Around the house...

It has been really cold here latley. I'm not even sure if Sydney remembers what grass really looks like since we haven't seen any in months. The ground is just completely covered in snow.

For weeks I have been trying to convince Sydney to put on her hat, scarf, coat, and gloves before we go outside because it is so cold, but she refuses to wear anything except her coat (and we have to wrestle that on to her).

Yesterday she was playing in her room and she came in the living room and proudly said, "Ohhh. Sydney so cute!"

When I looked up, this is what I saw:

Now if only she would wear them outside~

She really likes to wear "hats" around the house now. Anything that will fit on her head will do. On Valentine's Day we gave her a bucket with some candy in it. She promptly dumped out the candy and donned her new cap.

We have also been working on getting Sydney to eat fruits. She will eat any meat, bread, or vegetable we put in front of her, but she refuses every type of fruit we have tried.

After months of begging and pleading, she finally decided to give bananas a try. Thankfully, she really likes them! Now on to applesauce....

Where the fun never ends...

Sydney has recently decided that she no longer needs sleep to function. At night she lays by her bedroom door for a good hour or so screaming and banging on the door. She has even discovered that if she hits her childproof doorknob enough times and with enough force it will break open and she can emerge victoriously from the dungeon.

We have tried everything, but nothing seems to work. Even after she falls asleep to the sounds of her melodic demon-like screams, she only sleeps about seven or eight hours - a far cry from the 12-14 her doctor says she should get.

If she only slept eight hours at night, but was happy and playful the next day we wouldn't care, but that is not the case.


Then again, maybe she's just crying because I haven't vacuumed the floor in over a week.

It's A Boy!

We had our ultrasound appointment today and found out that Sydney will soon have a little brother to torment and terrorize.

During the ultrasound, he would turn and flash his boy parts at us quite a bit, prompting the technician to say, "He sure is proud to be a boy."

That's the same thing we were told about Sydney - well, that she was proud to be a girl. How lucky would we be if our little boy turned out like his beautiful sister? It would definitely make for an easy home life.

Also like Sydney, he is a mover. He could not/would not stay still. He likes to wiggle though, and Sydney was a kicker. I can feel him move more than she did though. During the ultrasound he kept moving his arm up by his head to his eyes. The pictures didn't turn out as clearly as Sydney's did, so they are hard to see. I will try to add them in later and explain what I can.

We are very excited for this little gift of hormone balancing in our house. I don't think Sydney quite understands what is going on, but when I sit on the couch she pulls up my shirt and kisses my belly and says, "Oh, baby so cute."

I know she will be a great big sister, I'm just worried about having to explain to her the whole "boys have different body parts" thing.

Bedtime...

After spending weeks trying (unsuccessfully) to convince Sydney to go to bed at a normal hour, I finally decided to change the routine.

For about a week, I would take Sydney into her room around 8:30 and rock her to sleep. We would sit in the rocking chair and while she finished her sippy cup of milk, I would wrap a blanket around her tight and rock. It seemed to work out okay and she never lasted very long. After 10 or 15 minutes I could lay her in her bed and leave. The only problem was that since all of the lights were off, sometimes I would rock myself to sleep too!

Everything changed two nights ago when Sydney decided that she could rock herself to sleep. So I take her into her room, she climbs into the chair, I hand her a sippy cup of milk and a blanket, and she rocks herself to sleep. I turn off the lights and go out and about 10 minutes later Donnie goes in to her room and moves her into her bed.

I just kind of miss rocking her to sleep myself. maybe our next child won't be so independent...

Sydney's 2nd Birthday

Last night we celebrated Sydney's second birthday. I can't believe she is already two! It seems like just yesterday I was cradling her in my arms in the hospital, and now she runs around all day, talks a ton, and really has a mind of her own.

She has grown so much in these past two years and we have been so blessed to be a part of that. She is an amazing little girl!

We took Sydney to Build-A-Bear, only she decided to build a cat. She loved looking at all of the clothes and accessories. We bought a princess t-shirt for Stripey, but we probably should have bought a hairbow or something too because she still looks very masculine.

Sydney did not want to leave the store, but we bribed her with a trip to the candy store. She really likes those Valentine hearts - ya know, the ones that taste like chalk. After the candy store we went to dinner and then returned home for cake, ice cream, and presents.

When she saw the cake (we wanted an ice cream cake, but Dairy Queen was all out, so we settled for a store-bought cake) she was so excited! She wanted to eat the entire thing herself, but after a few bites she realized that wasn't happening!

She really likes presents, but I think she enjoyed the bags and tissue paper the most. She received a Disney Princess DVD, a Dora DVD, two new shirts, and about 5 books. We bought her a couple of books about new babies coming to families to try to get her used to the idea.

It was a fun night - even if it was just the three of us. Luckily, she is not old enough to want a lot of people around, but maybe next year we can live close enough to family that she can celebrate with her cousins (and grandparents, and aunts, and uncles...)

Last night

We took Sydney to her first NBA game. Donnie found $40 tickets for $5 each on eBay, so we decided to go.

The game didn't start until 8:30, but Sydney is a night owl like her daddy, so we thought she would be okay. She was a little fussy before the game started, but we just bribed her with popcorn and peppermints.

Once the game started and there was some action on the floor, she absolutely loved it! She had such a good time clapping and yelling, "Go Jazz!" She kept telling Donnie, "That's awesome!"

She really liked the cheerleaders/dancers and the bear mascot too. Every time she saw the bear she would growl really loudly.

Even at the end of the game she was still full of energy and yelling. Thankfully, when we arrived home she went straight to sleep.

All-in-all it was a fun night and since Sydney had such a great time (and the Jazz killed Phoenix) we decided we would try it again before the season ends. After all, this will be our last season in Utah - which is really hard to imagine after spending almost 10 years here.

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...