Archives for December 2009
Christmas Cookies
December 22, 2009 by Leave a Comment
My amazing husband is the chef of the family. I wrote all about it HERE and HERE. He loves to cook and is really, really good at it. Everything he makes is super yummy. But now he has ventured into my territory: Baking.
I’ve been perfecting my baking skills all this year by rolling out tons of blueberry muffins, banana bread, pumpkin bread, brownies, cupcakes and cookies. I was going to make Christmas cookies for Santa, but my husband decided HE wanted to do it instead.
Here is the video of the hubbie and Bean having a blast making cookies for Santa. Happy Holidays! Enjoy!
PS: They are DELICIOUS!
Jon & Kate Gosselin Divorced
December 18, 2009 by Leave a Comment
It’s all over. It is still sad. One FINAL look back at Jon & Kate Plus 8. Now, let there be peace.
22 months
December 14, 2009 by 1 Comment
Tomorrow Annabel is 22 months old. The best word to describe her at this stage in the game: CRAZY.
I say this partly kidding and, well, partly NOT kidding. She is a bunch of fun and honestly one of the best parts of my day is when I get her after her nap and she screams with glee! She smushes her little face into a cute, funny smile and reaches for me with all her might. We hug and cuddle and kiss. But then she starts SCREAMING for her Hello Kitty doll or her Minnie Mouse doll and struggles and twists when I try and change her diaper. She runs to the kitchen for a snack and AWAY WE GO. She is ten times the ball of energy she was at 18 months. She knows what she wants and she wants it – NOW. The moment she has any type of freedom from her stroller, she starts to run away from me like a crazy wild child. I don’t know if she would stop or even look back if I didn’t snatch her up in 2 seconds.
She is also in that crazy stage of wanting something and then NOT wanting it and then wanting it AGAIN and then NO, YOU DIDN’T GIVE IT TO ME FAST ENOUGH LADY SO NOW I DON’T WANT IT ANYMORE. DON’T YOU GET IT ? It’s very frustrating, but I also have to giggle. Maybe it’s because she’s my second child, but I really don’t freak out about her outbursts as much as I thought I would. She has meltdowns at Target, at Gymboree, at the dinner table, really anywhere and at anytime. Sometimes they are little and I can appease her with food or a toy. Sometimes I just sit and watch and marvel at the craziness of it all until she calms down .
We went to get portraits taken at Sears on Sunday and there was one salvageable shot of Annabel. It was taken one second after I placed her on the “X” on the floor of the studio. (QUICK. SNAP IT!) After that, there was NOTHING we could do to get her to stop “fish flopping” around. No puppet, no gimmick, she was just done for the day. And forget SMILING. I was just trying to get her to be STILL.
Today was the mall visit to see Santa Claus. I was very pessimistic, but, again, you never know what to expect with my baby girl. She was an absolute darling to all the strangers waiting in the long line. She smiled and played peek-a-boo with everyone. She looked and pointed at all the fake snow and fake trees. Then, after 45 minutes, it was the MOMENT OF TRUTH. Here is our 2009 Santa photo:
I love you crazy girl.
Taylor Swift Says Bye-Bye Curls??
December 10, 2009 by 1 Comment
NO Taylor! I LOVE your curls! PLEASE keep them. It is so important for girls with curls to have an amazing role model. I hope you are just experimenting and having a fun makeover. Of course you look gorgeous either way, but PLEASE KEEP THE CURLS! They are your wonderful trademark!
My baby girl Annabel wants you to keep them too. Girls with curls ROCK!
The Annual Christmas Card Photo
December 7, 2009 by Leave a Comment
It’s always an adventure to plan and execute our annual family Christmas card photo. Every year I decide we need to be practical and just go to a professional photography studio. But then the thought of getting the kiddies dressed, keeping them clean and happy while we try to get a DECENT photo within the designated time period, well, yeah, that thought just equals loads of STRESS. So we always buckle down and pick a Sunday to stay home and just GET IT DONE.
The first year we did the photo, Bean was only 4 months old. We dressed him in a cute red Santa suit and took about twenty photos of him laying on the bed before he started to squirm and cry.
