Maytag...

After Olivia's trip to the ER with a busted up finger, I emailed Maytag to complain that Olivia almost cut her finger off on their oven. I also included a little side note on how Tim used the self clean feature with the rack still in the oven and now it won't slide in and out. Well, finally they called and they are actually sending the Maytag Man out to look at the oven door cut-outs and try and do some sort of retrofit to stop other babies from cutting fingers off. All I really wanted was a new rack...but I guess if I end up saving baby fingers, I guess I'll take that instead. Let's just all hope that nothing can be done to our oven and they are forced to supply me with an entirely new kitchen! A girl can hope, right?

ps. In case you were wondering, Olivia's finger healed up just fine. I think she was getting dependent on the bandaid being there. To bad she would rip them off and then realize that she wanted it to still be one her finger. Every morning I was woken up by Olivia in her crib, apparently having just pulled her bandaid off, yelling "Ouchie, ouchie, ouchie".

The Nuetzel Elves

Merry Christmas from the Nuetzel Elves!

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/U7u9XmJRVHDkExvU

Olivia's first trip to the emergency room

Sunday night was about the coldest night ever. We were making dinner and Olivia walked up and stuck her finger into a little decorative cut-out that is on the front of our oven. She'd done this a few times months ago and gotten a little cut on her finger. Ever since then she points at the openings and says "No, Ouchie". Well, on Sunday she apparently forgot her motto and her finger went right in there. I think she instantly realized her error and looked up at me. I tried my best to get her finger out of there unscathed, but it wasn't to be. She had a pretty deep gash on the bottom of her finger. After me almost fainting at the sight of baby blood, I convinced Tim that we should take her to the ER for a look see. We couldn't get her finger to stop bleeding, so we all bundled up and drove about a mile to the hospital. Once there, the doctor decided that they could just glue the wound together and were trying to figure out how to get an adult sized finger splint onto a baby. She was supposed to keep her finger immobilized for 5 days once the glue was on there. Finally they decided that an over sized bandaid was stronger than her finger and the procedure was on. We told Olivia that the doctor was going to fix her finger, and she actually agreed! She laid down on the bed and said "Fix it". I was quite amazed at her composure. She just laid there and let the doctor put the glue on. What a good girl! So we are onto day 4 of the glued wound and I have to say, her finger isn't the cute little cutie pie baby finger it used to be...I have a feeling that along with her first trip to the ER, Olivia also got her first scar.

Santa...or the Devil in Disguise?

Well, now that Thanksgiving is over, we can finally move onto the lesser known Terror in Toyland Day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a great weekend - went to see the christmas lights at the zoo, made cookies, cut down our christmas tree...Here is Olivia enjoying one of her favorite past-times, eating, and Annie's picture - she told me it was a "Big fat turkey, upside down"

Zoo Lights!

We went to check out Zoo Lights last weekend...Here is Olivia checking out one of the light sculptures, Annie enjoying the carousel, and Olivia trying to keep it together on the carousel.

Cookies

The girls and I decorated cookies last weekend...here is Annie adding as much sugar as possible to the sugar cookies.

Here are the two cookies Annie let me decorate...

Here is Olivia cleaning up after Annie and all the sugar that ended up all over the house....

Trip to the North Pole

I know, it isn't even Thanksgiving yet, but last week we decided to take a trip to Bass Pro because they had kid activities and other stuff and we didn't have anything better to do and it was really cold outside....and Santa! was going to be there. I asked Annie if she wanted to go and heck yeah! She said she was going to go upstairs and get dressed. About 15 minutes later I followed her up there to see what was taking her so long. I heard her singing Christmas carols in her bedroom, so cute. She only knows one real line of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" but she keeps singing it anyways and makes it up as she goes along. I walked into her room and she jumped up and said she was ready to go. She said, "I put 3 sweat shirts on, a pair of extra warm yellow pants and 4 pairs of socks, because it is really cold at the North Pole!" She's a thinker! I guess she thought we had an exclusive invitation to Santa's house. She didn't seem too disappointed when I told her that Santa had come to our town. Anyways, we had fun at Bass Pro Shop, that place is crazy! I think they have more animals than the Denver Zoo, although the Bass Pro animals are kinda not so much as alive as the Zoo animals, but what can you do. They had a little indoor ice skating rink set up so now Annie has a few laps under her belt. Olivia really wanted to try ice skating, but I successfully distracted her by looking at all the redneck presents that are available for purchase there. Anyone need a pair of antlers that attach to the sides of your truck? Or how about a fish shaped trailer hitch cover?

