O, Christmas Tree

We went out early this morning searching for the perfect Christmas Tree. We walked over to the OSU Forestry Department's annual sale that's only a block away and we asked for the "skinniest, shortest, cheapest" tree they had and they did a great job meeting our requirements. Dennis carried the tree home and Eli still thought it was silly that we were going to put a big tree in our house. However, the first thing he said when he saw the tree set up was, "cool!" which is the first time that I've ever heard him say that before!

Sadie and I strung the lights while Eli was napping. Sadie is a great helper!

My tradition with the kids is to buy them each a new ornament each year that represents who they are or what they liked that particular year. I write their name and the year on the bottom of the ornament. So, when they grow up and leave home they can have a few ornaments to take with them to put on their tree. And I'm hoping that eventually they start looking forward to the ornament and reminisce about the ornaments as they put them on the tree. The each have a "Baby's first Christmas" ornament, and last year Eli got a train ornament. This year, I found a man selling these at the OSU football game and I thought that Eli and Sadie should have a Brutus Buckeye ornament to represent their time in OSU Family Housing. It's quite tacky, but they love it.

Eli was very into hanging the ornaments.

He was on a mission. No time to play, he just hung ornament after ornament.

Unlike her brother, Sadie played the whole time. She loved the balls.


After we told her "No!" for the fiftieth time, she tried to hide behind the tree to play with the balls.

Our very first real Christmas Tree. Isn't it pretty? Don't ask about Eli and the goggles. He just really wanted to wear them.

It's A Blurry Picture...

...Of Sadie in a Santa hat.

PS Only one more day of this blogging everyday business. Whew.

The Wreath That Wasn't

It's not a wreath, it's a necklace:


It's a hat...

I Totally Forgot To Mention...

...That Sadie is completely in love with animals. This is our friends' dog, Gavin. He's a rescued greyhound and as gentle as a lamb. Sadie totally digs him and he does pretty well tolerating her. Mostly he knows that she'll give him food.

Oh, I'm So Excited

One of the kids' Christmas presents came today and now I'm trying to figure out where to hide the huge box for a month. And the truth is, I just want to break into it and play with it myself. Argh! December 25 will not be here fast enough. (If you can't tell. I've run out of things to blog about. Luckily this whole post everyday thing will be over soon.)

Exactly One Year Ago

We were taking pictures for our Christmas cards. Remember this one? Just cropped a bit:

Today we got out all of our Christmas decorations so we could decide what we need to buy to make our house look festive yet not crowded as we already don't have enough room for our stuff for the holidays. Usually we're not around for the holidays so we don't bother with too much decorating. This year, however, is the first year that we will not be going to ND since Dennis and I were married. (I'm actually looking forward to this. Yes, we'll miss our families greatly, but traveling with two little ones it just plain ol' stressful. So, I'm excited to start some new family traditions and have two well-rested and happy kids, which in turn makes for two happy and well-rested parents.) So, we're going to buy a real-live Christmas tree and go crazy with the tree decorations. It turns out that we have a lot of really old decorations that came from my mom that were old when I was little, five strings of lights, but only one that works, lots of breakable stuff and 4 stockings. It looks like I need to hit some sales before we buy our tree next weekend.

Like Mother Like Daughter

"This place is a mess," so says Dusty the Vacuum. Thanks Dusty, but I don't need your criticism. I already know this place is a mess.

As Promised, Date Pictures

On Wednesday night, Eli and I attended Sesame Street Live! Eli was so excited to see Elmo, Big Bird and Cookie Monster, but once we got there and the show started, Eli sat and watched in his normal sit-very-still-and-just-take-it-all-in-and-just-stay-calm manor that I'm pretty sure he gets from his dad because I was crazy with excitement. He clapped a few times and made a few comments, but otherwise just sat wide-eyed without moving an inch. When the show was finished, I asked him if he had a good time and he replied, "YESSSSSSS!!!!!!".

Eli before the show started (that's a gummy bear in his mouth).


I must admit that it's weird to see your favorite monsters walking around on legs.

Gobble, Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Eli and I Went Out On A Date...

I took pictures. I'll write more about it later. Now, I'm going to bed. Good night.

And Then You Do This Mom, It's Easy!

Before long, she really will be showing me how all of this technology works.

Dennis Is Doing Such A Good Job Posting...

