Christmas love

i know. i know what you're thinking. it's been 7 months (yikes) since my last blog post. ridiculous. i agree. all i can say is, life is busy. a woman's work is never done, right?! and i kept meaning to put up a new post...but the time got away from me. and before i knew it, 7 months have gone by! oh my.

wow. really?! it's mid-december? Christmas is almost here?

i LOVE Christmas! seriously. it's my favorite time of year. i love the decorations. the beautiful lights. the shopping. the baking. mmm. i can just smell the cookies baking. i love teaching my sweet girls about the spirit and meaning of Christmas.

and as silly as this sounds, i love making up my family Christmas card. when i sit down each year to craft a card to send to our family and friends, i immediately go to shutterfly. i have used shutterfly for several important occasions, including birth announcements for both my sweet baby girls, birthday invitations for those same sweet girls, and Christmas cards that feature pictures of my sweet girls. (are you noticing a theme, here? this mama can't help herself. i wanna show off my girls every chance i get :) )

this year, i had a hard time choosing between my favorite cards.

and these are just a few of the options! how is a lady supposed to decide?!

well, i made my decision....and i love it! but you all will have to wait until yours comes in the mail to see the finished product. :)

until then...

i will try to post more frequently. 7 months is a bit too long. :) and next time...new pictures of those sweet baby girls i keep talking about!

love,

shannon

this face melts my heart. these eyes, the cute little nose, kissable lips, and pinchable cheeks. my sweet olivia. how are you getting so big so fast?

daddy took her to the doctor today. she weighs 25 lb 14 oz. she is 29.75 inches long. the doctor said she is setting her own growth curve. way above the normal growth charts, for both height and weight. she is 10 months old. and outgrowing 18 month clothes.

i can't get enough of this baby. i'm addicted. she's sweet and snuggly and warm and squishy. i love her to pieces.

(more about madyson when i can get her to hold still long enough to get a picture. that stinker! but for the record, she weighed 35 lbs today, and i love her to pieces too!)

xoxo

love

shannon

shew. life. is. busy.

remember last time when i said both girls were healthy? a day later, mady had strep throat. in the future, i won't make such bold statements, for it's sure to come back to haunt me!

today was one of those days. have you ever had one of those days? nothing major goes wrong. but every little thing seems to go wrong. for instance...2 year old wakes up at 5:30am. then decides to venture into 10 month old's bedroom because surely it's time for her to wake up too. and maybe you also forgot to take your allergy medicine before you left for work. and perhaps said 2 year old throws a royal fit upon drop off at daycare. maybe then you get to work to realize that 2 of your co-workers won't be at work today...which means a very busy day for you. feel free to imagine how the day continues.

we've all had them. those days. BUT, it can only get better. and it always does.

so about the time i started feeling pretty grumpy, i remembered.

it's a beautiful spring day today.

i have the cutest babies on earth (seriously...ask my husband:) )

and my hubs ain't bad either ;)

i have the BEST helpers! i don't even have to ask!

life is full of new and exciting possibilities!

(we are fortunate enough to have friends with connections to a horse farm. we recently discovered madyson's new love! look out aunt crystal...i see your future. it involves giving some serious riding lessons to this girl! )

that's what i remembered. that, and i have everything.

today wasn't so bad after all.

love,

shannon

long time no blog. i suppose i had to pause. life is a whirlwind sometimes, and something has to give. but i think things may have settled down now.

it's been a busy month, mostly because both girls have been sick at one point. that in itself is enough to throw me completely off in all other areas. it seems when my girls are sick, i can only focus on them. nothing else is important except getting my babies well. lots of extra tlc is a must. at any rate...i think things are finally settling down. everyone is healthy. and not just healthy, but growing up faster than i can stand! :)

we've had a lot of milestones this month, for both madyson and olivia. and i will post more later about all that. i just have enough time to post this video. olivia has learned how to crawl. and actually, this video was taken a few weeks ago. this was when she first started that wobbly, unsteady, uncoordinated crawling. since this video was taken, she has picked up quite a bit of speed, and coordination. and is all over the place. but for now, i wanted to share this milestone.

i promise, more soon. happy friday!

