January... and It Definitely Feels Like It!

Lorelei with her new winter books we are reading each night. We also now have a 16 month old!

Well winter seems to have finally kicked in around here. This weekend it was barely into the 30s but felt colder than that. We have been running the fireplace like crazy and are already almost done with the pile of firewood the Stahls brought for us! This also means we are stuck inside the house, which is never fun. But I can't tell you how much it has helped having so many new wonderful toys! She has been much better now that she has new and exciting things to play with. We were so glad Brad had another long weekend because of New Years and now I'm really not looking forward to a full week without him. We have been spoiled the last couple of weeks.

The other new challenge we are facing is Lorelei's worsening lack of desire for sleep! She is now waking up by 6 AM every morning (used to be 7) and now only wants to take 1hr 10-15 min naps (instead of 2 hrs). Open to suggestions if anybody is friends with the Sandman. :)

Yes, Brad found yet another use for Duct tape...entertaining your toddler when stuck inside! Today was the second day of this activity and yesterday I freaked out to see patches of duct tape on Lorelei's cheeks! Amazingly enough it didn't hurt her to take them off so I guess it is whatever works. Today he went for the hands and she was quite proud of getting her nails "done". :) How do men think up these things? :)








Dancing with Elmo tonight. Had been doing it before the camera but as usual didn't do it for long when I started filming. You still get the idea.

Lorelei loves her bath baby. She gets excited to go give her baby a bath. It just cracks me up when I see how Brad lets it dry out...as you can see she drains out the proper area so sits perched on the edge of the tub. Hope this is amusing to you as well. :)

Bringing In The New Year

We rang in the new year with our wonderful friends at our place. The men watched football and the moms chatted while the kids played. We all had plenty of dip to eat too. :) Was a great way to bring in the new year. We didn't stay up till midnight of course...but still was fun to celebrate early.

New Years Day was a bit dull around here, but productive at least. We took down Christmas decorations because I couldn't handle one more day of getting Lorelei to leave them alone. Plus this frees up the weekend for the rest of our chores. We also watched the Rose Bowl parade as always. Of course Lorelei's favorite part was the pre parade info with the snowboarding bulldogs. :) We also snacked on dip most of the day...the picture is Lorelei having some (she loves it!) at 10:30 AM already! Great way to kick off a healthy new year right? :) And finally the last picture is Lorelei enjoying her new book which we looked at many times today. Now she is STILL not asleep after only taking an hour nap today...hope this isn't a sign of the rest of the year! :) Happy New Year to all of you!

A Few More Days With Grandma and Grandpa

The men enjoying some football and beer...enjoyed this many days during their visit...and now we get to do it again tonight because the Huskers play! :) Woo hoo. ;)






Trying to get a cute picture of Grandma and Lorelei in their pink...so got another tickling one instead because Lorelei would not cooperate. :)

All decked out in pink...I mean who doesn't drive a slide at night with in pink from head to toe in a sparkly tutu?









Playing in the tunnel with Grandpa.










Our trip to the longest bridge in the WORLD!! This is just up to another part of Virginia so is a pretty neat thing to see so close to us. I was relieved that it was not higher up in the air. :) As you can see in the middle picture, it looks like there is a big hole in the bridge...that is one of the spots where the bridge turns into a tunnel that goes UNDER the water. There are two tunnels on this bridge...not sure how many miles it was but its long!



Enjoying some time with Legos.

Grandma and Grandpa left this morning...we are so glad they came for a visit! Lorelei is wondering why only one person watches her every move and plays now. :) Thanks for everything!

Enjoying Some Beautiful December Weather

We have had some gorgeous weather this weekend. Saturday Brad and his dad were able to go golfing while the girls stayed around the apartment, but took a few walks and enjoyed the new slide.

A little singing with Grandma...as you can see she ends up clapping for her great performance more than singing towards the end.

Looking goofy with Mr. Potato head glasses and a visor. :)











Sunday morning we enjoyed a trip to the beach! The weather was wonderful and we enjoyed playing at the playground, building sand towers (knocking them down is Lorelei's favorite) hunting for shells, and talking a walk on the fishing pier.



Then a family lunch at Red Robin to top off the afternoon.

Just Resting Her Eyes...While Eating?! :)

Flashlight Fun

Having a little fun...Lorelei had the flashlight and was having a great time moving it around watching it on the ceiling etc, then would get it on the wall and try to catch it which reminded me of a cat chasing its tail. :) When I went to get the video camera she wanted me to do it...it may seem cruel but remember she is laughing. :) I think one similar to this made it on funniest videos except they had a dog too... :)