Gabrielle's 1st year...

WOW pretty much sums it up. I though Jacob's 1st year flew by...and it did but leaping Lizards I blinked and Gabby was sitting up, I coughed and she was crawling I burped and she is up and running with her brother (at 10 months). Sheesh next time I fart she is gonna be getting her drivers license (ask Scott...the last one actually might and could happen...). My little girl is getting bigger. It really is wild with the 2nd one things aren't so shocking and you don't worry about a little dirt. But as I reflect back and smile its odd to think this may (if I have it my way) be my last baby. To think I wont do this stuff again...till I am granny someday. I have enjoyed every moment...mostly. Being a mom has taught me and continues to teach me daily to just live in the today. Life's littlest things become huge again and it all becomes so simple looking through their eyes. What a wonderful blessing we are given as parents to remember to just dance...

Gabby has brighten our little family's lives in so many ways.
It has been so sweet to watch Jacob anticipate his sisters coming into the world and then to see him light up each and everyday he See's her. He loves his little sister and is enjoying the fact that she is now able to chase him and sorta play with him. His favorite thing is to ride his little bike around inside the house and have her chase him...sometimes she catches him and grabs the back of the bike seat and hangs on while he pulls her till she cant keep up on her feet and is now being pulled around on her knees (most of the time she has on leggings). They just laugh.

Mommy loves her little Princess and is looking forward to doing all kinds of fun girl stuff and still keep her grounded with the dirty fun boy stuff too. A girl needs a good balance...I love how different she is from her brother and yet the same. I have found myself laughing so much more with her and her funny faces and "things" she is a great little dancer and the worlds best copycat, I love how she tries to do what we do.

Daddy took a bit longer...yes he loved his little girl and was super excited, however up until a few weeks she has been My GIRL (only wanted Mom) now daddy is feeling the love and cuddles he has so wanted (but she wasn't giving out cuddles till now). She still runs to me but I see that they too share a very special bond that will never be broken. Scott has had the opportunity of a lifetime, I didn't even get this chance. He was able to be at home this past year with Gabby and Jacob and be their whole world. I can not say enough about my hubby in regards to him being mr. Mom. Not only has he enriched the relationship he has with our kids but he got to be with them during the most important years of their little beginning.
He has kept them ( for the most part) on a schedule and even setting aside "school time" with Jacob when Gabby is sleeping. He can forever say he alone taught Jacob to not only write each letter of the alphabet but to write his name...the day I came home to that crooked large uneven name JAAAAACOB was one of the first of many proud moments. I was so proud of both of them, Jacob for doing it and Scott for having the daily patience to teach! Babe if you ever read these THANKS thanks for being you! Thanks for being with ME and thank you for being a wonderful father to our children. I couldn't of picked them out a better daddy then you!

This was suppose to be about Gabby and in a way it is cause all of the above did happen her first year. I guess what I wanted to say was WOW take time to do the small stuff cause you never know when they are all grown up. You never know when the last time will be that you get to get up at 1am to feed your baby and have them fall asleep so sweetly in your arms, it hurts to put them back to bed.

Miss Gabba Happy Birthday sweetie
I Love you all the way to the moon and back,

Mommy

*You know your a mom when...

You find yourself in the carpool lane...without anyone else in the car.

You find a Binky in your desk drawer at work

You use marbles as currency in your house

Your nightly reading is "How a dinosaur eats his food" and "Moo Ba La la la"

You allow "just this once" to have ice cream as a side dish with spaghetti

You find bribing with chocolate works to cut nails

Your favorite piece of art in your home is unframed and crinkled made by a 3 year old

Getting to go to the park on your bikes before dinner is a "good deal"

Your living room is turned into a wrestling ring

You have to brush out the bugs and dinosaurs out of teeth

Wearing high heels never sounds like a good idea anymore and then as you are walking out your son tells you "you cant wear those...(why) they hurt you"

You are kinda sad when no one gets up in the middle of the night

Your favorite part of your day is walking in the front door

You are told daily "your my best friend"

You no longer worry about the food that is now caked into your favorite pair of jeans

You find you are never alone anymore while going "potty"

You spend your Friday nights doing Dance dance USA in the kids room and it is fun

