What's for Dinner?

I'm bored with everything I cook and have been looking for new recipes. I tag all of you out there to post what your family is having for dinner!
Tonight we are trying something new, chili cheese slices and Butterfinger cake for dessert. I'll let you know how it is. Tomorrow, we're going for an old classic, poppyseed chicken and bread.
So any of you who read my blog regularly, let me know what's on your table tonight!! Melia, Tammy, Wendy, Jessica, Jennifer(s), Deana, Elizabeth, Tracy, Bethany, Tiffany, AnYbODY!! I need some help!
UPDATE: Chili cheese slices-blah, Butterfinger cake-pretty tasty and I'm not really a sweets eater!

Chef Olivia helping me out with the Butterfinger cake!

Busted!

I asked Michael to help Olivia get dressed for church the other night while I was getting ready. I could hear they were in her room laughing hysterically, which is pretty common for the two of them. But, not wanting to be left out, I went to check it out. This is what I found. Followed by, "Mommy, look at my Spanx!"

I really believe that Spanx are a gift to us women, moms especially, from God. But, on that note, if any of you need me, I will be at the gym after preschool drop off!

Cavity Free!!

Somebody went to the dentist yesterday and somebody was cavity free! Yay!!!

Valentine's Day Party!

The other morning I had to take Ana Blair for her well baby visit and Michael stayed home with Olivia. While we were gone, I told him they needed to work on her Valentine's for her friends at school (she chose Build-a-Bear BTW). When we got home, AB was so exhausted that I took her straight to her bed and laid her down. Olivia came running out saying she had a Valentine for Ana Blair and I of course threatened her within an inch of her life not to go into the room and wake her. So, when the baby did wake up, this is what I found at her door. I thought it was the sweetest thing!

Here is Olivia decorating her sugar cookie at her preschool party. Later, she decided it would be a good idea to decorate her face!!
Passing out Valentines

She has been telling me that Valentine's Day is her favorite holiday because she just loves hearts. Now that it has passed, she has not-so-surprisingly decided that ALL of the holidays are her favorite

My girls

Happy Valentine's Day!

Another post about my sweet Valentine...we celebrated yesterday because the girls went to Spring City for the night!! As if sleeping in wouldn't have been enough of a Valentine's Day gift! We started out the morning with a massage at Spa Visage, followed by lunch at-wait for it-Hooters. I know that may not sound romantic to anyone else out there, but for Michael and me, it actually kind of was! We used to go there all the time before the babies. Then he took me to see Confessions of a Shopaholic (on opening day!)--I read the books in college and for some odd reason can totally identify with the main character--is it a coincidence that her name is Rebecca? Then Michael actually let me walk around the mall for a little while, which he hates. We came home hung out for a few minutes and then went to a late dinner at Copper Cellar (thanks to the awesome girls at Baby Bundles who gave us a gift card when Ana Blair was born!). It was so good and cozy and just nice to spend a day with just us. Then we came home and watched Hope Floats and I cried like a lunatic. AND...there were presents! Chocolate covered strawberries, the Hope Floats CD and previously mentioned DVD (I used to listen to that CD all the time before a certain Rodney Lee Jones decided to take poor Mustang Sally for a joyride--I know Jennifer and Melia remember Rodney! Anyway, yes my car was stolen (and recovered), but I never got back some of my awesome high school anthem CDs! The Serendipity DVD because that was one of the first movies we ever went to the theater to watch when we were dating. And I also got these cute tees...

Yes, I'm a little embarrassed about my obsession with Twilight, but at least Michael is supportive of my feelings toward a fictional character!

And Michael wasn't left out. I actually ordered him some pizzas for him from our favorite pizza place in Chicago. They will overnight them to you on dry ice for a cost!

Anyway, it was such a fun day. But I am so glad to have my girls back under my roof with me and back to every day life!

Still 4 months!!

Ana Blair finally got to go for her 4 month well baby visit today. She did really well, and only cried a little bit while she was getting her shots. Check out these stats:

Weight: 16 lbs. 1 oz. (88%)

Height: 25 1/2 inches (84%)

Head: 42.5cm (82%)

I swear this child is going to be bigger than Olivia by her first birthday!

Happy Birthday Ms. Jean!

Last week at Olivia's preschool they celebrated the preschool director's (Ms. Jean) birthday by having everyone wear black. I didn't think Olivia would even notice. But she was SO excited. She said she thought she looked like a mommy. While I was taking a picture of her, she kept confusing it with the video camera and was screaming, "Happy Birthday Jean!"

