For Aunt Jen

Here is Jack opening up his "surprise" from you. It was on our doorstep when we got home yesterday afternoon. Jack was SO excited!! He kept saying..."Maybe there's a book inside!". I knew you were sad that you couldn't be there to give it to the kids so I videoed him opening it up. Sorry for the 3 video's, I had to stop a few times.
Thanks for making our kids SO happy! They love you! We love you!

P.S. Thanks for the adorable Halloween apron! I love it!

Pumpkin Carving/Family Night

On Monday we carved pumpkins for family night.  Jack and I cleaned out the pumpkins before Jared got home from work.  He then carved the pumpkins with Jack while Kate and I watched. 

For our "treat" we had sugar cookie ice cream sandwiches that I made during naps.  We thought they were pretty good, Jack took a little taste and then tore it apart.  He asked for some fruit snacks instead... :)

Baby Gift

I have been exploring many sewing blogs lately and have been really inspired.  There are so many very talented and creative people out there and I'm so grateful to the blogging world for making them available to me.  I could spend hours upon hours looking through them and I now have several things on my project list of things I want to try.

The first thing I made were these cute little pants made from old t-shirts (or new which is what I did).  The how-to I found on this blog.  I added little pockets to the back by removing the pocket from the t-shirt.
The next thing I did was make this hat.  The patten was found on Martha Stewart but I saw it made on this site.
I then toyed with doing several different things with the onsie and decided on doing an applique of a sailboat.  I drew out the picture on some paper and then traced it onto the material.  This was my first attempt at applique as well.  I was a little nervous because you really only get one try.
I decided to add sleeves to the short sleeve onsie because my original plan was to do a long sleeve shirt with this outfit.  I accidently bought a short sleeve shirt (it was in a package) and didn't want to take the time to return it.  I remembered I saw on another blog a how-to on how to add sleeves to a shirt and so I figured it was worth a try.  It was REALLY hard and frustrating.  I wish someone new an easier way to do this.  If you do, let me know!
The fabric came from this t-shirt I picked up at Target on sale for $2.  (I actually bought 2 just incase I needed it, I'm glad I did.... I made a few mistakes along the way).

Here is the finished outfit modeled on my sweet little Kate.  This was a gift to my sister in-law who just had her second little boy!

Rolling Over

One of the first big milestones, rolling over... Kate has been doing it for several weeks now and I just got it on video. She's been moving since she was born. She's a strong little thing and I feel like she was born ready to go! I'm sure she'll be crawling in no time... We have a fun time with this sweet girl!

Monterey

Last weekend we were fortunate enough to take a trip to Monterey, Ca for a friends wedding.  It was a BEAUTIFUL weekend!  I don't think I've been to the beach in Northern CA and seen it this beautiful in a long time.  It's always hit or miss and it seems we usually miss.  Anyway, it was beautiful and we had a great time.

On Friday we arrived at 1 0'clock and Jared hung out with the groom (Matt) and his buddies and went golfing.  Jack had been talking about going to the beach the entire 3 hour trip there and so I took the kids on my own.  It was so much fun and not as much work as I thought it would  be alone.  The kids were great, no one cried, no one fussed, we just played and ran around.

After a couple hours, I got the kids in the car and drove around while they slept.  We then picked Jared up and went to our hotel and enjoyed the pool.  Jack loved it of course.  It was a nice Hotel, good thing because we spent lots of time there on Saturday.  Friday night Jack woke us up around midnight with the stomach flu.  He threw up several times that night and kept me awake most the night making sure I got to him in time before he made a mess of his bed.  I somehow managed to keep things under control.  No huge messes and we used the hotel's washer/dryer to clean Jack's favorite blankets.  We rested most the day Saturday, but did what we came there to do and went to the wedding by the beach and the reception that night.

