Craft Exchange!

I received some awesome ornaments from N over at Two Hot Mamas!  Totally brings back memories of making these same type of crafts when I was a kid.  I love them.  There was a super cute xmas tree that didn't quite make it in one piece, but I think I can fix it.  In the meantime, though, the others are front and center on our tree.  Thank you so much!  This was my first year participating in this exchange and I'm glad I did.  Lots of fun and I have a couple new blogs to read now.

Happy holidays, everyone!

- S

Xmas and stuff

The tree is all decorated!  We have it gated off in what we refer to as "The Christmas Room" - mainly because housing the tree every year is the only thing the room is ever used for.  G was scared of the tree at first and refused to come in the room until I picked him up and slowly brought him closer to he could "pet" the tree.  Now he and the tree are BFFs.  H, of course, wanted to pull all the lights off immediately.  I'm scared to see what will happen the next time they go in there, now that all the ornaments are on!

Now to make this all sad...

Last month, I lost my 9 year old doberman, Phoenix, to cancer...  I knew it was coming, but that didn't make it any less heartbreaking.  He was my first dog, my first baby.  I do know that it was for the best... but I'm so sad he didn't make it to Christmas.  I can't even describe how much I miss him.

Best dog ever.

Stationery card

Patterned Pretty Holiday Card

Turn your family photos into holiday cards this season.

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Here I am!!!

Small Obsessions' post today reminded me that since I also signed up for the gift exchange, I should probably post something here since it's been forever and ever... and ever.  And ever.  Dramatic enough?  I read everyone's blogs regularly, but always seem to forget I have my own.

H & G are great.  Growing tons and learning new things every day.  They're starting to talk more and are just so much fun to be around.  They're finally at a stage where I'm really glad we have twins - built in playmate!  Not that I wasn't glad to have twins before now, but it was definitely... challenging at times.  Sometimes it seems like time is going by a little too fast, though.  They are turning into actual kids!  Do I have to stop calling them babies soon?  I really don't want to.  Maybe when they turn 2.  Or when they start high school.

They were frogs for Halloween this year.  We probably spent way too much on their costumes *again* but the cuteness was totally worth it!  And like last year, they'll have awesome hats to wear all winter.  Some pumpkin patch pics:

Thanksgiving is going to be ruined, yet again, by J's lovely employer.  Can I just say that I hate Black Friday?  Hate hate hate hate HATE.  Yay for being in retail management. *rolls eyes*  It's just sad that my favorite holiday seems to get worse and worse every year because her company has to open at some absurd time of night ON Thanksgiving.  I mean really?  It's not even Black Friday anymore.  It's just... Thanksgiving.  But a much crappier version where J is going to have to spend most of the day attempting to get some sleep so she can go to work at 7pm.  Awesome.

In other news, the babies - H, G and E (the roomie's kiddo) were apparently super stoked that Obama was reelected.  Before you watch this video, though, I must warn you:  You will never be able to get this song out of your head.

That's pretty much it.  Goodnight!

One!

They're one!!  And yes, it's been like 6 months since I posted.  I rock... There's way too much to say, so instead, here are a bunch of pictures of H & G.  Or as we've been calling them lately: The Squashies.

I threw my very first party for their birthday and I think it turned out pretty well.  The roomie's baby was there too and we had a big party for the three of them.

We bought some awesome new car seats that fit three across!  So we tried them out and brought the babies to the zoo for the first time.  They really liked the train ride and the elephants.

Here's J, the roomie, and my dad and step mom at the zoo:

Not sure if anyone actually reads this, but if you do, I have a question:  G has always been pretty clingy, but it's starting to get out of control.  He's fine when I'm sitting on the ground and playing with him, but if I so much as stand up to reach something, he loses it.  If I walk across the room, he follows me screaming hysterically.  What's weird/frustrating is that if I completely leave the room and he can't see me at all, he calms down and goes back to playing.  But the moment I'm back in sight, he flips out again.  He's totally fine when I drop them off at day care, so I don't really know why he'd be having separation anxiety (if that's what it is).  He's such a sweetheart and I love cuddling with him, but I can't hold him ALL THE TIME.  Help???

In other news, I finally got a new job (same company) and I LOVE it!  It's stressful and really challenging, but it's awesome.  If I hadn't mentioned it, the previous one was awwwwwwwwwwwwful.  Oh and I also got a new car!  No more maneuvering car seats in and out of a coupe for this lady.  Yay!