look-a-like

I've heard from a handful of people, including my husband's family, that I resemble Kate Middleton. Weirdly enough, or not so weirdly, Mike's (my twin sister's boyfriend) family thinks my sister resembles her to. So in honor of the Royal Wedding tomorrow and just because I'll take that similarity any day...let me know what you think. Yes or no?

what's new

I have been neglecting my blog while I've been home. I'm just enjoying our time here with my family. So, here is a little update.

Pat went back to his old job. The one where he was gone for weeks and then home for a day and a half, but they are putting him on a rotation so he will be home more often and for longer stretches of time. The deciding factor for us was that it pays more than his other job and we found out that I most likely won't be working until November. So thats that.

My computer is completely dead. It wont be resurrected. So, yesterday, Pat went and bought us a macbook pro. We are going to share that and his computer. I'm really excited to use it!

Liv has been saying some really funny phrases lately. My favorites include: dada at woookk (work), papa go sideeee (outside), mama dethiii mama dethiii (for some reason she decided that calling me by my name is appropriate). She has also been hogging the phone. If I let her talk to auntie Dani or Pat, she refuses to give the phone back...I basically have to pry it out of her fingers. I think this may be a sign of things to come in her teenage years.

My goal while home is to get as much wedding stuff as possible finished. I ordered our invitations, which Dani designed for us, and they will be here tomorrow and I've also collected all of the supplies for our centerpieces. We are gonna have a invite/centerpiece party so we can have some help putting everything together.

I have some more pictures from our visit in Chicago. They are too cute not to share.

liv loved hanging out on dani's little deck. she could see the duckies from there.

duckies! high five!

loves auntie dani.

the happy baby, ducky dance

working on her poses

vacay life

Our vacation life in the Sault has consisted thus far with playing outside, playing at the park, playing with gaga and papa, oh and we took a 3 hour nap today....yes I said "we".

It was fantastic.

I'm thinking I should make this a daily occurence.

Pat once said something along the lines of "your mood is in direct correlation with how much sleep you get". First I'd like to write my response, which was "DUH", and second I think that naps are also directly correlated with my mood.

So, that will be my excuse from now on....naps make me a nicer person.

Speaking of nice people...check out Liv in her little sunhat and carrying around my mom's coach wristlet. She is generally nice, except when she's calling all of us "bad!". Drama drama drama.

I love her sunhat.

The flower is a clippie made by me.

Pondering her little 20 month old life.

climbing to the top of the slide like a big girl.

loved this swing.

bad pictures, but you get the idea.

Chicago

We are here!! In one piece...both of us.

Everything went great. We played in the airport before our flight, Liv stood by the window and yelled at all the "APPIESSS" (airplanes). I finagled an extra seat for us and she ended up sleeping for half of the flight and then sitting next to me eating snacks and watching her dvd's. It went very well...I would have liked if she had slept longer but I can't complain. 

I can complain about the drunk guy sitting diagonal from us. He was obnoxious and kept turning around and staring at my child. It was a bit creepy and I had to break out my stink eye.

Since we've been here we've been doing a lot of catching up with "Dadeee"( Auntie Dani) and "Bikey"(Uncle Mikey). Dani was waiting for us at baggage claim while Mike did circles outside, it was nuts out there. Liv immediately ran up to Dani. No awkwardness at all. She actually has gotten a little confused a few times about who mommy is. That is something new...It takes a little convincing once she has it in her head.

My mother also made a surprise visit. We weren't supposed to see her until Monday, but she was on her way back from a work trip and her flight got cancelled so she stayed with us on Friday night and flew out today at 4. We drove her into the airport which made for a long day, but before that we spent the morning together, she bought me a wedding dress, and I had my first Chicago Style hot dog!

Wait, what? New wedding dress? Yes I will admit to being a bit of a spazz, but I just wasn't happy with my dress. I tried it on for my mom and sister and they weren't wowed either. So, after some online perusing (which I may or may not have been doing for months), I had a dress in mind that I had to try on. I went to David's Bridal, tried it on and my mom bought me the dress! Its exactly what I wanted. It fits perfectly and just needs to be hemmed. I'm still deciding on whether I'll put pictures up or not. I might need to keep it a surprise, because I'm such a traditional bride ::rolls eyes::

We are heading up to the U.P. tomorrow, but not before we have a photo shoot with Liv. I do have a few pictures to share. Of course Dani has been snapping away all weekend.

seriously, how does an impromptu photo shoot turn out so damn cute?

Liv looks so much like her dad in this pictures it scares me...

bubble beard!

this is my favorite...i die

"brushing"

bubble baths are the best.

