Lots of pics for everyone to see

Lily playing peek-a-boo behind the curtains

Isabel's best friends are adults. ? Isabel loves her grandma's of course, but she gets very attached to a spare few people. She is very tentative and shy around other kids, that is why she needs Abby, but if an adult gives Isabel attention, she will be their best friend forever. Right Shauna, and Bob?

One of my Abby favorites from Leigh's wedding.

I thought this was too cute, and thought I should share. Love you, Hannah!

Congrats, Leigh. By the way, we need to talk. Texts are not good enough.

Neil declared this the winner

I know this is a duplicate for many, but just in case.

Do I not have the cutest babies ever?

I have loads of pictures of her crying and wanting to be done with this photoshoot, but this is the doll from Grandma Nina, which she loves.

Confessoin Number 2; The Floor

Sweeping the floor. How long can you last before sweeping your floor? I don't know if it is my children, or just children in general, but by the end of the day, I have so many crumbs and what-nots all over my floor. Hopefully, sweeping is done more than twice a week, but that is not always the case. I also go barefoot most of the time in my house, so I can feel all of the crumbs as they stick to the bottom of my feet. I have even gone over to the carpet to wipe them off, because for some strange reason, vacuuming is so much easier than sweeping. I think its because my vacuum doesn't miss half as many things while doing it's job. I have also put socks on my feet just to avoid the sticking food particles. I think the worst part about the floor is when something gets spilled. I'm sure most people's first reaction is to pull out the mop, but I always have to second guess, because before the mop has to come the broom. I absolutely cannot mop unless the floor has been previously swept. Pushing crumbs with a wet mop, just makes everything worse, because then I have to get down on hands and knees to scrub up any of the things that have become stuck to the floor. Alas, if I neglect to mop, and try to quick fix the problem, by wiping up the spill with a wet cloth, I still end up stepping on the stick. Not only do I step on it two or twenty times, I sometimes spread the stick by stepping on another area of the floor. So, here is a random question that I have often wondered, which stick is worse? Juice (or other sugary liquid), sugar with all those loose particles, or syrup? I don't think I have an answer, because they are all so awful to me, but if you all have one that seems to bother you more than another, I'd love to hear it!
Along with having a messy floor, I now have a curious toddler. Usually, she will walk on past any crumbs, unless they look too appetizing (yes, gross, I know), but when I'm sweeping, all the crumbs in one place is just too much to pass up. And unfortunately, I do not have the central vac that I would love, so I still sweep all my crumbs into a pile before scooping them up and into the trash. Lily loves to chase me and the broom waiting until I pause to swipe another little bit into the pile, before she tries her own swipe. Have you noticed how fast little hands are? So my other dilemma would be, do I just try to outswipe her, or do I put her in the highchair with some crackers so she can create more crumbs to be swept up.
This week, my new goal will be to have the floors swept before I go to bed. P.S. I don't like to sweep until my counters are all wiped down in case extra crumbs make it to the floor, because who likes to do a job twice?

Confessions of a Mediocre Mother

For the fun of it, I want to try something new. I'm finding myself getting more and more frustrated by my lack of patience, housekeeping skills, organization, procrastination, and the list goes on. I'm hoping that by blogging about my shortcomings, I will be more motivated to be better at all of these. I'd like to come off as joking, whereas the things I plan on blogging about are true, they are meant for laughter, and hopefully I won't feel so alone.
Confession number one....I would rather step over things numerous times than pick it up and put it where it belongs. I try to clean my shower at least once a week. Neil and I both shower about once a day. Today while cleaning, I decided it was probably time to throw away the three or four empty shampoo/conditioner/body wash bottles that were being pushed to the side. Yes, we stepped over them day after day. Yes, I've even moved them to the side to clean, but did not throw them away. This is why I am confessing. I'm sure most of you are not as horrible at these things as I am, but maybe you can find some comfort in knowing the things that go on in my home.
I think being honest with myself will help me to be better, however, please beware if you do come over, we may have toys on the floor, dishes in the sink, and fingerprints on the windows. On the other hand, even if I don't like to clean, I do love to bake. I keep telling myself that this point can make up for any of the things that don't happen.
So, this is my goal, to find a common friend to help in keeping up with the small things.

Lily's ONE!!!!

Even though I should be studying....I felt like blogging. It is a bit of a bittersweet day for me. My sweet baby is one, and I don't think I like it. In my mind she is still around six months old. Well, a six month old that can walk and run, and play and cause all sorts of problems. She is my most calm, cuddling, loving baby thus far. She has such a hold on everyone around her. So, whereas I'm happy to celebrate her birthday, I really don't want her to get any older. P.S. We're having cake tonight all by ourselves. Meaning that we will have a lot extra, so come on over!

Time for a change

Wow! What an amazing 2009! The year ended quite well, but quite busy. I'll start with the move, yes, the move, we finally made it to our house! Thanks mom, dad, and Pat and Robin for helping us out. It was hard being apart for so long, but now it is worth it. We are loving the house and neighborhood. Lots of snow, but the girls are loving it. I think they go sledding at least once a day. Twisted Sweeties was much busier than expected, and that was fun to see that I could actually pull it off, but not by myself, of course. I think next year could be really successful if we tried. So, if anyone wants a job next season, we may be able to help. Then came the holidays. They sure went by quickly, but at least it gives us something to look forward to next year. I know most of you have heard all about our rocking New Years Party, but here is just a recap of our pictures. Neil sliced his finger tip nearly off, so his are the beautiful stitches above. My mom had to finish up the gumbo that Neil started so we could head to urgent care to get it taken care of. It was yummy! After the new year, I decided it was finally time to get a decent night's sleep. We had to use the Ferber method on Lily, but it is starting to work out. She had to cry herself to sleep for the first couple days, but she doesn't cry as much anymore, which is much easier on me. We are now on day 3 of sleeping through the night. By the way, Lily is going to be one in two months! Yikes. Now onto me. After seeing all my pictures, I've decided it is way past time to lose a couple pounds. I need to post these things to make them more legit. You are all my witnesses, and can hold me accountable. My goal is ten, but twenty wouldn't hurt. I also have made it a goal to enroll in school and get my degree underway. Trying to go back has to be harder than finishing in the first place. Tomorrow I'm going in to take a placement test, and I'm probably more nervous than I should be. I think I'm fine with the english portions, but the math part scares me to death. It has been nine years since I've taken a math class, and it has always been more difficult for me. Some of it is slowly coming back to me, but Neil is being extremly patient with the rest. Thank you! If any of the rest of you want to help me with some polynomials, exponents, and logs, come on over. Anyway, this is longer than I planned, I just wanted to post my goals to make them more official. I hope all your holidays were grand!

Fall and Halloween--Hooray!

Well, all I have is pictures. Not much to say, but hopefully the pics can speak for themselves. We had a great holiday, but can't wait for the next one. We are really looking forward to coming back to PHX to be with family and friends. I am loving the fall, as long as the snow stays away. The leaves are beautiful, but are finally clearing out of the trees, getting ready for winter. Anyway, Brenda, this post is for you. Let me know if there are pictures that you want me to send to you. More are posted on facebook, so have a look. We love you!

New Ventures

Look appetizing? Lets hope so. For those of you I haven't told, I'm starting up something of a business. I've had so many ideas in the past, but this is my favorite, and possibly down the road, I can add a few more things to my repertoire. So, if any of you know anyone looking for corporate gifts, could you please pass along my name? Thanks to family, I already have a couple orders in, but I would like to see how far this can go. Wish me luck! Thanks!