My New Job

I'm officially a sales consultant for Norwex products. I received all my stuff today and I'll be getting ready to start parties!! If anyone wants to host a party just let me know. For you out of town relatives I'll be contacting you shortly!! :) They have the best hostess gifts I've seen for parties and the products are just great. The other day I threw away all the cleaning chemicals in my house. No more smelly cleaning products around here. The Norwex ones work so nicely and are very easy to use! It takes me so much less time to clean and I don't have to buy cleaning products at the store. Check out their website for their products and if you'd like to have a catalog just let me know and I'll make sure you get one! www.norwex.com Just navigate your way to the US site.

We went to Zan's work today for the chili contest. My chili didn't win, but it was very good. Ella had a fun time running around his office and Sammy got to meet lots of people and smile at everyone. We had a fun time. Zan is now home, so I'm gonna run.

My Hair Still Stands Straight Up!

Some people were commenting on how Sammy's hair was laying down more now. I won't name names, but I just wanted to let people know not to worry because it still stands straight up. Case in point, check out these photos from this morning. I'm not sure when it will start laying down, but I don't think anytime soon!

Doesn't Ella look cute in her new dress from Grandma? Thanks Grandma! The glasses really make the outfit too!

Little Swimmers

We went to the pool today to go swimming. Sammy got his first taste of the cool waters. He had a lot of fun. He mostly liked looking around and thought the water was a bit cool, but not a complaint to be had. After we got out he promptly fell asleep. Ella had a lot of fun playing in the water too.

We signed Ella up for swimming lessons today too. They start on Feb. 12th and run for 4 weeks, twice a week. I hope she really enjoys them.

Jill had asked what to get the kids for Valentines Day. Well Jill, Sammy has pretty much no summer clothing (other than a couple rompers), so anything for him would be great. I would suggest 6-9 or 6-12 month size. As for Ella, she has lots of clothes for summer, but she's really been into dresses, so maybe a something along those lines? (probably size 4t; she's 31 lbs and 38 1/2 inches tall if that helps.) If you're looking for an idea other than clothes I don't have any because the kids already have too many toys! :)

On To Warmer Days...

We're enjoying the warmer temperatures these days. Well for a couple days anyways. Zan even suggested going snowshoeing tomorrow? We'll see...

Ella and I put together Sammy's exersaucer the other day. He's a little small for it, but he really likes it! There's one video of him just playing with it and the other is of him playing, but it shows how much he really likes the star on it. It has a smiley face on the side that we can't see, so he keeps checking it out.

Ella and daddy went to a ECFE class on Thursday night to see animals that a lady brought to the school. I thought they were going to have reptiles and lizards, but apparently I was wrong. They had a snake, chinchilla, fox, hedgehog and a few other animals. The first thing Ella said to me when they got home was, "They didn't have any lizards!" In that way that she does. So today we had to go to the pet store so she could see some lizards. They had lots of them and they were really cute! Maybe some day we'll have to bring one home.

Little Giggles

I was playing with Sammy this evening and making funny faces. Apparently I was really funny looking because he laughed at me. This is such a fun age because it seems as though they do something new almost every day and it's so much fun to watch. I also weighed him before bed and he's almost up to 14 pounds! He's tall too. It will be interesting to see how big he is at his appointment next month.

I didn't take any pictures today, so I thought I would put up a video of the two little ones. I know Jill checks here often so I like to make sure she gets to see something new. :)

Bare Butts and Baby Oil

Coming up with a creative title is generally fun, sometimes more than others! :)

I'd finally had enough of the cradle cap on Sammy's head, so I decided to use baby oil on it. I hadn't previously because of all his hair and I figured it would be hard to get out. Well it looks like the cradle cap is gone, which is nice, but his hair is a little greasy. Oh well, it will get better. He's just really styling!

Then I had to get a cute picture of his butt. Everyone has to have a picture of their baby like this. It's too cute! Enjoy!

What Great Deals!!

We decided to brave the cold and head to the mall. It's what us Minnesotans do in the winter right? I couldn't believe all the sales going on! I just had to share the great deals we got! Old Navy and Penney's had at least 75% off. So I got 23 pieces of clothing for Ella and Sammy for $35! Took pictures so you could see. I'm so proud of myself!

Wow, It's Cold Outside!!

I just ran outside to get the mail (literally) and froze to death! I think we will all be staying inside tomorrow. Unless we really need to get out, but we would have to really bundle up.

I've been cleaning my desk off here most of the day. I'd really like to organize the shelves, but Sammy's been sleeping for almost 4 hours (with us in here and the TV on I might add) so I haven't wanted to be too noisy. It looks pretty good. Clean too, it was kinda dusty.

So I'm thinking of becoming a Norwex sales consultant. If you haven't heard me talking about the products you should really check them out. It's about cleaning without chemicals. Some of the products are really great and I would expect you to buy some from me! :) Just go to www.norwex.com to see some of the things they have. I use quite a few of them.

