Family Christmas Party

We had our family Christmas Party last night. It was a lot of fun to get together. Here is a link to the photos I took. CLICK HERE

Please do this for this little boy with Cancer

It only takes a minute to fill out the form. Please vote for Samuel Anderson. He has stage 4 Neuroblastoma. I have been following his blog. If he wins this the C.O.L.E foundation will give him some cash for Christmas. This is the boys blog https://www.carepages.com/carepages/SamuelAndersonCarePage/updates/2450733?client_code=etch&ipc=mur

Here is the link to fill out for him to win the contest. http://www.colesfoundation.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=88

Thanksgiving.....

Thanksgiving is this week. I can't wait to taste all the wonderful food and spend time with family. I am sad Kevin cannot be there though because he has to work. I have so much to be thankful for this year though. Kevin is getting hired at Leprinos as a full time worker on December 1st! We were able to move out of my parents house and have an apartment now! We have two beautiful little girls and one wonderful dog!  I have the best husband I could ever ask for! I am Loving my life!


We are already done with all of our Christmas Shopping! Well, I am done. I am not sure if Kevin is. I have everything all wrapped up already! Everything we got for the girls is wrapped and fits into one tote. It works this year but next year I am afraid it will be harder to hide things! I am so excited for Christmas morning this year! It will be the first Christmas we get to spend with the girls in our own place! We lived in Indiana for Gabby's first Christmas but spent it in NY with my Family. Then for Avalynn's first Christmas we were living in NY and went to Indiana to spend Christmas with Kevin's parents. So this year is the first we can wake up in our own place and spend Christmas with the 4 of us. Well 5, since Kito will be here too! I can't wait!

Check out this giveaway!

http://savvyhousewife.com/all-princess-all-the-time-everything-princesses-50-gift-card-giveaway/comment-page-3/#comment-16619

Potty training

Gabby has been doing really well with Potty training! She is almost fully there! Now Avalynn has decided she wants to use the potty too! She lets us know when she wants to sit on the potty and sometimes she does actually go! She wore underwear all day today. She gets so mad now if I try to put a diaper on her! She wants to be a big girl like Gabby. 


Speaking of big girls I told Gabby that only Men and Women like Daddy and Mommy can use the stove. She said to me "I woman too mommy" I said "No, honey you are a little girl, not a woman" She then said "I not little girl, I big girl! I go potty!" 

B-day Party

Took the girl's to my cousin Crystal's youngest daughter Nicole's 1st Birthday party today. They seemed to enjoy getting out for a little bit. They have both been very cranky lately. We haven't been getting out much so I think they are just bored. Kevin works evenings and we only have one car so unless he drops me off at my Mom's before work we are pretty much stuck here. I really don't want to take them out too much anyway because there is so much sickness going around right now. We go grocery shopping once a week and I always put hand sanitizer on their hands as soon as we get to the car. Shelly might bring Natalee over tomorrow, I hope so because Gabby loves having someone besides "The Baby" to play with , lol. 

What I want for Christmas

Wish I had 1,300.00!  It would be so cool to be able to take the girls for rides in this! It has a seat and seatbelts in it!

Sad News

We got some sad news on Friday that a friend of the family Jim Mears had passed away. My husband was really upset. His work allowed him to take a couple days off from work so he has gone out to Indiana for the funeral. I miss him a lot when he is away. It is really hard knowing he is that far from us. I'm happy he was able to go though and he will be home in a couple days. 

This photo was taken 3 1/2 years ago at my wedding. Jim is second one in on the right.

R.I.P James Mears 

Pumpkin's are carved!

We carved pumpkins today. Both of the girls really enjoyed helping us scoop out the guts. Then they had a shower while daddy cleaned up. After they were all cleaned up we carved the pumpkins. I carved Avalynn's and kevin carved Gabby's. The two little pumpkins the girls are holding are now pumpkin bread. YUM!

Giveaway!

