Snowmageddon Take Two

Even stay at home moms and toddlers have "snow days". Mainly for the fact that this lady is very nervous driving in the snow and even with our new Subaru is scared of the fools that are out there in their little 4-door sedans boppin' around. Clearly I'm annoyed after one outing in the snow around our hills.
So, Lilah and I have hunkered down and honestly stayed pretty busy this week (we were home Monday, out for awhile to the gym and Trader Joes Tuesday, and then home Wednesday and today, Thursday).
She has played a lot and watched a lot of Yo Gabba Gabba, Cinderella, Barney (ugh), and Finding Nemo. We've pretended to eat play dough, colored, and painted. Today I found a blog with an idea to make a crown and wand out of cardboard and foil. Lilah got to decorate it a little, which took up some of our morning. We also made banana chocolate chip muffins this morning - bonus for both of us. I've done a little (just a little) online shopping, and now catching up on this. ;)
I love, love my ipad. I have worked out at home 3 days this week using this great FREE app - Nike Training Club, and our handy dandy, old treadmill. Awesome. Today I also attempted to try some fun hairstyle tutorials I found on a blog....mostly unsuccessfully, but hey, I had time to do it! Yay!
As I type it continues to snow. I think we're at 8 (or more!) inches. It actually is so beautiful outside. I have to walk outside sometimes just to listen to the silence and snow falling. Since so many are staying in, it's so quiet and peaceful, which makes it that much more serene.
Here are some pictures from the last few days - after Lilah's nap I'll have her try on her finished crown and wand.
Alright, another thing checked off the snow day "to do" list. Next - buy my Insanity workout dvds to help me get my post-baby body back! ;)

Lilah's drawing of her mama....funny, but actually wonderful for a 2 1/2 year old!

Mr. O'Connor turns ONE

We had a little lunch date with the O'Connors today - minus daddy O'Connor who was at work. Lilah and I picked up cupcakes and Liz made us all a delicious lunch (grilled cheese and fruit for the kids, spinach salads for us). Clara and Lilah love to play together (although today seemed to bicker more than play, and could hardly keep their hands to themselves). And now Crosby's definitely joining in on the play time and wanting to be a part of it all. I can't imagine what it'll be like a year from now. Probably even crazier. But, it's a fun crazy for sure.

Big Girl Room

Here are some of the photos I took of Lilah's big girl room...I think the pictures do it no justice at all, because it really is so cute. The fabrics and colors go perfectly together. Sometimes I just have to go look at both the girls' rooms and admire how cute they are. Of course my mom is mostly to credit for this. I can come up with ideas, but she produces them and makes it all happen. Unfortunately I didn't get the crafty gene, or maybe it's just I haven't made time to try to be crafty. Maybe this summer after I get used to having two kids and I need some type of outlet. We'll see....talk to me then. :)

My Little Arteest

So most of you will look at this and laugh. But, coming from a teacher's background, I do have to brag a little. This picture was drawn yesterday of me. And, with no prompting or helping. She included eyes, a mouth, arms and legs. And they're all in the appropriate locations. There are kindergartners that come to school that aren't able to do this. I cannot take any credit, I just think she is pretty talented when it comes to the arts (ie: drawing, coloring, dancing). And I think this is so cute I had to get a picture of it to remember. Today she added hair, but then scribbled all over the entire board, so it doesn't look as sweet as it did yesterday.

Funny Faces

Lilah likes us to make "funny faces" and also likes to do them herself. However, yesterday I had to take a picture of this one. Funny? I think more like a scary face. Lance then did the same face back to her and she said, "no daddy, that's scary".

Nesting Period Has Officially Began

I do have to start off this post by saying that I believe I'm a nester at heart....pregnant or not pregnant. I am a huge planner, I love organization and structure. So, it's not like I can blame all this "nesting" on being pregnant. For me, I think it was a trait I was born with also. But, I have started the process of getting ready for baby #2. Which I think starting this early, doing what I'm doing, is a litte bit of my anal planning coming into play. I have already gone through bins (that my sweet husband so graciously agreed to get out of the attic and search for so that I could get to my craziness). I have washed everything that needs to be washed - clothes, burp rags, towels, blankets. Most of it is already put in it's respective places in the baby's room. I started a list of "things we need before the baby gets here", even though we really have a few more months to get those things. And the big positive to having another girl is we really don't need a lot. I did buy a matching dress for Lilah and her little sister to wear here in the next few months, but since I had all this "girl stuff" for Lilah, I just don't need much more than a few basics. I figure that in February I'll freeze us a few meals (I would do more but our freezer can't hold too much) and I am hoping to wallpaper our shelves in the living room. I'm giving myself a little break though (and Lance, especially) after all that we did to get Lilah's room ready for Christmas before one more big project.

Caspar Again

While daddy was home on vacation we took a trip over to Seattle to see Caspar Babypants at Teatro Zinzanni. It was pretty cool because not only did we get to listen to Caspar, but the talented people at Teatro Zinzanni incorporated a type of acrobatic show to go along with the music. They had juggling and about three acts where the people were doing all kinds of crazy acrobatic moves - climbing up and down ropes and poles, so amazing. It was a fun time. Lilah was a little scared of this huge guy in a bear costume (in her defense the bear actually was really creepy looking), but other than that she enjoyed it. Unfortunately we could only take pictures before it started, so we have nothing but dark shots to prove we were there.

Christmas 2011

A little more low key than last year, which was so nice. Still a little crazy running around to family gatherings, church, and finding time to be at home, but really nice. It's an extra special treat too because Lance has 10 days off in a row, which is so great. Lilah and I both I think had a hard time on Tuesday when it was finally time for daddy to go back to work (and needless to say he did too). :)
We spent time on Christmas Eve with my mom, sister, Kylee, and my aunt's family joined us for awhile in the afternoon. Lilah of course got spoiled with a lot of fun toys. She enjoyed holding Kylee the most I think though. And brushing Mimi's hair. Thankfully Mimi is a good sport and let her just go at it. It is one of the favorite things we do in our house these days - beauty shop. She is always either brushing her doll Whitney's hair, my hair, or her hair. Sometimes daddy even gets to get a hairdo.
We had a abbreviated Christmas morning so we could make it to church and then to the Wiley side for Christmas. Lilah's big present from us (and my mom, who did just as much work, if not more) was her big girl room. I haven't taken final pictures yet, but will today so I can post later. It is very cute and best of all has a big girl bed in there. She's done pretty good so far (although as I type she is not asleep after being in there for almost an hour) and loves her big girl bed (it's a toddler bed). My big present was surprisingly and ipad - and I love it. It's the best toy. And Lilah loves it too. She has more apps than I do on it.
At church that morning Lilah got to show off her best dance moves, which was for sure the highlight of church for her. Then we were off to the Wileys. Things have calmed down as the kids have gotten older and we have tried to simplify gift giving.
A nice Christmas weekend spent with family and enjoying our last Christmas as a party of 3!