Kitchen Fun

For Christmas, Melissa, Matt, and Madison got Sydney some play things for her kitchen. She got a set of mini stainless cookware and some pretend food. This past weekend we moved out some things from Sydney's room and put in a new storage set (which is so cute, it makes the room seem really bright and colorful) and moved her little kitchen set into her room. When she's a bit older, we'll get her a big girl kitchen set, but this one works for now. Sydney went wild when we showed it to her! She immediately wanted to put on her new apron from Abbie (from Charm City Cakes, we love that show) and she started "cooking." It's her new favorite activity!





We also got Sydney a doll high chair and she thinks it's pretty fun. Tonight she was feeding Madison's dolly and having a blast!

Cookie Maker

One of the benefits of being 8.5 years older than my sister is that I was around and can remember a lot of things from when she was little. I remember the ultrasound that told us she was a girl, I remember clearly details of her delivery, I remember her in her crib with her Daisy Kingdom bunny set, and so on. I kind of have a warped perception with Abbie because she's my sister, but I am so much older than her that it's almost like a second mother-type in her life. One of the things I remember is when she was about 3, she wanted to be a "cookie maker" when she grew up. Not a chef, or a pastry artist, but a cookie maker. She was even a cookie maker for Halloween that year. She developed her own secret recipe and it is so good, too! I only got the recipe after I got married. Sydney was at my mom's a few weeks ago and they made Abbie's secret recipe cookies. These pictures remind me so much of Abbie, this was even the apron she used to wear as a kid. Now she's 19 and away at school and it seems so hard to believe. Ah, memories...




Here's a few shots of Sydney playing on my mom's keyboard, too. Next year when she's 3 we'll have her take piano lessons, but in the meantime she can pound away on this!

Baby Doll "Paraphernalia"

Not to fear, faithful readers, Happy Wills Family is once again back to blogging. Sorry for the recent absence, we had Christmas and then the next day flew to northern California, aka the Land of No Snow, to visit Chris' dad and family. We'll have pictures of the trip up here soon. We returned in time to ring in the New Year with my family and some family friends and have been catching up ever since. I know that Christmas was so last year, but here are a few pictures of Sydney from Christmas morning.
Just like China just welcomed the Year of the Ox, this year at our house was the "Year of the Baby Doll". Sydney got multiple dollies, along with a doll bunk bed, pack-n-play, regular stroller, double stroller, and multiple outfits. She has been having a blast wheeling around her baby doing cookies in the stroller.


This kind of reminds me of when I was in the second grade. My teacher was expecting a baby, and so was my mom (ok, Juno line there..."just like our mom's and teachers"). One of my classmate's mothers came in and gave us a lesson on the word "Paraphernalia." This word is usually used now with drug paraphernalia, but it can apply to other things, too. This mother, her name was Cindy, came in with lots of baby paraphernalia. She had a burb cloth hanging over a belt loop, diaper pins pinned to her shirt, a blanket tied around her hair, and so on. She was teaching us how all the various baby items were used. It was a fun lesson and a meaningful one for me. I was thinking about that day on Christmas when I was watching Sydney open all her doll items. I guess when you're a teacher you never know what will stick with your students, but that stuck with me. In the meantime, Sydney is zooming around here with her baby doll and making quite a mess, but having the best time. Hard to believe Christmas is already over, but with how fast things are going now, it will be here again before we know it. I'm truly thankful that the reason for Christmas, Jesus and His birthday, can be celebrated every day.

A Princess Birthday Party

We've had to delay Sydney's family birthday party because of the snow. Third time's a charm, though, because last weekend on our third attempt we were finally able to have my parents, my sister Abbie, and some close family friends, The Huntington's, over to help celebrate Sydney's second birthday. I made her a princess crown cake, and Chris and I made cookies together in the shape of crowns, too. She got way too many presents, of course, but that's what being a kid is all about and you only turn two once, right? Our family room looked like a wrapping paper bomb had exploded in it! I suppose it will look the same tomorrow!



She loved her cake! We even let her have two (small) pieces, and she was so wild later on from her sugar high! I've never seen her act that way before, she was dancing all over the place and hollering and having a great time!


She got a cute little wicker chair from Grandma and Grandpa.


This isn't even half the presents. There are a whole bunch more behind the couch, including a princess tent!

Snow Ice Cream

Remember how a week ago I posted a slideshow with Sydney playing in the snow? Well, here it is, a week later, and it is still snowing. I am so tired of it! It's pretty bad today, a big storm is coming in tonight and they expect at least 6 inches here, topped off with some freezing rain. I can not wait for Christmas not just because it's Christmas, but because it's supposed to be the first day above freezing. Last week when we played in the snow, it was the first day and there wasn't that much snow (yet). Today, we bundled up Sydney like the little brother in A Christmas Story and took her out again, and there was tons of it! We don't have a sled, so we would like to thank the Swedish empire for inventing that small little store called Ikea, because those blue bags they sell are perfect, once you cut them up, as a makeshift sled. Sydney must have thought we crazy, pulling her around on a big blue bag, but she loved it!






