Seriously!

Seriously about to outgrow this outfit (note the pulled buttons and tightness in the chest!)

Seriously?!

Seriously loves to bounce!

Seriously too cool for school!

(and seriously too old for the dinkie in her mouth)

Seriously loves goldfish!

S-N-O-W

Hooray! It actually happened...it snowed! We got an inch, maybe an inch and a half, which was just enough to have a little fun. Not quite enough for a snowman, but there were definitely some snow angels. Liam liked it much better from an inside view. Not sure when it will happen again, so we made the most of it while we could! Hope everyone enjoyed our winter wonderland too!

Doggy Doggy, the Story Continues

The background...

When Will and Leigh were little, Leigh had a stuffed dog named Henrietta. It seems Will wanted Henrietta to be his...but there was a problem. Henrietta had a name tag with her name sewn onto her fur. If Will just took her, Leigh would be able to claim her as her own because of the name tag. So Will, in typical toddler fashion, ripped the name tag off and claimed her to be his own dog whose name was Doggy Doggy. Clearly no one could argue with this logic. Leigh's dog had a name tag, this dog did not , so it must be his! Will managed to win this argument and Doggy Doggy still resides at our house.

The present...

Rosie wanted to take Annah and Liam to Build A Bear. We had a great time! Annah made a pink Bear named Beary (along with several princess outfits for her to wear) and Liam made...a dog! Guess what Will wanted us to name him...Doggy Doggy! My how we live through our children!

Liam and the current Doggy Doggy

My Little Equestrian

One cute little girl and one furry little pony!

Annah trotted for the first time today! he laughed and squeeled through the whole thing. She is yelling "Go faster!" on the video. Rainey was a little confused...he was under the impression that he was going to spend his entire life as a walking lead-line pony. Sorry Rainey, she is getting the hang of this!

Why Liam Will Never Be A Jockey

"This isn't so bad"

"I'm not so sure anymore"

"Get me the heck off this thing!"

Roasting Marshmallows

Annah so wanted to roast marshmallows and it seemed much easier to do it in the house, than build a fire outside. As it turns out, she does not like marshmallows at all, so I almost got sick from all the ones she roasted and I ate! She had fun though, and that's what matters.

Liam thought they were pretty tasty too!

Liam's First Haircut

I know it's a little early for a first haircut, but the kid has got some serious hair! I joked with Will that if he was in private school, he would be sent home for having his hair growing over his collar. In Shuping tradition, he went to Kings Row in 5 Points for his first haircut. Carl cut Papa's hair, still cuts Poppa's hair and has cut Will's hair since HIS first haircut. That's right, 4 generations of Shuping men have all had their hair cut by Carl. Aside from a little nick from the scissors (which caused some tears), Liam seemed to really enjoy the process. It makes me a little sad to see my baby turning into a little boy, but I guess it was inevitable. I will just have to soak up every minute of baby-time I have left!

before

Liam and Poppa

after

This is the Question

Sweet, right? So why won't they do it?!

William Shakespeare said, "To be, or not to be; that is the question." Well, move over Shakespeare, I have a better question...how is it that someone who likes to sleep as much as I do, has two kids that seem to avoid sleeping at all costs? Last night Liam went to sleep at 8:30 (normal) he woke up to eat at 11:00 (also normal), then he was up until 1:00 in the morning! Not hungry, not sleepy, perfectly happy, but wide awake. THEN he woke up again around 4:45/5:00 am and was up until 6:30; again, not hungry or fussy, just awake. This in and of itself stinks, but the night before Annah was up from 3:00 to 5:00 am. Quiet, but nevertheless awake and in my bed. What is going on around here?! I have got to get some sleep...soon!

On a completely different subject, here is a conversation Annah and I had tonight...

Annah: Screeching (in a tone I can't understand and only little girls can make) something to Liam

Mommy: "Annah, I want to teach you a word in french (Fancy Nancy loves french, so anything in french is automatically cool). The word is sans. It means without. So if Mommy says to talk to Liam sans screeching, that means to talk to him without screeching"

A: "I learned french. Now I want to teach you something in french"

M: "What's that?"

A: "Blady-blady"

M: "What does blady-blady mean?"

A: "Holy Moly"

How can I argue with that?

New Years Resolutions

I feel like I will be more inclined to keep my resolutions if I put them out there for everyone to see. So, here they are in no particular order:

1. Lose this last 10-15 lbs of baby weight. I am dangerously close to the nine month mark, and it HAS to go! (of course I write this as I am eating a bowl of ice cream, but I also joined the gym yesterday...hmmm)
2. I will make a point to start saying the blessing at meals. I am not sure why I dropped the ball on this, but it is time to start again
3. I will try to appreciate Will more. This is not to say that I do not appreciate him now, maybe I should say that I will try to tell Will that I appreciate him more often. True, he works ridiculous hours and he doesn't always do things the way I would do them, but he's a pretty great guy (and husband and father) so I should count my blessings.
4. I will try my hardest not to worry about the little things when it comes to Annah and Liam. So what if Annah wants to wear green crocs with pink pants...does it really matter? My dad told Will when he asked his permission to propose, to "not sweat the small stuff." This is great advise and I need to follow it
5. Take more pictures. These kiddos change so fast and I don't want to miss a single minute

I think that covers most of it. Y'all help me stick to it this year!

Etc

Annah and I were jumping on the trampoline the other day and I am a bit out of shape at the moment (in my defense I am still under the wire for the 9 months on, 9 months off for baby weight), so after a few minutes of non-stop jumping, I said, "Hang on just a minute and let Mommy catch my breath." Ever the helpful child, Annah starts jumping as high as her little legs can make her jump yelling, "Mommy, I will help you catch it! How high is it?!" Ha ha ha! So literal!

Annah got a Tinkerbell magic wand in her stocking that you put these tabs in and it "magically" changes the color of the water. Kind of cool here, where the water is pink. However, tonight we used the yellow tabs and it looked like someone tee-teed in the tub...yuck!

Sweet, sweet babies! I love these fools!