Spring is Here

Yes, Spring is finally here, and the flowers are in bloom! Here are just a few from our front yard. There's grape hibuscus, tulips, daffodils, weeping cherry and so much more that I forgot the names of.

Here we are out enjoying the weather. There are many bike paths in our heavily wooded neighborhood. We decided to hit two birds with one stone- enjoy the weather, and look for our missing grey cat Smokey. She never came home last night! We didn't see her, but we saw tons of squirrels. Come home Smokey!

Orioles Fanfest

On March 29th, Jim and I went to the Orioles Fanfest in Baltimore. You get to go meet all the players and mill about the stadium and get autographs and free stuff. Such fun! We have a very young and new team this year, so I don't think we're going to do very well. But anything is possible! Jim mostly wanted to meet the starting pitcher- Jeremy Guthrie- who is a return missionary from Spain. Very nice guy. Here's Jim getting his authograph. The weather was gorgeous, the consessions were all reduced price and the hot dogs were delicious! This will probably be the most people in the stadium at one time for any event this whole season...I think last night there was a record low of 10,000 people in attendance at the game. They're telling the fans to be patient as they rebuild the team's talent. Like I said, anything's possible! Anywho, here are a few photos of Camden Yards stadium in Baltimore.

Biggest Little City in the World!

I was so happy to be able to visit my family back in Reno. Sadly, I could only choose one child to take with me, or fork over another $400. Well, I took Aaron. Reason being he had changed the most since they had last seen him (Thanksgiving). It was a very needed and highly rejuvinating get-away for me. We had a good time cooking gourmet foods, and shopping at all the old haunts like the dollar store (cheesy, I know) and Big Lots. It was mostly about being together. Here's my Dad with Aaron- a proud Grandpa!
My sister, Lauren, spent a lot of time with us as well (she doesn't live too far) so the little boys got to have some good cousin bonding time. Jackson is about 12 months older than Aaron and just loves him to death. Here's Aunt Lauren with her lovin' armful.
There's Uncle Harold with his new 'do, and a proud Grandma.
This is the cousins who live across town: Wendy and Jay are twins, and they have a little sister Hannah. Then, of course there's my not so little brother Jason (he's in a band called "Hollywood's Basement") and then Yours Truly with Aaron. A fun time was had by all and the weather could not have been better!

6 Months old!

Here is Aaron at 6 months. It can double as his Easter pic as well, I guess. He is getting to be quite the social fellow. I think he has always been that way- since he has wanted to see what was going on at all times. I guess that's why nursing never made it past 2 weeks. He flirts with all the ladies with his devilishly handsome, toothless grins and "goo-goo's". He did quite well on our trip home to Reno last week for Spring Break and Easter, but I will talk more about that later. We were lucky to get these smiles out of him at this session- he collapsed into a coma right after we finished. (Don't worry, he woke up later!) Here are just a few of them.

Life. As We Know It.

Well, it's been awhile and I feel like I need to let the world know we are still alive and kicking! I can't believe it's already the end of February! Where has the month gone? Not really much to report on, other than my trip to Reno is coming up! Aaron and I are taking a short spring break to see the fam and his cousin Jackson. We are excited. It's always fun to visit home. He's growing like a lumberjack- eats like one too! Elena is astounding us with her intelligence and vocabulary- as usual. Let's see, some new things we've introduced her to are bubble baths (see photo), coloring with crayons, and pork roast (Yum-a-licious!) Aaron has just began to use Elena's old teething toys and entertainment centers. She used to get really jealous, but she's really learning to play along an be a good big sister, which makes me happy to see. She likes to put her little Dora the Explorer sunglasses on him, I am just leery that she might poke him in the eye sometime. He has learned to love chewing on just about everything. I am trying to get away from just popping his bottle in his mouth when he gets fussy, so there are many things from graham crackers to cheerios that I have learned can distract him so deliciously. Here he is, emphatically enjoying his spoon. Never was a boy happier. (Except, perhaps, when eating.) On a different subject, we are quite proud that we have gotten our taxes done, and even gotten both returns! Whoppee! Time to pay off some debt. All those medical bills add up, you know! Having two in diapers puts many fianancial things in perspective. You learn to do without things, or just less of them than before. I sure all who have kids understand what I mean. I am still working part-time three mornings a week, and Jim still works full time as well near D.C. We've managaed to avoid day care by "tag-teaming" it. GO TEAM!

