Greetings from.....

Greetings! We have arrived here in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida! Thank goodness it's Spring Break. I don't know if I could have taken much more of the cold, snow and rain!! We got here this evening and it was in the lower 70's. I know, so sad! This year, it didn't rain while we drove through Georgia. Although Mom kept saying the whole time, "Have I said lately how much I HATE driving through Georgia!". We got stuck in some traffic, some construction and people just drive like maniacs around there. But we're here. I'll post photos after I have gotten a good nights sleep and taken some pictures of our view of the marina.

Happy Birthday Papa!

Well, Dad's birthday came and went. He's now 3/4 of a century old. He didn't ask for much. He wanted a funny card and a marble cake with chocolate frosting. Easy enough! But Jon & Kerry brought the kids over a few days later to help continue the celebration. Would you believe, we put Bella on Papa's lap and look what happened:




Nothing says "Happy Birthday" quite like putting 2 of your grand kids on your lap and getting your FIRST photo with the two of them. Bella didn't cry once for him. She was in awe of him at first and then she realized that Big Bird had joined her. Jonathan only smiles if you tell him to 'cheese the camera'. But I'm thrilled that Bella has seemed to get over her fear of Papa.

Now, will she still be fearful of the Easter Bunny? Only time with tell.

It's been too long!

It has been too long since I have last visited my playground. So, let me start with a re-cap. When I last saw ya'll, it was time for Christmas! We did LOTS of baking in the days leading up to Christmas. For the first year ever, I made thin mint cookies (yes, like the girl scouts but BETTER! and cheaper).

I also decorated Gingerbread people. Mom baked them, I decorated them. I only had to decorate about 40 of them this year (compared to 80 or so previous years). This year I made our people into family members.

This is Karen's Hawaiian dressed Gingerbread woman. Notice the big red necklace. Hehe.

This is Chris' Gingerbread Man in his Hawaiian swimsuit. Both Chris and Karen loved their personalized cookies. Mom made Whoopie Pies as well. I was not brave enough to try them, but they looked good.
Jonathan and Bella (plus the rest of the family) came over for Christmas. Jonathan had a great time, he was very cranky though. Not nearly enough sleep plus all the excitement didn't go well with him. Bella slept through most of it. I managed to get her to sleep right before dinner (only after she babbled through ALL of Papa's prayer and breaking out into a high pitch squeal at the end). She slept through opening presents but got up in time to open a few of her own.



I found the greatest shirt for Jonathan to wear on Christmas. It says: "Dear Santa, For Christmas I want: A puppy, A red fire engine, A blue bike and P.S. Put my sister on the naughty list." How could I resist?! I don't know how i'll top it next year, but everyone agreed it was darn funny.

Once Bella woke up, she was one happy little girl. A nap did her good.

Bella was chewing on everything! She was cutting 2 teeth on Christmas, bringing her total up to 4. She soaked her Christmas bib in drool, so her favorite Winnie the Pooh bib was put on. All day, she tried to get both her hands into her mouth.

Jonathan joined Mommy and Bella. I love this picture of the 3 of them.

The day wasn't complete without trying to put Bella on Papa's lap. She still screamed for Papa at Christmas. Silly girl.

New Year's Eve!



I rang in New Year's with Mark and some of his friends. It was a fun time. We played Wii, ate a lot, played Apples to Apples and had some general good time. I was, unfortunately, getting sick. I ended up falling asleep about 2am and sleeping until 3:30 in the afternoon. I spent the rest of my winter break sick and went back to work sick!

I rang in my 25th birthday on the 25th and had a great time. I spent it with the family. Mark came out to my big birthday dinner that we had on Sunday. It was the first time that Papa held Bella and she didn't cry!

And now, i'm working like crazy and find myself exhausted most nights. I'm excited to watch the Olympics, but it's making me think a LOT about my aunt and my cousins who are still live in Vancouver.

Alright, now you are caught up. I will try not to let it go so long.

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.