Time to go see Santa!

Of course, every year we take a trip to Yorktown to see our favorite man: SANTA! This year, We all predicted that we were going to have some trials. Bella hates sitting with anything that is not a female. She cries for Papa, Daddy, Grandpa, Uncles etc. Can anyone see what is going to happen?

I get off work, run home and find my babies at home. After a quick outfit change for the babies, we were off to see the big man. We got there at 4:40, and got in line. It was quite a long line. At 4:45 Santa's helpers announced that Santa was going to go feed the reindeer at 5:00. Just our luck! So, Nana stayed in line and held our spot while the rest of us went and played.

Once Santa arrived at 6:00, we got to the big man. Chaos ensued!


Bella screamed and yanked on Santa's beard. Jonathan, for the first time EVER, cried and wanted Momma. This was the best photo that we got. The babies looked cute, but were obviously unhappy. Luckily, us adults found it hilarious. It's framed on the mantel and will be enjoyed for years to come. Ho Ho Ho!

Bella's First Thanksgiving

For some reason, I am struggling to keep up with posting. My apologies! Thanksgiving here was quite fun. I wasn't sure it would go well when after getting Bella out of her car seat she starts screaming at the top of her lungs. I thought we'd be in trouble. But, after something to eat, she settled. Jonathan was timid at first, unsure of Uncle Chris and Aunt Karen. But he warmed up and settled into doing his favorite thing: eating! Before we sat down to eat, we had to say grace. At one point, Jonathan and Bella were chatting so loud that hardly anyone could hear dad. It was quite hilarious. Once we started eating, Bella played in her saucer.



Of course, it isn't a holiday if I can't dress up the kids in an outfit. Especially since it was Bella's first, I love putting them in cute things. Bella didn't mind the hat at all. She was so cute. I loved her outfit too.
But after I got plenty of pictures of Bella in her cute turkey outfit, it was time to change outfits for the family holiday photo.


It took a few shots to get the right one but you will all have to wait for the holiday cards to see what the best one is! Bella didn't seem to mind her red headband/bow, her tights or her little red shoes! I got lucky that Bella will let me dress her up and not fuss. After the family photo, Mom tried to get a picture with Jonathan and Bella. But first, I got a photo of just Bella in her cute outfit.
She was so cute in her little red corduroy jumper with her red shoes and tights. I just LOVE this cute outfit.

But as I started taking photos of Mom and her grandkids, Bella started to wail! Of course, she was 2 1/2 hours past her nap time. She cried for about 15 minutes. I quickly realized it was time to get her changed back into her comfy clothes and get her to sleep. After 10 minutes of rocking with her dear auntie, Bella fell sound asleep.

The day wouldn't be complete without getting a photo of Jonathan in his cute outfit too. We got him a red train sweater with some red flannel lined corduroy pants. He was too cute. Of course, it wouldn't be a holiday if Jonathan didn't have a cookie (or 3). Once Bella was asleep, Jonathan was busy running around the house trying to find the bush monster. We have a friendly bush monster who lives in our house now too. If you see the bush monster, you must be very quiet.

At the end of the day, Bella & Jonathan got loaded into the car to go to Grandma & Grandpa Cabay's house. Luckily, Jonathan & Bella slept the whole way.

Happy Halloween!

Okay, I know i'm late with this one. This year for Halloween, I went trick or treating with the kid's at Kerry's parents house in Villa Park. Jonathan was a bit sick (he had an allergic reaction to something and had broken out in hives just 2 days before..thank goodness for a super sized bottle of Benadryl.) As Kerry got Jonathan dressed, Bella played on the floor and showed off her rolling over skills.

Unfortunately, we had some minor technical difficulties with Jonathan's costume. Every parent's worst nightmare: it didn't FIT! We, of course, had tons of layers on under his costume (seeing as it was cold outside) So, we started taking layer after layer off. It was still too tight, but Jonathan was such a trooper. He hated his hat and gloves on his costume. I got a couple pictures of him with the hat and gloves on, but he was very unhappy.


