A haircut for the little girl

Before the cut....

After the cut

So, Cara was looking kind of ragged these past few weeks. Her hair was getting out of control. Solution: We cut it. I had planned on having it done while we were in Florida, but the day we went in to get it done, Cara was in a mood that was not condusive to cutting hair. Well, I am here at my friend Cassie's house and she has been cutting hair for years. I gave Cara to her and left the room. When Cara came running out to me ten minutes later, she was soooooo cute!! There was no crying, no tantrums, no nothing. She sat there like a good little girl and let Cassie cut away. It turned out fabulous! I think she looks darling :)

Little booger

I walked away from coloring for a few minutes, and this is the look I came back to.

I think she thought I was going to make her take the marker caps off her fingers.
I wanted to take a picture first :)

Then I took them off, she was sad, but she lined them all up in a row on the table. She loves to line things up!

Poor Alex

Cara, desperatly trying to give him a hug...him realizing this and trying to get away while he still can...

His efforts were in vain.

He loves to stand up at the end of the couch and play peek-a-boo with me

He is quite the little furniture cruiser now.

Just a glimpse into Alex's day...

Alex

This is a veerrry short video, but my internet won't let me upload anything larger. This is Alex waving hi!

Death by pepper steak???

You would think so, wouldn't you, looking at the pictures?? We had pepper steak for dinner tonight. Oh boy, is this child spoiled!!!! Being on vacation in the states for Christmas was so much fun, but it defenitly instilled some baaaaaad habits. We are currently working on getting this little girls back on track. Eating is a big problem. She likes to eat only what she likes...noodles. Well, I compromised and made noodles for lunch. You would have thought I was killing her, making her eat the pepper steak! I didn't really even give her that much, knowing she wasn't going to love it.

After a couple of spankings/timeouts, we FINALLY got dinner eaten. This entire process took about 45 minutes. It was then a chore just to get her to finish her milk!! Parenting is not easy. It must work out, though. I eat things without throwing a complete tantrum....

Blake thinks it's wierd that she dips everything in ranch to eat it, so we've been breaking that habit as well. Again, I think it's a stage that will pass as we all don't dip everything in ranch as adults....and when I say everything, I do mean everything. We had ham at christmas which she dipped in ranch....

I am hoping that dinner's get easier again. It wasn't like she wasn't hungry. She ate lunch, but didn't have an afternoon snack, so she should have been ready. I know if I would have brought out left over noodles, her appetite would have been there. The joys of parenthood...I am having such an interesting time :)

Wishing she was done.

My little nerdball

Cara (lately) likes to sneak into bed in the middle of the night....This is what Blake came home to this morning. She likes to share a pillow. Note the 4 other pillows shown and two at the end of the bed that she could be using. Nope...she likes whatever pillow I have. And she's a cuddler. It doesn't matter where I am in the bed, she is right next to me.

All is getting right!

The girl is finally feeling better!!! I am not too sure what was going on with her, but after almost a week, she finally slept through the night without waking up or coughing and today, she asked to lunch. This is the first food she's wanted in over four days. I am so happy. She's now eaten both lunch and supper. I think whatever she had is gone.

Alex is, of course, just happy. Like always.

Today

Cara, again, NOT smiling at the camera......

Alex is just a cheesy bug right now!!

So, the kids are feeling better today...sort of. Cara's fever went away yesterday, but now today it's back. Alex's fever never came back, but his nose is still runny and both he and Cara have wicked coughs. Cara actually ate something yesterday...the first time in a few days, but now today she won't eat again. I am hoping nothing happens to where I have to take them in to the doc. The roads are really bad right now, partially becuase of snow and mostly becuase the germans don't salt or plow on the weekends...or on any holidays...or when they sleep in....it's pretty bad sometimes.
Other than sickness and snow, life is going pretty well. Alex is learning how to get down out of the standing position. He gets "stuck" standing a lot. It does not make him happy.
Cara has discovered the meaning behind the word "no". She realized just a few days ago that "no" means " I don't want/like that". It's still cute when she does it, but I am guessing the cuteness goes away after a little bit.
Blake and I are just trying not to get sick. Blake rarely does, so this isn't a very difficult battle for him. Me, I've been downing my orange juice like crazy. I feel the sickness, but it isn't knocking me flat yet. I won't let it!
Well, I off for now and back to watching Micky Mouse Clubhouse with Cara and Alex.

Sick little girl

Well, our week has been long. Alex woke up a few days ago with a pretty decent temp...this lasted three days, then went away. Cara then woke up with a fever on that third day. She is so lethargic. If she is still icky tomorrow, I will have to take her in to the doc :( Blake has the best immune system I have ever seen on anyone, so he won't get sick. I am already feeling yucky...I'm hoping I don't go downhill. Blake is working nights for the next two months, so it's only me taking care of the kids during the day. It works best if I'm not sick too!
Other than that, we are getting adjusted nicely back to Germany time. It took about a week, but the kids are pretty much sleeping through the night. Cara wakes up a lot becuase she's thirsty right now, but I'm attributing that to her being sick. Alex is sleeping through the night, though. It's always nice when at least one kid does!! Here's hoping Cara feels better by tomorrow morning!!!

Our Vacation

at the Air Force Armament Museum in Florida

Cara "flying" a plane

Cara playing with the cousins. Her first game of hide and seek. She didn't really get it.
Kaytlyn, Brooklyn and Kaylee

The four little girls eating lunch in their usual places. Cara and Brooklyn share a chair :)

Kaylee was so thankful for her gift. I totally got hugs!!

Alex just hanging out with Uncle Ryan

Daddy and Alex on Christmas morning

Alex enjoying Grandma's lap :)

Cara kind of got the whole opening of gifts....a little bit. She was way more interested in whatever Alex got!!

Our lovely christmas gathering.

Grandma Marcia

more opening of gifts. It was chaotic, but fun!

We went to a little park with all the cousins. Cara had sooooo much fun!

This is her normal look when a camera comes around. I am not sure why she won't smile at the camera!

Her "oh, no" look

Daddy and Cara at the beach

Alexis, gathering some Florida sand for her friend back home

Hunter and Cara

Most of the cousins. It was a coooold day at the beach!

We had such a fabulous time in Florida. We met up with Blake's brothers and their families. It was the first time the four brothers have been together in....oh, more than ten years. Cara and Alex had a blast hanging out with thier cousins. Blake's grandparents came down from Missouri also. It was a very nice Christmas. The food was fabulous, Marcia let me decorate the tree, I got to wrap the presents and just enjoy the family.

We are now just trying to adjust back to normal life. The kids are not doing so well with the jet lag, but we've only been home for three days....maybe four. Not so sure sometimes! I will be back to blogging a little more often from now on!