We got family pictures taken today at JCP in Lincoln and it was more fun than could be expected. Grandma Margie went along for the ride and helped keep the kids occupied. I have a newfound respect for the family pictures she had taken when we were little. I have no idea how she got four kids under six years old ready for pictures.

Now, back to our experience, as if it's not hard enough to get a two and a half year old and a three month old to cooperate in pictures, they have to have it 90 degrees in the "studio". And since it's winter, we were dressed in winter clothes. If you look close enough, you can probably see the sweat dripping off of our faces...

As I was driving to work today I ran into another pet peeve on the road that I wanted to discuss. I hate it when you're minding your own business, driving along at the speed limit, or maybe just a teensy bit over, and someone pulls out in front of you and goes 10-20 miles under what you were driving. Now don't get me wrong, I am A-OK with someone pulling out in front of me if they make an effort to get up to speed so I don't have to hit the brakes. If I'm in the situation where I need to get out in front of someone, I try to have the pedal to the metal so they don't even have to slow down. If you can't do that for other people, you should just wait until you have a large opening, so you can fiddle fart around on your own time.

Whilst I'm on the subject of driving, I just thought of something else that annoys me. Let's say you want to turn left onto a busy street and you don't have a traffic light. If you're on a street that has ample room for someone else to turn right while you're waiting to turn left, why not scooch as far over to the left as possible. It drives me completely bonkers when I have to sit there for 5 minutes waiting for someone else to turn, when I could've turned right away if they wouldn't have plopped themselves smack dab in the middle of the lane.

I think that most, if not all, of my road peeves are common sense if you're a defensive and courteous driver. Maybe I just think about the other person too much. Anyone have any thoughts on this, am I too demanding? Do I expect too much? Click the bubble below to add comments...

I just wanted to send out an update about Ada since she turned 3 months old today. She's still happy and easy going, sleeping about 10 straight hours at night with about three 1-2 hour naps during the day, I don't know how we got so lucky. She is still a "happy spitter" as her doctor called her. With every meal, I swear that about half of it comes back up. FYI, if you're ever holding her, have a bib and a burp rag handy at all times...you've been warned.

Eric went in to check on Ivy after we put her down for her afternoon nap today. He came rushing out to get the camera and said "you gotta see this". My initial thought was that she had gotten her pull-up off and done something in her bed. Well it wasn't that, but it was just as messy. She got a hold of a bottle of baby powder and couldn't help herself from pouring it all over...

"I suppose it all started with the snow"...those are the first words of Frosty the Snowman and I feel like I could recite that whole movie by now. It's been on at least once a day for a month, so what used to be a great childhood memory of mine now is like listening to fingernails on a chalkboard. Ivy has started saying "first" like we say to her all the time; "Eat your supper first", "Go potty first", you get the picture. So the first thing she says when she wakes up from her nap is "Watch Frosty first!"...how could I say no to that?

It's almost sad that Ivy's already received the best Christmas gift a kid could ask for and she's only two. Santa brought her a pink and purple Big Wheel this year! It was so nice out today that she got out and rode it up and down the driveway. Eric and I remember how much we loved our Big Wheels when we were kids, so it's fun to see that some things never change...

We had a great weekend with family and food celebrating Ada's baptism today. Craig even made it back from California to be her godfather, Eric's sister Angie is her godmother. Something cute that I wanted to mention: Ivy opened Ada's baptism gifts and said "Oh me GOSH!" after opening them..it was priceless..

Ada had her 2 month well baby checkup today and the doctor said she looked great. She weighed 13lbs 12oz which put her in the 97th percentile for weight. She definitely did not enjoy her shots, poor thing. Ivy barely flinched when she got her shots, so it was a lot harder to handle with Ada.
She's such a happy, easy-going baby, it's so fun to have her around. She's been sleeping 8-9 hours through the night for a few weeks now. I especially like that since I'm back to working half days this week. She's cooing and smiling like crazy and holding her head up well.

New Year's Eve was quite the party this year! We took the kids out to eat at 6pm to Jersey's where we just barely got a table. Then we went home, put the girls to bed (well Ivy at least) and watched a movie that we had rented. It was called "Burn After Reading" which I suggest you burn after watching...or skip watching altogether. We managed to stay awake for New York to drop the ball, then happened to peak one eye open to see the clock hit midnight before it was off to bed. Having kids definitely changes your New Year's plans, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Today, Eric took Ivy sledding in the snow leftover from Christmas. She got snow boots and a sled from grandma Margie that she was anxious to use. The snow was iced over, so Eric just pushed her a little bit and she just slid down the hill, it was adorable.

Just thought I'd post a cute picture of the girls from Christmas Eve. We went to Grandma Becky's house that night after church. Then we headed to Grandma Margie's house Christmas day and then off to Des Moines for my extended family's Christmas. Ada slept the entire way every time we got in the car, and Ivy was great too. We had fun and it was good to see everyone.