December 2013

Decorations went up right after Thanksgiving and this is daddy and Iz putting on the final touch.

Right before the girls' Christmas Program for school. It was at Elkhorn High in the auditorium.

Love them to the moon and back.

Meet Snowflake. She was a wonderful fixture at our house this season.

Addie at the Christmas Program. Not sure what she sang because you couldn't understand them, but she loved being on stage. There was something about jumping and she jump all the way across the stage.

Here, Izzy was dashing through the snow. She also sang Santa Clause is Coming to Town.

Addie's Elmo birthday cake for her second birthday.

 

The Mulligans decorating their cookie.

Izzy's snow scene.

Grandma D. and Aunt Trish helping Addie with her picture.

Macy's final masterpiece.

Izzy's final masterpiece.

Addie is eating hers.

Gabi making her creation.

 

My mom and her aunt.

My grandma, cousins, Cooper and Rocky, and my Uncle Terry.

My cousin Gavin, me and my mom. I haven't seen Gavin since I was in 7th grade. So good to catch up.

The whole crew.

Christmas Eve at my Aunt Cindy and Uncle George's.

The girls did a little karaoke.

Prime rib, it's what's for dinner.

My family

My Uncle Karlye, Aunt Deb, and Kash. Miss you Jenny and fam.

My Uncle George, Jess, Aunt Cindy, Kya, and Jess's wife, Annalise.

Thank you from Santa.

Santa's crumbs!

Opening gifts!

My baby, all grown up. Last year we did it all for her.

The girls got their Frozen dolls and loved them.

Izzy and Grandma D.

Ladelle and the girls looking at, Mark's Aunt Cindy's, ornaments on the tree.

 

In Memory of the greatest grandpa. We will miss you and the Huskers will miss you cheering them on.

 



On December 5th, Addie had her well check and she is a healthy growing girl. She was 88.59% for height and 87.44% for weight. She is definitely going be a tall girl. No shots this visit. It was a success. She still has her runny nose and cough, but I think it's a permanent characteristic with this child. As is her drooling. Addie turned two on November 28th, but with this crazy time of year her party with friends got pushed until December 15th. We decorated cookies, made snow scene pictures, and ate cake and ice cream. It ended up being a great birthday party for her considering it was thrown together last minute. Sorry Addie, I think your birthdays will forever be chaos.

The  clinic I work for opened a new location on 72nd and Cornhusker. We had a grand opening event at the clinic and it was nice to meet people in the Papillion area. Mark decided to join me a little late as he screeched in from Green Bay, Wisconsin. He and three of his friends went from a Friday to Monday to cheer on the Packers at Lambeau field. It was chilling cold and snowing but the boys had a good time. The Saturday Mark was gone I took the girls to see Santa at West Roads Mall. Izzy was shy but sat by him and told him she wanted Palace Pets and the Littlest Pet Shop. Addie would wave and say hi, but wouldn't get near the man. I was in the picture yet again. Hopefully next year I won't have to do that.

On the 12th of December my grandpa decided to go home to the Lord. He was just so tired from fighting the flu and the pneumonia it brought with it. His lungs and heart couldn't keep up and he went peacefully 10 hours after the ventilator was removed. The following Thursday we celebrated his life and how blessed we were to have him for a grandpa. He was amazing, and his grandkids were everything. I sure miss him. It was nice to see family I hadn't seen in a long time and we've decided it shouldn't be so long until the next time. With this, we truly got to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. Just being with family and thankful for each other.  Now we just have to look after grandma and make sure she has everything she needs. My mom and dad have been a saints, helping her with everything.

Also, this holiday season we have been blessed to be able to celebrate with wonderful friends. In the middle of the month we had a White Elephant Christmas party with all the neighbor ladies. Although, the gifts were very nice. I ended up with a white wine by Dave Matthews. A perfect fit. Then the following week the girls and I got together with the Snodgrasses and the Mulligans for a little gift exchange. The girls played, and gave us moms a little Christmas concert. We had a lot of fun.