Sunday, before we headed home, I wanted to visit one of my favorite spots in that area. Point Lobos Reserve.  It's beautiful! Great place to hike, hidden beaches, and at certain times of the year you see different marine life.  Love it.  We couldn't hike around as much as we would have liked because Jack was still not feeling his usual self (which broke my heart) and wanted me to carry him around everywhere.  But, all in all, it was a fun get away and I'm grateful to Matt and Sarah for getting married in Monterey so we had the excuse for a mini vacation!  Love you guys!

The poor little sicko, but still cute as can be.

Pumpkin Patch '09

Today my sisters (Kristy and Jackie) and I took the kids to a Pumpkin Patch in Wheatland (45 min north of Sac.).  We had a great time! The weather was good and the kids were well behaved (which is always nice)!  We took a train ride which all the boys loved, had lunch, let the kids run around, and spent some time in the petting zoo (although extremly smelly, it seemed to be the favorite).  We of course missed our husbands who spend WAY to much time working.  But I guess that's what dad's do...

Jack is 2 1/2!!

Jack turned 2 1/2 on Wednesday!  Time is flying by WAY too fast!! Will it please just slow down! I love this age! The conversations, the laughs, the hugs, the snuggling... I just can't get enough.  The days pass and we get closer and closer to a time when he'll no longer "need" his mommy - it just breaks my heart!  I'm trying to cherish every moment and not let these days slip by....

Things I'm loving about Jack right now (in no particular order):
1. He shortend Grandpa to Gramp (I don't know where he got this from, every once in a while he'll just say "hey Gramp") it's just so cute.  His first 'nickname'.
2. When we sit down to read books he says "I'll read it" and then proceeds to start telling a story that goes along with the pictures.
3. We can look at each other and just laugh.  It's so funny.  The more we laugh the harder we laugh, he's got such a great since of humor.  I really appreciate it.
4. Every once in a while I catch him playing nicely with Kate, trying to make her happy if she's not.
5. Oh the things he says... his memory is amazing!! I wish I could write down everything.  He cracks us up.  One thing he's starting to say a lot is "I'm sorry, I'm sorry... it's my fault.  It's really cute.
6. Everything that has a point or is long is "a sword".  "Look Mom, it's a sword".

We had a great day on Wednesday.  It rained (stormed) all day so we didn't leave the house.  Jack loves water, and when he saw the rain he just HAD to go outside.  I knew this was going to mean more work for me, taking on and off the rain gear, changing clothes etc. but I had to let him do it.  He had fun splashing around in the puddles and just running around the yard.
For lunch we had a couple of his favorites - banana bread and chicken nuggets, which he helped me make.  He loves helping me in the "chicken" as he calls it.  He's a great helper.  He has been great at picking up his toys and cleaning up messes.

He's great - we love him - and we love watching him grow!

Home Bound

I've been sick for a week. I've had a cold for an entire week! Not just the lingering runny nose and cough thing.... but full out head throbbing, watery eyes, sore throat, stuffy nose, can't breath (or taste for that matter), non stop coughing sick... for a week! I haven't gone ANYWHERE this week (including Target!!), and if I worked outside the home I would have had to call out sick for the week cause NO ONE would want to be around me right now. But... my work is being a mommy and as much as I'd like to, I can't call out sick from this job. I've been picking up toys, cleaning up food messes, doing laundry, reading books (in between coughing fits) singing songs (with voice that is horse) changing diapers (always being surprised to find poop cause I can't smell it), leaving kids in poopy diapers cause I can't smell em, giving baths, getting kids dressed, digging outside, building towers, coloring, playing with play dough, AND getting up several (SEVERAL) times in the night with a baby who is having a rough week as well... when all I really want to do is crawl into bed and sleep, and sleep, and sleep. Mom's (of new babies at least) don't get to sleep... they don't get breaks (I guess this is what "they" mean when "they" talk about the sacrifice of motherhood...). Thankfully, this can't last forever... and I'm praying that Jack doesn't get this (or Jared for that matter). In the meantime... here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure... This was us at 7 o'clock last night. Kate waking from a nap, Jack bathing, and me showing off my red nose. Jared is missing because he was missing (still at work...). The End for now.