Just some funnies

1. Little Soybean has pretty much given up on baby food! She flings her arms up and whips the food right off of the spoon. Guess I have been in denial that she is getting bigger and is ready for much better tasting foods. Too bad she has such issues with texture...takes after me!

2. Sydney has started to put a purse around her neck and say "taking a picture." Guess she is used to seeing me do that all the time. I told her I would buy her a camera. A toy one of course. She got very excited.

3. Tomorrow will be my official first day in my new job. Stay at Home Mom. I will let you know how I am doing when Jim walks in the door at 5:30 pm tomorrow evening : )

4. We took Valentine's Day pictures this morning. Can we say, DISASTER!

5. My little bold child has begun to use the word NOW...yikes...guess that means I use that word too much. She tells Jim and I, turn the music on NOW! We gently remind her that she must ask nicely and must remember to use her manners.

6. My new line with Sydney is "change your tone." Works like a charm to stop the whining or demanding. I give her the eyeballs....just like my mom used to do to my sisters and I. She would stop us in our tracks with the look! Remember that looks, sisters? Remember that trick mom? It works.

Time Away

Time out...time away...same thing. Daycare gives the kids a "time away" when they aren't behaving. Time away sounds nicer than time out, so we use the same term at home when Sydy gets a little bit too bold. The girls were in the family room the other night and they started to argue over a toy. Sydney did something to Sawyer that made her cry really hard. Biting, pinching, stepping on her fingers...not sure which, but Soybean was really sad and mad. I picked her up to soothe her and and asked Sydney what she did to her sister. She kept saying "Sorry sissy" and then kissed her fingers. I took Sawyer into the dining room to change her diaper and to keep soothing her. Sydy followed me in and kept say "sorry." Get this, she then climbed on the time away chair and said "time away." I said yes, you deserve a time away. She is so funny...she puts herself in a time away! Hysterical!

Someone is taking steps

No pictures, but Soybean has been taking a couple of steps in the last few days. Her daycare teacher was so excited to tell me that she took two steps today at daycare. I told her hahaha...I saw her do it first! Jim and I always talk about missing all of the "firsts"...finally, I got to witness her first couple of steps at home before her daycare teachers! Miss Jen thought it was funny because she also has a child in the same daycare program. She gets bummed about missing the "firsts" also.

Hysterical Antics

I was way too tired the other night to deal with giving Sawyer a regular bath (Sydney had a bath the night before - off schedule - because she decided to put her hair into the rain puddles the other day). Anyway, too tired to deal with it, so I decided to give Soybean a bath in the sink....can I just tell you that I have never seen Sydney get this excited about a bath before. She quickly pulled a kitchen chair over to the sink. I thought she wanted to help me bathe Soybean, but then she kept asking to get in. OK. No problem. It is a big sink. She grabbed a couple of her little people toys and climbed in! This brings new meaning to "water play." She asked about a bath in the sink tonight...sorry kid, that was a special occasion!

Table Display at Show

I put together a photo booth at a local children's event this past weekend hoping to drum up some more business. I had a good time at the event and it was nice to see other vendors selling their services.

Subtle changes

So last night I was telling Jim that I have noticed some subtle changes in Sawyer lately. I'm not even sure if I can fully explain what I am noticing. She has always been a cuddle bug, but now she comes crawling up to me, jumps in my lap and throws her arms around my neck for really big hugs. She will bury her head in my neck and slap a wet kiss on my cheek. She is also moving along really well now and getting into everything. She is becoming extremely vocal and getting a feisty temper : )

I think it really comes down to the fact that she isn't a baby anymore. She is becoming a toddler in so many ways. I am going to miss the baby stage so much, but I look forward to having two little toddlers running around together.

Look at this curly hair! She hates having her hair brushed...I am in trouble as she already has so much hair. I think she might even have more hair than Sydney did at this age. That is saying a lot since Sydy has the thickest hair!

My Sydy Girl

As we were driving home from daycare today, we came across a minor flood on one of the roads. Sydney kept saying she wanted to play in the water, so I promised her that when we got home, we could jump in puddles! It was so warm outside and we got home in time to enjoy a little puddle jumping before it got dark. My kiddo loves the water. She thought it would be funny to dip her hair in the puddle!!! Yikes - needless to say, she got another bath tonight.

