sleepy.juice

I hate it when I fall asleep while I'm trying to finish off my meal!

This was Amelia's first nap in her high chair, and I just couldn't resist snapping some pictures.

 

time.out

Claire has been documenting Meredith's time in the corner as well. We may have to replace the carpet where she's standing in a couple of years...it tends to get a lot of foot traffic. :)

 

more.from.claire

This one is an ant. I guess kids take pictures when you have ant problems in your house.

These next two are really fun. This is a birdhouse that my dad gave the girls to paint. I bought the paint (last fall), and we obviously didn't get it painted fast enough for the girls.

Here's how the story goes: "Mom! Don't come in here. We're doing something, and we don't want you to see it. It's a surprise!" Hmmmm...this always makes me wonder.

But, I'm trying to be nice...I just think they are playing and "creating" something. Yes, that's what it was. Again, "Mom! We're making your Christmas present...don't come in here."

Ok, now I'm going to feel bad if I see it because I don't want to ruin my Christmas present! So, I go to the back of the house to do some work. I come back out (forgetting that they are working on my Christmas present), and I walk around the corner and see this:

Yes, those are crayons. Yes, those are barrettes. Yes, those are plaster of paris shapes. Yes, that is a Littlest Pet Shop figurine. And, oh yes, they are all glued to the birdhouse.

Me: What did you do?!!! Those are our best crayons! (On a side note...of course, they were the best crayons...this was a Christmas present for Mom after all.)

Claire and Meredith (pretty much in unison): Mom! You saw your present before we wrapped it! Now we can't give it to you for Christmas!!!

Me: (saying nothing...what do you say when you've ruined your Christmas present?) Well, let's just put it on the counter, and we'll talk about it later.

Later...after Josh gets home...

Josh: Girls, don't you think you should ask before you do something like this?

Claire and Meredith: Well, we couldn't ask Mom...it was her Christmas present...then she would have known what she was going to get!

Josh: (just like me...no response to this one.)

I guess I'm not getting anything for Christmas.

 

photography.by.claire

Claire loves the camera...especially being on the other side of the camera (although, as you can tell, she likes to even put herself in the pictures!). She loves to take pictures. She's a girl after Grandma Ice Cream's own heart!

I'll be sharing some of Claire's photography skills in the near future. It's pretty fun to see things from a 5 year old's perspective!

Here is a fun series of her and Amelia...I'm guessing that Amelia was seeing spots by the time the shoot was over!

I love my girls.

cutest.baby

Who's gonna argue? Do you love her little sprout or what? :)

 

one.year

This weekend marks the one year anniversary of us moving in to our house. Josh and I have been reflecting over the happenings of this past year a lot.

In some ways, we thought we'd be way ahead of where we are in the finishing of the house. However, when we look back at all of the things that ARE done (especially all of the unexpecteds...a lot of them!), we've (really mostly Josh) have done a ton!

Two weeks ago, Josh started painting the kitchen. Some of you may ask...Jackie, why have you not picked up a paintbrush and painted your kitchen? You've been complaining about those white walls for a year! Well, for those of you who don't know my hubby, he's a bit of a perfectionist. And not only that, he is a perfectionist who painted his way through college.

That's right...I've haven't touched a paintbrush since college. And, really, I'm ok with it!! He does a fantastic job at painting! Everything looks sooooo unbelievably good when he's through with it...he even is fab at picking out colors. And he's colored blind. I know, crazy isn't it?!!

So, without further ado...here is the kitchen from day of purchasing through construction to this week (please ignore the fact that I didn't clean off the counter or empty the sink of dirty dishes or move the highchair out of the way before I took the last picture):

This is the kitchen the day we bought the house.

This is after all of the walls were torn out and the beam was put in.

Drywall up.

Cabinets up...look at all that dust!

The week we moved in.

This week. And the one below is for your before/after look!

i.have.issues

Claire is just full of hilarious things these days.

Today, we were heading to our last day of swim lessons, which is actually an open swim for the families involved in the swim lessons. I had grabbed my sandals to wear in the locker room and around the pool because I'm a bit disgusted by my bare feet touching a bathroom-like floor.

The girls wanted to grab their sandals as well, but they forgot. As we were getting into the van, one of them realized that they had forgotten theirs. They wanted to go back in, but we didn't have time. They were getting very weepy about the whole thing.

Me: You haven't had your sandals for any other swim day, so you don't need them today.

Claire: But you have yours, and we want ours.

Me: I'm sorry that you forgot them, but you'll just have to try to remember when we come again.

Claire: (still weepy) But you have yours.

Me: Well, I have issues.

Claire: (suddenly stops being weepy and says quite surprised) You do? Oh.

I guess she gets it. :)