almost 9 months....

Derek's Birthday & 1st inspection

Derek's birthday was on the 10th, we didn't do much because: 1) He had just taken a 4 day trip to Lake Tahoe for James Page's bachelor party; 2) I'm sure Brooklyn probably wasn't feeling too good; 3) Our house is a disaster; 4) I bought him a bunch of new clothes that he could have before his trip to Tahoe and 5) After 30 - who cares about your birthday anyway! From this point on it will be 40, 50 etc that we celebrate big! Thankfully, Derek is SUPER easy to please, all he wanted was this banana pudding pie thing (made with Nilla wafers). Bobby was super excited when we lit candles and I sang (completely off key) "Happy Birthday". With just the 4 of us to celebrate, it was nice to just be together - we really missed him the week before!

Another part of Derek's birthday gift was a 2 weekend Gun safety program. I am doing it with him only because we own guns and I should know how it works for safety reasons. (I have NO desire at this point to go shooting for fun, or hunt either) The first Saturday you spend reading and going over all the ins and outs of a gun, laws and safety. The 2nd weekend you spend shooting out at a range the instructor has on his property (SO PRETTY where he lives!!!). I'm so nervous about the shooting part...If you would like to read about what we are doing, click on this.

With summer truly starting to show up in Ramona, me and the kids have been taking full advantage of our backyard. I just showed Bobby about water balloons and he's been just throwing them at the dogs. Hysterical! We have a little plastic pool that both kids sit in together (I try to get my big butt in there too but there's barely any room for all 3 of us). So cute to have both of them out there together. Brooklyn giggles at the dogs and Bobby, Bobby is chasing after the dogs with water, or some other toy.

We are almost ready to get our first inspection, which means we are almost done with having tons of dirt and concrete dust tracked into the house (up next drywall and sawdust, cant wait!). I sweep it up, 2 seconds later someone walks in and its everywhere all over again. Cant wait to get this over with, I dont mind the mess - - what I do mind is that everyone in this house is suffering from an allergy attack over the dust and we are all miserable. I am so excited about the construction!!!!!

So as the summer begins we are all plugging along. The kids are growing and changing daily (as all you parents know). Bobby knows his ABC's (and starts to even sing the song until he gets to letter "f" and doesnt know what comes next), he knows that his name is spelled "B-O-B-Y" - I keep trying to tell him there's an extra "b" in there but, he'll learn soon enough. He knows numbers 1-10 and a few colors & shapes. Tuesday mornings Bobby has a gym type class to get his wiggles out and learn interaction with kids (thanks to a referral from a cousin for this class). Brooklyn is scooting backwards (8 months on the 21st) and eating everything. I mash up everything and feed it to her. (ok not EVERYTHING but most stuff)

We are healthy, happy and looking forward to our busy summer with 3 weddings, 3 baby showers, out of town visits from family, and our camping trip in September at the beach....!

Happy Summer Everyone!!!

Yo Gabba Gabba

We just bought 3 tickets to the November 20th showing of Yo Gabba Gabba (2pm), but we realized we actually need 4 tickets, and also bought the party package (gets us backstage with the crew, pictures, food party etc..). We have 3 tickets for sale we need to get rid of, $36 each (I'll waive the processing fee), they are GREAT seats. If you or someone you know might be interested, please let me know!

My Mom

My mom came up to help me with the kids this weekend. For some of you who know me and my mom, this is a pretty big deal. She also let me give her a little makeover - I straightened her hair with a flat iron (which she resisted at first but then after seeing the finished product she loved) and I showed her how makeup is supposed to be worn (or at least how I think its supposed to be worn). She looked so pretty to me today so I captured a few pictures with her and the kids. Sounds kind of mean but like I said, for those of you who know my mom, you know what kind of "style" she has with her makeup. It was fun. She kept complaining about how you can see her freckles...

She LOVES being with the kids and despite everything that is difficult with her sometimes, she was great to have around - just to have an extra set of hands since Brooklyn is double duty right now. She started to get really sad and talk about how much she misses my brother. :( I hope maybe one day I can get her out to Utah to see Anthony & his family.

B-B-B & sick sick sick

I love watching Brooklyn jump. And lately she's been more unhealthy than healthy so I'm really enjoying the days when she's healthy.

For the past 2 months straight (and its been a few more times like this since January) anytime the family has caught a minor cold it has led to bronchiolitis with her. We just visited her doctor yesterday (for the 2nd month in a row for the exact same problem).

She starts off like everyone else with regular cold symptoms and then when the rest of the family starts to feel better she begins to sound worse. She begins to sound like she has pneumonia, she cant breathe right, she wont eat much, she has a terrible time sleeping. Even when she's "healthy" you can hear some wheezing with her. Its been a nightmare every time someone in the house catches a cold because for Brooklyn it always ends up with us at urgent care or her doctor's office. Her pediatrician said that if she ends up with another episode like this in the near future we will have to invest in a nebulizer machine (breathing machine) where she will have to do a breathing treatment 1x a day until whenever, or an inhaler. Because of the allergies that Derek has (I have some too but not nearly as bad as Derek) that we are assuming she will have to - it increases her chances of having asthma (allergies, the RSV infection etc..).

So we have had to cancel our trip to Utah, I just couldn't risk Brooklyn getting MORE sick (which is hard to fathom because she has been so miserable for these past few days) and ending up in the hospital again. I am praying that she starts to get stronger as she gets older and can fight off these infections better.

Its been a long week. :(

Procrastination is the key...?

Our trip to Utah is this Thursday and I wised up and realized that it would be just as costly (maybe a little cheaper to drive but definitely not more convenient) to fly to see my brother, Anthony, than to drive. With all the pulling over we would have had to do, the extra 2 nights of hotel stays on our way out there, it just didnt feel like we would be able to enjoy the short trip as much. Cant beat the flight - 2 hours! I'm still really nervous about traveling with "my posse" (aka the kids) and my Dad, but I'm hoping since we will be doing lots of moving and seeing new things it will keep Bobby's curious little 2 year old mind busy (not to mention having our portable DVD player, iPad with toddler games, a variety of candy and juice, and his Buzz Lightyear with us to keep him happy) and Brooklyn happy since we will constantly be moving.

After giving Bobby his first "haircut" (just going around his head with a pair of scissors and pretending to be like my hairstylist, April Schact), it immediately began to grow out and show all of its imperfections. I like to think since I'm such an enthusiast for hair (and color, and highlights :)) that I could cut my son's hair just right...WRONG!!!! It started to puff out on the sides and look like a chef's hat that needed to be removed, so we shaved it. Immediately he looked even older than his youthful age of 2, more of a spitting image of his handsome father (aka my sweet patient husband) and noticeably more like his cousin Elijah (Derek's Brother - Tyler, his son). Even with his new-do he is still my sweet kid (most of the time!).

And now back to one of my projects from the beginning of the year...

Time got away from us and we are now in a position where we HAVE to do the first phase of our addition (receive our first inspection) OR request a 6 month extension on our permit OR forget the whole thing. It just so happens that the permit expires on June 19th, which makes it even HARDER to try and squeeze the first inspection in because every weekend in June we are busy...I thought I was the procrastinator in the family...now I know I'm not alone!!!

VII Months

Officially 7 months today, Brooklyn is such a delight! She is rolling and getting up on all 4's...not long before she's crawling...giving her juice in a sippy cup and letting her get used to those little yogurt melts which she can sometimes pick up and feed to herself. She's had a bit of a runny nose and some unusual dirty diapers and a rash, so I'm assuming teeth are right around the corner. We just love her!!

Hello Derek's eyes...