A Glimpse of My World

I’m baaaaack!

2012-01-03T21:12:00.001-08:00

I cannot belive that it has really been 8 months since my last post. Really? Really! I have so many things to blame my blogging absence on, but the primary 3 reasons are a computer that wouldn’t cooperate, a two and four year old and a pregnancy (well…now a baby!) There were so many things on my plate, something had to go…for a time. But, I’m back. I have a new computer, I’m in the groove of life with three kiddos and I’ve missed blogging. So, with the new year just two days old, why not begin now?
I suppose I should start back into blogging introducing you to our latest addition, sweet Josiah James Hylkema.

Josiah was born on 10/10/11 at 5:10am weighing 8 lbs 7 oz and was 21 inches long. I went into labor 4 days before my scheduled c-section and had the smoothest c/s delivery yet! The recovery was the hardest (I now have stairs and two other kiddos running around!) but the actual surgery went so well.
Josiah is honestly the most wonderful baby alive! He is happy, happy, happy! From day one he has slept well, eaten well, been mellow, patient and an all-around wonderful addition to our family. Not to say that he’s never had a fussy time…but he’s typically sooooo good! I was a little nervous about how adding one more to the mix would be, I’d say it’s been the smoothest transition yet! Noah and Elliana absolutely ADORE him, and even now, almost 3 months (yikes!) later, they are head over heels for their little brother and Josiah is still as much of a novelty as the day we brought him home. Noah loves to call him jo-jo, buddy or bubba-boo and we frequently hear him saying, "How’s my bubba-boo??” Although we have to remind Elliana to be gentle when loving on him (ie; not laying on top of him) she is such a little mommy. When she hears Josiah crying, she’s the first to go over and comfort him saying, “It’s ok, I’m here”. Couldn’t ask for a better big brother or big sister.

Well, I certainly hope I really AM getting back into the swing of things as far as blogging goes, and hopefully you’ll hear from me soon!! Just to let me know that SOMEONE out there is still reading this, leave me a short message letting me know you’re there.

Noah reading

2011-05-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

This is a 5 minute video, but so worth watching it all if you have the time. I'm so proud of my smart little guy!

14 weeks 2 days

2011-04-26T08:47:00.000-07:00

Those of you with multiple children probably remember the phenomenon of showing earlier with each child. When I was pregnant with Noah I couldn't wait to be able to fit into maternity clothes. I remember being 16 weeks on Christmas and there was a little tiny belly sticking out. With Elliana I remember that belly (which, unfortunately was never "little tiny" haha) poked out much earlier. THIS time around, though I'm only 14w2d, I'm looking and feeling much closer to 20 weeks! Here are my first (two) official pregnancy picture(s):

Some Easter Fun

2011-04-19T10:58:00.000-07:00

My wonderful (and very talented) friend, Michelle, set up a little Easter shoot for some of her friends. I couldn't believe what a great job she did designing this little photo shoot set (except that she's really talented, so I kind of can :) ). I also couldn't believe how absolutely adorable these pics turned out! These are mostly of my kiddos (and Michelle"s daughter, Sydney...one of Noah's best friends) and though I'm a little biased, I think they are the most adorable kiddos ever. :)

Done!

2011-04-05T09:34:00.000-07:00

You may remember my post back in September when I wrote about Elliana starting to show signs that she was ready to potty train. Honestly, I wasn't ready to potty train her. Anyone else agree that a diaper is super convenient...especially with an 18 month old?? She continued to tell me that she had to go potty several times a day, and even though she was staying dry most of the time, I kept her in diapers. Finally, in February, I realized that I just needed to make the transition from diapers to big girl undies. She was SO ready! I think of it as a trade off...when she was a baby, I was up in the night with her WAY more than I was with Noah. But, she made potty training super easy. :) It's so funny how big her pants look on her bottom with no diaper...so cute.

Forever

2011-04-04T16:42:00.000-07:00

I know, it's been forever since I updated! Sorry! I'm blaming it on first trimester fatigue and being sick (not pregnancy sick!) for almost 4 weeks. I am finally on antibiotics, but relief can't come soon enough. Needless to say, every free moment has been spent resting, or doing something to try and feel better. I have some posts that I've written in my mind, but the energy it takes to sit and write just hasn't been there. So, be patient with me. I really do promise that I'll be back sometime soon. :) In the meantime, please pray that healing would come quickly for me. Thanks, my friends!

Here it is

2011-03-09T18:30:00.000-08:00

I had a bunch of creative ways to tell my blog friends our fun news, but now that it's time to tell, I don't want to wait to take a picture of the kids in cute shirts, or post the "awkward" post I'd been planning (though I DO want to do that!). Instead, I just want to say that today we had an ultrasound and saw our precious baby #3 and heard our precious baby #3's heartbeat for the first time. God is so good! So yes, baby Hylkema #3 is on the way, due this October and we are ALL so excited!

Bath time

2011-03-05T20:33:00.000-08:00

Noah and Elliana love to make each other laugh. And we love to hear it. Here's a little sample of what we got to listen to during bath time tonight. :)

TWO

2011-02-28T15:40:00.000-08:00

How can it be that my sweet little Elliana Joy is two years old?! Was it really TWO years ago that I was looking down a this sweet little face? (haha. not mine! :) )

Was it TWO years ago that these cutie pies were posing for pictures together for the first time?

And TWO years ago that Daddy was cuddling with his TWO kiddos?

And here I am TWO years later getting to look at this sweet face

Getting to take pictures of these cutie pies

And, TWO years later, I'm taking pictures of daddy playing in the snow with his TWO little ones

Happy 2nd birthday, my sweet Ellie girl. I love being your mommy, you are such a joy! With these TWO, I am blessed, indeed.

Drums

2011-02-16T18:35:00.000-08:00

Noah loves to drum...LOVES to drum. And, when we're at church he gets to play on the real drum-set...such a treat. At home he is totally content with drum sticks and a rubbermaid bin.

Valentines

2011-02-14T19:59:00.000-08:00

Noah and Elliana got special Valentines in the mail from Grandma and Bacca (my mom and dad). It was so fun to watch them open their cards and play with their silly bands. Thanks, Grandma and Bacca for the special Valentines. :)

"Show me your Valentine Cards"

Busy at work opening their cards

"Look, mommy! Silly bands!"

Backing up

2011-01-24T14:54:00.000-08:00

**This post is 3 weeks old...my computer has been giving me trouble uploading the video, so I never posted it...just had to get a few more Christmas pics up before I could move on**

In the rush to get Christmas documented, I forgot to post some pre-Christmas pictures. We had so much fun decorating, baking, looking at lights and getting the kids in their "Christmas Best". Noah loved going downstairs and turning on the Christmas tree lights. Elliana caught on and within a few days she was running after him saying, "my turn, my turn". Soon enough they were taking turns turning on the lights. Noah really wanted all of our lights on all day. By 7:30am the Christmas tree lights were on, and I was already being asked, "can I turn the village lights on? What about the fireplace lights? Outside lights?..." I'd usually compromise with one or two more sets of inside lights. We spent several mornings dancing to Christmas music. Both the kids love Christmas music (like their mommy and daddy) but we have a strict "no listening to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving" rule, and we begin weaning ourselves from it after Christmas so that by the new year it's off until the next Christmas season. I'm still having to remind Noah that Christmas is over, and that Christmas music will have to wait until next year. Enjoy a few more Christmas pictures.

Noah (and Elliana too) loved helping me make all the Christmas goodies. I may have bribed him with those very Christmas goodies in order to get this picture. :)

We all had so much fun decorating the Christmas tree

I loved coming home so beautifully decorated with Christmas lights

Christmas Part 2

2011-01-07T15:06:00.000-08:00

After waking up, opening gifts from Santa and eating breakfast with Oma and Opa, Hylke's brother, sister and their families joined us to open presents. We stayed until about 10 am and then headed to my parents house for more Christmas fun.