Liberated Baby

I like to sometimes ask Annie and Olivia if they are my girls, my best girls, my special girls...Annie always says yes! Today I had a little conversation with Olivia...

Me - Olivia, are you my best girl?
O - No.
Me - Will you be my girl?
O - No.
Me - Well, who's girl are you?
O - Mine! (while patting her chest, big smile on her face)
Me - Oh, so you are your own girl? Good for you!
O - Yes!

I still want her to be my girl....

Go Saints!

We are all down in the basement playing around and watching the Saints-Falcons game on the tube. The Saints just scored and Olivia totally broke out the most awesome touchdown dance I've ever seen a baby break out. It started with a few seconds of running in place, then a nice summersault, followed by rolling back and forth on the floor. All I can say about it is that I've seen a lot of things in my life, but that was awesome.

Happy Halloween!

From the Rainbow Butterfly, Hungry Catepiller, Track Star (Dodge Ball Star), and the Chaquita Banana Girl.

Our House is overflowing with candy, carmel apples, jack-o-lanterns, and halloween stickers.

Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful!

Frightful - but not in a Halloween sort of way! We had a big snow storm this week in Denver, I'd say there was over 15 inches in our backyard yesterday. It's melting fast, so hopefully trick or treat will be okay for the girls tomorrow night.
Here are some photos of the girls in the snow and our cold and frozen pumpkins...the smallest one came right out of our own garden.

Smarty Baby

Olivia’s holding out on us. I had no idea until last night that she can count to 10. Not sure if that is count to 10 in English, but she is definitely counting. She also let me know that she knows some colors also. I asked her what she wanted to wear this morning and she walked over to look in the dresser drawer and said “ummm…pink!” and pulled out a pink sweatshirt. So not only does she know the color pink…she also knew that it was going to be cold out today and a sweatshirt would be the best option! Try to let Annie pick out her clothes and she will be wearing a polka dot tanktop with striped shorts while it is snowing outside. No wonder that kid at daycare told her she doesn’t have any good outfits…

Cha cha cha cha changes...

Lots of changes going on in our house. Well, not really lots, just one big one. Some might know this already, but Tim had been pretty slow at work the last few months, made it through one round of layoffs, but not so lucky with this one. He's been taking advantage of me and my salary for the last 2 weeks, but with no jobs in sight, we decided to keep the girls home and keep the money we were spending for daycare in our bank account. No need to worry about us though, daycare is so pricey out here that we end up bringing home more money with Tim on unemployment and the girls at home than we did with Tim at work and the girls at school (well, I guess that doesn't count any of his 401k contributions...) But anyways, Tim's got some big plans to spend the fall going to dance classes, gymnastics classes, zoos, hiking, and skiing with the girls. I guess I'll be stuck at my office bringing home the bacon (yum...bacon).

Grounds Keeper Annie

Last weekend I was reading the paper and noticed it was pretty quiet around the house...so I started to wonder what Annie was up to because I'm sure we all know that a quiet Annie is most likely an Annie up to no good. We found her out in the back yard cutting the grass with my kitchen scissors. At least this time it was the grass and not Bailey's fur!

Olivia

Can anybody argue against the fact that this is the world most cutest baby? Poor Bav...she's sick with a fever and has vomited once - my thanks go out to Bailey for cleaning that mess up for me while I was cleaning up Olivia and myself. Actually, seeing him do that almost made me vomit.

A little place called Aspen...

Or should I say a little place called Rip-off! Well, okay, it was nice but still, who would pay $14 to take a bus to see the most photographed mountains in the country (Maroon Bells), and who would pay $25 each to ride a lift to the top of Aspen mountain when there is no way there is a free candy store up there....I could go on, but it was a very nice trip none the less. We decided to camp there because there was a balloon festival there that weekend (which in Aspen's defense, was free...although it was actually in the town of Snowmass...details). Anyways, I thought it would be a nice end to the camping season and we both prayed on the way up there that the camper would cooperate with us, which it did! Yeah, finally a trip with all systems go! So here are a few photos from the trip...

When Babies Attack!

It seems that Olivia has been building up a taste for a certain kid in her class. It started off innocent enough...a little nibble here, a chomp there. So far she has bit this kid once when he snatched some food off of her lunch plate. Another time, they were supposed to be holding hands while out on a walk, and I guess she didn't want to. Well today we got a call from Ms. Mayra...Olivia had allegedly bitten this poor guy at least 4 times today, and then added another kid to her hit list for a total of 5 bites over 4 hours. I discussed this with the school director to see if they had any idea on how to get this to stop. They are going to just be diligent and try to intercept the biting before it starts, or try to see what is causing it to happen, and then have a talk with Olivia about conflict resolution and how you shouldn't bite, etc...I know Olivia...that will not work with her...she rarely listens to the voice of reason, especially since she doesn't understand more than maybe 150 words at the moment...I asked if they would be willing to just bite Olivia back (Tim and I nipped this biting in the bud when she started biting at home by returning the favor). The director almost fell out of her chair, oh gosh no, I could go to jail! So what can I do? At least she isn't biting me anymore!

