Project 365 [Day 31]

Happy New Years *eve*!!!  I just had to have these wine glasses, I am a nerd.  I know this.  

Project 365 [Day 30]

The sisters.  Sophia was so miserable, she has had a runny nose and fever for weeks now.  A little bit of attention from Katie always lifts her spirits though. 

Project 365 [Day 29]

We have so much snow!  Most of this snow came down all in one day/night.  Is it spring time yet?

Project 365 [Day 28]

Chris will do anything to make Sophia smile, even get his butt stuck in one of her toys. 

Project 365 [Day 27]

Today we went and saw Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, follwed by a trip to Target.  This is what Chris ended up coming home with.  He is in love with trains, well anything that moves for that matter.

Project 365 [Day 26]

Don't break the ice!  This is what we did tonight, played games that the kids got for Christmas.  Nothing says family time like "Candy Land", "Don't Break the Ice" and "Don't Spill the Beans".  

Project 365 [Day 25]

Daddy and his girls on Christmas morning at Nic's mom's house. 

I don't normally take pride in making people cry but this year it was a really good feeling seeing such a reaction from my mother in law in response to Christmas present from us.  Nic makes jewelry, well I am the one with the ideas and Nic makes it happen.  So her Christmas present was a necklace that said "You are my sunshine" with a puzzle charm and a birthstone pendent for the month of August to honor her mother that passed away February 2009.

Project 365 [Day 24]

Another Christmas present for me... I am almost ashamed to admit in almost 5 years of marriage Nic and I have never splurged and bought new towels. The only new towels we have ever got as a couple were given to us a wedding present. So for Christmas this year my mom bought us a ton of new towels, a shower curtain and even a new rug to match.

Project 365 [Day 23]

My awesome Christmas present from the 'rents.

Project 365 [Day 22]

Sophia and Sophie!

Project 365 [Day 21]

My little candy cane!! She's sitting up all on her own and also wearing an outfit that Katie also wore when she was her age.

Project 365 [Day 20]

Well most people already know this but Nic and I are impatient people....



Nic gave me my Christmas present a little early. So I spent the night playing my DSi and finishing New Moon. My goal for Christmas break has been to finish the Twilight series, which I just so happened to start last Christmas break... I have kids, lots of kids. What can I say?

Project 365 [Day 19]

COOKIES! COOKIES! COOKIES!





We made tons of cookies for all of the Christmas festivities we had. It was a very long night but it was well worth the yummy treats we had!

Project 365 [Day 18]

A lesson I apparently missed growing up...

Always put make sure the lid is on tight on whatever you are about to shake... Or even better yet, make sure the lid is on it...



I poured juice for Christopher and then Kaitlyn asked for some juice... not even thinking about it I decided to shake the juice again... and the lid wasn't on it.... Whoops!

Project 365 [Day 17]

I am sooo late in updating the blog! I apologize. I managed to take pictures every day, but for whatever reason I sucked at getting the pictures onto the computer!

So here is my niece Annie Jo. We babysat the kids for Natalie. I couldn't pass up the quick picture with my phone as she was playing with the computer just like her mom and I do with Bejeweled.

Project 365 [Day 16]

I took my grandma shopping tonight to finish up some Christmas shopping and just to spend time with her and Sophia with the older kiddo's. It turned out to be such a nice time, I loved being able to spend time with just her and be able to talk to her about everything that was going on and just feel the acceptance she always gives me. Anyway, we went to the store and Miss Sophia sat in the shopping cart for the very first time! Of course I rubbed it down with alcohol wipes.



I also have to share, this is the view I get as soon as I back out of my driveway. When Nic was pushing snow during the last big snow storm he found himself driving the truck right into a hole. Turns out that while they were pushing snow the cover to the manhole was somehow knocked out and no where to be found. They had to do something to the hole to ensure that no one would fall through, so this is their fix.

Project 365 [Day 15]

They are not the best pictures but it's what we did tonight. Katie had her first winter program today with school. She had a blast but for some reason my pictures weren't coming out right. Technical support is appreciated, for some reason when I take pictures from a distance at functions like this, this is what I get. I took several pictures and never had a better outcome. I decided after several failed attempts with the pictures just to stick to recording it, that worked out better.



One more of the growing girl.

Project 365 [Day 14]

Sophia and Chris have such an awesome relationship with one another, it's hard to explain if you haven't ever been blessed with the ability to see how they interact with one another. By no means I am saying that her and Katie don't because you can already see how much Sophia looks up to her, whenever Katie comes in the room Sophia is instantly smiling. However, the way her and Chris are, you can really see the older brother/little sister relationship. He lets her pick on him all day long and never gets upset. Like this picture case in point, she was grabbing what hair she could and was trying to pull him closer to her. They both were all giggles the entire time.



