Ringin' in the new year with some new locks...

As promised, the first hair-cut pictures of Ms. Ryan.  We thought it would be a struggle but the little lady always amazes to surprise us and was an obedient customer.

Before:

Admiring the slice of mullet now placed oh so carefully in a baggie (where it belongs):

 Keeping an eye on the progress

 Admiring herself in the mirror (a favorite hobby these days)

 And, the after shot:

 A lollipop for my good work!

Oh yeah, Happy New Year to all!  2010 will be remembered as the year of the Reeser and the haircut for this household.  

Christmas backlog....

Sorry all, forgive us for we have taken a week off.  With good reason though, the Stiffs just returned from their first family-of-four-road-trip-over-three-hours.  We took the girls down to Dallas just after Christmas to visit Grant's family (thank you Ella for a fun-filled 3 days!) and hell if they weren't great in the car.  Pics to follow (perhaps tomorrow), but here are a few from the day de Santa before I retire for the evening.  4:45am wake-up call, 10 hour drive, countless movie and snack requests and 1,001 questions from Ryan along the way and I am exhausted......

White Christmas

The drums were a big hit....and ended up being a musical theme this year,  another drum set and keyboard were added to the mix later on that day courtesy of Grandma and Uncle Terry.   Mom and Dad are loving all the drum practice.

  A sneak peak from the Stiff Family Vacation and Ryan's new found love of hotels:

Stay tuned for Ryan's first haircut.
Yes, I said 'first', you read that correctly.
Yes, I know she is 2.5 years old already.

Merry Christmas Eve!

An early present from Santa - a white Christmas!  From our family to yours, Happy Holidays!

Picture Time!

Ryan's super lovely teachers sent each child home today with a little gift for their families:  a CD of pictures from this past school-year.  A little walk down memory lane......
First day at her new school:  June 30, 2010

 Playdough!

 Visiting the school library - the first few trips our little scholar was found sound asleep in the corner, she soon got the hang of it and now stays awake through story-time

 One of many 'pajama days' --- a favorite of both Ryan and mom --- makes the mornings much easier!  It also appears to be 'throw up your gang symbols' day.

 Too cool for school with her hands in her pockets

 A nap time love affair

 Celebrating her teachers' birthdays

 While all the other kids appear to be holding a toy of some sort, Ryan looks like she is about to hold up the joint:

 Lunch time!

 Slumber party fun

 Picking my nose, of course....

 Gettin' down and dirty

 Hugs, hugs, hugs...

Every child got a lovely photo cover for their DVD,  I saw most of them and they were all precious shots of each kid:  smiling, laughing, reading, etc.....  What was Ms. Ryan's cover shot on her DVD, see below: 

For those of you who know her love affair with headbands, one day during nap time it fell over her eyes and apparently freaked her out when she woke up and couldn't see anything.  Kind of funny, eh?  I love her teachers that much more for having a sense of humor and using this shot as her cover.

Reese's Christmas List

Dear Santa,
I am 99% sure I will freak my freak when I meet you at the mall in a few days and my parents make me sit on your slightly creepy lap, for this, I apologize in advance.  However, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of what a good girl I have been these past 9 months on your land.   I rarely fuss, I'm a happy baby (although not as happy as I could be if mom had the stainless steel appliances), I am an amazing eater (much like yourself), I love love LOVE my sister (and hey, we all know she's not the easiest to get along with sometimes), and hell, I even slept in until 7am today!  Therefore, I don't feel it's entirely inappropriate for me to ask you directly for the one and only gift I really, really, really want this Christmas......

Scotch Tape.  My very own roll please, and perhaps even a fancy dispenser if you feel so inclined.

Love you,
Reesers

Daddy/daughter pancake installment

Another week, another Sunday morning date with dad for Ryan's beloved pancakes...

Watch out paparazzi!

Note to TMZ peeps, you may not want to stalk Ryan - the little lady will show no mercy....

Let's mix it up a bit....

It's Friday.  We're in the single digit countdown to Christmas.  You're probably a little bit tired of seeing Ryan and Reese in their Santa pajamas.  You want a change and I'm going to give it to you.  I bet you're sitting there wondering aloud "hey self, what do you think Niagara Falls looks like underneath all that water?"  Am I right?  You were thinking that, weren't ya?  Well, thanks to MSNBC.com, a photo taken back in the day ('69 to be exact) will answer your inquisitive minds. 


From June to November 1969 the American Falls were dewatered. This action cut back the normal flow of 60,000 gallons a second to almost nothing. Most of the diverted water was either sent over the Horseshoe Falls or diverted to the Robert Moses generating plant's upriver intakes. The action enabled Canadian and US power companies and the US Army Corps of Engineers to do on-the-spot inspections and aerial photographs of the river bed's rock formation. This was all part of a plan to reduce erosion to the Falls and add some credibility to the future babystiff.blogspot.com.

Better than Santa pajamas?  Of course not, but close....  

Baby phat!

Just in case anyone may think I'm exaggerating when I talk about Reese's thighs, please check out these glorious gams.  One of the greatest joys in life:  loving all over those bad boys.

A view from the top...

With the icy weather and sick babies, this is all I'm seeing today when I look down:

I take shower!

