Day 59, Photo 59

The planning for Samantha's first birthday party has begun!! I've decided on a Teddy Bear Picnic as the theme. This week a creative mood struck me so I decided to work a little on invitations for the party. Here is a sneak peak of what I'm hoping to use as her invitation...

Day 58, Photo 58

We spent our Saturday at the Museum of Natural Science in Raleigh. This was the first visit for Ed and the girls. We all enjoyed and had a great family day. I decided I would post photos of the exhibit that was probably the biggest hit with everyone - the dinosaurs! Between watching "Curious George" and "Dinosaur Train" on PBS, Gabrielle has gotten really interested in museums and dinosaurs. The entire museum was very cool and I definitely recommend going regardless of how old your kids are or if you even have kids at all. I'm sure Ed would have liked being able to spend more time at each exhibit reading all the information but a 3-year-old kept insisting on moving quickly from one thing to the next.

Day 57, Photo 57

I have got to start taking the five minutes it takes to post my photo of the day everyday. It is getting really difficult to keep track what day is what!

Matching outfits - one of the great things about having two girls (in my opinion anyway)! Gabrielle is wearing an outfit passed down from my sister's girls. Samantha is wearing an outfit my sister bought for Gabrielle for her first birthday, the same time she bought the outfits for her own daughters. The shirt and and skirt on Samantha still have a little room so maybe she'll be able to wear it once or twice next fall. She is such a big girl! Fortunately she is tall for her age too or else she would really be a little butterball!

Day 56, Photos 56

Gabrielle loves to color and draw. For the past week she has been going to her little table a lot more frequently to sit and draw on her own. I love seeing her creativity on paper! As I was sorting through my craft supplies for an upcoming yard sale I came across a Crayola circle stencil. Gabrielle asked if she could have it and has loved creating her people with it. Once I showed her how it worked she did the rest completely on her own. I was surprised at how well she did with it. Here are some of her creations.



This is the first time I noticed her drawing five fingers for hands instead of the usual circles.

This one cracked me up. The lines in the mouth are not teeth - they are germs! I have no idea where she gets these things!

My sister sent me a link where I could print off lined paper with dotted or dashed letters for Gabrielle to learn how to write. This was the very first time she has ever done anything like this. I helped her with a good bit of the top line but the rest she did on her own. I was proud at how well she did for the first time, especially since some of the dotted letters were difficult to distinguish from the "lined paper". Gabrielle is going to love school once we finally get her in one. I wish I took more time to do stuff like this with her. She absolutely loves it.

And more people. This time she made circles for the ears and smaller circles inside the bigger circles for the eyeballs.

Day 55, Photo 55

Just some pre and post bathtime cuteness!

Day 54, Photo 54

Peaceful.

Day 53, Photo 53

What happens when you give a 3-year-old free reign with the sprinkles.

Day 52, Photo 52

We enjoyed the beautiful weather this afternoon by playing in our backyard (or Mattie and Bella's yard as Gabrielle calls it. She calls the front yard her backyard.) I have a lot of great pictures from our afternoon but I chose to use this one as my photo of the day. Samantha loved being outside but her favorite part had to be riding in the wagon with her big sister. And Gabrielle was more than happy to have someone to ride with her for a change!

From 2010 - A Year in Photos

Day 50, Photo 50

Gabrielle loves her fleece hat and mittens - so much so that she insists on wearing them around the house all the time. But this just takes the cake, coloring in mittens? Only my child...

From 2010 - A Year in Photos

From 2010 - A Year in Photos

Day 49, Photo 49

From 2010 - A Year in Photos

I love a good deal. While in Target yesterday doing my regular weekly grocery shopping I noticed the Valentine stuff was all 75% off. There were slim pickings but I thought I'd browse through the leftovers just to see if there was anything worth buying. When I saw these cute little mailbox craft kits I had to get them! They were only $1.49 each! Gabrielle loved decorating hers while I obviously made Samantha's. Gabrielle loves getting mail as I'm sure Samantha will as well once she is old enough to realize what mail is and I thought these little mailboxes, even though decorated for Valentine purposes, would be cute in their rooms for me to put all of their mail in throughout the year. And maybe just for fun I'll put other little notes and cards in their for them.

Another good deal I got yesterday was on baby formula. We use the Target brand and about a month ago Target had put some "bulk" items in their seasonal department. A two-pack of Target formula was one of the products available. This 2-pack cost just under $20 while one single can runs $12.99. This already was a good deal. Yesterday I noticed all the bulk items had been put on clearance. I found the 2-packs of formula had been moved to the baby aisle and were included in the clearance prices. I wish I could have gotten more but I bought 2 2-packs, so 4 cans of formula for $34. If I had bought 4 single cans it would have cost me $52!!

Day 47, Photo 47

I attended my first Ash Wednesday church service tonight. To be honest I have never really known or understand what Lent was or the meaning and reason behind it - until this year. And I am really looking forward to spending the next 40 days in prayer and reflection.

The sign of the cross marked in ashes on my forehead.

From 2010 - A Year in Photos

Day 46, Photo 46

I know I've said it before but I'm going to say it once again - Samantha gets into everything!!

From 2010 - A Year in Photos

Day 45, Photo 45

Here is Jane...but I wonder where Tarzan could be?

From 2010 - A Year in Photos

Gabrielle is big into "all by myself" right now. She wants to do everything by herself - no help. She is now learning to dress and undress herself but gets a little stuck every now and then.