For several years we've enjoyed a Christmas brunch with my family, and every year we ask my dad to make the same thing- Holiday Morning French Toast. It is sooooo yummy. We usually arrive, eat and then open gifts, but this year all the kiddos were anxious to open gifts, so we opened some, ate and then opened some more. Noah was SO excited about each one of his gifts. It was so fun to watch him...it's the first year he's really enjoyed Christmas. He got a talking Woody doll, two new Thomas the Train wooden trains (James and Henry), a big set of Jungle Animals, new wooden train tracks, some books, clothes and a new bike!! He was in heaven. Elliana had just as much fun opening and playing with her presents. As has happened with Noah in the past, we brought home one unopened gift...she was too interested in playing with the things she had already opened, and didn't care about opening the last gift. That's ok, her birthday is less than two months away....she'll never know. :)

The kids are at such a great age. They loooove being at Grandma and Baca's house and both of them gave my parents some great cuddle time. Elliana would ask for my dad first thing in the morning and Noah loved the special time reading books with my mom and playing with "Tom the cat" on my moms phone. They also had a great time playing with their cousins. So fun to watch them make memories. We really had a great time relaxing, eating, laughing and enjoying time with each otherHere are some pics from our time with my family:

My nieces and Noah were the present hander-outers :)

Elliana talking on her new "alphaberry" maybe she'll want to use mommy's blackberry less :)

This sweet smile shows the excitement he had after opening each gift

We teased my mom (mercilessly, I'm afraid) about the lack of gift tags on the gifts this year. She had to peek in the bags to see whose was whose. She got lots of new gift tags the day after Christmas. :)

Elliana loved her new purse--and all of the goodies that it came with!

Noah loved his new James train--thank you, Grandma and Baca!

And his new Woody doll. :)

Elliana loved snuggle time with "baca"

we found her like this several times over the weekend

A glimpse of my WHAT?!

2011-01-05T10:36:00.000-08:00

I can hardly believe that I've looked at my header as many times as I have and never noticed that it said, "A Glimpse of my WOLRD!" How many of you have been keeping quiet?? Maybe some of you never picked up on it either--whew. I'm going to leave it up for a day or so just so you can see it (or just because I don't have the time to sit and fix it right now). :) Thankfully I have a friend who cared enough to tell me. :) Thanks, Jess. From now on, please tell me when I'm making a grammatical fool of myself...well, don't tell me every time. ;) haha.

Catching up: Christmas part 1

2011-01-04T22:37:00.000-08:00

It's true, the Holidays have come and gone. We are in 2011 and I've been thinking about some things I'd like to implement in the new year. I'm not big on resolutions, but a fresh start to a new year seems the perfect time to think about areas for growth and change. But, I'll have to save that for another post. First, I have some Christmas catching up to do!

We had a wonderful Christmas. It was fun and relaxing, full of good food, great company and sweet times with family. We made some new family traditions and enjoyed watching the kids soak in all that this time of year has to offer. We never tired of looking at Christmas lights, listening to Christmas music and talking about the Christmas story. We read lots of great Christmas books and made lots of Christmas treats.

After the Christmas eve service at our church we headed to Hylke's parents house for a nice dinner with his parents and younger brother and family. We even let Opa open one of his presents early. This year I made a couple of gifts. I don't sew...well, I didn't sew...until this year. As I was browsing through a "homemade Christmas" gift idea book, I came across a great idea for Opa's Christmas present. Hylke's parents live on a farm and his dad is always bringing in wood for the fire with just his hands. So, I enlisted the help of a friend and asked her to do nothing more than provide her sewing machine, and guidance if I had any questions and made Opa a log carrier. It was an easy project, but was so fun to do! It was extra fun because her machine has an embroidery option too. It was fun to personalize a couple gifts this year!

The kids were very willing to help Opa unwrap his present

We stayed the night at Oma and Opa's house, and Noah could hardly wait to see if Santa brought what he asked for...you know the choo-choo underwear he asked for. :) Really, he asked Santa to bring "choo-choo underwear". He made it easy on Santa this year...and since Santa was already doing some online shopping at Gymboree for said choo-choo underwear he went ahead and bought some undies for E too. They were both THRILLED! Noah called my parents and said, "Santa brought me SO MUCH (3 pair) underwear!!!!!" WOW. Easy to please. :)

Santa went ahead and threw in some guitar and dinosaur underwear too...he was extra generous this year. ;)

Although she doesn't look overly excited in this picture, I assure you she was. :)

Tomorrow....Christmas part 2

Santa and stuff

2010-12-23T13:16:00.000-08:00

Up until this year, Noah hasn't been a huge fan of Santa. We did a Santa picture for his first Christmas, but the past two years we just didn't bother. We decided to give it a try this year and Noah loved it! Elliana? Not so much. :) We started with just the kiddos and Santa...

Hoping to get a little smile from E, we added Mommy and Daddy...

Realizing that a smile probably wouldn't happen (no big deal :) ) We took one of just Noah and Santa...

Noah and Sydney (one of his best friends)

It's been a full month. Really full. Like, 8 Christmas parties, 3 weekends of overnight guests, cooking/baking for 25 dinner guests, shopping, wrapping and trying to stay sane in the midst of all of it full. :) Don't get me wrong, I love it (esp having overnight guests!)! But it has been full. Even though it was full, we made time for our annual Tom's Farm trip with Hylke's mom and dad, brother, sister and their families. The kids always look forward to riding the train with Oma and Opa!

Our last TMOMs of the semester the kids came in and sang for us. It was the first time either one of my kids had "performed" for me. It was such a special morning. Here's a quick glimpse of my cuties.

Noah refused to wear his "Christmas Chain". :) Oh well.

Fall and Dress-up

2010-12-11T14:34:00.000-08:00

If you've been around me much in the Fall, you may have heard me complain at how warm California is in the fall. I am ready for cool, crisp weather on September 1. If you are familiar with California (esp. Southern California) weather, you know that this makes for a very unhappy girl for about 2-2 1/2 months (it is currently 79 on December 11!). You may have even heard me complain that though CA is wonderful we fail big time in the "pretty fall leaves" department.

Well, this year has kind of been an exceptional fall. We have had some cool days (beginning in SEPTEMBER!) a good amount of rain (I LOVE rain) and the trees look beautiful! If you've been around me this fall, you've certainly heard me comment on how pretty the trees look. I have enjoyed driving all around beautiful Redlands admiring the fall leaves...some on the trees, and some on the ground. If you're not familiar with Redlands, it's a very established city, with lots of mature trees. In fact, I happen to live on a street with lots of mature Liquid Amber trees, and they are GORGEOUS. Here are a few pictures I took from my front lawn. Thank you, Lord for such a beautiful Fall!

On to dress-up. My little girl is such a little girl. That may seem obvious, but it kind of surprised me. Let me clarify. First, she is as rough and tumble as they come. She LOVES dirt (remember this?), puddle jumping, mud splashing, and she even loves to play with her brother's trucks and trains. BUT...she also LOVES shoes, clothes, purses, jewelry and make-up. Now, I'd like to think that it's because she sees how cute and trendy her momma looks each day, or because she sees me faithfully making myself up in the morning, maybe because she knows how much her momma loves shoes and purses. But alas, that is sadly not it. You see, I'm kind of a jeans and sweatshirt girl, I do wear make-up (from time to time), and sure I love shoes (I'm desperately in need of new shoes!!!!! and can count on one had the number I actually wear) and purses (the two that I own are awesome!) So, this little one is naturally a girl...choosing a purse and shoes over tools (most of the time) and more interested in dress up than dinosaurs. I couldn't resist snapping a few photos of her latest fashion show, I hope you enjoy!

