Wine Roulette

Dan and I just found out that grocery store wine doesn't 'age.' We had bought over time $20-$30 bottles and saved them, and they actually aren't good two years later. 

So we decided we needed to open all of our wine and start from scratch. We invited ten or so friends over for "Wine Roulette." Some might be good, others might be awful, and in true roulette form, you never know what you are going to get. 

Nothing like awful wine to get people to come over. We had appetizers and let the kiddos all jump on the trampoline and run around like crazy. Super laid back. We made everyone try each of the wines before picking a favorite (and had a few good bottles on hand just in case). 

I also bought a cookie cake because I wanted a cookie cake.

Olivia: "Wow mama. That a YOT of wine!" Yep.

Most were pretty bad, but we had 4 good ones that we finished up later. 

Overall it was a good excuse for people to come over, and a great way to get rid of a lot of wine. The next morning Olivia said "Emma never ate her cake!" I realized that Olivia thought this was Emma's first birthday party. We had been talking about Emma's party being in two weeks. And Olivia, with no concept of time, assumed this was it. Too funny! (How is my baby almost one?!??!?!) 

Emma vs Olivia - 11 months

Sisters - but definitely different people. 

Emma - 11 Months

Height: 

Weight: 17.5 pounds

Sleep: Still sleeping through the night. But it appears as though Emma has stopped all naps.  How do my children sleep so little?

Eating: Doing fine on dairy formula (unless her unrelenting cold is actually the dairy). Not a huge fan of solids, but I think Olivia was the same way. LOVES broccoli. Its probably her favorite food. When she doesn't want to eat something, she makes sure to pick up each teeny piece, ever so slowly, in between her thumb and forefinger and fiercely chucks it across the room. 

Milestones: She has taken her first steps! I cant believe it. My baby seems like such a toddler. Took Olivia 3 months to go from first steps to walking, and I have a feeling Emma is on the same trajectory. 

Clothes / Diapers: 12 month clothes and size 4/5 diapers. Emma is a chunk now. A very short chunk. Her waist is bigger than Os. Love the chunk. 

Best Moment of the Month: This month was filled with lots of sweet moments. Her first Christmas. Olivia's first Christmas with a sister: "Emma yook! Santa brought you this!" Olivia giving Emma her nightly bottle and kissing her face the entire time. Emma having the biggest smile as she can play with the big kids with her walker. Emma's smile when she gets to play on the trampoline (Olivia is gentle, but Emma is too little to play when Olivia's friends are jumping on it). Such sweetness!

Parent of the Month: I think I'm going to give this one to Dan for purchasing his dream car: a swagger wagon. He said we NEEDED it. I mean, we did rent a mini van while on road trips since the dog couldn't fit between the two car seats. But we didn't need it. It's 100% his car. He texted me the other day "Figures all the moms at daycare wanted to check out my car." Yep, Dan, you're such a cool mom. ;)

Favorites: Emma loves her walker - she can play outside with the big kids while they are on their bikes. The girls still love their play kitchen and play in it every day. Emma likes to cook us food, try to flip pancakes with the spatula, and takes bites of Olivia's pretend food. But we've pretty much put all of the baby things away. Bottles will go here in the next few weeks - as she drinks out of sippy cups. Can't believe my baby is so close to 1. 

Christmas 2016

Another Christmas that flew by faster than I expected. 

The week before Christmas, we flew to Beaver Creek, Colorado to meet Dan's family. 

It was such a wonderful vacation. Olivia skied each day - and was quite good! Dan held her a bit skiing down the slopes, which she thought was a blast. When she went on her own, she really did great - and only fell as her means of stopping, haha. 

Poor Emma couldn't ski.

But she was allowed to ride the life up to watch Olivia. Poor thing would get SO excited when I pulled out her snow suit because it meant she got to go outside to play. 

In the condo there are giant jacuzzi tubs, so not only did Olivia get to swim in the heated pool, but she finished her day off with tons of bubbles.

She played in the snow, made her first snowman, threw some snow balls, and even ate quite a bit of it.

And the last day we took the sled and rode it down a good slope quite a few times. Emma even got to go on one run. 

We can't thank Dan's parents enough for such a wonderful vacation.

We flew back on Christmas eve, which we have now sworn we will never do again. We got in about 10:30 (way past the girls bedtimes). I threw them in bed. Ran back into Olivia's room, since we forgot to leave out cookies for Santa. Threw her back in bed. And then finished wrapping presents and setting up Santa gifts. 

My parents came into town that day and had gotten us groceries, made us cookies and a pie, and brought Koda back to us. I don't know what we would have done without that. They even sacrificed their traditional Christmas eve dinner to do this and be there for Christmas day.

We had a wonderful Christmas and I did my best to drag out the gift giving through as much of the day as possible. In all the craziness I took 0 pictures! :( But I did take a few later in the day. 

Olivia (with all the new hairbows Emma got her) and Emma.

The girls with their new sippy cups from Santa!

Olivia finally eating the gingerbread house she built.

Olivia on her new scooter from Santa!

Emma on her new bike from Santa! (It was Olivia's old one - shhh).

Such a wonderful time home with family. Wish it could be like this forever. Now, back to the grind.

Giving

We want to teach Olivia how lucky she is for the life she leads, and to give back to those in need. 

First, earlier this fall, I read about the Zaky - a weighted glove used in the NICU to mimic being held. When I saw that it was clinically proven to help babies thrive, I couldn't not get them. I organized some donations from local moms and we purchased 10 sets of Zakys for babies in the NICU. 

I am happy to say that all ten of our sweet babies are now home from the NICU, including our 24 weeker. I'd like to think the Zakys helped them stay strong and healthy. 

4 of our babies were quints (only 4 survived after the first day or two) :(. I took Olivia with me to drop them off and told her about how not all babies get to come home right away, and some need to get bigger and stronger, and these would keep them comfortable while they were there. 

After we dropped them off, Olivia asked if she could have one of the babies. ....... No. "But mama, they have SO many babies, I yust want one of them. Yust one." Too funny not to remember.

Second, our life group took on a group of 15 children that have very little. I had 3 children - and we got them each PJs, a book, a toy, and a blanket. We went to multiple stores to pick out the items, and Olivia was choosing things for each kid. "Her would really yike dis!" We had a two year old girl that Olivia loved picking out a doll and doll stroller for, and a 'super girly' 10 year old that Olivia loved picking out nail polish and nail stickers. She was SO sweet, not asking for things for herself, choosing items for the children "they be so excited when they see this!" 

But she about broke my heart when she said, "Mama, why don't they just ask Santa for new PJs or a blanket. Then they wont be cold this winter." It honestly made me stop and wonder why even "do" Santa - how do you teach them about the less fortunate and that others are in different situations if this magical man brings people things every year. I try to always explain things to her, but this one I didn't have an answer for. 

This sweet girl is mature beyond her years. I have been so proud of her giving this holiday season. I hope she never loses it!