Christmas Pictures....Maybe?!

Out of 20 pictures this one is probably the best one and it still isn't great, but at least Abigail is smiling a little in this one, even though Bethany isn't really...she still looks cute though. Abigail decided to frown and look very unhappy in most of the other 19 pictures...she really dislikes being "required" to have her picture taken, but to bad for her because I make her anyway! This picture also might have looked better if the blue blanket (in the background) hadn't started to fall down and if the fake fish and blue jar weren't included in the corner...oh well, not much I can do about that. I did think I was doing good to have chosen the couch against the wall instead the couch that would have put the kitchen in the background.....but......then I saw the fish in just the right spot that made cutting him out quite impossible. He's in every single picture too, except the ones with just the girls.....hopefully he won't be in next years Christmas picture!

I think this one is pretty cute of the girls!
My happy girl!
She's my sweetie, but you can sure tell she's ornery!
Can't you just tell they're "partners in crime"?! :)

Sooo, cute! I have a bunch more, so next time I'll have to post the pictures of Abigail wearing this same dress last year at this time with Bethany wearing it this year!

Basement Progress & Pictures!

So, the latest and greatest news is that we now have all of our things in the basement...we're still unpacking and organizing so we haven't actually "moved" down there, but in the next day or so we should be able to! It's pretty exciting to have all our things...like having Christmas early...of course we're also going through things and getting rid of or throwing things away that we didn't when we were packing a year ago, but if feels good to see our things. Jacob has found a couple of mice nests, but thankfully I haven't encountered any and that has been the worst of the unpacking, other then dints and scratches in some of our furniture from being packed into a storage unit for so long. Abigail's room is adorable with all her stuffed animals on the shelves, her new little bed and her dresser, which will be Bethany's too. :)
I didn't get a picture of Abigail's room (although you can get a glimpse of it behind the curtains in the back of the picture) because it had a lot of boxes, but I will get lots more as soon as it's looking less "box covered". Jacob's in the background going through drawers with Abigail's help...you can just barely see the top of her head! This isn't the greatest picture either, but its at least an idea of what our little apartment looks like...I'll post more since I took this yesterday afternoon and we were up late last night unpacking a lot of boxes. It's looking so nice though, I love it and it will be so nice to have our own space. Saturday night after we had gotten everything, we just sat down there while the girls were getting ready to go to bed relaxing and watching Enchanted in our own space...it felt really good. Of course, we weren't down there long before we got a call from upstairs wondering if we were going to come back up. :)
Bethany was enjoying being surrounded by toys...well, at least for a little while, then she wanted me to quit trying to accomplish anything and hold her.
I think this picture is cute...I thought I had unpacked all the toys, but no, there was another half a box full of them....the girls were excited about them though! :)
She loves the carpet and she's doing the "army crawl" pretty good, so it won't be long before she'll be crawling like a pro....oh yeah, and getting into trouble!
I barely got this picture because she has decided she doesn't like getting her picture taken so she runs away, which is very frustrating, so she was saying "I rotten"....yes, she did have a little help from me in learning how to say that! :) She thought it was pretty funny and hearing her say that was making me (and Jacob laugh)! I'll post some of the Christmas pictures we "tried" to get yesterday. I think we got 20 pictures and maybe one turned out ok....whew, it's tough getting a picture taken with two little kids. We might have to try again, but I'll try and post some of them tomorrow. I start my Christmas baking tomorrow! We'll see how I'm doing tomorrow night after trying to bake and look after 2 wild girls! :)

Christmas Shopping, Wrapping Presents......

