Welcoming Home Friends!

Tonight, Jason, Amelia and I went and dropped off some baby gear at our friend's house for her to use while she is home for the holidays! Amelia and J had some fun playing on a box. They made it into a new slide and took turns going down it:


We also got to meet little A!


These two will hopefully play a few more times before they leave in January!



When it was time to go, J walked Amelia all the way to the door. Holding her hand.




It was so, so cute!!!

A Little Holiday Spirit

Today has been spent getting into the holiday spirit. This morning Jason and his grandpa tried their hand at making the family recipe cranberry relish:



This afternoon my sister and I put up our parent's tree:



We didn't put any ornaments up again this year since Amelia is even more curious this year and Shad (my mom's cat) broke a few ornaments last year! Instead we have the ribbons and six different kinds of candy canes adorning the tree!

Now we are watching A Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving while Kim wraps gifts and I eat oreos. It's been a pretty good day off!

Pajamas 2010 v. 2.0

My family really liked mine and Amelia's matching pajamas this year and last year and decided to get in on the fun! Tonight, Amelia and Auntie K are twins:


One more person has matching pajamas with Amelia this year...

Daddy's Lil' Doe

Jason might not have had luck hunting this weekend but he'll always have his "lil' doe" to come home to!


And who wouldn't love to come home to this:


She's quite the little character!

Family Fun Night

This evening Amelia and I went with my family to Macy's for their annual 8th floor Christmas display! We have been going each year since, well, forever. This is the third year that they have had the "Day in the Life of an Elf" display so I really didn't take too many pictures.



Amelia's favorite scene was one with dancing animals:


She didn't want to leave this one!

Afterwards we got her picture with Santa again this year and our photographer happened to be someone I was in synchronized swimming with throughout high school - small world! This year's visit with Santa didn't go too well...


(pardon the quality of this picture, it is a picture of a picture taken on my sister's fancy phone)

...she was terrified! Oh well. I think we might try again this holiday season and see what happens the second (maybe even third) time around!

Tonight there was a little birthday celebration for Uncle Kory but I am so beat from working all day before the family fun that I opted out of joining in the fun. I work at 4AM tomorrow so I know they understand! Hopefully they are having a fun (and safe) night out!

**Go HERE to see photos from last year's Macy's

Pajamas 2010

Amelia and I are staying with my parents for the weekend while Jason deer hunts and we broke out this year's matching pajamas for the occasion!


We went with snowmen this year :) I love being able to wear matching jammies with my little girl! I know in a few more years she might not want to match me because it won't be "cool" so I am enjoying it now!

Check out last year's pajamas HERE.

18-Month Appointment...

...almost three months late...

Yes, we finally took Amelia in for her "18-month" check-up yesterday even though she will be 21-months old in one week. She was almost 35 inches long and weighed a mere 26.6 pounds! She is long and lean :) She is now caught up on all of her vaccines and looks great! She isn't talking all that much (in English that is) but the doctor wasn't too worried and said that we'd see how things were at two years old and go from there. That was a huge relief to me!

After her appointment we went to luch at Buffalo Wild Wings:


Then we went to the bookstore:


(yes, she plopped herself down in front of the Bibles. What can I say?)

Then we dropped Daddy off to grocery shop for hunting with grandpa and the girls went to Target for a few things. Amelia was so silly while we were there!


She is also at a stage where she refuses to ride in a cart. There is no way she will sit in the seat so I let her walk and she sticks close most of the time!


We spent the evening at home. Jason made chili for the weekend, I attempted to help when I could, Amelia emptied her ball pit all over the living room. It was a pretty typical night for us!

Let it SNOW!

Today the first snow arrived in northern Wisconsin. I woke up to go into work (on my day off I might add) and there was a fresh blanket of snow with more falling! I left work and it was still coming down. In fact, this evening it is still coming down!


We lost power this afternoon (it is now back on) and a tree fell on our street from the weight of this thick, heavy, wet snow we are getting (perfect snowman-making snow!)

Naturally, Amelia is afraid of the snow:



We'll have to work on that.

Friday Fails - 10-10-10

This has been on crazy week. Know why? It's Black Friday in two short weeks my friends. Work has been craaaazzzzzyyyyyyy. It is evident that I need to sleep a little bit more because of the things I find myself saying. For example, this conversation from earlier this week:

me - K, what day is it? Is it the tenth?
K - yep!
me - (as I write down the date) HEY! It's 10-10-10!
K - No, eleven...
me- (pause) oh yeah...it's November!

*The sad part? When she said, "no, eleven" I was thinking , "why'd she just tell me it was the tenth if now she says it's the eleventh?" Because Shelley, it's the eleventh month...

That conversation actually happened. I have witnesses. I felt so silly. Things like that have been happening all week. I am just so out of it. I blame the fact that I worked last Saturday. I rarely work a Saturday and when I do I am just so messed up on what day it is. I mean, I lost a whole month in there somehow for goodness sake!

So, this week has been full of shoes on the wrong feet, lost household items, dishes all over the counter etc. In short, this week has been full of fails. And to round out the week? I've volunteered to get up at 3 a.m. yet again tomorrow and work on my day off. I have a hard time turning down work this week since there is so much to do and who doesn't love a little overtime on their paycheck?

Girl's Night Out

Last week Amelia and I had a rough time. For some reason it worked out that we didn't see each other too much and it took it's toll. She "hated" me. "Hated" meaning she cried whenever I picked her up or touched her and she'd reach for my mom and sister. She'd run from me, to my mom or sister etc. I was feeling very upset so I decided she and I needed some alone time. I decided to remind her that I am fun and we had a Saturday night out.

First I took her for a Happy Meal:


Next we headed to Maplewood Mall so she could ride the carousel:


While riding on that she noticed that there was a train...


...so we rode that too!


Before we left we rode the escalator in Barnes & Noble a few times:


I'd say that about rounds out a thrilling girl's night out...toddler-style!

EAT!

Amelia is constantly eyeing up any and all food:


She even has her own signal to us that she wants the food...


...immediately.

She is constantly dropping that jaw of hers, with intent. It's pretty funny!

Baby Bowling

Amelia has an animal bowling set at my parent's house and she loves it! The other night she schlepted each animal into the kitchen and lined them up:


Then, she "bowls":


She has her own way of bowling...



...and she gets sooooo excited about it!

Exciting News!

Over the weekend Jason got a job!!!!!!!

A friend of his called him up last Thursday and asked him if he could come in and stage at his work because they were in need of someone. Jason went the next day and was offered the job. All I can say is WOW. Just over a week ago we were losing hope and then within one week he staged at three restaurants and now has a job. God is good.

His new job is at a newer restaurant called The Hanger Room. He is very excited about working there because for once he is surrounded by serious chefs - not line cooks. Everyone he works with is passionate about food, like he is.

If you have time and are interested - check out the link above. He is so happy to be working there and says it is by far the nicest place he has ever worked and the hardest place he has ever worked. It is a very fast-paced atmosphere and they are all always pushing each other to work faster and better. I think he is going to learn a lot while he is there!