december ends, january begins. etc. and things.

serena & a homemade christmas card.

we all got a nasty stomach virus.

family christmas party.

serena was the angel.

attempting to get my sick kids to eat some toast.

lining up the toys- serena's favorite game.

went to see some christmas lights.



made some christmas cookies.

harper wished everyone a merry kiss-mas.

mom took a shower and harper did this...

serena played on grandma's piano.

and did other silly things.

like this.

and made me lunch.

we wished and wished and wished for snow.

and then it came!

and harper was sooo cute. exhibit a.

exhibit b.

exhibit c.

exhibit d.

exhibit e.

exhibit f.

the girls got new sunday clothes.


my family had a big shrimpfest.

we rang in the new year by watching "she's the man" until midnight. love that movie!!

had a rare cuddle moment with both of my girls.

played with the new ikea tent.

and the farm set from my childhood!

and i had my LAST day at work! officially a stay-at-home mom!!!

coming soon- our hawaii 2012 vaction :)

doll bed makeover.

before:

after:

i've been meaning to post this makeover for a long time, but here it is several months later. serena got this $20 ikea doll bed for her 2nd birthday. as a ploy to get her excited about sleeping in a big girl bed, i thought i would spruce it up a bit. it came with unfinished wood and the most hideous bedding ever {meant to be gender neutral or something}. so i found some fabric and my mom did the sewing. i painted and mod podged the bed, and voila! we bought serena a big girl doll {one with hair} to put in it, but she is napping with her at the moment, thus the baby doll.

if i were to do it over again, i would paint the bed a paler pink or white and skip the mod podging, but overall i like how it turned out.

did the ploy work? not really. but that was weeks ago and she now sleeps in her bed like a champ. for the most part.

one, two, babies.

serena likes to sit next to harper and count the babies.
"one, two, babies!"

{harper and herself.}

she acts like such a big girl these days. sleeps in her big bed. is getting ready to potty train. talks nonstop. sean and i were looking at old pictures of her on my phone yesterday and marveling at how much she has grown! craziness.

i asked sean this morning "when did serena get to be so sassy??"
when did it happen?
she's only 17 months older than harper...
so somewhere in the next 17 months,
harper will likely develop a sassy little toddler attitude.
yikes!
one, two, sassy toddlers!?

sure wish my babies would stop growing up!!

serenese.

jamatose: {the J is said with a french accent} jam and toast. a new favorite of hers. usually yelled at the top of her lungs over and over until she gets it. jamatose! jamatose! jamatose!

hodog: hot dog. her other favorite food.

i mees {miss} you: says this every time dad leaves or comes home from work. and also about people who are not with us. like "i mees you harper" when she is napping. or "i mees you grandma" when we haven't seen her in over 24 hours.

trawberry cocake: strawberry shortcake. she kinda loves her right now.

uh-dairs: upstairs or downstairs. depending on where she is and where she wants to go.

bing one: big one. her big brown bear. always accompanied by piggert.

piggert: her fuzzy pink bear. not sure how "pink bear" evolved into "piggert". always accompanied by bing one.

tink-a-bell: tinkerbell. her favorite movie of the moment.

uh-suit: swimming suit.

yike it: means either "i like it" or "i don't like it". confusing, right?

minnie-house: minnie mouse.

funny guy: her cousin carson :)

sisser one: sister one. meaning she wants to hear the happy family primary song.

yes-ah-do: yes i do. said very enthusiastically and often out of context. like i say "serena, did you see that big truck?" and she says "yes-ah-do!!". or "are you hungry?" "yes-ah-do!".

and here is her version of twinkle twinkle little star:

girls lately.

two years.

remember when we announced we were expecting our firstborn child?
remember the day this little nugget was born?
remember her first week?
remember her blessing day?
remember her first birthday?

well, i do. seems like yesterday. i can't believe i have a two year old. she is such a little girl now. this is what serena is up to lately:

saying all kinds of funny things:
favorites: i ruv you. i mees you. sit down ight dere {right there}. hold you.
least favorites: i no yike it. roun-an-roun. {meaning round and round. meaning put me by the computer and play every youtube version of "the wheels on the bus" you can find}
funniest: lissen me, harper! lissen me, ariel! seenie eat hogoggs {hot dogs} and ham! {this is what she wanted desperately when she was sick. random!}

she can count to 11. sometimes.
if you ask her what color something is, the answer is always "green".
she loves to sing and be sung to and listen to music and dance.
she loves taking care of her baby dolls.
she loves the park, especially the slide.
she remembers everything.
she loves to repeat what we say. {yikes!}
she often walks around with a play phone at her ear, jabbering away. and a lot of the time you can even understand the conversation. "hi-lo, russ! ear are you? oh. work. uh huh. ok. oh. buh bye!"
she tries to be really nice to her sister but is usually driving her crazy.
she loves to be around other kids her age.
she asks to go to grandma's house multiple times a day.
she loooooooves to be outside.

i'm so grateful for that day 2 years ago when we welcomed this sweet girl into our family.