Christmas

Merry Christmas!

This hat is a present from Aunty Staci & Boss. It has been difficult to remove it from her presence since she got it in her hot little hands.

Can you see LindyJean's two teeth?

Mom went to New Orleans with Aunty Cheryl and we all received a number of trinkets, Eric's booty included this hat and a VooDoo trinket. Bitty said to me, "That's the creepiest thing I ever saw, in my whole life!"

My very best Vanna White impression.

Bitty got Playdoh in her stocking, a MAJOR hit.

Eric requested some insulated overalls and his request was fulfilled.

This cradle was a gift for Bitty, for her babies and dolls. One of Mom's coworker's father handmade it and mom sewed a mattress, pillow, and quilt. Dad thought it was big enough for a real baby, we had to prove him wrong...

Boss & Butterbean, just chillin'!

Susie, a super gracious lady that works with Mom & Staci (her dad made the cradle), gifted Bitty this adorable chef's hat and apron. There was a bowl, spoons, pot holders, and a matching Mama apron too!

Blueberry Schmorgy

LindyJean is a messy eater. I steamed blueberries and then mashed them with my homemade barley meal and she really loved them.

Gross! Our neighbor, Lisa, was over (who is a doctor) and thought I should take her to the ER for a joke on the staff and tell them she had some sort of hideous rash.

Nothing mask those baby blues! I accidentally let it dry and had to soak her in the bathtub before I could get it off.

chocolate crinkles

Staci, master planner & ingenious suzie homemaker, decided that we should, well in advance of the holiday, split up the monumental task of baking Gramma Hunter's Christmas Cookie Stash. Let me tell you, there is a reason these cookies are made but once a year. I was assigned Candy Canes, Spun Guli, and...

Chocolate Crinkles; Staci was appalled that of the 15 different types of cookies made by our sweet little Granny, none of them had so much as a lick of chocolate. An onerous omission that is possibly unforgiveable! We fixed it, Staci demanded Chocolate Crinkles, which are not only very tasty, but quite pretty.

The dough, balls for powder sugar coating, and chocolate balls coated!

The result after a mere 10 minutes of oven time...

One must taste the goods and I say, scrumptious! This is what you look like with two small children, two tons of chores to accomplish, and no shower - Eric is so lucky, huh?

Time out for a rashy tush. What a smiley little toot!

Adelaide grabbed my glasses and hollers "Right on, Dude!"

Kerstfeest

Gammy & Papa graciously hosted a lovely Stagg Christmas gathering at their home this past weekend. We enjoyed a delicious schmorgy of a meal and opened presents. It was a quite an evening!

Merry Christmas! Isn't she adorable? Thank you kindly to Aunty Cheryl & Cousin Monica for the shopping spree that resulted in the most lovely Christmas dresses, jackets, and shoes for the holidays. There is not a picture of Adelaide, she absolutely REFUSED to have her photo taken. (She will cooperate for Christmas, round 2 at Nana & Grandad's.)

Truschka & LindyJean looking so very festive.

After consuming three lamb chops - chewing the bone clean - and an unimaginable quantity of green beans & carrots, Adelaide went hog wild for the whip cream laden beaters.

Truschka made Grismeal. A traditional Dutch treat that her mother, Mooka, used to make. It's is some sort of custardy/puddingish dessert topped with berries and whipped cream. It is SOOOOOOO delicious. Notice Adelaide supervising and conducting quality control.

Here's Eric opening his presents... you are not truly prepared for life without a knife!

Holiday Preparation

I really like this photo of the two of them, they look so very happy.

It's a marshmallow world in the winter...

The day after we got the tree, Bitty awoke early and insisted that we put lights on the tree. Here we are at 5:30 am in our PJ's.

As we've yet to collect ornaments for our tree, we had craft night in order to have some decoration. We made salt dough ornaments and popcorn & cranberry garland with Maggie, Brian, & Lisa. Notice Adelaide's face - she was eating cranberries!

The menfolk placing our garland on the tree.

