2 Months of Randomness....

January and February seemed to fly by. Maybe because it was a mild winter and we weren't cooped up in the house. Maybe because we were busy with school and work and life. Maybe it was because we had a million and one things to accomplish before #3 made her arrival.... Either way, the 8 weeks of January and February zoomed right past us! 

In early January, we got to welcome our newest cousin, Hunter Crawford Sichmeller. He was the second of three new grandbabies/cousins on the Sichmeller side in the span of 4 months (Leo William Sichmeller was born the first week of November- and ours will make #3!) At the end of the month, all the Sichmeller family came 

together to celebrate our "Christmas." 

February brought Valentine's Day and, well, nothing else really- other than the dreaded "Leap Day!" A March 6 due date made a "Leap Year" baby a possibility... and it was quite nerve-racking for momma! 

Anyway- here are some random pictures from those 8 weeks!

 Happy New Year from Maggie and Lucy!

 This is what "dress up" looks like in the Salmon house... 

 Lucy Goose

 ...and more dress-up!

 Lucy got to spend the day with Papa... and she came home with a new Barbie, new purse, and sunglasses. Can you say "spoiled?" 

 Somehow this one was missed during the "Christmas" blogs... but here's the girls and cousin Milan after Maggie's holiday program at daycare. So cute!

 Maggie gets some "big sister" practice holding cousin Leo!

 Gramma and Papa with all the grandbabies.... for a few more weeks, anyway!

 Sichmeller grandkids!

 There was a waaaaaarm day at the end of January. We took advantage and hit the swing set! 

 the girls' Valentines this year

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Merry Christmas 2011!

Christmas 2011 was a "Salmon Christmas." Because of Dan's work schedule, we took off the morning of Christmas Eve, and arrived in MN just in time to get the girls dressed and off to Christmas Eve mass. Then, back to Grandma Bernie and Grandpa Mark's house for supper.... and presents! 

Christmas morning was pretty low-key. (Santa came to OUR house back in WI while we were gone!) We had a nice Christmas lunch, then went to visit Great Grandma Mindrum before heading over to Dan's Aunt Catherine's house for some more Christmas fun... food, family, and presents! 

 Lucy and Grandma Bernie share a giggle!

 Lucy and Kayden both got Lala-"Lucy" (Loopsy) dolls!

 Mags and Keiran with their new Barbies!

 The girls!

 Visiting with Great Grandma Mindrum. Lucy fell in love with this big Tigger in her room!

 Maggie, Great Grandma, Grandma Bernie, Lucy, and Dad

 Opening (more!) presents at Aunt Catherine's 

We headed home to WI the day after Christmas. While we were gone, Santa stopped by and left the girls' gifts under the tree (and ate all the cookies!) He also took all of Lucy's "plugs" (pacifiers) We talked about it beforehand, and decided to leave them out for Santa to take to all the babies. He left her a nice "big girl" gift as a thank you! She's never asked about them since! SCORE! :)

 Maggie got a new Barbie (and Ken doll!) This was especially exciting because mom and dad said she had to be FIVE before there would be any Barbies.... Well, 4.75 is pretty close! 

The girls all got new jackets for next fall.... They all match... and there's even a teeny one for #3! 

Lucy was excited to try hers on!

It was great to be able to celebrate with family this year... but the best part of the holiday season was the fact  that this was the first year Maggie was really old enough to "grasp" the Christmas story. She was so excited to help put up the nativity, really got into the story again during the children's mass at church, and we had a lot of good conversations about the true meaning of Christmas. Looking forward to next year, when we can get Lucy in on it, too!

Christmas Card

I try to live life without regret. I really feel like it's a big waste of time. Except for one thing. I regret that I started making really cute Christmas cards when we were pregnant with Maggie. I set the bar a little high, and now I have something to live up to each year. I (honestly) start thinking about and planning what it might look like in, like, August. Some years are cuter than others. Either way, we always get lots of great feedback on our cards, and that's what makes it fun. 

This (past) year I knew I wanted to do some sort of a "ho ho ho" card, but wasn't sure how I was going to dress/pose the girls. One Sunday morning, we were headed out to have breakfast with Santa at a local high school. The girls looked so cute with their little coats and sparkly hats, I just had to take some quick pix... then, wait! I had the letters in the house..... We could try this... and (thankfully) it worked! Dan and I quickly snapped about 40 pictures in about 2 minutes (you know, before they get too crazy and start smiling weird...) and then we had the fun job of narrowing it down to our favorite 3 for the card. 

Duh, me. Somehow I never got a file of the finished product (but if you're reading this, you probably got one in the mail anyway...) I just wanted to share some of the major cuteness that DIDN'T make the cut! :)

 OK, I lied. I think this one actually made the card... 

but it was cute enough to share again! 

 Models, anyone? 

Oh, and remember that breakfast with Santa we were headed to? We made it! :)