Personalizing Our Home

Well, I'm STILL trying to get our home fully decorated after a full year's occupancy. Sad, I know... but it remains on the backburner to the needs and wants of our kiddos (Andrew included- ha!) Besides, I am WAY too indecisive to commit to just any home furnishing/decor. There is one exception, though. I just love to personalize my home with monograms, etc. That's why I liked the Uppercase Living products so much. Remember these?

Being the bargain shopper I am, I attempted to snag the same product with 1/2 the price on etsy.com. I'm not totally displeased; I like the design and size... I just wish the decal was in a matte finish so it looks less like a windshield sticker and more like paint on my wall. Here's the outcome:

Whatcha think? I'm pretty sure noone will ever question who lives here. Our name and initials aren't sparing to say the least!

Future Cinderellas

Check it out:

http://thunderstormblog.com/?p=64

Too sweet for words!

Our Beautiful Girls at 1 and (almost) 3

Here are a few of my favorites from the recent photo shoot at our house.

I love this style of photography... it was a very windy day so most of the shots of Adelyn are with hair in her face, but I think it makes for very natural poses. I'm also in love with the pictures of just Ella's shoes with peek-a-boo lace. Isn't it sweet?

Hope you enjoy the pictures, too!

Ella was diagnosed with pneumonia last week but she is doing much better with medicine and breathing treatments. Ella also hasn't been feeling so hot either with major congestion and coughing. Maybe when things clear up a bit, I'll have more time to post.

My Swiss Cheese Memory

Thanks to our Netflix subscription, I've been watching old episodes of my favorite show of all time- "Quantum Leap." Anyone else a fan? For those who aren't familiar (or too young to remember), this was an old 90's TV series where a character named Sam would time-travel by trading places with someone in the past in order to put things right, what once went wrong. Something like that. Anyway, Sam suffered from what he commonly referred to as 'swiss cheese memory' which was like a partial amnesia that occurred every time he leaped through time.

So I've decided that I suffer from a sort of 'swiss cheese memory' that gets intensified with every child I have. I used to refer to this as 'mommy mush brain' but I really think the swiss cheese effect is more relative since it worsens with each leap, er, I mean... child. Are there any other moms out there hearin' me? I really hate to use this as an excuse but I've NEVER been so forgetful in my life and it's 2x as bad after Ella.

Case in point: This morning, I was on my way to switch the laundry and by the time I got to the kitchen (on my way to the laundry room), I decided that I was walking across the house to retrieve more juice for Adelyn. Then when I returned to give Adelyn her sippy cup full of juice, she looked at me like I had two heads and said, "Maaaawww---- meeeeee! I no want juice!" Then I saw the empty laundry basket lying on the bed nearby and remembered what my original goal was.

I wish I could say that this was an isolated experience. I'm constantly forgetting what my thoughts were and often replace them with new, temporary ones until I find out what it was I wanted to do in the first place. The good news is that I typically replace the other goals with ones that involve my children. 9 out of 10 times, I'm doing something for a child anyway. It's just a matter of prioritizing really.

That reminds me... I forgot that I have an episode of Quantum Leap waiting in my queue to watch. I'm pretty sure it's been sitting there for 3 days now. But what's much more important is that Adelyn has not missed out on any of her Wiggles episodes on Netflix lately. :)

I Heart V-Day!

I don't think I realized how much fun Valentine's Day was since being a kid. Now that I have a two little girls, the holidays play a much bigger emphasis on our household. Don't get me wrong- we've always honored V-Day; we just didn't have TONS of treat bags/goodies/Valentines from friends/family/neighbors and classmates to remind us of the fun occasion. Adelyn had a preschool party on Wednesday and this is what our little Valentine brought home from school:

Seriously, no wonder why Adelyn loves V-Day so much! Ella loves it, too, but she didn't get to enjoy all the treats that came with. See their matching shirts, bows, and socks? (Sorry, girls- Mommy can never resist!)We also had a V-Day party that night at a neighbor's house and I captured a sweet picture of Adelyn giving her Valentine, Ella, some sugars beforehand. Ella loves all the sugars she gets from her big sister.