But once he realized that with the costume on he would get candy, it was let's go!

Lucky for us, there was no rain or snow! It was just a bit chilly. Jonathan didn't seem to mind. We ventured out (without the stroller) for about 2 1/2 hours. I put Bella in the sling so I could carry her easier. Jonathan walked without whining or complaining the whole time. He managed to get a pretty good spread of candy. Bella even got some candy! I ate it all though (why would 5 month old eat candy?!) Jonathan refused to wear the hat while walking, but when we got to the houses we put the hat on him. He was very good at saying trick or treat and thank you.


He was so happy when people would put candy in his pumpkin bucket. He would smile from ear to ear. It's so fun to experience the day through his eyes. Once we got back to Kerry's parents house, Bella spent lots of time on the floor. She was a bit confused why she couldn't kick so much in her costume. But she made a very cute pumpkin.



She was happiest when she got out of her costume and was able to kick freely.

She also enjoyed chewing on her fingers. Fingers taste the best ya know!

As we were getting ready to go, it was time to get Bella up and into her car seat. It's funny to think that at this same point with Jonathan, he was out of his infant carrier and was wearing 12 months clothes. As big as Bella is, she's not as big as her brother. And she's ALL girl!


But I couldn't resist myself when I found her pumpkin hat and the pumpkin pacifier in the diaper bag.


All in all it was a fun day. Both kids slept the whole way home. Jonathan still talks about going trick or treating with his bucket. I can't wait until next year when Bella will be a bit bigger.

No Offense

No offense to ya'll, but I have the CUTEST kids EVER! Oh my gosh. We went on an adventure yesterday to Cosley Zoo & Monkey Joes. It was cold and rainy so we didn't spend tons of time at the zoo, but enough time to get the cutest photos of my babies.

I know she looks like a boy, but how cute is that hat?!

It took me 15 minutes and 4 attempts to get this photo. Isn't he just the cutest?! All i want to do is stare at this cute photo of my big boy.

Bella fell sound asleep at Monkey Joe's. What we thought was going to be a one hour nap, turned out to be a 3 hour nap. She enjoyed her hat too! Never once did she complain or take it off. So cute. It's never a dull day off with my kiddos around. =) So no offense to you all, but my babies are the cutest things ever.

Too busy

I've been so busy working these past few weeks, that I have not had the time to spend with my babies, or post on my blog. But, I had to take a day off work and since I was already home, Kerry brought the babies over! We spent the afternoon having a late lunch at Steak N Shake before going to the Children's Museum.

Jonathan enjoyed wearing his hat.

Bella has gotten so big! She turned 4 month's old on Friday, Oct. 2

In the music room at the museum, Jonathan figured out that he could hit the purple pieces, and they would make noise. But if he put his hand on it right after his hit the piece, the noise would stop. He's SO smart!

Bella was a big girl, standing in this big, over-sized purple thrown they have (with a little help from Nana).

But no trip to the museum would be complete without splashing in the water tables! By the time we left, Jonathan & Kerry were soaking wet.

But when we got home, we introduced Bella to pumpkins! My little pumpkin plays with her first pumpkin. Haha. We even tried to put her in it, but it didn't work so well.

Then we had some fun with dressing her up as a firefighter.

She definitely does look cute in the outfit that cousin Elaine and Claudia sent from Houston. She's adorable as can be.

After spending time with these kids, I realized that I need to spend more time enjoying the small things in life. We've already made plans to go to the zoo, spend Columbus Day together and I'm taking the little ones trick or treating on Halloween! Nothing is more gratifying than spending time with these two little ones.

And the little one said "Roll Over"

That's right ladies and gents, Bella rolled over! Luckily, Auntie was prepared with the camera and caught it on tape! It's only the second time she's ever rolled from her belly to her back. She looks a bit startled by it all, but I am so proud of my little girl!

In this first video, she looks like she wants to roll over, in fact she starts the process, but she doesn't get to it! Luckily, after a little chat, she decided to try it again. The results are seen here in video number two!


