2 years old

Abi will be two in less than two days. Where has the time gone? My baby isn't a baby anymore .. She's such a big girl that she doesn't even want me to sing to her at bed time anymore. :( since when did two turn into fourteen? 

My big girl showing off her fashion sense. 

I rarely get a non blurry pic these days, lol

Flash backs to my baby baby

MIA as usual...

Things have been happening so quickly around here that I hardly have time to write anymore. Little miss Abi is currently sick with the WORST case of croup she's ever had and I am thanking my luck that I have had a 4 day weekend to take care of her. Our house is pretty much set up the way it's going to be for a while and yet our basement is full of unpacked boxes. School is winding up again for my last semester and I am so so so ready to graduate already! I really like the hospital I'm at now with the exception of one tech who doesn't seem to really care .. but she's pregnant so I'm blaming that and not believing that she really hates me. I have gained 10lbs since October.. yikes! Got to get into some sort of healthier cycle here or I'm going to end up with some serious health issues. This is the heaviest I've ever been.. I'm up about 40 lbs from what I was after having Abi.. not good. Speaking of Abi, she's a little sweetheart who's constantly surprising us with all that she understands/knows/thinks/says! Her vocabulary has exploded and she knows things now that I hadn't even realized she knew! Like for instance, what a yo-yo is since we don't have any. She was up all night last night coughing and not being able to breathe because of the croup and so I was up with her.. so I'm going to end this post now before I write a novel and end up not sleeping again (because that's exactly what would happen) and not to mention that I just heard her crying.. it's going to be a long night anyway. I miss writing, hopefully I'll be back soon!

What do you serve?

Well since we offered to have my mom, step dad, sister-in-law and nephews over for Christmas this year I've been thinking... what the heck do we serve?!?!? I've never done Christmas at my very own place before and I want it to be perfect. I've got a few cute things for the table where we'll serve the food (table cloth, Christmas plates etc) but I have no idea what to cook.. Theres' the usual, ham or turkey.. then my family has always made my Polish grandmother's lemon soup (recipe to follow if you're interested, it's delish!) and potato salad, potato casserole, deviled eggs, cookies upon cookies, crab dip, relish tray (the usual party stuff) but I'm wondering if something different would be good this year to start our own family traditions. So what do you serve at your Christmas gatherings?


Lemon Soup:
1lb kielbasa
8-10 white potatoes
3-4 lemons (depending on how tart you want it)
salt&pepper
water
flour (to thicken)

Boil kielbasa in water until done, skimming fat off the top.
meanwhile wash, peel and cube potatoes
once kielbasa is cooked, remove from water and set on a plate.
add potatoes to boiling water and cook until tender
heat lemons in microwave about 20 seconds to help release juice
juice lemons and add to potatoes in water
add 2 Tbspn flour to 1/3 cup water (preferably in a shaker) and shake to combine
add to soup to help thicken
add kielbasa back into soup
pepper to taste, add salt if desired (not usually needed tho)

It's not everyone's cup of tea, in fact I never liked it until I became an adult (and unfortunately after my grandma died...) but now I love it! My husband loves it too... it's just too yummy!

This is what it looks like when it's done. Not too thick, not too runny. Lots of extra pepper for me. 

Here is a preview of our home! The pictures were the ones on the realty website so they aren't the greatest.. I'll be adding more once we're in and settled! :)

Here is the backyard. Not huge, but I love the deck! And just enough room for a swingset!

Dining room is actually bigger than it looks here. 

One side of the living room. The only room Other than our bedroom I wish was a bit bigger. But I still like it!

Master bedroom. Yup, there are 4 mirrored doors to our closets. Reminds me of Poltergeist where Carol Anne was in the hotel room with the mirrored closet. Yup, just a little freaky. LOL

We took the plunge...

And finally bought a HOUSE!!!!!

We closed this afternoon and I am so so so excited to finally get out of this apartment and into my new house! It's a 3 bedroom, with a finished basement and attached one car garage. Totally perfect for our little family. The back yard is just big enough for a deck and someday a swing set.. and hopefully a little garden in the back corner. :) Hubby is dying to get over there and change the locks (the previous owner rented for a while, and who knows who has spare keys...) and buy a grill. Yes that will be our first purchase, a lovely grill. I cannot wait! Oh and best of the best part? We are officially moving Wednesday so that means Deep. Fried. Turkey!!!!! For thanksgiving!!!!!! We haven't been able to do that for several years and I miss is oh so much. Plus it will be Abi's first deep fried turkey! I don't know if we'll be having anything with said turkey other than maybe mashed potatoes, lol. Oh and canned cranberry sauce. It works for me I'm just ecstatic that I'll be decorating a home for Christmas this year! Can. Not. Wait!!!!!!!!!! Photos to come soon!

18 months old!

Holy crap my baby is a year and a half old today! WoW! Well she's 18 months going on terrible 2's because lately the tantrums have been severe. She won't nap at daycare and is uber crab when she gets home. Today was awful for about the first hour after we got home.. then she finally calmed down and we had a decent night but then bed time. Oh bed time is usually wonderful. She gets 2 books, some milk, a little rocking and I lay her down and she goes to sleep on her own.. but the past two nights she's fussed at bed time. Tonight was worse and I think it's because she was just so over tired. Last night though she was up from 10-1am screaming if one of us wasn't in the room. Yay. I do not want to go through another phase like this, I get so little sleep as it is and she was doing so well with her 10/11 hours of sleep at night. Boo. Hopefully this will end soon.. maybe a new tooth will pop out and we'll be back to normal... Maybe. Anyway on to happier stuff. Abi says "wah-wah" for water, up, off, me-me (still not sure what this means) "mo" or "me" for more along with the sign, cheesh, "of" for love, eye, um, and of course mama and dada. She also says Jack, "ack" and Niya, which are two of her friends at daycare. There's more but these are the ones she says the most. I love that she's developing her own little personality more and more. She's so defiant and likes to do the opposite of what we tell her to do.. unless it's something like putting her clothes in her hamper, she loves to do that. But every time I say "lets wash your hands" she immediately sticks her fingers in her mouth! She knows that her hands have something on them I don't want in her mouth which is why we need to wash them, so she does it anyway the little stinker! She's been climbing all over everything and while I love that she can exercise her new freedoms I'm worried about tumbles and injuries. But what mother of a toddler isn't? lol

Homework

Just want to say that cramming homework, studying for a test, a major project and mommy/wife/me time into a single weekend was the worst idea ever. Who needs me time anyway? That homework? Well, it can wait until just before class... right? Hmm... studying for a test and working on a major project due Monday... well... I've got about half of it done... time for a snack! Happy weekend everyone!!