North Carolina Austins: 2009

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Tales of (the) Christmas past

Maggie's preschool had a little Christmas sing-a-long the week before Christmas. (You can spot her in the middle with a liking to one famous reindeer.) She is also hugging one of the 'Jakes' aka Anthony from her class. It seems that she refers to all of her classmates as Jake. There are eight little boys, and one of them actually is named Jake. So many boys, so little time to actually call them by their names.

A little bit of Christmas cookie decorating, and a little tasting, too!

Building a bird house with Daddy.

Mommy, nursing Libby. Maggie nursing her baby kitty.

I just want to take a nap, not get a picture in my cute outfit!

5 weeks old already!

Lots of smiling all of the sudden!!!

Getting cookies and carrots ready for the visitors tonight!

Maggie on Christmas morning, we had to coax her out of her room because she was scared to death that Santa might still be hanging around.

Libby's first Christmas!!!

Maggie with her new 'Pete' shirt on. ( You'll probably get one pretty soon, GB!!!)

Playing with some new toys for all of 5 minutes before it pours down rain all Christmas day.

Daddy and his girls

Before demolition! Daddy's project for the next week is redoing the upstairs bathroom. We had a little leak down through the ceiling, which led to the bathtub now cut into pieces on the side of the house. Look for 'after' pictures in 2010!!!

Friday, December 18, 2009

Decking the halls, etc.

It's hard to believe our "little" Libbers is already a month old. (actually, 5 weeks now, but a month when this pic was taken.) Isn't she cute in her little Christmas pjs?

Believe it or not, the Austins broke down and bought a fake tree this year. As you can tell from all the clutter in the background, Mommy couldn't imagine trying to squeeze what looked like a skinny tree on the lot, but was really fat once it was in the house, real tree into the living room this year. We're tripping over toys and baby paraphernalia as it is!

Maggie had a very good time decorating the tree, and did some rockin' around it when she was done!

Austin royalty

We went to Disney on Ice last Saturday. It was a great show, and we all had a really good time. We were so close to getting out of there without buying one of the flashlight/spinner/ninja minnie toys that costs an arm and a leg and a big toe. Then, when we were finished with lunch at McDonald's, it turns out, the plastic light-up horse that comes free with the happy meal, trumps the $22 Disney spinner thing. Oh well. Just to see the smile on their little faces.?

If we were to send out Christmas cards this year, this might have been the picture you would have hanging with your stash. Merry Christmas!!!

Mommy and Libby

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Catching up...

Grandma, GB, and TT were all in Apex for turkey. (Good thing Grandma was around to make it, otherwise, the Austins would have probably had pizza with their pumpkin pie!)

Libby celebrated her 2 week birthday by sleeping through Thanksgiving- not just the dinner, the entire day!

Uncle Donald came to visit that weekend, too. And I have to say, he was very impressive with Libby. She started to fuss a little, and most people would immediately hand a fussy baby right back to her mother, but Uncle Donald is a pretty experienced uncle by now. He walked around
with her until she was happy enough to pose for the picture!!

Sweet dreams!!

This weekend, we had a great visit with Uncle Chris, cousin Macey, and the Pittsburgh grandparents. There was a whole lot of twirling going on! And to most of our surprise, the stage was plenty big for both of these stars. The girls had a great time playing all kinds of things together, and since they've left, Maggie mentions at least twice a day that she misses Macey.

Macey and Libby

It may look like we chose to bathe these girls in swamp water, but really, it's just the result of several different color change pellets. You see a similar effect when we color eggs at Easter!!

Crafting with the fun gingerbread houses that Auntie Paige sent!

Grandfather and Libby

Princess Hugs!!! (How great is this picture?!?!?!)

Uncle Chris, Macey, and Libby

Gamma, reading stories with the girls.

Gamma and Libby

Notable Quotables

Libby and I had steal cut oats for breakfast this morning.

me: Do you want bananas on yours? I'm having bananas on mine.

Lib: No. I want honey on mine. I like honey. I like honey on Scottish biscuits.

me: What's a Scottish biscuit?

Lib: You know, you put them in the toaster.

me: English muffin?

Lib: Yeah, that's it.

Libby does a lot of singing. We are currently stuck on Katy Perry's Roar album. Back when we used to be able to listen to the radio on the way to school, she'd have great comments on the lyrics to songs.