Sneak Peek

2010-11-23T12:10:00.000-08:00

We just got home from visiting our friends, Terry and Bethany, up near Santa Cruz. We had such a nice time. Will, their 3 year old, and Noah played like they had been best friends forever. T and B are redoing their backyard and the boys had a blast "helping" the workers. Bethany and I contemplated paying the landscaping crew for childcare on-top of what they're being paid for landscaping. There are some great pics on Bethany's camera, I'll post as soon as I get them.

While we were there we also took advantage of the great location and Bethany's photography hobby and had her take some family pictures. Here's a sneak peek of a few of my favorites:

Noah looks grumpy in this one, but I still love it. :)

This was a candid of Elliana dancing; I love it!

One last trip

2010-11-12T09:46:00.000-08:00

Last night my sister and her girls came out for a quick overnight trip. While she was here, we decided to make one last trip up the mountain to pick the last of the apples at Riley's Farms. It was cold and windy...perfect in my book. We made it just in time because yesterday was the last u-pick day of the season. We left with a bag full of delicious Rome Beauty's. Since Hylke's so tall, we left the picking stick behind, knowing that Hylke's shoulders would be waaaay more fun for the kids. Elliana designated herself as the official bag carrier and refused any help along the way. She had a few spills along the way, but it never once slowed her down. Her very independent, very determined personality was definitely shining through. After some picking we went to the petting zoo, ate fresh bbq'd tri-tip sandwiches, drank fresh pressed cider and let the kids run all around. What a great time!

Who needs a picking stick?!

My big sis and her kiddos

The cousins

Our attempt at a family picture

little miss independent

Oops!

Auntie Amy helping E

Halloween

2010-11-02T10:49:00.000-07:00

We had a great Halloween. It was so fun to watch the kids enjoy trick or treating this year--the first year that Noah was really excited about it, understanding exactly what was going on.

Elliana was hilarious! When Noah decided that it was time for him to go back in and check out his loot, Elliana was insistent on staying out and "tick-a-teet(ing)" more. So, Hylke and I took her out by herself while Noah helped hand out candy with our friends. They were certainly the cutest panda and elephant I've ever seen.

I had to stop to get at least ONE picture with the kids...you can tell Noah wasn't excited to stop...he was ready for the next house. :)

Elliana got the hang of it and was doing it all by herself...she couldn't wait to go to each house

Noah and Spidey...his buddy Joel

Panda, Elephant and Spiderman

Elliana all on her own

This has to be my favorite picture of the night...my little escaping panda

Little Drummer Boy

2010-10-27T14:47:00.000-07:00

There are few things that Noah enjoys more than playing the "drums" while Hylke plays guitar. He has great rhythm and a stays on beat really well. Looks like we may need to invest in a real drum set sometime..for now this is great!

Overdue

2010-10-18T10:09:00.000-07:00

These pictures are over a month old, but I haven't picked up my camera in almost that long! The battery charger is MIA and so the camera has stayed put for way too long. It's a good thing my girlfriends are such talented photographers or else I'd have no cute pictures of my kids from this past month!

I finally downloaded the pics that have been hanging out on my camera for awhile and just had to share a few. When our friends, Tim and Amanda, returned home from their honeymoon, we had the privilege of having them here for a few nights while they waited for their new place to be ready. Tim could hardly wait to show Noah and Elliana what he brought them from their trip.

My sweetheart

2010-10-08T07:35:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-05T16:05:00.000-07:00

It was the perfect fall day for a trip to the pumpkin patch...

so that's exactly what we did. Happy Fall!

The beauty of creation

2010-10-01T18:30:00.000-07:00

The weather last night was just right for eating dinner outside with some good friends. You know that perfect temperature where it doesn't feel warm or cold? Just perfect. I'm so glad we were outside to watch the sun set. Sunsets like the one we watched last night (captured by my friend, and talented photographer, Michelle) remind me of one of my favorite songs, Cannons, by Phil Wickham.

It's falling from the clouds
A strange and lovely sound
I hear it in the thunder and rain
It's ringing in the skies
Like cannons in the night
The music of the universe plays

You are holy great and mighty
The moon and the stars declare who You are
I'm so unworthy, but still You love me
Forever my heart will sing of how great You are

Beautiful and free
Song of Galaxies
It's reaching far beyond the milky way
Lets join in with the sound
C'mon let's sing it loud
As the music of the universe plays

All glory, honor, power is Yours amen
All glory, honor, power is Yours amen
All glory, honor, power is Yours forever amen

Potty Training

2010-09-27T16:22:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to write this post for awhile now, but held off just in case what I was experiencing was a fluke. Well, it wasn't a fluke and in fact, Elliana is potty training herself. You may remember this post from July when Elliana had started to tell me as soon as she went poo-poo. Well, that quickly progressed into telling me before she went poo-poo and running to use the bathroom. I had never sat her on a potty or explained any aspect of potty-training to her (17 months old at the time). Honestly, I felt like I just finished potty training Noah (though it's been 8 months!!). Well, apparently she was ready and decided to take matters into her own hands. I couldn't believe the first time that she told me she had to go poo-poo and proceeded to run to the bathroom. Really? You're going to go potty? I put her on the potty and sure enough, she went. It started as 3-4 times a week and has progressed to about 3 times a day. I'm letting her take it at her own pace...not forcing anything on her, not bothered at all when she goes in her diaper, but praising her when she does use the potty. She is my very independent little girl, wanting to do everything by herself. I must admit, I don't mind her potty training herself...what a nice surprise!

Apple Picking

2010-09-23T15:07:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to pick some apples!

We loved taking little detours along the way...so fun!

Tim and Noah did a great job picking the apples

Elliana had so much fun!

We LOVE Tim and Amanda!

Elliana couldn't wait to eat an apple

He did a great job picking!

We were all very tired...

sooooo tired

pretending to be tired. :)

We came home, took naps and made some delicious apple crisp with our fresh picked apples. DELICIOUS! The kids and I actually went back up to the apple farm for a fun picnic this afternoon and picked up some more apples. I guess I'll have to make some Holiday Morning French Toast tomorrow!

Fall Reunion

2010-09-13T09:01:00.001-07:00

Every year our church has an all church "fall reunion". We all go up to Forest Home and spend the afternoon/evening playing on the lakeshore, canoeing, blobing, zip-lining, eating, chatting and watching baptisms. I love it. Yesterday we had so much fun being up in the mountains, just relaxing and spending time together. Here are a couple pictures my friend snapped of Hylke and Noah on the canoe.

Lake Arrowhead

2010-09-09T21:07:00.000-07:00

Today the kids and I spent the morning up in Lake Arrowhead with my good friend, Michelle and her adorable daughters, Meleah and Sydney. Sydney and Noah are great friends and have so much fun together. They are two peas in a pod for sure! We had so much fun watching the kids feed the ducks, go on some carnival rides, eat candy, and just have fun. Here are some pictures capturing our time (thanks for taking these, Michelle!).

Elliana wanted to taste the food before giving it to the ducks :)

Such good friends
Swings!

Cooking Club

2010-08-28T22:15:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my friend invited me to be a part of a cooking club. How could I resist a night out dedicated to fun time with friends and good food?! The concepts are.... (1) no husbands allowed, (2) kids are allowed, (3) hostess makes an entree dish to serve the ladies, (4) everyone else brings one thing... a bottle of wine, an appetizer, a salad, a dessert, or kid-friendly food. And the last, most important concept is that you have to share the recipe! (Thanks, Michelle...you put it so nicely. :) ) Last night I brought the dessert, Chocolate Addiction Cake. We all had so much fun eating, chatting, laughing and well...eating. Our Summer Harvest menu featured the following yummy food:

I'm already looking forward to next month and more opportunities to hang out with some of my new girlfriends.

swimming

2010-08-26T12:26:00.000-07:00

BIBLE!

