One of those day...

You ever have one of those days with your kids when you just have had all you can take as far as whining & behavior goes...well, I had one yesterday.  Both girls are teething & I do feel bad for them, but there is only one mommy & 2 babies in this house, so they really shouldn't try to send me to an early grave.  The way I can tell Jessica is teething is that her behavior gets awful.  She doesn't obey me & is mean to everyone.....little Ella just doesn't nap & fusses.  Yesterday, Jessica ran upstairs as I was downstairs taking care of Ella, which she knows not to do & then I hear her at the top of the stairs saying MoMo...no, no!  It didn't dawn on me until I got myself & baby Ella almost all the way upstairs that MoMo was wet and this was not from just any ol' water, this was potty water....yuck!  This is not the first or only time MoMo has gone swimming in the potty, but the first time that Jessica has intentionally lifted the lid & put him in, then threw him halfway down the stairs--needless to say, it was not a good day for MoMo.  Now, I am very strict when it comes to cleaning potties in my home & rarely does a day go by that I don't clean the bathroom.  Especially now that Jessica is really into the potty training, I really try to keep everything extra clean...but still, MoMo going for a swim in the potty is gross!  Thankfully, he's machine washable & Friday is his day for a bath in my washer anyway, so all is well & he is clean.  After the MoMo incident, she proceeded to open her milk cup & spill it all over the floor upstairs (thank goodness for hardwoods) & also hit Ella with a hairbrush.  Sometimes I truly don't know what to do with her.  Later, after she was clean from her bath & waiting for me to read her books--I look over & see her sitting nicely in her rocking chair & folding her little hands as she looks at her prayer book--guess I'm keeping her after all & not selling her to the circus ;)  (not really gonna sell her to the circus, but I must admit the thought has crossed my mind).  As for poor little Ella, she didn't nap at all & just fussed for a few hours, which is totally not like her.  I guess what I'm saying with this blog is that even though they look angelic in the pictures I post of them, they can be a handful & even though we sometimes look like the perfect little family, we have "those" days too.  I hope that if you're a mom & you needed a reminder that all mother's have this kind of day, you just had a good laugh at my life with 2 under 2.  I am sure in years to come I'll have many laughs over days like yesterday.  Enjoy a few pics of Ella wearing some new hats from Grandma.

I grant you no hats in this one, but still sweet

Look at the bee on the flower, super cute, right?

I just think she looks so pretty in gray

Sepia tone, orange filter applied...I like how it smooths everything out

Same effect as above, I like the angle of her face here

Love this one...look at the sharpness of the eyes...that's how the pros do it ;)

The green looks pretty with her fair skin, at least I thought so

One of the few little smiles I got...poor little teething girl

Love this one also, it's all about angle when it comes to close ups & that hat looks cute too

No smile, but still pretty

Christmas Night 2011 & some randoms

So if you read the blog yesterday, then you can tell Christmas morning was wonderful around here.  Christmas evening & night was also great.  After the girls had a nice long nap time, they awoke in a good mood & just wanted to play.  Dada finished off the night by reading the Christmas story & Away in a manger to them.  I didn't get any pics, but we had a lovely dinner of prime rib accompanied with a French Petit Syrah--delicious!  Very thankful for such a nice holiday ;)

The only pic of me from Christmas...I apologize for the roughness, I'd been cooking a lot this day--yeah, I'm still wearing my apron

Jessie & Kitty Lulu

She's amazed by this thing

Michael reading the Christmas story to the girls

Baby Ella just loves Dada

Obviously, Jessica has strong feeling about what book Dada should be reading

This was Christmas Eve, Eve--Ella was helping wrap gifts in front of the fire

Love this little girl

She just loves Dada

One of my favorites of them

Rolling around in front of the fire wearing a diaper

Love this one

Look at this little chubbers ;)

