The last few weeks...

With the holiday season - and Donnie gearing up for finals - we have been pretty busy lately.

We spent a week in Idaho for Thanksgiving, and spent time with Donnie's family there. It was nice to see family that we haven't seen in a while - Sydney and I haven't been there since last Christmas. Sydney found a new friend in her cousins' dog Max. She really liked chasing him around - and REALLY liked just sitting by him.

When we returned home, we decided it was time to unpack our Christmas decorations and get in the spirit. We live in a very small apartment (600 sq ft), and we are not allowed to have real trees, so we used our 2 ft beauty from last year. It came with lights, so the hard work was

already done!

I know, Charlie Brown had a better tree, but we're woking with little space and little money! I do find it odd that I am the only one without a present under the tree (hint, hint Donnie).

After a snow-free November, mother nature decided to step it up and we woke up on December 1 to 4 inches of snow! Donnie and Sydney went out to play and make a snowman. Sydney lost interest in the snowman pretty quickly, so he's a little small.

It snowed last night and all day today too. The snow should continue falling through Monday, so there will be plenty of snow-themed pictures to come.

Here are a few pictures of Sydney, and her new best friend, Monkey.

Just a reminder...

This week we played outside everyday (hooray! it was actually warm enough, not WARM, but warm enough). On Wednesday we walked to campus and went to the life science museum and had story time and then checked out all of the animals.

On Thursday, Donnie and I babysat one of Sydney's friends, and we spent the majority of Friday night at the grocery store(chasing Sydney through the aisles). With all of that excitement, it's no wonder I have so many pictures of Sydney "sleeping."

Outside, Sydney tries to climb on the bikes the other kids ride, but she is too little. She gets kind of sad, and really frustrated that she can't make them work, so we went to Toys R Us and bought Sydney a cheap little bike. She was so excited! She even helped put the bike together (not so much help as hinder the process). Once the bike was assembled, she was ready to get on and never get off!

Today, Donnie and I were in the living room watching a football game. Sydney ran between that room and her bedroom carrying out as many toys as she could each time. One time, she went to her room and after about 5 minutes she didn't return. I went to her room to see what she was doing, and I found her like this.

Trick or Treat!

Tonight was Halloween so we took Sydney out for a sugar high (I think Donnie was more excited than her).

We dressed Sydney as a princess and went to a children's party on campus first. Different clubs/organizations set up booths with activities like bowling, bean bag toss, basketball, mini golf, picture taking, "horse shoes," doughnuts on a string...

It was a lot of fun, even though Sydney "cheated" on almost every game. Bowling she did well on, but the bean bag toss and basketball she walked right up to the target/hoop and shoved in the bags/ball.

We only stayed long enough for her to do each activity once and then we left to go trick or treating (Donnie said we weren't getting enough candy at the party). Sydney made out like a bandit and we called it a night around 8 p.m.

When we returned home she finally let go of her "purse" (or pumpkin bag). Long enough to let us pick out a few pieces of candy. Then she dumped what was left (which was a lot) onto the floor and reveled in her bounty.

We took a few pictures on campus, but forgot the camera when we went door to door.

Fall Fun

Looking for some Halloween Fun we took Sydney to a local corn maze. When we arrived we found not only a corn maze, but a huge inflatable haunted maze, an enormous jumping pillow, a pumpkin patch, hayrides, pedal cart racing, singing chicken show, kiddie corral pig races...



The best part is that Sydney is still free! We had a great time doing all of the kiddie things. We were there for 3 hours and never ran out of things to do - nor did we do any of the non-kiddie games/activities.

Sydney even tried her hand at milking a cow

We ended the day at the corn maze. She was most excited about actually finding corn in the maze - only she kept calling them "bananas." Donnie then told her that it is corn and that's what we make popcorn (her favorite treat) from, so she then tried to eat it.

Where's Sydney?

So every night we lay Sydney in her bed, cover her up, kiss her good night, and turn out the lights. As we leave her bedroom we imagine that she is peacefully drifting to sleep, safe and secure.

However, every morning these thoughts are quickly brushed aside when I find Sydney not in her bed, but UNDER her bed. Apparently the ground is more comfortable than her bed.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

We received our first official snow today. It has snowed quite a bit in the mountains, but today was the first time it hit the valley - and stuck. When the snow began it was a rain/snow mixture that melted as it hit the ground, but a few hours later it was all snow and it stuck to the ground.

Donnie took Sydney outside to play in it.

She really liked it, but she thinks it is ice.

Her new bed

When Sydney was born my sister bought her a 4-1 crib - ya know it changes into a toddler bed, day bed, and then a full-size headboard. Anyway, we decided to give the toddler bed a whirl.

Yesterday while she took a nap in our bed, I converted her crib into a "new bed" for Sydney. When she woke up and went into her room she was so excited! She ran to her bed and giggled. There was just one problem: she couldn't climb up into it by herself.

I tried to show her how to do it, but nothing seemed to work.

Finally, Donnie had an idea. We bribed her with a cookie.


So it's only been one night, but she stayed in bed all night and this morning she woke up, got out of bed, and came in to my room to tell me it was morning.

Last night we closed her door so she couldn't come out of her room. This morning Donnie closed the bathroom door, blocked off the other part of our apartment with a baby gate, and cracked her door before he left so she could get out when she woke up. It worked wonderfully!

It was nice to let Sydney dictate her own schedule. Plus, I enjoyed waking up to a smile and a "Hi Mama." Instead of the usual screaming, "Amy! Mama! Amy! Mama!"

Hunger pains....

Yes, the pains of encouraging a 20-month-old to eat her dinner - that's what I am experiencing.

Sydney has decided that she will only eat enough to keep an ant alive. She went from eating everything you put in front of her to eating noodles, salmon, shrimp, and cookies. The problem is I would rather die than touch seafood so she only gets that when we go out to eat (which is about once a month - if we're lucky).

She used to love chicken and rice and so I am trying to get her back into that. We have had some form of chicken and rice for dinner every night for the last week (except when we went out and she had seafood with her Dad). After three nights of semi-adequate eating, we decided to pull out the camera.

Lo and behold our child knows how to perform. As soon as Donnie started taking pictures Sydney dropped her spoon and used her hands to shovel food into her mouth. It turned out to be extremely messy, but she ate all of her food, so it was worth it.

Hi grandma!

For the last six months Sydney and I have been with my side of the family (Donnie was there for 4 1/2 months). Sydney grew close to her grandparents (her great grandma too), but now we are back on the other side of the country. It was sad to say goodbye to our family, but its nice to know it will only be for a little while too!

I think out of everyone, my mom was hit the hardest, so just for you mom, here is Sydney:


PLease disregard the mess in the background - we're still in the process of unpacking!

Summer of fun!

This summer has been a great experience for us. Donnie interned with a firm in Atlanta and so we were able to stay with my family and spend time with them. It was especially wonderful for Sydney as she was able to play with her cousins and grandparents on my side.

Here's a look at some of the fun things we did (that haven't already been mentioned!)

Daddy left to go back to school and so Sydney wanted to send him a kiss


In the kiddie pool at the Labor Day party

Hanging out with Grandma



At a fundraiser at The Varsity for Mitt Romney


At The Coca-Cola Museum: & Centennial Olympic Park:

And many other things, but I can't find where I stored the pictures!