Thought I'd let you all know that my blog is now moving. Jimmy thought it would be great for us to have a blog together so we created a new one.
http://threeby23.blogspot.com/
Go take a look! We have some pretty big news on there...
Yesterday we had a wonderful day. Jimmy was craving some Dim Sum so we headed out to the Chinese Buffet. The food was alright and the girls enjoyed themselves. We found out that Kylie likes ice cream!! I really need to bring my camera out with us. The face she made when trying the ice cream for the first time would have made you all laugh. So adorable.
After we finished lunch we decided to go to the park. We had just bought a kite and thought the wind was good enough to give it a try. The park we went to was very nice. The walk ways and cookout areas are pretty wooded, but there is also a little league field and bandstand further down that has some clear fields. We headed down there and had the place to ourselves to run around. Alana went WILD for the kite! She thought it was hilarious! Kylie decided that she does not like the feeling of grass on her legs. Alana ran around with the kite for a while then she picked some flowers and we headed out for the playground.
This park has at least 4 playgrounds! I couldn't believe how many there were. We found one that was geared more toward younger kids and it was just perfect for Alana. She's becoming more daring on playgrounds nowadays. She usually wants me to be standing right next to her and sliding down the slide with her, but on this one she was climbing up on her own and sliding down on her own. I was very proud of her.
After we were done with the park we headed to Petco to get some fish! Alana was a bit grumpy because she was ready for her nap, but she did alright. We chose some long tailed goldfish, two to be exact. Whenever Alana sees them in the fish tanks she yells out "FISH IN THE OCEAN!!!" It's adorable.
In other news, Kylie started walking not long before her birthday! She is pretty much a pro now. She's trying to go faster and faster all the time. Oh no...I forgot how long it has been since I've written something in my blog! I'm going to need to do a birthday post for Kylie with pictures from her party next.
OK...So it has been about a month since I've written a blog post...I guess I just haven't had the inspiration to do so. I also haven't been keeping up with blogs for a while. I hope everyone is doing well and after I finish this post I am off to play catch up with your blogs!
Not too much has been going on over here. Easter was great and fun. I'll need to post some pictures from it. The last week or so hasn't been that great. We have had many thunderstorms all week long and it is taking a toll on my mood. I just want the sun to come out.
Kylie is probably going to start walking any day now. She'll get herself in a standing position without any help, do squats, bounce, and just stand there not holding anything for minutes at a time. I really think the first step is just around the corner. It is exciting!
Alana's vocabulary is picking up everyday. Her favorite things to say right now are "Stuck in the floor" (She says this whenever anything is stuck...) She'll give me hugs and will say one of these sayings " I love you!" "Best EVER" or "Family!!" We are communicating really well with each other. I haven't gotten a confused look when I've explained something to her in a long time. It is great!
Alana and Kylie are becoming the best of friends. When Kylie cries Alana starts telling me that Kylie is crying and she's sad. Sometimes she'll try to do silly things to make her laugh. On Friday we were in the car, I had just dropped Jimmy off at work and they were upset that Daddy had to go. I look back through the mirror at both of them and they were holding hands. It was so cute!
I'll upload the Easter pictures next time. Kylie was a camera ham!
So Alana loves this show on Nick Jr. Ni Hao Kai-Lan. The other day she was counting things at the store and busted out with Ii R San (I'm sure I butchered the spelling...) It is really adorable.
Here is a video of her singing along with the theme song. I hope it shows up right.
ETA: So when I go to view it shows 2 videos, one from blogger and one from photobucket (blogger orginally said my html was wrong for photobucket, but now it is showing up)..the html is all jumbled and it took soooooo long to upload my video on blogger that I'm just leaving it as is!! haha
So, as I mentioned in my last post my sister flew out to visit last week. The last time I saw any of my family was November 1st, 2008. It is hard, really hard, to be away from family. I'm used to either living with my family and my in-laws or seeing them 2 time or more a week. What a change it has been to be half way across the country from them. I never imagined that we would be so far from family.
