FReSH PoWDeR

I'll be the first to admit that Winter is not my favorite season. However, I do love how new fresh powder makes everything feel. It snowed this weekend and it is beautiful outside. Truly beautiful...it just looks like a clean slate. Wouldn't that be nice to have in life.
I'm glad it snowed this weekend. We needed a clean slate to start a new week. Hopefully we can put everything behind us from last week.

Kai loves snow so much. He loves to sit by the window and just watch it fall outside. This morning he was begging me to go outside. He kept saying, "no" and pointing outside. He doesn't quite get the "s" part of saying snow.
He hasn't shown any signs of being sick for over 24 hours and I gave in. It was so nice...no one was outside...it was just quiet and breathtaking.

I love this shot. "Really? Another picture, Mom?"
Kai trying to throw snow at me.

The snow was much too powdery to pack. He kept trying to throw snow at me and our two little dogs with no avail. He didn't mind and would squeal with delight.





Yummy.
Love this shot. His rosey red cheeks.

WHaT a WeeK

When I pulled up my blog to post more pictures today, the title of my previous post "Life is Good" seemed comical. That is not what I was thinking this week. This was a tough week. Something unfortunate happened...every. single. day.
It got to the point where Ben and I would lay in bed each morning making bets what would go wrong that day and laugh about the possibilities. I won't go into all the details but here are a few highlights (or should I call them "low lights").
Monday Ben was in a car accident. (Luckily, he was not injured and it was not his fault.) The bad news is that the car will probably be totaled.

That night I got sick. I always pride myself with the fact that I never get sick. I was proven wrong this week. I am always amazed at how much I miss my Mom when I get sick. I guess you never outgrow needing your Mom. (Wish she lived closer.) Luckily it was just a 24 hour bug and recovered quickly. Kai got the same bug I had later in the week and was miserable. Ben now has the same bug and we are praying that Cicilee doesn't get it. What a nightmare that would be...
Kai had to go to the doctor for a totally separate issue this week so we bumped Cicilee's 9 month appointment up a week early to save me a trip next week. Yup, Cic is 9 months old TODAY.
Hard to believe that this picture was taken just hours before Kai was so violently ill. That's the problem with this bug...it just blindsides you...no warning.

Here are some of Cicilee's stats at 9 months old~
Height-27 1/2" (50%)
Weight-17lbs 12 oz (40%)

~Cicilee still loves to get around via her "inch worm scoot" and occasionally will crawl. Her preference is still the inch worm though.
~She has recently decided to go on a "no more baby food" strike. She only wants to eat what Makai eats. You would think this would be hard with only two teeth but she makes it work somehow. She loves to eat crackers, chips, cookies, (Wow, I sound like a terrible Mom right now) bread, yogurt and has even chewed on an apple slice successfully. Pretty much, she wants to feed herself.
~Already throws fits. Yup, no need to wait for the "terrible two's". When she wants something, she will definitely let you know. In fact she HATES the doctors office. Screams the ENTIRE time. It is so embarrassing. She cries from the minute we enter the room until we leave. The nurses, doctor, and I have to try to talk over the screaming (which is impossible). The doctor actually left the room and wrote me a note telling me what she wanted to say b/c Cicilee was screaming so loud. She didn't even get a shot this appointment, but from the sounds of her screams you would have thought she had lost an arm.
~Cicilee loves her Daddy. When Ben comes home from work she follows him around the house waiting for him to pick her up and make her laugh. They are so cute together.
~Kai is her best friend...and sometimes her worst enemy. She loves him so much and Kai love her, most of the time.

Cicilee's First Oreo Cookie
Turns out you only need two teeth to eat an Oreo.





Not Even an Option
Kai has been getting progressively more and more dependant on his thumb. He stopped sucking his thumb for an entire year and then after Cicilee was born he rediscovered his passion for it. After peeking into nursery the other week and seeing Kai sitting in the corner sucking his thumb, we decided to try something new. I found a large shirt and sewed up the sleeves. He hated it the first night but has adjusted and now cannot suck his thumb at naps or during the night anymore. Hopefully we can break this habit for good this time.

Life is Good

I keep forgetting to upload the pictures off my camera, so this is really random post but here is a peek at what we have been up to as of late.
Life is good! I just love my kiddos more and more each day. We are blessed.

A couple more reasons why I love 'The Children's Place'...
I bought these dresses last year on the 99 cent rack. I know that they are totally spring dresses but for 99 cents I think she can wear them anytime of year.


It's getting harder and harder to get a picture of Cic. She is officially on the move. She is our little inch worm b/c she doesn't really crawl, rather it's a scoot.


