winter wonderland!

it is FREEZING here right now. we got several inches of sleet that started yesterday and hasn't stopped, but about the time we got home this evening it turned into BIG, OLE snowflakes! stella has seen plenty of ice, but not big snowflakes like these. so, we took her outside. her mittens are in our other car at our office, so i had to improvise :)

stella and meg all ready to go outside.

grinning, but not so sure about it.

my attempt at a photo of the 2 of us in the snow.

we were out there for all of 5 minutes before mommy decided she'd had enough :) it's pretty - as long as i'm inside in the warm!

busy weekend!

my best friend jill (and stella's godmother) was here this weekend. she is due with her first baby on march 21 and is THE cutest pregnant lady i've ever seen! she came into town for the baby shower i threw her on saturday.

we also exchanged Christmas gifts since we missed each other over the holidays this year. this is stella trying on all her gifts friday night before bed and playing with the others she got from her aunt jilli.

reading where's the poop with daddy on sunday morning.

playing in the kitchen with aunt jilli on sunday morning. stella LOVE LOVE LOVES ring around the rosey and just spinning in general!

riding daddy down the hallway sunday morning.

after playing aunt jilli was getting ready and stella decided she needed her hair dryed too.

me and my other half :) + with her BIG OLE BELLY. i love it and i love HER.

done it - haven't done it.

I got this post from Jennifer & Shiloh's blog. but it was fun to read and made for an easy post, so here it goes...

RED are things I've done
BLUE are things I'd like to do
BLACK are the ones I don't want to do

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables [i am planning to do it this summer!]
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors -some of them
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater [i LOVE drive-ins!]
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle [been on a motorcycle, but NOT a speeding one!]
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House [just the outside]
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating [never. gonna. happen.]
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life [haven't done so yet, but i hope if i was in the situation it would just naturally happen]
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous [well, SEEN someone famous]
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Grosgrain

can i just tell you how FABULOUS these clothes are?

www.grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com

i SO wish i could sew like this. my mother-in-law taught me how to thread a sewing machine and has helped me make some curtains for my house. i actually LOVE to sew. i also have made several clutch handbags and am always COMPLETELY amazed when they actually turn out. i don't know WHO figures out those patterns, but it is like GREEK to me. i'm hoping the more i do, the more it will start to make sense and HOPEFULLY i can do my own design eventually. how fun to make clothes for stella and for myself! a girl can dream anyways!

GYMNASTICS!

today was stella's first gymnastics class. it's a mommy and me class and we are the only ones right now! she did so well and loved it towards the end :) we'll see how she does next week!

our beautiful girl.

weekend.

we have had a fun new year's weekend. michael's parents visited monday through thursday. on friday morning this is how i found stella in her crib. COMPLETELY NAKED. this all started before Christmas with just her removing her pants. she could get them off, but not back on and would proceed to throw a FIT when she couldn't get them back on. then, she figured out she could get her diaper off. well, now we know that she can take off her shirt too. we only have 2 pj sets that zip up - so i've had to resort to putting her in a onesie and tights when those are both dirty! little stinker.on saturday, stella and mommy went to discovery center. it's actually a science museum for kids, but they also have a little indoor play area for little kids. stella loved the gigantic lego house.

she also loved cleaning it.
and then decided the whole floor could use a good cleaning.

she put blocks in the little firetruck . . .

and then wore mommy out by demanding to be pushed around in it.

she played at the big pixel wall too and didn't really like sharing it with the other kids that day.

we played so hard we were really hungry afterwards, so we went and picked up daddy and uncle jason and had lunch at nonah's. you can never go wrong with bread and pasta.

this is stella playing after church that sunday.