Happy New Year!

Feeling as though I've just run a holiday marathon, we are moving from 2008 into 2009--full steam ahead! The girls are developing new skills everyday. Addy has become the more verbal of the two, often repeating a word you say to her and then never saying it again. We've heard very close calls to flamingo, elephant, giraffe--all off animal flash cards they got from our friends Jillian & Teague. Consistently, she says "more" (usually relating to food), "whatsthis?", "up", "down", "sis", "book", "bear" "duck" and more. It's a unique dialect, but she knows exactly what she's saying. She still plays pretty independently. Physically, her hair is growing quickly, now going into ponytails for me. She always seems to have a bruise or scratch, predominantly from her ability to have no fear doing anything. She is a ball of energy and has recently been waking up in the night, either bad dreams or something else, but scares the crap out of us when we are into a deep sleep!

Lilly still shows her temper on a daily basis, sometimes coupling a scream with throwing her body onto the floor. Although she isn't as verbal as her sister, she knows how to get her wishes heard. She often starts a word, but doesn't finish it...I am "Mmmmm", Daddy is "dddd"...you get the idea. Her appetite has tapered off and I often see a "hunger strike" where she'll eat fruit and crackers all day long, although you wouldn't know this from lifting her. She continues to be very social, waving out the window in her carseat and now riding her new toys while waving like she's in some kind of a parade. She is more timid than Addy and wants to play with you--yelling when I leave the room even for a moment. She is a dancing machine, "twirling" and shaking her booty every chance she hears music. They continue to make me crazy and joyful each and everyday!

As for New Years, I resolved about a month ago to finally finish BOTH their baby books (Addy's has been done since September) and I'm proud to say they are both done and in hand. Hopefully a keepsake they'll treasure down the road! I used this website (www.blurb.com) to make a digital scrapbook of their first year, highlighting each month. I've also resolved to find calm in the chaos, probably something I'll resolve each year, but something I personally struggle with. It is harder and harder to see everyone I want to see, to be involved in the things I want to be involved in, to work hard and be the friend, wife and mother I want to be. Hopefully 09 will allow me to find peace with my balance in life...

2009 will bring 30th birthdays for both Jeremy and I and a second birthday for our girls--With that I say "Bring it on!"

I'll edit with some pictures from New Years later :-)

What a long strange year it has been....

Well, here we are the first day of 2008. Jeremy and I have spent the last couple days saying, my a lot has changed in a year, eh?? We opted to forgo our tradition of finding refuge in a cabin in Brown County this year, primarily because the crowd of 7 people that went last year added 4 babies to the picture in the last 12 months, so we all thought staying closer to home would be a better choice. So, we did. We went over the the Cahill's and since even the 2 mile drive isn't the best option after a couple cocktails, we allowed the girls to have their first sleepover with Mallory. I'm sure this is the first of many and all the girls were a bit confused having their breakfast bottle with company!

The holidays were a blur, but we had a blast. A couple first for the girls, they had their first night over at Grandma & Grandpa Ash's house (twice) and they had their first Christmas loading in on some pretty good loot. We've spent the last week or so playing with their new toys and preparing for the dreaded day...tomorrow is their first day in daycare. Yep, Grandma Linda has returned to Pittsburgh to regain control of her life after being our part-time daycare provider for 2 months (yes, she commuted from Pittsburgh to do it). Tomorrow, I go back to work full-time after 5 months of a combination of full-time and part-time leave. My boss and students are saying "It's about time" and I'm saying "Where did the time go?" So, today, I'm mentally preparing and trying to get a positive attitude about the whole thing, but it will be a struggle.

As far as resolutions, Jeremy and I are going to try and trade in our bad language for some better, more kid appropriate words. We thought this would be a good one as it won't be long before Addy & Lilly are talking and we are going to try and avoid their first word being f#*%. We are also back on the bandwagon, committing to losing my last 10 lbs or so from my pregnancy and tone a bit while Jeremy loses some of that sympathy weight he put on for me.

This is another deer in headlights pose, apparently the paparazzi was a little too much for them.
Mallory, Lilly & Addy hanging on the couch after their breakfast bottles.