Ever wonder what "D.C.'s Storm of the Century" would look like? Take a look...
Is there even a prettier picture than a warm cozy house, adorned with sentimental Christmas decorations and a humble, yet beautiful tree and a winter wonderland of fluffy, white snow falling outside? I think not. Have yourself a look at the wintry scene we woke up to this morning. 
Oh, how I love Saturdays with our little family together and no plans whatsoever. Today we enjoyed some Christmas shopping and a fabulous lunch out, but not before Makenna got her second taste of snow, wonderful snow. I have a sneaking suspicion that this year's snow adventures will go over much more smoothly than last year's.
On a side note, this was our little girl two days ago, channeling her inner Minnie Mouse Diva.
Last night we returned home from our Disney World Thanksgiving vacation. We’re all exhausted, (including our trust-worthy car), but I had to share with you some entertaining pictures and a follow-up to last year’s Thanksgiving post. In following with The Mannifesto tradition, I give to you our...
“Top 10 Do’s and Don’ts for your Thanksgiving Destination Vacation”
#1 DO pick the right people to travel with. You don’t get a whole lot of choice with your family, but a lot is riding on who you go with. Luckily our fabulous friends, the Olsens, were the right pick.
#2 DO make sure you hit up a U.S. military serviceman (Air Force dentists count) to hook you up with super-duper cheap 5-day Disney passes for an incredible $99/pass.
#3 DON’T you dare think that, unlike you, everyone will be at home eating turkey and Grandma’s green beans on Thanksgiving Day. The Magic Kingdom WILL be packed to the max and people MAY or may not push you in order to get ahead of you on “It’s a Small World”.
#4 DO wait in line to see Mickey and Minney Mouse, even if you stand there for over an hour. It’s all your child will talk about for the ENTIRE trip. Don’t worry if the picture turns out atrocious; you’ve just made a memory.
#5 DON’T get separated from your spouse, even if they’ve offered to run ahead to get a valuable Fast Pass for Pirates of the Caribbean (which they don’t have). Chances are, they will leave you with the kids and stroller and it will be up to you to take on the vicious crowds and the intimidating task of cutting everyone in line (cue evil stares from random strangers) to meet up with them at the front.
#6 DO take the time to make a special Thanksgiving Feast at your rental property. DON’T be afraid, though, to take short-cuts to make it all happen, i.e. Stovetop stuffing, Reynold’s oven bag for the bird, store-bought pies, Costco rolls, etc.
#7 DO realize that if you are taking your 2-year-old, you will spend the majority of your time on the SAME ride, fashioned 8 different ways (Dumbo the Flying Elephant, The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Astro Orbiter, and TriceraTop Spin). Although you’ll never tire of hearing your toddler scream, “Higher, Higher!” and “Down, Daddy Mommy, Down!”
#8 DON’T hesitate to take leftover turkey sandwiches EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. for lunch. An array of complimentary condiments are available for your pleasure at nearly every food stand (FYI, bbq sauce goes quite well with turkey and rolls).
#9 DO take loads and loads of pictures of your adventures. Your hubby may have his eyes closed in 50% of them and your toddler may have her hands covering her face in frustration for the other 50%, but ONE of them is bound to turn out.
#10 DON’T think you’ll be able to take on 800 miles of the I-95 in ONE day. Be kind to yourselves and stop at a shady hotel somewhere in the middle of nowhere to get some much-needed rest. It’s totally worth the $35 bucks. 
You knew it was coming, didn't you? The follow up to this.
It was magnificent. It was fabulous. It was everything I hoped for and more. From the anticipation the day of:
to the waiting in line for hours on end:
to the midnight premiere in a packed theater full of screaming tweens:
Followed by a Saturday evening dinner out and second-time screening with all the girlfriends:
and a surprise baby shower for moi, complete with gourmet cupcakes from three of D.C.'s finest sweeteries:
and best of all...Twilight charades, a memorable slumber party, and the reunion of the Matchy Scratchies:
Until June 30th...
I wouldn't be true to myself if I didn't let the world know how EXCITED I am for November 20th. Please tell me you're excited too. Please tell me you already have your midnight showing tickets. Please tell me you have at least 1 friend flying in special to be a part of the opening night madness. Please tell me you've got additional tickets for a weekend showing with your girlfriends. Please tell me you've reread at least the second book of the series (if not the entire series) in order to sufficiently prepare for the big night.
Oh, please tell me you've already watched and memorized this...
There ARE more important things in life than Twilight...
but not this weekend.
