Kids really make the holidays special!

This was our first Christmas as a family of four and what a great holiday we had! It was the first Christmas where Nora had some idea of what was happening. She had the "holiday buzz" about her - very excited and hyper despite not really knowing what was about to happen! We tried to explain the holiday to her, but all she got out of it was "Nora eat Christmas!" Probably because she helped me make 4 kinds of Christmas cookies at home after helping her aunt Danielle make some cookies as well.

Christmas Eve was so fun! Nora and I made cookies in the morning and they were yummy! Then, we got ready and went to my grandmother's house for a holiday celebration. We had Chinese food and way too many sugar filled treats and opened family gifts. Nora helped everyone open their gifts and it was so fun to watch her. My family was super generous and gave Andy and I a big tv. I guess they figured our tiny TV wasn't good enough :-) We are planning to put it downstairs so we can get some more playspace by getting rid of the old tv down there.



Nora and Beth both stayed up way to late on Christmas Eve. We only left around 8:15pm from Brockton and it took Nora 30 minutes in the car of singing happy birthday and chattering about all the presents and what she wanted to give to Danielle before she nodded off to sleep. We got home and I put Beth to bed while Andy took very good care of an overtired and slightly confused Nora. He gently helped her get ready for bed. Then, Andy and I went downstairs to finish wrapping the Santa gifts, picked up the living room from the morning's chaos and set up the gifts. We went to bed tired but feeling very happy around midnight. Nora woke up around 4am and cried for about 2 minutes before falling back to sleep until 7:30. I was so excited for Christmas, that I woke up at 5am and just watched Beth sleep until Nora woke up. It's the first time in years that I've been this excited for Christmas morning!

Nora came out of her room and made Daddy carry a bunch of her babies and animals into the living room. It took her a few minutes to figure out that there were gifts for her under the tree. We also had to give her a little morning snack to help get her through. Once she realized there were presents, she was very happy! We watched her pull all the gifts out of her stocking, and then she helped with Beth's stocking. Shortly after we started opening gifts, the phone rang and my aunt called to let us know that she had Strep and my cousin had an ear infection, so we had a last minute change of plans and stayed home for the day (we were going to head to their house for lunch). It meant we had to scramble for a meal, but we didn't have to rush to get out of the house. It was probably good too, since Nora got a little overwhelmed with all the presents, and started asking daddy to open them for her! We had a wonderful day and ultimately decided that we are going to stay home on Christmas every year. It is just so nice to be able to play with all the fun gifts all afternoon. Hopefully, my dad will be able to come up next year and play with the girls as well!






The Sunday after Christmas, we celebrated again, this time with Andy's family. They came down and we had a lovely lunch and got some more wonderful gifts! It's always nice to see everyone and be able to relax and enjoy time together. Nora got a homemade quilt from her grandma that she totally loves!

My morning so far...

Beth woke up around 5:45am. I pulled her closer to me, fed her and cuddled while Andy got ready for work. He left a little before 7am and I just laid in bed watching sweet Beth sleep. I got up around 7:10, and here is what my morning has been like (and this has been a very good morning!).

Turn on teakettle to boil water for tea, check email, make tea.
7:15 hear Nora shout: "Mommy you come in here clean my poopy bottom!" and a few seconds later "PLEASE!"
7:30 Nora is up, diaper is taken care of, she's in underwear for the day. Diapers are carried downstairs and put in the laundry. Breakfast is made. Butter is taken out of the fridge for cookies
7:45 We read Where the Wild Things Are and Twas the Night Before Christmas twice and If You Give a Pig a Pancake 3 times. Nora goes potty twice during storytime
8:00 We run through last nights dinner dishes (which is easy - just clean the crock pot that was soaking all night).
8:15 We start making Maple Shortbread cookies. Cream butter and sugar, get Beth up - much to Nora's dismay. Change Beth's diaper and her clothes. Amazed that she had a blowout on a non-Thursday (usual diaper blow-out day) Wash her woolie onsie and hang it up to dry.
8:45 Put Beth in bouncy seat with Sophie the Giraffe, finish making cookie dough. Put dough in freezer. Go potty again. Cookie dishes go in the sink.
8:50 Nora unwraps some chocolate and butter and wants to make more cookies. I tell her we need to wash the dishes first. A mild temper flareup occurs.
9:00 Nora asks for food. We get out some cheese and grapes and have a snack. I sit down at table and nurse Beth and update blog while Nora eats her snack.