love,

shannon

spring is in the air! thank goodness! i am learning that spring is probably my favorite season. i always thought summer was my favorite season. but as the years go by, i am realizing that spring is actually my favorite. it's so refreshing, the spring air. after all the cold, gray, dreary days of winter in indiana. spring is so uplifting! it's like an instant energy and mood booster for me! i love it. and i think i realize that even more now that i have kids. they also LOVE to be outside. and it's so nice to be able to go outside and play with my girls. especially after being stuck inside during the cold winter months.

we went to the park not once, but twice today! it was awesome! the weather could not have been more beautiful. it was one of those days where i just wanted to take as many deep breaths of fresh air as i could and soak up as much of the spring air as possible! anyway...i got some really cute pics of the girls outside today. liv is big enough to sit in the baby swing at the park now. and she loved it! she grinned from ear to ear the entire time she was in there! anyway, here are those pictures.

mady mastered the BIG spiral slide at the park today. amazing what a difference a few months can make. in the fall she didn't quite have the trunk control to make it down this slide upright! today, she did it at least 52 times. all by herself!

here is mady pointing out the letters of the alphabet. she is doing so well with her letters now! she can recognize and name accurately several letters of the alphabet, and a couple numbers too!

here is mady watching an airplane. she tells me very confidently that this plane was going to the "A-port!"

olivia's first experience in the swing was a hit! she could not have been a happier baby!

we just got back from the park, and i got this picture of madyson, which i think is beautiful!

liv is also starting to crawl now. just a few feet at a time. but it won't be long before she is across the room...and then across the house! i say this all the time, but i just can't believe how big my baby is getting!

and this is just a funny picture i took of liv...looks like she's coming to eat the camera!

and this one is from a few weeks ago, but so cute i had to put it in! how can you not love this face?!

not too much news really. we have just been busy enjoying the warmer days of spring! i hope this weather continues! and i think the girls hope so too!

love,

shannon

do you ever feel like you're juggling? i'm not a juggler. i've never been able to master the art of juggling. yet at times in my life, i feel like i'm doing exactly that. sometimes i feel like i'm just juggling all these plates up in the air. and if i stop for a second, they might all come crashing down. and then i'd have to pick up all the pieces! and Lord knows i do NOT need one more mess to clean up! i have plenty of those, courtesy of our beautiful babies! at any rate, recent weeks have seemed somewhat like one of these juggling acts. i'm not sure why sometimes i feel so stressed for time and overwhelmed, and why other times, i am able to handle it all and still manage to find a little free time on my hands. but that is all i can offer as an explanation for my absence from blogging. juggling. i've been juggling. :)

this weekend, we are in columbus, ohio, visiting some of our best friends, the ganims! tony, laura and their son eli. eli was born just a few weeks before olivia, so they will have a great time playing together! astro is here attending a continuing education course with tony, so the girls and i tagged along for a little getaway from reality. and a break from juggling :) today, i am enjoying naptime. both girls are napping. and i am not at home, so i do not have to rush around to get a million things done while the girls sleep. naptime is free time for me today! free time is a luxury i rarely get at this point in my life. aaahhhhh. how sweet it is!

i will try to post soon with some new pictures, perhaps after our weekend away. until then, happy weekend!

and i must post a statement of gratitude...and apology...to my wonderful husband. in the midst of all this juggling, i sometimes go temporarily insane. i swear, i lose my mind. i lose all sense of reason, and the smallest thing is likely to set me off. which really isn't in my normal nature. and he takes it like a trooper. just offers to help. asks what he can do to help make me less stressed. thanks, babe. for being my hero. i love you!

love,
shannon

i have never thought mady and liv look alike. but out of curiosity, i was looking back at some old pictures of mady when she was liv's age. these are pictures of the girls, both 7 months old at the time the pictures were taken. if i look at these pictures, side by side, and cover up liv's hair, i now think they look alike! i definitely see a resemblance!

what do you think? do they look like sisters?

love,

shannon

this is what we call a mady patty pie. it's delicious! nothing sweeter!

because she told me yesterday that olivia is her best friend.

she sings as loud as she can every chance she gets. seriously, ALL the time.

she gave both matt and i unsolicited leg hugs last night...and topped it off with a kiss.

