Just Us Ladies

Dave picked up some extra shifts at two local hospitals. He gives his availability for when he has a day off. This means that we haven't seen him a lot lately. He's a hard worker and we've appreciated the extra money at the holidays. The girls and I haven been staying busy around the house and with each other. There is a lady in our ward who is 90 named Doris. I like to take the girls to go sing and say hello to her. The girls got coupons to Friches for Halloween for free meals so we've been going when Dave works. Avery is WILD at restaurants and Addison just picks at her food. Avery eats off of everyones plates, but her own, but for some reason I keep going back:) The girls have a thing right now with playing "cats". They growl and meow and chase each other around. One of them always ends up crying or scared from the growling. All of a sudden Addison wants a cat for Christmas. We haven't entered the real pet stage so I've trying to tell her that it's not happening. It's funny to watch them play together even if it is because they are playing cats! Lately nothing stays in the trash and its gross! Addison will pull anything that isn't covered in slimy junk out to "create" with it. So far I've bought a whole lot of tape and more markers. Avery just likes to color on any surface still, but I'm trying to teach the rules about PAPER!!! I love sneaking in at night watching the girls sleep. I know it sounds creepy, but they always melt my heart and remind me why I love being a mom. Christmas is in a week and the madness is about to begin!

All Grown Up

Addison's preschool picture came back and it is the cutest thing ever! I only bought a small package since Addison normally is really shy for the camera. She looks incredibly grown up and I can't stand it! She has a little crush on a boy named Matthew in her class. He is the top right little boy in her class picture. She talks about him a lot and always wants to sit by him:) Her teachers Mrs. Hill and Ms. Foley have been great teachers for her. She is always happy when she comes home and I think they are soft spoken and fun. I can't believe that next year she'll be in kindergarten!

Deck the Halls

We came back from Thanksgiving in Cincinnati and pulled out all the Christmas decorations. Due to my growing belly Dave was left on carrying up duty of all the boxes. The girls had a lot of fun pulling everything out and setting up their little nativity scene. They have played with it a ton and mostly fight over the camels?! Luckily I have an extra set of camels so it is easily settled with minimal tears. Addison and Avery really wanted to help put the ornaments on themselves. I was surprised at how well they did and how much fun we had. Avery did a little bit of taking them off, but for the most part she leaves them on the tree. Addison loves to turn all the lights off and see the sparkling lights. Aunt Makel and Uncle Greg drew our name for a christmas present this year. They went a golden deer bust. Dave loves it and he put it front and center in the kitchen. We've started a couple countdowns to Christmas. One has m&m's every day that the girls remind me of before we've even made it down the stairs! The second one is an activity to do each day. This has been a great year for celebrating holidays. Addison is at a really fun age and Avery gets excited too with all these new traditions. We've read a lot of Christmas books and every time we get in the car the holiday music gets played really loud. We watched almost every Christmas movie we own and that the library has! Addison calls the Grinch the Grunch. The Polar Express wasn't a favorite this year, but I'm still holding strong that it's my favorite holiday movie! For the first time in almost 9 years the Michael family put out Christmas lights. Even if it is only one large bush it still counts! Our elf on the shelf named, Sparkle came the first of December and has been busy watching the girls behavior. A couple times she hasn't been able to move due to not to good behavior. I love the magic of Christmas! We still need to make it to the zoo to see the lights and lots of other fun traditions. 