I was so proud of her! She'll be 3 months old on Wednesday. It seems like time is flyin by with her. She's growing up so fast. Just in the 3 weeks it's been since I last saw her, she's so much more active. She smiles and giggles a lot. She's also doing this high pitch squeal/laugh. It's too cute. She's so different from her brother (she loves to be cuddled, snuggled and held. He wanted to be left alone so he could go explore). Luckily, the kids are coming over again tomorrow to play. I'm charging batteries now for our next adventure. I'm hoping I can get Bella to roll over again for me.

Her rolling over reminds me of the book "10 in the bed" because she's the littlest one who rolled over!

Red, White & Bella

We bought Bella a super cute 4th of July outfit. Once we knew Kerry was pregnant with a girl, we started buying dresses. So, her 4th of July was purchased in April in anticipation of her arrival. We didn't get to spend time with them on the actual 4th, but Kerry put both kids in their outfits when they came to visit. Bella looked so cute that I took lots of photos of her in her outfit.

I call this her "MC Hammer" look.

This is the toy we got Jonathan at the zoo. I was bored and wanted to see how his new toy compared to his sister. Bella didn't mind at all!

Smiley Girl!

Jonathan fell asleep (he had thrush) but he was cute in his fire truck shirt. It's one of his favorites.

Happy Birthday!

On Sunday, my big boy Jonathan turned 2! I can hardly believe that he's already 2. We got him a t-shirt at the craft fair at the Odeum that announced his new age for his birthday. His cute t-shirt announces that my little man is 2. We celebrated on Saturday so that he could celebrate with Kerry's parents on his actual birthday. Unfortunately, he wasn't feeling well (turns out he has Thrush), but we still had fun. We went to this children's play place called Monkey Joe's (www.monkeyjoes.com), and let Jonathan play to his hearts content. Monkey Joe's is entirely inflatable bounce houses with slides. It is geared towards kids ages 2-12. Jonathan had a blast!

Jonathan's riding on the Lochness Monster (which he called a dinosaur)

Riding on the turtle

Going down the Pinball slide (the slide looks a like a giant pinball machine)

Going down a VERY fast slide where he bit his tounge.

Now, you may ask, what was Bella doing while Jonathan played and ran around like a wild man. Well, Bella did what Bella does best.


After playing at Monkey Joe's, we came home to have pizza, cake and presents. But, it didn't go so well since Jonathan wasn't feeling well and his daddy didn't show up on time. So, after dinner, I took Jonathan and Bella for a walk. On our way home, we got caught in the rain. 3 very handsome firemen were on a walk while I was stopped under a tree (hiding from the rain). They offered me assistance, but I couldn't bring myself to wake up the little boy who had falled asleep.

So, I parked the boy in the garage to sleep while I took Bella in to clean her up after she spit up all over herself in the sling during the walk. But, after an hour nap, I had to wake him up to have cake! We got his cake from our FAVORITE bakery (the Lilac Bakery in Lombard).

Complete with dinosaurs, and icing in his favorite color, lellow! The green icing looked like dinosaur tracks on his cake. It was so good!

He was such a pro at blowing out his own candle! He did not need any help from anyone and got it on the first try. I was so impressed. As soon as the candle was blown out, he reached for the dinosaurs.

While the rest of us ate cake, Bella hung out with her Papa (in her clean outfit complete with a bib). After cake, Jonathan opened his presents. He got a big wheel, some dinosaurs, a couple books, and some counting animal bath toys.

Jonathan loved his dinosaurs.
He is such a big boy on his big wheel (which was a PAIN to assemble). But he rode it all over the house! And before going home, Bella was chilling out in the vibrating bottom rocking chair and she was too cute to not take a picture of!


All in all, Jonathan had a great birthday. I got Jonathan packed into the car with his presents and before he left he says to me "love you too auntie" and I got a kiss from the birthday boy. I can hardly believe the little boy is 2. He's not so little anymore either. Where did the time go?