Chow Chow part 1

We were left unsupervised by our 2 year old, so when Austin is away we will play....

and play we did with Austin's toys

and then we decided to undertake the task of making chow chow....the world's greatest condiment.......but Eric & I have never made it before.......

Ansley is upset about her teeth, this is literally the way she has spent the last 2 days and nights.....did I mention nights. I swear she slept better the night we brought her home than she did last night. It is a good thing I am on my holiday break right now.

Here is Eric, mid-chop - he is cutting up yellow & green bell peppers for the chow chow

This was almost the finished product pre-soak. If you don't know what chow chow is then you need to meet my Aunt Net and ask her for her secret recipe....I can only show you in pictures, the rest is up to your own interpretation.

Good luck!

Thus, the way an old married couple spends New Years Eve...and in bed by 11 - good night & happy new year!

Still just hanging out

The high chair trilogy.....the original owner Carter eating....

An old picture of Austin to use as perspective for ....

Seeing Ansley in the same chair at the same age....(seems Austin is a hair bigger than Ansley)

We "recycle" in our house and this high chair like MANY other toys has gone from Carter to Austin to Ansley. Thanks Uncle Scott & Aunt Natalie for sharing!!

Ansley's shoes; people always comment on them as they are flashy and so I thought those of you who don't get to see her all of the time might enjoy seeing them too - looks like a fat foot, but couldn't be farther from the truth

Austin "driving me up the wall"

Ansley, smiling despite the lack of sleep due to her teeth

Austin explaining to Ansley how to jump in her jumpy

Ansley too excited about the toys she has to play with

and then there is sadness, we were to get a dog for Austin for Christmas, but long story short, it did not work out, so Austin is showing his sadness at the empty dog bed

and lastly, Austin checking his email...he has been a busy bee

Merry Christmas!!

As the song goes...."all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" .... but Ansley may not have meant that....not the best picture but they are in....poor baby has been sad and fussy all day; can't blame her for wanting to be held when her mouth hurts.....but she did get a cool book to chew on

Austin however, got a TRAIN!!!

He was super excited!!

He was showing us his excitement!!

He also got some Thomas the Train books...needs to learn his colors

And got another train....little bigger than his other one...but this one cannot go on his track so he has to drag it around the floor. He also got a book about going to the potty.

But he also got more books......one with magnets like he saw in Dallas that Grayson had

And one last picture of the train....he is too excited!!

Merry Christmas y'all!

Patience

This time of year I am reminded of a few simple things....patience is one of them.....Eric's parents are going to St. Louis so we are bird sitting their bird....I have found that I do not like indoor birds....he (has no name) is loud, messy, and did I mention loud....he is a rooster and he struts his stuff loudly quite often.....but I am reminded that we are watching him because Eric's parents watch Madison when we go out of town.....quid pro quo

And then there is picture taking......I give up.....plan was to take pictures of the kids and send out Christmas cards......I have lost the patience to take a good picture of both of my kids together at the same time in front of the Christmas tree....we will try tomorrow.....

this is the best that I could do......I have a new respect for children's photographers......I will not quit my day job!!!!

Boring but alive

We have been shopping and cooking and boring....but here are a few pics.....Ansley is sitting in a mixing bowl; she loves to sit up now, she can't hold herself up yet but loves to be sitting up (excuse the food covered clothes)

Austin doing the same thing, sitting in a bowl, just happens to be a bigger bowl - ha

Austin talking to the snow man at the bottom of our stairs, he usually says good morning to him every morning ... just trying to be friendly

and then.....the picture on the bottom is one of my favorite pictures of Austin & Eric, and so then we had to do one with Ansley....you can see how much A & A look alike

Ansley's hair is just a little more WILD!!

Ho Ho Ho

Happy Birthday GG!!

Austin & Ansley's Great-Grandmother H. is 100 years old today!! Happy birthday grandmom!!

Our family in Texas had a party for her on Saturday which we missed, but Grandmom said she had a great time and enjoyed seeing all of her family!! This is one of the better pictures I have of her and Austin....he was just about a year old in this picture.

Happy Birthday grandmom!

New Hat

Thanks grandma!!

Rainy Days

It has been raining here for 3 days, and we sure did need it, but it makes for some interesting playtimes in the house....

Seems Ansley can "fit in" anywhere - she is literally riding in the bed of one of Austin's trucks!