Christmas Morning 2011

As I mentioned in a previous post, we had been prepping Jessica for Christmas this year by telling her if she was a good girl then Santa would bring her presents.  She had been telling the Santa in our living room that she was a good girl basically since she knew about this.  On Christmas Eve, "Santa" placed lots of gifts under out tree after the girls were in bed & when they awoke on Christmas morning Michael carried them both in to see the tree.  Jessica didn't know what to look at first.  She was beside herself with all the presents.  I know a lot of people will say that she didn't truly understand what was going on b/c she is only 21 months old; however, I know she knew it was a special day & that somehow Santa was involved ;)  As soon as Michael put her down, she had to walk around the tree and check everything out.  She immediately went right for one of Ella's gifts and tried to open it for her.  I think as a parent this is one of those times that you always remember.  The look of curiosity & excitement in Jessica's eyes will always be something I remember.  She enjoyed opening tearing into the gifts this year.  Little Ella just took in the whole experience.  Ella also liked opening some gifts--with a little help of course.  This year Jessica's big toy gift was a Fur Realz Kitty Lulu--that's the big white kitty of this line.  I can't believe what a sophisticated toy this thing is, seriously, I am impressed!  I will have to say we did have an interesting morning with Kitty Lulu & Michael had to do the dad thing of running out to the gas station for some overpriced "C" batteries in order to get Kitty to work.  I had looked at it previously & thought it took "D" batteries, but I was incorrect.  Ella's big toy gift was a ball popper that looks like an elephant & she also got her 1st Bible from Dada.  The girls had an absolute blast & we did too!  So thankful for the special morning this was for our family & we look forward to more excitement from the girl's next year ;)  Oh...I almost forgot--we had a great Christmas breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls & fresh made sausages from the Parma sausage shop in the Strip District (I don't even like sausage & I thought these were good ;) Enjoy some pics of our Christmas morning.

Some very good girls live here

Michael explaining that b/c she had been good Santa had brought her gifts

Jessica pointing & saying "ohhh" when seeing the presents

Checking out all the presents

Checking out the gifts from the boppy

Opening her stocking

Christmas baby

Opening her stocking

Jessica helping Ella open her gift

Looks like she's got the hang of it this year

Some of the new toys to play with

This is a big hit...a last minute find at Kohl's for less than 10 bucks

Opening her Bible from Dada

Opening Kitty Lulu & realizing that she got a new kitty

They both like Kitty Lulu

Brushing Kitty Lulu

Homemade Cinnamon rolls, they take a long time to make, but I think they will become a Passineau family tradition for Christmas morning

Christmas Eve

I guess you were expecting the Christmas post today, but I've got some more editing to do!  As for our Christmas Eve we had a lovely service at church & got to attend with a friend from Michael's work.  I, of course, had the girls all decked out in some adorable dresses---Ella wore Jessie's from last year & Jessie wore one of cousin Hannah's from a few years ago (I am sure Michael would have indulged a shopping spree for new dresses, but these 2 had only been wore once, so why be wasteful).  Jessie also wore some "ruby red slippers" that Grandma Washington had sent her.  Our church Northway did an excellent service that was very moving  concerning God's pursuit of us.  The music was amazing & we heard a rousing rendition of the little drummer boy.  We ended the night singing Silent Night in the sanctuary aglow with candlelight--gets me every time.  Although, no church is perfect, we do feel grateful to have found a church like Northway & look forward to our girls growing up here.  We had gone to the 3PM service, which was packed, so when we got home, dinner was in order.  I made roasted turkey breast, mashed potatoes, homemade turkey gravy, homemade bread with honey butter, & fresh steamed brussel sprouts for myself (Michael does not care for these).  You can see from the menu--he's a meat & potatoes man!  We enjoyed a lovely bottle of Pinot Grigio to accompany our meal.  Although, it was just us 2 eating dinner on Christmas Eve, I used my new Christmas china (thanks Mom & Dad Passineau), nice silverware, & crystal, as I wanted it to be special.  I, of course, made sure to document how adorable the girls looked & the setting for the meal.  It was a very special night for us as a family & the first Christmas Eve we've spent at our home.  Let me just say how incredibly blessed I am to enjoy a nice/warm home, beautiful/healthy family, and ample resources to enhance the celebration of our Savior's birth....there are no words for how truly Thankful I am for the wonderful life I enjoy!  Anyway, enjoy a look at our Christmas Eve.  Oh & Santa did bring presents to our good girls & I stayed up to get some pics of that also ;)

21 months

I love this little dress..thanks cousin Hannah

I know the red shoes are too cute, right??

Love this one

The focus is a little soft here b/c she was moving

Look at that sweet baby

This captures her perfectly, always happy, unless hungry ;)

Love this one...I know the expression is serious, but that face is beautiful

The focus is a little off, but she's still precious

Proud Dada with his little girl

Dada and his girls

Our Christmas Eve table

It was very pretty even if just for 2

Looks like we were all very good this year ;)

Lots of presents awaiting us on Christmas morning ;)