2010-08-24T21:01:00.000-07:00

Garden

2010-08-24T20:43:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned that my garden has done incredibly well this summer?? I can hardly believe how much I have harvested. The week we were at camp I harvested 37 cucumbers (i have 2 cucumber plants) 9 on Monday before we left and 28 when we returned home! I have given neighbors and friends buckets of cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes and jalapenos. It has been so much fun. I have 3 or 4 ears of corn that are ready to be picked and my watermelon is almost ready too. Here's a few updated pictures:

One of my big loads of cucumbers

The watermelon plant has grown crazy big!

The fruit is getting big too!

This is my corn about 3 weeks ago

Camp

2010-08-24T20:27:00.000-07:00

We love going to summer camp with the youth group!! We set up our own little camp and had a great time with everyone.

Elliana is ready for some mountain biking:

Noah too!
So very handsome
This one is super blurry, but so, so sweet
Bath time camp style:

Dentist

2010-08-24T20:16:00.000-07:00

Noah had his second dentist appointment this month. Well, it was the second appointment, but first real appointment. He did awesome. He had fun using all of the instruments and was so cooperative the entire time. And most importantly, he has a mouth full of perfectly healthy teeth. :)

Honestly, he's the most handsome 3 year old I know. :)

Minnesota

2010-08-24T19:57:00.001-07:00

Last week Hylke and I left the kiddos and headed to Minnesota for our dear friends wedding. We took a red eye early Thursday morning and returned Sunday afternoon. We had so much fun with our college friends. We all (well, most of us) rented a house and spent lots of time laughing, sharing and crying (mostly from the laughing). It had been 5 or 6 years since we'd seen most of these friends, and yet, it was though no time had passed at all. The group of us came from California, Illinois, Virgina, Massachusetts, Ohio and Yemen! I got to know some new girls while the guys spent a night camping. Girl time anywhere is a good time. :) One thing I've realized this summer (actually...I've always known) I'm terrible at taking pictures. I bring my camera, and never take pictures. I never remember extra charged batteries and I really don't know the best settings on my camera. All that to say...here are some pictures of our weekend...unfortunately there aren't many great pictures!

Hylke and Jamie at the rehearsal:

The kiss
one of the few of just us

The first dance

After a night full of dancing. We were soooo gross!

long time, no post

2010-08-04T14:51:00.000-07:00

What can I say? It's been a full summer! I promise to get back on the blogging bandwagon...soon. :) I'm actually up at camp this week (yay for wireless internet at camp!) but wanted to share this picture:
I'm continuing to have so much fun with my garden!! I picked all of these before I left for camp on Monday morning. I know I will have a ton waiting for me when I return. We've had such a great crop of cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers jalapeno peppers, cilantro and basil.

Water Babies

2010-07-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

My kiddos love the water. I love that they love the water.

Vacation

2010-07-15T14:46:00.000-07:00

July Gloom?

2010-07-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

There have been several uncharacteristically (yet very welcome!) cool days this summer. Just today while I was outside doing some gardening, Elliana was outside with cotton pants on!!! The doors/windows were open and it was 10:30!! I know several of you live in coastal areas, so that's normal, but for us in the valleys, it was a welcome change!

And just because she's cute:

More Garden

2010-07-07T10:09:00.001-07:00

Can I just say that I absolutely LOVE having a garden?!?! This year was my trial year...I wasn't exactly sure that my spacing was what it should be (with some veggies it's fine, others, not so much) I wasn't sure if things were going to grow, but I wanted to give it a shot. I have to say that it has been so much fun! Everything, except for my chives (?!?!) has grown so well...and my watermelon, a little too well! I have used fresh cilantro and jalapenos for my salsa, lettuce for burgers, cucumbers for our fourth of July bbq and strawberries for a sweet treat.

The garden (notice the watermelon...it's HUGE!):
Jalapenos:

The bell peppers look so good!

The tomatoes are starting to change color:

Some more cucs on the vine:

Just about ready...maybe in tonight's salad...

My first two cucumbers and first tomato...yes, I picked it too early, I was just excited :)

poo-poo

2010-07-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

The past two days Elliana has come up to me, pointed to her diaper and said, "poo-poo". Yesterday, when she did it for the first time, I was so confused. I didn't notice her pointing to her diaper and I couldn't figure out what she was wanting. I've never talked to her about poo-poo (beyond saying, "oh, you have a poo-poo diaper" or "let's change your poo-poo"). Anyway, when I noticed that she was pointing to her diaper I asked her if she had poo-poo and she nodded yes...sure enough, she did. This morning she came to me and did the same thing. This means little more than she knows when she has a poo-poo diaper, but it was kinda fun that she started acknowledging that needed to be changed. I felt like Noah would have stayed in his dirty diaper all day and wouldn't have cared!

My little blondie

2010-06-28T19:23:00.000-07:00

Birth:

3 months:

6 months:

9 months:

1 year:

15 months:
Can you believe it was this dark?

A little funny

2010-06-15T13:07:00.001-07:00

Elliana's at the stage when all her words sound alike. I know she's saying different things, but to the untrained ear, it all sounds the same. For example:

Bye-bye= "ba-ba"

Baby= "ba-ba"

Banana= "ba-ba-ba" (not totally, but you know what I mean. :) )

Bubbles= "bu-bu"

Dog= "dah"

Duck= "duh"

She says other words, but it seems like these are the ones she says a lot. Today while we were in the car, Elliana was pointing to her baby doll and said, "ba-ba" (baby). Noah said to me, "did she just say ba-ba? She's so great at saying ba-ba". It was so cute, he was really sincere...like, "wow! she's got that down pat!" :) Yes, sweet boy, she's very good at saying ba-ba."

Friends

2010-06-13T21:00:00.001-07:00

A caught the progression of a sweet hug:

Safety Goggles

2010-06-13T20:58:00.000-07:00

Disneyland progression

2010-06-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

June 2008:

April 2009:

June 2010:

Doesn't he look like such a big boy??

Summer is here!

2010-06-13T20:29:00.001-07:00

Ice cream on a warm summer night. What could be better?

Happy birthday, Noah

2010-06-07T08:16:00.000-07:00

My sweet boy turned 3 on Saturday. 3? Already? We celebrated his birthday with a beach themed party--we had so much fun! I'll try and post pics soon, but here's a little taste of what the weather was like:

My sea creature "lollipops" before bringing them outside

After a few minutes in the sun:

I guess I should have realized the power of the sun before I set out my centerpieces. sigh. Oh well. Atleast I hadn't set out the seashells in sand yet:

Little Drummer Girl

2010-06-01T06:51:00.000-07:00

Noah's garden friend

2010-05-28T23:12:00.000-07:00

Lately we've spent a lot of time outside. We have lots of landscaping to do in our backyard, and it's been fun having the kids help out. Most of the time they play in our big patch of dirt, but occasionally they (Noah) help us pull weeds, and empty our buckets of already pulled weeds. The other day Noah found some fun little friends.
Good thing we found a new home for his friends; it looks like we were about to have lots of new friends!

Elliana could play in the dirt all day. She has so much fun getting dirty.

Look at my blondie!

garden update

2010-05-28T23:01:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe how fast my garden is growing! It is so much fun watching the veggies grow.

