Happiest of Birthdays

6.29.2011

My birthday was yesterday...thank you again for all the birthday wishes people!

I've had some very wonderful birthdays over the years, but I can say this was truely my favorite so far.

The day before my birthday me and my beautiful baby girls headed off to Costco to get my choice of birthday treat: Cheesecake! mmmmm!
As we walked past the fresh flower display Taylee, in all her sweetness, asked if she could buy me some flowers for my birthday. I excitedly agreed and told her to choose any flowers she wanted to.
She chose some beautiful pink gerber daisies. {I happen to love gerber daisies, too}
Now for the best part...
She wanted to get them out of the bucket which was just out of her reach so I lifted her up to get them. As her feet toched the floor, she turned to me singing "Happy Birthday" at the top of her longs right there in Costco while handing me these flowers!

Needless to say my heart grew 3 sizes that day.
It is moments like these that really make being a mom the best! (and make up for all the awful moments of fighting and whining and nastiness)

Oh, and my birthday got better. I spent time with those I love. Thank you for making my day full of celebration.
~Jenn

9 months

2.13.2011

Mastered:
* SMILE! Finally I got a picture of her smiling. Aly has always been so serious. I love it, but am glad I was finally able to capture this sweet toothy smile on camera.
* Furniture cruiser - She pulls her self up on the furniture and 'walks' along them
* Patty-Cake - she pats it, she rolls it and she throws it in the oven.
* Feeding herself - (speaking of cake) Ya for mom, I can finally get something done!
* Backup Singer - Big sister loves to sing, and Als loves to sing along
* Just Dance - wii love to dance at our house. We have a dance game for the wii. She gets the remote, points it at the TV, and shakes it. But really whenever/wherever there is music she grooves and it goes something like this: hears music, starts the belly bounce (or knee bounce-depending on the position) then the arms and hands start waving.
* Signs - she's come up with some great ways to communicate. When she wants you to come here she'll pat her belly or knees (as if we're her puppies). She will sign Night-night when tired, sometimes milk -but mostly food when hungry, more, and all done
* Kissy-kissy - she's been giving kisses for awhile, now she'll blow you kisses
* Copy-cat - this may be my favorite age because of this. Als is really learning how a lot of things work. Some of my recent favorite examples are: when I answered the phone she had a toy in her hand so she held it up to her ear and started 'talking'...and she likes to wash her hair (yes she fills up the cup and dumps it on her head), brushes her hair and teeth,, imitates her sisters play, or our laughs...
* and I must be her favorite, because I am...and really she says "Mama" a lot!

Working on
* Balance - it seems that she has more confidence than balance. I try not to encourage this too much. I'm not sure I'm ready for her to walk.
* Walking - OK I'll admit it...it's starting. My baby is working up some bravery. Letting go of the couch or other support system. Even trying to stand up while not being supported by anything. So ya, here's to hoping this lasts a little while.
* Talking - I know there is gonna be some time before this is mastered, but she really concentrates on the sounds we make

Yes, we're still here

I really wish I was good at blogging. Not just making posts, but making awesome posts. In reality, that is why I don't love posting on this thing. But I do love looking back and being able to read about stuff like this:

Alyssa
7 months

Mastered
* Crawling - look out big sis, I'm coming to get you! It didn't take long to get this down, and once she did, she got fast.
* Sit up, Stand up - She can sit up or pull herself up anywhere, anytime. Even if that is in her crib at 2 a.m. But she gets stuck, can't wait until she learns to sit back down.
* Scream - Aly has been a pretty quiet baby, unless something is wrong. But now she thinks it's really funny to scream. Then Tay screams, and as you can guess, Aly screams...back and forth it goes.
* Kisses - she's pretty choosy about who gets em, and when. But my favorite part of this open mouth, slobbery kiss is when she says "Ooohhh" after!

Working on
* Her dance moves
* Trying to be as big as big Sis
* Sleeping through the night (fingers crossed!!!)

Happy...

1.09.2011

My New Years resolution...maybe, just maybe I can not neglect this poor little blog.

Now for the catch up.
I'll start with Christmas:

This year really was one of the happiest, if not the most, Christmas' to date. T-Bug was so afraid of Santa at Thanksgiving (as you can see in this photo).

We thought it would be so great to have most of the cousins in a pic with him since we were all together.
Then one day she woke up and told me she wanted Santa to bring her the Rapunzel doll (from Tangled) that sings. She wanted this doll SO bad that she was very insitant on going to visit him again. I wasn't about to stand in line for ever to have her freak out about him again (not that I blame her-the whole thing is a little wierd,right).
But we did go to a Christmas show where Santa and Mrs. Claus were there to greet the children.

I'm so proud of her. She faced her fear! When I said she was afraid, I mean terrified! Like hyperventilating, holding on with a death grip terrified. So it was a big feat for her to just wake up and decide...Sure enough Santa was proud of her for this, and because she was mostly such a good girl

She got her doll that sings.

Aly was fun at Christmas time, too. She just wanted to eat the bows and paper, of course.