2006
The second year, I think we had 250 different shots of Daniel wandering all around the house. But then we took him outside (barefoot) and he plopped down in the front yard and smiled. DONE.
2007
Last year was the first year with Annabel. She was 10 months old and Daniel was 2. We finally got a shot of the two of them laughing in front of the Christmas Tree. It took over an hour of dancing, playing puppets, making faces, and throwing things in the air to get that ONE laughing smile. We were EXHAUSTED.
2008
This year, Annabel was sick. She’s had a snotty cold since Thursday and I almost canceled the in-house photo shoot we had planned for Sunday. But time was running out to get these Christmas cards ordered and mailed, so we had to take a deep breath and just go for it. By the end of the day, Bean had finished off two “treat” bowls of whipped cream (bribes) and Annabel was just…OVER IT.
But…we did it! We got the photo! (Christmas is indeed a time for Miracles.)
Now I can finally cross this off my holiday “to do” list and worry about all the OTHER things like shipping out all these gifts piling up in my bedroom closet and trying to find a pair of shoes to wear to the hubbie’s company holiday party on Friday night. Phew.
Here are some 2009 Christmas card photo “outtakes” from Sunday morning…AND afternoon. It was a LONG (but really fun) day.
Let's get this party started. And POSE.
I know it's only been FIVE minutes, but, I'm already over it.
Okay, let's do this. But first, a quick juicy fruit snack.
ALMOST got one here. EXCEPT, Annabel is not looking. And, what's with the shirt?!
Okay people, let's keep this movin', movin', movin'!!
Whipped cream treat. Well deserved.
Hoarders
December 4, 2009 by Leave a Comment
I was fascinated when Oprah featured a show about hoarders a few months back. There was one woman who lived in a house full of so much stuff that, once emptied, it filled two giant warehouses. Not only were these items filling every room of her house from floor to (almost) ceiling, it was costing her thousands upon thousands of dollars. Completely unbelievable.
I decided to check out the season premiere of Hoarders on A&E this week and, again, I was shocked. This time the woman lived in utter filth and decay. I don’t even like to think about it. Underneath the piles in her living room, they found two dead cat carcases. Yes, UNBELIEVABLE. So I decided to TIVO some episodes. I was hooked.
Scene from “Hoarders” on A&E
Why can’t these people just THROW THINGS AWAY? They have disgusting, rotting food in piles on their kitchen table and they can not bring themselves to toss it into the garbage can. The organizers who visit these hoarders sometimes need to wear “space looking” suits and masks because of the awful smell and potential danger. These hoarders don’t notice ANY OF IT. Plus, many of these hoarders have obsessive buying habits too. They can’t resist a sale or things on the clearance rack, so they keep bringing home more stuff to add to the piles.
I am really fascinated because I am pretty obsessed with being neat and organized. Sure, my master bedroom closet is in disarray right now, but I basically spend the day making the kiddies put back their toys. And I’m always Clorox Wiping something. I never hold onto anything we don’t need. I love to donate to Goodwill or toss things out. I just don’t have room for clutter in my house. Clutter would make me feel claustrophobic and just, plain yucky.
One compulsive hoarder said she used to be completely neat and organized. She said she would stay up until 3 AM every night just to straighten her house. But the stress of keeping everything clean and orderly threw her out of whack and she did a complete 180. She is now a hoarder.
It is a true mental illness. These hoarders can’t tackle the mess. It’s too overwhelming and debilitating for them. One woman tried to clean up, but she spent the entire day trying to clean ONE bathroom. She had to touch and look at every old shampoo bottle or piece of paper. One couple lost their children because of the unsafe environment and they STILL could not clean it up. It really is eye popping television.
After watching a Hoarders marathon the other night, I had to run back to my master bedroom closet to start cleaning and organizing my piles. I could not get all those Hoarders images out of my head.
And I probably should be keeping my eye on Annabel too. (Hee.)
“I need more pink stuff, Mama.”
Thank You, Adam Lambert
December 1, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Now THIS is the performance I wanted to see on the American Music Awards. Hopefully there is more of THIS in your future. You are an amazing singer and performer, Adam. (Plus, might I add, you are incredibly handsome.) You don’t need all that other “stuff” to get my attention. You’ve got it when you sing a song like THIS: