5th tooth

I won't say Anna had her 5th tooth come in today, but she does have a 5th tooth. I just finally noticed it today. It's on the bottom right side.

YAY TEETH!

I have to say...

1.It's a good thing Ginger likes Cheerios.
2.You don't need a 'water table' if you have a raised dog bowl.
3.I'm proud to say we're now to the point where if I ask Anna what she has in her mouth, she will take it out 99% of the time. Sometimes I don't even have to ask. She's loves to give! Even if it is 1/2 chewed food.
4.I miss co-sleeping.

Some photos to brighten your day.

Tornado Anna


She likes to walk around with one shoe on


Getting ready for our morning walk. Thankfully the snow held off for the 2 hours we were out. It's very windy and snowy now :(


I walked in the room to find Anna trying to cuddle with Kyla. As soon as I walked in she rolled away from the dog. I missed the good shot. Darn you slow point and shoot camera!

Valentines, etc.

This week we switched out our wreath. I like to do one for every season or holiday. This is my first year doing Valentines. I usually skip straight to spring after my winter one, but I didn't do a winter one. I left the fall harvest one up until we left for Greece and well that came down...last week. I found these cute felt hearts at the Tedi ($1) store. I hot glued them to floral wire then wrap the wire around the wreath. I use the same wreath every time.

This was the first time Anna 'helped' me do the wreath.










Not the best photo of Anna but she's showing off her monkey slippers





A friend gave us this chair and Anna likes to 'play' in it. She just climbs on it, plays in it and once awhile will eat her cheerios in it.

Dear Better Homes and Gardens:

I'm a huge BH&G fan. I used to take my grandmothers old magazines back to college with me when I lived in Savannah. Then I grew up and had to get my own subscription. What's that? You want the June 03 issue? That's right I have it. December 2000? I got it too. August 2005? I'm on it. January is always one of my favorite issues because it's a fresh start to a new year and it's always about organizing. The cover reads Cool, Calm and Decluttered. That's what I want my life to be like this year. Out with...not the old, just the things I don't need or use.
From their article 25 ways to declutter for the new year:

#3. Ask yourself 3 things: Do I LOVE it? Do I USE it? and Could someone else use it?

#7. Relegating a sentimental item you no longer have use for to a box in the closet, basement or attic does nothing to honor it. Instead, take a photo of the item and put it in a scrapbook or load it on a digital photo frame. Then donate the item. It's both space saving and respectful.

#25. Attics, basements and garages harbor lots of items you haven't seen or used in a while, which also makes them prime candidates for purging. Clear them first so when you takle your living areas you'll have storage space waiting.

These were a few I really read and thought YES! I NEED to do this. I need to clean out my basement storage room!!

My goal is 30 minutes a day after Anna goes to sleep until my house is PURGED!

50 and Sunny - two days in a row!!

We were glad to see the 'old' snow go. It's nice the first week or so...but 6 weeks later it's just not fun snow anymore. A German friend told me the Germans call the 'Was ist das?' which means "what is that" has is...wow it comes out so rarely that we don't know what it is. I dunno if that's true or he was pulling my leg.

No worries friends the snow will be back tomorrow and Thursday and Friday it's suppose to be 16* - YaY! *with a slow boring clap* (Can you feeeeel the sarcasm?) Love the snow, not the cold. Brrrrr!

Buttons

I'm looking for some 'vintage buttons' really they don't have to be vintage, just ...interesting...or textured. Not your run of the mill buttons. No holes needed, they won't go on anything I just want to make pottery stamps with them.

So if you have some random buttons laying around (any color will do) and you'd like to mail them to me...well that would be fantastic.

Feel free to email me: nicoleyatessmit @ gmail . com if you need our mailing address.

A few examples:




The yellow one in the center is fantastic!!

internet fun...and one more thing

Well...cause it's true. (Thanks to my friend Shannon for posting this on FB)


...this is pretty true too, but the German police are pretty nice.


and one more favorite thing! FLEECE PJs WITH ZIPPERS! Snaps will only get you so far (until like 8-9 months) then you get a 20 pound wiggle worm. Who wants to snap 15 snaps while you're trying to change a diaper?

the best baby gear.