Growing up I never lived near my family either. My maternal grandma and 3 of my Aunts lived in California. One Aunt in Michigan. My paternal grandma is in North Carolina and one older brother lived in many different places (Japan, Nevada, Texas, etc...) No one was very close to us in Connecticut. I was used to this and I always felt like my time with my extended family was extra special since I didn't see them often, but I was always jealous of the kids who would spend the weekend at their grandparents and the kids whose grandparents would come to school on Grandparent's Day. I wanted that for my girls. Unfortunately this economy took that opportunity away. Maybe someday we'll return to the Northeast or maybe our family will come out here, but at this point in time I can only hope that my girls will look foreword and appreciate the vacations we take to visit family. I don't want them to forget.
Anyway...back to my sister visiting. We were all super excited for her to come visit and had a grand vacation planned. Nothing goes according to plan for us...nothing! Here is a rundown of how it went.
The plane was scheduled to fly in at 9:40 a.m. on March 11th. I am not a patient person so I was very happy that all I had to do was go to sleep and once I woke up we'd be on a mad dash to the airport. We wake up and get ready to go. During that time I receive a phone call from my sister that her connection flight was canceled. She made it from Connecticut to Detroit, but was now being sent to Minneapolis MN instead of WI. The kicker, however, was that she couldn't make it to WI until 8:00 p.m. So many flights were canceled due to wind the day before that all earlier flights were booked up and had LOOOOONG waiting lists. So that stinks...I sucked it up and spent all day watching the clock. We were supposed to head out to IHOP (my deceased grandma's favorite restaurant) after she came in, but since it was so late we hit Hardies's for some fast food.
That night Jimmy and I wake up to Alana gagging. She got sick overnight, but I wasn't too worried. She occasionally throws up overnight but is fine the next day. That didn't happen this time. She was sick all of Thursday, vomiting ever 30 minutes or so. It was terrible! I expected her to be better the next day, but this went on for nearly a whole week with the vomiting getting less and less each day. To add to this Jimmy and I felt ill Friday - Wednesday. I wasn't sick that badly, just a little queasy, but I am not used to being sick that long! I am usually not sick longer than a day. Jimmy didn't fare as well. And of course Kylie became sick Friday night. I was really hoping it would skip her, but we weren't as lucky. She only just started feeling better and eating normally today. Poor baby. Luckily for my sister the sickies seemed to miss her!
That was basically the whole vacation. We ordered Chinese food once when Jimmy and I were feeling a bit better and The girls started to feel a bit better the last couple of days they were sick (no vomiting, just not much appetite still) so we went to the mall on Tuesday and then I took the girls out to eat with my sister before she left Wednesday (Jimmy wasn't feeling well enough to go either place.) That was really nice.
She plans to come visit again, but I don't know when. We are heading out to visit our family in NY an CT this August and I am so excited! 2 weeks of family! WOO!
We bought a cake to celebrate :)
We took this picture at the mall...Alana did not like it.
I have some more pictures but Blogger is being difficult and won't upload them...I'll probably put them up in the next post!
Just a quick update from me...My sister flew up to visit for a week and just left Wednesday. The whole time she was here we were sick! Ugh! I'm off to catch up on all of the blogs I missed out on (I wasn't online much while she was here) and then I may be back to write some about her visit.
So, I've been having a ton of sleep problems with the girls lately and have been SOO tired! Jimmy and I decided that Alana will be going to bed at 9:00- no exceptions. Before this she was resisting sleep badly and fell asleep around 11...bad!
Well the other night Alana went to bed sometime between 9-9:30 and Kylie went to bed at 10:00!!! This is exciting progress, but here is the kicker. Alana didn't wake up all night and Kylie only woke up once...at 6:30!!!! Then we went back to bed until Alana woke up at 7:30! I couldn't believe it! Even when they fall asleep earlier they wake up all night long. I was so excited!
Then came last night....