Van Bore-ison

Tim and I were having a great time last night at our friends Octepenfest...great beer, great people, cute babies...we also had tickets (muy expensivo ticket) to see one of my favorites of all favorites, the Belfast Cowboy himself, Van Morrison later that night. So we left Annie and Olivia in the care of our great friends Tim and Erin (by the way, Olivia woke up this morning with her diaper on backwards...I'm not sure if that is a sign as to how the evening went or not, but onto the real story at hand) So we leave, we sing all the way downtown, we happily pay for parking, we enjoy a few before show beverages, we flirt, we make fun of the wide variety of fans....we enter the theater, we sit. Show starts promptly at 8...Van appears and starts a song that I'm not sure I know, I enjoy it. He has a very talented band. Next song...no, not sure I know this one either...still okay...can't really understand what he is singing...next song, no, next, no, next, no...well, at least the guy next to me is enjoying it (not Tim, the other guy) He asked me if I had a pen to write down the song set and randomly let out whoot of enthusiasm throughout the evening. 10th or so song in he sings a jacked up, technically an overly jazzed up version, but I'm sticking with jacked up version of Moon Dance. I get it...he's probably tired of that song, but I don't think anyone else is. He ended up cutting it off abruptly. Then more songs that I don't know...and now he is starting to sound like a cheesy lounge act. My mind is starting to wonder now and honestly all I can think of is what we could have done with the money we spent to see this guy. One high point for us is seeing him yell at his piano player to get on the trumpet...that was amusing. Last song is some rambling unintelligible song about getting a jelly roll (the whole time this is going on, I keep thinking yeah dude, I don't think anyone calls them that anymore). Then he walks off stage, I assume to go get a jelly roll (which kind, I'm not sure, he does look like he enjoys the pastry variety). He comes back about 10 seconds later and launches into Gloria. My heart rises. For one, I think this is it...here is the encore, this should be good, who has ever heard a bad encore? Then my heart sinks. Gloria is now 5'-9". Seriously, he changed the lyrics. The whole concert I was having trouble understanding what he had been saying, and here it is clear as a bell. In the past, I'd always thought to myself, yes, I can be Gloria...I'm 5'-4", this is perfect. Thanks a lot Van, there is no way I could ever grow 5 more inches, my life is ruined, that dream is over. Oh well, I rock out to the song...then it's over. He walks off stage. Lights come on. I look at Tim, he stares back at me. I start wondering what everyone is clapping about. That song might as well had ended like this..."And her name is G....L.....O....R.....I'll see you later." But no, he didn't even say goodnight to his audience. He just left. So then we left, somewhat speechless. There was a couple walking out singing one of this classic hits, and I couldn't help think to myself, Yes, that would have been great if he had sang that song, but he didn't and you guys are idiots. Wow. That about sums it up. Wow, but not in a good way, just an emotionless wow.

Foreign Exchange Baby

Olivia is talking up a storm these days. She's had her first sentence..."Tickle Mama", her first conversation...

Olivia - Food?
Mama - Are you hungry?
Olivia - Yeah.
Mama - What would you like?
Olivia - Ummm.....o-gurt (yogurt).

With all this talking, she has picked up an odd sort of accent. For one, the word diaper is pronounce "Die-pee-a", poopy is "poo-pee-a" pretty much every other word ends with "pee-a". Almost like she is trying to say words in Italian or something. She's so cute...we should take her to Italy and show her off to the locals.

This is just a side note...but what's up with our blog counter? Have we really had 11,958 hits?

A New Truck!

Not really...