For Christmas Eve we went to Kearney to be with my Dad's side of the family, Christmas Day morning was spent at my parents, Christmas Day at Mark's Aunt and Uncle's, then to Mark's mom's,  Christmas Day night at my parents with my Uncle Jerry and Grandma Brown, and finally Saturday we came back to spend it with Mark's Dad's side of the family. It was definitely a whirl wind. Even with all of this and the death of my grandpa we had a wonderful holiday.

With the approaching new year, I wish all of you well and hope you find yourself happy and healthy. Lets get together soon and celebrate. We have a lot to celebrate about. LIFE!

November 2013

Addie trying to fill some big shoes and doing it all with crazy hair.

Getting into "Pincen" (princess) like her big sister.

She loves to scribble and color.

Being a "pincen".....

.....and a diva.

Enjoying one of our last nice days outside with our friend Ella.

My sassy little girls.

So stubborn, she wouldn't go to bed without her gloves.

Happy Birthday little lady.

My lovely cousin Kya.

Addie doing puzzles with Great Aunt Cindy on Thanksgiving, and her birthday.

My grandma, mom and Great Aunt Bonnie.

My Grandpa Brown and Great Uncle Jim.

My mom and dad on Thanksgiving.

Mark, Uncle Karlye, and Kashy.

"Up High"

The girls love them some Great Uncle Karlye.

Minnie Mouse cake for my birthday girl.

Addie and her Princess Ariel.

Yum! Cake!

The day after Thanksgiving my mom and I took the girls to Frozen. I really didn't think Addie would sit through the whole thing but she did great!

 

I did a little photo shoot right after Addie's birthday with our little friend, Livie. Livie and Addie were born on the same day, same hospital, within an hour of one another. We also live two houses over and they go to the same daycare. These two will definitely be partners in crime.

 





I'm writing this the first week in January so I don't remember much. I am looking at my calendar and pictures to piece together this month. We have our usual crazy weeks of Swim Tuesdays and Gymnastics Wednesdays and cook, clean, baths, and sleep in between there. The days fly by and time gets away from you. Oh, what I wouldn't do for a little more time to be with my kids and husband and to get my life organized.

My mom came up the weekend of the 16th to do a little Christmas shopping. We did get quite a bit done for the girls. She then took my Grandpa Brown into the doctor the following week because he hadn't been feeling good. You know my grandpa doesn't feel good when he is asking to go to the doctor. This 85 year old man hasn't been to a doctor in 25 years. When my mom and grandma picked him up at work and got him to the clinic they sent him immediately to the hospital. His breathing was so labored and his oxygen levels down so much it was over working his heart. They didn't even want him to talk. He was in the hospital for 3 weeks and became so weak he couldn't rehab at the hospital, they sent him to Tiffany nursing home to rehab. We got to see him on Thanksgiving and his transformation was unbelievable. He went from the man I went camping with last summer and a man that worked a full time job, to the frailest of a being. Tears came to my eyes. Things were not good. He was talking more than usual. For anyone that knows my grandpa, he is the quiet, observing type. Before he left, he made sure to tell me how wonderful my girls and I am. He knew he was real sick. That was the last I ever got to talk to him. He passed away a month later. This was all from the flu. So, please get your flu shots. Your family will thank you.

On Thanksgiving my little peanut turned two. We had a two for one celebration that day. First we gave thanks for all we had, then we celebrated the life of Addelyn. I can't believe she is two. It has gone so fast. She is such a spunky little girl with a mind of her own. I'm not sure, but I think she will be the one to give Mark and I the run for our money. She is copying everything that Izzy does. She loves her big sister. They are starting to play well together and also starting the, "that's mine," fights. Oh the things I have to look forward to. Lord help me. She is definitely into babies and "pincens" (aka princesses) and getting her way. She fights to the end.

Izzy is a sweet little girl that also knows how to work the system. She is the first to try and help me though. She's been asking a lot to help me with dinner and do big kid things around the house. She loves both gymnastics and swimming and I never get whining like I did with dance. At least we have one activity eliminated out of the masses. It is so hard to try and figure out what activities to get them in. I just hope I am doing the right thing. I want to keep them busy so they don't have time for the evils of life. It scares me to death. I get a heartache just typing it now.

Hope this is finding everyone well and you all got through the holiday season happy and healthy.