"In the Books" - Christmas 2011

An observation on Christmas with a toddler: Two is too young for a consistant understanding of an Advent Calendar.

I am all too thankful for the "Chaney you only get one a day" daily fight to be over...

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Ha! Ha!

We got the girls a play kitchen for Christmas this year. Tonight Patrick thought he should open the boxes just to see what the assembly looked like. Below is the inventory list and the package of nails/screws needed. (note three or four of the things on the inventory list have more than 20 items...who wants to bet there will be some cussing involved in assembly?) MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Progress - Yippee!

Wow-Time Flies!

I know it has been a while since my last post, but the Werners have been a bit preoccupied!

I am happy to report we are soooo close to being move in ready at the new house. In fact, my awesome stove was delivered yesterday and granite gets set tomorrow morning-yeah! I will have to send pictures soon, but it has come a long way in a short time...thanks to a lot of work from the hubby!

Besides that, everyone is well. Chaney is talking non-stop; and I do mean non-stop. I sometimes think her throat has to be sore! She is also totally ready for potty training but I keep pushing it back. When you really start to think about it, diapers are very convenient and there just never seems to be a good time to start. (I guess once you start you need to be totally committed-no going back to diapers!) I can already tell this is going to be more about training Mom and Dad than it is about Chaney...I figure we will start once we get moved into the new house.

Keaton is as goofy as ever. She is almost as big as Chaney now and is beginning to talk quite a bit herself. It is funny to listen to her and Chaney "talk" to each other. Keaton has also turned into quite a good little eater. In fact this morning she had two adult sized bowls of cereal for breakfast. I have a feeling she is making up for 1 1/2 years of low intake!

So to recap; house is progressing, kids are good, Mom and Dad tired, but hanging in there.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

...and yes those are wrapped gifts under the tree; December 4th...I'm that good! (although not quite done yet)

The Before...

I wanted to share a "before" picture of the kitchen in the new house. Believe it or not it looks a lot better in this picture than it did when we took possession. Hopefully the "after" is coming soon...

The radiator will be moved, and we are only doing lower cabinets in this section...am I crazy?

Built-ins original to the house will reamin; both because they are awesome and because there is no easy way of getting them out of there! (well without totally tearing them apart!)

The Zoo!

We took advantage of what I deemed one of the last "warmer" nights of the season and went to the Zoo tonight! (it was about 45, but I hear it’s supposed to be in the teens next week - yikes!) They had the lights up for the Holidays and it was great. The penguins were a huge hit with the girls; although Chaney was a bit miffed she couldn't feed them. And of course you exited through the gift shop so both girls had to get stuffed penguins. What can I say, they already have Dad figured out...he's doomed.

Keaton

Keaton's been a real picture girl lately. I think she really enjoyed our family pictures we had taken a couple weeks ago and now everytime the camera comes out shes ready! Here are a couple cute ones from the last couple weeks.

Grammy and Keaton at Thanksgiving...

Keaton at Cousin Logan's Baptism...

and Keaton in her beloved monkey hat...

Stay Tuned...

So we made it to 2 of 4 Thanksgivings with the camera...then we left it at Grammys. So stayed tuned for a full recap of the Holiday with some pics of the girls. But to hold you over, Aunt Niki sent this one from Yia-Yia and Poppy's. Yes, that is 5 under 4 you're looking at! Shew, we've been busy!

We Can Relate....

A reflection on the last week...

"Two Weeks" ...

Has everyone seen the movie The Money Pit?

I mentioned in previous posts that we have purchased a new house. (and I mean its "new" to us...in the true Werner fashion the house is about 80 years old...)

Here is a picture of what our Master Bedroom currently looks like. Two weeks...

Decisions, Decisions..

The ever changing blog background and font is a testament to my new-found inability to make decisions...God, please grant my husband patience as we pick out paint and curtain fabric these next few weeks.

Cute Girls!

Ok, I know...everyone thinks they have cute kids - but come one, these are some cute kiddos! (If I do say so myself)

We are getting family pictures taken on Wednesday. In preparation Chaney's been practicing her "picture smile"...needs more practice.

K's closer...but we'll keep working on it.

A Few Parenting Rites of Passage...

So the Werner House has been a bit under the weather these last two weeks. I'll spare you all the gory details; well maybe all but one...Both girls-yes both- simultaneously threw up in the car on the way to the Doctor last Thursday...enough said.

However, I am happy to report we are all feeling better now and are getting back into the swing of things. In fact, Chaney's been so fun lately; she is talking up a storm. It’s crazy to be able to carry on conversations with her and we are having fun teaching her new phases. She now says "Bon Appetit" when she feeds Nellie, it’s too funny. She also has uttered a couple of phrases that shouldn't be in her vocabulary..."what the hell" the other night in the bathtub - guess mom and dad need to do better.

A couple of pictures from the last couple of weeks.

