Where We've Been....

I am so blessed and there is no other way to say it.... I can't even remember my life before my babies.

Good Deeds

What is it with people?

In an attempt to do something merry and generous this morning, I decided that I would pay for the car behind me in the Star.bucks drive through in addition to my own cup of goodness. I've actually done this a few times before and it's a really simple way to make someone else's day and fill your Karma cup all at the same time. I mentioned to "Christina" while ordering my coffee that I wanted to pay for the car behind me and that all I asked was that she tell the woman behind me in the shiny BMW SUV Merry Christmas and to pay it forward. When I made it up to the window Christina told me that she attempted to tell the woman behind me twice that I'd payed ahead for her coffee, but that the woman cut her off while trying to speak twice. I payed for both of our coffees and headed out of the drive through with no wave, no thank you, no nod, no nothing. Really? Did she think it was appropriate to ignore the nice gesture or was she just such a crabby grump that she felt it beneath her to acknowledge that someone who didn't even know her just payed for her morning cup of coffee?

Anyway, enough ranting.... Off to see beautiful Christmas lights in Rocklin tonight off of Stanford Ranch and Sunset Blvd. This will be the 2nd year we've gone to see them and they are absolutely amazing. It's an entire neighborhood of about 100 houses that go all out with full yard displays, wooden cutouts, life-size Santas and everything else Christmas you can think of!

Merry Christmas All!!!!!

Birthday Theme Ideas

HELP! I need ideas for Miss Brooklyn's first birthday and stat! With all of the hustle and bustle of the holidays I spaced on planning my gal's birthday party!

I've been kicking around a few ideas but am not sure on how feasible they are in the time crunch that I've created for myself.... I love the Dr. Seuss book "Oh, the places you'll go," and was thinking that that might be really cute but am not sure on what to do for decorations, cake, invitations, etc. I was also thinking of maybe doing a winter wonderland theme being as it is winter here and it would be VERY easy to find cute decorations. My thought was maybe buy cheapy plastic snowflake ornaments and spray them light pink, light green and silver and then glitter them and hang them throughout the house and have her cake done all white with silver glittery snowflakes all over the top.... Anyone else have any cute ideas??/ I cutting it really close on time to plan, buy everything and get invitations out and I've totally learned my lesson for next year.


** Note to self: Plan and shop for Brooklyn's birthday BEFORE Thanksgiving and Christmas so it's not a mad dash right before the party!!!! **

Jared Boxes Delivered!

So, after much buying, packing, labeling and delivering(thanks daddy!), all of the Jared Boxes have arrived @ UC Davis into the arms of the very deserving Child Life Dept. Director who was absolutely thrilled to receive them. She mentioned that due to the H1N1 virus, there were plenty of children in mandatory isolation that would be overjoyed to get the boxes of goodies. Dropping those boxes off and knowing that something as simple as a box of crayons, a coloring book and a few toys would totally make a sick child's day made this one of the most fulfilling charitable acts I've been involved with. I'm hoping to make Jared Boxes again next year for the holidays and maybe make this something that my family does every Christmas.


Thank you again to everyone who donated time, money and supplies.

Luv,
Mommy D

I heart my Babies

What's not to Love?

Jared Box Build Day Approaches!!!!

I am so excited that our Jared Box build day is this Saturday! We gathered all of our goodies/toys/activities for the boxes and it looks like we will be able to build 50 or so for sure with the supplies we've amassed. My mom and sister, as well as Lukey Duke, will be helping me build the boxes this Saturday and we will hopefully be able to deliver them to UC Davis sometime next week. It's kind of amazing the amount of support we received from family, friends, and coworkers which is making this entire project possible.

What charitable deeds are you doing this holiday season? Has the economy greatly affected the amount of money you were able to raise to support your cause?

Good luck on all of your fundraising efforts!

Love,
Mommy D

Dream of Whirled Peas!