Noah with our first radish:

Lettuce and Cilantro:

My first tomato:

teeth

2010-05-28T22:57:00.001-07:00

Yep, 15 months and two teeth...I love it!

a little getaway

2010-05-28T20:38:00.000-07:00

Hylke and I just got home from the most relaxing, enjoyable three day getaway. This was our very first getaway with no kids!!! Can you believe that? I promise that we made the most of our time away...we ate well, slept in, and laid by the pool. Monday will be our 7 year anniversary; this was the perfect way to celebrate the last 7 incredible years!!

Under Construction

2010-05-18T14:02:00.001-07:00

Please be patient with me as I attempt to give my blog a little makeover. :)

Growing

2010-05-12T14:12:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics of the garden and just because she's growing too:

baba

2010-05-11T20:07:00.001-07:00

Ah, the great debate. When should I take the pacifier from Noah? I know some of you are thinking, "ummmm, a loooong time ago" and others are thinking "take it away? why?" Although we've gone back and forth with how to handle weaning him from it, in the last month we decided that we weren't going to make a big deal about it, we'd wait for him to be ready to get rid of it. He only uses it at naptime and bedtime, it stays in his room. That's how it's been for quite awhile, just for sleeping. When he went to the dentist in February, he told me that there was no evidence of Noah's teeth being effected by the pacifier...and in my opinion, allowing him to have it wasn't causing harm of any other sort, so the paci stayed. I struggled from time to time....I almost felt like I should be getting rid of it....some of my friends had taken the paci away from their kids. But at the same time, I didn't see the big deal. In fact, I wasn't ready for him to give it up. He's my champion sleeper! He sleeps from 7-7 (going down with NO problem at all) and still takes a 2...sometimes 3...hour nap! I really didn't want to give either of those up. Just because I wasn't ready to take his "baba" away, doesn't mean I wasn't preparing him for when the time did come. We regularly talked about how some of his other friends didn't use theirs anymore and that as he got older, he really didn't need it anymore. We said that whenever he was ready to be done, we would get rid of it (give it to sissy...she doesn't even use one, but that's what he said he wanted to do...:) ) Wellllllll....two days ago, Sunday, May 9, Noah decided that he was all done using his baba. We hadn't talked to him about it in a couple of weeks, but while Hylke was putting him to bed Noah said, "I'm all done with my baba, I want to give it to sissy." So, they came in E's room, gave her his baba ( a fun toy for her!) and that was that. I thought FOR SURE we'd hear from him that night...I just KNEW he'd want it back; he didn't. He slept the whole night (his FIRST night in 2 years and 11 months!) without a baba and without a peep. The next day he took his nap, no problems...2 hours and 45 mins! I decided right away that I wasn't going to make it a big battle. If he was ready, great...if not, it would be soon enough. Long story, notquiteaslongasitcouldhavebeen, he slept Sunday night, Monday nap, Tuesday nap and Tuesday night (so far) without his baba. Monday night he did have it, but as soon as he woke up he brought it to me and said, "I don't want this anymore." This is really the way that I wanted it to go. I really didn't want it to be a big battle. I know that it has been a source of comfort to him as he falls asleep and I wasn't about it take it away from him kicking and screaming (atleast not right now. :) ) So, I definitely feel like we're on our way. With two nights and two naps under our belt, soon this will be the new norm. So, farewell baba. You've been good to us.

Eyes

2010-05-05T13:28:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure I've ever seen eyes as beautiful as sweet Sofia's. Honestly, are these not the most incredible eyes you've ever seen?? (and no, there's no color editing...they are the real deal!)

Dirt

2010-05-04T15:04:00.000-07:00

I have one sweet little girl, who loves dirt:

This is one of my favorite pictures:

Nothing a bath with the hose won't take care of. :)

Vegetable Garden part 1

2010-04-16T08:41:00.000-07:00

We spent yesterday afternoon cleaning out an area for a vegetable garden. We hadn't focused much on our back yard since we moved in and oh.my.goodness. the weeds were out of control!! Since my in-laws own an organic produce nursery, they are coming out next week and bringing me everything I need to get my garden started. I can't wait!

The location:

Elliana helped test...errr...taste the soil to make sure it was good:

I loved that she loved getting dirty (btw...check out her blond hair!)

Noah was the foreman
No exaggeration, this entire green waste can was full of weeds!

San Diego

2010-04-13T11:37:00.001-07:00

Last week we took a 3-day getaway to San Diego. It was wonderful! We did Sea World for two days (two half days) and got to spend time at the beach, walking around and just relaxing. The kids did awesome, and enjoyed every minute of our time away. It was so fun to begin to build memories that will last.

Checking out the penguinsSo tired!
Fun at the beach!
The view from the roof-top garden at our hotel...soooo pretty!

Easter

2010-04-06T20:28:00.001-07:00

Easter Baskets (Elliana's eggs were filled with goldfish, gerber puffs and yogurt melts..she was thrilled :) )

Noah was so excited to get his basket:

Sissy loved hers too:

It was so hard to get them still and looking at the camera together, so I took what I could get:

Definitely not interested in posing for the camera

Singing on the way to church

SO excited to see daddy

My final attempt at a picture together

Our little..ehh...BIG helper

2010-03-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

Noah has so much fun helping Hylke with all the projects around the house

Elliana's Party

2010-03-14T17:49:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Elliana's birthday this past weekend. We had a great time and enjoyed all things pink/green. :) Here are some pics of the party:

FOUND!

2010-03-07T21:22:00.001-08:00

My camera-computer cable has been found! I know some of you were wondering if I'd ever post some updated pics...well, today is your lucky day. Enjoy!

Living Room

Dining Room

I love this little area...storage/decor all in one!

I still need to put "stuff" on the walls :)

Elliana wants to take you upstairs to her room:

Getting there...

Again, still need to hang things...put baskets out...valances up...

Noah's Room:

Later this week I'll do more...kitchen, family room, guest room and play area. Our bedroom isn't finished...and might not be for awhile, so don't hold your breath. :)

Still here....

2010-03-02T13:24:00.001-08:00

I know I owe you all some pics of our new house. Soon. Very soon. I've been waiting until all our work is done, but that might be awhile, so I'll take some updated pics this afternoon and post them tonight...or tomorrow...or the next day. (it all depends on when I find the cable for my camera, haha) We really feel like this is home and are having so much fun personalizing it! Look back tonight for some pics.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Elliana!

2010-02-26T19:43:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure if I'll have time to sit and write this tomorrow, Elliana's official birthday, but since it was one year ago today that I went into labor, I figure it's ok for me to write my birthday note to my sweet girl.

Elliana, Ellie Girl, Love Bug, Ellianski-Boo,

What an absolute JOY you are!! I can hardly believe that it's been a whole year since we first laid eyes on you. What a year it has been!!! You are an incredibly sweet little girl. You love to cuddle, you love your big brother, your lambie and, of course, your daddy and your mommy, (there is no denying that you are a mommy's girl...we're finally getting to a point where someone else can be holding you while I'm in the room...and if I leave the room, you're doing ok now. :)

I have cherished every minute that I get to spend with you. You've given me more opportunities to be up in the night than Noah did...some nights were hard, other nights I remembered how fast this time was going to go, and soaked in every last minute I had to nurse you, rock you, sing to you and pray for you.

You are a mischevious little girl. If there's something not to touch, you'll touch it. If there's something not to climb, you'll climb it as fast as you can. If there's something that shouldn't be eaten, you'll pop it in your mouth before anyone has the chance to take it away. BUT you do it all with the biggest smile! :) A smile that truly melts our hearts.

You love to eat. Even though you're smaller than Noah was at your age, you are my little piggy. If you could, you would eat all day long. You weren't a big fan of baby food, but as soon as we started table food, you ate anything and everything I put in front of you. And since you had your first taste of "sweets" long before your brother did, you recognize when one of us is eating something sweet and DEMAND that we give some to you. :)

You say: Mama, dada, ba (ball) and just this week began pointing to things and saying, "this" and "that" so cute. :)

Elliana Joy, your mommy, daddy and big brother, love you to pieces. You have added so much to our family and we feel so blessed to have you with us. We look forward to another year with you.