On Friday, we were invited by a very sweet and pretty mommy to her house for a V-Day party with a ton of other kiddos. (That's her with her GORGEOUS little boy who I somehow caught half dressed-LOL!) There were lots of cute Valentine-inspired crafts and yummy food... oh, and we got to see our buddies, Jackson (making cookies) and Caroline (with Ella). Adelyn loved her time at the party so much that she cried when we were making our way out the door. See? (BTW, that is an unknown object behind me making my butt bigger than it already is!)

Today, we just chilled and enjoyed each other's company.

Happy Valentine's Day... we heart you! :)

Sneak Peek

Here's my favorite so far... to see a few more from our shoot yesterday, go to: www.thunderstormblog.com

And She's Off!

Yes, our little 1 yr old took her first steps on Wednesday and I had my camera on hand to capture the monumental milestone. We got it on our video recorder as well but it's ancient so I haven't mastered how to convert a clip to the internet to share with you. And our other digital camera with the video function had a dead battery. Anyhow, I digress. Look closely at what Daddy used to entice her... girl has 7 sweet teeth and a very smitten daddy! (BTW, her 7th tooth popped up on Wednesday as well.)

Here are a couple more pics from this week. I think Ella looks especially cute in blue since it brings out her eye color. Oh, and I invested in a 'little sister' top since she's no longer a 'baby sister' anymore. *Tear*

And here's a couple more of Adelyn just being Adelyn. She is a super busy girl with loads of personality! (She is acting like a puppy dog in one of the photos.) Isn't she gorgeous?!

We had a great week with preschool and Y classes... and we spent a lot of time outdoors today enjoying the abnormally warm (well-- 60's) February day. Tonight, Adelyn and Ella got to spend a few hours with our neighbors who were kind enough to baby-sit while we got some Mommy & Daddy time. They loved it and I think it was a wonderful experience for all of us. :)

Oh, and did I mention that we found someone who was willing to take the girls' photos for free? He's starting a new photography business and needed some guinea pigs. Ella was in need of some 1 yr shots and Adelyn's birthday is coming up, too, so... OINK OINK, baby! Sorry- that was bad. Do guinea pigs even oink? Anyway, he took them this morning so I'm looking forward to sharing those with you soon. You know me... I can never have too many pictures lying around of my precious little girls!

Looking forward to 3 Valentine's Day parties next week... as well as a day of pampering for a mommy turning 29 on Thursday!

Our Weekend

Sorry for the generic title.

Actually, I do have a few creative ideas for posts but they haven't come to fruition yet thanks to a busy weekend and a clouded head. Unfortunately, Andrew's dad was admitted to the hospital for a heart attack but is doing much better now. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers!

Ella is super close to taking her first steps so I've been keeping my camera on hand... yes, even more than usual. Here are a few fresh pictures of the girlies over the weekend.

BTW, I think we're finally starting to get rid of the sickies in our house. *Knock on wood!* Oh, and the paci is GONE. Adelyn has been suffering from terrible coughing fits over the last couple weeks and we convinced her that the pacifier wasn't helping. Today, I gave her money to put in her purse and told her that she could buy her own pack of gum since she is a big girl now who doesn't need her paci. OMG- I can't even begin to explain to you just how cute the moment was in Target tonight. Even a random lady in front of us gave Adelyn a $ bill to pay for her gum for being such a big girl after overhearing our story. Wasn't that sweet?! The look on Adelyn's face was so priceless... like she was so proud and grown up as she made her first purchase. Tonight, she proclaimed, "Paci makes me sick!" as she chewed on her 'big girl' gum. And she didn't even fall asleep with the gum in her mouth... or in her belly for that matter. I'm SO proud of her accomplishment. Now, if I can only convince her that pooping in her pants is not cool....