Going on a late night "beer run" is now a "formula run"

You try to copy the new dance moves by your baby girl...(tapping the toe and doing a bounce) all the while laughing too hard cause she is smiling so big so happy with her new found thing

You find yourself wondering how the moms before you were able to watch tv if at all without TIVO

*Mom this one is for you...I love ya

My little miss mischief

Oh how I wanted a sweet little girl....As perfect a baby she was she is just as much trouble! Oh Gabba. So just THIS WEEK she has managed to fall down our flight of stairs twice now well the first time dad dove over her to stop her from going to the bottom, the 2nd time was tonight while I was in another room she starts going up stairs and well got half way and I am only guessing her decided to come back down...fall from a seated position and cut her little muscle that attaches your upper lip to your gums (hers was going a bit more and the dentist said she did herself a favor!) damn thing bled like you wouldn't believe. Ummm what else...oh on a good note she is a speed crawler and now can catch the vacuum and she is a WALKER...tonight she did it well she has been doing steps since almost 9 months and well tonight she walked everywhere. Her big walk was across the living room (to get food what else) a day before her 10 months, I had no idea when I had my little girl she would be more trouble then Jacob. He never got into anything and at least when I would tell him NO and sign it he wouldn't laugh at me. She is too funny she stands up at our water cooler and shakes it I think she likes the bubbles when she does it. I just wont be laughing when the time comes that she will make my kitchen into a lake! Jacob's favorite thing to tell Gabba is "naughty girl" oh and NO cause if he is eating she is trying to take it away from him and most of the time does, that boy has got a run for his money with her!

Just too Funny!

So the other night I was cutting Gabby's nails and wanted to just do Jacob's while I was already doing it. So I proceeded to ask him if I could cut his nails too, He HATES it when I cut his nails don't even try and do the toes... So I finally resorted to bribing him with a cookie and he just looked at me and said " Are you kidding me?" with the most straightest face... it was priceless needless to say I just laughed and he got off from not having his nails cut that time!

Kids say the funniest things!

getting kicked out of Jew Camp

Seriously... UGH so Jacob has been going to "Jew Camp" camp Yahm Yahm which is just a summer pre-school program. He was very excited to begin his new school. Well it is at our temple now mind you we are a reform temple, which means just that reformed. Anyhoo you can choose to keep Kosher or not it is your g-d giving right to chose what is best for your family. We choose to not be Kosher. However the school keeps Kosher meaning you cant put meat and dairy in your kids lunch box. Ok fine then they add on to that they are a "nut free" pre-school cause jr. over there will blow up like a Macy's day parade balloon if he comes within 100 yards of a Peanut. So no PB&J for my son's lunch box either.
First week goes off without a hitch, mind you I am extra careful not to put any meat and Cheese in the lunch box. I quickly realize my son is eating really nothing but his juice box and maybe whatever snack or fruit I put in. Whatever so I decide to put mostly snack type stuff in the box, he is only there till 12:45 anyway. So one day I pack a choc. pudding and some fruit and call it a day. Teacher kinda told me when I picked him up that "all he ate was the pudding" Well I would of too if I was him so I whatever it. Next time I get a note in the box telling me it wasn't Kosher... so I think back to what I packed him... Turkey sandwich no cheese, fruit cup, and goldfish. What is the matter wi... oh then I get it they are slapping my hands cause of the goldfish... really I mean come on, I am not giving him goldfish thinking he is getting his cheese on, ITS PROCESSED CHEESE PEOPLE. So I take the note and manage to complain to Scott all night about it. Asking all my Jewish family if they thought I was "doing it wrong". I threw up my hands and moved on with my life. So now mind you I pack his lunch at night and sometimes Scott will take him in the am. This particular day Scott took him. So the night before I pack him a simple but "healthy" lunch. Juice box, turkey sandwich (no cheese) and a cutie (little orange), I left it as it was simple cause all I had in the house was goldfish and I already got in trouble for that so... then I thought about a pudding then decided against it cause more then likely he would only eat that and I would get in trouble AGAIN from the teacher, so he got a boring lunch and g-d it reminded me of my lame boring lunches my mother would give me and I cringed thinking I was doing the same thing (telling myself to go to the store and pick up some other stuff).
Next day Scott comes to get lunch and says "gosh it seems light what did your mom put in here" Thinking it sucks saw the pudding and added it to the lunch box... off he goes to School. Thursdays is the day Grammy picks him up to hang out... Boy did she never see this coming... so I guess the teacher takes her aside very sternly DO NOT SEND PUDDING in the lunch box with MEAT EVER. Seriously We ARE NOT A KOSHER TEMPLE. I am sure Jacob will live through having a turkey sandwich and pudding in his tummy at the same time. I swear I just think it is all a little out dated.
We just weren't meant to keep kosher. All in all Scott and I have decided to send Jacob with the following lunch on his last day: Cheeseburger with Bacon, Peanut butter cups, and a wine cooler to boot.