Progess

2010-02-16T11:37:00.001-08:00

Well, it's official. We got the keys to our new house last Friday. We decided to give ourselves a week to get some stuff done before we actually move, so this past weekend we spent hours and hours painting our new place. We were so blessed by our friends, so many took time out of their weekend to help us, making a project like painting much more enjoyable. :) Here are a couple before and after pictures:

Living Room:

Dining Room:

Family Room:

Noah's Room:

(we still need to put the chair rail up)
Elliana's Room:

(also missing the chair rail)

Our new sectional was delivered this morning, it really helps fill the space in the family room (excuse the lighting):

Brown Bear, Brown Bear...

2010-02-10T13:58:00.000-08:00

Peanut Butter

2010-02-09T20:13:00.000-08:00

I love peanut butter. Everything tastes just a little better with a bit of peanut butter...ok, not everything.

Noah loves peanut butter. I'm sure he agrees that most things taste better with peanut butter.

I had really high hopes for my sweet little girl. I couldn't wait until she turned a year for her to taste PB too. Well, that day came...2 1/2 weeks early...and though she liked peanut butter...well, atleast the small bite of her brothers sandwhich...it did not go so well. :(

Here is a picture of my sweet girl this morning:

And here she is before going to bed:

*sigh* I sure hope this is something she'll grow out of.

Random

2010-02-06T15:55:00.000-08:00

Do any of you have items that you must have a certain brand of? People tell you that they're all the same, but you know your special brand is superior? I do! For example, I only buy Viva paper towels and Cottonelle toliet paper. I know I can find other brands for less money, but to me, they're worth the "splurge". Another, Naked Juice orange juice. Costco sells a gallon for $6 (approximately) and it's fresh orange juice (of course living in the middle of orange groves makes it even easier to have fresh squeezed oj). Again, worth the extra money. Yesterday as I was walking through Costco, excited that some of "my brands" were on the coupon list, it made me think of all the little brands that have earned my loyalty. What are your, "I will not settle on a different brand" items?

Milestones

2010-01-29T14:56:00.000-08:00

Since this is sort of my online baby book, I thought I'd keep a post on milestones, and update the post as needed. So, since Elliana took her first (well, first-sixth) step(s) yesterday, 1/28/10, I thought I should get started on that post. :)

Elliana:
First rolled over: 6/27/09
First sat up unassisted: 8/14/09
First solid food: 8/7/09
First crawled: 10/14/09
First steps: 1/28/09

potty trained

2010-01-24T20:04:00.001-08:00

Noah's officially potty-trained. YAY! Waaaay easier than I thought it would be.

2010-01-24T19:45:00.000-08:00

I can hardly believe that E will be 11 months tomorrow. She definitely reminds me how big she is everyday. She's been cruising along the furniture, and walking while holding my hand. Can she really be old enough to start walk?!?! Here's a cute video I took this morning:

Check out Noah at around the same age

silly girl

2010-01-20T20:50:00.000-08:00

This is how I found Elliana after her nap today:

When I put her down for her nap she was wearing a long sleeved shirt...not sure how she got it like this. :)

Voting still open

2010-01-19T13:37:00.000-08:00

Click here: http://www.voteforsma.com/ vote for the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation in the Chase $1,000,000 giveaway.

If you don't know what this is about, read my post here.

Noah's room

2010-01-18T11:22:00.000-08:00

**Update**

Ok, so I do like the firetrucks...but a friend made a good point, he may grow out of fire trucks before he'll grow out of the beach. He loooooves the beach...that's something that he'll love for a long time...I think I'll look for something that I like in beach/surf theme. Here's one I came across:Original Post:

Since we'll be moving next month, I've been trying to figure out how I want to do Noah's new room. At our current house, his bedroom is nothing special...in fact, it's our guestroom turned Noah's room, complete with a queen bed. :) I knew (hoped) that we'd be moving and didn't want to create a room for him without knowing what his new room would be like. Well, now I know and now I need to decide what I'm going to do. I don't want to do something overly "theme-y" but I do think it'll be fun to have some theme. Firetrucks? Surf/ocean? Construction? I think I'm leaning fire truck. I found this quilt set that I like:

What do you think?

Top 5!!

2010-01-16T14:54:00.000-08:00

**If you haven't read my previous post about voting for the Chase $1,000,000 giveaway, read that one first**

The Gwendolyn Strong Foundation is in the top 5!!! While that is incredible news, the $1,000,000 only goes to the non-profit organization in spot #1. Please continue to vote (if you haven't already), email your friends, post to Facebook, Twitter (Tweet? I'm still learning that lingo), pass on to your coworkers and family members. Every single vote counts - this is one step closer to getting rid of SMA! If you have a blog, post now!

Vote for The Gwendolyn Strong Foundation

2010-01-15T18:54:00.000-08:00

I recieved this e-mail yesterday and wanted to share it with all of you. PLEASE take the time to read it, and follow the instructions that follow.

Hello Friends and Family,
My daughter's best friend, Gwendolyn Strong, is the same age as Reese, and has a terminal illness called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). Children with SMA lack a protein in their DNA that keeps the motor neurons thriving: Gwendolyn's body is completely paralyzed, she breathes from a machine, and eats from a tube. Her mind, however, is completely normal and is actually a quite spunky little gal. She loves to play with Reese and has an affinity for princess items :) Reserachers at UC Irvine are really REALLY close to a cure for SMA, but they need funding to push it towards FDA approval. It is so exciting (yet frustrating) to know how close it is! JP Morgan Chase Bank has committed to donating $5 million dollars to non-profit organizations, $1 million of which was already distributed in December. Through a Facebook voting system, the top 100 non-profits were awarded $25,000 in cash. The Gwendolyn Strong Foundation was one of these winners (yippeee!), and 100% of the funds were sent directly to UC Irvine's SMA research team. Next up is the final round of voting for the BIG prize: $1,000,000. One million!! This voting is all done through Facebook, and it starts tomorrow: Friday, January 15th, 2010.This video sums it up: Gwendolyn Strong Video Imagine this: $1,000,000 towards SMA research could actually end this disease. Not "get the ball rolling" on research, not "hope for a cure," but actually end it. And, most importantly in my eyes, it could save Gwendolyn's life. The research that is sooooo close to FDA approval is one that could affect babies who already have SMA (like Gwendolyn), and could completely remove them from symptoms. Can you imagine Gwendolyn running into our playgroup and giving the kids high-fives and hugs without a breathing machine? I CAN!!!!!!!

Here are some facts:

Dr. Kierstad (UC Irvine) has dedicated his life to spinal cord injuries. He has already successfully performed a lab experiment on mice that allowed the previously-paralyzed animals to literally get up and walk. He is now focusing on SMA research, which is closely related to spinal cord injuries, muscular dystrophies, ALS/Lou Gehrig's, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. It is his belief that a groundbreaking surgery (so close to FDA approval!) could allow the body to re-build the proteins that are missing in children with SMA. That means Gwendolyn has the potential to be symptom free! Forever!

Money is holding back a cure. Other diseases, such as breast cancer and AIDS, have massive amounts of funding and reserach behind them, but "cures" are still unknown. The "cure" for SMA is just around the corner, but nothing can be done until the funds are there to continue the research.