Not bad for the first 2 hours of the day! I hope the rest of the day goes this well.

"Hockey Socks"

We hung some Christmas stockings up while Cherie was here on Tuesday. Nora almost immediately took them down and put on the "hockey" socks. Luckily, Cherie was smart enough to grab her camera and snap a few photos. Looks like I have a budding hockey player. Guess I should get her some skates, eh!

Why it's so hard to have a clean house

I had just finished picking up Beth's room, as we are getting ready to re-organize some furniture (putting the bed pictured below into Nora's room and the crib into Beth's room). I went into the living room to feed Beth and Nora went down the hall to get Beth a toy. A few minutes later, I went to see what was taking Nora so long, and below is an image of what I found.

Potty training updates

We are still working on potty training with Nora. We haven't really pushed it much (and she's just 26 months) which may be why it's going slowly. She is frequently very good during the week, but still struggles on the weekend or if we go anywhere. When we go to Children's Garden and visit the chiropractor's office on Thursday's, she does well - which may be because she feels completely at home in both locations. However, if we have visitors (like gramma Cherie) or if we go someplace different (like Danielle's house), she seems to forget that she's not wearing a diaper. I figure we'll let her progress on her own for now, and if she's not trained by spring (when the weather is warmer), we'll start working on it then. For now, I just need to find a way to get her to start pooping in the potty. It's certainly been a challenge when Nora has an accident or needs assistance in the bathroom - especially if I'm nursing. Poor Beth has had many meals interrupted due to a bathroom call!

Some recent adventures

We've been a busy group around here, but with two kids and cold weather, I haven't done a good job of getting photos. We started off the holiday season going to Holiday Stroll in Nashua. It was a chilly, windy night, but we had a great time. Nora seemed to enjoy the glow sticks the best. We went to the library to see Amy Conley (a local performer who does great children's music) and then left too get some dinner at one of our favorite family restaurants - Shorty's Mexican Roadhouse.

We also went to the Pine Hill Waldorf School holiday fair. That was also a ton of fun. Nora got a bit overtired by the end, but we enjoyed a puppet show, a little shopping (we finally have an advent wreath) and enjoyed some tasty treats in the Sugar Plum Cafe. Nora made a candle and candleholder and walked through the crystal cave. She also got a prize from the pocket lady!

This year, we decided to add another adventure to our holiday festivities. We went to Miracle Acres tree farm and chopped down our own tree. They are not the perfectly shaped trees you can buy from some of the lots (that are shipped in from Canada), but we found a wonderful tree and had a good time. Nora had a bit of trouble walking through the crusty snow - I think next year, we might try and go a week earlier. She did enjoy the hot cider to warm up once we cut the tree down. It was pretty chilly, so Beth was in long underwear, her regular outfit, a sweater, her Eeyore fleece bunting and then in the Ergo with my fleece jacket around both of us. She, of course, slept through the whole thing.

We wanted to go to Zoolights at the stone zoo or to the holiday lights at Charmingfaire Farm, but we just ran out of time. The one night we planned to go to zoolights, it rained. Snow would have been great, but rain just isn't very festive, and it seemed like it would be really difficult with an infant.

On Friday, we went to Danielle's house for some Christmas cookie fun. we made two types of yummy cookies. Well, Danielle did most of the work with loads of help from Nora, and I watched and held Beth. It was a great day and I really wished I had my camera. Nora looked so cute on the stool with an apron, shirt and underwear (no pants) on. Nora ended up eating loads of suger (and cheese) on Friday and didn't get to bed until after 8pm. Saturday night, she was asleep by 6:15pm and slept until 7:30 the next morning!

We are looking forward to Christmas now. Andy has a full work schedule until Wednesday - and has to fit in his physical therapy for his knee as well. I'm working on Monday nights at my Chiropractor's office and we are having our home appraised on Tuesday afternoon (right in the middle of naptime. I'm, of course, also hoping to make cookies and go play in the snow (even though we don't have much).

Beth is 4 months old!

Wow. Beth has been earthside for 4 months now! She's such a great baby, almost always easy going. The only times we run into trouble is if I try and do something in the evenings where I'm not constantly on the move. This means that shopping after 7pm is fine, but working in a small office is not so good.

