Behind on Pictures

I am behind on posting pictures.  We of course went to the zoo before Chris left.  It was a gorgeous day.  One of those beautiful Colorado days where it's just warm enough to be comfortable but not too hot.  The leaves were changing and were so vibrant and beautiful.  We were in a holding pattern at this point.  Meaning we had had a date he was leaving and then it had gotten post poned so we were in that beautiful "grace period" of "extra" days that we didn't think we would have.  We had a great time.  I was able to get a few pictures of Virginia and Chris.  We stood and looked at this porcupine for the longest time.  He was straddling this branch and hugging the tree while trying to sleep.  For some reason I thought it was so funny looking.  The turkeys were right behind me and while I was laughing at the porcupine Chris was putting the brake on the stroller (it made a clicking noise) making the turkeys do their gobble gobble which got he and Virginia laughing hysterically. 
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vobQxsSSZpE

I posted both video links because I'm not sure if the 1st one is working.

Happy Farming

So during garage sale season I found this farm set for $3.  It has several tractors, farm trucks, animals, farm equipment like a hay bailer, plow, farm wagons and a ton of horses.  She's never shown an interest in horses but I couldn't pass up the farm equipment.  So I thought it would be nice to give it to her while Papa is visiting so he could explain all the farm equipment to her. 
I put up the card table so that Nana and Papa could sit and Virginia could spread out all her goodies.  She really took to the horses and has been having conversations with the horses.  It's very cute.  I'm not sure how I'm going to convince her that the card table is temporary and we can't leave it up in our living room forever!  Hope everyone has had a great Thanksgiving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Thankful For...

I am thankful for Moms Morning Out being open the day before Thanksgiving so that I can get the house dusted and vacuumed right before Nana and Papa show up today without the toddler pictured below dragging out as I clean! 

Her Friend Bootsie

Bootsie was so funny last night.  She really just wanted to go to sleep but  Virginia kept jumping up on the couch to get a picture with her, then jumping off the couch to come to me and look at the picture, then Virginia would jump back up on the couch.  Bootsie was doing all she could to keep her eyes open. 

black and white

Maybe the black and white picture will hide the boogie in her nose!  I seriously can't get over how Virginia wanted to pose for pictures and kept asking me to take them.  And I swear if I were to call and book professional pictures she would cry the whole time. 

Beautiful Girls

Sometimes everything just falls into place when it comes to picture taking.  Course I would have liked Virginia to have had her pants on for these and I really should have checked her nose and face before I started taking the pictures BUT when the mood strikes the toddler and she actually ASKS you to take her picture I just didn't think I could tell her to hold on while I get something to clean her face!  I know I could probably fix it in my photo editing program but I just didn't have time tonight. 

Aren't these 2 girls just the cutest things you've ever seen despite the dirty face!

Apples

Virginia has always liked apples.  Not every time I offer them but she eats them occassionally.  So the other day at the store I grabbed a few apples.  I had some recipes I wanted to try so I got a few Honey Crisps (these were probably the last of their season they are so so sweet and juicy good!) and some granny smith.
Well yesterday morning I was going to attempt to bake apple chips so I sliced up one of the Honey Crisps and gave virginia a few and baked a few slices.  She ate them and asked for more.  She followed me to the kitchen and told me not to peel and slice it she wanted "that red apple."  She was so adamant that I just handed it to her.  She promptly took a huge bite out of it.  This may not seem like a big deal and it isn't really BUT I've always peeled and sliced her apples.  She happily bit and munched away at this apple with apple juice running down her arms.  She likes to methodically go around the apple taking bites where there is still the peeling on.  Once she's bit all the peeling off she's done.  It is a waste of some delicious apple BUT I'm not going to stop her if she wants the whole apple and she's eating it.  She asked for another one last night after her bath so I gave her another one.  I'm sure she'll hate them next week after I go and buy a bag full of them!

For Daddy

These were taken the night Chris left.  Around Virginia's mouth was all chapped from where she sucks on her lips while she plays with her cars.  I put aquafor on it (it's similar to vaseline) as often as I can and it helps some but it is just so dry here. 

Better

I'm feeling better which makes things go more smoothly.  Virginia and I are busy busy busy.  I thought these were some sweet pictures that I got of her the one morning we didn't have anywhere to go. 

Somebody's Watching You!
That's actually a song.  Sometimes Geico uses it in their commercials. 

Mac is the big rig that hauls Lightening McQueen.  Some days I feel like Mac looks in this picture. 

Chris and I laughed at this picture before he left.  Hope it makes you laugh.  I'd love to hear any funny titles you might have for the picture.

Tea Party with Daddy

Before Chris left Virginia got the new Tinkerbell movie and in it they have several tea parties.  So since then Virginia likes to have tea parties.  In the movie they clink their glasses together so that's what she and Chris are doing in one of the pictures.  She didn't want to have her picture made this particular morning so I didn't get any really good pictures. 
I'm feeling a little better today.  We had our first snowfall of the season today.  It was quick and gave a light dusting on everything and has already melted. 

Sick and Tired

Not to sound too cliche BUT I am sick and well I am tired.  I'm fighting a cold which is not only making me feel bad but is making me tired too.  On top of that Virginia has had a few rough days of whining and crying at almost everything. Not napping cranky. She hasn't even wanted to talk to Chris on the phone which she's loved doing before so you know she was in a foul mood.   Thankfully she hasn't gotten what I've got.  She has a little runny nose but nothing that has kept her from school.  So by the end of the day I'm just tired.  I feel like a mouse in one of those wheels just running around and around and around and never getting caught up.  Which I know is part of life.  Always feeling behind.  I'm working on it.  Virginia has had some great days lately of nice naps, playing by herself, and just being pleasant to be around.  I am blessed that 90% of the time she is this way.  I'm patiently trying to wait on that deployment groove to develop.  I'm seeing bits of it.  With Virginia back to napping and being generally in a better mood I'm seeing glimpses of things starting to fall into place.  Now if I can just get back to feeling 100% then everything would be great!
These are just a few pictures of Chris and Virginia at the park before he left. 

Movie Watching

We were so lucky that Chris had a few days off before he left.  One of the things we did was watch videos together. 
I do apologize for my lack of blogging.  Things are settling into a routine which means I'm actually doing things that I should be doing around the house which leaves little time to blog.  Virginia still have several days a week that she just doesn't nap.  I still put her in the crib and some days she stays quietly for a bit and other days she is yelling, crying, screaming to get out.  Also some of the wives have formed a weight loss/physical fitness group.  Right now we are only meeting once a month and I am not motivated at all to exercise BUT I am motivated to start cooking more and eating healthier sized portions.  Which means more time in the kitchen/grocery store.  I'm going to also make some regular (for one family sized) meals and divide those in 2 and put in the freezer.  Most freezer meal recipes call for you to make one to eat that night and then make enough to freeze 2 more whole meals.  Well we certainly don't need all that so I'm going to make 1 meal and divide and freeze.  Virginia had her first ever playdate yesterday!  One of my friends husbands watched her while we went out christmas shopping!  She has a little boy 3 and they know each other from MOPS.  It was so nice to get out and know that Virginia was having a good time.  There is another little boy that lives near us who goes to Moms morning out with Virginia and his mom is in MOPS with me so we've been planning a playdate for them.  I'm hoping this will allow me more time to get stuff done around the house if Virginia has someone to play with besides me! 
So we're busy busy busy in a good way! 

Halloween 2010 Part 2

I put out all of Virginia's costume choices hoping she would pick one and we could go trick or treating.  She had been saying all along that she didn't want to go.  So sure enough as I was half way through fixing dinner she comes into the kitchen with last years dog costume.  I was crossing my fingers that it would fit again this year.  I quickly turned off everything I was cooking because I didn't want her to change her mind.  I shoved her into the costume and off we went.  I literally only got these 3 pictures and the video below this post.  I hope everyone can see it.  Youtube was acting weird and it wouldn't let me upload it straight to the blog or maybe I just forgot how.  You can see in one of the pictures she has her hand up like she's warding off the paparazzi.  I didn't dare take more than these 3 pictures because she would scream and I was afraid a tantrum would erupt too far from home for me to quietly take care of it.  She went to alot of houses on our street and got some candy.  She's done really well too with letting me dole out the candy and not crying to eat it all at once. 

Halloween 2010

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