Once we came back in to warm up, I had an idea. I recently bought the book 17 Kids and Counting, about the Duggar family of Arkansas. They have 18 children. In their book, they share many of their recipes. We have tried a few of them and really enjoyed them. Today, we tried their recipe for snow ice cream. It was SO good!
Here it is...
1.5-2 cups sugar, to taste
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 quart whipping cream of half-and-half
6 quarts clean, fresh snow (don't pack it into measuring cups, it should be fluffy)

Mix the sugar, vanilla, and whipping cream. Add snow 2 cups at a time and mix until it is the consistency of ice cream.

I cut this recipe in half because their recipe is for 20 people. I was able to freeze a very large bowl for later. Sydney loved this! I'm a little nervous posting this. My friend Jill posts recipes all the time, and they're all really good. This is my first and what if you don't like it? I think you will, though, it's super yummy!

Last but not least, here is a picture of Sydney in her cute pony tails in front of the Christmas tree.

Big Letdown

This is not going to be one of those posts where I show you an adorable picture of my adorable daughter. For that, please see the slide show of her birthday party below. No, this is much worse. It won't stop snowing here and since I've been trapped in my house because of all the freakin ice and snow, I was playing around on the internet and I learned something truly awful. Here it is, you should probably sit down for this one. Luke Perry's real name is Coy Luther Perry III. COY LUTHER PERRY THE THIRD!! My teenage crush is actually named Coy. COY! That just does not have the same ring to it as Luke.
I recently saw Luke (I refuse to think of him as Coy) on an episode of Criminal Minds. He played this creepy leader of a cult who was married to a 15 year old. Now, just in case you've been living in a cave since the 1990's and don't know who Luke Perry is, he was the Brad Pitt of the 90's. It would be like having Brad Pitt or maybe Johnny Depp play a cult leader-there is just no way! They should have cast someone like Jim Belushi or Hugh Jackman to be a creepy cult leader, but not my Luke. What a disappointment.
PS-Natalie Portman's real name is Natalie Hershlag. What is this world coming to?

Have We Got A Party For You!

Melissa and I decided to have a joint second birthday for the girls this year. Last year we each went all out and had huge parties for the girl's first birthdays, and we figured next year they would have an opinion about what kind of party they wanted, so this was the year to do the joint party. We picked a Veggie Tales theme because both the girls like Veggie Tales movies and, more importantly, we needed a gender neutral theme. They are the only girls in their class at church, so we had four little boys over for the party. Melissa and I, budding party planners that we are, had so much fun getting all the Veggie themed items. It was such a fun party and all the kids had a blast!

Winter Wonderland

This weekend has been so cold and today it started snowing! I would be happy about it, but let's face it, I'm old and grumpy now and the snow is just one more thing I have to deal with it. Plus, it's supposed to snow all week! That is WAY too much snow. I am reminded that two years ago today Chris and I brought Sydney home from the hospital in similar weather and we lost power. What a pleasant night that was, trying to figure out what to do with her and how to feed her...in the DARK! Oh well. I know I sound cynical, but we did take Sydney out in the snow today before it really started coming down and she had so much fun! She looked out the window this morning and said "Oh, pretty!" Doesn't that just melt your heart? It did mine. The only thing she didn't like about the snow is that it made a mess on her boots! I tried to explain that it was just snow, but she insisted on having me wipe down her boots!

Two Year Old Girl

It seems like it was just two minutes ago I had my baby girl, Sydney, but it was really two years ago. Today she is two years old and not a baby anymore. I keep thinking back to two years ago, what I was doing. "At this time my water broke" and "at this time I got my epidural" and so on. I'm going to stay up tonight until 11:11, which is exactly when she was born. Doesn't she have a cool birthday? 12/12/06, and born at 11:11! I love it. Chris and I are so in love with her. She is our greatest blessing and I am thankful that she is our daughter.

Here's our first family photo in the hospital when Sydney was born.


Here she is at her first birthday party!


And here she is at her second birthday party last weekend. What a big girl! When I get more photos from the party, I'll post them on here.


Here are a few stats on Sydney:
She is 24 pounds, but I'm not sure how tall.
She can count to 15 and say some sequences of the alphabet.
She is potty trained.
She knows most animal sounds and some colors.
She loves purses, make-up, and Drew Carey.
She is learning to be obedient and when she is good, she says with a big grin "I listen!"
She still does not like to eat (maybe by next year).
She loves to help with laundry, sweeping, and she picks up her own toys.
She is the best little angel I could ever ask for!

