Cooking!

This summer while I was uber preggo and my dad and stepmom were here visiting and helping us get ready for Peanut J's arrival, my stepmom bought me this book. I LOVE it!

One of my wishes was to be able to cook more meals with fresher and healthier ingredients, but not have to do it from scratch and take forever to prepare. While they were here, my stepmom fed us like royalty! We had a home cooked healthy meal almost every single night for the entire time. It was so healthy, that even though I was eating like a complete horse, I only gained 3lbs during pregnancy in the months that they were here....I actually weighed less after delivery than what I started out at. For those who are shocked...all my bloodwork and an extra ultrasound showed everything was fine with me and the little one during the pregnancy. Because of my low weight gain, they did an extra one in the 8th month just as a precaution. We tried several of the reciepes and they were all very good. I think we only made 1 addition to one of the reciepes and took out an ingredient on the same reciepe. Once my dad and stepmom left, I was unsure if I would be able to continue the success with this book, since I'm really just your average cook.

Anyway, most of the reciepes we have tried in this book I can complete in just about 1hour from start to serve. This is perfect! Even with my limited cooking abilities, the dishes have all turned out delicious! The other things I like about this book is it's small instruction sections for different cooking techniques and it recomendations on different ingredients brands. Try some Rotel tomatoes and Santita tortilla chips (these are only $2 a bag at Safeway) they really are so much better than Tostitos or the other brands!

If you want to read more about the book, go to America's Test Kitchen Bookstore.

I plan to explore the site America's Test Kitchen a bit more as I noticed that they have some other reciepes online for free.

I also plan to check out these 2 titles as well. We actually picked up the skillet book at Costco, so I plan to look there first for these other titles. Otherwise Barnes & Noble carries it. Amazon carries it as well, the prices are all about the same, so I would check your local Costco first. It was $19.99 there. Enjoy!

Bowling Princess Style...

This week while Little J was at school, we decided to take Princess J to the bowling alley. She loves to stand up her books in the hallway and knock them over with her various balls, so we thought she might enjoy a bowling game....

We were right! She had a great time, but was pretty tired after just one game.

She loved watching the ball roll down the alley and knock over the pins...she only tried to chase it a couple of times. She loved cheering when the ball knocked over any pins. She loved cheering for daddy who bowled with her! Soooo stinkin' cute! The only thing that upset her was they brought her a boy blue ball instead of a girl pink ball.....sigh....

We have a busy week ahead! I hope to snap lots of pictures this week! I hope to make progress on my reading goal. I hope to make progress on a few other things as well.....let's see what the week holds...Bring it on!

Reading....

I've been a lover of books for as long as I can remember. I'm so glad to see that in Princess J too. She loves to sit and look at books, listen to books and she always has one or more with her in the car no matter where we go. I used to read so much before my last two were born. Since Princess J and Peanut J have come along finding time to sit and enjoy a book as been difficult. There are so many other things roping me in during my free time (read here when all the kids are asleep). One of my goals in the new year is to get my reading fix in....and I don't mean reading The Cat in the Hat or I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham! I do love those books too, but after you've read them 100 times you need something new.

To get me started, I've selected 10 books I'm going to read before the year is up! These don't include new releases coming from a few of my favorite authors that I plan to add to my list as I'm plugging along. Most of these are easy reads. Nothing that Oprah would select for her book club, but they all seem to be entertaining and that is exactly what I'm looking for right now. I'm not putting any pressure on myself that I must end up reading these 10, maybe others will replace these or maybe I'll start one and *gasp* hate it so much I'll put it down. This would be a difficult task for me as I've never done that before...once I start a book, I've got to finish it....but maybe I could try....afterall who has time to waste. So, here is my current list which may be changed, added to, subtracted to, or dumped all together depending on how it goes.

I'm going to do my best to keep it updated here on the blog and I'll let you know what I think of the books too as I go along!

1. Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
2. LA Candy and Sweet Little Lies by Lauren Conrad (I know they are two seperate books, but I'm listing them together, because they seem like one and the same to me)
3. My Sisters Keeper by Jodi Picoult
4. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
5. The Shanghai Girls By Lisa See
6. The Secret Shoppers Revenge by Kate Harrison
7. The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo by Stieg Larsson
8. Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky
9. Against Medical Advice by James Patterson and Hal Friedman
10. Mayhem in High Heels by Gemma Halliday
11. The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
12. Outside In by Courtney Thorne-Smith

See, I couldn't narrow it down so I'm already up to 12......wish me Luck!

That {Elusive} Smile

Happy Presidents Day! Since today was a holiday and G had to work, the kids and I stayed home. Most of the day was spent in jammies and playing.

Later in the day, I took advantage of the beautiful sunshine, Princess J's sunny disposition, and Peanut J's napping to play around with the camera. I took almost 200 photos of this little girl! I got lots of good photos, but many of them are going to need some photoshop correction....one of my goals to work on! These photos will be lots of fun to play around with.

In general, Princess J is an unwilling model. Mostly, it's mommy looking like a fool, laying on the ground, jumping up running after Princess and singing silly cartoon songs and telling her that different characters are in my camera and that she should look for them. Oh, what my neighbors must think when they see this spectacle! Today, Princess J still was on her own program, but she was tolerant of the camera. It was still me jumping through hoops, but she was having a good time and it didn't hurt taht she was in love with this little outfit from Target. She spent lots of time twirling the skirt around and just exploring the front yard, since it's been awhile since we've been able to play on the grass. As I was looking through the photos, this one just popped out at me....that smile! This little girl has such a beautiful smile, but she never wants to show it to the camera...it's always just mommy snapping away hoping to catch it. Usually, if I ask her to show me her smile, she turns her back to the camera and does it facing the other way! Such a stinker! Today....today I captured that elusive smile!!! It made mommy's day!

Some of Princess J's favorites are:

Cartoons: Backyardigans, Umizoomi, Max and Ruby aand Wow, Wow, Wubbzy.

Words: NO! Boo! My Room! Stay Home! and now.....she says that Daddy is the Po Po!

Foods: McDonalds Happy Meal (Chicken Nuggies and French Fries), Grapes, Strawberries, Princess Cookies (Madelines at Starbucks) and Lolipops. She's still a stubborn eater....sigh...

Toys: Little People Princess Castle and books!

Latest Stinker Moves: She likes to have the door closed in our room when she goes to sleep next to mommy or daddy. The door was open and she didn't want us to close it, she wanted to do it...so we let her....she ran to the door, went out of the room and shut the door quickly behind her heading to play with toys I'm sure! Removing baby gates from where they belong.

Just for Me

I love my kids......but....other things I love have taken a backseat. I certainly don't regret that and I wouldn't go back to the days when they were my priority either....but....I miss them anyway. That being said, I didn't make any New Year resolutions. I find it hard to stick to something like that. The minute I slack....and with three kids and lots of activities and other things to think about...slacking will happen, I feel guilty. When I feel guilty, I get in funk and then I slack some more. It's a vicious circle for me. So...no resolutions. I do however have some things I'd like to work on. Nothing set in stone, but try and find a way to carve out just a few minutes or hours here and there to give my other loves well...some love.

1. Read more. This one, I've been working on and while it's slow going I've been carving out some time here and there. During Princess J's monday appointment, Little J sleeps and I read. During Little J's hour of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy..the other littles nap in the car and I....I read. Not setting a goal here, just finding time to enjoy it.

2. Scrap! I miss it so much! I've worked on this as well. The space is a bit cleaner and there is room to work. I need to stop over thinking my pages and just get in an do it.

3. More photos please! I took an awesome photography workshop with the fabulous Krista Lund and have been working on this. I just need the rain to go away so I can take the kids outside more often to just shoot away! Lighting inside is something I'm also working on, but I love to just go outside and play while they explore. I'm hoping that Krista is still planing to do another workshop in the spring....I'll be there if she does!

4. I need to take the time to figure out my photoshop program. I've sat down a few times and I'm just a little challenged here. I have some websites that Krista recomended...I just have to take the time to check them out and quit getting sucked into Facebook! LOL!

5. Date nights! Hubby and I need these! I'm working on this as this posts. It's not as simple as finding a random teenager to come over and babysit when you have a child with special needs. Not only do you have to find someone you trust with your little hearts, but you have to find someone who can lift him, deal with seizures if it should happen, and interact with your littles and keep them safe and entertained. Thankfully, Little J's new case manager is working on helping us with this now. I really hope we find someone fantastic, so hubby and I can go out into the world together and have some kid free time. I have a plan for our first date, when it all comes together....stay tuned!

Super Slacker!

Yes, yes. I am still here. I wonder if everyone has completely given up on my blog? I have been a super slacker as of late. I don't really have any excuse except that getting used to being a family of 5 has been much more of a logistical challenge than being a family of 4. That's not saying that Peanut J is any more difficult than either Little J or Princess J was. We just no longer have any advantage. The littles officially outnumber us.....and they know it!

I also have been posting a lot on Facebook, which I think has taken me away from this sweet little blog and well....it's been easier for sharing photos and such. I think though that I'm ready to embrace my blog again. I'm not going to hold myself to any posting standard, I'm not going to feel guilty for all the things I wanted to document here but didn't.....but I'm ready to embrace, share and document on this ol' blog again.

We've had a rough winter so far. The kids have all been sick now off and on. Peanut J thankfully missed most of the bugs that came passing through this house. Little J brought quite a few of them home for visits. We were able to keep Peanut J from coming down with anything other than a few runny noses and a cough or two...thankfully nothing serious. He finally had his first illness with a stubborn fever the day before his 6 month check up. He got his 6month vaccines and his flu shot....and then we had the night from heck. He was completely miserable. For 2 days this went on and then just as quickly as it made him miserable, he was back to his sweet little peanut self.

He is maintaining his peanutness well too. At his 6 month check up he was 26 1/2 inches long and only 14 sweet little pounds. While he only makes the 10% mark for weight, we are not concerned as he was ill and that can account for some weight loss and he is growing length wise like a weed!

Little J is doing well in Kinder. He loves it! He gets so excited to see his teacher and aides in the morning. I swear he practically runs away with them at drop off and barely looks back at us. He's always happy to see us when we pick him up, but I think he'd still much rather stay at school longer. The other day I went to pick him up and his teacher came out and said that he was in a business meeting. Ha! Little J was selected to have pizza with the principal at his school! Every month students are selected for lunch with the principal for good behaviour and for demonstrating a positive character trait. Little J's positive character trait....Bully Free! It's good to know that my Little J is not bullying his classmates in kindergarten! His walking skills are constantly improving. He loves being so independent! We've seen some sleep issues and some seizure issues lately, but with a slight increase in his seizure medication and a plan for trying to control the sleep issue I think we'll survive.

Princess J's favorite word is NO! You can ask her, she'll tell you it's her favorite word! She is quickly approaching the terrifying 3's! I swear, this little girl is going to get the lifetime acheivement award for dramatics before she turns 3! Even with all the drama and NO yelling, she is so amazing. She looks out for Little J all the time. She makes sure he has toys, shares snacks with him and helps mommy whenever she can. She's still warming up to Peanut J. I think she still wants to be the baby....little does she know, she always will be! She's finally willing to give him kisses although these are mostly blowing kisses at him. She loves to make sure he has his binkie in his mouth whether he's crying or fast asleep. There is nothing like seeing her shove his binkie in his mouth while he's sound asleep and he's turning his head back and forth trying very hard to stay asleep and avoid the binkie thrust. Princess J is very good at letting me know when Little J or Peanut J need something and she's really good at tattling on Little J! There are still days in the car where Princess J will hold hands with Little J, but these days are growing further and further apart as she loves to tell him NO! Little J still tries very hard to console her when she's upset, but gives up much more quickly as she screams louder and louder at him! It really is hilarious to watch them together. While they "bicker" like typical siblings, they are also very protective of eachother. While Princess J is more than happy to tattle on Little J, she still doesn't like it when he gets in trouble and Little J does not like it when she gets in trouble.