SMA is the #1 genetic killer of children under two years of age, and 1 in 40 adults (unknowingly) carry the gene to pass it on.I really dislike forwards and spam emails, but I am going to send out an email, Facebook posting, and blog entry EVERY single day while the voting is open (Jan 15 - Jan 22). It's really simple, just three easy steps (I'll list them in tomorrow's email once the voting is open). In turn, I ask that you do the same...post it on your Facebook accounts (or heck, create a FB account if you don't have one already!), your blogs, your email contacts, etc. This is an effort sheerly driven by people voting: the GSF needs every single vote it can get. Reese wakes up each morning and asks to play with Gwendolyn. She loves to hold her hand and help wipe her mouth when it is wet. I'm looking forward to explaining to Reese why Gwendolyn doesn't have to wear a breathing machine anymore ("she's cured!") instead of giving her the opposite devistating news. So, please, please, please, PLEASE vote and spread the word to every person you know. Don't ignore me...I'll be stalking you all week :)

With love,
The Paskins (plus Gwendolyn)...and Happy New Year!

Here are the voting instructions:

If you're already a member of Facebook:
1) Click Here (you might need to log in if you've not already)
2) Click on "Vote for Charity"That's it! It'll give you the option of posting on your status that you voted (do it!! with a message to your friends!!). How easy is that?!

If you're not a member of Facebook yet:
1) Click Here and sign up for a (free) account. Even my mom has one!
2) Click on "Vote for Charity"A box will appear that allows you to show your friends that you have voted. Even if you don't have any friends (yet), follow the instructions so your future friends will know!It's so easy, it's so quick, and it's so important. And remember, I will stalk you until you vote :) And pass it on to everyone you know!

From Jodie:

Sarah and her husband, Mike, have joined Gwendolyn's family in their fight to find a cure for this terrible disease. Once you watch the video, visit Gwendolyn's blog, and get to know her a bit, there's no doubt you'll want to help too. Your vote for the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation can help get this family, and several others, one step closer to seeing their daughter/child cured! How incredible would that be?

I can't wait to post an update when Gwendolyn is cured!

A few "mommy" sites

2010-01-12T09:54:00.000-08:00

I always love finding good websites that have special savings, coupons or just really great deals. I have a few that I like, so I thought I'd share. If you have any that you like, please leave a comment and share them with me!

Mamabargains:

http://www.mamabargains.com/

Baby Steals:

http://www.babysteals.com/

Kid Steals:

http://www.kidsteals.com/

Baby Half Off:

http://www.babyhalfoff.com/

Money Saving Mom:

http://www.moneysavingmom.com/

Mommy Saves Big:

http://www.printable-coupons.blogspot.com/

Ebates:

www.ebates.com If you don't already use ebates for your online shopping, YOU SHOULD! Go and sign up (free membership) you'll even get $5 just for signing up (and if you say that I referred you we BOTH get the $5) Ebates is great...you get an extra % off your purchases just from using ebates...if you want more info, let me know!

Happy saving!

Christmas cuties

2010-01-09T21:37:00.001-08:00

My handsome Christmas boy:

My sweet Christmas girl:Just couldn't resist:
Together with their Christmas jammies:

Noah and Elliana love each other so much. I just love how they love to snuggle:

our special Christmas present

2009-12-28T11:35:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we accepted a counter-offer on this house. We are so excited!! Please pray with us that escrow would go smoothly. It looks like we'll be closing mid-february, just in time for Elliana's first birthday!

You know your two year old is in the Christmas spirit when...

2009-12-04T22:04:00.000-08:00

he sings the following, "Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O, and on that farm he had a Reindeer, E-I-E-I-O." Yes, it's official Noah is ready for Christmas.

All about "E"

2009-12-03T12:04:00.000-08:00

When I first started blogging, most of my posts were all about Noah. I would blog about his milestones, personality, my frustrations and so on. Now that I have two (and my life seems that much more hectic) I realize that my blogging is less frequent, mostly pics, and rarely about either one of my children individually. Since I just got back from Elliana's 9 month well-baby checkup, I thought I'd blog all about my sweet baby girl.

Elliana is 9 months and 6 days old. I can hardly believe it! When my dr. said that the next time we'd see him was at her 1 year checkup, it really hit me...my baby is growing up...much too quickly.

My sweet Elliana is so much fun. She's as content as can be playing with her toys, crawling all over, and pulling herself up on anything and everything that she can. She's been "talking" more and more; we've heard ma-ma and da-da....but she's not actually referring to us, just practicing. She has also started to "dance" to music and especially loves to join her big brother while he dances. :)

Speaking of her big brother, she LOVES him! And guess what? He LOVES her too. It's the sweetest thing. Many mornings when he hears her wake up he wants to be the one to welcome her to a new day. He'll say to me, "I go get her?" When he goes in her room I hear him say something like, "Good morning, Princess", "Hi, sister", "Hi, Elliana. How are you?" Her happy squeals let us all know that she's equally excited to see her big brother. I love how Noah refersto her by one of the nicknames we've given her; it's adorable. Many times when he goes to "get her" in the morning, he ends up in her crib and together they have a ball. :) It usually includes snuggling, singing, laughing and maybe even a little bouncing. ;)

I said that Elliana is very content...and she is. She's generally the happiest little baby. Except when she's not. :) I usually tell people she's perfectly happy 99% of the time...but that 1%? She will let you know that she's NOT happy. I wonder if this is part of her female genetic make up? She's been a great sleeper, however, I feel like we've had a bit of regression lately. :( Unfortunately she's started to wake up in the middle of the night...and some nights 2 times. The good thing is that this is exactly when Noah did the same thing. You may remember this post, I was sooo confused at what was happening. Fortunately only 4 or 5 hard nights and he was back to his normal sleeping. It's been a little bit longer for Elliana, specifically because of some traveling for the holidays and a couple late nights out (I'm much more of a softy when she's not in her normal enviornment or routine). I hate having her cry it out...especially when I know that in a couple of nights we'll be messing up her routine again. However, since we're going to be home for the next 2 weeks with no real travel plans, I think we'll be able to get back into routine, and after a couple hard nights, I'm sure we'll be back on track. :)

She continues to be at the top of the charts for height (29 inches) but has thinned out (haha, the drs. words) and is in the 50th percentile for weight (19 lbs 6 oz). The first few months she was bigger and longer than Noah was at each of her check ups. However, starting at 6 months, she started weighing less than he did, but is still just as long as he was. She loves to eat, but is intent on eating big people food too. If it's just me feeding her lunch, she's pretty content eating baby food, but when we're all sitting down to dinner, she'll spit out her food and whine until I give her some finger foods. She likes most fruits and veggies except green beans and bananas. I know, what baby doesn't like bananas?? :)

Elliana is such a joy. She adds so much to our family...I can't imagine life without her. I look forward to hearing her happy squeals in the morning, and love the sweet cuddle times we have. She has a smile that could melt any heart (and often works it on anyone who will take a second to look) and has definitely caused our hearts to grow and grow.

my cuties.

2009-11-22T22:29:00.000-08:00

Noah came out of the bath and said, "Look, Mommy! I'm just like daddy!"

What a joy it is to find this sweet face waiting for me after her nap. You can see she was still a little out of it when I took the picture. :)

I am blessed indeed!

no words

2009-11-08T11:59:00.001-08:00

Alive

2009-11-07T21:19:00.001-08:00

Yes, we're still alive! I'm sorry that my blogging has been so spotty lately; I'm going to try and get back into the swing of things here in blogland. :)

We've had a very fun couple of weeks! Pumpkin patch, disneyland, my 30th birthday, trick-or-treating...just to name a few. :) Here are a few pictures of some of the fun we've had:

At the pumpkin patch:

Getting ready to ride the Teacups at Disneyland. Noah LOVED this ride.

Celebrating my 30th birthday with my family:

Visiting grandma

Trick-or-treating

laughing and crawling

2009-10-15T20:43:00.001-07:00

Two things that my littlest loves to do! Well, she just officially started crawling this week, but she LOVES to laugh...especially at her brothers silliness.