Yesterday I drove a company truck home because I had plans to do a little night time inspection on E-470, boring work stuff, blah blah blah. So Tim picked up the girls and when I heard them pull into the driveway, I went out to greet them only to find Annie jumping around in the driveway laughing and yelling "You got a new truck, a new truck, wow!" I tried to explain to her that I was only borrowing it, but she was so excited...she asked if she could look inside. We climbed in, and you would have thought there were 27 clowns hiding inside there. "Wow! What's that? There's no back seat! Hahahahah! You can't have kids in here...can I go back there? Can I sit in your seat? What does this do? Where is the music? What's in there? There's no seats back here! WOW-WEE!" I was like yeah, it is one of the nicer and newer URS trucks and it doesn't start to shake when you go over 40 mph, but it's nothing to pee your pants over...by the way Annie, your not peeing your pants, are you? She was still excited about the new truck after her tour of the interior that we hung out in the bed for a while before heading in for dinner. I'm wondering if she gets this excited about a boring URS truck, what is going to happen when we really do get a new truck? One with (hopefully) a built-in DVD player, heated leather seats, dual climate control, optional 3rd row seating, moon roof!...WOW-WEE now I'm getting excited!

Reverting

I came down to the basement yesterday to find Annie in the process of dragging the baby swing out from the storage room. I'm still amazed at how her muscles managed to do this because, well...our storage room is kind of a disaster area and I'm pretty sure the swing was buried under more than a few things. And I'm lucky that she didn't run into a few Christmas presents I picked up over the weekend! She really wanted the swing so that her baby could take a nap in it. Then she wanted the bouncer seat...then she wanted the activity chair, or whatever you call that thing. So 10 minutes later...I look over and Annie has strapped herself into the bouncer chair and Olivia is happy as a clam in the swing. I guess everyone wants to be baby-ed every once in a while, which is weird for the girls, since they are baby-ed almost ever second of the day!

Girls gone crazy...

Olivia, Olivia, Olivia...she's crazy! On Wednesday she came home with a note from school saying she bit a friend after he took her toy. I asked her "Did you bite your friend?", she answers "Yah". So we had a little talk about what teeth are for, etc. So last night I picked her up and again, another biting incident. And to top it off, she turned around and whacked Annie on the head twice with a plastic baseball bat, and then while Annie lay there crying about it, she leaned in and bit her on the tummy...bad baby. Now I'm starting to feel a little embarrassed. This morning I asked her "Olivia, are you going to bite anyone today?", she answers "Yah". I'm starting to wonder about this child. The other day she walked into the edge of our patio table. When I asked her if she was alright, she laughed and purposely bonked her head into the table again, two times before I stopped her.

Annie, Annie, Annie...she's crazy too! But in a cuter Annie-style way. She's recently become very attached to her stuffed giraffe. She talks to it, gets it dressed in the mornings, tries to feed it vitamins, changes it's diaper (she's trying to potty train it right now), rocks it to sleep at night...she claims she's the giraffe's mommy. I guess her dream of having a baby finally came true, however now that I think of it, she told me she was going to get married before becoming a mommy, I'll have to ask her about that. I asked her this morning if she wanted to take giraffe to school for show and tell, she said "No! Giraffe is real, not a show and tell".

Postapalooza!

I guess I have been neglecting the blog for the last few weeks...so to kick off the holiday weekend with style, here is a bunch of post to get everyone back up to speed! First off, we just got back from Ohio where Annie was the flower girl for Bonnie and John's wedding. She had a rough morning of the wedding, so bad that she actually thought it would be a good idea to rip her dress. Luckily, the skirt was so full that you nobody could really tell, and she eventually turned things around in time to walk down the aisle and toss her petals. Great Job Annie! The reception was at my parents house and the tent and dance floor went up a few days before the wedding, so Olivia and Annie got to try out a few dance moves before the big day. I think the highlight for Annie was being able to ride in the Limo. It's getting a little late for me to be awake, and the photos from the wedding are still downloading from my camera to our computer, so I will leave you with two pictures of Annie in her flower gal attire.

Postapalooza

While we were in Ohio we hit the Allen County Fair. Talk about bringing back some childhood memories. I'm almost positive that all the same rides, and all the same Carnies were all there, same as back in 1992. We checked out the Rabbit barn (big hit with the girls) followed by the chicken barn, goat barn, pig barn, and cow barn where Annie narrowly avoided stepping into a very large cow pie. After that we filled up on the usual fair fare - corn dogs, greasy fries with vinegar, pork tenderloin sandwich, lemonade and of course cotton candy. We ran into a the most awesome balloon animal maker. She made Annie a monkey climbing a tree, and Olivia got a ladybug bracelet. Here is Annie enjoying a nice pony ride, Olivia not enjoying a pony ride, feeding the baby Kangaroo at the petting zoo, and Annie trying out a new set of wheels - only 13 more years until she can really hit the road!

Postapalooza

Annie practicing for her big appearance in Bonnie and John's wedding.

Postapalooza

Gotta Love a Messy Bav!

Postapalooza

August 15th - Tim's 33rd Birthday! Complete with a cake and another cake for Annie 'cause she spoiled like that.