Reading Green Eggs and Ham before bed tonight...

I "heart" you

So little Soybean was supposed to help me test out my new Valentine's Day photo props, but instead, she kept crawling away. I am hoping to get some really cute V-day pictures of the girls in the studio sometime this weekend. Since I didn't get Christmas cards done this year, maybe my family and friends can get Valentine's instead...

I found these cute little heart shaped bath rugs and a heart tablecloth. Of course I found heart shaped lollipops to bride Sydney to sit for a pretty picture...we'll see if it works or not!

Standing Tall

Look who likes to stand up all the time now! She finds every opportunity to let go of something that she's holding so that she can show off her new skills of standing for so long...

(excuse the poor picture quality...tried to capture the moment before she plopped down and crawled away)

On my mind...

So my other set of kids have been on my mind a lot lately. Bethany, Jared and Teddy.

Bethany has been on my mind because she emailed me right after I started this blog and said how much she loved it and that she wanted to start one too. I can't wait to help her start one and I can't wait to follow her blog! How can she be 13 going on 14...I mean going on 30!!! She is a great kid.

Jared is on my mind because he is about to turn 11 years old in a couple of weeks. He and Sawyer have birthdays in February. In fact, he was hoping that Sawyer would be born on his birthday. I remember thinking how sweet that was. He even told me that it would be alright if that meant he would get less gifts from Aunt Jo and Uncle Jim if she was born on his birthday. What a sweetie. That warmed by heart. As it was, little Sawyer decided to come 8 days late!

Teddy has been on my mind because we are in the middle of ski season and I always wonder how his season is going. Skiing down double black diamonds, no doubt. Hope he makes it up to NY to ski the big NY or Vermont slopes.

Just for Jen

Here is hoping that a few pictures and well wishes will brighten your day. Much love from us!

Cute outfit

I couldn't resist taking a picture of Sawyer in this outfit this morning before we took them to daycare. It was an outfit that we had for Sydney but it didn't work very well for her so I was so excited to see that it fit Sawyer perfectly! 18-24 months...yes, my little baby isn't so little!

Fun Toy

This was one of Sydney's favorite toys and it now looks like it is going to be one of Sawyer's favorites. She is already walking behind it and now she likes to sit on it and have one of us push her. Watching Sawyer walk behind it brings back such memories of Sydney using it to learn the process of walking. Daddy put new batteries in it tonight so now it has become really loud for me and really fun for the girls!

What a happy baby...

Favorite new activity

Let me first say that nobody was hurt in the taping of this movie!! Daddy was supposed to stand behind the girls but he was having too much fun watching that he forgot. Luckily I saw the fall coming and caught the little lady just in time!!

Pizza Night

Another fun night tonight spent watching football and spending time with friends! Thanks Karyn and Jon for a fun night and for the yummy pizza. Thank Sammy for sharing your toys with Sydney and Sawyer. Sorry that Sydney monopolized your choo choo train and didn't share!

Oops, didn't bring my camera and missed a couple of fun photo opportunities while the kids were playing.

I'll remember it for the Superbowl Sunday party!

"Milk's favorite cookie"

Sydney isn't a big sweet eater...shocking isn't it! But my little lady loves Oreo cookies. She grabbed them out of the pantry this morning and asked for one. We held her off for a few hours and gave her a few mid-morning. Nothing like a glass of milk and some yummy Oreos!!!

Look at this face - she gave me the most annoyed look when I interrupted her as she was eating!

Football day

Little Sawyer Molly showed her Penn State pride in her new PSU sweatshirt. Thanks Nana and Pap-Pap for the cool Christmas gift.

Watching football while jumping all over daddy. We love play-off weekends. Can't wait for the Superbowl!

Nap Time

I love the weekend for many reasons. Time spent with the kids, fun activities, but most of all...really long Sydney naps! Yes, for anyone who knows my kid, knows that she loves her long afternoon naps. The kid will take 3 hour naps on the weekends. She is way too curious at daycare so she doesn't sleep very well during the week but when she is at home, she sleeps so well. I love having the chance to wake her up from her nap and to see her tired face. Lately she has taken to bringing her baby dolls into bed with her at nap and bed time. This is how I found her yesterday when I went in to wake her up.

