Easter!

Friday night we colored eggs with Bobby. He decided to stick his hand directly into one of the dyes and ended up with a "Papa Smurf" hand.

Then Saturday we went to see Derek's family to celebrate 3 birthdays and Easter...

All of the kids playing on the trampoline

Brooklyn with her great grandma (Sally Roed's Mom)

Most of the cousins on the Roed side

Easter Egg Hunt

After all that was over, we sang Happy Birthday, ate cake and relaxed...

Sunday Morning the Easter Bunny came for the kids....

Then in the afternoon we headed to my Dad's house where we pigged out on a traditional Easter Dinner

It was a great Holiday!

Half Way to One

Brooklyn turned 6 months yesterday. Amazing how fast time has gone. She is so much fun to be around.

I am curious if she will take after Derek with walking early (Derek walked at 9 months) or if she will be more like me and Bobby and walk at 13 months.

I thought I heard her yell out "maaaaaaaa" the other day when she was all mad in her crib. Probably just my imagination getting the best of me and it was just a sound she was making that sounded like "ma".

She still doesn't seem to show any interest in baby food. I've skipped the cereal because she was choking on it and even when I watered it down or used baby food to thin it out she still gagged. I'm trying straight baby food at this point which she can choke down a few bites and then about 5 minutes into it she wants nothing to do with it.

Not sure her weight & height (we go next week), she feels like a sack of potatoes when you hold her - solid.

She can sit up for a few seconds without help, then tips over. :)

No teeth, no signs of teething.

She's grabbing at everything: your face, your hair, toys, cups anything that's within arms reach.

She's holding her rattles, small toys, etc..

Starting to enjoy the bouncer more and finally bounce around in it.

Lots of giggles and smiles. Some things are truly starting to crack her up...

Best Lullaby

This song pulls on your "mommy" heart strings. I love it. I cant wait to learn it on the guitar and try to sing as beautiful as the Dixie Chicks...

Target & Freedom

Am I the only one who: The moment you step in to Target you think "Oh, wow! Thats cute, I need that...and this...oh and the kids need that...."

Sheesh. I went in trying to pickup just a few things for Easter, and some things we needed around the house, but it ended up being a trip of stocking up on LOTS of things we "need". :)

On the other part of my journey of shopping with the 2 animals these days, I want to give Bobby the chance to walk with me when we visit the store, and frankly with the 2 of them crammed in the shopping cart...where am I supposed to put all my junk? They need to come up with a place to put 1 kid thats a toddler (strapped down & contained because we all know they are wild animals at this age) and the other who is in their car seat (infant or another toddler) and then a LARGE space for purchases. Today I went in with the intentions of picking up items that were large and bulky but of course was unable to fit them in my shopping cart. Yes, I could have pulled out my stroller, or waited for Derek to be with us but the first one is a pain in the rear, and the derek's been working 6 days a week lately so who knows when I'll have his help.

Today's adventure (like most of our trips outside the house) reminded me of being a kid, running through the aisles & clothes while shopping, listening to the responsible adult (whoever that was at the time) yelling at me to "get over here right now!!!". Bobby was so happy to be running through everything, and I couldnt help but smile myself. When it was time to depart, I received the pleasure of his tantrum: screaming and body throwing. I ended up having to carry him, balancing our junk on the cart (without smothering Brooklyn) and pushing the cart to the car.

What a workout. I'm sure anyone thats a mom can relate and probably has a horror story of her own, I know Derek's mom told me one time while shopping with him, she thought she lost him. That easily could have been me today.

Days like today remind me of when I was young; its hard to be mad at times like these because even when Bobby is at his worse I still love him to pieces.

The best part of having kids, is being able to re-live your childhood all over again...

La Jolla 5k

So today was our "big race day" for the La Jolla 5k. Derek has not been prepping much for today's run, and I've been consistently logging miles for the past 3 months (with no intention of breaking any records).

Unfortunately, we received an email about a week prior to the race that no strollers were allowed on the course - - sorry kids, you have to stay behind on this one. Thankfully the kids were able to go stay with my mom this morning while Derek and I did our little run. We are not elite runners by any means, but we do like to go for a jog...with the kids in tow of course.