A Friend of mine is doing a book giveaway on her blog, check it out CLICK HERE

Psalm 18:2 
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Tick

I found a tick on my stomach today while showering! It really freaked me out! Kevin got it out with some tweezers. It looked like it had not been there long because it didn't have any blood in it yet. It really gave me the creeps. Almost as bad as a bat flying right by my face but not quite that bad. The spot where it was at looks bruised and red it hurts when my shirt rubs it. I think I either got it on me from the Animal land farm yesterday or when I laid in the leaves to get pictures taken! No more of either of those for a while!!!

Farmland animal park

We had a great time yesterday. Avalynn was so cute wanting to feed the ducks! Gabby told me when I put her to bed that her favorite animal was the horses. Gabby was a little afraid of the goats which is my fault because I am scared of them! A baby one tried to jump on me and I screamed a little. After that Gabby screamed when they would run up to us. They are very cute though! Here are some pictures.

The things kids say!

Last night right before bed time Gabby told me she wanted to go to bed. I told her that I would get her to bed in a few minutes and that I was waiting for Daddy to Text me back. She then pulls up her shirt and says "Mommy I want Daddy to check my back too!" 

Snow!

It is way too early in the year for this!

Pumpkin Farm

We went to the pumpkin farm today. It was really cold but we had a good time anyway. I got lost in the Corn maze but luckily my nephew Zack helped me find the way out! Here are some pics!

Before and After apartment pics

Here is the mess we had to unpack. This was after we had already unpacked some of it. Looking in from the living room to the kitchen area.
YOU HAVE TO CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO SEE THE WHOLE PHOTO

The girls playing on boxes

The Kitchen



My washer and Dryer



My new couch and sofa





Kevin putting our shed together

We've been busy

We have been so busy unpacking! We got our small shed and Kevin put it together. The apartment is looking so much better now! All I really have left to do is to get the girls bedroom organized. There is no clothes rod in the closet yet. They should be getting that up soon and then I can get everything put away in there. Everything is going well for us here. We all have a cold right now though. Last night and tonight I put the cool mist vaporizer on in the girls' bedroom. It really helps a lot!

Tomorrow my mom, Angela and I are going to a baby shower for my cousin Jody. It will be so nice to see some of the family again. It's been a while since I have seen some of them. Tomorrow is also my Mom's birthday.

Monday we are planning on going to the Pumpkin farm. I hope the weather is nice. It has been cool and rainy the past couple of days.

The girls and I have been coloring and drawing a lot. Gabby is really starting to talk so much now. She was drawing lines on a paper today and telling me who they were pictures of. Thursday she had her 30 month checkup. She has really hit a growth spurt! She weighs 31 pounds now and is 37 inches!!! That is 75% for both.

Avalynn is such a ball of energy! She NEVER holds still for even a second! She is climbing on everything and gets into lots of mischief! We really have to keep our eye on her all the time! Her sweet little dimples are so hard to resist though!

We don't have cable yet so we have been watching a lot of DVD's. Gabby and I watched Ice Age tonight. I Love that movie!

Moved in/ Doctor Visit with Gabby.

Writing this really quick from my parent's house. We rented a truck and got everything moved into the apartment. We had been storing a lot of things and I forgot how much stuff we have! The first night it was wall to wall boxes! We had a very narrow path through to get into each room but that was it. We have been spending pretty much every minute since then going through boxes and getting rid of some stuff. We have already donated about 10 big boxes of stuff. I got rid of three boxes of toys and two boxes of the kid's clothes, some of my own clothes and some of Kevin's. He has also got rid of some of his things. We still have a lot more boxes to go through. We bought a storage shed that is going to be delivered Monday afternoon along with our new washer and dryer.

This afternoon as we were getting ready to go to my mom's house Gabby told me that her nose hurt. I figured she must have bumped in and so I looked at it and realized there was a piece of really soft foam up her nose. It was partly sticking out so I got a pair of tweezers and was able to get it out. Then I asked Kevin to get me a flash light so I could see if I had gotten it all. I checked and saw what I thought was another really small piece. We tried to get it out but she was struggling and fighting us so bad. It was stuck up really far and I was afraid I was going to hurt her. We went to my mom's house and when we got there she tried to help get it out but was not able to either. I called her doctor and they got her right in. A nurse held her head, while I held her arms and the Doctor was able to get it out with some really long thin forcep type thing. The piece of foam was huge and I could not believe she stuck it up there! I hope Gabby learned her lesson and will never stick things up her nose again!!!

