ChRiStMaS PrEsEnTs

every year at Christmas we strike out with our kids. i guess i always think i know what they will like better then they do. so this year i had a goal not to be a know-it-all...i was going to get them what they ask for. i had the girls sit down and write their "official" letters to santa. i told them to take their time, because once these were mailed there would be no changing their minds. (this is mostly for my sake so i don't buy them something, and then the day before Christmas having them wanting something else...which they have done before.) so they girls were writting and coloring for about 1/2 an hour. here's what they asked for: annie wants make-up, a guitar, and a BRAT laptop (it's a toy laptop with a few games on it), oh and some new barbies. katelyn wants the holiday barbie, a laptop (a real one), and a nintendo Wii. Um...i don't even know what to say about that. last year she asked for a flat screen tv, so i don't know why i'm even surprised!

we love hand-me-downs

so there is a good thing about having 3 girls! kristina got this coat for katelyn when she was 2, and this is the 3rd time we've used it. i'm so glad too, because it is the prettiest coat i've ever seen!! katelyn and annie only wore it once in a while, but i've been putting samantha in it all the time. i guess it's wishful thinking that this will be the last time we use it!!

annie loves taking pictures, so i was letting her go for it. she actually got a couple of really cute ones of samantha!

annie also loves, loves, loves having her picture taken! she's always busting out the poses!

i'm going to be an aunt!!

kristina is pregnant! yay! i'm so happy! she and jeff have been married for almost 3 years, and she's wanted to have a baby for a long time now...i'm so happy for her and jeff. it's crazy that my little sis is going to be a mommy!!!! anyway, i can't wait! annie is kristina's "mini-me" and my parents think samantha looks alot like jeff, so i'm so anxious to see if kristina's baby will have red hair!!! we always tease them that they're going to have all redheaded kids! anyways, i've known for a few weeks that she was pregnant, but i had to wait until until she posted the news first. i knew she was going to take a pregnancy test, so i called to find out the results. she told me she didn't take the test yet...a few hours later she called and told me she was pregnant! she wanted to take more tests "to be sure" before telling anyone! i was so shocked and excited that i started screaming HOLY CRAP and WHAT THE HECK!! and then i started bawling! i cried like 4 times that day...i'm so happy for them!

Happy Thanksgiving!

so thanksgiving was at my house this year. it was our little family plus my parents. my mom and i actually pulled off a really good dinner. i was very pleased with myself...except for that we forgot the stuffing. we sat down to eat and my mom realized we had forgotten. i was actually pretty bugged by that...who forgets the stuffing?!?!?! we're making it tonight to go with the leftovers, so all is not lost. next exception to the perfect thanksgiving...the pumpkin pie totally bombed! ha ha it was a "schwans" anyway. so derek, my mom, my dad, and i were sitting here wanting dessert really bad. so my mom and i went to mickey D's and got the guys hot fudge sundaes, me an apple pie and an ice cream cone (i had to have ice cream w/ the pie), and then we went to the gas station next door so my mom could get some cookies and cream ice cream!! we are so classy!! when we got back to my house i opened my pie and it was cherry....darn drive through!! we missed jeff and kristina. i'm so excited for christmas...like little kid excited. it's at our house and my whole family is going to be here. it's going to be so fun.

speechless

a new toy i bought for samantha...

what annie likes to do with it...

we love shrek

ok, so derek's brother, jeff, married my sister. jeff and i were close anyway, but that kinda sealed the deal, and he's really close to the girls. since we're close...i usually give him a hard time and joke around with him alot. well, my girls have picked up that art! ha ha ha...this is cracking me up to write (sorry jeff...luv ya!!). we just got the movie shrek the third and we (derek, the girls, and i) were watching it and all of the sudden katelyn says all serious, "shrek looks like jeff...he really does!" also, whenever annie hears anyone talk about teeth she always says, "jeff has yellow teeth," not being rude at all...just matter of fact!!!

do you like my sweater?!

grandma sullivan brought the girls new sweaters, and katelyn wanted to show hers off! gwapa jumped in a picture too!! katelyn looks so grown up to me...teenage years are not hard to imagine!