So Ryan, remember her?  Hates water on her head?  Finally, finally listened to mom and dad last week and realized if you look to the ceiling while getting your hair washed the water doesn't get in your eyes.  Talk about stubborn.  Whoa.  We've been preaching that nifty little trick since her hatred with water on her head began, months ago.  Anyway, imagine my surprise last night as I was finishing up my shower and Ryan came in the bathroom, didn't say a word, but started stripping down to her birthday suit.  She opened the door and said "I shower too".  Well, okay then, hop on in.  She was reluctant at first and I even offered to hold her to keep her head above the mist but no, "I do it myself".  So the little mermaid stood there.  And stood there.  And stood there.  Our 50+ year old house isn't too generous with the hot water so when it got too luke-warmy for me to bear, I jumped ship offering to take my first-born with me.   Again, no "Two more minutes, I showering".  Almost ten minutes later and the girl is still standing in there mesmerized by the falling water, hair totally soaked by the way.  I go back in to check on her and get a whiff of an unpleasant odor, open the shower door and there is my precious child squatting like a linebacker with a grunt on her face.  "Are you trying to go potty?" I ask her...."Close the door mama".  Right.  I'll close the door but your dirty little rear is coming with me. 

Water on the head - success
Poopin' on the potty and not in mom and dad's shower - not so much

Walk away.......backwards

Another Ryan-ism, and one she uses frequently.  "Walk away" is the usual response to a number of situations:  being asked to do something she doesn't want to do, going to bed, and most often, when she needs some alone time on the potty.   The other morning, a very tired and crabby Ryan reluctantly went to her bathroom to go potty.  Dad came in to help and Ryan, with the attitude of a 13 year old girl, took one look at him and said "walk away daddy, walk away", when Grant didn't immediately follow her demands, she began shaking one leg (while on the potty) in attempt to shoo him out of the bathroom "I said walk away".   You know she really means business when she adds the 'backwards' in for clarification.  She told Aunt Barbara recently to 'walk away...backwards' when Aunt Barbara had the gall to stick around to see if Ryan needed help in the bathroom.  'I do it myself'.

Special child she is. 

Here are a few Tuesday morning treats for y'all: 

Obviously we're big on our Santa pajamas (or 'ho-hos' as they are called by the toddler set). 

These boots are made for struttin'....

Yesterday I came around the corner to see Ryan found her dad's boots and was trying them on for size.   She got in those puppies all on her own. 

"I do it myself mama"

PS - for those of you that may not know, Grant is from Texas.  That should explain why we have cowboy boots in the first place. 

Pancakes with dad!

A little daddy/daughter bonding time on this snowy, Sunday morning.  Reese and mom - not invited:(

Don't be fooled by that sweet smile...

We're going three for three on the video blogs this weekend, just cuz.

You may or may not be aware, but sweet little Reesey has one hell of a sinister laugh.  The ladies at daycare get such a kick out of it, it's her party trick (that and her amazingly delicious chubby thighs).  This isn't her A game here, but she gives it a shot:

Cookin' in the kitchen...

Too bad the 'kitchen' is a 1982 plastic washing machine/ironing board (garage sale find for $3, holla!), although it's not that far off from mom's real kitchen.....hint #2 Santa.

The Reesers and an attention seeker

A little video fun for a Friday morning....

Get your hat on!

Grown-up Christmas List....

Dear Dad Santa,
All we want for Christmas is for mom to have a kick-a*s kitchen.  Enough of this white appliance bs.  All the other kids have stainless steel and we feel they are generally happier in life than we are.  Also, knocking down a few walls and adding an island would be a nice bonus, perhaps a stocking stuffer if you will.

We promise to be good all year!

Love,
Ryan & Reese

Decorating

During Ryan's nap time yesterday, she opted to spend her time 'decorating' her room, rather than catching a little shut eye.  After helping mom decorate for the holidays, the girl has channeled her inner Nate Berkus and loves to 'decorate' all over the house.  I could hear the pitter-patter of feet in her room yesterday afternoon as she repositioned her bowl of beloved headbands on every available piece of furniture she could get her hands on (in the confines of her tiny bedroom).  Later she told me:  "I decorated mama".
Anyway, you may be wondering what the heck the picture below has to do with a design savvy toddler, but I'm getting there.  In a long-winded, rambling version with too many details.  Due to her nap time being preoccupied with obviously higher priority tasks, at around 4:30PM she laid herself down on the couch, watched a little football and finally zonked out. 

And hell have no fury like a 2.5 year old being woken from a deep slumber for dinner. 

A whole new way to trim a tree...

A break from the usual Ryan/Reese antics.  This weekend we watched the pros bring down a huge, dead tree in our backyard (although it's behind our fence but still on our property, long story).  This puppy has been looming over our neighbor's house for years and this past summer we noticed the old guy had finally died.  Of course we didn't think to start snapping until half of it was already gone.

 You know they mean business when 4 sections of fence have to come down...

 We're still staring at this below....apparently a bigger job than they anticipated and no way to ensure the remainder will fall where it needs to so bigger equipment (read:  more money) is needed to complete the job.

All we want from Santa is....

some more Tupperware and K-cups.  What else is there?

I don't care how many toys we have around this house, these two immediately want to play 'coffee' as soon as they get home.  Oh and I'm sorry, did I say 'play' as in 'take turns, share and do together', forgive me, I meant to say Ryan plays, Reese tries to join in, Reese is quickly shunned.

I don't think you really need a caption to read Ryan's lips, but just in case, that would be a big ole 'NO Reese'

 And here?  Don't be fooled into thinking girlfriend is offering up a K-cup.  That would be a stiff arm she's throwing.  Fitting, I suppose.

Arm didn't do the trick, I'll try an elbow...

 Or maybe I'll just make a face and see if Reese goes away....

 God I love Reese, she doesn't give up, that girl will be a brawler.

 Until she notices mom snapping away with the camera, passive witness to this all....

 Below is the lovely marriage of plastic and coffee:

And just to add insult to injury, as I was snapping away this Friday night, a reminder of the cleaning I need to do tomorrow.  Gotta love the Canon for finding toys under the couch.