Day 1

Today was our first day back in MN for the holidays. We got in just after midnight this morning and it was rough going for awhile. Amelia did NOT want to go back to sleep and it didn't help that her mom and dad forgot to bring her glowy seahorse with...so she had no lullabies :( She let everyone know she was NOT happy! She kept the whole house up until almost 4 a.m. Ugh.

This morning I woke up, bright and early, to take my final final exam online before the cut off time of 7:59 a.m. I took it and went back to sleep for a bit. This morning we addressed our Christmas cards, and did a few other things before heading out. Amelia got into some trouble this morning! Amelia liked pulling ornaments off of the upstairs Christmas tree, so Jason put a cat tunnel over her arms:


Once she worked her arms out she pulled down a glass container of Nana's that was full of pebble-things:


It made a very LOUD noise when it hit the ground but nothing broke, luckily.

My dad was home today, so he kept Amelia while Jason and I went out. We had lunch at Cossetta's in St. Paul which is one of my favorites! Jason and I did a few other things while we were out and then headed back to my parent's house. My friends, Marie and Lisa, came over this evening. While we were waiting for them to arrive I put Amelia in the window and she did this:



Yep, she is licking the window:


She did it over and over and over. Maybe she liked it because the window was cold? Either way, we all got a kick out of it!

Marie and Lisa brought Amelia some Christmas gifts too. She got a new outfit for Amelia and a "ball shooter" from Marie. She wasn't really interested in unwrapping them:


The "ball shooter" scares the be-jeez-us out of her. This was her reaction:


We think the motor on it freaked her out the most. She doesn't really have any toys that make the noise the motor was making. There is a "ball shooter" in the nursery at Marie's church that all the kids love, so we are confident Amelia will learn to have fun with the toy!

Us girls had a good time chatting and catching up! I am hopeful that now that school is over I will be able to talk to them more often. I sure do miss these girls:


The snow has arrived! The "holiday blizzard" will drop an estimated twenty inches of snow on us over the next couple of days! Maybe we will build a snowman? The kids across the street from my parents house have embraced the snow banks that snowplows create:


Using the snow pile as the snowman's body saves a lot of time I bet!

Snarly Girl

Today, Amelia would NOT cooperate for a picture to save her life! We had breakfast, bright and early, at the Landmark Diner and she snarled:


We went to Downtown Books and she snarled:




My family is now on their way back to MN. We are headed there tomorrow evening. There is lots to do today to get ready!

Graduate

Well, I am a graduate.

**I attempted to mark myself in the next two pictures. I am right under where it says "ME". No color I chose made it stand out, so, click on the picture to enlarge it if you would like a better look!

Waiting in line (pictures were a bit tricky in the arena, so some are blurred -- no flash):


Baccalaureate candidates switching tassels from right to left:


Subway buddy, Jenny:






At dinner:


Amelia in my cap:


She had to wear it backwards, otherwise it fell over her eyes!

Amelia's new face:


She has been doing this ALL the time the past couple of days! I think it is hilarious!

I have one more exam on Tuesday and then I am officially done. Just in time for the holidays :)

Night Out

Tonight, since my family is in town, Jason and I went to a local theatre for the closing performance of their version of Rudolph... We had a good time! It was a satirical version of the well known claymation(?) Rudolph that is on TV constantly this time of year. I think you all know the one!

Here we are at intermission:


And a shot of the theatre:


It is a nice and small place. Only 48 seats!

Also, a shot of the Christmas lights we have on our balcony:


They are pretty much the only decorations we have up this year!

Time for some sleep...we have a big day ahead of us!

First Try at Coloring...

Well, we had a postcard that we had to send to a friend of Jason's, Tasha. We decided to let Amelia "write" it out (with some assistance, of course):


Here she is, in action (note, she misses the paper...but she gets the general idea!):



Here is the final product:

Thursday (for lack of a better title!)

Today we headed into the 'burbs to Children's Orchard, a used children's store. We heard about it from someone in another used children's store here in Bay View and then I heard about it again from a friend, Emili. Em said if we went this month and returned her referral form, she would get $20 store credit...so we went! There was a lot to look at! Clothes racks were jammed in there like none other. We didn't get much in the way of clothes, just a pair of 18 month jeans and some pajamas. We did get Amelia a new toy (Jason picked it) and two pairs of shoes:


Jason picked out the boots, I think because they are Timberland. We got the black mary janes for her to wear this holiday season with dresses and jumpers! Both pairs of shoes are in great shape and I was happy they cost just a small fraction of what new shoes would cost at Target!