let it snow!!

we woke up this morning to snow! annie didn't care, and she went out to play with some of her little friends.

treats for sami

katelyn and annie got some air heads at the store and on the way home they snuck and gave samantha one. she thoroughly enjoyed it...and when i went to get her out of the car this is what i found!!

is thanksgiving almost here?

my girls are obsessed about "when" things are going to happen. when do i have soccer, when do i have dance, when will i be 5, when is grandma coming to visit, when are the missionaries eating over, when do i go to school, when is it church day....on and on. they ask me "when" 800 times a day. it wouldn't be such a big deal, but they have no concept of time. tomorrow is the same thing as next week to them! well, i came up with a genius idea. i bought one of those gigantic desktop calendars and wrote/drew pictures on each day there was something they would want to know about. now i say, "go look at your calendar" 800 times a day!! they are SO excited for thanksgiving because grandma and gwapa sullivan are coming to visit. this morning they woke up and started the "when is it thanksgiving" routine and i told them to shut it and go look at the calendar!!! they came up squealing because they realized grandma and grandpa are coming tomorrow. THANK GOODNESS!!! i think we're going to have a "when" free week...maybe!

big girl!

samantha had her 18 month well-check yesterday. she is 26.5 pounds, and 34 inches tall. which means she is in the 79th percentile for weight and the 99th percentile for height. i kinda felt like a loser after the appointment because the doc was asking me all the questions like, does she know 5+ words, does she know any body parts etc.... ya, it never even crossed my mind to teach her the names of things. (ya, i deserve the mother of the year award!) last night i started asking her where her nose is etc and it only took a couple times before she knew what i was asking. i'm pretty sure i had taught annie and katelyn the names of animals and their sounds by now too. i still see samantha as my little baby, and yesterday it dawned on me that she's a little girl now. the doc asked if she has had any interest in the potty...ya that shocked me into reality. i can't believe she'll be old enough for potty training in 6 months. time goes by so fast. i'm so grateful for healthy children....who develop and grow even if i'm no help!

the art of grocery shopping

i was pretty excited for this school year, because katelyn is in 1st grade and annie is in pre-k (which is 1/2 day, everyday, at the elementary which means i have 3 hours everyday with just samantha). i thought, "grocery shopping will be a piece of cake with just samantha." HA...guess again. since derek was out of town i hadn't been grocery shopping for about 2 weeks...so my list was huge. i had to get every thing from toothpaste to ketchup. so, i started out in the pharmacy part of the store...samantha's cutting teeth so i needed more tylenol...well, i let her hold the box, and that ended up being an awful idea, because she chewed/sucked it to shreds. i had to take it away from her and that started the tantrum from H-E-double hockey sticks. at first i was just dealing with her being loud. BUT about half way through the shopping trip she realized she could reach what was in the cart...and it was pretty fun to remove items from the cart and chuck them out. and i mean CHUCK. i would put in the box of cereal, and she would chuck it out. i would go pick it up and while my back was turned she would grab the bag of chips and smash them as hard as possible. i would get the chips from her and be trying to organize the cart so she couldn't reach them again and she would grab a yogurt and chuck it at a person walking by. i would apologize and she would grab a bag of marshmallows and try to rip into them with her teeth. (i came home with 2 bags of opened marshmallows.) i had to get ranch dressing packets and gravy packets...i don't know what i was thinking, but i put them where sam could get them and she started chucking them in all different directions. there were probably 10 packets in all and i was chasing them in 10 different directions. when i would pick up some and put them in the cart she would throw them out again while i was picking up other ones she had chucked out. aaaahhhhh!!!! i thought i was going to lose it! i thought, "maybe i should get her something to eat", so i found a box of the circus animal cookies...ya know that ones in a little red box with the string handle?? well, she ate a couple and i was relieved i found something to interest her...ya well, she ended up being more interested in shaking the box by the string...which ended up being upside down and cookies went flying everywhere. so, finally we get to the frozen foods section at the end of the fabulous shopping experience...with only produce left. i needed frozen corn and i put it on her lap thinking that maybe since it was cold it would entertain her for a bit....well, it did. she chewed on that darn bag of corn for the rest of the time. you should have seen the looks i was getting from people...one little old lady was sweet and said, "i think she's teething." YA THINK?! anyway, 2 hours later i finally left walmart...with samantha still chewing on the corn. what a little rat! ;)

tag you're it!