20 Months

Yesterday marked 20 months for Liv. The terrible two's are going strong in this household. Liv is conveying to us more and more her needs and wants, its just that sometimes those aren't things that I am willing to give her. For example, like a million snacks a day. Liv is known to literally throw herself on the ground and throw and all out tantrum. Usually this is easily fixed by picking her up, patting her back, and letting her know why she can't have what she's asking for. A little love goes a long way though.

Liv's current favorite things include:

Stickers....oh lord, the "stickies" we have in this house. I am constantly picking stickies up and off of everything. Liv loves to cover herself in them. Nothing gives her as much joy as a huge book of stickies. She immediately asks for them when she wakes up and continues until bedtime.

Coloring is also a big favorite now. We "Colow" all day. I use the term "we" lightly because Liv doesn't really let me or want me to color with her, she would prefer me to sit next to her and watch.

Snacks...did I mention snacks?

Liv loves to play outside. Pat took her out a few times on sunday. Just to shovel the walk and build a few snowmen, but it doesn't matter if we actually do anything with her, the mere act of being outside gives her joy.

Talking. This girl loves to talk our ears off. She is putting more words together now. It makes it easier to communicate with her, but she's still a fan of talking in her own language. It's usually a bunch of mumbo jumbo that ends in a word we know. She is so confident in herself though...she knows exactly what she wants to say.

Reading. When I took Liv's bottle away, we started reading before bedtime and naptime. She has always liked to look a books, but it was a struggle to get her to sit down and let us read to her. Now, its an all day activity. Pat was watching freakonomics a few weeks ago and it said that out of everything you can do for your child, reading to them is the most beneficial. We have taken that to heart. Also, working in a first grade classroom, let me tell you...its very clear which kids were read to and which were not. They just had much more flow to their reading, like they knew how it was supposed to all blend together. So, I'm happy with this love of Liv's.

Music. Girl has some good dance moves.

Some of Liv's dislikes include:
Getting her diaper changed (still), being told no, when there is not a pop music station playing in the car, coming inside from outside, sitting still...typical toddler behavior.

She is such a sprited little girl. Pat and I like to talk about her to eachother a lot. We were out on Saturday night, in a club (which we thought was a pub, whole other story). Anyways, we were screaming at eachother to be heard and were talking about our daughter. Pat said "she will always make us laugh", and its so simple but so true. Nobody can bring a smile to your face like your own child. She thrills us.

I don't have any pictures right now, but let me assure you, I will. We are going to see Dani who will spoil us with amazing pictures, and of course I will eagerly share them!

almost vacay and some wedding drama.

We leave on Thursday for Chicago...I am so so excited, but packing anxiety has struck.

We are only taking one suitcase and I have anxiety until the moment my bag is weighed, checked, and out of my eyesight. Any other mom's have the same anxiety? It will make things easier now that Liv has no bottles, but also more difficult on the plane. How in the heavens am I going to get Liv asleep?? Hopefully its not a totally disaster.

In other stressful news, my computer will not turn on anymore. I am going to bring it to a place called tech support to see if it has any hope. If not, I'm not sure what I'm going to do...I feel completely lost without a computer. I use Pat's when he is at work...but he is literally attached to it when he's home. I would have to do some major begging to be able to use it.

What? doesn't sound stressful enough? Well, I also am having serious second thoughts about the dress I have for the reception. I dunno, I just feel its a big blah. I know I could dress it up with a belt, but I'm not sure it would be enough for me. I have been perusing online and found a few dresses on Zara and French Connection that I am considering. I am not making the same mistake though...I'm going to go try them on. Here is what they look like.

Keep in mind. We are not having a ceremony...we are already married. We are having a reception in my hometown to celebrate our marriage. Which means, I can be as casual or dressy as I like. I would like to stick with a white/cream color...but length is not an issue for me. Oh, and I realize two of these dresses are strapless, which I said I did not want...but I am keeping an open mind.

found here

found here

found here there is also a knee length version.

found here, its so simple...but there is something I like about that.

names

Liv started calling me "Desi" yesterday....

Sure, she still mostly calls me mama, but she gets a good giggle running around chirping "Desiiiiiii, Desiiiiii" she says it almost perfectly, with an added little toddler lisp in there. So cute.

Since she's all about my name and I have been asking her lately "What is your name?", I thought I would try again tonight....this is how it unfolded.

::Liv sitting in her highchair slurping up some cheerios and milk::

me: Liv what is your name?

liv: "sluuuuuuuurp"

me: What is your name? your name? what is your name??

liv: (very proudly and pointing to herself) MEEEEEEEEEEE!

.....we haven't quite figured this out yet.