Our results:

Derek's mile pace: 7:24, Total time: 22:57. Place for his age group: 7 out of 47

Janine's mile pace: 8:30, Total time: 26:23. Place for my age group: 10 out of 92

We are quite proud of our modest results. I have to say that my first mile was the fastest mile I've ran since probably high school!!! The little lady on the side line yelled out "8 minutes!!!" when I crossed my first mile. I was thrilled. The course starts off for about 1/2 mile downhill, then finishes with about 3/4 of the final mile uphill, with the last 1/4 or so downhill.

That last hill is always a fight. Yuck!!!

Great way to start off the new week....Happy Spring Break/Easter everyone!!!

A..B...C..1...2..3

Once Brooklyn came along, it forced me and Bobby to spend more time indoors (especially with the winter weather). I spend lots of time with Bobby going over his ABC Flash Cards when Brooklyn is napping (or any other time we forced to be inside), and we review his numbers (1-10) every night right before bed.

Bobby is kind of quiet and shy so he has never really had much to say...I guess? Or maybe he just doesnt want to have a conversation with me (or anyone else?)? Maybe I need to take a hint? I hope not!!! (He's not even a teenager yet!)

I was never sure how much he was retaining when we went over the cards because Bobby hardly says anything....until recently....

Bobby impressed me and Derek with his vocabulary this week... I sat down with Bobby the other morning, and started to show him random letters of the flash cards asking him "Whats this", and to my surprise he replied the correct letter! I couldnt believe it. My little 2 year old son had finally shown me the wheels inside his head were turning! I made him repeat this until he finally shook his head "no", and climbed down from the table to go lay down for a nap. (Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but he will go lay down in his bed on his own when he is tired.)

When Derek came home that afternoon, I asked Bobby to repeat his trick (also just so I could have another adult validate what I was hearing) and sure enough Bobby came through.

I am so proud.

It is just another reminder that my little boy is not so little anymore :-( .....time for another?!!

.....Not quite!! :)

Just about 6 months old and checking out her new seat...

My little G.I. JOE

Bobby is also turning into an awesome little helper and a great big brother. If Brooklyn is crying he reaches over to insert the pacifier or bottle (whichever she is sucking on that falls), he comes running over to be by her side if she is crying, and in the mornings if we are all up at the same time, he runs to her side at the crib to "help" me get her out of bed. He gives her kisses and hugs and if we are all on the floor playing together, he happily shakes a rattle or other toy near her to entertain.

I love my kids.

Junior Carlsbad

Bobby's adventure with his 1st Junior Carlsbad run...

Since Bobby is an open book on deciding what sports he likes, I thought it would be fun to get him to try the Junior Carlsbad "Diaper Dash". There's a race for all kids under age 12 with different distances for different ages. A friend of ours took her daughter last year, and it looked like alot of fun. Last year when the event was held, Bobby was either walking or just newly walking so we missed out. The pictures dont do it justice, Bobby was smiling and laughing all over the place. They had little booths setup with vendors, and located right next to little shops and the beach in Carlsbad.

Derek said when they were lined up to run, Bobby sat down (a little unsure about the situation I'm sure), but once all the kids in front of him took off, Bobby went right along. I'm so bummed because the video I took is super blurry.

After seeing this race, Derek and I decided to do the La Jolla 5k with the kids in the stroller in a few weeks.

On your mark...

Get set....GO!!!!!

FINISH!!!!!!!

Bobby admiring his new medal (but for whatever reason he wanted Dad to wear it)

Brooklyn's World...

Brooklyn is growing fast (ok, lets be honest, what baby doesn't grow fast?). She is spinning, kicking, rolling, all the usual tricks at this age. She sleeps awesome - only 1 night waking at 2am for a bottle and wakes for the day at 6am. She has her bad days, but what baby doesn't?

I've tried a few times to get her to eat baby food (cereal, first foods etc) and she has no desire to eat it, spits it out, turns away. I've tried it warm, cool, and cold. My pediatrician said not to worry, and that really babies sometimes don't take to food until they are 9 months old anyway. And by the looks of her - she's not going hungry. She's really starting to notice Bobby and anytime he is near her she rolls to him, stares and coos at him. Its alot of fun with the 2 of them.