Hello There

Hi, my name is Laura and I'm a terrible blogger.  I'm ashamed to say that I haven't posted anything in over a year.  It's not that I didn't think about posting, like a bazillion times, but I sit at my computer all day long working and the last thing I want to do is sit at it again at night and take time away from my family.  It also takes forever to post photos.  That said, I've heard from a few people (love you family!) that have complained that I'm not keeping up.  So, I'm back.  I can't promise it will be daily, I can't even promise weekly but I will make a concerted effort to stay current.  And, because I can't handle the year gap in posts, I'm going to go back and post events over the last year.  I'll sleep better at night.  It won't be the first time I've played catch up but hopefully it will be the last.

The most recent fun and exciting thing in our lives is that THE Ohio State University just won the first college football playoff NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I can't even tell you how psyched I am over this!!!!!  We are HUGE college football fans and even bigger Buckeye fans so the last month or so of football has just been insane.  I was so nervous going into Monday's game but they pulled it off and it was beautiful!  Truly, it was an amazing game.  I only wish we had been at this one since they lost the time we went against LSU in New Orleans.  But anyway, before the girls, Bill and I used to literally watch football all day long on Saturdays.  I could tell you all of the day's scores and we wouldn't leave our couch.  That's been replaced with dance classes and, oh I don't know, a life? but we always make time for my beloved Buckeyes.  We were up until 2:00am watching the commentary and celebration and I am still exhausted.  (We also started Insanity this week - the really crazy, kick your ass workout - and I don't think we were smart about the timing of all this.)  The Big Ten had an incredible bowl season this year - Michigan State pulled off an amazing win, Wisconsin and Rutgers also won their bowls.  Then Penn State, the other team that holds my heart, won their bowl against Boston College - also a super exciting game.  I'm so sad football season is over but will be riding this high for awhile.  The game was an instant classic.

So, start stopping by more often and I'll promise the same.  In the meantime, Go Bucks!

This is Julia.....she's new.  :)

Fall 2013 Picture Day

The girls' school went with a new photographer this year and to say that I wasn't impressed would be an understatement.  

Poor Audrey had a huge bruise on the left front of her forehead.

If you look closely, you'll see a large tear under Vivian's right eye and she's holding a graham cracker in her left hand.  This was because she was hysterical and they gave her food to help calm her down.  Notice that she has a pink hair clip in.

 Notice the new clip?  Not sure what happened to the one I sent her in.

While the pics ended up turning out okay, I still took more of my own when they got home that day.

I love my girls!!

Halloween

Our Halloween season was filled with a lot of different activities.  First, we headed to the botanical gardens to take part in their trick or treating event and I think the girls had fun.  Audrey was Cinderella and Vivian was her mouse!

Look at Viv's tail!

The girls' school put on an event after hours for the kids and parents the night before Halloween.  Each classroom had a different event - games, tattoos, a movie, etc.

Getting a tattoo:

Then, of course, on Halloween, their school had classroom parties for the kids.  Bill was post-call so he was able to join us!

 Sisters!

 The goofy photo!

And finally, there was the main event.  It was cold, rainy and windy and were exhausted when it was over but we had a good time.  Bill went as Prince Charming and I'm Cinderella's Fairy Godmother!!

 And they're off.

I'm not sure what Vivian thought about all this.

At one neighbor's house relatively early in the night, Bill saw that Audrey was given Peanut M&Ms and asked if she could get something different.  From that house on, we heard Audrey telling everyone that she couldn't have peanuts.  It was nice to see that people would look through their candy to find something safe to give her.  That's not to say that both she and Vivian didn't come home with their fair share of candy containing peanuts.....just more for me!  Mmmmmmm.

I wonder what we'll all be next year??

Ready For Fall

Fall is my favorite season and I love everything that comes with it - decorations, fall colors, crisp air, apple orchards, cozy clothes, yummy smells (think pumpkin spice, apple, etc).  Here were the girls while heading to school on October 1st!

Vivian's 15 Month Checkup

Vivian had her 15 month checkup today....it confirmed that she's a short fat girl.  She's 22.4 lbs (Audrey never passed 20 lbs until after she turned 2! Even now she's only 28 lbs.)  which is between 50th and 75th percentile and she's 30.25" (which matches what Audrey was) which is a little above 25th percentile.  Short and fat....it's really just her belly which seriously looks like a little beach ball.  It's perfectly round and we love it.  No one can say she doesn't eat.  I like to call her our Dyson (the modern day Hoover) and Audrey our broken dust buster.  Sounds harsh but it's true.  Vivian does not stop eating whereas Audrey barely takes two bites at dinner.  Here's a picture of our little butterball from before school today and, unfortunately, before I did her hair.

Oh Boy.....

Lots to write and catch up on from the summer but here's a little note we got from Audrey's teacher yesterday......we're in trouble.