Oh, how I LOVE Halloween!!!
First off, a craft I saw at the home of a lady I visit teach that I HAD to try out. I thought it was too darling to forget, so I stole the idea and finished these little Jack-o-Lantern jars. I Mod-Podged tissue paper all around the jar and then found some cute face patterns online. I Mod-Podged those on once the tissue had dried and then finished them off with some rafia and twinkle lights. They made the perfect festive table decoration! 
Last year we took Makenna Trick-or-Treating, but she had just barely learned to walk. We felt like people were definitely in on our scam to get free candy through our 15-month-old. This year it was completely legit. She walked right along her little friends up to all the doors and knocked, showing off her very best fairy princess smile. 
Until next year...
Tiny fingers, tiny toes, little itty-bitty clothes.
Dresses, dolls, hair in curls. Guess what...
IT'S A GIRL!
We are ecstatic to announce that come March 22nd we will be adding another wonderful little girl to our family! I went in for the ultrasound yesterday and had the memorable experience of being thoroughly investigated for almost 2 hours on the table, receiving our first 3-D images of Baby Girl (which I am not posting because they are a little creepy to anyone else besides us), and finding out that we have one TALL, but perfectly healthy, little girl on her way down to see us.
(Can I say this at 20 weeks? Based on those few 3-D images of her, she is the spitting image of Makenna. Button nose, the famous Bird chin, and perfectly content sitting breech right now with her feet keeping her face company.)
Last weekend we drove down to Myrtle Beach and had an absolutely fabulous time. With the exception of a couple of gloomy days out of 5, the weather was fantastic considering it's the middle of October. Who would've thought you could get sunburned in the fall?
We learned a few things while we were there...
1. We were 100% meant to live by the beach. The salt, the sand, the waves, the shells, the beautiful umbrellas everywhere- WE LOVED IT!
2. We are HUGE fans of anything water-related. It's around 70 degrees (a little chilly for swimming); the lazy river at the resort is nearly empty; there are dark rain clouds looming overhead; people are leaving the pool shivering. But we come ready to tube down the river and throw our kids under the tipping water bucket...and LOVE it! 
3. Our daughter loves fish...even dead ones. Sunday morning we walked through downtown, looking through all the beach shops and then out onto the pier. While we were out there, we saw a pack/school/gang(?) of dolphins putting on a show for everyone out in the ocean. Beautiful! Then an old man took a liking to Makenna and proceeded to show her all the dead fish in his cooler...hmmm. She was enthralled. Then a homeless looking fisherman caught a flounder and laid the bloody thing on the pier for all to admire. We couldn't drag Makenna away. She just kept saying, "Fish, nap?"
4. The bike trailer we bought off Craigslist earlier this year was totally worth the money. We love family bike rides and Makenna loves riding in the back behind us. This time she loved it even more because she had her little friend, Gavin, to keep her company on the ride. We even looked back a few times and they were holding hands. Adorable!
5. There's no two ways around it- we are ADDICTED to good barbecue. Which is one reason we miss Richmond so much. However, when we were down in Charleston a few years ago we discovered a delicious place called Sticky Fingers. We were ecstatic there was one in Myrtle Beach and devoured some delicious pork ribs while we were there. We even got a free bottle of their signature BBQ sauce! 
6. We LOVE vacation! And clearly we're raising a daughter who does as well. Thank heaven for good friends and great memories.
I'm having one of those days. You know the ones where you feel like at any moment you could burst into tears? Not big hysterical tears. Just frustrated, overwhelmed, silent tears.
I'm pretty sure it's a culmination of things.
1. We're in the throes of potty-training. Accident after accident. Bribe after bribe. Laundry load after laundry load. I'm frustrated.
2. I was embarrassed of my child today for the first time since being a mom. We were at a little REC center class for Makenna and after throwing a tantrum on the toilet (she, not I), she cried the whole first part of the class, then proceeded to the back corner where she sucked on her fingers and bowed her head. I felt like all the other kids were doing what they were supposed to and mine was pouting in the corner for all to see. I was embarrassed.
3. I've got two BYU independent classes I HAVE to finish before March when Baby comes. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get into it, for there are always 100 other things I should/want to be doing. I'm overwhelmed.
4. I'm pregnant which means...I'm emotional.
So it's one of those days. But I'm feeling like things could be turning around.
