Our growing family

Long time no blog

2009-05-27T21:06:00.000-07:00

So I haven't blogged in quite some time. No real reason other than we've had a lot going on and I just haven't felt like it. A lot has happened in the past couple of months. For those that don't know we have moved. We are now living in Brentwood and are absolutely LOVING it! My poor husband has a longer commute, but as for me I'm 5 min from just about everywhere I go. Work, my moms, Nick's school, grocery store, and Target. No more 25 min drives for me!

Nick is now 3 years old and is growing just so fast. He is now potty trained and it pretty much happened over night. He came to us one night (5 days before our Disneyland trip) and said he wanted to go pee and poo on the potty and that was it. We've of course had our accidents along the way, but those are to be expected. He is a FABULOUS big brother. He is getting a lot better with his jealousy issues, but has his bad days as always. Our worst time is when Kaitlyn is crying or is having her bottle. He has also taken to his baby doll. It is his "baby Katie". It is absolutely amazing to watch him with his baby. We were at JCPenney's the other day with my mom and he brought his baby and had her in a cart and was pushing her through the store. If I ever doubted my mothering skills all I have to do is watch Nick. He rubs his baby's forehead and tells her that it's ok daddy is here. At JCPenney's I caught him rocking his cart back and forth trying to put his baby to sleep. He has become such a little man...

The funniest was the day I overheard him telling Kaitlyn "probably time for you to go back in mommy's belly soon"

As for Kaitlyn...what can I say. The girl is 4 months now and we have started her on baby food. So far she is digging her sweet potatoes, green beans, squash, applesauce and bananas. She's not too sure yet about pears. Motherhood the second time around is so different. It is definitely hard and not what I expected. I LOVE my kids though and think they are definitely my greatest accomplishment.

I am on a new computer and don't have any pictures here yet, so I will try to add some pics soon.

Update of stuff and some pics

2009-02-16T18:59:00.000-08:00

Some pics of stuff thats been happening:

Nick still loves holding his little sister.

Grandpa Ed came for a visit. He brought Nick a new gift. Nick is now ready for minor household repairs. Call for estimates.

Me, Nick, and Kaitlyn. Nick calls Kaitlyn either Baby Kaitlyn or now he also likes Kat.

Nick made cookies. He likes dough almost as much as Amanda and I. Yes, he is holding the sheet all by himself with oven mitts. It was cool so he couldn't burn himself.

Nick "playing" with his baby sister. He really wants to play cars with her. And continues to ask why she doesn't talk to him.

Kaitlyn:

It's A Miracle..(Fish Update)..Amanda is not happy.

2009-02-16T16:58:00.000-08:00

So I didn't take the fish to the vet. I didn't tell Nick his fish was sick. I did change the water put some stuff we had from the pet store in the water and yep all better. If the fish died Amanda was going to finally buy some new fish, not goldfish, and get a frog. She was diappointed it got better. So here's a healthy picture.

Nick has a sick Goldfish

2009-02-06T20:19:00.000-08:00

About a year ago Nick's Uncle Danny got him a fish tank. He has had only 1 death and it was of natural causes. For $1.99 each you get what you pay for. Really Nick does not do a thing with the tank except once in a while he'll feed them and help Eddie change the water. The Fish (they don't have names, Nick calls them "the fish") have really been Sheba's, the cat. She watches them for hours. Fast forward to tonight. I noticed that one of the fish has what I called a pimple. We called uncle Danny and he told us our fish has an Ulcer.

Treatment: shots of antibiotics from a vet.

How do you explain to a 2 year old the fact that one of his fish is sick and you can't make it better and it needs to go away?

My beautiful girl

2009-02-05T16:27:00.000-08:00

My favorite picture so far...

Playing catch up

2009-02-05T16:16:00.001-08:00

Things are going well. Eddie is taking 4 weeks off and it has been a godsend. Of course both boys in my life are currently driving me nuts! We have gone to the zoo and the Exploratorium so far. Our motto...have baby and bottle will travel. School has been miserable for Nick. He has screamed every morning since I stopped working. Dropping him off is a nightmare and Eddie and I both dread it. He is still a very good big brother, but has realized that he has to wait around a lot for her. He is definitely enjoying having daddy around and makes Eddie carry him virtually everywhere we go.

Kaitlyn is a very good baby. We had a bout with extreme fussiness and gas, but changed her formula and things have gotten better so far. She usually takes her last bottle at night around 10 and then is up anywhere between 1 and 2 and then again around 4 and then 6. Nick is unfortunately awake around 6 for the day, so mommy and daddy are exhausted! I had also forgotten about traveling with a newborn. You have to time when you're in the car around the feedings. Now if we could get her to consistently take a certain amount of formula that would make our lives a lot easier. She eats right now anywhere between 1/2 ounce to 4 ounces at a time.

How I'm going to handle these two on my own when Eddie goes back to work, I have no clue...