Happy Turkey Day

This year Dave was on call the night before Thanksgiving into the next morning. We couldn't travel anywhere so somehow I convinced my parents to stay and host Thanksgiving. My dad only mentioned once that he missed being in Michigan:) We had a great few days and it was nice to spend time with family. Since Dave had to go into work I went day a day early and helped my mom with some baking. I made a pumpkin pie from scratch and it was amazing! It literally took me all afternoon though so we'll see if I get that ambitious next year. That evening the girls requested a popcorn movie night in Grammie and Papa's big bed. Avery mostly wiggled and tried to carry her popcorn bowl all over making Addison upset:) Unfortunately I woke up Thanksgiving Day with a migraine. This pregnancy has brought a whole lot of bad headaches and it takes me almost a full day to feel better. I got up early with the girls and then Papa took them downstairs so I could try and sleep off the headache. Dave arrived in time to help set the table and finalize some of the meal. I ended up taking some medicine to help my head and was able to participate in the prep. I helped the girls make turkey place setting decorations and some turkey treats. Avery helped me "cut" some veggies to make a fun turkey shaped veggie tray. They both got really into it and it was fun to see their excitement. My dad is a pro at making the meal all come together. I still have never cooked my own turkey! The meal was wonderful and my mom's famous rolls were extra fluffy this year. We all had sparkling cider and toasted to a year of thankfulness. We all went around and said what we were thankful for. Addison said that she was thankful that Mommy and Daddy play with her outside. It was a really nice day so we had spent some time outside on the newly finished deck. My mom got out some of Aunt Katie's old toys and the girls were off in make believe land with new to them toys. Dave and I were on dish duty and then the boys headed off to a movie. Papa spoiled the girls with mickey mouse shaped pancakes every morning. It's created a problem for me at breakfast time when all I want to do is make oatmeal or pour cereal! My mom and I snuck away and got a pedicure the next morning. We both got red sparkle for the holidays. The boys went out hunting when we got back...and of course got nothing. We ended up being able to go to the park that afternoon since it was so warm. Later that day Grammie and I got brave and decided to take the girls to the big movie theater. It was Avery's first movie at the theater was I was a little nervous. I loaded up my purse with boxes of candy and drinks. Grammie treated us to a giant tub of popcorn to get us through the movie. I was pleasantly surprised at how well Avery did. Did held onto a little toy dinosaur and ate a whole box of skittles. She got restless about the last 15 minutes. The movie we saw was called, The Good Dinosaur. It was really cute and a nice change from all the princess love that goes on around our house. Addison and Avery have really started to enjoy going to the wood projects at Home Depot with Dave. They had a special on that Saturday and so Papa and Dave took them. While they were gone my mom and I prepped a fancy fondue dinner. It's one of my favorite meals and it was fun to do at my parents. We have a lot to be thankful for and I am especially grateful for my family. On a daily basis Addison tells me how pretty I look. Avery tells me that she just wants to be by me. I am slowly learning to appreciate how much Avery wants to be by me...even at all hours of the night. Dave is a hard working husband who still comes home and puts on his daddy hat for the girls. Even though being pregnant isn't the happiest time for me I feel blessed to have a healthy baby girl coming our way. I have loved living so close to my parents who sacrifice so much for my family so that we can be happy. 2015 has had a lot of ups and downs health wise for me, but I wouldn't trade the lessons and blessings I've received in return. Happy Thanksgiving 2015!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Dave really outdid himself this year for my birthday. This was the first year in I think about 5 years that Dave was in town or home to celebrate. Dave arranged to have my parents watch the girls for almost three days! He actually took a day off of work which was a big enough gift in itself:) We dropped the girls off and headed over to Indianapolis. We stayed at the nicest hotel that I can remember. I enjoyed spending time in the room instead of looking for reasons to leave! We went to a session at the new Indianapolis temple and it was a great way to start off the trip. The temple is one of my favorites right now. It has beautiful art work and such detail that I love being inside. We went to a late dinner at Red Robin and then took dessert back to the hotel. Dave tried to plan some fun things that I would like the next day, but both of us didn't think about the fact that it was Veteran's Day and everything was closed. We ran into a Veteran's Day memorial service and parade in the morning. We went back and took a good old nap that afternoon and I was on cloud nine. We went to a dinner/movie theater that is the best of both worlds. You order your dinner right from your seat and you don't have to rush to your movie. It's genius! The hotel had yummy food and the next morning being my birthday I indulged at breakfast. Dave took me to a mall and I got my nails done which made me feel fancy. We walked around a mall for a bit and then ate lunch before headed back. It's about a two hour drive so we got back in time for dinner and cake. My mom made my favorite homemade carrot cake. The girls helped her make it and Avery helped herself to a lot of the frosting:) I chose to have Thai take out at my parents. I wanted an easy evening and the girls are always happier to eat at home and run around. The girls picked out some warm pajamas for me and Dave gave me a nice big mirror to do my makeup at. I had a mirror, but the light had gone out and couldn't be replaced. I was very surprised and really appreciated it. The girls had a blast as usual staying with my parents. Papa helped them build forts in the family room and made them hot chocolate. The weather was still decent so they spent a lot of time outside. I picked out a new bottle of perfume and some grey ankle boots from my parents and Dave's. It was a great birthday and I felt very loved by all the phone call and messages. A friend in the ward, Mandi took me out for dinner the next weekend to celebrate. Addison was really cute and said that Daddy was trusting her to keep a secret of what she picked out for me. I was really surprised that she was able to keep that secret and understand the concept of what it means to keep one. This is my last year in my 20's and I hope to make it a great one!