Keaton loves an accessory. Here she is in her monkey hat and her cardinals sunglasses. (She will wear this all day long)

And Chaney LOVES to vacuum. If I could only get interested in doing the laundry...and possibly by the looks of this picture to clean the kitchen...

The Big Dream

So we were sitting on the couch the other night and PJW says, "If we ever win the lottery the first thing I'm going to buy is a Playstation".

Really honey, a Playstation?!

I suggested, "how about dropping everything and taking your wife on an incredible vacation?". And he replied, "well if I bought the Playstation first I could take it with us."

I hope this dream is about the colossal waste of time a Playstation would be and not about how much it cost. Otherwise we should seriously rethink this house we just purchased...

Halloween 2011

So if you read the post about Yia-Yia and Poppy's house you may have already guessed that both girls are sick. Its pretty obvious in retrospect.

The girls actually went to bed Sunday night at 5:30 and slept untill almost 8:30 this morning! We had been to a Halloween Party that afternoon (yep, you guessed it - at Yia-Yia and Poppy's) so I attributed it to a no nap sugar crash more than anything else, but both woke up this morning with fever and have generally been pretty pathetic all day.

I felt horrible that they missed the Halloween Party in the Park - complete with horse rides, but it turned out C had a great time helping Dad hand out candy at home.

Here are a couple of pictures from Halloween 2011.

This is how we began the day...

But C had a good time with Dad...

And the the two butterflies at the Halloween Party on Sunday.

Beautiful in the Park

Trees have been so amazing this week that I took my camera for a walk Wednesday. This was the view from our front porch all week; the leaves are about gone now.

Sigh...I will miss the Park...(oh, yeah - have I reported that we bought a new house? ... more on that to come!)

What Goes on at Yia-Yia & Poppy's?

Seriously, what goes on at Yia-Yia and Poppy's house? PJW and I went to Game 7 on Friday night (Go CARDS!) and the girls stayed with Yia-Yia and Poppy. We dropped them off about 5:00 in the evening and picked then up about 9:30 or so Saturday morning. A report from Yia-Yia confirmed they were in bed by 7:00 and slept until 7:00 the next morning; a grand total of awake time with Yia-Yia and Poppy of approxmiately 5 hours. Back home yesterday afternoon both girls had 2 1/2 hour naps and were walking zombies by bedtime at 7:00. And this morning Chaney slept until 8:15 and Keaton wasn't up until 8:40!

I wonder if Yia-Yia and Poppy are just as tired?

Here is a picture from the game. (PJW and I were showing off our Feeding Frenzy shirts if you're wondering why the funny pose)

"What Does a Jayhawk Say?"

So our newest favorite trick is "What does a Jayhawk say?"...followed by both girls coughing; aka "choking".

I'll have to admit we stole this one from cousin Lola during our recent trip to MU for Homecoming. (She is really good at it too)

I fear retribution from Aunt Kate is coming...

So as part of this new "getting easier" lifestyle (see previous post) Mom went to the salon for the first time in 5 months this passed weekend. (well and it did help that Nanny was in town too...)

ANYWAY...salon talk and all and I left with a new favorite website. She's a mom cooking for her family using the Weight Watcher guides. She has great pictures and lots of yummy stuff! (Check out the cute mummy cupcakes for Halloween) Thought a few of you might enjoy! Cheers! www.skinnytaste.com

RELAUNCH!

HELLOOOOO!

There has been so much going on I'm not even going to try to recap. Lets all just agree to start from here and move forward! Deal?

Basically the girls are awesome. Mom and Dad are awesome. And minus a couple of ever present scraps and bruises everyone is happy and healthy! In fact, PJW looked at me a few weeks ago and said "did this just get easier?" ... and you know, it has!

So stay tuned!

We did go to the Butterfly House a couple of weekends ago...everyone had a big time. Ill try to post a bit more about it soon, but to stay impartial on the Chaney/Keaton ratio of pics, here is one of Keaton riding the carousel!

I know, posts have been a bit sparse lately! Here are a couple of pics to tide you over. More to come soon - I promise!



and C giving a "piggy back ride" ...

Old Dogs & New Tricks....

We have made it 10 years with Nellie without her being a beggar. (Well minus a brief time when UB lived with us that I consider Nellies "teen years"; I believe they shared a few meals...)

But my goodness, this has become an issue! She is under foot non-stop, follows Keaton around like she's wearing sausages. She's at my side while I'm cooking, basically stepping on my feet to get close enough to hope for a morsel to hit the ground.
Seriously, does anyone have any suggestions on how to "unteach" a dog a new trick?

Thanks "Aunt" Jabet, "Uncle" Matt & Lola!

Chaney loves her new towel! We can't wait to bring it to the OC and break it in at the Lake!

Dance Off

NOTE: One or both may have been disqualified for pushing in the last round but luckily due to mom's vantage point from behind the dance floor, the call was missed and it was allowed. Chaney celebrates with a "yeah!" at the end.