My house is silent because Little Miss is sleeping. I just bought a big bag of candy corn at Target which I think I shall nibble on in the meantime. We're leaving on a fabulous trip down to Myrtle Beach on Friday and I get to pack for it (one of my favorite things to do). And tonight is Wednesday night, and neither Drew nor I have any obligations tonight, which means sitting home and watching my new favorite show, Glee. See? Things are turning around already.
I just finished this little project the other day after finding myself frustrated about Makenna's plethora of hair bows and the way in which they were (NOT) organized. I got the idea off of this website and, after cringing at the $70 price tag, thought, "I could probably come up with something fairly similar and pay a fraction of their price." So I came up with this, which I don't think is quite as darling, but it sure serves a purpose and it came out how I imagined.
I had a hard time finding a board that matched theirs with the decorative iron work above, but I found a $6 board at Michael's (you could also make your own if you had a router), picked a couple of different pieces of scrapbook paper, a painted wood flower, and wooden bubble letters.
I glued the paper onto the acrylic-painted board and then Mod Podged it. Hot glue-gunned the flower and painted letters. Then attached the top bow to some triangle brackets on the back to hang it from and glue-gunned coordinating ribbon to clip the bows to. Pretty easy and it only cost a total of 14 dollars!
After clipping all of her bows/flowers to the ribbons, I found it kind of ridiculous how many bows she has...but completely girly and fabulous! Oh how I love having a daughter...
Suspects: The Manns and the Kings
Date: Sept. 26, 2009
Scene of the Crime: The National Museum of Crime and Punishment, D.C.
Charged with: Shooting, reckless driving, and possibly eating in "NO FOOD OR DRINK" areas.
On Saturday we headed downtown with our longtime friends, the Kings, for free tickets on National Museum Day to the Crime and Punishment Museum. After waiting out a longer-than-anticipated line, we made our way through the museum, brushing up on our shooting and cop-car driving skills. We learned all about the infamous old gangstas and saw where America's Most Wanted is filmed (luckily we got out of there before they recognized Makenna). The shooting and driving simulators were completely awesome, but made me motion sick (leave it to the pregnant lady to want to vomit after shooting a man).
Afterward we headed up to Ben's Chili Bowl where we sat in the EXACT same spot as President Obama the day after his inauguration. It had a humongous picture of him with Mayor Adrian Fenty above our table. If you go there, everything was deliciously covered with their signature chili, but you HAVE to get The Works (an insanely big order of chili cheese fries) and a shake... TO DIE FOR.
Here's the evidence:
...to let you in on a little secret.
I wrangled and wrestled with this for awhile now.
Is this a secret you share on a blog?
I'll give you a few hints:
1. My secret is only about 3 inches big.
2. Makenna says the secret is "hiding."
3. My shoes still fit, but my cool summer shorts don't.
4. In March it won't be a secret anymore, but I didn't want to wait that long...
WE HAVE ANOTHER LITTLE MANN ON THE WAY!
(Our scanner recently died, otherwise I'd post a picture of the ultrasound. I felt a little funny about downloading someone else's ultrasound image and posting it on our blog. Call me old-fashioned.)
(I'm 13 weeks and I feel like I look about 26 weeks...hooray for gauchos)
...or at least one of them.
I ADORE three-day weekends. This one was no exception. Here's why:
DAY 1: The Manns got up early so we could drive down to Charlottesville and go apple picking; same place as last year. Makenna was in heaven eating all the apples she could fit into her little hands. She was much more content sitting in the wagon, giving Drew and me moral support than actually picking them herself. We picked Gala and Golden Delicious apples, both superb. Afterward we could not resist heading to Michie Tavern to stuff ourselves silly with their delicious southern buffet of fried chicken, apple cider, buttermilk biscuits, pulled pork and potatoes. Making my mouth water this very second.
We raced home after our day of fun to arrive in time for kickoff of the BYU/Oklahoma game at the new Cowboys stadium. I knew our beloved Cougars would be blessed for their righteousness and pull out a miraculous win against the Sooners (14-13).
DAY 2: Attended church where in all three meetings (YW's included), the historic BYU game was referenced, some even bearing testimony of the truthfulness of the church b/c of it. Gotta love testimony meetings after the Cougs win.
DAY 3: Fun ward party/softball game. Then Drew and I "got our CAN on," preparing and canning 7 quarts of apple pie filling which turned out fabulously delicious. I added some dried cranberries to the jars to make them look pretty. What else do you do with 17 pounds of fresh apples?
We then took advantage of Chick-fil-A's one-day offer of free chicken sandwiches to anyone who would don their favorite sports team's apparel. Three free tasty chicken sandwiches to round out our wonderful weekend.