I set myself a goal this year of not letting myself get wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays and let the stress cloud my vision of what this time of year truly means. It's very easy, especially in this economic meltdown that we are in at the moment, to let yourself lose the spirit of Christmas, making the entire month seem more like a chore than the one time of year where you should strive to get lost in the moment.

We've spent lazy Saturday afternoons decorating the house, the tree is flodded in lights and ornaments, Christmas parties have been RSVP'd to and I think we are actually ready for Christmas.


Wish us Luck!

The Start of Holiday Mania

I haven't posted in what feels like forever and that sucks. The holidays are always crazy and this year it seems like they are double the norm. Thanksgiving, Christmas, shopping, cooking, planning my sis' bachelorette party, financial crap that I wish would just go away, and plenty of other small things crammed into my overflowing list of things to do.

On a happy note we took the kiddos to the snow last weekend and though there wasn't much snow on the ground (probably only a foot or two) all had a blast. Brooklyn spent much of her time cuddled into her pink bear snowsuit and laughing at her brother as he threw himself down hills head first on his groovy new snowboard-style sled. Matt and I even tried out a few runs with him and that things really flies! I'm pretty sure we slid into the parking lot a few times because it was almost impossible to slow down! I'll be sure to post a few pictures as soon as I get a moment to download them from my camera.

My goal this holiday season is to forget all of the stressful crap and focus on what really matters: Creating lasting, beautiful memories for my children of what the holidays mean to our family.

10 Months

She's now got all four of her front teeth (2 top/2 bottom), after 2 weeks of crappy sleep, crankiness, really bad diaper rash and LOTS of frozen washcloths. Hopefully she'll be taking a break on the popping out new teeth front for a while so we can try to get her back onto some semblance of a sleeping routine again. And our major milestone that she decided to hit around 8 pm last night.... Drum roll please....

She STANDS! Fully un-assisted, and can even drop it like it's hot while standing! Nothing better than watching your baby shakin' it like a fly girl and laughing her head off!

I promise I'll snap a few pictures as soon as I can catch her in the act again!

Nov 11th, 2008

This is what my ankles looked like Nov 11th last year.... Crazy to think my girl's going to be 1 in only 2 months!!!!

Tooth Action

We now have 3 teeth through, and another preparing to make it's big entrance sometimes this week. With the entrance of these beautiful pearly whites we've seen consistent sleep fly right out the window... For the past few nights it's like she's got a tapeworm. From 7:45 to 11pm (now her usual party & pig out time) she's drinking (2) 4oz. bottles and eating a half cup of cereal while laughing at my futile attempts to get her to go to sleep. I guess to most people this really isn't an issue, but my girl's been sleeping through the night (7:45pm to 6:15am) since she was about 2 1/2 months old so I've been really spoiled and thrive on the consistency of her routine. The growth spurt plus tooth cutting have been crazy and I feel so bad for her and just wish all of those teeth would just bust through already. I'm going to attempt to snap a picture of those pretty pearly whites and hopefully I can do it without putting my finger in there... She just may chomp it off!

Freaky Friday!

What is it about Fridays that just make everything seem so much better? That extra jolt in the morning to get up and get movin' and get this day over with so I can come home and spend some real time with my kiddos. We'll probably bit the bullet this weekend and take Duke in and get his hair cut on Saturday morning. A local boy was paralyzed while playing on his high school football team and a barber shop downtown is doing a fundraiser for him, so we'll more than likely take him there. We also have a birthday party to attend on Sunday as well as the normal weekend chores of laundry, making Brooklyn's baby food for the week, sweeping/mopping the floors (that seems to get dirty the second after they dry), making lunches and as always, hosting football Sunday.

Have I mentioned how much my hubby adores football? He's actually obsessed with it and the TV pretty much doesn't turn off from Sunday morning to Monday nights' game. I hate it, but it's his thing so I put up with it....

What are you doing this weekend? Anything fun and exciting? ENJOY!

