A few pictures from Christmas

I didn't take very many pictures this year of our Christmas festivities. Why? I don't know. I think I was too busy enjoying the joy on my kids' faces or maybe I was too excited to bring Baxter out and surprise them. Whatever the reason, there's only a few pictures, but I wanted to share them:

The Baxter Reveal

My favorite part is when Tyler says "I've been waiting for this moment!"

Merry Christmas to us!

Yes, we realize we have likely gone insane...

... but we are super excited about getting a puppy for Christmas!!! Yes, I know I just finished potty training my last child. Yes, I realize I just got brand new carpet. Yes, I realize that puppies are a ton of work. But if you spent even a few minutes with this sweet little thing, you'd want to do it too.

His name is Baxter -- and yes, we got that name from the movie Anchorman -- and it suits him. See, he already has some bling!

He is so dang cute, I can't even handle it. I just want to hold him and play with him all day! We picked him up today in Stayton, Oregon from Julie (the breeder). She did an amazing job training him and getting his shots and paperwork all done for us. We still have a few more rounds of shots to go, but she got us started. We drove back to Portland where Baxter will spend the rest of the day in Ben's office. Unfortunately, Baxter got car sick.

Hopefully Ben didn't want the rest of his orange juice. But once I figured out that first he gets wiggly then starts to retch before tossing his puppy cookies, we were able to avoid any more messes.

He liked to snuggle up close to me and seemed happiest when my hands were near his face. I think we had a bonding moment in the car. :-)

After work, Ben will take him to the vet to get checked out and then take him to my parents house. They'll keep him hidden for a day and a half until we pick him up on Christmas Eve after the kids are asleep. I just hope that they don't fall in love with him too much and want to keep him for themselves!

The kids are going to absolutely FREAK OUT when they see him. I can't wait for Christmas!!!!!

On the 1st day of Christmas Grandma Debbi gave to me...

...really, really big pens. (kinda hard to tell that they're pens because they insist on using them as guns)

Shhh... don't tell the kids

We are getting this sweet little guy for the kids for Christmas!!! His name is Baxter and he's a Havanese puppy. I'm so excited!!!!!!!!

My Family

I just got this picture from Ben's dad. I love my family.

Being Bored is Dangerous for my Hair

I get bored with my hair... a lot. I found this picture a couple weeks ago:

I thought, "huh, I could do bangs again." I have been growing them out for a year and a half, but hey, why not. I'm trying to grow the rest of my hair out a little longer so I have mostly been limited to color changes when I get bored. A few weeks ago my awesome friend, Arwen, put some sweet red highlights in my hair. But, it's starting to fade and turn orange-ish so I'm going to have to cover it soon. So, I went for bangs again.
Here's a picture of me this morning:

And here's me now!

If you don't like it, keep your opinions to yourself. It's awfully difficult to put hair back on. If you DO like it, feel free to give me some love. :-)

Kitty Cats

My girls love to pretend they are kitty cats. It makes me a little crazy. I don't like cats and the constant high pitched "meowing" that goes on all day makes me want to pull my hair out. But, they are so cute when they do it so I manage to hold it all together. Today, Nicole wanted to look like a kitty too. This is what we came up with:

Upgrades are AWESOME

I have been married almost 10 years. Ten years!? That's a really long time! I swear, I'm not old enough to have been married this long. My anniversary isn't until May, but Ben gave me my present early.

The wrap is the same (2 sapphires and 2 diamonds) but the solitaire is new. I LOVE IT!! It's twice as big as my original diamond. I can't stop looking at it. It's so clean and sparkly! Being married is rad. Thanks, Ben.

**random side note: my kids' birthdays are in September and April. Their birthstones are sapphires and diamonds. My wedding ring doubles as a mother's ring!

Kids Are Gross

Kids are gross. At least, mine are. Last night I gave Tori some chips and hummus to snack on. (She loves the stuff) But instead of dipping, eating, then turning the chip around -- so as to not double dip -- she did the opposite. She dipped the chip in the hummus, sucked the hummus off the chip, then dunked it right back in. She only ate the chip when it got too flimsy to dip it any more.

Then, this morning, I couldn't figure out what she wanted for breakfast. Pancakes? Eggs? Cereal? Hummus? No. She wants grape juice and a pickle. So gross.