Olivia and Jeff . . .

Ollie: What happened to your foot?
Jeff: I sprained it really bad at Family Home Evening last night.
Ollie: Oh . . . (sitting in serious thought)
Jeff: Did you have Family home Evening?
Ollie: Yes, but we don't sprang our feet.

Olivia to me and Drew . . .

Ollie (to Drew): Where did I get you? Where did I get my sister? . . . FROM SILLY ISLAND!

The happenings . . . Random Jan & Feb

1. Jackie (Ansen's sister), Dan, Katie, Brian and Diane came for 10 days! We ate 7 dozen kripsie kreme doughnuts (nothing to be too proud of), Jump On It, Kangaroo Zoo, lots and lots of Settlers of Catan, In-N-Out, and the kids loved every moment!

I sadly took not one picture! I go in spurts with the camera and this apparently was an off week. Can't wait for Round 2 in May.

2. Ansen's brother Chris, got engaged to Andrea! We are seriously SO, SO EXCITED! The wedding is the end of May and we can't wait!

(Chris & Andrea at Chris' law school Graduation)

3. While my brother in law Dan was here he showed me the world of a 2 screen computer system which has revolutionized my working environment! I could probably do a whole post on this, but I'll just keep it to myself. He also fixed our microwave that has been sounding like was about to take off for 1 year now . . . you can't even tell it's going now.

4. Spent $1,200 to get our furnace in working condition again. I thought I was ahead of the game with a check up . . . turns out we were WAY behind the game after the construction in our basement. I hate having extra money just lying around in savings. It just feels so good to put it to use, especially on something I take for granted. Plus, I got the best service technician that wanted to talk married life, his engagement, parenting, religion . . . you name it, we talked about it. I also hate having extra time with nothing to do, so this was the perfect solution . . . spend my savings and fill my whole day up. Loved every minute.

5. Grandpa Hatch surprised us and came to visit! The girls had a great time playing "Blanket" with Grandpa. They would all sit under a blanket and giggle . . . oh, if I could only be that exciting that easily.

The 3 Willard Ansens . . . II, III, & IV

6. I went out on a date with each of my girls separately. Olivia's lunch date even ended with a big date hug and kiss. Addison's included a mood ring purchase. She had spent a good 10+ minutes explaining what a mood ring was and what it did. She was absolutely blown away to find that I too had once had one in my childhood. I got to tell her that that was about the same time period as hyper color shirts . . . remember those?

Sunday Dinners

So my mom came up with this idea last year to make Sunday Family Dinners more enticing and more fun. We're having theme dinner parties now.

This month took a creative turn with an

"Iditorod Party"

We first knew this one was coming when my mom showed up at my house with a new outfit for Drew to wear to the Iditorod Party she'd picked up at Gymboree with little Husky dogs sewn into it. Then came the official invitation and it was on.

My mom LOVES Huskies and LOVES the Iditorod. When she went to visit Lisa in Alaska several years ago it significnatly enhanced her LOVE. As a result, we have all become fairly knowleable about the Iditorod-the racers, the winners, the dogs (by name), the records, the rules, etc. She found her greatest student in Addison and now Addison LOVES the Iditorod and Huskies and valiently watches the recorded recaps of the race every year with the same intensity as my mom.

So, this month my mom rented (or borrowed) the neighbor's dog for the girls. Yes, it's a Sheltie not a Husky, but that was in memory of our beloved Rowdy. She was a fun little surprise when she ran out of the garage as we opened it (the door from the backyard to the garage was left open) and we spent the first 25 minutes of the night trying to lure her back into the backyard.

We made our own "sleds," picked and named our dogs and had a race.

Addison's 2 dogs were Maleah and Ally.

Olivia's 3 dogs were Rowdy, Rowdy and Olivia, which did get changed to Ellie (I know, where did she get so creative?!).

We also had a Mom-made crossword testing who was the smartest (or the best listener). Thanks for the fun, Mom!

The little things of the day . . .

Olivia: She had a couple of little girls over playing and they always play dress up in the princess dresses down stairs the whole time. Today, they ventured up with an odd assortment of old clothes. They had found my pile of outgrown clothes that I keep throwing into the closet until I have time to go through them, fold them and put them away.

They were in heaven for 2+ hours with Addison and Olivia's old PJs that were tight and only came midcalf, Addison's old cowboy boots (O also had to wear them to pre-school but decided they were too big when she got home), dresses (O wore to bed over her PJs and under another shirt), the bottoms that go with dresses to cover up your panties . . . just random stuff.

