My gift wrapping buddy.

I recently picked up a Scotch Gift Wrap Cutter after seeing it advertised on the tele.  I enjoy wrapping gifts and knew this handy lil’ gizmo would be well worth the $6.99 I paid for it.  And man, was I right!  I zipped through the gifts that I needed to wrap effortlessly making straight cuts with my new tool.  An added bonus is that I didn’t then have to decide which end of the wrapping paper looked the neatest to make sure it was on top; the end I used the paper cutter always won out.  It shows on the packaging of the cutter that it can be used to curl ribbon too, but I haven’t endeavored to go there…yet.

This past weekend we visited my parents and siblings in TN to celebrate Christmas with them.  We were supposed to visit during Thanksgiving, but I felt it would be too stressful on the four of us, especially MK and me, to travel that far.  Nonetheless, we wanted to see my folks, since the last time we had spent time with them was in October in Chattanooga.  The 5 1/2 hour drive one way, the part I had prayed for and was not looking forward to, was a fairly pleasant experience.  The one bad part was the last 20 minutes of the return drive; MK started crying and cried until we arrived home.  Well, I take that back, the weather on drive up there was yucky–rainy and foggy.  Despite those two negatives, the visit was really nice.  We ate homemade candy, exchanged gifts, shopped a little, and spent time together.  EK was spoiled with too much candy and TV, but, hey, what are grandparents for?  I had all intentions of getting some great pics of the family, but I guess I was too distracted in my own doings that I only took a few on the last day we were there.

MERRY CHRISTMAS COLONEL, GIGI, AUNT S, & UNCLE BUBBA!

Our group

This weekend we started our Christmas celebrations with Hubby’s dad’s side of the family.  We went to Stars and Strikes-a bowling alley, arcade, lazer-tag, and bumper car fun place.  Not your traditional Christmas get-together, but just as fun as gorging oneself on turkey and opening presents.  We started off with some bowling, ate lunch, hit the arcade, and then most of the adults in the group finished the day with bumper cars.  EK did great with the bowling and arcade games.

six pounder

shoes a little too big

"Roll ball, roll!"

Granddaddy about to strike

She carried her own bowling ball and was fascinated with Dance Dance Revolution…speaking of DDR; quick props go out to Auntie M for winning the contest and scoring some cold hard cash. :0)

DDR with Auntie M

Fast and Furious game

MK was a trooper also.  She fussed a little due to some trapped gas/burps and being very overstimulated, but other than that was a happy girl.

Santa, MK and Granny F

Hubby and I had a blast too.  How often do you get to act like your 10 again?

bumper cars

THE END!

Recently, EK has taken the initiative to potty train herself.  No complaints here, just amazed that she is doing so well with it.  Honestly, I have been procrastinating in this department of parenting because MK still consumes much of my time during the day, and I figured potty training would be one more added stress now that I don’t really want to deal with.  However, it has been quite easy.  EK tells me (most of the time) when she needs to go and occasionally will go to the potty by herself.  It’s funny when she surprises me with a bare bum running around the house.  I had a few pairs of Hello Kitty panties, and we have now purchased a complete set of Disney Princess panties.  Lil’ girl underwear are so cute! Hopefully things will continue to go well and then we will only have one in diapers again.

Here are some recent pictures of the girls.  Tomorrow, MK will be three months old and officially not a newborn anymore, however, life can still be a little overwhelming.  Things are getting a little easier…MK sleeps through the night (Praise the Lord!) and eats every 3 1/2 hours or so.  She weighs about 10 1/2 pounds.  Her newest feats are getting her hands in her mouth, especially her thumb, and just checking everything out.  Big sister is still doing well.  She is a great helper and such a sweet little girl.

Have you ever heard of “threading?”  It is a hair removal technique that is an alternative to waxing that uses thread to remove the hair.  I had seen it in California when I used to live there, but hadn’t seen it since.  Last night the fam went to the mall just to get out (Yeah, I know, how exciting. ).  There was a lady having her eyebrows threaded at one of the kiosks and for some reason I decided that I wanted to try it–maybe because my eyebrows were looking like fuzzy caterpillars above my eyes.  And after swallowing my pride, (I couldn’t imagine actually having a cosmetic procedure completed in a commons area of a mall.) I asked the lady doing the threading how much it cost and how long it took.  The cost was $10 and it took 5-7 minutes.  I had also asked if it hurt and the lady told me it was similar to waxing.  She was wrong on that account; it hurt worse.  However, I think it was worth it because it didn’t irritate my skin like waxing does.  And maybe if I hadn’t gone so long without tending to my eyebrows it wouldn’t have been so bad.  You should check it out sometime.  I think I might do it again.

Here are some pics of EK and MK in their costumes.  The girls wore them to the fall festival at our church.

The other morning I was blessed when I opened the curtains in EK’s room and saw the beautiful sunrise.  I had a spiritual moment; reminding me of God’s goodness, grace, and creativity.  I thought I would share.

This is the day that the Lord hath made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it.  Psalms 118:24

I started this post last week and am just now getting to publishing our adventure…

This weekend we headed up to Chattanooga, TN.  We drove up on Friday afternoon/evening.  That was an experience to say the least.  MK didn’t eat well or sleep well and was not fun to be around.  After hours of questioning every parenting inclination I have we finally made it to the hotel room to put her to bed.  Thankfully, she slept great that night.  Praise God!  EK, on the other hand came down with a cold that night and kept Hubby and I up a good portion of the night.  Next time we’ll reserve adjoining rooms.

The main purpose of our trip was to watch my sister in her rowing meet (If you didn’t know, she is on the rowing team at UT).  But we also were able to visit with my parents for the day and decided to make a weekend trip as a family of four by visiting the zoo and children’s museum.  As I mentioned above, Friday night EK started having cold symptoms: a running nose that would also be stopped up at times, a mild cough, and some sneezing.  Saturday EK was pleasant to be around despite having to wipe her nose 50 million times until nap time.  I should have been a responsible parent and taken her back to the hotel room and laid her down especially knowing she NEEDED her rest, but I didn’t.  I wanted to spend time with my parents, and I know they wanted to spend time with us even though they would have completely understood EK needing her sleep.  But no, I went against my gut feeling and let her hang out until she basically collapsed in my mom’s arms.  She woke about 45 minutes later and during her short slumber, morphed into the most ridiculous child-crying and very unsettled.  I felt horrible for causing this situation, but was also frustrated with EK’s erratic behavior.  We said our goodbyes and headed back to the hotel room which provided relief.  From the sound of this story, one may assume that we had a miserable time.  Not the case.  We had a nice weekend.  God blessed us with good weather, we got to spend time with my family, and we were able to see some animals at the zoo (We skipped the children’s museum due to EK’s illness.)  I don’t think we will be making another long distance trip any time soon, but I am glad we took a chance to adventure in Chattanooga.

It’s been a little bit since I have added a post, but really there is nothing of interest to report.  I am working through the newborn phase; still learning the ropes of breastfeeding, how to read MK, and getting all the gas/burps out.  No, MK is not sleeping through the night (I get this question alot.), but she does give me around 5 hour stretches which I am thankful for.  Her last feeding is at 10 pm and by 11 she’s in her bed, and wakes around 4 am.  EK has done exceptionally well adjusting to the addition to our family.  I am very proud of her.  Bow season for hunting deer has started, so Hubby gets up way too early some mornings and hits the woods.  Not my idea of fun, but hey, whatever floats his boat.  So, like I said, things are pretty low key right now, but here are some pics I have taken recently.