Sleep is good!

We've been remembering how good sleep is at our house this week! Addy is sleeping very regularly in her bed now and may just be learning to like sleep. Her naps are starting to lengthen and her night-time sleep seems to be much more restful the past couple days. She's, of course, learning more and more too. This week, she's been working on learning the names of all of the shapes and she's discovered that her blocks fit in the square hole (and the star hole too... ha!) of her shape sorter. She also has been counting cars on many of our ventures out. "I love you" has become a regular phrase in her vocabulary and her hugs are frequent and easily given as well. Wow - almost two. Where did the time go?

Kennedy has been sleeping much better as well (thank goodness). Though she slept through the night right after we moved her into her crib, her nights were getting to be rather painful, as she would wake up three, four, five, six times a night crying. But no longer! Giving her just a couple minutes before going into her has fixed this problem! And Mom is so much happier! =) She's also almost rolling over from back to front as well, though she's still working on getting that arm out from under her. She's growing quickly as well. Kids sure speed up your life! =)

The negotiation techniques...

of an almost-two year old are brutal. Thank goodness the business world doesn't run that way! =)

Valentine's Week

This week, we made a stained glass heart and also baked a rice krispie treat for Dad (in the shape of a Hershey's kiss) for Dad. In the last picture, you'll see that Addy is filling the kiss with love! =) Also, we went to a couple playdates (and hosted one), went to the park, went swimming, went to Wiggle Worms, and went to a couple community activity times. We're keeping busy and we're ready for more outdoor time! Summer, where are you? =)

Triple Rush Hot Chocolate

Ingredients:
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 dash hot chili powder
1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
1/2 cup cold milk

Directions:
1. Combine the chocolate chips and milk in a glass or plastic dish, and microwave on high, stirring every 20 to 30 seconds, until melted and smooth. Mix in the coffee, cinnamon, and hot chili powder until the instant coffee has dissolved. Stir in the cold milk. Strain into 2 mugs. Thin with additional milk, if desired.

Adam - ***
Melanie - ***

(We found it was a lot better if warmed up again before drinking!)

Photo tag

Anna tagged me!

The rules: Go to the fifth photo folder on your computer and then pick the fifth picture you find. After you post the picture, you tag five friends to do the same and blog about it.

This is a picture from early January of 2008. (The fifth file is the fifth day that we took pictures in 2008). Addy was eating a lot of squash, carrots and sweet potatoes (as you can tell by her nose!!) and transitioning to table food. Just a random picture of a cute kid being herself. My how she's grown!!

I'm tagging all of my blog-gy friends out there. It's quick and easy and kinda fun too! =)

A new studio, a new blog!

Just Because is moving up in the world... literally. The photo studio that used to be in the basement in our house has now been moved to the main floor. This allows for a little more space during shoots and also allows for a better traffic flow in the house for clients. Here's a pic - not that you can really tell all that much from this... =) Oh, and even cooler (well maybe just as cool) is that all of the care package inventory fits very nicely just behind the background curtain (which would have been wasted space anyway), so Just Because is now all in one room, which makes my organizational self very happy.

Also, Just Because has a new blog too! Postings of many of my shoots will be able to be seen here - if you're interested!

Yay!

I think I'm in love.

I mean, let's not get carried away here or anything... vacuuming is still vacuuming, but it just got a lot better. (Click the picture to see the full specs!)