...that he should take over for the rest of November. My husband, seriously, isn't he just the best? Sorry you can't have him, there is no polygamy allowed in my marriage. (I just read a book called Shattered Dreams about a polygamist wife. Yaozers, I do NOT recommend marrying a man who intends on marrying 8 other women. Did this guy ever meet a cheerleading squad? Problems were bound to happen.) I wasn't feeling that great last night and was awfully tired so I was in bed sleeping while he was posting away. Once again, **swoon**

So, what are you doing for Thanksgiving? We are going to our friend's the Ponesses. We were there last year and they cooked up a mean Thanksgiving dinner so when we were invited back we couldn't refuse.

Here's one from last Thanksgiving. Luke and Eli were reaaly into eating the cars:

"Go Bucks!" clothes

After losing last week, the Buckeyes are back in the running for the National Championship. (OK so they are a long-shot.) Anyway, we haven't lost faith and are still wearing our scarlet and gray. We were actually dressed up for a hockey game this afternoon, which OSU lost. That makes it a 8 game winless streak for OSU hockey, but Eli and Sadie don't care. They still love the band, the action, and the zamboni!

See what a great team we are...

I can be so miserably sick that the furthest thing from my mind is posting on the kids' blog and my husband pulls through for me without even me asking him to. Man, you just can't help but love the guy. He called in sick to work and everything for me. **swoon**

Back to the kids. Sadie is ready to move on to a bigger and better bike and I think Eli is ready to hand it down to her. When you ask him what he wants Santa to bring him for Christmas he says, "Trucks. And a big boy bike like daddy's." Hmmm... We'll have to see about that.

Mom's Sick...

...so we're living off of olives. Please send help!

The Problem With Posting Everyday...

...is that you run out of things to say even about your kids. Actually, in my case, I ran out of new pictures. Today I took a few so if you see Eli and Sadie in the same outfit over the next few days it's because I'm getting lazy.

Looking Out the Window

The kids can waste a lot of time looking out the window. And what do they see? Squirrels, garbage trucks, kitty cats, kids playing, daddy going bye-bye, and all sorts of really exciting things.

Flashback

Me and my brother, Darren, in the 1978 Thompson Kiddie Parade. I want Eli and Sadie to have those shoes, and pants and hats and bikes. My brother and I were sooooooo cool.

Sadie's New Bed?

Sadie's babydoll got a new wooden cradle. However, Sadie's in the cradle more than her baby.

Sadie's A Girly-Girl?

As it turns out, I'm loving having a girl for all of the girly-girl stuff. I love the dolls, the pretty flowers on dresses, cute purses, ruffly skirts everything that a little girl is supposedly supposed to love. I'm not sure if Sadie buys into it all or not but until she tells me otherwise, I will continue to encourage the girly-girl persona.

I got her this purse for her birthday. It's orange, it has a flower, it's handmade and I got it from Etsy. I love it. I think Sadie wishes it were a bit bigger because her doll doesn't fit into it! Look at her posing.


But, it would be great if she asked me "Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?" as I hope she loves hiking and camping as much as Dennis and I do. I mean, even girly-girls can be eco-friendly, love the great outdoors and get their nails dirty.

Fall Leaves

How many pictures can one take of leaves? Apparently a lot, because I seem to have a ton. We kept raking them into a huge pile and then this big machine would come by and suck them all up. Now, our tree is all out of leaves, so we're all out of fun (and we don't get to see the big machine anymore).

Eli dancing in the leaves.

Yet another brother and sister moment.

A sort of artsy shot of Sadie. I really like this picture.

I just had to fit these guys in here somewhere. This is Olive and Archie. Olive and Archie are dolls that I made for Sadie for Christmas. (Don't worry. She doesn't read the blog and she's already played with them for a minute anyways.) I worked very hard on them and am very proud of them. The problem is that now I don't know if I actually want Sadie to play with them. I think they would look very nice sitting on a high shelf, don't you? I guess I have 2 months to get over it.

Eli had a fun time thinking of fun places for Olive and Archie to go. I got pictures of them in a tree, going down the slide, playing hide and seek and this lovely one:

PS If you want to make Olive and Archie you can get the pattern and find out more about their creator here.

Boo! At the Zoo

When Grandma and Grandpa were visiting, Grandpa and Dad took the kids to Boo! at the zoo.

Does this shot look familiar??

Remember Eli from last year? Same goats, same pumpkin sweatshirt...

Eli and Sadie sharing a moment.