Two Two-Year-Olds

This week I will have a two-year-old! I can not believe that Sydney is already two, or that she will be on Friday. Madison will be two on Saturday, as well. These past two years have been so amazing and the girls have become the best of friends. They really have such a special relationship, one I hope and pray will continue and be blessed throughout their lives.

Here are the girls at their first meeting, on December 14th, 2006. Sydney was 2 days old, Madison one day old. We went to visit them in the hospital on our way from our hospital! I was so tired and sore, but I'm thankful we made the effort-these pictures are priceless! I hope to see this one in their wedding slide-shows somedays!


Here are the girls at seven months. Ah, remember the days when we could put them down and they would stay in one place...


Here are the girls with Melissa at Sydney's first birthday party!


This one makes me laugh! They just look like they're getting into trouble!


Finally, here are the girls last month at a Duck game. Aren't they cute?

For Entertainment at Carye's Office

One of co-workers, Jen, just told me about this website about cakes. I finally took a look at it today and just about had a stroke I was laughing so hard. It's not about cakes, per se, it's more about cakes that have gone terribly wrong. You can check it out at www.cakewrecks.blogspot.com. Some people will not find it funny. Melissa, for instance, will probably have the same thought that I did, "Oh, no, what if one of my cakes ends up on this website!?" But others, like my aunt Carye, will find it humorous. Carye, I thought of you when I saw a particular picture on there. If you click on the website, then scroll down a bit, on the right is a list of fan favorites. These are so funny! I liked the fireman cake and the creepy baby cake. My favorite one, though, was the first ever censored cake wreck. My Aunt Carye works in women's healthcare and she has told me that she sometimes shows the pictures on the blog to her co-workers. Well, Carye, the censored cake wreck, given your line of work, should make you and all your co-workers laugh your pants off, along with leaving you feeling slightly disturbed. Enjoy!

Forward Thinking

Today was the BIG car seat day in our house. Today we flipped Sydney from rear-facing to forward-facing. I know what you're thinking, that Sydney will be 2 next week and why didn't we flip her a year ago? Well, let me tell you. The law in Oregon is that an infant must be rear-facing until they are one year AND twenty pounds. Our little miss is only just now twenty-four pounds. Plus, the recommendations are to keep children rear-facing until they are two or thirty pounds. Since Sydney won't be thirty pounds until she's probably three, we decided to wait until she was two. Most of my friends have done this, too, and this week both Sydney and Madison got flipped. Actually, in some European countries, they leave their children rear-facing until they are three years old.

Before...


...and after! She had so much fun and she laughed almost the entire way home.

My friend Kay Green is a children's safety expert and has a child safety business. Click here to visit her website. She is the one who told me about the recommendation to keep children rear-facing longer. If you have car seat questions, she is the lady to ask.

Bribery Works for Santa

It's that time of year when there are unmistakeable signs of Christmas! And I don't mean the Victoria's Secret Holiday Fashion Show that was on last night (I know you were watching). I mean that it's the only time of year that Sydney sheds her pink converse and dons her red ones!

Aren't they festive? Abbie got these for her. Anyway, last night we all, including Sydney's red converse, went to the Christmas party at my mom's work. They took our pictures and put them in a keychain, which is a pretty cute idea. The key chain versions are cropped and level, but here are my non-cropped and not-leveled versions.




After keychain pictures, it was time for pictures with Santa, which I will show you later. Sydney was not fond of the idea of sitting on a strange man's lap (which makes me really happy), but Santa bribed her with a candy cane. She's never had hard candy before, and as soon as she was done getting her picture with Santa, she sat right down and started licking the candy cane, while it was still in the wrapper. Once we opened it for her, she went to town on that thing! I could tell she was mad at us for holding out and not letting her have one of those red-striped sticks of happiness before.



Anyway, here is the picture with Santa.

I know what you're thinking. "Nice picture, your kid isn't even smiling." Yes, but compared to last year's picture...

...it was a vast improvement. Poor Santa! He was really great with her and she tolerated him long enough to get a picture and a candy cane.

Hats and Sarah Palin Hair

My family has given me so much love and support throughout the years that I can never repay them for. A small step in the right direction for paybacks, however, is marrying someone who works at Nike. My family loves the fact that Chris works for Nike because it means they can go to the employee store anytime they want! My dad recently got some really nice hats at the employee store and Sydney decided that she needed them. Whenever we go to my parent's house now she has to wear one of her hats!



This morning Sydney got up with some pretty wild hair. I didn't have time before Madison came over to pull it back into a pony tail, so I just threw a hair bow in to pull the hair back from her face. Super cute, right...?


...but from the side, she had a Sarah Palin-like pouf! I'll have to slick it down, I guess.