This is of course subjective. I'm sure plenty of people survive without Sophie (I don't see how - once you own her you'll know why) but I wanted do a blog about what has made my life easier this past year. The things I LOVE!! Everyone loves swings, bouncers and exersaucers but sometimes it's the little things in life that make you happy.

In no particular order:

The Nuby straw sippy. Old school sippy cups are out and straws are IN! My sister recommended straw sippy cups to me because of their speech benefits but it turns out they're just all around AWESOME!!! Easier for Anna to use and beneficial for speech? Two thumbs up!


Sophie:
One word: FANTASTIC!! ...and worth every penny.


Fleece lined jeans. More expensive then unlined jeans, but awesome and well worth it. I rank all lined pants up there with fleece lined jeans. Anna wore lined pants during August. Brrrr!!!


The JJ Cole Bundle Me.
Even though Anna has 'outgrown' this. We're still using it! Well we use the bottom part in the stroller. So warm and cozy on our chilly walks. Now I just have to put a blanket over top of her.


The iPlay swim diaper (and swimsuits)
We discovered these while we were in Italy for the summer. Thankfully we picked up the M, L, XL and XXL at the Ramstein PX on sale! We're set until Anna's 3! or 4 ...if she stays itty bitty.




Forward facing changing table.
Going to the states (and having to use sideways changing tables grrr public bathrooms - although I can't really complain, it's rare to find a bathroom here with a changing table) made me really MISS and LOOVE my changing table. Oh how I love it and when I'm done with the changing table, it comes off and becomes a bookshelf.


Robeez:
I love both styles of Robeez! The Mini-shoez (top) and the crib shoe (bottom) are awesome! The Mini-shoez have a rubber sole which makes it possible to wear them outside. They're also nice and grippy which makes walking on our tile/wood/marble floors easy peasy for Anna. The Crib shoes we used when she was itty bitty to keep her socks on and to help grip the floor and in our exersaucer.




The Munchkin snack cup:
New to our world (Thank You Blair!) is the munchkin snack cup. Anna loves them too.

Wonderful Wednesday

Piper laid down on Gingers bed with her and I'm not real sure Ginger liked it very much. Kyla and Ginger do not and have never shared a bed, or cuddled. Ever. In fact they cry to us all the time if one is on the bed they want to be on. Usually it's Ginger. She will whine and whine and whine until we get sick of it and make Kyla get off the bed she wants to lay on. Yes, two identical blue beds. Shortly after this photo was taken (.2 seconds) Ginger got up and walked away.



It's not clear, but it's hilarious!



Bath Time

Our awesome *horrible* kitchen wallpaper

AE phone home...

New Years

Brian is going to laugh when he reads this, but I finally came up with my new years resolution(s). Other than the big 3: Weaning, potty training (later in the year of course), get back into shape (not so much losing weight, just getting back into shape, hopefully with that I'll drop 10 pounds).

BUT the big one. Finish my projects. All 400 of them. :)

On another note. The last few days weather wise have been AWESOME! Sunday it was 50* and almost all of our snow is gone. We are suppose to have several days of nice somewhat sunny (sunny for Germany) weather. It's colder, but by the end of the week it should get back into the upper 40s! SOOOOO EXCITED. I love snow, but I don't like cold weather. It's amazing how 45* feels warm after weather in the teens. Now that the snow is gone, it's time to break out the jogging stroller and hit the trails :)

Birthday Girl

It's official. She's 1!!

We had a VERY small get together for some close friends. Most of which don't even have kids. Uncle Derrek came through with the girly girl gift in the form of a learning jewelry box. Anna enjoyed a cupcake but was overall pretty grumpy after taking a short morning (ahh no morning nap).







where did it go?






Stealing chips from Trevor






Not excited