Sadie's One Year Check-Up

My big girl has become average. She's just over 21 pounds and is 29 1/2" tall which are both in the fiftieth percentile, which is down from the seventy-fifth percentile that she's been at all of her previous check-ups. I guess all of that walking can slim a girl down pretty quick even when you're still eating like a heavyweight. Eli weighed 1/2 pound less and was the same height at his one year appt. Sadie's hair is becoming long and it's starting to curl up a bit. I have a feeling her hair is going to stay dark like her daddy's. Sadie and Eli are starting to look more and more like each other.


Other new Sadie milestones:
*Can climb up the ladder on the slide, sit down and slide down the slide all by herself!


*Says: mommy, daddy, up, peek-a-boo, puppy, thank you, balloon, pumpkin, baby, shoes, grandpa/grandma and done


*can walk up and down hill (but only if it's a gradual slope)


*can fit about 15 Goldfish crackers in her mouth at one time


*can drink 4oz. of milk in about 30 seconds

Grandma and Grandpa took us to Schmidt's Sausage Haus in German Village while they were here visiting. Sadie decided to hang out while we were there. By the way, Sadie LOVES sausage. I asked Eli what he wanted to eat. He told me he wanted ice and that's exactly what he ate mixed in with some raisins.

National Blogging Month and Too Many Animals

I just found out that November is National Blogging Month. In honor of NBM, bloggers are encouraged to post everyday for the month of November. Well, I guess I'm a few days behind, but, I'm going to attempt this. I'll post a new post everyday until Dec. 1. You might get some lame posts over the next few weeks. Hopefully, you won't grow tired of seeing my cutie pies!

Grandma and Grandpa were here to visit for Sadie's birthday.

Grandpa was disappointed in his grandchildren's lack of stuffed animals so he went out and bought them each a couple of new ones either to please them or to drive me crazy. Either way, Eli's bedtime routine includes a rounding up of the animals to put them to sleep.

Happy Halloween!

This picture is a victory on many levels. First, we got Eli to wear his Halloween costume. We did this by convincing him that he was the daddy monkey to the stuffed monkey you see here. He thought that being a daddy monkey was a very good idea. But, he really wanted whiskers. I don't know of any monkeys that have whiskers, but I did give him a nose and some dots on his cheeks, which he must of thought was an ok substitute. Second, Sadie is wearing her ENTIRE costume, ears and all. (Not that they lasted longer than the picture.) Third, both kids are smiling AND looking at the camera. The stars aligned last night, but only for the picture as the night sort of went downhill from here. I won't go into it, but I will say that Dennis ended the night by saying, "I hate Halloween!". However, Sadie did win a prize for her cute kitty costume in the costume contest. Yea!!

Happy Birthday, Sadie!!

Sweet Sadie turned one on Sunday. She had a great and exhausting day. Grandma and Grandpa Zeman even made it from Dakota to help celebrate. Here are a few highlights:

Happy Birthday pancakes! I think she's still waking up.


Opening a few gifts before the party! It actually took Sadie a while to realize that there was actually a gift. She thought it was fun to play with the newspaper that came in the boxes. Then, she would put the wrapped gifts back in the box, then take them out, then put them in. We could hardly stand it (by "we" I mean "I", I hate not knowing what's inside a wrapped present. )we just had to show her how it was done. Thanks for the Wedgits Alexey, Gabriella, Robert and Michelle! They taste delicious.


Auntie Mia sent shoes. Sadie loves shoes, not necessarily to wear, but she carries them around the house and chews on them like a puppy. Don't worry. I put these in a safe place so she couldn't eat them.


We had a big birthday/Halloween party in Sadie's honor at our neighborhood Community Center. I guess being born three days before Halloween means that every single party from now on will be Halloween themed. I really like that idea. It makes things much easier for me. Sadie went as a black cat which was also the theme of the party. I can't wait until the princess themed party comes around. (short daydream about glitter and tiaras...)


Dennis and I went as Peace Corps Volunteers and Eli went as a first grader! (He refused to wear his monkey costume and I was too tired to argue.)


I take almost no credit for the cake. Grandma did most of it.


According to Sadie, it was delicious.






There was even a black cat pinata filled with lots of Halloween loot.


Eli with The Man With the Yellow Hat (who just happened to win "Best Halloween Costume")


The day after: cake hangover! Sadie was so exhausted, but there were still lots of presents to open. Note to self: next time you invite 60 of your closest friends to your child's first birthday party and put "No Gifts, Please" in the invitation, highlight and bold the "No gifts" part and skip the please! Who was I kidding? Of course people are going to bring gifts to a little girls birthday party. And yes, she is wearing Santa pajamas.


If you want to see more pictures of the birthday party, check them out here.