Happy Valentine's Day!!!

From my two sweethearts :)

Our (Relaxing) Vacation

Well, we both admit that it was not the vacation that we thought it would be. Matt surprised me on Christmas with a planned trip up to Lake Tahoe to ski/snowboard for 5 days. I was so excited, it had been years since I had been skiing and the last vacation Matt and I took just the two of us was almost 3 years ago so I couldn't wait to spend some time with my love. It was sooooo hard to leave the girls but I knew that our week was going to be filled with fun. We woke up Saturday morning and (luckily) decided to ski Heavenly which is the best mountain and very close to our hotel. The conditions weren't great since they hadn't had snow for a while but they weren't horrible either. We were having a great morning. Then it all ended. My poor hubby took a REALLY bad fall. Thankfully I didn't see it happen but I knew the second that I saw his face that it was bad. We didn't rent a car because we figured we would be on the mountains every day and there were shuttles to each place from our hotel so we had to take a taxi to the hospital. After several exams, an x-ray, and a CT scan, the ER doc told us that Matt had broken 2 ribs :( He was so sweet he kept apologizing to me because he thought he ruined our vacation but I was SOOOOOO thankful that it wasn't worse (it really could have been, thank God he was wearing a helmet!) So after about 3 hours and some pain meds (thank you IV!) we went back to our hotel where we spent most of the rest of our vacation. It certainly wasn't what we had planned but it was still WONDERFUL! We slept in, took (many) naps, rented movies, sat in the jacuzzi, went on several walks and ate some fabulous food. I was with my best friend and couldn't have had a better time.

Pre-crash...


Not a lot of snow...bummer

Post-crash - Matt said it was almost more painful that they had to cut off his beloved Under Armour and Angels shirts!


Yummy dinner at the Charthouse - we spent our lift ticket money on some really good food!

We promised each other that the next vacation we take together will be somewhere warm, where we can just sit on the beach and have very little chance of injury!

My Thrifty Finds

I have been scouring the thrift stores lately looking for a nightstand for Allie's room. I have something very specific in mind so it's been very hard to find (but hopefully soon I'll find 'it'!) I have a shopping disease where even if I go into a store for one specific thing, I can't help but walk through some other aisles, looking for 'something'. Well, a couple weeks ago I was at Goodwill and found some great things! No, not a nightstand, but these four things cost me $9 TOTAL!...
Metal & bookend - this thing is HEAVY, pure metal - $3

Perfect for the office

White shelf - $3

Little compliment to Allie's new kitchen. I can't figure out if I should leave it white or paint it brown and I need to put some more things on it.

Apple snack cups - $2

I thought these things were absolutely adorable. They are plastic with pretty secure lids. Allie loves using her 'apple cups'

Vintage looking fabric - $1

This was my find of the day. It was a weird cut of fabric, I had NO idea what it was used for and no idea what I was going to do with it but I couldn't pass it up. When I got home, I kept looking at the scalloped bottom and thought it could make a really cute skirt for Allie. So this is what I came up with.

It's hard to tell in the picture but I dyed a thick piece of elastic light pink for the waistband. I think it turned out really cute adn girly. I will post a picture of Allie actually wearing it (because it's even cuter on) but since it's been about 2 degrees outside, we've been living in sweats these days :)

Gotta love Goodwill!

6 Month Stats

Okay, I promise this is the end of Sienna's 6 Month posts. I know, I know this is a bit of overload but it's a big milestone! She went to her 6 month check up yesterday and is a (BIG) healthy girl. Here are her stats...
Weight - 19 pounds, 10 oz (95%)
Length - 26 1/4 inches (65%)
Head - 43 1/2 cm (77%)
She actually surpassed her sister in weight which I wasn't sure was going to happen. Allie was 19 pounds 3 oz at her 6 month check up but was also almost an inch taller. It's so fun to watch the two of them grow, they are still my little twins :) Sienna went to town with the paper on the table - it kept her busy and happy literally the entire time!

Happy Half Birthday Sienna!