We're already 2 months into the new year and while I didn't make any resolutions, I do have some things I'd like to work on in the new year. I'll recap those in a later post. So far progress is slow.....but tomorrow is a new day!

Enjoy the photos! Photos of Little J coming soon!

Two out of Three.....

All the kids went to see Santa....I only have two loaded onto the computer, I still have to scan Little J's photo and upload it, but in the meantime, here are the other two......

Even too Much for Me...

Princess J and I headed out to do some Merry Christmas shopping today. Usually, I am done with my shopping by now and I head out to laugh at all the last minute shoppers in a frenzy to get all their stuff done. This year......hanging my head.....I was one of them. Ugh!

Princess J and I got a lot done, we headed to Baby's R Us, Old Navy, Wal-Mart, Target and then the mall. The mall is where I had to draw the line and make a plan to head back another day. I just couldn't deal with the weekend crowd. It was wall to wall people....it's been a long time since I've seen the mall that way! Princess J and I had a nice lunch together and just hung out having a good time. She is so much fun to be with and just cracks me up all the time.

Here is a conversation we had this morning....

Moose and Zee announce on Nickolodeon, that Miss Spider's Sunny Patch is next.....Princess J hates this show....

Princess J: No!

Me: You want me to change the channel?

Princess J: Yeah!

Me: Okay, let me finish Baby J's bottle and then I'll change the channel and find you something else.

Princess J: Pouty face with a sigh...

Me: What do you think this is the Princess J show?

Princess J: YEAH!!!!!


Sigh........

Fashion Diva

Princess J is making her mark on the fashion world! This little girl has a sense of style all her own! This is her favorite home ensemble. Nice comfy feety jammies, Hello Kitty Wellies, Winnie the Pooh scarf and to finish off the look a jeweled princess crown! Everyday we get some version of this. The crown is interchangable with a Hello Kitty knit cap. Sometimes, she'll find the keys to the car and head for the door wanting to go out like this....

While this little girl has a style all her own....mommy is still lucky enough that Princess J likes to get dressed for the day most of the time as well. Sometimes she puts her 2 cents in and tells me that she's not going to wear something I've picked out, but most of the time she's compliant and happy. Once she if fully dressed and hair done, she must make the final inspection in the mirror before we can leave the house. She's finding a true liking for shoes and purses already too! We're in BIG trouble, I've created a monster (I've had a little help though...from Grandma who not only taught me my shoe and clothing love, but has assisted in the training of the princess) <3

Mommy's Christmas List!

Just as daddy requested....mommy's wish list!

In no particular order:

1. Glee Soundtrack Volume 2

2.Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

3. Cannon 50mm 1.4 lens

4.Nook eBook Reader I'm a little on the fence about this....can I really give up the holding of the traditional book? I never really fell in love with listening to books....this eBook seems to do all the things I'd like in an eBook though....hmmm....

5. Car charger for the iPhone!

6. A Wii!!!! I don't know what games to go with it, but would love to have Wii Fit and Guitar Hero! :D

7. A new laptop??? LOL!

Christmas lists are hard for me...I am already so blessed and don't really want for anything....so....well..there it is....still thinking if there is anything to add.

What's on your list?

Birthday Extension!

What a week this has been! I'm not even sure where the entire thing went, I just know I've been running like crazy!