I put Alana to bed at 9:00 and she fell asleep at 11:00. Kylie went to bed at 10:30 or so and slept until 12:30. I fed her and put her in our bed, but she still woke up at 2:00 again. Alana woke up right after Kylie calmed down and I put Kylie back into her pack and play (she is staying in our room while we sleep train since they share a room) and I went to sleep with Alana. Kylie woke up again at some point, but Jimmy took care of that. Then Kylie woke up again at 6:20 as well as Alana. Alana has been up since that time...what a great night, huh? Ugh..
However, I am going to be super stubborn this time and Alana is going to bed at 9:00 EVERY NIGHT! We have daylight savings time coming up and if I can't get these girls to start going to bed at least a little later, we'll be in an even WORSE situation come March 15th!
In other news, my sister is flying out to visit us on the 11th. I am so excited to see her. I miss my family so much and it upsets me a lot to think about how the girls may not know their family too well. We are going to have a great time.
As always, I'll end this with some pictures. It's been a while so there are quite a few.
Alana running circles around me.
She has so much hair!
I love this picture
Flying Kylie!
This is so cute!
That attitude cracks me up!
Daddy and baby!
I LOVE this picture!
I know Valentine's Day is over now, but I saw this survey and felt like filling it out!
Where did the two of you meet?
At my friend's house for a barbecue. I was a senior in High School and my friend in college was coming back home for a town fair and brought some friend's. We had a bbq the night before and went bowling. That is where I met Jimmy.
What was the first thought that went through your head when you first met him?
Wow he is hot. He seems to cool to hang out around me.
Do you remember what he was wearing?
I'm not entirely sure, but my guess would be khaki color cargo pants, a plain undershirt, and an unbuttoned long sleeved button down shirt.
Where did you go for your first date?
What we call our first date wasn't really a first date. We went out with dinner with 3 other friends, but we planned it as our first date. It was a fancy Japanese restaurant. I tried sushi for the first time and had to go to the bathroom to spit it out. Good times.
Where was the first time you kissed?
I went to go visit Jimmy at the college. We had fun and then I had to go drive home. It was raining out, but Jimmy still walked me to my car. When we got there I went to say goodbye and he kissed me. It was a quick peck. I didn't expect it, but was happy. That was Jimmy's first kiss ever as well.
When was the first time you realized you liked him?
I thought he was cute and seemed like a sweet guy since I first met him. I joked with my friends to stop telling me things about him or I'll form a crush, but the first time I realized I liked him was probably the weekend after I met him. I'm not sure what it was that made me like him, but I was drawn to him.
How long did you know him before you became a couple?
Not even a month. We met October 1st and starting dating October 25th.
How did he propose to you?
I wrote about that in this post: Back to the start.
Do you have kids together?
2 daughters. Alana and Kylie.
Have you ever broken the law together?
Not that I can think of. We are good kids. :P
Do you trust him?
I trust him with the important things. My life, not to cheat, etc... I don't trust that he'll do his own dishes or laundry.
Do you see him as your partner in your future?
I wouldn't want it any other way.
What is the best gift he gave you?
My necklace. Our first christmas together he gave this necklace
What is one thing he does that gets on your nerves?
He escapes into the bedroom for long periods of time without telling me. I'll be cooking dinner and I'll look into the living room and he's gone. He'll be taking a shower or working out. That's fine, I just want to know when he's unavailable.
Where do you see each other 15 years from now?
Let's see...in 15 years we'll be 37. I can see us taking nice vacations together since our kids will be in their late teens.
What causes the most arguments?
Stress. We need to learn how to better manage our stress and not take it out on one another.
How long have you been together?
We've been together for roughly 4.5 years, but our 3rd anniversary of marriage is June 10th.
I haven't been on here in a week or so...I'm trying to catch up on blogs I'm reading and then I may come back to write some of whats been going on around here. It all depends on whether the girls are content to play on their own for a little longer or not.
I will put up some pictures now, just in case I don't make it back today!