she always comes running full speed ahead with arms wide open when matt or i get home from work.

she runs around with no pants on for a better part of most evenings.

she has a stuffed monkey that she named "april."

and that great big grin and big ol' eyes warm my heart everytime!

i'll take at least a million servings of mady patty pie please!

love,

shannon

liv has a sinus infection. again. that means...another trip to the doc. another round of antibiotics. struggling to get her to eat. or drink her bottle. constant snuggling. praying for her to feel better, because it hurts our hearts to see her so miserable and sad. lots and lots of tlc. lots. a late night trip to walmart to buy a new warm mist humidifier because our last one died but we will do what it takes to help her sleep. lots more snuggling. and tlc.

our little trooper. she doesn't feel good. but she stays mostly happy. and still wants to play. she's learning to wave. it's precious. here she is...at 6:27 this morning, as you can see on the clock in the background. trying to wave like a champ. even though she doesn't feel good. and it's early in the morning. cuz she stays mostly happy. and cuz mom wanted to take a video. what a trooper.

we are so blessed. our girls are our angels. truly. blessed.

love

shannon

let it snow?! no thank you! the truth is, i do not like snow. at all. not even a little. it's this time of the year that i REALLY miss florida! but despite the little white flakes falling from the sky (friggin' snow!), it's been a good week for us! we've gotten to spend lots of time together, and playing with the neighbors. we also got olivia's 6 month pictures taken last weekend. yes, we know she is actually 7 months old now...we intended to get them done a month ago...oops! we should have those back in a week or two, and i can't wait! but in the meantime, here are a few good shots i've gotten over the past week. check out that grin! i'm addicted!

i swear she gets cuter by the minute, if that's even possible!

love

shannon

p.s. don't you just wanna smoosh all those rolls of chub? baby chub is the best!

eating dinner together. as a family. at the table.

has always been something i want to do with my children.

i think it's so important for a family to stay connected.

to communicate. to talk to each other. about things on our minds.

or about nothing in particular.

just to enjoy each other's company. to be together.

it's important. it's simple.

tonight, all 4 of us got to eat dinner together. at the table!

it's the first time olivia has been at the table with us.

normally, she is in her highchair, which doesn't fit at the table. so i have always felt guilty that she has been separated from the rest of us while we all sit down and eat together. but she is finally big enough that we could put her in the booster chair at the table! she got to sit at the table with us while we ate! i could not be happier about it! it warms my heart! all 4 of us.

matt, madyson, olivia, and i.

sat at the table together tonight.

*sigh*

life is good.

love,

shannon

Fishy Astrologes

meet the newest addition to our family...fishy! madyson named him all by herself...very creative we think! i find myself wondering...who wanted fishy more? was it matt or madyson? lets just say, mady didn't drive herself to the store to buy fishy :) so welcome to the family, fishy!

happy weekend!

love,

shannon

remember those curls i said i love...

precious.

and don't even get me started on those eyes!

love,

shannon

we had another milestone today. mady got her first haircut! and she did beautifully! i never cease to be amazed by this girl.

i was fully prepared for a little bit of a challenge getting her to sit still. not to mention letting someone she doesn't know touch her hair. she will barely let ME touch her hair! but she totally proved me wrong! she sat right down in the chair, sat perfectly still, and let steph cut her hair.

what's the big deal, mom? give me a little credit! that's what she was thinking. of course, the sucker steph gave her helped a little bit. i sometimes think this 2 year old outsmarts us on a daily basis...she got candy out of this deal!

of course i am so proud of our little girl. another milestone passed. and man, do i love those curls! *a picture of the curls may follow...if i can get her to sit still long enough to snap a shot. she had met her sit-still-limit by the time the cut was finished. :)

love,

shannon

wow.

the last few weeks have been filled.

with Christmas celebration.

precious moments shared with family.

battling sinus infections and bronchitis and a nasty allergic reaction to the antibiotic.

pony tails!

and our first of many adventures to come at Monkey Joe's.

shew!

exhausting.

a well deserved midday nap is just the way to ring in the new year!

here's to a happy, healthy new year full of wonderfully exhausting weeks, midday naps, and lots of Monkey-ing around!

love

shannon