Sydney is in there somewhere amongst all of those animals. My parents used to send me to bed 30 minutes before my bedtime just so that I could arrange all of my stuffed animals just so. I have a feeling I will be doing the same thing with Sydney in a few short years. Apparently she thinks her babies deserve a nice comfy pillow so she neatly put their blankies down and they rested comfortably.

So tired...oh so sleepy ti-ti.

So I have been letting her hair grow out for some time now. I loved having it bobbed, but decided to see how it looks long...what do you think!!! hehehehe. After nappy hair, not so good.

Jammed pack weekend

We had a crazy jammed pack weekend full of fun activities. Friday night Sydney and I went to a birthday party for the grandson of one of my former co-workers. The party was at Jeepers. This place is all about kids...basically it is just like Chuckee Cheese but it has a few indoor rides. Can I just tell you what a fearless child I have. She raced from one ride to the next as if she owed the place. The one ride is a small rollercoaster. I love rollercoasters so I told her she could ride it but it would probably go really fast. Sure enough, she wanted to ride it. I expected her to be a little freaked out, but she hung on to the safety bar and smiled the whole time. We went through a dark tunnel and she was so enthralled! We went on several other rides and the same reaction...pure fun. I didn't bring my camera...yes, you read that correctly, I wanted to give her my undivided attention, so I have no pictures to show for the evening, but it will be something I will remember always. I guess we need to take her to Great Escape this summer...so much for the kiddie rides! We need the fast rides for this kid!

"Touchdown"

Fun Night

We had a fun night tonight. Despite a sick baby and a very tired toddler, we still managed to get some smiles out of them.

These baskets have become a big hit with both of them these days. Sawyer was climbing in them tonight and Sydney saw her and wanted to join in the fun.
So most parents say "so big" so their little baby will raise their arms...well we say "touchdown" and Sawyer throws her arms up in the air. She actually even says touchdown pretty coherently. So we can add that to the list of words that are becoming more clear (uh oh, mama, da, oh, touchdown).

A little cuddle time with Daddy. Little Soybean is very much a Daddy's Girl. I'm kind of jealous : (

Sydney loves listening and dancing to music. Somewhere Over the Rainbow and You Make Me Smile are her two favorites.

Peek a Boo

Peek a Boo! Sawyer Molly's favorite game these days. My little love bug.

Water play and sorta sharing...

So, I mentioned that my girls have issues with sharing, right? Well tonight they were happily playing with their Fisher Price Little People toys and I actually thought they were going to play nice the whole time...not so much.

Sydy loves the Little People toys...I love to watch her doing imaginary play. My sisters and I used to play with the Little People toys too. It brings back lots of memories of my childhood when I watch the girls play with these toys. Thanks to all of our family for picking out great presents for Christmas. They love the toys.
Sharing nicely here, right?

Not for long. Sydy has discovered that body pressing her sister seems to do the trick. Yikes. Thanks to her wonderful daycare teacher for recommending a method for this. I simple tell Sydy that she needs to get Sawyer a toy to play with if she isn't willing to play with the toy together. Works like a charm. Thanks Miss Monical for the wonderful re-direct method.

My girls love to play in the water...baths, pans of water, water activity table, etc. Tonight they sat on the kitchen floor and played for a long time together. Sydy loves dumping water over Soybeans head and Sawyer just laughs the whole time. I can't wait until the weather warms up so that we can get the water activity table back outside to play with. I imagine Soybean will have a blast with it this year also. Too bad that toy won't fit in the house!

No nap today. Poor Sydy needs her sleep. She decided that water play was really exhausting so she covered herself up with the soaking wet towel and rested her tired self. I love these kids.

My little Soybean

So last night I had the absolute joy of spending some one on one time with my little lady. Jim and Sydney were engrossed in a movie so Sawyer and I scooted out to the living room to play with toys and explore as all little (almost) one year olds like to do.

Crawling like a crazy lady...she is so fast. We can't always keep up...
This is the stuff that scares me. She wants to stand up on everything. She is actually able to stand up on her own for a few very long seconds. I always worry about her falling and hitting her head.

What a silly little thing she is. She likes to explore. I remember Sydney being the same way. I love that they are so curious. It makes me happy that they have that kind of zest for things.

