Music

Abbie showed me this blog that has a great playlist of music that continually plays while you are on the site. It's becoming my new fav thing to listen to at work. If you like the type of music they play on Grey's Anatomy, I think you'd like it. That's what it reminds me of. I am in love with song #7.

Enjoying the small things

Oh she also has a good blog to read too. :) Check out her out. If you have time for a long tear-jerking post read the birth story of her daughter.

5 Months

Sienna,
Another month has flown by. You are changing so fast and are such a happy little baby. We, of course, think you are the cutest thing ever, but we are constantly receiving compliments about how pretty you are with your big eyes, long eyelashes and bright smile. You have such an easy going personality and seem to adapt everywhere we go - even with the cold/cough that never wants to go away.

This month you have discovered how loud your voice can be. The alien noises quickly turned into screeches and squeals - very loud, high pitches ones. Daddy used to be the only one you'd giggle for, but you are now sharing them with more people, including Mom! You have also been working very hard on sitting up and rolling over from back to tummy. (You're a pro the other way) You are sooo close to getting over. I hold my breath every time in anticipation as your face is almost on the ground and then you flop back. That bottom arm just won't budge. [Update since I wrote this: On your 5 month birthday you had your first rollover and have done it every day since. I think that technically will have to count towards next months milestones. :)] Dad and I have spotted 2 teeth on your bottom gums. They are down quite a ways and we are hoping they stay there for awhile.

You are unofficially measuring at:
Height: 25.5 inches
Weight: 16 lbs

Want!

Baby Steal of the Day. How cute would my babes be in this?? So unnecessary though.

Sippy Cup

When Sienna was sick we thought we'd give her a chance to try some extra fluids.

Taking lessons from Dad.


Making an attempt.


Ahhh! Water all over the face.

Cousin Love??

The weekend started out with love and kisses.


By the 2nd day the hair pulling started.


And then the hitting.


Until finally they had to be separated.


Sami - you just wait until Sienna is old enough to pull/hit/and bite back! :)

Papa Love

Happy Weekend!

I love it when my days start off with Justin sending me a picture of Sienna in her outfit, getting ready to go to daycare. Today he's home entertaining all of his family so I got this:



Note Conner's reflection in the fireplace. He always has to be where the action is.

Makes me a little sad to be missing out on all the fun and craziness while I sit here at work. I love seeing the cousins interact with each other. Can't wait to get my fill tonight and tomorrow! Enjoy your weekend too!

My Favorite Week

...is back!! (restaurant week for those who don't want to click the link) And it's over my birthday again. Need to start working on a baby sitter now!

Aliens or Angels?

The other day I was talking with Babhita about the new noises Seinna was making. I was telling her that they sounded like an alien. Without missing a beat Babhita, being sincerely one of the nicest people I have ever met, says, "Oh no, not aliens, angels! She sounds like an angel." I wish for one day I could have her outlook on everything. :)

Here's Sienna's new found sounds. Aliens or angels, what do you think?

Annual Dells Trip I

We survived our first year at the Dells with the Eids!! (and hopefully many more to come) I say survived because of course nothing ever goes the way you hope it to. A couple days before we were supposed to leave, Mikayla came down with croup. She appeared to be better. And then Monday morning, the day we were leaving, Sienna started to get really stuffy. Doh!! I won't go on but lets just say Mikayla wasn't better and had a really rough night Monday, which kept her out of the water parks the rest of the time we were there. Sienna's cold continued to get worse and she had a rough night on Tuesday.

We still found plenty of time to play in the water park. Sienna was a little scared the first time in there. It was really loud and lots to look at! She warmed up to it.

Day 1: Mikayla and Sienna checking out the water


Day 2: We headed over to the wave pool. Sienna tried out her floaty and loved it!


She also tried out a few slides with Daddy


Amanda, Izzy, and Sami met us for the day on Tuesday.


Taking a break from the water parks to check out the kiddy climbing gym.


A lot of our time was spent enjoying the lazy river. Sienna was on my lap and Justin in his own tube so he could keep us away from all the water falls. Mallory (and maybe Brent) had the most fun of all. She was game for just about every slide out there. Come Wednesday we'd all had a lot of fun but were ready to go. We skipped the water parks and headed on home. 2011 Dells = success!

Cooking Club V

This post is a bit overdue but I wanted to show off our great cooking! This was a more low key cooking club because Sienna and Abbie joined us to start developing their culinary skills.

Justin's teaching them important lessons.


Appetizer
Peperonata on Baguette Toasts. (I had my camera on a weird mode so the food pics aren't great this time)


Main Course
Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Stuffed with Spinach and Ricotta
Sweet Potato and Turnip Mash with Sage Butter (I LOVED these)
Fall Salad with Cranberry Vinaigrette


Dessert
Pear Cranberry Crumble - we must've ate it too fast cause I didn't get a pic!

Everything was very delish. We did a great job at making this meal dairy and gluten free. I think we're getting better at all of the substituting.

The best part of the night was when the corkscrew broke mid wine opening. Good thing we had a couple MacGyvers there.

WI Dells here we come!

We had to practice today. It's all about preparation with kids right?





Floaty without water deemed a success!

2011 begins.

Happy New Year!!

As I do every year, I have been trying to come up with some good new years resolutions. I couldn't for the life of me think of what I had come up with last year so I went back and checked the blog. (love having a good record of my life) Apparently I couldn't come up with any good ones last year so I didn't have any! This year I have a couple.

1. A little cliche but I want to get back into shape. My baby weight is officially gone (Yeh!) but my body is weak and unconditioned. I need to get my cardio going again and tone up my muscles. I also need to stop eating numerous Christmas cookies and sweets every day. (I won't say exactly how many it's a little embarrassing) So it's time to bring on some healthier eating and let the workout regime begin!

2. I want to be nicer to Conner. He tends to get the brunt of my frustrations so I'm going to try to be more patient and share more love and kisses.

3. Relax about life and enjoy my little baby as much as possible. I know she's going to be a toddler before I blink and I have to take in everything that I can now.

That's it! Happy 2011 to everyone! Hope you have a wonderful year and can keep your own resolutions.