Hello - Is It Me You're Looking For?

I can not believe it has been as long as it has since I blogged.

I put a lot of pressure on myself - trying to keep things "fair."

If I told one story about Kellie, I felt the need to come up with a story of Delia. If I talked about one Grandparent, I felt guilty if all the grandparents were not somehow mentioned. (And they usually weren't because - let's face it - I'm Laura. I have a memory as holey and horrible as a rotting clump of Swiss cheese.)

All that pressure made blogging no fun.

I'm blogging today because I realize just how much I've let slip through my rotting brain and with no blog to refer to, I find myself wondering WHAT(?!?) happened this year.

I'll try to recall some things - for my own sanity. If you enjoy it, all the better.

December 2010 - Grandma Lori came for Christmas and we all really enjoyed her company. We miss her this year. :(




January - Kellie mastered writing down all the names of our family members. She did so frequently - and not always on paper. I've left the few spots I've found in the house because the little stinker put them in inconspicuous spots and since it took me a few months to find them - I smiled instead of yelling.



February - I began sewing on the side - a slow start of a profitable business that quickly took on a life of its own. Toward the end, I was sewing 30-40 hours a week. I became consumed with my "work" and had a difficult time balancing my sewing life and my family life. I stopped sewing (for profit) in...no...wait... Can't remember what month I quit sewing. But I did. So there.






My big brother (who is awesome) and his wife (even awesomer) came for a visit and humored our boring life. We did get to see some rocks, though. So I don't think it was a total bust for them. I also gave them a Ju Ju Be for the little bitty bun they were cooking.




March - I tried to focus on some homeschooling - my short attention span meant a short-lived homeschooling session... but a lot of memories were made. For other people. Not me. I've only got the pictures as proof. We also went to the Cave of the Winds - super cool!




April - I briefly fit into a size 8 skirt. Delia began potty training. We had family pictures taken...with our DOG.










May - I had a birthday and got this gorgeous bag from my dear friend Ryan. Apparently I became so obsessed with the Harvey's seatbelt bags - they are the only thing I really photographed in the month of May. Except for one time when the girls made a fort and read stories to each other by flashlight. I also put on a child's size bib to prove I'm sure what I thought was a very valid point.






June - Grammie and Grandpa were in town in the beginning of June. Mema, Papa and Bella (and Andrew and Aubree) came for a visit at the end of June - overlapping with Grandma Lori's visit in the beginning of July. We went to the renaissance festival - something I really NEED to blog about so I know how UN-fun it is with small children.





July - Delia turned two - and her two is ridiculously cute. But her party started out with a screaming fit. Brian humored my obsession of seatbelt bags. We discovered LaLaLoopsy love. The girls drew lots of rainbows - inspired by this one. And we celebrated Grandma Lori's 39th birthday with her. ;) And we had a day trip at the Denver Aquarium.












August - The fabulous Aunt Talie painted us these beautiful pictures - which I think we got this month... When they visited? One is Alaska, the place of our daughters' births. And one is the butterfly we saw in the flowerbeds that Grammie and Grandpa set up for us. Kellie started preschool - thrilled at first. Then disappointed that they were teaching her absolutely nothing about kidneys or giving birth or why your lungs hold air. Delia began falling asleep randomly. We went to Utah for my newest nephew's birth - Baby Link. The girls still ask when he is coming to visit them. Tami changed my life by letting me be such a big part of her birthing experience. I love her even more than I did before. I'm pretty sure the only way I could love her to the max is if she gifted me Buster. Her cat. Seriously. That cat rocks. If you can't part with Buster - I understand. But, I am kind of waiting in the wing until you're not looking so I can snatch him.












September - We adopted River, our dachsund mix, from the animal shelter. We love her. Her acceptance into the family was immediate for everyone except Brian. He took about a month to warm up to her and stop referring to her as "your dog." Kellie took ballet. She quit by October. I sold a lot of my girls' toys - realizing that we have too many. Don't act surprised.





October - I had a brief love affair with Coach bags. That ended ugly (as a seamstress, the sewing quality made me want to yak in my mouth). The girls were extra cute. I started HCG dieting. I dressed up for Halloween. Why is everyone acting so stinkin' surprised?? We started a wildly unsuccessful love-your-sister chart. Move a smiley face (to reveal a frowny one) if you hit your sister. To move the smiley face back (and earn a super duper smiley face) come up with a way to "make it right." It went like this:
Kellie: Delia, you're standing too close to me. *smack*
Delia: Waaaaaaaah! *tears* You lost a smiley face!
Kellie: Oh mooooooo-ooom! I lost a smiley face! I'm gonna go move it. *moves smiley face* Come here Delia, let me give you a hug. *hugs Delia*
Delia: *smack* Now I get to move a smiley face!

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Our Weaning Chart, however, was wildly successful. Delia weaned in one short weekend with no trouble...at first. Later, she would ask to nurse and I'd singsong:
"No more nursing! Happy weaning! You weaned! Have a choo choo train!" (her weaning reward)
She'd respond flatly:
"I didn't wean. You weaned. I want to nurse."






November - Kellie turned 5. And got a hamster - who she named Allie because, you know, they're kind of like twins now. I discovered how much I love washing my hair with baking soda and apple cider vinegar. And even more how much I love styling it. We went to the North Pole. I officially switched to a two purse lifestyle. Though, technically, I have many more than two. I just quit buying purses and only have one black and one brown and one Harvey's that I consider daily use bags. That's as good as it's gonna get for a bag addict.







December - I realized it had been nearly a full calendar year since I last blogged on a regular basis. My insides nearly died and I spent a day in the ER. That sucked. (Don't worry, I'm fine. Just had a bad stomach bug that caused some pretty nasty dehydration. ER gave me IV fluids and Zofran and let me take a 4 hour nap. Nice ER. Niiice.) This is the first Christmas with no family portrait - but I've been living within our means this Christmas (very small compared to years past) and the family portrait always turns into a $500 ordeal thanks to my ridiculously cute kids who look good in every dang picture they snap. So of COURSE I have to pay for the CD and prints and then make a million copies and ship them out so everyone can feel the warm fuzzies I feel when I see their smiling faces. Thanks to generous Grandparent gifts this year - we were able to buy a small gift from each set of Grandparents for the girls and print off a sizable stack of 4x6s. I made a greeting card from assorted pictures on my hard drive. And that is how I do Christmas on the cheap.








I also started a blog chronicling my weight loss, weight obsession, weight issues.... It's fun... yeah, that's the word. If you want to feel normal - click on over here and bask in my crazy.


I think we're all up to speed - Happy 2011!