You know that song- "I'm never gonna dance again, guilty feet have got no rhythm..." Then it goes, "Should've known better than to "cheetah" friend", and she laughs and says she wishes she had a cheetah friend.

Another time, she commented that "you really can't rock and roll all night, but you could party every day."

And finally, if you know Libby, you know she has a little 'lovey' monkey that she has slept with every night of her life. We were listening to The Beastie Boys, Brass Monkey, and there's a line, " wherever we go, we bring monkey with us". She thought that was great, "Hey Mommy, me too!"

This afternoon, we were over at Grandma and GB's. Libby asked Grandma is she'd get "that cat fun dip" out.

As the new holiday tradition of Chenekah was being established, we were trying to come up with a 'theme song' or Chenekah carol. Maggie was getting impatient with our singing, and shouts out, "Oh for Christ's Cake! Let's just open the present!" The baking of the Christ Cake....and another Chenekah tradition begins!

At the dinner table, both girls like to have a chance to say their own special blessing. Tonight, Libby was especially thankful. "Thank you, God, for Daddy's favorite (dinner), and the beans. And all my family. And the napkins. And money. Amen. And the Steelers."

Libby just came up to me and said, "Mommy, I want to go somewhere else." And I asked, "where would you like to go?"

"To my bed."

Almost 3 years old, and a good hour before the usual bedtime!

I'm sure every mother can sympathize with my lack of alone time in the bathroom. I was getting into the shower this morning and Libby says,"Whoa. You have big boobies." I smile politely. Then she continues, "They look like meatballs!"

Age 2 1/2

Maggie received an invitation to a birthday party for one of her friends from preschool. The next day in school, all the mothers were hanging around the classroom getting ready for a field trip to the park. As the teacher was trying to quiet everyone down and get the morning started, Maggie calls out to her friend, "Hey Nathan! I'm a big fan of that Chucky Cheese party!"

Age 5

I usually buy generic diapers, or if I happen to find a good deal, we get the Huggies brand with Mickey Mouse on them. Recently, I bought the Pampers with Sesame Street gang print. I put one on Libby last night and she says, " I see Elmo. Who's those guys?" Before I could answer, she asks, " Nerdy and Bert?"

At the $2 movies watching the beginning of Puss in Boots, where they show an intriguing 'fiesta del fuego' somewhere in Spain. Maggie says, "Don't they have fun in Mexican?!?!"

Libby, dressed in her Steelers gear, about to eat some playoff snacks, starts singing to the tune of "O Christmas Tree"...

"Oh chicken wing, oh chicken wing!" Jan.2012

The girls were hanging around on the diving boards at the pool while some bigger kids were throwing a football and catching it as they went off the boards. The lifeguard asked them to not throw the ball with the little kids around. Maggie marched up on the board and said, "I'm all bigged up! They must be talking about Libby." One of the 12ish year old boys got a real kick out of that.

"Is that Annie all grown up?", Maggie asked as we turned the channel to the movie Napolean Dynamite.

Maggie: "Some Daddys have hair, and some don't."
Mommy: "My Daddy has hair."
Maggie: "Only the sticking up kind, like this." (motioning wild hair)
Daddy: "Does my Daddy have any hair?"
Maggie: "Only just a little bit, right by his ears."

"If there's another Maggie in this country, I'll just change my name to Pam"

I asked Maggie what happened to the head band that she was wearing when she went to school one morning. She told me it broke. I asked her if she lost her temper, and she replied, "Mommy, I think I lost all of my tempers!" Like mother, like daughter.

Maggie overheard me make a comment to Rob about it being a great Saturday afternoon for tailgating. A couple of hours later she says, " I think I want to do some tail getting." I asked her what that entails, and she replied, " You sit right here in the grass and wait for your tail to grow."

"Mommy, will you tell me about that sign that has a nortado on it?" Maggie, 3 1/2

"Those aren't farts...those are rockets!" Maggie, 3 1/2

"If you kiss with your head this way (tilted to one side) that means you're in love." Maggie, age 3

"Is heaven a rectangle state?" Maggie, age 3

"It's great packer snow out there, I'm going to make a big, big big, big fat snowman". Maggie, age 2

North Carolina Austins