Missed my Gabby!

Gabby stayed the night with my sister Shelly last night. I'm always so nervous when she stays away from me and I could not sleep at all last night. I trust my sister with her more then anyone. I think it is just some sort of anxiety that I cannot see her or know what she is doing. Gabby loves staying there though and playing with her cousins. Kevin, Avalynn and I did a little shopping today. Then we went and picked Gabby up. Tonight was more packing for our move. We rented a moving truck. Tomorrow we will pack it up and then Friday we will unpack at the apartment. Can't wait!

We are Moving on Friday!

Been doing lots of Packing! Our apartment is almost done. We have rented a truck for Friday! Shelly is going to watch the girls for us while Kevin and I load/unload everything. I'm so excited! It will be wonderful to have a place of our own again. We have been sharing a room with our girls since before Avalynn was even born! It will be nice to have space for them to put their toys. The apartment is not too big but it will still be more room then we have now.

We bought a new couch and sofa set that has been in storage for a few months now. We have never even used it. We are also buying a new washer and dryer when we get moved in.

I think when we move we will put Avalynn into a toddler bed. She does not stay in her crib all night anyway. Gabby has been sleeping in a toddler bed since Avalynn moved from the co-sleeper to the crib. We have 3 toddler beds including the crib turning into one.

We probably will not have internet or TV for a while once we move into the apartment. We have to wait and see how much extra money we have. I hope our cell phones work there because otherwise we will not have a phone either.

Please vote for my girls

Gap Casting Call

Tanglewood Nature Center

Today we decided to take the girls to the Tanglewood Nature Center in Big Flats, NY. They are run totally on donations. We had a lot of fun looking at the small museum. They also have 9 miles of walking trails but it was so cold out that we did not hike. Here are some pictures from today.

Gabby petting an African Tortoise.

Avalynn petting a Bobcat (Stuffed of course)

Gabby and a beaver

Avalynn and Daddy

I made Pumpkin Bread today!

Here is the recipe I used for the bread CLICK HERE I did not use Walnuts though because we did not have any and I don't like nuts in bread. It turned out so good! I also made two different kinds of cookies and I cannot believe how much pumpkin I have left! I may make more cookies tomorrow!

Here are a few pics!

The Pumpkin



I used an ice cream scoop to clean the pumpkin out.



My helper ate a few of the seeds raw.



The pumpkin all peeled and ready to grate.



The yummy bread!

Found a puppy

Last Sunday Kevin was driving to work and as he got near the end of our road he saw a small puppy running along the road. He pulled over and the puppy ran right up to him. Just then a car came driving up the road and they also pulled over. Kevin explained to them that he did not have time to take the puppy back to our house because he was going to be late for work. He told them where we live and They said they would take the puppy and drive up and down the road looking for the owners and then take her back to their house.

The next day they called and they were considering keeping the puppy because they had a college age daughter who was falling in Love with her. They said they had called the shelters and had driven up and down the road looking for the owner with no luck.

A couple days later they called and asked Kevin to come get the puppy because they did were not able to keep her after all. So he went and got her. The first night she was so afraid and she was growling at the girls and even tried to bite them any time they came near her. We had to put her in a kennel until Avalynn went to sleep. Then we got her back out and she was a little better with just Gabby.

On Friday I took her to a local vet just to have them scan her and see if she had a micro chip. She did not so that did not help us.

We were thinking about keeping her but we really do not have the money to get her to the vet for shots and to get her spayed. She also seemed a little wary with young kids. Then my mom was thinking about keeping her but she works full time and really didn't want to have to keep the puppy kenneled up all day long. We called a Mini Pin Rescue and they were based in NYC. They told us it would be a few days until they could get someone to get her.

We all started to fall in Love with her in the mean time. She was so cute and playful. She loves to chase toys and chew on EVERYTHING! She also learned how to climb up the back of the couch and right on top of the Kitchen Counter! She was not house trained and that was not fun! She is very lovable though!