They all sensed that I was entertained by them so only two would agree to be photographed.

Drew: I hurried to change his diaper so we could walk out the door for gymnastics carpool. Little did I know we had a bath in store for us with a blow out that went up to his neck. It was an 11-wipe diaper (that's how we judge the size of the complaining you're allowed) plus a hose down.

Fortunately, I figured out he could probably sit in the kitchen sink for hours. He might be in there a lot now when I'm trying to get dinner done.

Olivia in the shower: Ahhhh, Mom! Mom, you're right?

Me: About what?!

Olivia: My hair IS turning brown!

It's not the same typed . . . I have to remember her frantic little scream.

Mom, get your camera . . .

"Mom, get your camera! No, seriously, you'll want your camera Mom. Drew is so cute! He pulled all of the clothes on your bed over is face and he's laughing soooo hard."

(He was laughing SO hard, but there was nothing to take a picture of except a

pile of clothes until he found his way out!)

I love that we all love him so much!

In the Making . . .

. . . is the biggest Yankee fan.

And how do we know . . .

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1. Drew was sitting on the bathroom counter top while I blow dried my hair and wouldn't stop leaning over to stare into my room. Addison finally figured out he was fixated on Ansen's Yankee hat and gave it to him. He couldn't have been more happy.

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2. We took Drew to the movie with us over Christmas and he couldn't concentrate on anything but getting his little hands all over the Yankee logo of Ansen's hat. I would stand and get him 99% of the way asleep and as soon as I sat down next to Ansen AND HIS HAT, Drew would immediately wake up and start frantically grabbing for the hat.

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3. Drew was playing on the floor. Ansen came in to say good-bye and Drew seemed a

little extra excited about Ansen. As Ansen bent over he started to laugh because he realized Drew wasn't looking at Ansen, but again fixated on the hat and was only getting more and more excited the closer Ansen got to him with his hat.

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And now we got the obsession on camera . . .

I know, he could probably just be a fan of hats, but Ansen has worn other hats with no reactions. It's the Yankees, we're sure!

She can Ride!

Finally (and that's not a finally on her part, it's a finally on our part as parents)

Addison learned to ride a bike!

It was cold, but Addison, Liv, Drew and I braved it for 30 minutes. I strapped on the baby bjorn hoping this production would not necessitate me holding onto both handlebars and running. And luckily it didn't. I held onto one handlebar, then her arm and then let go and off she went.

The biggest problem was keeping Olivia out of the way. She thought it was funny to veer in front of Addison suddenly when she could hear her approaching or run into the back of her tire when she was behind. Addison just thought that was hilarious (heavy sarcasm) as you can imagine.

She was so happy with herself she couldn't stop smiling all night!

And now she wants to be out there EVERY day!

Drew: 9 Months

We're finally working into a sleep schedule. Unfortunately it starts at 5:30-6:15 am, but at least it starts with a huge, happy smile (from Drew anyway)! When the girls are gone and we're walking around, he's constantly searching for them hoping they'll pop up and make his day. He just started to "prefer" Mom, but he's still pretty happy with anyone. Weight: 18.1 lb (10th percentile)

Height: 28 inches (40th percentile)

I knew he was little, but he's just itty-bitty!

Accomplishments: Steadily sits, scoots and twists on his bum, get on his hands and knees, knows his name (Olivia still calls him "Steve" on occasion to see if he'll response to that), wants to eat EVERYTHING, can roll, but still never does, drinks from a sippy, started playing games with Mom like Peek a Boo with whatever he finds, I don't know what it's called, but blows air and spit and bubbles and makes lots of noise (then laughs when we all laugh), says "mmmmom" and started clapping

Why We Love Him Right Now: He holds onto his ear while he falls asleep, when we get him up from naps he has a binky in his mouth and one in each hand and is still laying perfectly under is blankets smiling, he'll try to rip your ear off with both hands if he has the chance, he only snuggles with Mom now, he can swipe Olivia's hair bows right out of her hair faster than you can blink, he's totally content (even for 2 hours) as long as he's in the same room as the girls, Ansen's toothbrush is his favorite toy, we love his little "mamama" and "bababa", his faux-hawk, and he loves to pull the girls' hair . . . really, really loves it!

Nicknames: Bubbsies, Drewbs, Bubba (Olivia), DrewB, Mister, and Monster