Gum Paste Class

I took a gum paste class to learn some new skills in the cake making world. The flowers were really fun to make and not terribly difficult considering it was my first time. Just adding to my mad skills;)

SO CUTE!

Poor Mags has been feeling a tad under the weather. Nothing serious just a bit of a bug. Unfortunately it has made napping a bit tricky. I won't go into the (literal) dirty details but her tummy is bothering her. Today, thankfully, Chris had the day off. (She ADORES Chris) and she would not go down for her nap. He went up there, changed her diaper, and laid down on the couch with her. Of course she fell right asleep on him...she would never do that for me. Anyway, Matthew climbed up and of course Otis was right there. Before I knew it, it was very quiet. I look over and they are all asleep. So cute! This is big considering Matthew doesn't even nap anymore!! I had to snap some pictures.

Cakes

Here are two more cakes that I did for a sister's birthday party. Jenny (the mom) forwarded me what she wanted and I tried to replicate it. Actually I did a pretty damn good job replicating it if you ask me;) You be the judge. Here is the link she sent me: http://www.pinkcakebox.com/images/cake443.jpg

CHD aka "creepy hair doll"

You are probably wondering "what the hell is that?" Yes I too wondered that when I first saw it. This past September, I went to Friday Harbor to visit my friend Jen Horn and she has a 2 1/2 year old named Lila. (We have the same birthday but that is not crucial to the story!) Anyway, she was carrying around this thing and I was kind of creeped out and intrigued at the same time. Jen told me that she had to buy this for Lila when she weaned her because she was OBSESSED with Jen's hair (btw it is made with real human hair). Well a couple of months later, I was trying to wean Maggie and I realized that Maggie was not going down without a fight. (If you don't already know this about Maggie, she too is OBSESSED with hair.) I approached Chris and said "I think we need to get one of those creepy hair dolls for Maggie." And the name was born!! Anyway, we ordered one off the internet: http://www.loveybabies.com/ and it came. Please don't judge me for the next part of this story, but I slept with it for about 2 weeks then we gave it to her for her birthday. By this time I had decided to wean her to the bottle but I thought at least it smelled like me?! So at first she was kind of skeptical, but now she LOVES this thing. At night when I put her down she finds it, grabs onto the hair, pulls it underneath her, sticks her little butt in the air and then goes to sleep. It is so cute. We still find it kind of creepy but hey whatever works right?!?!

Officially!

Well I have some great news:) Two official things to report. 1st and foremost is Maggie-moo took three steps today! Yay, she is average:) (the average age for children to walk is 13 months and today she is 13 months) I am so excited. She just needs a bit more confidence and that girl is going to be running everywhere. 2nd is that I have lost 11.4 lbs! I am pretty excited especially since a very bad headache sidelined me a bit this weekend and I didn't really work out as much as I wanted to. Life happens though and I am trying to look at it that way. Hopefully by the time I weigh in again (3 weeks) I will have lost another 5lbs. "I think I can, I think I can..."

Yum...

I know I have been a little slacker about updating the blog. You know it's bad when your mom tells you it's time to post new pictures!!! Honestly we haven't really been up to anything that exciting lately. (I promise:)) Anyway, I did take some pictures recently. First, this past Monday night, Chris had to fly to Seattle and back for a meeting. It was just one of those days and it seems like the hours between 4-7pm are crazy around our house. I fed the kids but I just knew I wasn't going to make it unless we did something. I decided to bribe Matthew and take him out to ice cream. He cleaned up all his toys and then we piled in the car for Zips soft serve. I figured Maggie was ready for her first experience so I got her one too! The second set of pictures were just from the other night. We were eating dinner and Maggie has this awesome way of eating and then screaming from her seat just when I sit down. She tries to reach for EVERYTHING and then when I give it to her she looks at it for a minute and throws it on the ground. (Then it starts again!!) I obviously cut her corn off the cob but then she was pointing to my finished cob so I gave it to her. It was really quiet and I looked over and busted out laughing. Too good of a picture to pass up!