Not much else happening around here. Nana and Papa leave for Mexico tomorrow morning and man did they luck out in their timing. I guess it's close to 90 there. What I wouldn't give for a nice warm day on the beach!

Here's a cute picture of Ella. I haven't put one of her up in a few days. Whenever I take a picture of Sam she wants me to take one of her too. Or as she says, "I want to smile!". How can I refuse? Her eye was still a little swollen from her laser treatment.
















Here's a picture that I took to send to the doctor. I had e-mailed him Sunday morning, since I didn't know who to call...and he told me to call him at home. He said that the swelling was normal and would go down, which it did. We have the best doctor for her. He said I could call him day or night at home or on his cell. How many doctors give you their home phone #? Not many. He's also on the cover of this month's Mpls, St. Paul magazine as the best doctor in MN. An honor he's had numerous times. We are very blessed to have such a great doc!

Just Playing

This is the response I get most of the time from Ella when I ask her what she's doing. I think she picked it up from a commercial on TV. Well Sammy rolled over from his tummy to his back Tuesday night. You'd think I would have gotten a video of that, but no. He was so fast, I was actually grabbing for the camera and boom, he was over. 5 seconds max! I will get it though.

We went to Nana's today to play with Damien. I think those kids just wear each other out. Ella fell asleep on the way home and that is not normal for her. She just doesn't sleep during the day, nope, not her, way too much to do to sleep. Luckily for me she likes to sleep until 8 or so in the morning.

Well I got a cute video of Sammy playing in his bouncer. He was just having too much fun. I can't wait until he can crawl around and play with his toys, he's always so happy and having so much fun.

Sammy Looks So Smart!

I decided to try a few things on Sammy that he got for Christmas. I know, a little late, but I've been busy. I thought they were all very cute, but man that plaid shirt is adorable. (I know, I'm biased.) The coat is a bit on the big side, I'm not sure if he'll grow into that one until summer. :) We'll have to see. It looks like it kinda fits, but his hands only go to the armpits or so. He's looks dashing though... I've still been trying to get a video of him rolling over, but he's camera shy, so I'm still working on it.

We've Got a Roller!!

Tonight Sammy rolled from his back to his tummy!! He is exactly 3 months old today. All the way over and got his arm out too. We're so proud of our little guy. I looked back at the books to see when Ella accomplished this feat and she rolled over just a few days after turning 3 months. However, the difference is that she rolled from her tummy to her back. It took her another 2 months to roll the other way around. I think Sammy will get the other way a little faster. He almost got back around tonight. I'll try and get a video of him this weekend and post it.

On another note Ella had a laser treatment this afternoon. Everything went well. We figured that this was her 16th treatment. She does very well, but I think she is sensitive to the anesthesia because she threw up all over Zan. I can laugh because she's done it to me once before. The good thing is that all she has to throw up is the juice and Popsicle, so not too bad. She's back to her normal self already.

New Video

Here is a video I just took of Ella and Sammy. (Thanks Grandpa!!) Sammy really likes his tummy time mat and is getting really good at holding his head high. Especially when Ella has his car!! I'm starting to notice that Sammy reacts more to Ella's voice than mine on some occasions. He really likes his big sister!

Christmas, Part II Photos

Well, I finally got the photos from Sioux Falls Christmas downloaded. I didn't take too many, but there are a few that are very cute. I still have my cold, still sucks. It was better yesterday, but got worse again today. Hopefully tomorrow will be better, but I can't complain because it still isn't that bad.

Christmas (New Year's) in Sioux Falls was a lot of fun for everyone. Ella had a lot of fun playing with Grandma and Grandpa. She got to meet auntie Pam for the first time and a second cousin Oliver. Those two little ones had lots of fun playing together. Sammy got to meet everyone. Everyone thought he was so cute and who am I to disagree. He even slept 13 hours straight one night. Unfortunately he hasn't done it again.

Everyone got great gifts that we are all enjoying. Ella loves her Play Doh toys and her road rug is a big hit. She has it set up in her room and Zan is enjoying it too! :) Sammy has been getting a lot of use out of his tummy time spin garden. He was on it tonight and just lifted his head up and looked all around for the longest time. Zan is currently out running with his new gear that he got. I'm sorry but no matter how much "gear" I had you still wouldn't catch me out running on a cold winter night!!!!

That's the scoop, not much else going on since then. I'll post some pictures below of the fun had. Enjoy!!! The four generation photo is really nice! Ella was handing out presents and was very good at it too!!

Christmas, Part II: The Return

Well, we made it back from Sioux Falls in one piece. I'm sorry I haven't posted any pics yet, but I've been busy trying to put everything away and to top it off I've caught a cold. It's just wiped me out. I haven't even downloaded the pictures yet. I've managed to clean the downstairs though; unfortunately I just moved everything upstairs.

We had a really good time with all of the family. Can't wait to see them again soon! Congratulations to Bob and Jill on the new addition to the family. We need a name for the new pup though! :) I'll post pictures soon!