25 Things I Love About You!

Okay, so maybe not all of you, but instead of the usual pics of Olivia and Ana Blair, I thought that in honor of Valentine's Day, I would dedicate a post about my Valentine and all the reasons why I love him. I'm sure these aren't all the reasons, but they were the first 25 that came to my head!
1. He makes me laugh. Every. Single. Day.
2. He's a wonderful father. I could sit and watch him with the girls all day long. God knew what he was doing when he gave him two daughters. It takes a special man to be a great daddy to a little girl and he does it.
3. He's a wonderful husband. He hugs and kisses me everytime I need it!
4. He's a wonderful provider. He works so hard (almost!) every day so I can stay home and take care of our girls.
5. He knows how important my family is to me and never questions me (anymore!) about the million phone conversations I have with them each day or the weekly visits!
6. He knows me and can tell when I need a little breather from the girls and lets me have one.
7. He prefers my hair curly! That's the easy way, that's why it makes me so happy!
8. He helps me cook, and he fixes my plate for me!
9. He knows what smocking is, what monograms are, why Olivia's hairbows are so big, what a Louis Vuitton is and that Sephora is a store. A really great store.
10. He wouldn't admit it, but sometimes I catch him cuddling with Mollie.
11. He thinks I'm a good person and he makes me a better person.
12. He's a really good person.
13. He's a positive person. He always helps me to see the positive side in everything.
14. He loves reality TV as much as I do, and sometimes I catch him reading my Us Weekly!
15. He has accepted and listened to (not always with a smile though) my obsession with Edward Cullen and my constantly asking him if he's sure he's not a vampire.
16. He loves our little girls more than life, but he knows that we need time for just the two of us too.
17. He surprises me with little things that mean more than anything else!
18. If I go to bed before him, he comes and tucks me in. He plugs up my phone for me and turns the TV on the channel I like it to be on and the volume at the exact right level.
19. I hate to vacuum, so he has taken over that chore since we've been married.
20. He gets me breakfast from McDonald's almost every Saturday morning.
21. His smile!
22. I always feel safe when I'm with him.
23. He knows that I "work" every day and never makes me feel like staying home is a vacation!
24. He calls to check in with us several times a day.
25. I love Michael because of him. He has taken care of me almost from the very minute we met. He makes me happier than I had ever been and had ever dreamed of being. I am the baby of a big family and no one ever thought I would find someone to spoil me like I had been growing up, but he does even more! He humors me when I'm watching Real Housewives of Orange County and I cheer for the Chicago Bears like I've been a fan my whole life! We love time to ourselves, but we usually end up talking about the girls. We love to talk about our past and plan our future. He makes me feel good about myself every single day. And I never have to doubt that he loves me just as much as I love him.

Snow Day!

We finally got some snow at our house! It started snowing mid-morning on Monday and snowed most of the day. Olivia had so much fun, this is the first time she's ever gotten to play in snow. Here she is making some snow angels!

Her snowman
Mollie loves snow. We had a snow the first winter we had her and she loved it. She just runs and runs like a complete maniac!

My little snow bunny

And of course I had to take Ana Blair outside for a picture in her first snow, you could tell she was perplexed by it!

4 Months!

Ana Blair is 4 months old!

I can't believe she's already 4 months old, but on the other hand, I can't remember what it was like before she was born! She is such a good baby and such a joy to our entire family. Her well baby check-up was scheduled for tomorrow, but was cancelled because of the weather. Last week, when we went for the reflux/Olivia's ear infection, she weighed 15.1 lbs.! She's huge! She loves to eat and is really enjoying her sleep now too! She consistently sleeps 12-13 hours at night (every few nights, Michael or I may have to go in and give her pacifier back to her). We are really working hard on getting a nap schedule down. Right now, she is still napping 3 times a day, one long one, one medium-sized and one short one in the evening! She is very different from Olivia and really loves her bed. Olivia wanted to be held all the time. She is rolling over (we've had to go in her room and flip her back over a couple of times during the night because she got stuck on her tummy). She loves to stand. She's much more interested in standing than sitting up, another big difference from Big Sis. And she is finally starting to enjoy bath time!

This is what her hair looks like all the time, complete with her new bald spot!
My mom took Olivia to Build-A-Bear a few weeks ago and let her make "Heart" the Valentine Monkey. She insisted he needed sunglasses and the other morning, Olivia started laughing hysterically because Ana Blair was wearing Heart's glasses.