We ended up finding a home for her (And a back up home if that one does not work out!). My mom had a friend who knew someone who wanted a mini pin puppy. We will also be able to see her again in the future, so that is wonderful!

We are not sure how old she was but whoever owned her before did not have her tail or ears docked. She also still had her dew claws.

Here are a few pictures of her!

Watkin's Glen

We went to Watkin's Glen today. On the way up both girls fell asleep. We drove up to the race track and Kevin took a few pictures. Then we drove to the gorge. We walked around there and saw the falls. The girls really seemed to enjoy it. We let them play on the playground for a little while when we were done. Then we went to Wal-mart and had luch at the McDonalds inside. We shopped a little while and then went to Seneca lake. It is so pretty there! We stopped for Ice Cream on the way home! So yummy! ♥ It was a wonderful family day!




CLICK ON PICTURES TO SEE THE ENTIRE PICTURE

Kevin carrying Gabby in the back pack carrier.


My arms got tired!


When I got to tired Kevin carried both of them!!!!


Looks Like a Heart ♥


This playground was lots of fun!


Kevin and Avalynn in front of Seneca Lake.

Autumn Walk

Kevin and I took the girls for a walk today.What a beautiful day for a walk! The weather was perfect at around 75 degrees. Some of the leaves are changing and some had even fallen off already. Then when we got back we rode the ATV's up to the pond and I helped my mom mow up there while Kevin watched the girls. Here are a few pictures I took today.

A friends GIVEAWAY

One of my very good friends is doing a giveaway on her blog. Check it out! CLICK HERE

Memorial service/First babysitter

Today I went with my mom and Shelly to the Memorial service for my half sister Stacey's grandmother who passed away on 09/09/09. She was a very sweet lady. She was very caring and giving. My favorite memory of her was that she made the best pickles! When we would spend the night with our sister she would give each of us a jar of them and we would sit there and eat the whole jar! I took care of her a couple of days during the last weeks of her life. She was still very kind even though she was weak and very tired. She will be greatly missed by her family. My sister Stacey has lived with her a majority of her life and I know it has been really hard on her the past 4 months. She has been taking care of her grandmother and also dealing with a lot of other things.


Today was the first time I have ever left the girls with anyone besides Kevin, my mom or Shelly. They stayed with my cousin Bobbie Jo while we went to the service because Kevin had to work. I was nervous to leave them but I knew Bobbie would take good care of them. They never even knew I was gone! My niece and Nephew were also there plus Bobbie's 3 kids so they had lots of company! There were also 3 kittens to play with. (Poor kittens!!!) It was only for two hours anyway. Now that I see they can survive with someone else I may have to leave them again sometime, lol.

In Memory of Mekenna

I met this little girl's mom on myspace two years ago. Her little girl was shaken to death by a friend.

No baby has ever died from crying, but too many have died from being shaken.

09-11-01 WARNING SENSITIVE SUBJECT may be disturbing to some

Tomorrow is the 8th Anniversary of 9/11. Sometimes it seems so long ago and other days it seems just like yesterday. I still cry every time I think about it. All those people killed. Innocent people who one minute were living their every day life and the next they are gone.

The day it happened I was working at a daycare. One of the other employees got a phone call from her husband. He told her a plane had hit the first tower. When she told us I was not that concerned at first. I thought it was sad but just figured it was a plane that had crashed for some reason. Then a short while later her husband called back and said another plane had hit the towers. We were all talking about it when the owner of the daycare showed up and told us that she didn't want us to talk about it or even talk on the phone because she was afraid the kids would be afraid. I didn't get out of work until about 1:00 and on my way home I turned the radio on. I still didn't even know the towers had collapsed until they said it on the radio. I immediately called my sister Shelly. I asked her what the heck was going on. She told me about all 4 of the planes that crashed and how the world trade center buildings had fallen down. She said she had been watching it on TV and there were people jumping out of windows, ect. I just could not comprehend that. I thought how could they just fall down? Why would people jump out? It had not sunk in and I was not even realizing how many people had died and what a big deal this was. When I got home the TV was on and the first thing I saw was a replay of the first and then the second towers collapsing. I remember I started shaking and slowly sat down on the couch. Why would someone do that? Why would they kill so many people. I was so afraid. My sister had just had a son 7 days before that and I kept thinking what kind of life is this little baby going to have. The longer I watched the news the worse it got. I then realized people died in the pentagon and the other planes too.
I think I cried every night for at least a month for all those families. I couldn't help but sit and watch the news every night for months. They played it over and over and over. It was horrible but I just could not help to watch. I guess I thought maybe if I kept watching there would be some explanation as to why this happened.