Kai loves to help me out in the kitchen, no matter what it is that I am doing...cooking or cleaning. I made cupcakes the other day and Kai was so excited when I offered to let him lick the beaters.


We have had some cold cold days recently and Cic has had to get bundled up when we go out. She loves this warm outfit...I wish they made one my size. It looks so comfy.

I got this shot of the kids this weekend before we went out for some shopping. Thanks for the cute cute outfit Kristal, it fits Cic PERFECTLY!!!


Cic graduated this week from her bumbo chair. I loved using the bumbo to feed Cic (when she was younger...lately it has been a nightmare!) She can get herself out of it and I was always terrified that she was going to get out of it and fall off the kitchen counter. Luckily that never happened but it was always in the back of my mind. Ben and I decided it was time to put her in a high chair (even though we aren't fans of actual high chairs. We just don't have room for them in the house and always opt for the booster high chair that you can attach to a regular chair.) Cic was so happy to be in a chair just like Kai's. She is all smiles every time we feed her now. Yay!!!







We love bath time... They only want to bathe together now.




Cic loves standing up now. She can only stand up when holding on to something, but she LOVES it!!!
Cic loves to chew on her crib. Guess it's time to buy the teething rails.

Before church today, I told Kai to give Cic a hug and I would take a picture. These are the shots I was able to get of my kids giving each other loves on Valentine's Day. I hope they always love each other.

Grey's is my Oprah

Some of my friends always talk about how watching Oprah makes them cry. As pathetic as this sounds...Grey's Anatomy makes me cry. It is the strangest thing...usually I get so wrapped up in the stories about children being injured. Those are the ones the pull on my heart strings the most.

Tonight it was the one where Kim Raver (from one of the first seasons of 24) was talking about how she missed her best friend. How she missed telling him the small details about her day. Things that aren't really important but still the things you tell your best friend. Things that only your best friend would care about.
I. can. totally. relate.
Sometimes I find myself telling Ben something stupid but still something that I just want to talk about. Truthfully though, Ben doesn't really care. Sometimes he will humor me and listen to me ramble on lost in my thoughts.

I miss my friends. Those (that are gone or moved away) that I would tell the unimportant/mundane things to. Those pointless stories that we would talk about for hours and laugh about.
So many of my best friends have moved recently and I am still torn up about it. It's like I can't move on. I guess the episode tonight just made me miss them even more.
If you all still lived here we would have gone opening night to see "Dear John".
I am dying to see it. (Not only because Channing Tatum is my celebrity crush,) but I read the book a while back and fell in love with it. It was one of those stories that I just...lost myself in. No, I never dated anyone in the military, but I LOVED the ending. I won't ruin it for those of you who haven't read it.
I just thought it was...........believable.
Imagine that. A believable love story. Usually, for me to believe a love story it would have to be one about a man and his XBOX. :)

Love you guys! I've been so blessed to have such great friends in my life...even if you have gone and moved away. You are still thought about and missed often (even when I watch Grey's.)

:)

"No Ho, Ho"

I have to document this b/c it made me smile.

Last night I was reading Kai a book before I put him to bed. It was 'Noah's Ark.' It is a really cool book that has magnetized animals (and Noah) to match up on each page. He loves it b/c it is so interactive.
After I read each page Kai would take each animal and place it on the page while telling me the noise that the animal makes. He was in heaven. After the monkey, "Ahh Ahh," Kai picked up Noah and placed him on the page while saying, "Ho Ho."
I didn't quite know what he was thinking until I looked at Noah and saw the white beard...SANTA. Kai thought that Noah was Santa. Maybe he thinks that everyone who has a white beard is Santa.

What can I say? Kai is a generalist. Not a bad thing right? :)

I told him the man in the book was Noah, not Santa and we turned the page. When he placed Noah on the next page, he then said, "No Ho, Ho." Today he pointed to the book and said,"Ho-a."
Not sure if he gets it, but at least now everytime I think of Noah I will think of Santa and smile.

Deja Vu

I remember when...

I used to be so amazed at how Kai could sleep in the craziest positions. I used to find him sleeping on top of his legs. ALL. THE. TIME. He did this way past his second birthday and I thought it was just a unique thing he did.

Until I found this...
(On a side note~ The blue blanket in this picture is Kai's old snuggle blanket that he never showed any interest in. I bought a pink, "girly" one for Cic and she wants nothing to do with it. She loves Kai's blue one and takes it with her EVERYWHERE we go. Kai never really bonded with anything when he was little so it is really fun to see how Cici lights up when she sees her snuggle blankie.)

How is this comfortable?