Apology

In an attempt to be super helpful as always, I'm 99% sure that my sweet boy threw away the gift list and all of my thank you cards from his birthday party, meaning no thank you's to send out for all of his awesome gifts. Usually I'm neurotic about sending out thank you's but I think I'm going to skip it this time as I REFUSE to send out generic thank you notes. Hopefully everyone will understand and not be too upset. Note to self: When you ask a 4 year old to clear the dinner table, be prepared for him to assume that that means "throw everything on the table into the garbage!"

Wordless Wednesday

Big Boy Curls

I can't help it, but I think I am going to have to bite the bullet and get the Duke's hair cut. He's verging on a mullet and I don't want him to be "that" kid. His hair is just so darn cute all curly and soft and beautiful. It's that shade of slightly reddish blond that women spend plenty of good money trying to obtain. He came out of the bath last night and I kid you not, his wet hair reached almost all the way down his neck to the tops of his shoulders... He keeps telling me that he wants his hair to look like daddy, but daddy Bics his head, and I'm not about to shave munchkins head bald. I'm thinking military short buzz cut that will grow out nicely and undoubtedly be thick with curls again in just a few months.

My Favorite Shots from the Pumpkin Patch

Bishop's Pumpkin Farm Photo Mash-Up

Make a Smilebox slideshow

My Favorite Place in the World

Last weekend we went to my favorite place and the family from LA were able to join us, making it even better. We've been going to Bishop's Pumpkin Farm in Wheatland for the last few years as a sort of family tradition to kick off the fall/winter season and I'm so thrilled my LA family made the trip to come with us this year. It was a large family affair, with the four of us, my parents and my sister, Grandpa John and Auntie NeNe, her boyfriend Anthony and his two kids Molina & Noah, my aunt Annie, Uncle Craig, Summer, and Aunt Jeannie all there for the pumpkin farm festivities. It was a long day of hay rides, picking out the perfect pumpkins, playing on all of the different activities and TONS of picture taking!



There is nothing better than family, pumpkins and photos!

My Birthday....

I almost forgot about my own birthday.... Sad huh?!

Good thing my hubby reminded me and the only reason I'm really excited about it is we are going to my favorite place in the whole world Sat: Bishop's Pumpkin Farm in Wheatland. We've gone every year since Luke was born and it really is just a blast to wander the fields and pick out the perfect pumpkins. Some of my favorite photos I've taken over the years have been taken there and I can't wait to break out the new Rebel there this weekend. Oh, and did I mention that my amazing family from LA is driving out here to go to the pumpkin patch with us????? How awesome is that? I love them so much and wish they lived closer, but I'm so grateful that they come up to visit so often.

Can't wait to see you there!!!

9 month doctor's visit

Brooklyn had her 9 month well baby visit yesterday. She is 16lbs. 10oz. (30% percentile), 27 inches long (50% percentile), and has a 45.5 cm head circumference (90% percentile). They gave her the mandatory 9 month vaccines that she took like a champ and then did a blood draw to check for anemia as she is a breastfed baby and I guess anemia is quite common for breastfed babies. The blood draw came back negative for anemia and then we headed off to have her hips X-rayed to check for any issues related to her frank breech positioning while in the womb. Her hips checked out just fine which means we have a happy, healthy growing girl!

Yesterday also marked the end of our breastfeeding. I was getting to a point where I wasn't really producing much during my 3 pump sessions at work during the day and it was really starting to wear on me. Though I LOVED breastfeeding her and she made it ever so easy, we decided to start weening a few weeks ago and she had her last taste last night and it made me a little sad. It really is quite an amazing thing and it is incredibly empowering and I am quite proud of myself for making it so long. We kept on going through growth spurts and 3 outbreaks of excruciatingly painful thrush, and I am sure that it is the main reason she hasn't had anything but 1 cold in her first 9 months of life. Cheers to Boobies!

I Heart my Pup

9 Months Old

I say this everytime but wow, 9 months have gone by already?

Luke's Birthday Party

First off, Mom, Dad and Mel, You rock! Thank you for all of your help before during and after the Duke's party!