my friend brittney tagged me and now i "have" to write 6 little know things about me. i'm an open book, so this might be tricky!!
1. i am very anal about how my dishwasher is loaded. if someone else ever does my dishes i usually end up unloading and reloading it before it's turned on.
2. i close my eyes when i brush my teeth. i don't really know why...
3. my favorite thing to eat at the movies is popcorn and sour patch kids at the same time. try it...it's yummy!
4. the only jewelry i wear is my wedding ring and ear rings...i LOVE dangling ear rings! (i have a certain pair i wear with each of my outfits.)
5. i fold my toilet paper...i'm not going to elaborate on that!!!
6. when i make my shopping list i write down what i need, then i rewrite it in the order it is at walmart, and i always start from the back of the store and work my way up...except at a certain walmart in omaha. when i go there i have to start in the front and work my way back, but that's because the frozen items are in the back and i have to get them last!!!

so, i'm going to tag kristina, joanna, joanna, dd and shanna.

daddy's gone....let's party!!

derek left thursday morning to go to minnesota for the weekend. he was in a negotiation competition, and only 6 people from creighton got to go. i wasn't all that excited to be home alone for the weekend! on friday i let the girls miss school, and we spent the day in lincoln, ne, at the children's museum there. it's about a 45 minute drive from omaha. anyway, the girls had a great time.

it's so great when we have a day where the girls are all getting along. this day was awesome because the girls where playing so good together.

katelyn is obsessed with wheelchairs. the children's museum had a part that was dedicated to handicapped children. the exibit was set up so kids like katelyn could experience what disabled kids do. too bad she thought it was awesome!

ya, samantha wasn't too excited to be on the horse...i was hoping for a good picture opprotunity. oh well!

there is a theater play area at the museum where the kids and do face painting. luckily i caught annie when i did or else her whole face would have been black. she paints her entire face every time we go to the museum. last time it was solid red...it's no big deal unless we have errands to run afterwards! (we've gotten some crazy looks!)

oh, derek got home this afternoon. the girls were very happy to see him...so was i! samantha ran to him and gave him a big ol' hug...isn't that the best when they're little and just starting to do that sort of thing?!

hello....do you mind?

i took samantha to get her ears pierced on saturday. we got the other girls' ears pierced at around this age too. she looks so cute, but i'm a sucker for little girls with ear rings. i used to put push pins in my cabbage patch dolls when i was a kid. here's the thing i don't get...why in the world do stores where you can get ear piercing done, like claires, put the darn chair at the very front of the store? samantha is a very stubborn, determined child. she hates being forced to sit, so she was freaking out before the lady even put the dot on her ears marking where the piercings were going to go. so, i had to hold her arms and head still and everyone in the store stopped shopping and gathered in a half circle around us. they just stood there watching. they didn't even try to hide that they were watching. HELLO...do you mind? it infuriated me. at one point my head was turned so it wouldn't be in the ear piercing lady's way, and i was looking out the store window into the mall. a group of about 5 old ladies had stopped in the mall to watch and i could hear one say, "look what that mother is doing to that baby." ha ha ha ha ha at that point i burst out laughing! i couldn't believe people where stopped in the mall watching through the window. after it was all over i stood up and said, "ok people, shows over!" alright, i really didn't, but i totally should have!

ouch...that hurt!

katelyn is the queen of being brutally honest, and today she struck again! our back door was open tonight and katelyn and i heard a very loud bang (like a dumpster lid being slammed). it scared katleyn and she asked what the sound was...i told her it was a dinosaur. she said, "ya right mom, dinosaurs have been dead for a long time...since like the 80s."

school picture time...phew, glad that's over!