So whats been up with the Werners?

K is eating MUCH BETTER! Yeah! We are down to just two bottles a day, one when she gets up and one before bed. I think we could do away with the morning bottle, but truth be known, I've really been enjoying my cuddle time with her lately and the morning is just Mommy and Keaton. She is a hugger and a kisser - big time. Mommy is really diggin that...Also, if you're familiar with her eating history you wont be surprised to hear for solids she only likes the organic special blend recipes by Tyler Florence. (Although we are off the "liquid gold" formula as our pediatrician called it which has been like a small raise) But hey, I'm thrilled she is finally eating solids! About 8 months behind most kiddos but progressing well now. (we are trying table foods but shes still mushing things up and spitting them out-although I guess she does only have 4 teeth so I should cut the girl some slack)

Chaney is getting to be a real little person. In fact she told her first lie the other day. We were giving K some medicine before bed because she was teething and C wanted some. I explained to her why sissy needed it and she immediately started to complain that her teeth hurt and launched into this elaborate story about how she hit her mouth on the corner of the couch, "ooww", etc...God help us!

A few pictures from the last week or so...
1. K really likes watermelon-poor little thing looks like a wet kitten here doesn't she?
2. K and C sharing some watermelon-yes sharing-at the Flemings new pool.
3. C picking flowers in the Park.
4. C making cookies...we had a bath after...

To be fair, I thought I should post these more flattering pictures of our little benevolent dictator.

Well we said it a couple of weeks ago, but we have been able to confirm it a few times over the last few days...the reign of Chaney has finally ended - Keaton has assumed the throne!

PJW'S New Gig.

After over 15 years on the candidate side of politics, PJW started a new job this week. Congrats honey! (here's the AP story)

Rep. Akin Dividing Up His Troops

July 6, 2011 7:37 AM

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) __ A staff member for Missouri Republican Congressman Todd Akin is leaving to become the state director for the conservative group Americans for Prosperity.

Patrick Werner has been Akin’s district director in the St. Louis area since shortly after Akin took office in 2001. He is leaving as Akin ramps up for a 2012 campaign for the U.S. Senate
seat now held by Democrat Claire McCaskill.

Americans for Prosperity is a limited-government group founded by billionaire oil brothers David and Charles Koch . It spent heavily in last year’s elections and helped organize some tea party events in Missouri.

Before joining Akin’s office, Werner worked for former Sen. Kit Bond and on Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.

 

Not sure at what point in my adult life that cleaning house and doing yard work became an enjoyable days "to do" list...but the girls are gone and I've been looking forward to doing just that for the last couple of days! Hope everyone has an equally fun 4th planned!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Luna!

Chaney has a favorite song. Okay, maybe two on a day you can get her to branch out a bit. But in the car she demands to listen to them - loudly. Today on our third round of "Where the Boat Leaves From" by Zac Brown Band I started to negotiate. "One more time and then lets listen to a new song", or "Sissy and Mommy want to hear what's next", etc...all of a sudden I remembered being on the opposite side of this very same negotiation with my Dad except I was begging for one more Debbie Gibson tape side "A" or pleading for him to turn up Tiffany.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Larry.

My thought for the day: If every kid goes through the "terrible twos" - and every kid eventually out grows this "no", "mine", "me" stage - is it really necessary for me to say 100 times a day, "share with sissy", "play nice", "no whining", or "no, for the 10th time, you cant have ice cream for breakfast"...would she not out grow it on her own?!! Can I just phone it in for the next several months; I mean really, I'm not sure anything I'm saying is sinking in...

Here are pictures of two sweet little girls you would never guess just had their own version of a UFC cage match fight in their Dora the Explorer tent...

Keaton Finley is One!

The lady of the hour poses for a pre-party picture...(look Great Granny-B and yia-yia, she has on shoes!)


She basically licked the frosting until we gave her a spoon...yes, she ate her birthday cake with a spoon...what 1 year-old does that!


Chaney and cousin Tanner...(they are just a few month apart and check out the difference in hair!)


Our little monkey with her little (or actually fairly large) monkey...


Her cute cake and banana cookies...

Where do I start??? Its been so long since my last post I'm looking at 749 pictures to chose from. (haven't quite yet gotten over the fun of the new camera; and I'm rarely one to do anything in moderation...)

I guess a quick recap is in order. Over the last couple of weeks we have been to Springfield, Highlandville and Pontiac, had K's First Birthday Party, taken the girls to their first Cardinal game, and celebrated Father's Day.

Here are a few visual highlights from all the activity! (I think I'll post K's Birthday pictures separately)

A finger painting project for Father's Day-it started off tidy....

But ended up a mess....
Chaney and Daddy sharing a nachos at the game.
C feeding the donkey's at Grandpa and Miss Laurie's...

And K enjoying the creek...