I love going shopping for Abigail and Bethany! That will probably be one of my favorite things to do around birthdays and Christmas...one thing Jacob and I did find out was: don't take your 1 year old (or any age probably) to Toys R' Us! It's great at first and I was excited about her seeing all the toys, which she was definitely excited about...but it quickly turns into her wanting everything (especially the dolls) and if something is in a box she thinks that it is her goal in life to open it! It's understandable considering the fact that it's hard for a 1 year old to except the concept that she can't have the "millions of toys that are just sitting around for the taking"...I mean really, think about what they must be thinking when you take them into a store like that. They're old enough to know they like playing with toys and in a place like that, instead of seeing one or two dolls, they see hundreds of every imaginable kind of doll...from crawling baby dolls to prettily dressed dolls with lots of hair. Not forgetting the thousands of other toys and books...that are extremely fascinating, even to me...I could walk around in that store for hours probably! So no, I can't really blame her for turning into a "demanding, I want everything little girl", but for that reason we also won't be taking her back any time soon! :)

As for the basement update: the trim is done...as of this past hour! So we're ready to move all our belongings in, which is very exciting, and Jacob and his dad are going down to Rolla tomorrow morning to get all our things out of storage! I'm not sure when we'll actually "move down there", but soon....really soon! Oh, and we realized the other day that we had thrown away our comforter for our bed when we were packing things up (back in January) because it was pretty worn, so yesterday we got a new one and when we got back from shopping we took it down to see how it would look with the colors in the basement. I took Bethany down with us, since she was wound up and not wanting to go to bed, and laid her on the floor where she (when we weren't looking) promptly spit up on our new carpet and new comforter! *Sigh* so our carpet and comforter are now officially broke in and I'm sure, unfortunately, that that was just the first of many episodes like that....and yes, I laughed about it, but it was partly because of Jacob's reaction both to Bethany spitting up on the floor and carpet and to the actual spit up! :) He said it smelled and as extra precaution made his way over to the hard floor and spent a little time there! I guess because I'm a mommy now I can deal with spit up and stuff without it bothering me to much...hopefully that will be the case when the girls are bigger and it's not just milk that they've eaten. :)

On a not so "gross" subject...I got started on wrapping presents. To those of you out there that can wrap any size, weird shaped presents....wow, can you give me some tips?! I think it could be a lot of fun to actually wrap presents and have them turn out looking nice...I can do some alright, but most turn out looking pretty bad when you look closely. I know the general idea for wrapping, but it rarely ever works the way its suppose to...oh well, maybe I'll get it eventually!

I'm Still Here & I Have Pictures

Wow, I feel like I've been crazy busy the last couple of days...actually the past week or more. I'm not sure why, I don't think I've really had that much more to do then normal and it certainly isn't going to slow down any...next week will be pretty crazy or at least the days before Christmas. I'm so excited about next week though! Abigail is going to be big enough to really enjoy it (which will be fun to watch!), we get to all be with my family which will be awesome and I'm making some new desserts...oh yes, and the best part is that Jacob and I (the girls too) will be having Christmas in Missouri! It really is nice to be living in Missouri...just thinking about all the times we've gotten to spend time with family, since getting back in August, is awesome...definitely more then the whole time we saw them for the 2 1/2 years we were in Colorado! So, it's a happy time of year for me, especially thinking about last Christmas when I couldn't stop thinking about Jacob having to leave in January...but I don't have to worry about that this year so I'm happy!

Tomorrow I'm going to go Christmas shopping with Jacob...I'm excited about buying things for the girls. Bethany won't really care too much, but Abigail will and it will be fun to see her face as she opens her presents! I'll have to get lots of pictures, especially now that I can post pictures off my camera. Speaking of pictures here's some more..........
This one is so silly of Bethany! It makes her face look really chubby too, which it is, but this is just funny! Abigail looks really angelic, which is nice since a lot of the time she makes this face.......
She's a sweetie even though she's ornery. It'll be interesting to see how ornery they both are when Bethany is old enough they can actually do things together....I say interesting because I'm not sure if I'll be happy about it or think it's funny, depending on the extent of their orneriness!
This picture is rather blurry, but it's Bethany's ornery face...it's sooo silly and cute though! Makes me laugh every time she does it....Abigail too. :) I have some silly, but cute kids (in my opinion!), and I love them so much.

Now I just need to get some pictures of Jacob and I...we really don't have any pictures of just the two of us since before Abigail and Bethany were born. I guess I need to fix that. :) Most of the time I really don't like pictures of myself, especially pictures of myself after having kids...kind of depressing having to look at myself now...hopefully soon I won't feel that way as much. I really want a good Christmas picture of all of us and some good ones of the girls and at least one of Jacob and I...that would be nice. I'm finding out that it's really hard to get pictures of little kids, especially when they're Abigail's age...she never wants to sit still for a picture...she has to be on the go and if I make her sit then she starts crying and that ruins the chance of getting any good pictures. So, I'm "hoping" to get some pictures but we'll see!

Busy Day

This will be a short post since it has been rather a busy day and I was tired this morning when I had to get up so I'm even more tired now...I'm hoping the girls give me a good night sleep, we'll see though.
I know I haven't posted in awhile, but the carpet didn't come in so we decided to go down a day early to my family's house, which was really nice! We had been planning to go down Friday sometime, but when we found out Thursday the carpet wouldn't be coming till next week, we figured we'd go early...I think I took a shower and packed for myself and the girls in about 2 hours! Not bad considering I was carrying Bethany about half the time and had Abigail following me around wanting me to play with her...I guess I've had to pack a lot this past year, so I'm getting pretty good at it. Sometimes I forget what it was like to just pack for me and not have to pack two different sizes of diapers and make sure the girls have extra clothes, besides their daily clothes, just in case of "accidents"...mainly I have to worry about Bethany who still has frequent episodes. :) Having to pack up their pack n' plays take some time and making sure I have enough blankets for both of them...I also tend to over pack, which I guess isn't a bad thing when it comes to packing for the girls, but I'm getting better about it for myself at least. I think I could pack just for myself in about 10 minutes...like ready to walk out the door ready. :)

All right, time for bed...I'll work on posting and if I get enough time....PICTURES! Yep, I have my laptop in working condition, but I have a ton of pictures on my camera so getting them all on there could take awhile, so I won't promise anything, but in the next couple days for sure I should be able to post pictures to my hearts content!

Three Year Wedding Anniversary!

Yes, it really has been 3 years, sometimes it's hard to believe it's been that long, but a lot has happened in that time to make it seem more real...including having two little girls! :) They've been wonderful years and yes, there were some downs during that time (including Jacob's deployment), but overall it's been an amazing 3 years...I mean really, who could complain about being married to the most wonderful loving man in the world, who I keep loving more and having two little girls. Time goes by so fast when you're enjoying life and I love my life with Jacob, Abigail and Bethany and I wouldn't trade it for the world.
This is one of my favorite pictures because its right after the ceremony, we had just walked back up the aisle and it was right before we had to go back out to get more pictures....we were finally together for the rest of our lives and it was a wonderful feeling that I'll never forget. I love Jacob so much and he's my best friend...I've never had many friends, but having his friendship is the best thing I could ever ask for. One of my favorite things to do with him is just spending time together talking...I probably do most of the talking, but he does like listening to me and spending time with me. Of course, sometimes he has a hard time staying awake when I get in a chatty mood late at night when he has to get up early for work! I'm not sure why I get so chatty then...we laugh about it a lot because its rather funny. I always tease Jacob about thinking I was kind of a quiet person when we got married and then having quite the surprise when I keep him up all hours of the night talking about, mostly, random things! :) I wish I had more pictures that I could post, but these are just from facebook again...next week I'll be posting more pictures of everything.

So, we opted to stay indoors on this really cold day and I wanted to make whatever Jacob wanted for dinner, so we had pasta dish, which was pretty good and I made Apple pie. Jacob loves apple pie, but he wasn't going to make me make it, but I though of it and wanted to make it for him. Of course, he helped with part of it...the recipe is from his grandma, but she doesn't have amounts on most of the ingredients so its kind of a guessing game. It turned out pretty good, a little tart, but that was probably because we were guessing on the amount of lemon juice to put in it...I also think it could have used with a lot more apples and even though I got the dough (for the crust) in one try, I still want to work on it till I have it perfect! Oh, and it definitely helps when you're making a apple pie to have a "apple slicer corer"...it makes that part really fast and Abigail loved watching how it worked...she also liked eating the apples!

Speaking of Abigail....both of the girls have been really good today! They both slept in till about 8 this morning and then they both took a really long nap...like a 2 1/2 hour long one! I mean, talk about nice...and that will probably never happen again! They must have decided between themselves that it was about time they did something nice for daddy and mommy. :) So, it's been a good day...oh, and if you were wondering about Jacob's parents...they kindly gave us the house for the day and went shopping and out to a movie.

I love you my Jacob and I've enjoyed every minute of being married to you for these 3 years...you make me happy and no matter what I'll love you more every day!

No Posts and Christmas Desserts!

Yes, I've failed to post over the weekend at all...that is most saddening. The excuse for that (hmm, do I need an excuse?) is starting a post and never finishing it before I was too tired and had to go to bed. Rather a lame excuse, but I could come up with countless of others if necessary...I mean, just having 2 kids should be good enough! At the moment both girls are napping, but more then likely, long before I'm finished with this post, they will be up demanding my undivided attention. Not that I mind being needed, but sometimes it's nice to not have to constantly be entertaining them. Earlier Abigail was playing with her magnate alphabet on the front door and for some reason I had to be right there watching everything she did! If I walked away, she would follow me pulling on my pant leg and telling me to "come ere" and using her finger to indicate that I needed to follow her! Cute, but very demanding! She is so funny; she's getting quite the vocabulary and even when she can't say the exact words she rattles on expecting you to understand every word she says...sometimes when she's mad I wonder what she's telling me, but I guess I should be thankful for the time I don't understand what she's saying because soon enough I will understand every word and she might be headed to her bed after one of her long speeches. :) Hopefully with a better understanding of what's being said that won't be a problem, but that's probably every mom's wish! I have a lot to prepare for as my girls get older and I just hope and pray I can bring them up in the best possible way.

Right before I started writing I was looking at more yummy dessert ideas for Christmas...well, it'll actually be more like for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the Day after Christmas with the amount that I'm looking at...maybe a lot longer with the amount I'm looking at! I had to make myself quit looking at pictures and recipe or I'd never stop finding things I think I have to make...my latest idea was Turtle Cheesecakes! For some reason it came to mind and I had to Google it and check out all the pictures...I found a recipe from BlogChef which is one of the blogs that I follow. So far I haven't tried any of the recipes from there, but I have made a huge list of the ones I want to and Turtle Cheesecake is one of them! So, I am absolutely NOT going to add/change anything else on my list of what I want to make for Christmas...ok, ok, not unless I decide not to make something and switch it for something else or if I decide not to make something...yeah, that probably isn't going to happen! Here we go then:

Christmas Desserts!

Rocky Road Fudge
Oreo Truffles
Cookie Dough Truffles
Cake Truffles
Chocolate-Peanut Butter Fudge Bars
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies
Turtle Cheesecake

So, what do y'all think? Sounds extremely yummy to me...ok, maybe a little like "sugar coma waiting to happen", but still Christmas only comes once a year and it'll be the first time that Jacob, the girls and I will all be with my family during Christmas, so it's gotta be good! They'll be lots of people to eat it all up and if it isn't all eaten Christmas Day then we can bring what's left to "Christmas the day after" with Papa, Nanny and the rest of the family! Who could complain about all that chocolaty goodness...anyways there are some family members in my family that could use with some "fattening up"! :) I'm pretty excited about getting to make all that good stuff and hopefully the girls will be good when I'm baking. Pretty much all of it can be made in the days before though, so that's good and either way it'll just be fun to making stuff I've never made before!