Nic pointed out last night how different Sophia is with him compared to the other kids. The other kids were pretty dependent on mom when they were her age, they relied on me for everything- diaper changes, feeding, comfort, etc. But with Sophia, it's different. She is a total daddy's girl. The minute Nic walks into the room she is all smiles, when she needs some comfort she wants dad, if it wasn't for the fact that he can't feed her she would be completely reliant on Nic. As crazy as it sounds Nic thinks that maybe it's because is some weird far off way she knows that her time with his is limited and that she has to soak up all of the daddy love with him while she can until he comes back home after being deployed. Maybe it's true, maybe it's just a coincidence. Either way, she sure does love her daddy.

Project 365 [Day 13]

The kids were so excited to finally get the tree up, they have been asking for weeks now when it will go up and when Santa is coming. So it's official, Christmas is on its way.




After a few fights, a few time outs, and a few tears the tree is officially up and we got a few good pictures of the kids in front of it. It's hard to believe that this is Kaitlyn's 5th, Christopher's 4th and Sophia's 1st Christmas. I love seeing just how much life has changed every year at this time, it's nice to reflect on the changes, the improvements and even the things that we all need to work on.

Project 365 [Day 12]

Sophia is 5 months old today! I can't believe how fast time has flown. I can't believe how much life has changed already and how it feels like just yesterday that I found out I was pregnant with her. It's such an amazing feeling to watch them grow and learn the world around them. She is doing so much already and is hitting so many milestones. She can sit on her own for a little while, she's rolling over like crazy, she's babbling, giggling, even trying to get the hang of crawling. We had been trying cereal and of course that was a no-go so the doctor told us to give baby food a try but after 2 tries we have decided it's best just to wait a little while longer after seeing the reaction she's been having to the food.

Project 365 [Day 11]

My semester is OVER!!! Finally! I am excited to be done with it and a few weeks off before the start of the next one. It seemed like this has been one of my hardest semesters yet with everything that has been going on. I started class a little less than a month after Sophia was born, the kids started school, we had a last minute vacation where I missed a week of classes, my dad's health was getting worse and now the liver transplant and then just everything else that life throws at you. I am ready for next semester to start in a way and see how it goes, I am shooting for honor roll next semester since I wasn't able to get it this semester. So let the winter break commence. My goal is to get some reading done, I am still working on New Moon and hope to have the whole series finished before winter break is over. It's nice to have some time to read and not have to worry about homework.

Project 365 [Day 10]

The kids finally were able to get out of the house and go over to their Aunt Natalie's house. Thank goodness for her offering to have them come over, I was starting to go completely gray! The kids had a blast playing with their cousins and getting a chance to play in the snow. Not to mention I was able to work on homework and get some of my finals almost completely finished up. So now that the kids have had a chance to play in the snow and had a few snow days, can winter be over yet? I'm ready for spring.

Project 365 [Day 9]

We ended up getting roughly 11-12 inches of snow! Not to shabby for our first major snow fall. It looks like it will be a white Christmas after all. It's hard to imagine that there was a time when I loved snow days, now I am feeling what I am sure my parents felt when I was in school. "Yet another snow day?! AHHHH! Bring on the caffeine" I love my children more than life itself, they just need their time out of the house just as much as I need them to have time outside of the house. They ended up not having school the entire week! That's a lot of time at home once they are used to being out and about playing with friends at school every day. Oh well, there is always next week!

Project 365 [Day 8]

Oh the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we've no place to go,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

This is the view from our backdoor. I debated venturing outside to take a better picture but decided it was too cold out. I should point out that if you look close enough you can see that this had already been pushed once today and it's already snowed over, this picture was taken around 2:00 PM and now it's completely snowed over. Oh how I love winters in the midwest. It's only our 2nd snowfall of the season and it is coming down in full force. Nic is working on snow removal right now in hopes to keep the roads up here open. I will have to take a picture tomorrow of all of the snow once it's stopped just to show how much is coming down. Right now our stairs are snowed over and the door can hardly be opened. Oh yes... "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow." I should add that this is the first winter that Nic has really driven in the snow with our van. He left last year right after we got the van for bct/ait so he never really got the feel for the van. He is now completely regretting the decision to get the van and give up our 4wheel drive vehicle.