Our baby girl turned 6 months old today and of course we had to celebrater her half birthday (yes, I am that kind of mom!:) I made her cupcakes and we sat her in her highchair for the first time. She was completely mesmerized by the candle (she must take after her uncle's love of fire) Of course I knew she couldn't eat the yummy sugar filled treat, but we decided to let her go to town with it and play. I was actually very surprised that she didn't try to put it in her mouth. 6 more months from now we will be celebrating her actual birthday, I can't believe it!!!

6 Months Old!

Sienna Faith,

Oh baby girl, you are growing much too fast! Of course a part of me loves to see you grow, change, discover new things and do new things, but a part of me wants you to stay my little baby forever. You have been here for a half a year already and I am so thankful for every moment.

You are definitely developing a personality and it is so sweet. You smile a TON and when you do your whole mouth opens. I guess this is your signature smile and I love it. You still smile the most at your big sister and you've even started to 'talk' to her when she is around you (especially when you are in the car together)

You still haven't figured out the whole 'sleeping through the night' thing. Still you do it every once in a while but the majority of nights, you wake up once to eat. And apparentely you think that means party time because a lot of the time you are awake for quite a while afterwards. Since I have mommy hearing I lay awake listening to you talk and play until you finally start to cry and I go give you your paci so you can go back to sleep. Although I do wish you slept through the whole night, a part of me loves the time that we snuggle during the night, just the two of us. Your natural wake up time seems to be between 7:30-8:00 which is fabulous. I have sure been blessed with late sleepers (I just hope this lasts!) You are still taking two great naps a day and wake up SO happy.

You are absolutely loving your food now! I'm pretty sure you were allergic to rice cereal so we switched you to oatmeal and you are doing so much better. You eat that every morning for breakfast and then you eat a fruit or veggie in the evening for dinner. So far you have had bananas (your favorite), avocado, sweet potatoes, carrots and apples. I am making all of your food and luckily you enjoy my cooking :) We'll see how well I do when meats and mixing foods come into the picture! You have yet to eat in your highchair (again, because I am trying to keep you my little baby for as long as possible:) so you eat all your meals in your bouncy seat and do just great. But I guess pretty soon you will have to break in the highchair :)

You have discovered your feet and love to hold them and pull on your socks when you are lying on your back. You are also starting to put EVERYthing in your mouth...feet, hands, toys, mommy's fingers, etc.

You still love your swing, exersaucer and activity mat.

You are doing really good with tummy time (lasting a long time and even playing with toys) and you are doing really well at sitting up on your own, although oftentimes you fling yourself backwards or to the side because you get so excited about something :)

You are SUCH a mommy's girl and I do have to say I love it. You track me like crazy when I am walking around, you don't like it when I am out of your sight. But luckily you (usually) do fine when other people are holding you and you always do great when your grandparents watch you so that is a relief.

You still love your paci. We don't go anywhere without one! And your absolute favorite toy is your giraffe, Sophie. She keeps you busy for very long periods of time!

You had your very first Christmas and although you were completely oblivious and it was just another day for you, you did have a great day! You got loved on by almost every family member here in town and you were very spoiled with gifts.

My sweet (baby) girl, I love you so much and you bring an incredible amount of joy to my day. You are half way to turning ONE and I know so many more changes are going to come (and I am going to love EACH one!)

My New Favorite Thing

I never thought I'd be one of those moms who made their own baby food. To be honest, it was a bit intimidating to me. I'm not a good cook and I don't enjoy cooking so it definitely was not something that I was interested in doing...not even a little bit. My poor, poor Allie got all of her food from a jar. Haha. No, I don't think there is ANYthing wrong with jarred food but right now I'm all about making my own, AND I'm even excited about it. I guess I have several reasons, some of which stem from some New Year's resolutions that I made...wanting to save money, wanting to push myself and try some new things, wanting to cook more and also because of the fact that Allie is the world's pickiest eater, I wanted to do something different in the food department with Sienna, just to see if it would prevent her from following in her sister's footsteps. I remember having several conversations with my mom where she said that when my brother and I were babies, she had this portable food mill that she would use when she cooked dinner or went out to eat. She would just throw in a bunch of food that she had made or ordered, grind it up, and feed it to us right there. I had never heard of something like that (obviously I know some people do this with a food processor or a blender). Well, it still exists! My sister in law found this Baby Food Mill at Buy Buy Baby and I just had to give it a try. It's only $20 and I had a $5 off coupon and a gift card so I was basically free :) Sienna is just starting to eat baby food so I've only used it for bananas and avocado so far but I LOVE it! No cords, no electricity, SO convinient and it gives you a great arm workout! :) It's perfect for small meals or when your on the go. I can't wait to use it more!
Here it is...

