Goldfield, Arizona

We took a little roadtrip with our friends the Hamblins up to Goldfield, Arizona. A cute historical ghost town. There were a lot of fun things to do like a train ride along the Superstition Mountains, an underground cave tour,panning for gold, and a reptile exhibit. There's also a gun fight in the middle of town but of course it wasn't showing while we were there. All the cowboys were out of town! It was really cold and windy but really beautiful! We all had a great time getting out of town for a couple of hours and I would totally recommend it for anyone interested in a day trip. I especially want to go back the next time I do a family photoshoot. So many cool places for pictures!! I especially fell in love with this yellow tractor that matched Addysen's outfit perfectly! It was totally meant to be....if only I had more willing participant. Why must all 2 year olds hate pictures!!!??

POTD Challenge 1/24-1/30/2010

This is her "I'm deliberately NOT going to look at you when you want me to!" look. I'd say she has it down pat!


Elodie graduated from kindergarten books! This is her first 1st grade book! We are so proud of her!


We pulled out the little potty for Addysen...we aren't holding our breath but it's available if she wants it!


We have gone through a lot of these in the last week! Elodie brought something home and we all got it!


Ginger enjoying the sun and her new haircut!


Elodie's first soccer practice...


And one from our trip to Goldfield, Arizona

Joys of motherhood

-Elodie kept us up all night last night. This came as a surprise because she is normally a good sleeper. Some nights you can hear her wimpering in her sleep but nothing uncontrollable. Last night was awful. She cried all night long and when we asked what was wrong we got the "I DON'T KNOW!" response. I vividly remember being a child and when my parents would ask me a question, before I even got a chance to respond, they would say "Now, don't say you don't know, because you MUST KNOW!" To which I would say "I DON'T KNOW!" Now I find myself doing the same thing with Elodie! What goes around comes around right? It all started around 9pm while I was still at work. Christopher's first attempt to calm her down included letting her sit in his lap and whispering consolling words to her. It didn't help! By 3:30am I was threatening to take Hello Kitty away and making her sleep in the car. Around 4:15am she ended up in bed with us still wimpering. I rolled over to see her light on, the hall light on, and I could hear that the TV was on too! That's when we kicked her out of our bed and sent her back to her bed! At 7:45am when I finally dragged myself out of bed, she was happily sitting on the couch watching tv. By that time Chris was up and had already gotten her breakfast. She greeted me with a "GOOD MORNING MOM!" just as happy as can be!

-This morning, Addysen and I took Ginger to the vets office. She needed a physical and an updated rabies shot. I hate the vets office. I always leave feeling like the worst mother ever AND Ginger ALWAYS gets so worked up walking in that she poops on the floor IN THE STORE! It never fails! So, I found myself picking up Ginger poop with a baby wipe, while pushing a stroller, and dragging Ginger back to the vets office. Thank Heavens for baby wipes right? At this visit we found out just how awful of a mother I am...

1. Ginger is overweight. She should be 5-8 pounds. She weighs 13.5. Her vet said "You see this bulge here and here? It shouldn't be there!" HOW RUDE! Way to give a girl a complex! Doesn't he know it's winter and she has been hiding under her winter coat all year! Our vet was happy to right us a perscription for diet dog food. I happily said no.
2. Christopher just gave her a haircut and we found a bump on her skin. When I showed it to the vet he casually said "Oh, that? Well, that there is a non-cancerous skin tact." All I heard was the word cancer! She is fine but apparently, since she is getting older, we will start to see more and more of them. I hate that she is getting older!
3. She has bad teeth. Did you know you should brush your dogs teeth once a day? I have a hard time remembering to brush Elodie's teeth and just this morning almost left the house without brushing my own teeth! We have toothpaste and a toothbrush for Ginger, I just haven't been the best with brushing them....at all! Turns out she has so much plaque build up that she will have to be put under for them to get it all out. He was happy to right me up an estimate and wanted to know if I wanted to schedule that appointment. After looking at the $250 bill I said, "I'll just work on brushing her teeth more regularly.
4. She has a little razer burn from the trimmers and I accidentally knicked her on the ear while helping Christopher trim her up....he made sure to point both of those out!
And
5. Her nails need trimming. So badly, that he made a note of it on the computer!! HARSH!

$65 later, one rabies shot, and a estimate for a $250 teeth cleaning we were out. And then I called Chris crying!

On a happier motherhood note, I went to Fry's. Spent $16 and saved $74! Take that Vet's Office!

The possibilities are endless!

I fell asleep last night with a tissue in my hand. Last week Elodie came down with this nasty cold that included a cough that kept us all up one night! Addysen got it a few days later, then Christopher, now me. Super!

The weather outside matches the way I feel but this really brightened my mid-day! We have not done Elodie's valentine shoot yet. Still have not gotten around to painting that Goodwill chair RED! But this was just for fun! She seriously gets cuter by the second...daddy smile and all!

Putting myself out there...

One of my personal goals for 2010 is to advertise myself more as a photographer! I got a lot of business last year from just word of mouth (and my cheap prices), and while I appreciate everyone who spread the word, it can only take me so far! I'm learning new things all the time and really trying to take the next leap with my passion.

Valentine's Day is such a fun holiday! I love everything about it but valentine cards have got to be the best part! Besides the date night with Christopher of course! In the passed, I have let Elodie just pick out whatever ones she wanted at Wal-Mart or Target. THIS YEAR, we are going all personalized! And you can too!

I'm really excited about this because I LOVE taking pictures of my girls in their valentine outfits. Yes, I said outfits! It comes with the territory of owning 2 girls! We have done it every year and this year is going to be over the top!

Each session is $15. 5 to 10 edited images on cd with VALENTINE CARD options!
Just bring your kids all dressed in their valentine attire and I'll do the rest. Props and candy included! Even if you aren't planning on sending out Valentine Cards or your kids aren't in school yet, these will still be super cute!

It'll be so fun so email me if you are interested! The last date for sessions will be Wednesday, February 10th and all shoots will take place on the ASU East Campus. If you would like to schedule a session before February 1st, I'm totally fine with that too! The sooner the better!



And below are just 2 of 5 valentine card samples!

POTD Challenge 1/17/1/23/2010

Addysen wants to use the potty All. The. Time. If the bathroom door is open, she immediately wants to take her pants off and "use the potty". Nothing so far, we aren't holding our breath! She won't be 2 until March. Elodie was about 2 and 6 months when she learned completely.

On MLK Day we went to lunch at Red Robin and both girls got balloons. Not 10 seconds after we got home, Elodie let her balloon go and it went straight to the ceiling. We had the clever idea to put Chris on a chair with Elodie on his shoulders. He lifted her up onto the decorative ledge and she crawled along it to get to her balloon. I was surprised she attempted it..apparently she really wanted her balloon!

Elodie was home sick the day after MLK. She brought home a nasty cough and cold and lovingly gave it to everyone in the house!

My deal of the week. I got all this for under $7!

Addysen enjoying a sucker from the bank.

We had some weird weather for a couple of days. It hailed for like 10 seconds!

Elodie o' natural. Meaning her hair isn't fixed!

And we ended our week with Book Club. We read "The Shack". Definitely not on my top 10.

Lately x 2

Her new favorite word is "MINE!" and if she picks it up it belongs to her!

She loves to wear sister's headbands and can be found with one on most days.

She found sister's handmedown pink crocks and LOVES them! She wears them all the time and is so impressed with herself that she can put them on all by herself! They are a little big but should fit perfectly by the summertime.

Wants to use the potty all the time but is done the minute you put her on. Then your stuck redressing her 10 times a day!

Wants to watch Elmo's Potty atleast once a day!

Has a baby she lovingly calls "Baby Daughter"

Still sucks her thumb at bedtime and has to have her tutu.

Only has 8 teeth!

Says "double" instead of W

Will turn 2 in March and we are having a Strawberry themed party with her twin Grayce.

Lately...

She wants to ride her scooter all the time. She has the hang of it and is really fast!

Has moved up from Kindergarten books to 1st grade books.

She is annoyed with long sleeves and wants to wear short sleeves all the time.

Adores her little sister.

Is signed up for soccer and has her first game in 2 weeks.

Her favorite shoes are silver sparkly ones.

If she had it her way, would wear her hair half up half down everyday!

19th Week Class/Homework

POTD Challenge 1/10-1/16/2010

We have been taking the girls to the basketball court by our house a ton! Elodie loves all the room to ride her scooter and Addysen loves roaming around collecting rocks and pushing her stroller. On this day, she insisted on bring along some must haves! 2 purses and a care bear music toy.

Evidence that the stool is working out for her. She is constantly peeking to see what she can get her hands on!

She loves coloring while Sister is doing her homework....

And speaking of homework, he's got his fair share now that the semester has started back up for him. 1 down, 2 to go! Semesters that is!

Deal of the week:
6 rolls of paper towels
3 packs of toilet paper
3 frozen pizzas
4 pudding packs
3 Campbell's cream of mushroom soups
9 Rice a Roni
2 Uncle Ben's Rice
4 boxes Hot Chocolate
Total: $12.48

Addysen watching Elmo's Potty. We set up a tv on the floor in our computer room. She loves it there..although she probably shouldn't be sitting that close to the tv!

And a blurry Addysen sporting one of sisters headbands! She is so fun right now! This is her cheese face!

Where I've really been...

So everyone has noticed my lack of blog post. And I certainly can't blame it on the holidays as we are now half-way through January.

The real culprit is this...LOST

Chris and I tackled all 5 seasons. In about 2 weeks time! Kid you not! It's what we did every night after we put the girls to bed. We stayed up until midnight a few times, snuck in a few episodes on Fridays when Chris was home, and utilized quiet time on weekends!

My friend Melissa has been telling me about the show for a while now but we never really caught on. The 6th season is getting ready to start in February and we decided now was as good a time as any to catch up! The best part was we didn't have to wait a whole week to watch every episode and we didn't waste anytime during commercial breaks!!

I'm not sure how I feel about the show. The whole purpose is to keep you questioning and totally confused! They do a great job of that! It's that sort of show that if your not sure what's going on you have to just let it go and know eventually your questions will be answered!

It's pretty intense and at times, down right scary, but overall I'd say it's worth watching! If you have any space on your tivo that is!!
We are done with all 5 seasons now and are patiently waiting for the 6th season to start. Blogging is back to normal!

18th Week Class/Homework

POTD Challenge 1/3-1/9/2010

So I've decided to stick with my Picture A Day Challenge for 2010 that I did back in 2009. I just couldn't let it go. I felt guilty just thinking about NOT taking a picture a day. Besides capturing all those little moments in our life, I felt like I blogged more about all those little moments that don't normally get blogged about. I love that I have pictures of our stuff just as much I love the pictures of us.

Guilted into it or not, I'm happy to be sticking with it! And since I'm in a good routine, I'm hoping 2010 will be easier than 2009. Maybe in all aspects of my life. Who knows!

As for now, the little things of the first week of 2010.

I got these boots for Christmas. Elodie loves them more than I do. And while I would love to get her a pair of her own, I only paid $15 for mine. All the ones I have found for Elodie either cost the same or MORE! Like $25!! I don't get it. Less material, same price! Doesn't make sense! Even at Costco (GASP!) they are $20! For these little tiny boots she will only wear like 3 months out of the year! I'm thinking she will get some for Valentine's and we will buy a size bigger so she can wear them this next winter too!

And I can't decide what I love most about this picture....Elodie wanting to be like her mom, or little sister trying to be like big sister! There's that stool again! I told you she totes that thing everywhere she goes!


New Year, New Calendar! I love the big ones that I can write a bunch of stuff on! Nothing better than a brand new calendar!


The rath of Addysen- she does this kind of stuff all over the house. If you find a fork in Elodie's bedroom, it's Addysen. Hairbrush in the computer room, Addysen. Elodie's toothbrush in the living room, Addysen. And what you can't see is Chris' toothbrush in his sink along with another pair of socks in the sink.


I spent the better part of one day sorting through the girls "doesn't fit" clothes. Originally I had one big storage bin for all the clothes that didn't fit the girls. It was completely unorganized and the only nice thing I could say about it was that it was all in one place! Which made it even more unorganized!!! It was difficult to sift through it for Addysen too so she ended up not wearing a lot of hand me downs because I couldn't find them amongst all the 4T and newborn clothes! It. Was. A. Mess! That sounds better than she didn't wear the hand me downs because she has too many new clothes!
So we went to Wal-Mart and got another huge storage bin. I pulled out all the clothes, sorted it all, and labeled the bins Newborn to 24 months and 2T to 4T. The next storage bin I get will be something like 5T to 7T but that won't be for a while as Elodie still fits into some of her 3T clothes!

Just by sorting through it all I was able to make 2 big diaper boxes full for my sister in law Esther, who is having a baby girl at the end of February, and a huge box for goodwill! Along the way I was surprised by how much I found for Addysen that I didn't remember Elodie even having! See what I mean by it all get lost! It feels good to have it all organized!


How we have been spending our evenings after the girls go to bed. It deserves a post all it's own that I will get to later!


Deal of the week-
5 3 pack Ivory Soaps (we opened one pack when I took the picture)
5 Colgate Toothpaste
$2.03