Stats

So we had Maggie's one year check up just the other day so I thought I would post about it and her. As you know, it has been quite a year with Miss Mags. The low blood sugar, 3 days in the NICU, then to get out and find out she may be sick and perhaps albino. After all that she decided that it was too calm so a nasty case of acid reflux ensued and to top it off she got a little virus in Hawaii. *Sigh* I can say though, she has been quite good since about 9 months when it was time to do the sleep training. She has been sleeping better and in general, better spirits. Anyway, Tuesday we had her one year and she is 19lbs 3 oz which is the 20% for weight and of course she is in the 98% for height! I mean seriously! She eats more than Matthew does!!!! She is perfectly healthy and right on track!!! She is so close to walking. I mean just barely holding onto furniture. She is a total daredevil and tries to go down the stairs face first. Just today, we went to the eye doctor for her one year check up. When she was 3 weeks old he dilated her eyes and told us that she basically had no macula so don't expect her to see and if she does see, it won't be well. Of course she has a lot of Fischer in her and she must have heard that at a mere 3 weeks because today he reported that she sees within the NORMAL range for a child her age. I almost fell out of my chair. NORMAL range!!!! She basically sees as well as I do without my contacts which isn't terrible. He said she probably won't even need glasses early. In fact, the nurse asked us if she was 2 because she kept grabbing for the little light up toy saying "I yant dat...(I want that)" She is SO STUBBORN but I love it and I am so happy that she has that in her. Like Chris' mom always says "That quality might be frustrating now, but in the future it will be worth it!" So true!!! I have to say as I keep reflecting back on 2009, I wouldn't change anything we went through and I am so thankful that we are so lucky. We have two beautiful, smart, stubborn children and everyday is a blessing:)

Snack Time

Part of the "healthy eating" (I am not calling it a Diet) is finding snacks that are satifying yet good for you and fast. Fast is a must!!! I saw these ready to drink smoothie things at Costco and I was intrigued. I decided to buy them and make one for us today. I thought they were delicious and filling (only 160 cals per serving when made with fat free milk!!) Maggie LOVED them, as you can tell by her face and Matthew who is the constant choco-holic thought they weren't half bad! So I guess it is a winner. Even if you are not concerned with what you are eating, I highly recommend them as a little treat!

The elephant in the room...literally

I had mixed feelings about writing a post about my weight. Sometimes I think "People don't want to read about this." but then again it is my blog and what a better way to hold yourself accountable than to put it out there for everyone! This picture was the perfect one to post with this because this is part of the reason why I am losing weight. I am doing it for me but they are my life so really I am doing it for them. Anyway, if you read my nursing post then you know I hold onto weight until I am done nursing. Well, I guess I was a bit in denial about how much weight I had to lose. I knew I had gained a lot with Maggie, but after I finished nursing her I gained 10 lbs which is something I promised myself I wasn't going to do. After all, I had been working out so much all year, why didn't it just fall off?...ummmm stop piling food in your mouth and maybe all your hard work at the gym will pay off!!! (that is the good angel talking to me!) My lovely trainer Travis weighed and measured me and I about passed out. It was very eye opening. I subconsciously knew it but to see it was sad for me. Well I guess it was just the motivation miss competitive Siri needed because I have lost 6lbs so far! That's right, I have successfully lost 6lbs over the holidays!!!! It is a great feeling! I feel so much better and today when Chris and I were running and the kiddos were sleeping, I thought "This is what I have always wanted. Chris and I working out together and showing our kids a healthy lifestyle." Chris has lost about 30lbs and kept it off for a year so we are so in this together! It is great!!! Much easier when you have the support of your spouse. Anyway, stay tuned...(that is if you care;))

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Well, I wish I took more pictures of that night because my god it was pretty fun and funny but alas, this is the only one I got. We celebrated New Years with Dave and Jess. (One of Chris' business partners and his wife.) I didn't think we were getting out of the house for at least 10 years because finding a sitter is CRAZY on New Years, but Chris' parents were so generous and babysat for us. We went to dinner at Moxie which was delicious. Wait, let me rewind...when we were getting ready I told Chris that one of us had to be the responsible one. He said "It's ok...I won't drink." I responded with "You know what, it's my turn to relax and you just have fun!" He was pretty excited. He has taken care of me MANY times! Anyway, so fast forward to Moxie. Wine, Gin Giblets...then the game. We had good tickets to Gonzaga vs. Oklahoma and we had a couple in the beer garden during the 1st half. (hence the picture) Chris had a couple times 3 and that coupled with the martini, wine and champagne that finished the night, finished Chris! I won't go into details but let's just say that I have not seen Chris like that for a long time! He slept in his clothes and was pretty hung over the next day! HAHA not so fun when you are 30+ and have two kids!!!! It was fun though!!!!

The Seattle Center

Waiting for the monorail.

We waited patiently in line and Matthew was able to "man" the train!

My mom really wanted to take Matthew downtown Seattle to explore the Seattle Center, ride the Monorail, and experience some of the holiday festivities that Seattle was offering. When we were younger, my mom used to get us dressed up and we would do these same things. I found this adorable vest at a cute children's store in Edmonds and I HAD to dress Matthew up in it! He had a blast! He got to direct the toy train, he LOVED riding the monorail even though it was 2 minutes and $2.00! We rode the carousel and saw these really cool ginger bread houses. We ate lunch at Pacific Place and then we headed home. He totally knocked out in the car:) It was pretty cute. He is at that age where he can go out and you don't have to lug all the gear. It was just the three of us and it was a great day!