Aside from the bounce house delivery guys getting stuck in traffic and showing up a little late, the party was awesome and I'm so happy it went off without any real hitches. All of the little ones had a blast and Lukey Duke made out like a total bandit! I'm not joking, it looks like Toys*R*Us threw up all over my toy room. We have Tech Decks, and army guys, and Transformers, and race cars, and, and, and! Thinking that Luke would be exhausted from the party I mistakenly assumed that he'd crash in the car and take a little nap after the days shenanigans, but boy was I wrong. Not only did he not take a nap, but he stayed up until 10:30pm taking dudes and trucks out of boxes and racing them around the toy room.

The cake was awesome (and free I might add! Cashier error, oops!), the skull and crossbones pinata was a big hit and everyone raved about the burgers. Thank God for my fam and their help with keeping the thank you list, refilling food as it got empty and supervising kiddos as they attempted to smash the pinata. Without them it would have been absolute hell.


And an extra huge THANK YOU to my sister for being the paparrazi! You took some killer pictures!!! Luv Ya!

Oct 9th, 2005

Right about this time, 4 years ago, I was pushing and about to welcome my baby to the world. I remember my doc saying that it would probably be a while before I was at 10 and ready to push as she headed out the door so we could wait it out. About 5 minutes later I remember looking up at my mom and telling her "I NEED to push NOW." She hurried out the door to find my doc and as she and the nurses rushed back in to break down the bed and get ready for my impending delivery, I pushed 3 or 4 times and he was out right as my doc finished snapping on her gloves. My mom was ready to push her out of the way and catch Luke herself. The sound of him crying was both scary and thrilling all at the same time. They wiped him up quickly and laid him on my chest and I remember just starring at him in pure amazement that I just pushed this beautiful little thing out and now he was finally mine to hold.

I remember Matt telling me how proud of me he was and both of us hugging and crying all over each other. It still amazes me that we walked into that hospital as a couple and left the next day as a family.

Happy birthday my beautiful boy. You are everything I ever wanted. I never really knew life until the day you were born.I love you Bug!!!!!

Oct 7th, 2005

Right about this time 4 years ago I was laid up on my couch on mandatory be rest hating life and praying to go into labor. The day before I'd had what would become my last prenatal appointment with my doc, over 2 cm dilated and nearing 100% effaced, having gained another 5 pounds of water weight in 7 days, my BP resting well over 165, and my ankles swollen so badly that my doc was afraid that the skin would split, she sent me home with the phrase, "well, if you happen to go into labor this weekend I'm on call so I'll be the one to deliver you." As luck would have it, I did just that. That pregnancy pretty much sucked the entire time but it was SO worth it and we were so lucky to have a healthy baby after the pregnancy induced hypertension and pre-eclampsia. It was so rough to be terrified at every doctor's appointment, wondering if this would be my last day up and walking around and worried that I'd be put onto bed rest in the hospital.

Crazy that it's already been 4 years... It flies by so damn fast...

(picture is of my last day at work... About 2 weeks before he was born... Check out my ankles! I had to wear flip-flops to work for more than half of my pregnancy from my feet being so swollen!)

Party Prep

Done:

Buy party supplies
Buy/Wrap/Hide Presents
Write out invites
Order Cake
Order Bounce House
Reserve park space
clean BBQ
Buy pirate gear for Fam

To Do:

Buy/Prep Food
Un-hide presents
Pick-up Cake
Decorate Park Space
Set up Games
Stuff pinata
BREATHE

Sick Babes....

What is it with having the kiddos get sick that makes my heart hurt so damn much? Maybe it's the OCD control-freak in me, but I HATE not being able to make things "all better" for them when they feel icky... What's really funny is that both of them have been sick for over a week but I doubt anyone would know from their outward appearance. They both seem to keep going a million miles an hour, even with sour tummies and fevers. Is it wrong that I don't handcuff them to their bed and FORCE them to sleep it off? How am I supposed to be nursing them back to health when they are running and jumping and climbing all over everything like they aren't even sick? And on top of it all, I'm trying to ration my PTO time so if/when they get REALLY sick, I can stay home for a few days without having to worry about not getting paid. Being a mom is fun & stress, all rolled into one...