ok, so today is picture day at the girls' school. what drama!! if it's this bad now i don't ever want them to turn into teenagers. katelyn was actually pretty easy...considering. i suggested a shirt and she agreed, but only after derek told her he really like it. she requested her hair to be hanging down and curly so everyone could see how long it is getting. we are growing her bangs out, so i had to put them back with a barrette. she wanted them off to the side, but it looks too much like a comb over to me so i had to convince her they looked cuter back. (i guarantee we get her pictures back and her bangs are to the side!!!) now for annie...i kept trying to gently persuade her to wear jeans and a cute shirt, but she was having none of that. she was wearing "church" clothes for pictures and that was final. (i asked her why and she said that church clothes are the cutest.) she also was very particular on wearing tights, "church" shoes, and she asked me to put mousse in her hair before drying it with a round brush...oh, and she wanted a ribbon in her hair like matilda (the kids' movie). i have to say...she did look darling, but freak...that girl is high maintenance!!! i can't even imagine what it's going to be like when samantha is all part of the mix. seriously...our next kid better be a boy! ;) oh, one last thing...when annie was all ready she was looking at herself in the mirror and said, "i'm going to be the cutest girl at school." i'm pretty sure katelyn was thinking the same thing about herself as she strut out to the car to go to school!!!

fried chicken anyone?

so, i have to brag. for the first time since derek and i got married i finally made fried chicken and country gravy!! yahoo!! his mom has shown me how to do it twice, and his sister has shown me once. i've attempted to make it about 20 times and failed miserably each time. so tonight was an awesome accomplishment! ha ha ha i didn't even have to call anyone for help. miracles. we (the girls and i) watched ratatouille about 3 times today, so maybe i was inspired!

i scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

derek decided to have some chocolate ice cream, and samantha was pretty interested in it!

she ended up eating the whole entire bowl! it's no wonder she is a giant kid! she is 17 months old, but she wears 24 month or 2T clothes!

sami was very thankful for the treat! she is so sweet, and is usually generous with her kisses.

after the ice cream she was fat, happy, and ready for bed!

that's annie for ya!

so, i should have made this blog a week ago, because annnie had a pretty funny week. i decided to tell her stories anyway, because they are so darn classic! the girls are in a carpool for school, and the other day it was my friend's turn to take. after she got back from dropping the kids off she came over to my house and just stared at me. finally she asks me if i have an announcement to make. i was totally confused, so she proceeded to tell me that annie told everyone in the car that her mom is having a baby next year. i tried to convince my friend that i wasn't pregnant, but she totally didn't believe me. later that day annie had dance, and when i went to pick her up her dance teacher asked me when i was due! ha ha i asked, "due for what?". she said that annie had told her that her mom is having a baby next year! ha ha ha ha when annie heard us talking she walked up to me and whispered in my ear, "i said MAYBE"!! for the record...i'm not...but apparently annie wishes i was!!

next...kristina came to omaha to visit, and i was really excited, so all my neighbor friends knew she was coming. well, one morning a friend of mine watched annie so kristina and i could go shopping. later my friend called to ask me if kristina's husband came too. i told her no and asked her why...she said she was confused because she thought my sister was visiting, but annie kept saying her UNCLE this and her uncle that...ha ha ha when kristina cut her hair short derek started calling her uncle kristina...i guess that's what annie will call her from now on!!!

Dodgeball

Everyone wish my dodgeball team good luck tonight. We have two big intra-mural dodgeball games.

in real life

kristina and i went and saw dan in real life last night. it is a hilarious movie. i think i really liked it because it is about a dad and his 3 daughters. sometimes i just feel bad for derek!

We're finally jumping on the bandwagon!

so, i say "we're" because i'm going to post updates on derek and the girls, but let's be honest....this is MY blog!!! i feel awesome right now because so many people have been telling me to make a blog. i must have done an really good job at tricking y'all into thinking my life is interesting!! ;) so, on that note....welcome to my blog! come back again soon...i'm pretty sure i'll be addicted to this, and i'll be posted things daily.