I was watching a show the other day that was so sad. It was a Mother and Father telling the story of their son. They were watching the news after the first plane had hit. He called them that day from one of the planes. He had his wife and daughter on the plane with him. He was talking to his Dad and his dad said then son said "Oh No" very silently and that was the last he heard from him. They were still watching the TV and Saw their sons plane hit the second Tower. I'll never forget when that mom said "Every time I see that plane hit I am watching my son die"

These things and so much more I will never Forget.

Today...

Kevin was able to find glasses at sears. He also got the oil changed in the car today. We took a nice walk this evening. We need to start doing that a lot more often.

The nose piece on Kevin's glasses broke so we are going to Empire vision and Walmart to see if we can find him some new one's for a reasonable price . I'll probably go in the dollar store with the girls while Kevin is in Empire vision. The girls are both feeling a little bit better today.

Trip to the ER

We just got home from the ER with Avalynn. She was really having trouble breathing so we took her in. They gave her a breathing treatment (Pulmacort) and then used a cool mist humidifier for a while. After that they did a chest X-ray and the doctor came back in and said she sounded better and we could go home. He says she has croup and should be over it in 5-10 days. Today is the 5th day so hopefully she will be a lot better soon!

Here she is getting the cool mist at the hospital.

My babies are sick

Both of my girls are sick. They seem to have a cold and both have a croupy sounding cough too. Avalynn seems to be a little more sick than Gabby. She has been running a fever. Kevin and I are both sneezing a lot so I think we will have it next!

On a good note my mom and I went shopping today and she bought the girls some clothes for next summer at Old Navy. Then we went over to the Mall and at Gap she bought them each a Shirt and really nice warm zip up hoodies. They will be so nice for fall and winter! She also bought Avalynn a really cute bathing suit for next summer!

Swimming

Zackery and Natalee came over today while Shelly went to work. The kids played in the sandbox for a little while and then inside. When Kevin came home we all went up to the pond. Kevin got in with Zack and Natalee. I filled the kiddie pool for my girls to play in. The pond is pretty cold, The nights have been down in the 40's here. So sad to see Summer ending. This Video is from 09/04


Here are the girls playing with some of Daddy's Hats:

Shopping....

Shelly watched the girls for a couple of hours yesterday so Kevin and I could get out alone and do a little shopping. We went to Moe's Southwest Grille on Vestal Parkway. The food was pretty good. Then we went to the Oakdale Mall. I got the girls a few things from Gymboree and then we went to Wegmans and got a few things. After that we went back to Shelly's house and we ate dinner with her and the kids. Shelly made Pizza and we also made Salad to go with it. Natalee stayed the night with us and Shelly picked her up in the morning.

This morning while I was running a few Errands Kevin took the girls for a nice walk. They went up the road to see some horses. Gabby Loved that! Looks like the afternoon is going to be beautiful! When the girls wake up from nap I am going to take them outside to play.

15 Months Already!

Avalynn is 15 Months old today
She also had her 15 month well baby check up. She now weighs 21 pounds 13 ounces (36%) and is 31 1/2 inches (90%). The doctor was concerned that she is not getting enough calcium because she does not like to drink milk. The doctor said she should be drinking at least 32 ounces a day. I am lucky if I can get her to drink 8 ounces. I am still nursing her to go to sleep at night and the doctor suggested I try going back to nursing her some in the day time again to make sure she gets enough calcium. She only had to get 1 shot but it had 3 different things in it. Avalynn did not cry at all. She is really good about getting them. She is teething and has been a little cranky. Last night she woke up a lot. Here is a photo of her taken this morning.