Austin showing us that he has teeth & a uvula - unlike his mother

and then there is Madison...just hanging out and showing us her cataracts - she did turn 12 in October...she is a good ol' dog

Turkey Day pics

Austin's new MO - shy & playful

Ansley demonstrating the proper way to eat prunes

Austin hanging out with Dad & Uncle Bunny - really bad angle but it does give evidence to where Austin gets his wide feet from.....

Ansley just hung out with me all day Thanksgiving until the family arrived....you can see in the background that it was sunny all day and in the mid 60s, so beautiful weather for a beautiful day....much to be thankful for....

And her smile says it all....that and hey Mom I am tired of looking at this camera thingy.....

New Austinisms

Momster - a word to describe his mother...."I love you momster" which of course sounds like monster.....Freudism by a 2 year old?

Sleep potatoes - orange potatoes fed to Ansley which induce sleep upon completion of the meal - he could be onto something

Doctor - a word used to describe any mechanic - so if his car is broken it has to go to the doctor...good thing I went to school for 11 years to be synonymous with a mechanic

What is that? - instead of "why" as every other 2 & 3 year old obsesses with our son says "what is that" and he uses it ALL of the time.....

Lazy bones

Ate too much....must rest....mommy made me homemade baby food....can't eat anymore....must get some sleep.....brother is at grandma & grandpas house.....our house is quiet.....why do 2 year olds talk so much....mommy made homemade baby food.....I smell turkey....

Ansley & her daddy were having a staring contest the other night....I tried to catch it on film, but she caught me

She is showing us how strong her neck muscles are

So really I made a big mental note to do better with postings.......has not been working I know. The great thing is that there are only 2 weeks left in my semester and then I am off for a month; maybe I will do better then.

Happy Turkey Day!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Daddy is 1 year older today!! So Austin made him a birthday card - copyright Thomas the Tank Engine!! Happy Birthday Daddho we are glad you are our Daddho!!!

Note to self: next year buy kids glue so that you do not have to put birthday card together with double sided tape while trying to entertain said 2.5 year old and .5 year old. Since when is tape so hard to use?

Enough

So as we were driving down the road to the nanny's house we saw a load of boats and I said to Austin that we should get Daddy a new boat for his birthday. Austin said "no, Daddy has enough boats." Note to self: red-headed child picks up and applies a bit too much of what his Mommy & Daddy say.....

Tired

So I was doing some work today on our house that required me to use my arms a lot. After about half an hour of work, I said "man Austin my arms are tired" to which he responded "you need to put them to bed" - ha

So then after lunch I said it was time to go take a nap and Austin said "and you can put your arms to bed too."

Literal thinker?

I promise to post pictures from out trip to Dallas soon!!

Amazing

I know some of you may take this in the wrong way - but this girl can take some funny pictures - funny in the sense of "oh my gosh that is the worst look ever!!"

She and Austin were hanging out today - she seems to like to play in this jumper thing - her feet are suspended mid-air as it is not good for babies her age to rest their weight on their legs yet (so we learned from a friend) so....we are just hanging out - again a weird expression on her face!!

Sleeping as usual - it's been cold here so she is bundled up

I was trying to catch her waiving the "hook 'em" horns sign that she does, but no such luck

Now here is the amazing picture - two things

a) this box is on it's side because it is Austin's computer - the other morning before we took our morning walk he went and got this box, put it up on end and said he needed to check his email!! WHAT!! Oh yes, "Austin let's go for our walk" "just a second I wanna check my email" - I have not laughed so hard in days!!!!!!! Then the rest of the day before we did anything, "wait let me check my email mommy" and in case you are wondering his password every time was 874, 874 he even typed on his pretend keyboard.......I think maybe I spend too much time on the computer checking email!

b) in the background of this picture are two pictures of my mom, who Austin calls Grandmother. They are at the end of the couch where I typically sit when I am feeding Ansley - and the other day he got on the side arm of the couch right by my mom's picture and said "nay, nay I am riding a horsey grandmother" and then "Mommy, grandmother and I are riding horses"

I am so glad he is able to "spend time" with my mom.......

Have a great week!

Halloween Pics

Here is our first draft of our Halloween Pictures - we won't get to celebrate Halloween as we are driving to Texas for a wedding on Halloween night so we are taking our pictures early....

This is Austin the Lion and Ansley the Pea-in-a-pod ---Austin has a tail on the back that wags as he walks - You cannot help but laughing hysterically when it happens - maybe better that we will not be around for the festivities on the 31st!!

We are going to take some more once the sun is not so bright in their little faces....