This is what it looks like coming out-I did have to thin out the avocado a little

Bananas come out perfect

Bon apetit!

Little Mommy

I always loved the topic of nature vs. nurture in sociology and psycology classes in college. I definitely believe that there are certain behaviors that are 'taught' to children by their parents or caregivers who raise them, but I also believe that there are certain behaviors that are innately part of our beings. I especially love to watch little girls and little boys play. From such an early age, most of the time they are SOOOO different. I have several close friends who have boys and when our kids get together, they are automatically drawn to different toys. I'm not saying it's wrong for a boy to play with a 'girl' toy or the opposite, I just think it's funny to see what they pick out on their own. From early on Allie loved baby dolls (what girl doesn't? See?). But since I've had Sienna, her 'mothering' has gone on overdrive. She absolutely loves her babies and loves to mother them. It's so cute to see her do or say things that I do or say to Sienna. It was also my first glimpse of recognizing that she is CONSTANTLY watching me (and that's a lot of pressure!) Allie is such a sweet little mommy and I'm so excited to see her actually be a mommy some day :)

Loves to carry her baby in her 'moby' wrap

Allie always puts her baby to sleep in the bathroom downstairs. She'll turn the light off and shut the door. She gets so upset sometimes when we have to go to the bathroom because her baby 'IS SLEEPING' and she doesn't want her to be disturbed

Dinnertime

Goin for a walk

2.5

Where has time gone??? Seriously? Allie is two and a half years old today and I am just in awe. Our little girl has been in our lives for a quarter of a decade. Sometimes it feels like so long ago that I held her in my arms for the first time and sometimes it feels like yesterday. I have been blessed with the most amazing little girl in the world. Every day she makes me smile, she makes me laugh, she makes me proud and she makes me fall on my knees thanking God for picking me to be her mom. She is the daughter that I dreamed of and she is mine (and now I have TWO, I still can't believe it!). Here is what my first princess is up to at 2 1/2 years old...

She still has not ONE TIME gotten out of her bed either at night or naps. We switched her to a big girl bed at 21 months and that was one of my biggest fears but she has been amazing!

She's an amazing sleeper sleeping about 13 hours a night. She only naps about 80% of the time, but when she doesn't sleep, she lays happily in her bed talking and/or singing for two hours until I get her up. It is really funny listening to her sometimes.

She is still a thumb 'sucker'. Fortunately she doesn't actually suck her thumb, she just sticks it in her mouth and flutters her tongue on it so I don't think we are going to have to worry about buck teeth! But she only does it when she is tired and has her 'b' (blanket)

She is NOT a morning person and we have learned NOT to wake her up from sleeping. Allie takes after her momma and loves to sleep but does not love to be woken up. She needs 'me' time in the mornings for a little bit until she's ready to face the day.



She has recently learned her 'whole' name and it's so cute to hear her say Allie Grace Abram. She constantly asks what everyone else's 'whole' name is now. A couple weeks ago she looked at me and said 'you are Mommy Grace Abram'. It was so cute.

When you ask her who her best friend is she rotates between mommy, Sienna and Tom Brady (seriously)

She is definitely a daddy's girl but is FINALLY in a major mommy phase right now. She was never very clingy with me when she was a baby but the past several months she constantly wants me (and I LOVE it:)

She is in a phase right now where she tells me (and Matt) that she loves us about every 10 minutes.

She also constantly asks us 'what are you doing?' I don't know where the heck it came from and sometimes it drives me insane because she'll ask me 12 times when I'm doing the same thing but I guess she just needs to be kept in the loop.



She definitely knows how to use her charm because when she wants something she will ask and follow it up by 'it will make me so happy'. And of course we are suckers so as soon as she says that we do whatever she wants. haha

She finally learned how to pedal her tricycle that she got for her birthday and two times she has ridden up to the elementary school in our neighborhood and back - it is 1.2 miles and she rode the whole way by herself! (I don't mean alone, Matt was jogging with her of course but he never once had to help her or hold her)

She is still the world's pickiest eater! No pizza, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, meat, cupcakes or even ice cream for this girl! I recently bought a book on how to deal with picky eaters, hopefully someday I'll have time to read it! ha!



Her favorite books are Thank you Prayer, I Love You Through and Through, Whoever You Are and Goodnight Moon.

Her favorite cartoons are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Dora.

She loves to read, do puzzles, color, play dress up, watch cartoons, play outside and cuddle.

She can say her ABC's and count to 20 (except she almost always forgets 17, oh well, that number isn't important right?:)

She is potty trained yet she still wears a pull up at night and at naptime (although 90% of the time she wakes up dry so pretty soon we are going to go panties 100% of the time. Yikes! So grown up!)

She is super tall and a skinny minny. Size 2T pants are usually not long enough but 3T falls off of her little waist. Such a change from our chunky baby - where did her rolls go???


She is the sweetest big sister, she's really into talking to Sienna and either laying or sitting next to her. It just melts my heart watching the two of them interact.

She talks CONSTANTLY! She never really went through the babbling phase, always enunciated very well, and that continues. She is totally like a little person - who most days NEVER STOPS TALKING! (trust me, it's exhausting sometimes!)

She can't wait to go to school. I'm going to start looking at preschools soon and will hopefully find one that fits. I know she is going to LOVE it!

She has beautiful long hair, gorgeous blue eyes, a sweet smile, a kind spirit, a caring heart and an adorable laugh. I am so blessed to have Allie as my daughter!

Christmas!!!

Well, at this point Christmas has come and gone...the decorations are back in boxes in the garage, the house is cleaned from having friends and family over, new toys are put away and thank you notes have been sent. And I have to say, I can't wait to do it all again in a year. I love Christmas time, but don't love how quickly it passes.
We had such a fun year this year, and having TWO kids made it even more special. Matt actually had Thursday AND Friday off so we had so much fun having four whole days with him. Since we had gone to Christmas Eve service the Sunday before, that day was spent totally with our families. We had a great Mexican lunch with my parents, brother and sister-in-law and Grandma, then we grilled steaks at Matt's parent's house with his brothers. Two years ago I started a tradition that our kids will open one present and it will be a pair of Christmas pj's to wear that night (I'm sure this will stop abruptly in their teenage years - if I can make it that far!) This year was so fun because the girls got matching pj's! (And looked adorable I might add - although neither would cooperate with a picture so below is the best I got)
Christmas morning was the best. Both girls actually woke up at about the same time so we got them both up and opened our stockings together. We had a couple of hours before Matt's family came over so we had so much fun just being our new family of four. Then we opened gifts with Matt's family, had a yummy breakfast and spent some time playing with new toys. Both girls went down for a nap (as did Matt and I - so nice!) and then we had a great evening with my family. We opened even more presents and cooked an amazing dinner. I have to say the day was so nice and relaxing, not crazy and stressful so it was wonderful.
I have to brag on my hubby a little bit because he surprised me with a great gift...we are going away to go ski/snowboard in Lake Tahoe in February! I cannot wait (although the thought of leaving my baby right now gives me a little bit of a panic attack, I know it will be nice to get away!) Matt even conspired with my sister-in-law's SISTER to make sure that I didn't have anything going on that weekend. I was very impressed with his planning skills because it is very hard to surprise me and I was shocked. The best part was a note that he wrote me with the gift - I won't go into it but lets just say that if that note was all I got, it would have been the best present! It was sooo sweet. :) I can't wait for the two of us to get away, it's been way too long!
Here are some pics of our Christmas day, hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too!