Beth is starting to be awake for longer periods of time. She loves to watch her sister and will often laugh at her antics. She's starting to tolerate belly time for more than 5 minutes before getting cranky, but we still need to watch closely because her loving sister sometimes likes to roll her over (or roll over her, depending on the day). She still sleeps great. She takes two solid naps during the day - one in the morning and one in the evening, along with 2 or 3 cat naps. She sleeps very well at night - from 7:30 until about 10 in the Ergo, and then in bed from about 10pm until 8:30 am with only 1 or 2 wakes for food. Of course, growth spurts happen, and then she's looking to nurse every 2 hours! We are hoping to start putting her down around 7 instead of having her in the Ergo soon so that I can have some time in the evenings to clean, rest, shower and craft!

Our 4 month well baby visit isn't until the first week of January. The well baby visits are done outside the dr's office at Nini Bambini and are only offered once a month. It's a great program - a group well baby visit where we can ask general questions and the dr gives us the overview of where kids should be and what to expect over the next few months. Then, each family is brought into a private room for an exam and any personal questions. I'll post her stats when we have them, but I know she's growing at about the same rate as Nora was at this point!

Here's Beth at 4 months. She was very happy while taking her pictures. Laughing the entire time!

Belated 3 month teddy bear photo

We took this awhile ago, but I haven't had time to post it!


Here is Nora. I was going through my hockey equipment, and this is one of the kerchiefs I usually wear under my helmet.

Beth on her belly in our basement...

Adventures in Potty Learning

Nora has been very interested in using the potty lately. We started letting her wear underwear at home, but have not braved leaving the house yet. She usually does really well and will pee consistently on the potty while we are home and she is awake. However, once in awhile, she will come running because "Nora soaked," and she isn't kidding! She's still working using the potty for #2, but I'm hoping that will come with time. Often, she will ask to have a diaper put on when she needs to poop, so at least she knows she needs to go! She still can't make it through nap or nighttime yet, but she's only just 2!

I did order some training pants for her to start using for when we go out and during naps. I'll have to have an extra bag in the car with a spare change of clothing for Nora.

The potty training has been a bit of a challenge since Nora always seems to need to potty while I'm nursing Beth! It'll be great if she does train soon though since she has nearly grown out of her cloth diapers and Beth is almost in the ones Nora is wearing!

The making of an apple pie

We had a great Thanksgiving with family. The weekend before Thanksgiving, we went to Maine fo visit with Andy's family. It was a lot of fun, and a lot of work. Being outside of your own environment can be tricky with a 3 month old, even if she is laid back. We didn't really have a great place to set her down for naps, so she spend a lot of time in the Ergo. When we returned, I remembered that I needed to make a pie for Thanksgiving with my family. On Monday, I went to the store and they didn't have any pie crust in stock (I like the Trader Joe's premade crusts). So, I, perhaps foolishly, decided I would make my own. On Tuesday, Nora, Beth and I went to the farm and got some apples (7 varieties) and some fresh cider. Then Wednesday morning, the fun began!

Beth woke up around 5:30am to eat and cuddle for awhile, then went back to sleep. At 7am, Andy left for work and I put the oatmeal on the stove to cook for Nora and I. While the oats were cooking, I made the pie crust, shaped it into discs and put it in the fridge. Then, ate breakfast and cleaned up the breakfast mess. Beth woke up, ate, played for a little while, and then we all sat on the floor for story time. Around 10:30am, Beth went back to sleep. I transferred Beth from my lap to her swing, shut the door, and started rolling out the pie crusts, rolled out both crusts, sliced up the apples (both with loads of help from Nora) and then Beth woke up again. Tossed some lemon on the apples, got Beth, fed her and made lunch for Nora and I. Nora didn't eat much lunch due to snacking on apples. I put Beth in the Ergo, sliced another apple, added tapioca flour, cinnamon and a little sugar to the apples and gave them a stir (I did not add enough cinnamon). Took Beth out of the Ergo for some more playtime. Put Nora down for a much needed nap and then put a tired Beth back in the Ergo. Finished putting the pie together. Transferred Beth to my bed, put the pie in the oven. I don't think it's ever taken me that long to make a pie before! Nora had a great time helping though. She even has her own rolling pin, and I gave her some of the scraps of pie crust to roll out.

Thanksgiving day was a lot of fun. We went down to Brockton to my grandparents house and had a nice relaxing day. Nora got loads of attention from her aunt Danielle, and there were plenty of people to hold Beth.