Kaitlyn's birth story

2009-02-05T16:14:00.000-08:00

I started having contractions at about 7 o’clock as I was putting Nick to bed. I had downloaded a labor mate application on my phone so I would push the start and stop button for each contraction and it would time them for me. After an hour of intense contractions between 1 min and 3 min apart (and had back labor once again), I called Eddie to come home from work, and my mom to come over to stay with Nick. We were at the hospital by 9 and I was dilated to 3 cm (same as I was that morning at my doctor’s appt). The midwife wanted me to go walk the halls for 2 hours and if I did not have any progress, they were going to send me home. After 20 min I was done walking and in too much pain to continue. They checked me again and I was at 5 cm. I was being admitted…They finally got me in the room about an hour labor (10:30) and ordered the epidural. Around 11 they checked me again and I was at an 8, but they started the epidural anyways. My blood pressure dropped severely and I got nauseous. They tried to increase my blood pressure and finally got me back to normal around 11:30. At this point, the midwife was breaking my water and felt Kaitlyn’s mouth. She tried to turn her herself since she was face up and my blood pressure dropped again and I started to vomit. At about 11:45 they had me on my side hoping that would turn the baby. I was still having and feeling all the contractions, except my back did not hurt anymore. The midwife was coming back to check me in an hour, but they brought her back sooner because I was having so much pressure with each contraction. At 12:45, I was at 10 cm and started pushing. Kaitlyn was born at 1:06 am. She had turned herself in the correct position and was perfect. When they put her on my chest, the first thing out of my mouth was “she looks just like her brother”. I wish I didn't have the epidural. It definitely was not worth the back pain I have now, for such little relief.

Postpartum has been much better and different this time around. With Nick, I suffered from PPD and did not want anything to do with him after he was born. With Kaitlyn, I am completely and utterly in love. I want to hold her constantly and do not want her out of my sight.

I was going to attempt breastfeeding this time around as well and after a 45 min screaming fit the first night in the hospital, we had to supplement her. The next morning I tried to breastfeed and had nothing coming out at all. Needless to say, Kaitlyn is a formula baby just like her brother. It is probably a good thing though, as this little girl can easily suck down 4 ounces at a time already.

Nick is a VERY good big brother. He loves his little sister and wants to hold her all the time. He was actually up with us the first night we were home at every feeding wanting to help. He kneels down next to her and says, “Its ok baby girl, I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere. I love you”. SO CUTE!!! Of course, he is jealous and is acting out. Between the whining, yelling, and being a normal almost 3 year old…we are going NUTS!

Cha Cha Cha Chia

2009-02-05T16:11:00.001-08:00

Uncle Danny bought Nick a Chia Donkey from Shrek. Daddy and Nick put the seeds on last night...

More pictures

2009-02-05T16:03:00.000-08:00

10 Days old

Brotherly love

2 Weeks old

The heart shaped birthmark

Long time no blog...

2009-02-05T15:51:00.000-08:00

Eddie has been doing the blogging since Kaitlyn was born, but I'm back.

Kaitlyn is now 2 weeks old and is such a different baby than Nick was. She is much more mellow and so far she only cries when she's hungry. Nick is adjusting and being a normal almost 3 year old. He's driving us nuts...

Here's a pic I took while I was waiting for Eddie to come home the night I went into labor.

Just more pictures

2009-01-22T22:17:00.000-08:00

mom put both kids in the bow.

Kaitlyn Paige Brady

2009-01-22T16:37:00.000-08:00

1-21-09 1:06 AM, 8 lbs 1.5 ounces, 19.5 inches, head 13.75 inches, chest 13 inches.
She came in to this world fairly quickly. A lot quicker than Nick. Just for comparison Nick was born 8 lbs .5 ounce, 20 inches. He took 18 hours of labor. She came out in 5 and a half hours. So anyways some pics.
first pic of her cleaned up. Doesn't she look so Cute.

The new big brother. Just so you know we are trying to get a recording of him saying "I got you baby girl. I love you." He does call her "My sister" and wants to hold her constantly. He will sit still for 30 minutes while holding her.
Things he wants to do but isn't allowed: sleep with her, feed her, change her, and share food with her.

It's a bird, It's a plane....

2009-01-02T17:30:00.000-08:00

It's Super Nick...

It has a detachable cape too...

Shaving

2009-01-02T17:25:00.000-08:00

We bought Nick this bath set for his stocking that had Thomas moldable foam and a pretend razor.

He's obsessed with the guitar

2009-01-02T17:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday he wanted to "sing". I turned on some kids music for him and when he was done this is how I found him.

Holy crap

2008-12-31T16:01:00.000-08:00

Do you see that ticker to your left? 25 days??? According to my main Kaiser doctor I'm due on the 25th, according to the ultrasound techs (3), I'm due on the 20th. HOLY CRAP!!!

Rock Band 2

2008-12-31T15:57:00.001-08:00

For Christmas this year Eddie wanted Rock Band 2. It was released the friday before Christmas and my mom had pre-ordered it for him from Best Buy beforehand. Unfortunately it didn't ship until the Monday before Christmas so it wasn't here in time. It was delivered yesterday and I set it up for Eddie to play when he got home from work last night.

A little background...

