Just being silly

Just a few pics of the kids being silly -

Stickers are BIG in our house. I use them to bribe the kids when they do not want to do something, especially diaper changes for Jadyn. Here she got a hold of a whole sheet of ladybug stickers and went to town on both her and Jake:



Here they are both "helping" me dust the door (which my mom pointed out over Christmas was in dire need, LOL!)

Jadyn playing peek-a-boo with the bin we keep her babies and bears in:

"Pretending" to sleep in Jadyn's crib:

And Jadyn wearing Mommy's shoes:

Obstacle Course

What do you do with an active 3 year old boy and 19 month old toddler on a day that is too windy/rainy/cold to go outside? Well, you get creative with ways to release some energy indoors. A perfect example is this obstacle course the kids and I designed using some giant foam blocks, a collapsible tunnel and a yoga mat. Here is the result:

And on yet another day where the obstacle course was in use, Joe played with our camera settings to produce these action shots. Note to moms to everywhere: These are not for the faint at heart. LOL!

Photo shoot

On a random day in late December, Jadyn was looking particularly cute in her modern pink and black with matching headband so I decided to take some pictures. Not only did she look cute, but it was one of those rare occasions when she was actually producing some genuine smiles for the camera:

As many of you know we had been waiting for Jadyn's followup appointment concerning a lump between her eyes that she has had for at least a year if not since birth. The general pediatric surgeon had diagnosed it as a probable dermoid cyst or osteophyte. Well, we had been waiting for the insurance to find a suitable place to take her for her CT scan since she would have to be sedated for the procedure, something that was making me increasingly nervous. A couple days after taking these pictures, Jadyn took a minor spill and when checking her head for injuries, we suddenly realized that the lump was gone! I mean you can still see and feel it, but you REALLY have to look for it and it is certainly smaller than it had gotten. So after an initial freakout and call to the medical assistant of the doctor she had already seen, the conclusion was that it probably was a dermoid cyst and either from impact or growth it ruptured, which is not dangerous. So she is going to see the pediatric craniofacial plastic surgeon at the end of the month but it was decided by all parties to hold off on the CT scan until the new doctor can evaluate it. My hope is that she will no longer have to have the CT scan OR surgery. We will keep everyone posted.

Role playing

Lately, the kids have both been engaging in role playing activities that may give us insight into future career interests, hobbies or maybe just their personalities. You be the judge.


Fashion designer:

Hair dresser:
Carpenter:

Bassist (just like Grandpa):

Or it could be that the kids are just imitating us - well except for playing the guitar. That one Jake picked up from watching other kids playing Guitar Hero. But he sure does rock out to the music he is making.

Although we do not have any pictures, Jadyn has really been into taking care of her baby dolls and care bears. The other day she had her baby at the dinner table with us and she tried to feed her a cream cheese wonton. She will put them to sleep in her crib and then tell us all "Shhh!". It is the cutest thing.

They really do love each other

And I could cry tears of joy right now because this is the first really good picture of them together I have gotten in a really, really, really long time.

Auld Lang Syne

2008 has arrived and boy does it make me feel old. I will be 34 years old this year but more importantly, 2008 represents a milestone for a lot of other things. In July it will have been 10 years since my father passed away. Since having kids I often think of what he would have been like as a grandfather and how much he would have loved all four of his grandkids. I will always miss him but New Year's (along with Fourth of July) always bring back a flood of memories. My Dad loved playing with his band at a party on New Year's Eve and then on New Year's Day he would watch all the bowl games and pretend to tackle me and my brother Tony creating a "dog pile". My Dad wasn't big on all the holidays but he loved New Year's.

The other milestone that will be reached in 2008 is that Joe and I will celebrate our (gulp) 10 year wedding anniversary. They say that time flies when you are having fun so how do you explain why it does not even seem like we have been married that long? JUST KIDDING! I love Joe will all my heart, cannot imagine my life without him and am thankful that someone could a) put up with me for 10 years and b) convince me to have children b/c I cannot imagine not having Jake and Jadyn. I love being a mom and I owe that all to Joe.

Okay so enough with all the nostalgia - how did we celebrate New Years???? These celebrations change a lot when you have kids. What once would be a holiday to get blitzed out of our minds has now turned into a cozy night at home (or in our case at the home of my brother and sister in-laws). I almost had to be forced to take the one obligatory shot that I took:

Now do not get me wrong, my brother had been drinking when we took that picture, but he was not as drunk as he looks. LOL! Meanwhile, the kids loved playing with the party hats and blowers:


They also decided they wanted to pretend to play poker, which was pretty cute:

Here are up close pics of my two little cardsharks:


This is the first year that Joe and I actually stayed up until midnight, probably in about 4 years. While our niece Madison and Jadyn both went down earlier, our nephew Ethan and big boy Jake both stayed up long enough to ring in the new year and set off some poppers, which they found quite fun. Here is my sister in-law Tawnya with Ethan. It is probably my favorite picture of the night:


I hope everyone enjoyed their New Year too!