Speaking of Target, we went there today too! We got most of our Christmas shopping finished up but I still have some work to do to get gifts ready! Christmas really snuck up on us this year, despite my trying to get things taken care of early.

Amelia got these new antlers today:


She wore them while we shopped and everyone thought she was so cute :)

Amelia looked so cute today:


It is not her best picture, but it will have to do! When I sit her down for a picture, I lean back to take it and she is already crawling to me :) Can you tell her socks match her sweatshirt? I was beside myself this morning when I realized that I (er, she) had Bambi socks, in the same color as her sweatshirt! I bought them at seperate stores months apart. I was pleased.

We also got a Christmas tree today:


I know, it is a little small... This year we didn't decorate. At all. There was just no time for it. The end of the semester kicked my butt this year and I didn't want to use decorating as another means of procrastination. So we didn't. By the time things were finished and there was some room to breathe, it was a little late to go through all the trouble of decorating to only enjoy it for around a week. Oh well. Anyways, we got the little, pre-lit purple tree so there was something in the house and we will put it in Amelia's room next year! Her very own tree :)

I am thinking that I might be packing Amelia up and heading to The Oriental for a movie tonight. It is the last night for An Education and I want to see it. Amelia has been crying in bed the past few nights. She is asleep and just starts crying. I go in there and she is asleep - crying, I find her paci, put it in, hit her seahorse soother, leave and she is fine. It is strange. I am just not sure if I want to disturb her...

Relaxing Night

Why is Amelia so happy? Maybe because she had just woke up from her late nap? Maybe because for the first time, in a long time, I don't care that it is just about bedtime and she is still up?

It has been really nice today, relaxing. With the bulk of schoolwork out of the way, as of today, I have been able to take things at a much slower pace. I like it! Usually the evenings consist of rushing around, playing with Amelia while picking things up, eating quick dinners etc. Not anymore! Amelia and I have been enjoying our night. We watched Mickey's Christmas Carol while we played and now Pooh's Christmas something-or-other is on, so we are "watching" that too.

I put a pair of old glasses on her tonight:


It was fun! She would scrunch up her face when I put them on her and then rip them off. It was hard to get a picture!

I see a lot of Fronczek in her in this picture:


She looks like my dad, I think.

Someone has ventured into the other room...I had better go supervise! (I am sure she is just looking for a kitty...or following one...)

Pick Up Your Room!

This morning Jason and I were a little out of it. He isn't feeling well and I am just, well, exhausted (more mentally than physically). As I went in and out of consciousness this morning I knew Amelia was awake and that she had gotten a bottle. Next, I realized that she was awake and playing in her room. I assumed she was in her bed...nope! Jason let her play in her room like a big girl this morning and this is what we found:

When I first opened the door she seemed a bit upset with me. Probably because she had been locked away for an hour or so...




What seemed like a good idea at the time proved to be not the greatest. I had just cleaned up her room last night and now I get to do it again tonight. One day I will be able to tell her to pick up her own room!

School has been winding down, fast. I dropped off my paper today, returned my library books (for the first and last time) and sold back my books from my last required science class, about caves. I got a whopping $2 back for them. I figured I wouldn't get much since they weren't that much to begin with but I have no use for them, so I took the $2. I didn't even use them for the class, why would I use them in the future?! I only have one class to wrap up. I have a paper due tomorrow and the last test on Tuesday (yes, 2 days before Christmas Eve) and then I am DONE. I am not sure when I will write the last paper...there is a movie (An Education) at work that I would like to catch before it ends tomorrow. It is feeling good to be finishing college, just in time for the holidays.

Honors Ceremony

Last night my family and I attended the senior honors convocation at UWM. Myself, and around 200 others, recieved gold cords to wear at commencement in honor of our consistently high GPAs. I don't have a lot of good pictures (there were 3 cameras and no one ever seemed to understand which one to look at...) but here are a few that turned out ok (from my camera):






(sorry Dad, none of the pictures with you on my camera turned out, I'll have to check mom and kim's cameras)

My big paper is due tomorrow, at 4, and I plan on giving it another look now that I finally recieved some feedback from the professor (took long enough!). I am anxious to put college behind me :) I do have to work tonight and I have spent the day getting the house back in order from having guests (I still have to get into the kitchen...) so I plan on looking it over after work. I hope I have enough energy to do it!

Amelia is doing great, as usual. Today she has really been interested in water bottles:



I also liked this picture from the weekend:


I really like monster stuff (and dinosaur stuff...) but it is usually all for boys! Not these pajamas though!

Doesn't she look so big here:


She's going to be walking soon! She LOVES to stand!!!