Every time we go to Best Buy we spend a good 20 min with Nick playing this game. He loves the guitar and the drums. Eddie figured it would be a good family gift. What do you think...

p.s. this was at 7 o'clock this morning...

4 weeks to go...

2008-12-31T15:54:00.000-08:00

Please don't ask how I'm feeling...

Christmas has come and gone

2008-12-31T15:07:00.000-08:00

Christmas was absolutely amazing this year. Nick was so excited, which made us excited as well. We actually had to lock all the presents up in Kaitlyn's room because the sneaky little devil started unwrapping them. A couple days before Christmas I let him bring out all the presents because he promised he wouldn't open them. Instead...he lined them all up.

That was short lived...the unwrapping was starting to happen again, so out the presents went.

Nick was VERY spoiled this year as he had 3 Christmas'. We celebrated Christmas with my mom's side on the 20th, my dad's side of the family on Christmas Eve and our immediate family we did the day after Christmas (Eddie worked on Christmas). The week before Christmas, Nick would ask every morning when he woke up if Santa had come yet. It was really very sweet...

Thursday night we got home from dinner at my mom's house and we put cookies and milk out for Santa. Nick of course had to take a sip of the milk and a bite of the cookie (I'm sure it was for quality control). After he fell asleep, I started putting his kitchen together from Santa. Partway through, Eddie got home from work and helped as well. Two and a half hours later it was finally done. We brought the presents out and got his stocking ready.

When Nick woke up Friday morning we told him to go check and see if Santa had come. He ran into the living room and stood in front of the kitchen with his mouth wide open and his hands in front. He was so excited.

He also figured out this year that you get stuff in your stocking!

He was a little disheartened though when he realized that Santa ate his cookie (he left out 2)

Then the fun began...

My favorite gift we got Nick was a camera. He always tries to steal mine so we got him his own.

Nick showing Sheba his camera...

Cooking us hot dogs for breakfast...

After we had our tiny Christmas my mom, dad, brother and his girlfriend came over to celebrate as well.

Now that Christmas is over and the tree is down, Nick is continuing to ask when Santa is going to come again.

2008-12-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

Nick was in his first holiday pageant last Saturday. His class danced to "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer". He has been singing and dancing the song for weeks. He's a Christmas nut just like his mom and grandma. He walks around the house singing Jingle Bells, Jingle bell rock, Rudolf, Frosty, and many more...

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Mission no more binky

2008-12-18T10:52:00.000-08:00

Last night I started mission no more binky. I was going to wait until after the baby was born, but I'm just done. I can't take the constant whining because he wants it. I told him that the binky fairy called mommy and told her she ran out of binkys and needed more, so mommy sent them to her for all the babies. At bedtime he cried for about 5 min telling me he needed something in his mouth and I told him I would lay with him til he fell asleep, he asked if we couldd rock, so I rocked him til he fell asleep. He woke up when I put him in bed and asked me to lay with him. I told him I would stay til he fell asleep sitting next to him. He was asleep by 8:15. Fast forward to 10:30 when I woke up to loud noises in his room. He had moved his chair and climbed up to find a binky on top of his dresser. When he couldn't find one he came to our bed. He screamed for about an hour asking for his binky over and over again. I finally calmed him down and got him back in his own bed. I read him some books and he fell asleep again. He didn't wake up til 6:15 this morning. When he came to wake us up we told him the binky fairy had visited and brought him a present (thank you April & Erica for the idea). He ran into the living room to see what he got.

The binky fairy had brought him a big rig truck ...he LOVED it.

6 more weeks to go

2008-12-18T10:45:00.000-08:00

I'm miserable, uncomfortable and just plain done being pregnant. With all tha said, here are some pics for your viewing pleasure.

Christmastime is here

2008-12-04T19:12:00.000-08:00

Nick is EXCITED about Christmas. He absolutely LOVES the lights, the trees, and everything that goes with it. We don't buy our tree til after Eddie's birthday (tomorrow) or decorate til then either, but today he did pull the boxes down so we could start the inside. Nick is very excited to play with the singing snowmen from Hallmark (we have got one from the beginning) and he LOVES opening the boxes to see what's coming out next. Decorating the tree tomorrow should be quite interesting. He really wants to hang the outside lights up (he did it last weekend with Grandpa and Grandma) and keeps telling me "I go do by myself". He found the Santa cookie plates today and wanted to make cookies for Santa. After his nap we made 4 dozen snickerdoodles. Nick put a couple on the plate and started looking around the house for Santa. Christmas through a child's eyes is amazing!

Where has the time gone

2008-12-04T19:08:00.000-08:00

I'm officially due NEXT month! Holy cow, how did that happen? It seems like yesterday I found out that I was pregnant again and it just seems to have flown by. Of course it's not all butterflies and roses. I am MISERABLE! I have offically become the owner of a pregnancy support belt and I start physical therapy next week for my "pressure" and my difficulty with walking. Nick just doesn't understand why mommy can't play and why my belly hurts so much. I tell him that mommy needs to lay down because her belly hurts and he responds with "my belly hurt too". He also wants to know when baby Kaitlyn is going to come out and play with him. We were buying pacifier's the other day at Target and he wouldn't let us get the same kind he has because those are his. I am absolutely terrified about managing two, but I cannot wait to hold this little girl in my arms!