December 23, 2009

Other Thanksgiving Activities

Staci took a lot of great photos of our 5 day sojourn in Ephrata for the holiday, I got a few. Here are some of the other things we dabbled in, most of which were indoor activities as it was FREEZING cold.

Adelaide adores Nana. Ma has to be exhausted when we leave, Bitty follows her about like a determined puppy dog, constantly hollering, "Nana, Naaaaanaaaaa, TERRI, TERRI, Terri!" Insisting on 'assisting' in each and every one of Nana's tasks.

LindyJean during one of our crafting sessions. I made fabric flowers and Ma created the most adorable pillow for LindyJean. Who can sit up and balance herself for 2-3 minutes if you prop her up.

Hot buttered rum and a sewing machine!

Ta-da! New pillow. It wasn't quite finished here, I'll post a picture of it nested in LindyJean's crib. It is so very pretty. Thanks Ma.

multi-tasking

The girls rarely sleep at the same time during the day, so I have to be a diligent multi-tasker to get household chores done. This is how you get a large basket of freshly laundered diapers and a baby upstairs simultaneously.

Winter Wonderland

Hello friends! This is Otis, our snowman. Bitty and I made him after a tremendous snowfall.

She insisted that he have buttons and a carrot nose. The snow was super dry and so we had to make a mini-man, as it really did not want to stick together.

Yeah for Otis!

What the hell Otis? You froze my hand!

This is 6:15 this morning, before it was even light. She and Daddy headed out to inspect the snow. This is really the first time that she has seen snow with the ability to comprehend what it is. She was terrifically excited and subsequently terribly angry when I made her come inside. She howled like a wildcat.

Bitty is attempting to protect Otis from Atila, who was assaulting our snowman nonstop - trying to perform rhinoplasty as Otis' nose was made of one of Atila's most favorite treats.

Adelaide's first snow angel.

Yelling "SNOWMAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNN!" at the top of our lungs. All in all, we went outside 3 times today to play in the snow. The temperature did not rise above 26 and seems that old man winter has made his official appearance.

Look alike

I love babies. I think I could have lots and lots. However, it requires a willing spouse and I think he might have had enough already. Anywho... here are comparison shots of Bitty and Miss LindyJean. They very much look like sisters.

Bananas & Toes

We started LindyJean on solids on Sunday (11.7.10). I decided to try smooshed banana first. I really didn't want to give her any foods yet(for purely selfish reasons - it's more work than breastfeeding and it's the first step towards weaning), but Eric insisted and I relented.

She doesn't seem to like or dislike it and only eats about a tablespoon at a time, before she begins spitting it out.

Tomorrow we are going to start rice cereal, which by the way is REALLY easy to make homemade, so don't buy it! Subsequently, I want to try avocado.

It takes fierce concentration to use a spoon!

LindyJean loves to be NAKED. In fact, one of the only times she regularly fusses is when you are attempting to dress her. She's all smiles when the clothes are coming off, though. After bathtime I have been cranking the heat and letting her hangout naked on the changing table for 5-10 minutes. She peed on me today.

She has also discovered that the ten little piggies stuck on that foot attached to her leg, belong to her! She really likes to gnaw on them. Very cute... when you're not a walker and there's nothing nasty on your feet.

Everyday

Everyday... as in normal, day to day, everyday activities.

Aunty Staci came for a day visit - to play and take family pictures. Wait until you see 'em.

Galbraith Clan came for dinner. I made the mossssst delicious shepherd's pie - Lamb & Round Steak filling topped with Horseradish Cheddar Potato/Parsnip mashers. After we did "Science Experiment" dessert. We put a giant Marshmallow in a Foodsaver jar and vacuumed it. It got huge. Here is the before photo.

Here is the after - and this picture is not accurately depicting the size difference. I thought Adelaide would deafen us with her excited squeals.

Babushka.

Adelaide is REALLY into cooking. She is constantly raiding my drawers & cupboards for supplies & "gredients." Here she is making LindyJean a cake, "a banana, rosemary, black pepper cake Mama, it's delicious and 'tritious." Ha.