Day 44, Photo 44

Happy Valentine's Day!!

While I straightened up the kitchen and made a special breakfast this morning, Ed went to Harris Teeter to get Gabrielle one of the things she wanted for Valentine's Day - a heart balloon! Each time we have been in Harris Teeter for the past month she has seen these balloons and asked and begged and pleaded. When Ed walked in the house this morning with her balloon she was beyond happy.

She loved her balloon so much which is why I was a little surprised by her clipping the balloon onto Samantha's diaper the good majority of the morning. Samantha crawled around the house with a balloon trailing her and she had no idea!

From 2010 - A Year in Photos

Day 43, Photo 43

Sweet Bella...

From 2010 - A Year in Photos

We always had cats growing up and even a dog or two here and there. Once I had my own apartment I pretty quickly got a kitten and then a couple of years later got another kitten as "company" for the first cat (as if Deezul, the first cat, really wanted company!). But Bella was my first puppy.

About a month after Ed and I got married I started bugging him for a dog. Looking back I'm not sure what I was thinking. We still had my two cats and he also had a dog of his own. Why on earth would we add to that? I think I was getting a little bit of baby fever and decided to start out with a dog rather than hit Ed up with idea of kids already. Being newlyweds, and the fact I had his mom on my side (Ha ha ha!), it didn't take much convincing for Ed to say yes. His mom even found a local breeder for me!

We went to the breeder and got put on the waiting list for a puppy. In December 2004 I got a call that a litter had been born and my spot came up on the list. Just before Christmas we went and picked out "my puppy"! On Ed's birthday, February 11, 2005 we brought little Bella home.

From 2010 - A Year in Photos

She was spoiled from the very beginning. Poor little Bella has definitely taken a backseat now that we have two actual babies but I try to spoil her still every now and then. Last night she snuggled in bed with me for an hour or two until Ed came to bed. Then he got to be the bad guy and gate her in the kitchen with Mattie, our other dog.

Day 42, Photo 42

I love opening the mailbox finding only colorful envelopes! Usually these envelopes hold cards with messages of love, appreciation and thoughtfulness. Such a nice treat when on a regular basis the mailbox is full of unpleasant bills and junk.

From 2010 - A Year in Photos

Email, facebook and blogs are great but none of it quite stirs up the same feelings that receiving a card or handwritten note brings. Something for me to keep in mind myself, aiming to be better at sending notes and cards to my loved ones.

Day 41, Photo 41

Today we took the car through a car wash. The car was filthy from not being washed in quite some time, the snow and the salt treatments put on the roads. I wasn't sure how the girls would react. The only time Gabrielle had been through a car wash was when she was just a few months old. We watched the car ahead of us drive through so Gabrielle would have some idea of what to expect.

I don't know why I was concerned at all - Gabrielle loved it!! And now we have a nice clean car.

From 2010 - A Year in Photos

From 2010 - A Year in Photos

Day 40, Photo 40

I love days like yesterday. Days when we have no errands to run and no place to be except home. Days when the girls are in good moods and everyone is playing nicely so I am able to get some housework done.

From 2010 - A Year in Photos

From 2010 - A Year in Photos

Day 39, Photo 39

A birthday gift from my hubby and my girls - a mommy necklace with the girls' initials.

From 2010 - A Year in Photos

I L-O-V-E it!!!

Day 38, Photo 38

As a mommy I get excited with each 'first' with my girls - their first word, first steps and first kisses and hugs. I eagerly mark the moment on calendars and in baby books and am always anxious to share with anyone who will listen the momentous occasion.

And then there are the 'firsts' I don't look forward to and the moments I am anxious to forget - like the first black eye.

From 2010 - A Year in Photos

Samantha was in the bathroom with me this morning as I was getting ready for church. She pulled on one of the cabinet drawers and it came flying forward into her face. The purple mark appeared pretty quickly and underneath her eye even puffed up a little until Ed held a cold pack on it for a few minutes.

I can remember Gabrielle's first black eye. She fell off a little chair during playgroup one morning and face first into the Little People farm. It was one of those slow motion moments when I saw what was happening and just couldn't get to her quick enough. My heart broke that day as it did this morning with that sad little face of hurt.

From 2010 - A Year in Photos

As seen in the photo above Gabrielle's boo-boo occurred right before her first birthday.

Day 37, Photo 37

Yesterday we went to a roller skating birthday party for one of my niece's. Gabrielle has talked about this party for three weeks now. She was so excited about skating with her cousins. Ed rented skates and went around with Gabrielle some but Gabrielle really wanted to skate with her cousins, without the assistance of her daddy. Only 3 years old and already wanting independence from us!!

This is my brother-in-law's niece Christy who was sweet enough to skate around with Gabrielle a few times as well.

From 2010 - A Year in Photos

Gabrielle talked about skating the entire way home so I guess we will have to make this a regular outing.

Day 36, Photo 36

Yes, I missed a couple of days and yes, I'm even late with this one but that's life.

Happy Birthday to me!!!

From 2010 - A Year in Photos

Day 33, Photo 33 - repost

I found out yesterday my previous link to the video wasn't working. I uploaded a shorter version of the clip onto YouTube and here it is now -



Please ignore my annoying voice - I really dislike how I sound on video!!

Day 33, Photo 33

Instead of a photo today I'm posting a short video clip. My baby girl is growing up too fast!

Day 32, Photo 32

Keeping it short and sweet tonight. I'm too tired to think.

My two sweet girls...

From 2010 - A Year in Photos