Pasta

2008-12-04T19:05:00.000-08:00

I would say it's lady and the tramp, but that just doesn't seem too appropriate considering it's my husband and my son. Any suggestions?

Painting our feet

2008-12-04T19:00:00.000-08:00

We were making turkey's before Thanksgiving and Nick decided that he wanted to paint our feet. "Ms. Nancy paints my feet." (Ms. Nancy is his teacher). So we painted our feet and made footprints.

Such an imagination

2008-12-04T18:57:00.000-08:00

Here he is "cooking" me lunch.

Who wouldn't LOVE this face?

2008-12-04T18:55:00.000-08:00

He's going to be such a good daddy

2008-12-04T18:51:00.001-08:00

I have an ergo carrier that I used for Nick while we were out and about and he was tired. He called it his backpack. This particular day Nick was playing with his baby and wanted a "backpack" for his baby. His blankie did the trick...

Decorating cookies in November...

2008-12-04T18:49:00.000-08:00

My growing belly

2008-11-10T14:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday at 29 weeks.

Rainy day activities?

2008-10-30T16:41:00.000-07:00

Today I let Nick decorate his pumpkin. He started with a sharpie...

Then decided he was going to try to use his play-doh supplies on his pumpkin.

We then traced our feet to make ghosts and hung them on the window. (I didn't come up with the idea....he learned it at school)

Trick-or-Treat

2008-10-30T11:01:00.000-07:00

Our little "James"

Nick with his "light" to go through the tunnel

I'm excited

2008-10-29T13:17:00.001-07:00

My baby shower is on Sunday...

Kaitlyn Paige's room

2008-10-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

The "almost" finished project! I just have a few more things I need to do....

The frames I made...

The wall letters I made...

Silly boy

2008-10-23T13:42:00.000-07:00

While I was getting ready this morning Nick was watching TV in the living room. I came out to find this...

After I got him out, he put his baby in, covered her up with his blanket and then grabbed his milk and gave his baby some milk.

A whole lotta belly

2008-10-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

26 weeks prego

More pumpkin patchin

2008-10-20T14:39:00.000-07:00

Saturday we went with grandma to the pumpkin patch in Clayton. I'm getting tired of going to the same pumpkin patch here in Brentwood every year so we're looking around for fun new ones. To begin with, Nick has become obsessed with taking pictures. He loves to carry the camera around and knows how to take the picture and will continuously press the button. I now have about 50 pictures of the ground from the pumpkin patch.

We wandered around and looked at the animals, played in the hay maze, searched for pumpkins, and drove a bus before we headed to the train.

At Bishop's Farm, Nick sat on my lap the whole time on the train telling me he was scared. This time...not so much. He LOVED it. He handed the driver his ticket and even sat next to grandma. He waved to all the people and went back for seconds.

We went down below where they had the huge hay maze to run through along with pools filled with beans. I'm not sure who liked the beans more...Nick or grandma.

Bringing out the toys

2008-10-20T14:36:00.001-07:00

We got a jumperoo from a friend of mine and set it up this week and put it in Paige's room. Isn't this what you'd expect from a 2 year old?

Bishop's Farm

2008-10-20T14:24:00.000-07:00

After we went to the Train Museum we decided to head out to Wheatland to go to Bishop's Farm. Nick was a bit grumpy from a short nap, but he had a lot of fun. First we fed, brushed, and pet the goats.

We jumped in some hay with a trampoline underneath

We played in a wood train and on the playground for quite a while. When it was time to go Nick decided he wanted to ride the choo choo. This is HUGE for him. While he LOVES choo choo's, he doesn't like riding them. Anyone who's ever been to the zoo with us can definitely atest to that. This is the first choo choo ride he's been on that he didn't cry!

Of course the highlight of the trip was playing with the toy backhoe's.

On our way out we stopped to get a pumpkin while Nick drove the pumpkin train.

Old Sacramento Train Museum

2008-10-20T14:17:00.000-07:00

After a day of painting on Monday we decided to have some fun! We headed out to Sacramento and took Nick to the train museum!

Painting Paige's room

2008-10-13T18:38:00.001-07:00

Eddie has this week off of work and we are tackling Paige's room.

Step 1: Paint light pink

Step 1.5: Me: Honey you're right, it's too much pink...can we paint a brown stripe?
Eddie: Sure, would you like to add hot pink to it too?
Me: That sounds awesome!

Step 2: Tape a 12" stripe around the room

Step 3: Paint hot pink in the middle

Step 4: Tape off the middle for the brown stripes

Step 5: Paint the brown

Step 6: The beautiful room that I am absolutely in love with. Pictures truly do not do it justice! Isn't my husband amazing?

Our furniture is hopefully being delivered on Wednesday.

And....a sneak peek at the bedding. I returned the other two and bought this one. It's the one I originally wanted, but didn't want to spend the money, but I'm glad I did! It's absolutely GORGEOUS and I LOVE it!!!