I just had to show how cute Elena is. Aaron starts to fuss, so she wants to help! She knows that his bottle always makes him happy- she even shares her juice sometimes! What a good big Sister! (The rest of the time she gets upset if he touches anything of hers.)

Christmas Girl

Growing, growing, gone!

Okay, so my kids are no where near being gone yet. They're still under 2 years old, for heaven's sake! There are some days when I wish they were in school already, though. Especially after the nights when Aaron has not felt like sleeping. (Like last night.) But, I realize how fast time flies- these difficult times don't last forever. At the same time I am doing my best to enjoy this stage in their lives- they are so sweet and precious.
Today we all went to the pediatrician (no small feat), and here's how we made out: Aaron's 26" long (tall boy), 18.1 lbs. (big boy); Elena is 35" (really tall) and 24.6lbs. (50th percentile). They each did pretty well with the shots, then we went straight home and all took naps! (Thanks heavens!)
Elena's vocabulary continues to astound me. It used to be that we would be reading a book and I would ask her "What's that?" to the things that she knew. Now she points at everything herself and asks "what's that?" So I tell her everything she points at and if it's a word she doesn't know yet she repeats it. And usually remembers it. Her most advanced word right now is "giraffe". She's still so enthusiastic, and when she sees an object she knows, she still practically shouts it with glee. "La-lows!" (flowers) "MEOW!" (cat) I've been meaning to get it on tape because it's so darn cute! She's just so unpredictable. Just as an 18 month old should be!
Aaron is a cute little- I mean big- guy with an insatiable appetite. I swear, we go through a can of formula a week. He's laughing and cooing and grabbing everything to his mouth. No teeth yet, but I have a feeling he's working on it. Elena had hers by 4 1/2 months. That's about what he is now. I can't wait until he sleeps all through the night! I'm sure Jim can't either- he's still in our room in his bassinette.
Hope everyone is surviving the winter chill!

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HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008!
At the new year, we find ourselves fortunate to have made it...life can be daunting, but even more so- we have to be grateful of what we do have as opposed to our difficulties. (Parenting two precocious children being an unspoken obvious challenge.)
Anywho, Elena is proving to be a very verbal child and a ball of energy. She loves words and learns at least two a day, repeating them with such enthusiasm and energy! Some of her favorite words are "Fly!!!" (butterfly), "Ba-ball!!" (ball), "Melmo!!" (Elmo), "Mouse!!!" (Mickey Mouse), "Whish!!" (fish), and one big sloppy raspberry which to her symbolizes a horse. She has started combing the fur on her stuffed animals to make them "pweety", yet is still learning to conquer her toothbrush and spoon. We think this is all very advanced for a 17-month old (almost 18 months on the 6th)! She is a joy.

Aaron is 3 1/2 months old and has a very flat back of his head. But his face sure is cute! He's reaching for objects now and is so proud of himself when he gets a hold of his goal. His little mouth gets all tied up into a tight "o", and usually a bit of drool ensues. He's getting to be more fun as his fussyness is becoming less and he's sleeping longer at night. He loves eating and it shows. He's been in size 3 months for over a month now. Big strong boy!

We had a great Christmas here at home (for the first time in 2 years). All the presents were for the kids, of course. I've never seen so much Dora the Explorer in my life! (One of Elena's paramount favorites.) We also took them to see Santa at the Mall this year- Elena sure loved that, as you can see. However, Monkey Boy couldn't have cared less. Classic.

Happy New Year to everyone and to all a healthy year!