Baptism...the day after christmas! We jam packed the weekend, and took advantage of everybody's time off. Luckily Pastor Steve is accustomed to our family, he's able to just go with the flow by now...we consider him a member, and he can't get enough of us!

Grampa, the hat explains it all! This is my grampa, the girls' great grampa....he claims he can't see, but he knows when you're being naughty....We still don't know if he could read the hat or not but he was a good sport! FYI...the hat belongs to Syd, and is DEFINATELY fitting on her!

Hadleigh watched Syd long enough she knew what to do with her present, she just couldn't figure out how to make her fingers work like she wanted them to. Nice face Joey! After a little help from auntie Caley she had success!

Her first Christmas left her confused and sleepy, poor baby didn't know what to do when she had a bow plopped on her head!

And all 4 of us sitting together at one time...only happens once a year!

And it's a winter wonderland!

We had a busy busy Christmas, and things are finally starting to calm down after 4 days of being back home!

The days have been flying by in this house!

It's like I blink and we're on to the next one already...

Here's a glimpse for those of you who didn't get to attend our very SMALL birthday party for Syd last weekend. Thankyou mother nature for ruining the best intentions!

Can you tell she got lipstick in one of her gifts?

Luckily I have a quick camera so you get to see the smoke from the candles, thanks to daddy they were extinguished almost before they were lit! It was all kinds of crazy when we were supposed to be hosting the birhtday girls' party, no power, snow, and ice cold temps. Try telling a 3 year old she can't have a big party because everyone by grandpas had too much snow to come see her when she could look outside and see grass! Then finding entertainment long enough to not notice the lack of lights and heat. I'm seriously considering starting to celebrate in June at her half birthday instead of the middle of December!

And a couple of the girls I snapped while they were both in a good mood..

Here's what our puppy looks like this morning...

I keep telling Sydney the marker belongs on the paper!

Apparently Jewel got too close

Granted, the dog shouldn't surprise me, this was Sydney yesterday...after brushing her teeth

And before brushing her teeth...you should have heard the wail come out of her...as if I was the one that turned her a brilliant shade of aqua. The drool running off her was plopping on the bathroom counter just as vivid as if it was dripping from the marker!

Man am I glad someone invented washable markers...

Here are the girls in the Mall of America this weekend. Poor Sydney had a half hour nap on our 5 hour road trip followed by 5 hours of straight shopping, and fell asleep on our way back out.

It's been a week since we were there and she's all ready to go back while mommy is still recovering!

And here's Halloween!

We made it through...all the candy that is!

Sydney wasn't too sure of the first doorbell of the first house, and I made sure it was someone she knew so she wouldn't be scarred for life. After that first one, and realizing ringing the doorbell resulted in candy she was like a runaway train! We went to every house that had a light in a 4 block radius before daddy met up with us....and got oohed and ahhed at at every place when she said "trick or treat" and "thankyou" then we were off to people we knew around town, which was even more fun for her, she'd walk right in and make herself at home!

After being followed by the sweetest all black kitten and a few more houses we filled 2 pumpkins and headed back home to eat and crash!

How could you pick just 1?!!

And this doesn't even begin to touch the pictures we took!

As adorable as it is, it's a sad day for this mommy....my teeny little girl is growing up! She smiles at you almost constantly when she's awake now, and she knows she's doing it...it's not just gas!

Meet the newest addition to our house!

Syd named her Jewel, and she's not near as little and innocent as she was the first week she was here. After trying out a shelter dog and realizing it just wasn't going to work because she was too jealous and rough with Sydney I said there were only 2 kinds of dogs that I would let in this house. Well, Jewel just happens to be one of those two. There are lots of labs in my extended family and they are amazing with kids, so when we found a Lab/Golden Retriever cross I thought and thought and said ok....Now I have 2 newborns and a toddler! As much puppy as she is, other than using people as chew toys she's super gentle with Syd and doesn't have a fit if you take something out of her mouth....like Syd's babies, toys, or the ball the play catch!

The two of 'em are inseperable! Syd digs in the sand, while Jewel digs the sand out...

2 Kids = no time

This is what I get when I have 5 minutes to spare here and there....enjoy the new baby!

3 days

3 weeks

2 weeks and 2 1/2

With great-grandpa who's finally getting used to holding girls....he had 6 boys!

These are for you Jodi, just because you asked so nice!

I finally found it!!!

So hubby always says I'll never be able to find something he wont eat because of spicyness....

I found it!!!

I've had my eye on these for a while just because of the cute graphics, but we decided to try one yesterday. Hubby came home to eat last night and thought it sounded good, so he tried it, and about cried! Hehe! He asked if I was trying to kill him, I said no, just got the hot sauce that was on the grocery list.

F.Y.I. if you want to try it, you can find 'em at Runnings....and it's not for the faint of heart, he drank more water with his meal than he normally drinks in 2 days!

This is also one we won't let Sydney try, she has the tastebuds for redhot on almost everything she eats too...SILLY GIRL!!!

And here's what we've been up to the last week...Syd is in LOVE!!! We can't get her off her swings and slide unless we bribe her. It was originally just going to be the swings this year but we had a bunch of wood left cause I changed the plan, so we framed up the house too. That just might have to stay as a frame until next year, depending on money flowing in. Isn't it cute? From this mom's perspective it's 100% worth every penny spent also!! I just need to figure out a shade option for the dead of summer next year.

Blogger refuses to upload the picture I really want on here...so these will have to do

See the resemblance? They must be sisters!

So I may regret this, they show my age, but I had to prove a previous statement...

I'm the one in the slinky silver getup...

Remember me saying I have begged baby sister to do this for a while?

The little bug in the picture is her, the night I competed!....

and yes, baby brother too!

Its ok to refer to the previous post...if you so desire

And my parents....look dad! your mustache isn't gray!

I never thought I'd use the scanner to make me look so old!

So I'm well aware of what everyone wants to see....and it's probably not this, but guess what, I'm too darn proud to not post these first!

Pictures of Hadleigh will follow shortly, I promise!

Meet my little sister....AMAZING little sister!

We like to call what she did friday night Ivanhoe's Junior Miss....if I dug enough I could come up with some pictures of me on that very same stage, doing the very same thing...11 years ago! I am more proud of her than I have ever been. I've been begging her to consider doing it since I did it, it was an absolute blast, a great workout, and one of my favorite memories.

There are lots of parts to the pageant...Fitness...

Talent, which was amazing!

Theres also spirit, scholastic, stage presence, interview....you get the idea...

Now meet Ivanhoe's 2010 Junior Miss...yeah, thats right SHE WON!!!

With dad...

big brother Cole...who actually enjoyed the program

Me, 1 week after a baby, a sneak peek of Hadleigh, and Sydney

and all the family that was there to support her

Now on to state competition in Egan in March...we think...yes, hubby, babies and I will be there to support her!

Way to go auntie eekey, we love you!