Fun with bubbles

2008-10-13T18:31:00.003-07:00

Nicholas and I had a fun filled afternoon one day. We painted, made snakes with play-doh, and of course we played with bubbles. Nick has discovered that he can finally blow the bubbles himself.

His vocabulary has also increased dramatically. He uses full sentences and you can now understand about 90% of what he is saying. While we were playing with bubbles he looked at me and said "Hold on mommy I need to go get something." He comes back with my camera and as I was holding up the camera he was pressing the button to take the picture. Low and behold we have Nick's first self portrait.

Isn't my kid cute...

Blog block

2008-10-13T18:31:00.001-07:00

Sorry it's been so long...I've had major blog block!

What a difference a month makes

2008-09-24T18:08:00.000-07:00

Today:

August 26th:

So much like me

2008-09-23T20:16:00.001-07:00

When my brother and I were little and we got new shoes we always used to sleep in them. My boy is currently asleep in his bed with his new shoes on...

Latest pics

2008-09-18T18:39:00.000-07:00

Nick with his new potty seat

Mommy at 20 weeks prego (half way done)...

Baby Paige

A little update

2008-09-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry it's been so long since an update. Besides Eddie's mom coming to visit we had another HUGE scare.

Last Thursday I got a phone call from a genetics counselor at Kaiser. When we had our last ultrasound they noticed that the baby had a choroid plexus cyst in her brain. A choroid plexus cyst is basically a hole in her brain that is pretty common in pregnancies. The bad part is that it can also lead to Trisomy 18, which is a not so pretty thing. They scheduled us a level II ultrasound to get a more detailed look at the baby and to see if the hole was closed up on it's own already or was still there along with other signs of any abnormalities. Unfortunately we had to wait 6 days for this appointment. Those 6 days were HORRIBLE! There's nothing like waiting to find out if your daughter is going to die or not and not being able to do a damn thing about it.

Yesterday was our level II ultrasound in Oakland. I am happy to report that the choroid plexus cyst is completely gone, but they did find something else. They found what is called a mild ventriculomegaly. Basically one of the ventricles in her brain is slightly larger than it should be right now. After the ultrasound we met with the genetics counselor who gave us our new options. We could either A) have an MRI done so they could figure out exactly what is going on in her brain, B) have an amniocentisis done to see if there are any chromosonal abnormalities, or C) take what God chooses to give us with a child and just have another ultrasound in 7 weeks to see how her ventricle looks. We chose C. At this point in my pregnancy there is no way that I would be able to abort this baby under any circumstances. We both feel that it would be telling the baby that she is not good enough for us and that we were going to kill her. Worst case scenario is that the baby would have excess fluid in her brain and they would have to put a stint in her brain or she would have down syndrome. The mild ventriculomegaly is not an indicator of this alone it is usually followed by another signs of abnormalities which the baby has none.

The good news is that the radiologist feels they are just being overly cautious at this point. They did not see any other indicators on the ultrasound that she has any abnormalities and feel this is probably nothing.

The other good news is that the sex has been verified by another ultrasound tech and the radiologist and it's still a GIRL!!! I guess I'll believe it now that I've been told by 3 different people.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

It's voting time

2008-09-16T09:21:00.000-07:00

Which do you like??

Update coming soon...

2008-09-15T20:22:00.001-07:00

I know it's been a while and I promise to update soon. Oma came to visit (Eddie's mom) so that kept us busy for a while and honestly I just haven't been in the mood to upload pics. Stay tuned...

I'm paranoid

2008-09-05T16:06:00.000-07:00

For some reason I'm convinced this child is going to be a boy....what do you think?

99% sure it's a

2008-09-02T20:14:00.000-07:00

GIRL!!!

What up dawg

2008-09-01T18:49:00.001-07:00

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Loving bubbles

2008-09-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

Seriously too cute

2008-08-26T20:03:00.000-07:00

Sunday Nick was sitting on my lap after he woke up from his nap and said "mommy my want to see baby now". He then proceeded to lift up my shirt and rub my belly.

Belly time again

2008-08-25T20:24:00.000-07:00

I am now officially 18 weeks pregnant. Next Tuesday is our BIG ultrasound at 4:15. Hopefully little peanut will cooperate so we can find out if I'm baking a girl or a boy in there. Eddie's mom is coming to visit from Beligium (hasn't been here since the wedding) and will be a part of the ultrasound experience.

Is it just me or does my belly look different sizes in these?

Self portrait

2008-08-25T20:20:00.000-07:00

"Mommy take picture with you"

Family fun time

2008-08-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

At school every Friday the kids get sent home with "family fun time". This is a creative way to say "homework". They get stars when they turn them back in and then at the end of the year you get them all back so you can see how much your child has progressed. This week we got to make a family tree. We had to write names in leaves and cut them out and paste them to the tree and then do as we pleased with the tree. Nick colored and painted the tree!

Do you see the look of determination on Eddie's face?