Yes, those are still wall hangings sitting on our floor....we moved into the house in September and there is still so much to do and so little time to do anything.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Hi Dad,

Wishing you a very happy birthday...wish Jim, Sydney, Sawyer and I could be there with you and the family as you celebrate...our happy birthday wishes are coming your way.

Here are some recent pictures of your grand kids.
Much love,

Jody

Sorry Mommy

So Miss Sydney was a little grumpy on our drive home from daycare this afternoon. After listening to the Chipmuck Christmas song several times she started to whine. I turned the music down so that I could chat with her about why she was grumpin'. Of course (just like the other night) she got even more irritated when I turned the music down. I told her that if she didn't stop having fits, I wouldn't turn on her movie when we got home. She quickly changed her tone and said "Sorry Mommy." She is hysterical! Sorry Mommy! I guess I have her trained well. She apologizes when she does something wrong. Awesome! Lesson learned.

Happy Half Birthday!

Sydney is 2.5 years old today. I can't believe it. My little buddy is getting so big!

I used to be a very creative person but life took over and I have lost all sense of imagination and creativity. I look to others for inspiration and came across this woman's blog somehow. http://bethanyactually.com/ It must have been the title of her blog that caught my eye since my niece's name is Bethany. I love that name so much. Anyway, I was reading through her blog a few weeks ago and she had this really cool idea for celebrating her daughter's half birthday. I thought is was a really good idea and wanted to do the same for my girls. I think these kind of traditions will be really fun and hopefully appreciated by my girls when they are old enough to understand....so, I rushed home from work today and quickly got started on a homemade "half" cake for Sydney. I tasked Jim with stopping at the store to pick up a balloon. Here are a few photos of our little half birthday celebration...

Be forewarned, I love to bake, but I have absolutely no abilities when it comes to decorating a cake. It was very tasty, it just looked pretty pathetic. Sydney didn't care, she loved it and chowed on a few bites. Poor little Sawyer didn't get a taste. I want to save her first taste of birthday cake for her 1st birthday in a few weeks. Needless to say, I won't be making her cake. I am happy to make the half birthday cakes, but I will leave the regular birthday cakes to someone who can actually decorate a cake!

Sydney loved her cake and her Elmo balloon.
This is my pathetic attempt at decorating the "half" cake. It certainly tasted yummy, it just wasn't very pretty. Oh well.

We let Sydney admire the cake before we cut a piece for her. By admiring, I mean we let her stick her fingers in the icing to taste test it.

Messy fingers taking bites of the yummy but ugly cake!

Little Sawyer, aka Soybean, enjoyed playing with Sydney's Elmo balloon. She was on the floor shaking her arms in excitement. She is such a precious little lady. What a joy it is to watch her with her big sister.

A very happy Half Birthday Sydney Elizabeth, we love you!

Favorite photos from the last few months

It is 10:30 at night and I should be sleeping, but I wanted to post a few of my favorite pix from 2009. I will write descriptions soon.

Sydney will be 2 1/2 years old tomorrow. How can that be? I have a surprise planned for her...

This picture of Sydney was taken over the summer and I just love her expression. She looked so thoughtful.
Sydy loves her monkey. She was very tired this day and just cuddled her monkey.
I saw this picture composition on a photography blog that I follow and I had to recreate it with Sawyer. I love it. It is such a funky composition.

These pumpkins, gourds and flowers came from my garden this fall. I loved having beautiful flowers every few days. I would cut a bunch and put them in the family room. I can't wait to get the dahlias back into the ground this spring.

This is my all time favorite picture of Soybean. I can't even describe how much I love this picture. It is made even more special by the fact that my reflection is visible in the catch lights in her eyes.

This was just a random shot that I took while we were up at Lake George one weekend this past fall. The entire roadway leading up to our camp was full of beautiful yellow and gold leaves and shrubs.

This shadow picture has a story behind it. Over 11 years ago I was taking a photography course at Penn State and so Bethany and I were out playing one day and I was taking her pictures as part of an assignment. I can't even remember what the assignment was supposed to be, but I took a picture of her "chasing" her shadow against a barn wall. I have always loved that picture. This is a picture of Sydney chasing her shadow one afternoon. I was so glad that I had my camera with us. I now have this picture and the 35mm picture of Bethany blown up to 8x10's and framed side by side. I love them! What a memory.