the winter, A.K.A, we drive down to Eugene every weekend for a Duck game! While it's sad to see summer go, summer doesn't contain Football season, so saying goodbye is a must. We have already enoyed 2 games so far this month, both a smashing success for the Ducks where we beat The Huskies and Utah State (I say "we" like I actually did anything to contribute to the win). It's always good to beat the Huskies, though. Sydney has had lots of fun so far at the games. They are either at her bedtime or naptime, which is a challenge, but she does really great and powers through. She is a Duck through and through, and she loves to cheer! She yells "Go go go" and "touchdown" which actually sounds like "too-do!" She also says "Go Ducks" and man can she yell! She likes to watch the games, too. Why the italics? Because she WATCHES the games and does not like to be distracted, she really looks down at the field and acts like she knows what's going on. Here is a small slide show of the past 2 games.

We have 2 weeks until the next game, but I'll snap some more photos then and share them with you all. Happy Football Season (unless you're a beaver or a Huskie, then I have nothing to say to you)!

La La

It occured to me when I was updating this blog last week that I always talk about Sydney playing with Madison, and most of you have seen all the pictures of the girls together, but I always talk about Melissa, Madison's mom, and I rarely post a picture of her! So everyone, this is Melissa!

Melissa has been my best friend since we were 13, although when we first met each other, I hated her for very juvenile reasons which I will not go into now. My mom and Melissa's parents actually grew up in Springfield together and went to the same church. Then, they got reconnected after Melissa's family moved here in the 90's. Melissa and I have always had lots in common and while we have our differences, we think alike, dress alike, and sort of even look alike. By pure chance, we even were pregnant at the same time and delivered our girls one day apart. Sydney adores Melissa and calles her "La La." Melissa works part time for her mom at My Precious Kid, which specializes in child safety products. There are a lot of things I love about Melissa. She can grow things in her garden, where as I kill plants if I even look at them. Recently, she gave me the biggest zucchini I have ever seen and I almost sent a picture of it into the Guinness people. She always has a clean house, yet almost always has a clean pile of laundry on the couch, which makes me feel better about my messy house. She's a good mommy, and starting tomorrow we're taking a cake decorating class together, which should be lots of fun! I am so thankful God blessed me with such a great best friend!