The train table

2008-08-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

I finally scored a train table off of craig's list that we drove to Petaluma to pick up. We had to order a train and track so he couldn't play with it right away and was rather upset. The day the track came in the mail he sat and played from 3-7 only breaking because I made him eat dinner (mean mommy I know). He woke up the next morning at 6 am wanting to play trains...he's OBSESSED! Nick has his own train, mommy has her own train, and daddy has his own train.

Oldies but goodies

2008-08-25T13:13:00.000-07:00

We're having new computers installed at work on Wednesday and while cleaning up my desktop today I came across a few pics.

Nick at 2 weeks...

Nick at 2 months...

3 years ago today...

2008-08-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

I married the LOVE of my life. It hardly seems that it was 3 years ago. I still remember the day and how absolutely beautiful everything was. Heck, I still remember the first time I saw Eddie and how HOT I thought he was (he still is by the way!) I can tell you what we were both wearing and I can even tell you what website he was looking at (ratemymullet.com). Even though we didn't start dating til 4 months later, I still thought about him. Now here we are 5 years later. We've been married for 3 years, we have Nick who will be 2.5 in October and we have baby #2 on the way. I love my husband more than ever and cannot imagine him not being a part of my life. Here's to eternity honey!

The only pics that I could find were the ones that Angela took for me! Enjoy!

Cuteness

2008-08-19T17:46:00.001-07:00

My folks are in Pebble Beach currently so I'm working full-time and Nick is going to one of my customer's who does daycare. She sent me this picture today...

You wouldn't know that he screams his head off when he gets dropped off at Sandy's house or at school from this pic would you?

Dual binkies

2008-08-17T20:09:00.000-07:00

Do they each serve a different purpose?

My boys

2008-08-17T20:06:00.000-07:00

New bike

2008-08-17T20:02:00.000-07:00

Well it's about that time. We bought Nick a bike. He LOVES it! He still doesn't use the pedals unless you're pushing him, but he does know that they're there. I think he just likes to get places faster and has discovered that if he drives "Fred Flintstone" style then he get there lightning quick. We now ride our bike to the park and even bring it to grandma's house.

Daddy taught Nick how to pop wheelies...

"bye bye mommy"

Can you believe he wants me to get rid of this stuff?

2008-08-17T19:40:00.000-07:00

We started cleaning out the spare bedroom so that Eddie's mom has a place to sleep while she's here and also so we can start getting the room ready for baby #2. I have a couple of boxes from before we were married that we opened to start going through. I have t-shirts from high school from softball tournaments, tennis matches, even one from college. I have a very old New Kids on the Block sleeping bag, my cap and tassle from high school graduation and a few other odds and ends. Can you believe the husband wants me to get rid of this crap! I then of course found my veil and petticoat and had to try them on again.

Can you find Nick?

We got a table!

2008-08-17T19:38:00.000-07:00

We went to Petaluma today and picked up a white one like the bottom picture for $50!!! Now we just need the train set to go with it. Eddie's mom is hopefully bringing one out from when he was a kid when she comes to visit in September....

Why do they have to be so expensive?

2008-08-15T15:19:00.001-07:00

My current want for Nick

2008-08-15T15:05:00.001-07:00

Hint hint hint...it's a train table by the way.

Car wash

2008-08-08T19:13:00.001-07:00

Nick has started "imaginative" play. He has this tent that he now calls his car wash. We go into the bonus room and I shake it while he's in it and then we both crawl through it. Today we had it in the front yard while the Comcast guy was here and Nick discovered that it can roll over.

After dinner tonight he told me "play car wash momma"...

Preparing...

Face pressed against the mesh...

The finale!

Meow

2008-08-08T19:10:00.001-07:00

Nick climbs the cat tower and starts meowing. He then tells us that he's a kitty.

Giraffe boy

2008-08-08T19:08:00.000-07:00

Does this surprise anyone?

2008-07-30T20:59:00.000-07:00

I've seen this on several blogs I read and finally found out where to do it (wordle). It takes common words you use on your blog and makes this...

I'm not sure I've done such a good thing

2008-07-30T19:08:00.001-07:00

Nick LOVES playing with the guitar at my parent's house. I have this ukulele that I got from an old friend of mine years and years ago. I gave it to Nick tonight.

A 14 Week belly

2008-07-30T19:02:00.001-07:00

It just keeps growing and growing...

as usual once Nick heard the camera clicking he came running for "my turn, my turn"

"take picture feetsies mommy"

Crafts

2008-07-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

We're venturing into uncharted territory. Safety scissors, construction paper, and glue...enough said

A 12 Week Belly

2008-07-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

Mommy's 12 week belly

Nick and Mommy's 12 week belly

Potty anyone?

2008-07-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

Yes that's a potty on his head...

Santa Cruz

2008-07-03T19:24:00.000-07:00

After much persuasion and basically having to force Eddie, we took Nick to Santa Cruz last Saturday. I'm a big fan of Santa Cruz and hope to raise Nick to be a big fan as well. He's finally big enough to start going on the little kid rides too.

We started off by playing at the beach for about an hour. Eddie and Nick played in the sand and Nick kept pointing to the roller coaster. This time Nick had no interest in getting his tootsies wet and even pulled his legs up when Eddie put him close. There were people behind us playing with the frisbee and Nick just sat down and starting watching them play as well.