Santa Cruz

2009-10-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

This past week we got to head up to Santa Cruz for a much needed and thoroughly enjoyed time away. Some of our dear friends moved up to the Watsonville area just about two years ago and we always look forward to visiting them. We spend all of our time laughing, eating, and relaxing...three things I enjoy most! This year Hylke brought his new mountain bike up, so he and Terry went out biking each day too. We had so much fun, and especially loved the cool weather!! Unfortunately I didn't take very many pictures...sometimes relaxing means being too lazy to run downstairs to get your camera. ;) Here are a few fun pictures that I did manage to take:

Bananas!

Storytime with Bethany

So sweet

I just love this picture...they're watching Bob the Builder

On our way to the Monterey Bay Aquarium...hard to get them all looking at me :)

My adorable little girl. Can't get enough of her!

Noah's silly, but very cute, face

Noah checking out the Sea Horses

The really cool jellyfish at the Aquarium

Practice makes perfect

2009-10-02T21:02:00.001-07:00

Enjoying the roses

2009-09-22T20:37:00.001-07:00

When my mom was visiting last month she couldn't believe all the roses that were on my rose bush. But the problem was that they were on the rose bush, and not being enjoyed inside. They were the most beautiful, fragrant roses. We have gone a hundred miles an hour this summer and quite frankly, I hadn't even stopped to remember that I had rose bushes to be enjoyed. Well, my mom cut some roses for me, put them in a vase and set them out to be enjoyed. Ever since then, I have made an effort to go out and cut some fresh roses to enjoy. This morning I went out back and cut about 25 roses and set them out all over. Thanks, mom, for reminding me to slow down enough to enjoy the roses. :)

Elliana Laughing

2009-09-09T11:18:00.000-07:00

Sea World

2009-09-08T09:19:00.001-07:00

We just got back from a fun trip to San Diego. Noah loves Sea World, so we made sure to spend lots of time with Shamu and his friends. :) Besides being BLAZING hot (and terribly humid) we had a wonderful time. Here are some highlights:

Waiting for the dophin show to begin:

Feeding/touching the dolphins (mommy's favorite part):

Shamu!

Mommy and Noah on the Elmo Fish ride (notice Noah saying, "Cheese"):

So tired (and so hot!):

On the Oscar's Eel ride:

Elmo's Zebra Fish (I didn't even mean to flash the "I love you" sign to Hylke...but I do love him :)

long overdue

2009-08-20T10:57:00.001-07:00

So sorry for my lack of posts. :( This won't be long, just a quick video of Noah, my little water baby...wait, I mean water toddler. :)

Busy Bees

2009-07-19T13:50:00.001-07:00

We have stayed very busy this summer. However, it's the fun kind of busy...trips to the beach, grandma/grandpa's house, a couple days in palm springs, camping....you get the idea. This past week we decided to hit the beach again. It was such a beautiful day! Noah had so much fun building sand castles with daddy, and a large trench that he sat in as the ocean water came and filled it up. His very own sand pool!

On another note, my sweet Noah is getting SO big! I can't believe how quickly they grow up. He carries on conversations with us, and is putting together long sentences (he's been carrying on sentences for awhile, we just didn't always know what he was saying...haha). Here are few of the cute things he's been saying, "Mommy, Look!", "Mommy (or daddy), come play too?", "Elliana awake! Go get her?" "Hi, Mommy. How are you?" This morning while we were playing with his Thomas trains, I had the whole crew of trains go over the bridge and they all stayed on the track...Noah looked at me and said, "Good job, Mommy!" He's also mr. independent. Most things that we used to help him with he insists on doing by himself..."self, self!". I love that he is excited to do things on his own, even if it takes him awhile to do it.

Noah absolutely loves his sunday school class, and adores the teachers/helpers. He always remembers what they learn about and is sure to tell me on our way home. Today I asked him what he did in Sunday school and he said, "I sing".

ME: What songs did you sing?

NOAH: "Light Mine" (This little light of mine) and "Jesus loves" (Jesus Loves Me).

ME: What did you learn about today?

NOAH: "Camels!"

ME: You learned about camels?

NOAH: "Yes. And Joseph!"

We're getting ready to spend the week up at Hume Lake with some of our good friends. But first, there's a BBQ and swim party we must attend first. YAY for summer fun! I'm sure I'll have lots of fun things to update when we get home.

chickens, sleeping and a cutie

2009-07-15T20:42:00.000-07:00

You may remember from this post how much fun Noah has with the chickens at Oma and Opa's house. The first thing that Noah talks about when we visit Hylke's parents is going to see the chickens. This past weekend we were there celebrating Opa's 60th birthday and since we were there a little early Noah got to go with Opa to get the eggs that the chickens had laid. Noah was so excited to get out to the coop that he didn't stay inside long enough for Hylke to put his shorts back on after his diaper change. It made for a pretty cute picture. :)

Getting ready to go to the chickens with Opa:

Looking super cute in his boots:

Heading down to the chickens with Opa:

Looking at the eggs they got from the chickens:

Onto some Elliana news.

Just a few days ago I peeked in on her napping and this is what I found:

She's always been a back sleeper...but now that she's rolling over, apparently she likes sleeping on her tummy better. She's been on her tummy in the mornings the past couple mornings, so I'm assuming this is her new favorite sleeping position. Noah didn't sleep on his tummy until he was 9 months, you may remember this post.

And, just because I think she's super cute, here are some pics of Elliana that I took just before bedtime tonight:

Beach Day

2009-07-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

We spent a fun day at the beach today. Noah loved playing in the water, building sand castles and playing with the other kids. I'm so glad he has his daddy's olive skin...check out his tan (oh, and excuse his little nudie bottom. :)) at the bottom of the picture set.

my own fault

2009-07-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

When I look in the mirror (or at the scale) I'm definitely NOT where I want to be. However, I take full responsibility for where I am. I could have buckled down once I had Elliana (or Noah for that matter *wink, wink*) and taken getting back into shape very seriously...but to be honest...I just didn't. Oh, in my mind I did...but in my diet and exercise, I haven't. I have a million reasons (excuses) why it's taken so long...but really, the only reason is because it wasn't a priority...even if I thought it was.

So many of my friends have inspired me---without even knowing it! First, my sister. WOW! She is an animal!! Amy, I am so proud of how far you've come...and your committment to getting/staying in shape. Julie, you always inspire me. I'm encouraged by your honesty and your committment to the same...thanks for being real. Janna, you are such an encouragement too..it's nice to know I'm not alone on this mommy journey! All of you have worked hard to get where you want to be...or atleast are in the process of doing so...and it is very encouraging. I can do it too. :)

Tonight I went on my first run. I've talked about it for awhile now...tonight I just decided it was time. It was good. Hard, but refreshing. I think the anticipation of it was one of the hardest parts...I had no idea how i'd do. I think I surprised myself.

So, thank you friends, for sharing your journeys with me...each of them has challenged/encouraged and inspired me. And...I think you are all some of the most beautiful women I know. Ok, I'm done being sappy. ;)

pics

2009-06-21T15:33:00.000-07:00

Happy 2nd Birthday, Noah!

2009-06-05T09:59:00.001-07:00

Wow, my baby is TWO! I can hardly believe that it's been two years since Noah entered our lives and changed our world forever. He is such a sweet boy, and it's truly the joy of my heart being his mommy. I love his sweet heart, curious mind, adventurous spirit and great sense of humor...and he's only two!

Sweet Noah, we thank the Lord for you each and every day. You are such a blessing, and it the greatest privilage to be your parents. Thank you for all that you add to this family, just by being you! We love you soooo much! Happy 2nd Birthday!