When Luke was a baby it seemed like he had croup at least once a month for over a year. It would start with a stuffy nose and a slight cough and turn into a wet, scratchy seal-bark of a cough that would stick with him for over a week. I can't tell you how many times I would go into his room, late at night, bundle him up into my arms, throw the shower on as hot as it would go, and rock him while sitting on he toilet seat, hoping that the warm, moist air might miraculously open up his lungs and allow him at least a little sleep. It was so painful to have to sit there, with my hand on his chest feeling the rattling and rasping effort that it took just for him to take in a breath. His pediatrician later identified him as a "trigger asthmatic," but his trigger wasn't dust or dander, it was a cold or any other bug that decided to settle into his chest for the long haul. He was given Prednisone a few times to clear his lungs to keep him from getting bronchitis or pneumonia, and oral Albuterol , which did help him breath better, but left him a jittery, wired mess for 3 or 4 hours after taking it.

He's since gotten to the point where we don't even notice anything asthma-like is his day to day doings, but every once in awhile he starts barking again and it reminds me of how rough it must be on the little guy to have a cough for 3 weeks at a time. It makes me sad to have him ask me everyday when his cough will go away and he'll be all better. Cross your fingers that he won't sound like a seal for his 4th birthday in 8 days!

New Toy

I bought myself a little, well, actually a rather big present today and I'm so excited to get it home and play. I've had a 35mm Canon Rebel since Luke was about a year old and I absolutely love it, other than having to buy and develop film before I can check out my handiwork... I finally caved yesterday and bought myself the same camera, but digital and it was love at first sight. The thought that I can now take as many pictures as I want and edit it down to just those that I'd like to get printed and keep is AWESOME! No more wasting an entire role of film for 3 or 4 great shots....

Cheers to my first photos with my shiny, beautiful Canon Rebel xsi!!!!

My Little Fairy

How did this beautiful chunky little thing ever fit into my belly? Eventually I really need to get around to finishing my belly cast, painting it, and hanging it so I can show it off.... It came out amazing (thanks Mom & Mel!) and it really needs to be on display.

Little Piggy

Sweet Potatoes Anyone????

Luv,
Mommy D

Quandry

For the last week or so, my girl has been refusing bottles at daycare. It seems as though she is reverse cycling, basically nursing as much as she can from me and taking the bare minimum during the day from the bottle. I'm not too worried about it, but Miss Carrie is starting to freak out a little. The funny thing is that when we get home in the evening, she's not starving and crying to eat. Yes, I nurse her twice in the evening before bed, but she sleeps for 10+ hours at night and isn't starving in the morning. She's still growing and gaining weight, so I think I'm going to just ignore the panic until I really need to worry about it.

Granted Lukey Duke eats like a bird and you'd think he'd shrivel up from the tiny amounts of food that he actually eats but I think that the whole child portion size idea is puzzling to many. They typically are only expected to eat one tablespoon of food per year of their age per meal. So 4 tablespoons of food per meal is fine but it just looks like a tiny amount of food to us since were used to adult serving sizes...

Should I be worried or am I and Miss Carrie just stressing over nothing?

8 Months Old Today

Wow.... I know I say this every time, but it's like I blink and she's a month older.... I don't remember it going so fast with Luke! I know we're busy and all but geez! Can't a mommy get a break and enjoy the babyness?

I'm pretty sure Miss Brooklyn is cutting 4 teeth all at the same time... This must be what hell is like! I'm playing, but it's really hard to watch her be in so much pain. She's grabbing at her mouth and biting down on anything she can get her chubby little sausage finger on including her food supply (ouch!), the dog's ears, Luke's nose and pretty much anything else that will fit into Godzilla's little chompers.