Nicholas saying "mere birdie, mere"...translation "come here birdie, come here"

After lunch we decided to try out the rides. Nick wasn't too excited about going on the rides by himself so we started with some rides that mommy and daddy could go on too. The big rigs were the hit of the day! After 2 rides with mommy, we told him that if he wanted to ride again, he would have to go by himself. He was all for it and was hooked. Mission accomplished, I think Nick likes Santa Cruz as much as mommy. He was NOT a happy camper when the tickets were out and it was time to go home.

"Hi Daddy!"

This is the starfish. It's one of those rides that goes forward really fast and then backwards really fast. It was hilarious watching the boys...

Do you see the smile on my boy's face?

What little boy wouldn't take the opportunity to get a hand dip while riding the boats?

We also had a milestone while in Santa Cruz. This is the first time we have ALL been able to ride the merry go round at the same time without one of us standing next to Nick the entire time. If you've ever been to Santa Cruz you know about the "rings". Eddie was on the outside and was having a blast. When the ride was over the attendant walked by and handed Nick a ring.

Silly Nicky...

Yeah we know you aren't supposed to take the rings out of the area, but the boy wasn't giving it up!

A 10 week belly

2008-06-30T19:24:00.000-07:00

With Nicholas:

With baby #2:

Yes I know I'm huge already....

Ninja style

2008-06-20T12:59:00.000-07:00

Last night after I finished watching So You Think You Can Dance, I headed off to bed. Low and behold this is what I found in my bed....

Now Nick's door squeaks...I like that it squeaks because I can * usually * hear him when he opens the door and heads out of his room. Last night he must have been working ninja style.

Corn on the cob

2008-06-19T17:52:00.000-07:00

What we had for dinner....

and because my son is a cheeseball...

I almost forgot

2008-06-18T18:54:00.001-07:00

Nick is also convinced that he has a baby in his belly.

Painting and popsicles

2008-06-18T18:16:00.000-07:00

This afternoon Nick and I went out front to play in the pool. First the kid was running around the front yard naked until I finally convinced him he should be wearing a diaper. I'm waiting for the cops to show up one day for indecent exposure of a 2 year old. We then started painting. I'm not sure if more paint ended up on the paper or Nick's face/body. I even caught him painting his belly. No those aren't boogers coming out of his nose...it's brown paint.

I figured since it was such a warm day outside we would have popsicles. Nick LOVED his and it was everywhere. Do you notice the blue dripping from his mouth? That's paint not a popsicle....yeah he's a messy child.

What day in the water wouldn't be complete without a toddler wedgie? If you look really closely at this picture you can see his thigh covered in paint.

Since this is a family blog...

2008-06-18T18:15:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd give an update on me. I'm a little over 8 weeks pregnant now and this pregnancy is a lot different than the first one. This morning sickness is biting me in the ass and I've already got a growing belly. Unfortunately you don't get a picture just yet of that...

Such a good helper

2008-06-18T18:09:00.000-07:00

We are in the process of doing our backyard. Previously it was grass/weeds and had a tree...that's it. We had the tree removed and Eddie killed the weeds. We have since put in a planter box along the side and along the back wall and have sprinklers in. All we have left is the topsoil and to lay sod. Nick LOVES to help Daddy and Tony. "Dig Daddy". He has his own shovel, hoe, and rake that my parents bought him for his birthday, and he helps dig the dirt and even puts it in the wheelbarrow.

He even has his own pair of gloves...

Can you see him working with the boys?

We're pregnant

2008-06-05T18:24:00.001-07:00

Brady Look-alike Meter

2008-06-03T20:14:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Ancestory - Family research

Twist and Shout

2008-05-18T10:31:00.000-07:00

Nick's school held graduation yesterday for the kindergarteners. Each class performed a "skit" as well. Nick's class did "twist and shout". So unbelievably cute!!!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

My Mother's Day gift

2008-05-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

Today when picking Nick up from school I received my first handmade Mother's Day gift...

AWWWWW.....

My name is Amanda

2008-05-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

and I'm a blogaholic...

82%

Silly monkey

2008-04-30T20:34:00.001-07:00

Yes those are two binkies in his mouth!

Wearing our glasses

2008-04-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

Mister manners

2008-04-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

My kid really cracks me up lately. He is very good at using his manners. "thank you mama", "please mama", "bless you mama" as well as anytime he does something he knows is wrong he says "sorry mama". Well today at my mom's I was changing his poopy diaper, when I was all done he looked at me and said "thank you mama".

All aboard

2008-04-24T17:21:00.000-07:00

We jumped on the sand/water table bandwagon. I filled up both sides with water and within 5 minutes Nick was scooping sand out of the box and bringing it to the water table and mixing it together.

Random acts of cuteness

2008-04-23T16:30:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much April for your recommendation to bring the DVD player...it definitely got us through the week.

Silly boy...

This was a flower in the botanical garden at Balboa Park...it looks like a flamingo.