NEW YEARS
If I had to sum up the night it would be wow! Tay lasted until about 1 am when she finally fell asleep in the car on the way home. Who can sleep when they have thier 'Prince' to ring in the new year with?


We hope you had as great of holidays as we did, and that the 011 brings blessings of joy to you!

30 and 5 months...

10.17.2010

Hi. Sorry I've been horrible. I haven't had the computer much, and when I have - I haven't had the time...I know, I'm even horrible at excuses!

So here's my attempt to get you caught up in my life, but more importantly, in the life of my girls-the cutest, most precious things on the planet!

Alyssa

I'm a little behind, so I'll start now and work
my way back in another post...

5 Months

Mastered:
* Laugh - All it takes is T walking past her now a days. But she still loves big sounds, like a loud BOOM, or high pitched BOING...
* Roll - She's been able to do this for awhile, but now she's fast! She can really get around the room and into the things she shouldn't (like the library books, ya)
* Balancing Act - she can balance standing on Daddy's hand...following the tradition.
* Eat - she's getting the chewing thing down pretty good. She gets a little bit of whatever we're eating, momma bird style!
* Cause 'n Effect - She's learning this by playing games, such as: when you nibble her toes then stop, she'll lift her foot up to your mouth again.
* Clear a room - Sorry sweets, but ya got dog farts. Good thing those blue eyes melt your heart!


Working on:
* Scooting - She's just the cutest lil inch worm. She puts her rolly polly tootsy in the air then pushes off with those ity-bity toes...but still prefers rolling since it takes less effort for the desired outcome.
* Sitting Up - She's been getting better at this pretty quickly. She can sit without any help for almost a min or so, depending on how excited she gets.
* Pull ups - She's starting to use those abs. Trying to sit from a laying position, or pull her self up on the couch, etc.

She's developed a great relationship with Big Sis. It really is so much fun to watch them together. They really do love each other so much.

Taylee

2 1/2 years (or 30 months!)

Now here is the whole package! She is beautiful, smart, charming, hilarious - just an all out perfect daughter.

* She is so smart. She's beginning to recognize some letters, including:
T A Y L E E,
O (which was the first),
and occasionally M and D.

* She's loving to learn the words she already knows in different languages (Spanish and French) thanks to her Daddy and Fancy Nancy. She will tell me:
Venga Aqui (Come Here)
Vamanos (Let's go)
Apurate (Hurry Up or something)
Basura (garbage)
Te Amo Mucho (Love you Much)
Pesa Me (Kiss me)
Bonjour (Hello)
Oui (Yes)

* She loves putting people together, as in: who's James' mom, or who's name is Eliza? (which is the name of a friend who's called 'Blueberry')

* She is always asking questions - which sometimes I don't even know the answer to.

* She loves to talk on the phone, when she's pretending. She has great conversations too. Mostly she calls her prince James!

* She has good memorization skills. She has her favorite books memorized, to the point that she'll recite the page and tell you "Ok, turn the page."

* She's always been fond of music, but today told me, "My favorite is church music, because it has meaning." Really, I have no idea where that came from. Her favorite non-church song is Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat's 'Lucky'. She's always singing that!

* Drawing - She's been getting better at coloring. The other day we were at Lars' sister's house where they have a white board on the wall. Taylee drew this picture of her daddy by Lars just telling her what shapes to draw (circle, line...)

We really are so lucky to be the parents of these 2 girls!

Lars
Just celebrated his 29th birthday! He's so busy with school and work we don't have a lot of time together. But the time we get is special. He's so good at taking the time to be involved, and make us feel loved. We really appreciate all his hard work...even if it's hard on us.

As for me...I'm just trying to keep one step ahead, most days unsuccessfully. I still work once in awhile to keep my sanity. I'm enjoying finding new ways to have fun while not spending money (so if you have any ideas do share!)

Hope you enjoyed this long post...sorry! I've gotta have this stuff somewhere ;)

Preview

9.14.2010

I know it's been awhile. I'll be playing catch-up hopefully SOON.
But for now you'll just have to stand by while enjoying these FABULOUS pictures. I tried something new, knowing I could trust my photographer. We love you Michelle! Thank you SO MUCH!!!





















And this has to be my favorite! I didn't have the best of days, but every time I looked at this picture it made my heart swell!



I love these beautiful girls! How did I get so lucky to have such a gorgeous family?!?!!

Oh Really?

8.01.2010

Do you ever have those nights when 3 am rolls around and you're still not asleep?
If you answered no, good for you.
If you answered yes, you may know how frustrated I'm feeling. I have no idea why my body, well mostly my mind, won't shut off. By now I've finished some sewing projects I had going for some baby gifts, I cleaned up a few things around the house, I looked around on fb, then I did a little blog stocking...everything I can think of to distract myself enough to wear down my body and still, I'm awake.
I don't know what it is about being a girl that makes you just start to doubt yourself, and flat out beat yourself up.
Why, at three freaking o'clock am I throwing a party for myself?
All I know is tomorrow is going to be dreadful...