Jimmy and Kylie
I think she looks like her Daddy.
My pretty toddler.
They love to play together. It's great.
Here are the many faces of Kylie...these were all taken within the span of a couple minutes.
There hasn't been too much for me to update on lately. Life seems to just be going on day by day over and over boring and boring.
It certainly doesn't help the monotony when it is freezing outside! We had to go grocery shopping yesterday and I was dreading it! We started off this cold spell with a gallon and a half of milk for Alana and she busted through that thing. What can I say? The girl loves milk! Anyway, we had to pick up a few things so that meant braving the cold.
The girls went out in their footie pajamas because it is warmer that way. Maybe it's weird, but at least they didn't have cold ankles! I also forced mittens and a hat on Alana, which made her pretty angry. This girl does NOT like to wear gloves and hats. I chose the mittens so she'd have a bit more trouble getting them off and, of course, that made her even angrier. Oh well...she wasn't winning this one.
We got to the store with my nicely written down list of items and go pick up what we need. We got a cart full of food for only $100.00. I was proud! For the next two weeks we'll only have to go out for milk and bananas! GO ME!
Of course I get home and what do I realize? I forgot to get the last thing on the list. I ALWAYS forget something! Alana's vitamins were the forgotten this time. We were lucky in that we still had enough left over to last us to the next shop date. I'm glad that I usually pick up a replacement before things run out.
So there is my saga of going to the store. I've had a boring week and that has been my highlight....and it's a boring highlight...oh well! There's always next week! Or at the rate this weather is going, next month.
Now for some pictures!
She is pulling up on everything! She even stood on her own a little bit!
Eating an apple and trying to show off her painted toenails.
Both kiddos...they are getting so big.
Something really weird happened to me the other night. I was sitting at the computer at 12:15 a.m. typing to someone when I just felt weird and it started to look like the table my laptop sits on was falling over. I felt really freaked out and tried to get up to go get Jimmy and I could hardly walk to the bedroom. I heard a bunch of crashing behind me as I was trying to walk because I pushed myself off the table to get up and I guess it fell. I made it in the bedroom and tried to wake Jimmy up to tell him what happened, but he didn't really do anything. I think he was still asleep. Anyway, I went back into the living room and the only thing that fell were a hairbrush sitting on the table and the laptop. It was really freaky. I really thought the entire table crashed down. And then around 4:00 in the morning I hear one of the girls waking up and I stood up to go to their room and fell right over. My entire right leg was asleep! It was like I didn't even have one! My husband was up immediately for that one and wanted to make sure I was Ok...that made up for him sleeping through my earlier issues. What a weird night...it didn't help that I was reading about ghosts...I was freaked out all night! I really freaked out when the light I was using in the living room just shut off as I was cleaning! Nobody was near the light switch or plug when it shut off. I had moved something right next to it a minute before so I guess that moved the plug...I just wonder why it took a minute or two to fall out. Weird. And I almost forgot, Kylie has been sleeping out in the living room lately, but that night she was able to go in her crib, but when I was in the living room I started to think Kylie was in her pack n' play like normal because it sounded like she was rolling over in there. Strange. In other news, I just copied some old entries into my blog. I put my birth stories and my wedding day. They are archived at the correct month and year if anyone is interested in seeing them (June + July 2006 and May 2008) If I find any more I may add them. I've been looking through an old livejournal of mine I have been thinking of getting rid of and wanted to preserve these posts.
Christmas was pretty nice. I couldn't sleep the night before which pissed me off and then we woke up early and the girls saw this.
The girls pulled in a nice haul! Only a few of those aren't theirs.
Playing with Elmo's Restaurant.
My sister got me Monty Python and The Holy Grail killer rabbit slippers!
The bunny ate Kylie's foot.
The haul. Lucky girls!
Here are some more pictures that I love.
Kylie and I
Alana being a ham for the camera.
Kylie's puppy dog eyes.