Balboa Park

2008-04-23T15:49:00.000-07:00

Our last full day we went to Balboa Park. We first went to the history museum because they had an exhibit on Pompeii. I have always been very interested in this and I told Eddie it was a lot cheaper than flying to Italy. No pics allowed there... sorry. It was AMAZING though! We walked over to the science museum next where our friend Josh and his girlfriend met us. This place was a lot like the Exploratorium, but a lot of fun nonetheless!

Making noise with the air hose

Emptying his shopping cart on the conveyor belt.

Playing with the big boys...

Just being Nick

The world famous San Diego Zoo

2008-04-23T15:48:00.000-07:00

I don't think there is any explanation needed for why we went to the San Diego Zoo.

In front of the zoo

Nick has developed this very interesting stance. Here it is while we were waiting in line to buy tickets.

With the condition my knee is in, we didn't get to do much exploring. We did 2 bus rides and rode the aero tram.

We went through the Children's Zoo

We of course had to see the Panda's

Nick then told us "nigh nigh bus ride". So we took our second bus ride and the boy fell asleep. It's a 35 min bus ride and about 10 min in he was out. We transferred him to the ergo and went back to see the koalas.

The cutest pic of my kid out cold...

Neither Eddie or myself has ever seen a koala actually awake. This isn't odd considering the sleep about 22 hours a day. We finally saw one!

The Magic Kingdom

2008-04-23T15:15:00.000-07:00

I'm a Disneyland nut. I would go there for every vacation if Eddie would let me. This vacation originally started with me wanting to go to Disneyland for a whole week, but we decided on San Diego instead. We were having dinner with our friend Josh and his girlfriend and she happened to mention that Disneyland was only about an hour and fifteen minutes away vs. the 2 hours that Eddie originally told me. We woke up the next morning and decided that we were going to Disneyland...

The last time we went to Disneyland, Nick was 8 months old...boy how things have changed. He had a blast...this is to be expecting considering how much his mom and grandma like it!

My boys in front of the main entrance...

Nick kept saying "choo choo" and pointing to the train so we decided that we would take the train around the park first.

The boys waiting in line...

Once we got on the train Nick had a change of heart. He kept saying "no choo choo, no choo choo"...we were off at the next stop.

Next we went on Pirates of the Caribbean (a personal favorite) and Nick wasn't too sure about that ride. He did cry and we figure that he was just a bit scared of the dark and not knowing what the heck was going on. We decided that we all needed a little lunch to try to put us in a better mood, me especially! Nick wanted to feed the ducks so we sat down low and let him feed the ducks some bread. (Isn't that what everyone does at Disneyland?)

Next we went on the Winnie the Pooh ride...Nick changed his mind about rides...

As we got off the ride Nick spotted Tigger and starting jumping. Yes my son knows who the characters are....we asked him if he wanted to wait in line to see Tigger and he said "yeah". We waited and we saw...

Pooh...

Eeyore...

Isn't my kid adorable?

and Tigger...

Next we decided to venture over to Tom Sawyer's island.

Daddy took him through the "wrong way"...and we wonder where he gets his defiance from?

Doesn't everyone want to ride in a wheel barrow?

We decided to head to Toon Town next. We immediately spotted more characters.

Pluto...

Goofy and Minnie Mouse were out at the same time...Nick chose...

Goofy...

We brought Nick into the little house to play

and we waiting in line to see Mickey Mouse.

We decided to head to Fantasyland after and go on some little kid rides. Nick immediately spotted the "horsies" and wanted to go for a "horsey ride". We've taken Nick on carousel's before, but this was the first time he actually enjoyed it and didn't cry.

Pinocchio...

Nick do you want to drive a car? "yeah, Nick drive car"

Self portrait with mommy

Let me tell you...there's just something about letting a 2 year old drive the car and being beaten back and forth along the track.

Mommy wanted some ice cream next, but it was quickly stolen.

We next went on Buzz Lightyear's astroblast and we all had so much fun! This was my first time on this ride and I have no clue why I waited so long! After we got off Nick kept saying "more Buzz, more Buzz". Who can deny a 2 year old's wish....we went on it again.

Before we left the magic kingdom, we did as everyone should always do. We tried to pull the sword out of the stone!

Sea World

2008-04-23T14:33:00.000-07:00

Our first full day in San Diego we went to Sea World. Honestly I was not too impressed. It reminded me a lot of Marine World, but it did have better shows...Nick LOVED the otters. We watched the Shamu and Sea Lion/Otter show. The Shamu show was amazing and made me LOVE my camera even more than I ever thought I could. (is that possible?) We walked through the aquarium there and also got to touch the bat rays.

Nick LOVED the Shamu show. He was dancing while we were waiting...

Nick is at that age where he really likes to push his stroller. We only wish he was a little more accurate and faster...

Something amazing happened while we were on vacation...Nick fell asleep for the first time in his stroller..

Seriously...how freakin cool is my camera...

While Nick was sleeping we did some beer tasting...when he woke up we went back for some pics with the "horsey".

Mommy's feet and knee was killing her by the end of the day...