Sooo BIG

Well today is a monumental day... Jacob stayed dry all night. So for the past week or so we have come into Jacob's bedroom to check on him before we go to sleep and we find him spread out in his bed naked. Needless to say the boy loves to run around in the nude, and now apparently go to sleep in such a fashion. So I have cleaned up one wet bed mess this week and don't really like doing it. So last night mommy came up with a brilliant idea... I gave Jacob magic pirate underpants and that the magic comes when you don't pee in them at night, you have to get up to go potty in the middle of the night. I also bribed him with 2 SUPER mega Star Froggie stickers (Thanks Grandma!) the deal is if you earn 5 you get to go to Chuckie Cheese.

Well he pulled it off he got up twice last night to go pee, mind you he still wanted me but at least I didn't have to clean up wet sheets. Our little guy is getting bigger everyday. Hopefully the Magic Underpants keep the magic going!

"Uh-Oh so sad"

These small words are what seems to be coming out of my mouth more often then not at home.
Our dear sweet Jacob is coming into his own, and by that I mean his "3's" which if you don't know is the new 2!

My sister Donna was with us at D-land a few weekends ago and watched as myself and Scott were needless to say DONE. Jacob had a moment and well I threw up my hands and said " I don't get it, I try doing it the nice way and nothing I try being stern and nothing, something has to give". Donna told me about a GREAT book called love and Logic. It teaches us that kids respond to empathy and then the consequence while also giving them a choice. Sounds simple right... Not at all. Try coming up with 2 choices for a 2 yr old you are ok with either one and can follow through on.
So going on day #3 of this new style for both Scott and I yesterday we had an Uh-Oh so sad moment getting out the car. Jacob choose to go to his room instead of being a happy boy and getting to watch the movie. Which in turn happen 2 more times before bed.

Good news is, he is getting it. I took him to daycare and started to sing my Uh-oh song and he simply asked "mommy are you going to close the door?" He is getting it.

I love my little man and I am hopeful that we will be able to raise happy children that can think for themselves and choose what path is best for them.

OC FAIR Photo contest

Its a new year and a new photo for this years OC Fair. Be sure to stop by the arts building and see it on the wall. Don't know if it won a ribbon until the fair comes... Wish me luck!

Our 5 year Anniversary

Maui, HI is such a wonderful, beautiful place. We just didn't want to leave. So Scott and I went back to the place where it all happened. Yes we got married in Maui, so 5 years later we finaly were able to get back there and without our little ones. It was fantastic! We had so much fun, we went over to Hana and Scott survived the road he actually enjoyed it... everyone kept telling him he would get sick-whatever. If you ever go to Maui it is a must do at least once. While we were on that side of the island we stopped a few times to check out some waterfalls and even hiked back into a few. One was so amazing we felt like we were the couple on the Bachelor. We hiked back into this one and it had 3 waterfalls into one pool and even though the water was pretty cold we still went in and swam, it was very romantic.

For the most part we spent our days in the water or shopping and eating and drinking all day and night. I liked the sleeping in part the best! Anyway to say the least it was a very much needed romantic getway we both needed.

What little Girls are made of...

Well it depends on who you ask... if you ask Jacob the answer will be "doodie, doodie, doodie" Thank you daddy! Not sure how it came about but whatever i cant fight it just have to go with it.

Mommy says little girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice! I am so lucky to have one of each. I get to get dirty and play swords with Jacob and then get to doll up little Gabby.