ETA: Kylie is pulling up to stand now! She's also crawling like a mad woman and keeps trying to get our shoes at the door. I make a barrier out of toys and toy boxes, but Alana keeps taking it apart! Alana is also talking a lot. She seems to have a great memory. She'll watch a new show and by the second time she watches it she's saying the lines right along with the show! She also seems to be getting taller. This girl will be huge!
I keep forgetting about my blog! And of course, the times I do remember the girls need me 1 minute after I start typing.
Kylie is screaming (playfully) right now and Alana is drawing. I'm trying to squeeze in some blog time!
I took some Christmas pictures and FINALLY sent out my cards yesterday. I loved the pictures.
I am also very happy because we received the crib we ordered for Kylie the other day! It took a LOOONG time to get here (don't order from babycenter...) But I love it! I'm not sure if I mentioned before that we lost the old crib in the move, but we did and I was really upset about that. However, this new crib is gorgeous!! Kylie seems to like it a lot and Alana keeps pointing to Kylie in the crib saying she is stuck. It's cute.
Oh and Kylie is crawling!!! She is a master at it! I also think she'll be pulling up to standing soon. She is really trying.
I almost forgot to mention that it's my husband's 22nd birthday tomorrow!! I'd write what I bought him, but I'm not sure if he can find the blog or not! We're going to go out to eat at a Steak house and then get some Cold Stone Creamery ice cream!
I've been gone for about a month, huh? Moving has been crazy and I still don't have my laptop hooked up to the internet and need to steal my husband's haha.
So we are in Wisconsin now and my husband has started his new job (the reason we came out here..can't remember if I said that or not)
Alana is speaking so many sentences now. She really is such a big girl. It's fun to watch her as she watches TV shows because she really gets into it now. She'll dance around during the songs and do what the characters ask (Stand up and jump!!). I think it is so cute.
Kylie is almost crawling. She is up on her hands and knees, rocking back and forth. I think she'll start any day now.
Anyway, Thanksgiving is tomorrow so Happy Turkey day everyone!! Alana's 3rd Thanksgiving and Kylie's 1st. Kylie isn't big on baby food yet so she probably won't eat any of the goodness, but Alana will have her first Thanksgiving where she will actually eat the food! (she wasn't eating much table food last thanksgiving when she was around 1 year 4 months) It's exciting!
I hope everyone has been doing well. I don't know if I'll be able to catch up on a months worth of posts from you guys, but I'll try!
Here's some crazy news! We are moving to Wisconsin. Our apartment is awesome! 2 bed 2 bath. Jacuzzi tub and large standing shower. The kitchen is pretty large and so is the living room. There is a washer and dryer as well. There is also a garage, which is nice. My favorite part is that there is a free gym for tenents! I am so PSYCHED about this! I am so motivated to get healthy and stop being fat! I can't wait. Oh wait, I lied, my favorite part is that everything is so much cheaper in WI than CT!!! This apartment is costing the same as crap apartments over here. It's great!! I'll be sure to take pictures once I set everything up.
Anyway, we have booked our flight for Nov. 1st. We are just working out details on moving our stuff. Its actually pretty complicated to transfer Jimmy's car in his name and move states...so annoying.
Kylie cut her first tooth yesterday. I'm glad she finally did because she's been uncomfortable for days. Orajel has been our best friend. I don't think I mentioned that Kylie has been sitting up on her own for a while either. She's getting so big. I've kinda started her on solids. I'm mostly waiting for the move though because I want to make her food homemade for her. It'll be better...jarred baby food is so nasty.