She's eating solid food like and champ and in true Dobber baby fashion she absolutely HATES peas, just like her brother. Miss Carrie met me at the door about a week ago as I was arriving to pick up the squirts, covered in green goo and laughing so hard there were tears in her eyes. Brooklyn was wedged on her hip, facing me, covered in peas from the top of her head to in between her toes. Thank god for Carrie because I'm not sure I'd be laughing covered in pea puke... Brooklyn had peas up her nose, smeared in her hair and her eye lashes, and even spackled between her toes. How does that happen? Carrie told me that every time she'd attempt to raise the spoon to Brooklyn's lips she's snatch the spoon and smear the contents all over herself in an attempt to avoid having to taste even one bite. The few bites that did manage to make it into her mouth were promptly spit back with the force of a fire hose. Note to self: Brooklyn doesn't like peas! Do not force that hell upon the child and the sweet daycare lady ever again!

Standing is now WAY cooler than crawling(Oh GOD! Not Yet!!!)and it is rare for me to walk into her room in the morning without getting an impromptu booty dance show of her bobbing up and down giggling like a crazed elf. She's pulling up on everything and I'm guessing that she'll be close to if not totally cruising between pieces of furniture by Halloween.

Video of Brooklyn crawling!

She's getting fast all! I'm so in trouble once she figures out how to walk!

Month 7

I forgot how much babies grow and learn around the 7 month mark...

In a matter of a week she went from only being able to do baby push-ups, to full on speedy crawling, she's pulling up on furniture and her crib to a standing position, and she's got the pincher grasp down! Wow! Cooking dinner at night has become quite the adventure as we try to get food on the table and wrestle 2 kids into staying within our sight. She's mastered "Mama" and "Dada," though I doubt she really knows what it means yet other than it will get our undivided attention. She's still eating like a tank and is probably getting close to the 20lb mark. Her next doctor's appointment isn't until October so we'll have to wait until then to find out. She's doing great at daycare and loves to crawl around on Miss Carrie's floor, chasing after her brother and Cameron (Miss Carrie's son).

Luke is amazing, like usual. He's picking up new and even more complex words and getting better at using them instead of throwing a fit when he wants something or is trying to describe something to us. I picked up a really cool book called "How to teach your child to read in 100 lessons" that we have been hyping up and will probably start working on after his fourth birthday. I'm still planning on holding him an extra year before putting him into Kindergarten, due to his late birthday, so he'll be 5, almost 6 when we enroll him. Carrie's been working with him every day on opposites, writing, identifying letters and patience in preparation for school. If he seems like he's ready for school next year and develops all of the skills necessary for him to enter school earlier than planned, we may consider putting him in early, but we're planning on him being 5 almost 6 when we enroll him. I was the youngest in my class and that was always pretty cool until I got to High School and was the last to get my driver's license and too young to go on my senior class trip. I'd rather he be a little older since boys mature slower anyway and I want him to be emotionally and mentally ready for the amount of patience and concentration required to sit through a day of class.

I finally got a bunch of mini DVR's for our camcorder so I'm going to get too recording Miss Brooklyn crawling and babbling all over the place. I promise to post them as soon as they are finished!

Luvs!

Bad Mommy

I haven't posted in a while, and I promise I will soon.... Sorry!

My Favorite Pictures from Six Flags Trip

She crawls!

So last weekend was our 4th anniversary and both of the munchkins were at my mom and dad's house so we could have a little parent time. When I dropped Brooklyn off I casually mentioned to my mom that it looked like she had all of the movements down to crawl, but had yet to figure out the putting it all together part. Her arms were doing the army crawl thing and her legs were shuffling forward, but they couldn't both do it at the same time.

By the time we picked them up, 24 hrs later, she was full on crawling and damn proud of her cool new skill! Crap... Does that mean that I really have to keep up with 2 kids on the move now? Where did the last 7 months go? It's so cool to watch her pop herself up into a downward facing dogish position, wiggle for a bit, and then drop to her knees and be off like a little lightning bolt. I'm so in for it people... I can already tell that girl's got quite a lot of me in her and I'm really in for it.