Project 365 [Day 7]

Sophia Maci



I apologize for being late and keeping my adoring fans (Alisha) from seeing my pictures for the last 2 days. So here it is, yesterday was Sophia's 4 month check up. And yes, I am aware that it's almost a month late. What can I say, I am a habitual procrastinator. So the check up went great, she is in the 50th percentile for her height and weight. She weighed 15 lbs exactly, Nic won the bet. I suppose I can't win all of the bets around here. Sophia's doctor thought that if we wanted her to eat some food to try and help her get full to skip the grains due to her MSPI and just try one of the simple fruits or veggies. We had tried rice cereal and oatmeal which resulted in hives both times... So we started banana's last night. She did pretty well but wasn't very keen on the idea. They seemed to be a bit tart compared to what she's used to but she did well, not to mention we had no hives

Project 365 [Day 6]

"The most important thing that a father can do for his children is to love their mother."



Katie and I hanging out before it is time to leave to get Nic from the Armory.  I am really amazed at how well the kids did all weekend without Nic here, it gives me hope that maybe when he goes to leave for all of the pre-deployment training and also the deployment that maybe they'll handle it better than I am anticipating.  They really seem to understand why he is leaving all of the time and Katie said earlier that she was excited to go get dad because she likes his soldier outfit.  What a smart girl!  Who doesn't love a man in uniform?!  

Project 365 [Day 5]

"They say genes skip generations. Maybe that's why grandparents find their grandchildren so like-able." -Joan McIntosh

I apologize for updating a day late, we had a nice busy day yesterday.  With the hubby off to drill for the weekend and running all over, I just seemed to have let the whole day slip by.  Sophia decided that she needed a nap after having a nice visit with my dad.  He was able to hold her (with help of course to avoid busting a stitch or hurting his incision) for the first time in  a long time.  The minute Sophia saw him she was all smiles.  There are few people that Sophia shares her endless smiles and dimples with and it made us all so happy to see just how happy she was to see him.  It was so nice to see dad doing better than he had been doing.  It will be a long road to recovery but he already is starting to look and sound like the "old" dad.  

Project 365 [Day 4]

"A best friend shares the good times and helps you out by listening during the bad times."


Okay so I didn't take advantage of today and take a very good picture.  I took it while I was waiting for my dad to get of surgery!  I was trying to stay calm and be patient so Alyssa stayed up and chatted with me until all hours of the night! 

I am still over the moon and absolutely in awe at the beauty of organ donation.  Due to the selflessness and heroic decisions of someone and their family, my dad has a second chance at life.  He made it through surgery beautifully and is doing better than expected!  

Project 365 [Day 3]

"Don't think of organ donations as giving up part of yourself to keep a total stranger alive. It's really a total stranger giving up almost all of themselves to keep part of you alive." -Author Unknown

 

My dad waiting to be called back to the pre-op room.

On December 3rd, 2009 at 5:00 PM my dad got a phone call granting him the gift of life. I am currently waiting in the waiting room as my dad is being prepped for a life saving liver transplant. In a short time my dad will be receiving a liver transplant after being on the transplant waiting list for 3 years this month, actually it will be 3 years exactly in just a few days. How amazing is that. 

Project 365 [Day 2]

I have been attempting to boycott winter. Up until today it had been working in my favor. This was taken while sitting in my driveway. We have an absolutely wonderful view from where we live... even if I am boycotting the coldness of winter.



It has been such a cold and cloudy day all day, I think winter is winning the fight and has finally arrived. Even though I hate the cold and snow that comes with it I find myself still in awe at the beauty of the changing of seasons. After living in California I found myself missing the season changes after the first year of living there. 6 years after moving back to the midwest I still can't help but to find myself sitting back and just soaking in all of beauty of mother nature. I have always lived in the city, so I never got to fully appreciate the beauty of the open land and clear skies.

In other news, I am wrapping up the semester and as the winter comes into town it is making it harder and harder to concentrate on school. I have however been able to accomplish Christmas shopping much earlier this year than previous years.

Project 365 [Day 1]

I am the first to admit that I have difficulty following through with things, I get started on the latest greatest project and when life gets crazy I give up whatever I am doing to focus on other things. So my goal is to stick with Project 365 and see just how life changes in the next year. There is a lot going on in the year to come, some great things and some not so great things. So what better way to remember everything and be able to reflect on it all than documenting it with pictures.



Christopher has been really growing up these last few months, so for my first picture to post is him. He's been working on potty training, starting school and just over all growing into an awesome little guy. He's home sick today with the crud that has been going through the house, but luckily it didn't hit him until today so he was able to visit with Papa (my dad) last night for the first time in a few weeks since he's been in the hospital.