We had to give away our cat Wiley. A bit of backstory on Wiley. He is my cat Chibi's brother. My brother owned him since he was a kitten for 7 years and then Wiley got beat up by their younger cat and he was given to my mom (I wouldn't keep the aggressor...poor Wiley). Then all the divorce stuff happened and my mom moved out of the house into an apartment. She was only allowed to have 1 cat and Gilly (whom we've had since 1999) went because she was also very fond of my little brother who still lived with my mom. We took in Wiley because he was Chibi's brother and I felt bad for him. Well he annoyed the crap out of us for the longest time and we never really bonded with him. Now with the move we can't have any cats. Luckilly our Panda and Luna are at Jimmy's parent's house living the good life and my mom says that she could take one more cat at her apartment now (the 2nd floor tenant flooded the apartment and the Landlord isn't doing anything to fix the damage so she doesn't care anymore and says the Landlord owes her some leeway). She is also just found out she got approved for a house and will be buying one soon and Chibi will live with her since he's my baby and I couldn't bear the thought of not having him..he is my best friend. Well we didn't have anyplace for Wiley so we had to find him a home. We lucked out BIG TIME! A nice family contacted us because their cat died in June and they wanted an adult, not a kitten. The woman works at a school and we were able to look her up and confirm her identity. I feel really good with this choice. She's going to send us pictures and let us know how WIley is doing. I feel so bad about giving him up (I always said I wouldn't do this...) and felt even worse as Alana was sobbing as we drove away yelling "Wy Wy!" (her nickname for him) when she saw him go in the lady's car. That made me cry. My mom is sad that she couldn't get a house sooner because she really liked Wiley and would have taken him (her apartment is WAAAAAAY too small for 3 cats). It's sad...I wish it didn't have to happen. I really think he'll be happy though...
Wiley (left) and Chibi (right) 7 year old brothers.
She can sit!!
When Alana was around 10 months old or so I went to visit a friend who had a niece a few months younger than Alana. She had a Rainforest jumperoo and let Alana try it. She played happily for the longest time and I told myself that whenever I have another kid, the jumperoo is a MUST!
Well...I just bought Kylie her Rainforest jumperoo! She is in love with it! It is so cute to see her bouncing around in that thing. We got an awesome deal on it too, about $20.00 cheaper than buying it in the store. I am extremely happy with it!
We also decided to get Alana some Dora the Explorer dvds and she is crazy about it!! When I shut it off she goes "My Dora!" it is so adorable. Alana is getting so big. The sentences are all over the place now and she's getting better at her Alphabet and Numbers everyday. She knows all the letter and numbers, but hasn't learned the order of the letters yet. She'll get it quickly, though. She seems to learn very quick.
Not much to update lately so I'm just going to do a picture update!
Jimmy and Kylie
She is always smiling like this! It is great.
Alana helped me make a personal pizza for her!
So big.
My husband ready to go off to his softball game
My husband and I are silly. We play the lottery in the hopes of a better life. We've won $50, $100, and $500. We've just never won a jackpot.
However, today I thought I'd won something. You all know those sweepstakes right? Find this symbol on one of our candy bars and you win? Well I had the bat symbol on my KitKat bar. I was happily eating away at my chocolaty delight when I saw the bat symbol. I thought it was cool and I showed my husband (at this point I had eaten almost half of it). I kept eating and as I was getting toward finishing it I looked at the wrapper "FIND THE BAT SYMBOL AND WIN!" I dropped my candy. All this time of playing silly games trying to win something and what do I do?? Eat away my proof the one time I win! I couldn't believe it.
So I frantically try to do some research into the game. I still had some bat symbol so maybe it would still count? Well my research revealed something to me...I hadn't won anything! As it turns out, finding a bat symbol means you can enter the sweepstakes for a CHANCE to win! Oh and you can enter for free online. Hershey...you tricky little devil you.
I guess we are back to the occasional lotto ticket here and there...I mean, who knows, right? Somebody wins, it could be us!
I haven't been able to find my camera for a few weeks now. I think my husband put it somewhere. I am NOT happy! Anybody with infants knows it is important to capture a lot of pictures because they are changing all the time!
I want to take pictures constantly, but I can't. Today I had my girls dressed up in matching polka dotted pajamas and matching pink slippers and I wanted a picture so bad! It was adorable!
...guess I'll just have to force my husband to remember where he misplaced it...drives me crazy!!