She's hit so many milestones lately... Maybe we'll finally be getting a tooth here soon?

Summer Vacation

So my lovely daycare lady Miss Carrie got her much deserved one week off a year last week so we took the opportunity to take the kiddos to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo. We packed up way too much crap like usual, booked a hotel room, and headed off on Thursday for a busy day. We rode the shuttle over to the park and took our time wandering from the dolphin tank, to the whale show and then finally hit pay dirt. We hadn't been there for a few years and they have since built a whole section of the park for little kids with a jungle truck ride, swings, and a HUGE jungle gym. Then we went over and checked out the butterfly greenhouse, a pool where you can touch stingrays and the walrus habitat. Luke loved watching the huge walrus swim around and rub it's face up against the viewing window. I took plenty of pictures and can't wait to get them all developed. The whole day went super smoothly and we only had a minor breakdown by the Duke as we were hustling toward the exit to meet our shuttle for our ride back to the hotel. He has this new habit of telling us that his legs don't work when he wants to be picked up. Poor Matt got his workout carrying the big sack of potatoes across the entire park.

We got back to the hotel and changed into our swimsuits and called in a pizza to be delivered to the pool. In true Lukey Duke fashion he swam like a fish and didn't want to get out. We polished off our pizza, showered/bathed the munchkins, kicked on Peter Pan and passed out. Our girl only woke up once that night which really impressed me as she has never had to share a room with us and I was worried she wouldn't be able to fall asleep with the movie on and the sound of us moving around... We got up early the next morning, Matt and Luke headed back to the pool for one last dip while I repacked all of our stuff.

We stopped at the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield on the way home and were bummed that the tour line was insane. We bought sours for Duke and root beer for us and then jumped back on the road.

Luke told me last night that he had a great time, but that next time all he wants to do is swim and eat jelly beans... I love that kid!


Pictures to follow as soon as they are developed :)

We have push-ups!

I'm scared people, she's doing push-ups and I remember from Luke that that is a really strong sign that crawling is about to commence.

What am I going to do with a 4 year old running around and a little one crawling all over the place? I knew this was all coming but I didn't think it would happen so fast. She's going to be cruising around the toy room, sticking everything she can find in her mouth and generally trying to choke herself to death with all of Luke's tiny bouncy balls and Legos and balls of dried up Play Doh.

She's up to 2 feedings of solids a day and we bought her her very own inaugural hot pink sippy cup and have been giving her 1 shot a day at attempting to drink water out of it. She really isn't interested in drinking out of it, or the water inside, but she does love chewing on the spout. She's got to be teething. All day long she's chewing on something whether it be a sippy, a toy, or a finger and nothing can control her drool. I made her some pureed acorn squash that she LOVES and she's getting more nimble at using the mesh feeder to eat chunks of peaches and plums and avocado.

I think I'm hearin' things

I could swear my little munchkin muttered "ma-ma" and "da-da" back to back while I was driving the squirts to daycare this morning... Wishful thinking maybe... She;s so damn cute. I know I'm her mom, and it's sort of my job to say that, and every mom thinks their baby is gorgeous, but damn! Can anyone else see how much friggin' trouble I'm going to be in once she gets to be about 15-16? Bright hazel eyes, brunette, great skin tone, oh yeah, and a booty like the girls from the sir mix-a-lot video! It's funny because everyone always told me that I'd be blessed with one just like me.... A hell raiser bent on trying to make me prematurely gray at 40! We'll have to she if she lives up to the hype!

Lukey Duke is getting more and more brilliant with each and every passing day. He's working on writing his letters with me every night and colors me the most beautiful works of art every day at daycare. He also has been silently sneaking out of his room after we put him to bed, hiding under the kitchen table with his blankie and catching a few episodes of So You Think You Can Dance! He's so stealth about getting under there that the other night he must have watched a full hour not 5 feet behind me before I finally realized he was there! The only thing that even tipped me off was the dog hunched under the table curled up next to him!