Poor G has been sick for which I think he feels is like forever! He is never one to sit still for a millisecond...so making him sit and rest has been next to impossible! He's been quarantined from Baby J! He's also had limited contact with the other two, just trying to keep everyone healthy! I know he misses his time with the littles and I KNOW they miss daddy time.

Princess J only has a few words right now, but in the last two weeks she's gone crazy using them consistently! Mommy is super excited about that! Everything has to be on her terms...she definately is a stubborn one (I have no idea where she got that from)!

Little J is having his class birthday party tomorrow! We're taking pizza and cupcakes to school for him! I'll try very hard to post the photos I take tomorrow!

Baby J had his 4 month check up this week.....he's a whopping 13 lbs! His weight has dropped off a bit from the rapid spurt he took from birth. He's such a mover! He's actually trying to pull himself up to a sit in his bouncy chair! I'm sure he's got abs of steel from trying so hard too! He's such a sweet little patient one too! His brother and especially his sister are super demanding and he's so patient waiting for their needs to be met. He's such a snuggle bug!

That's all I got for now! Trying to put together plans for Christmas......so much to think about!

Five? Really?

I cannot even believe that my Little J is actually a five year old! It just does not seem possible that he could really be 5! G and I were talking yesterday about how much our lives have changed since Little J came along. The day Little J arrived, we were so overjoyed and could not wait to embark on our adventure as a family of 3 knowing that we wanted to add more little ones. We could not have even begun to imagine what was in store for us. We had on huge pairs of rose colored glasses when we decided to join the ranks of parenthood....little did we know just how joyful the joys would be and just how heartbreaking some of the lows could be.

Little J's diagnosis of Angelman Syndrome is still such a pivotal moment in our lives. One that both G and I can replay over and over in our heads. I remember exactly what the doctors office looked like and the look on her face when she had to break the news to us. It's been a hard road to come to terms with and sometimes the road is very smooth and sometimes it is extremely bumpy! I have to say though, that every milestone Little J reaches, I am just beyond joyful. What a true and honest blessing Little J is to us. He is the epitome of unconditional love. He makes us so proud with every new step he takes and every new skill he learns.

Some of the most amazing joys in this journey have come from Princess J. She is so caring and loving to Little J. She brings him toys when he drops them, helps alert us when she knows he's about to do something he shouldn't (such a tattle tale) or when she knows he needs us. The first time he walked a short distance independently she clapped for him....she knew just how amazing it was! They go after eachother in typical sibling fashion as well. When she wants to be the diva, even Little J can't sway her. For his birthday today, she tried to convince me he wanted a Hello Kitty cake too! I cannot wait to see Baby J follow her lead in caring about Little J. I know that because of Little J, aside from mommy and daddy, they will both really know unconditional love, they will both have caring and compassionate hearts and what amazing people Little J's influence will help them become. In turn, their milestones and example will influence Little J to keep working and to strive to do the things he wants to do. While I'm not a "pie in the sky" type of person, I know for Little J ANYTHING is possible!

Five years ago today, I was taking my first peek into they eyes of my beautiful baby boy, my beautiful angel from God. Five years ago today, I was looking into the eyes of a baby with a pure and good loving heart and I know that his heart will always remain that way. It will never be jaded. Today, I wish my Little J a very Happy 5th Birthday! Mommy and Daddy love you so very much!

More photos to come after Friday! We're having a little party in his classroom! I still had to get photos to day for his actual birthday though! <3

Happy Turkey Day!

Wow! So much to be thankful for this year! All those smiles from the other day are just the beginning! I am so thankful to have such a wonderful family! Not only my wonderful husband and beautiful children, but our extended family as well. We sure missed all of them this Thanksgiving. It was just the 5 of us, but we didn't skimp on the trimmings! So thankful for all that we have.

This was only the second time I've made a turkey, but it turned out nice and juicy! Yummo! We had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole and we still have pumpkin and apple pie to devour! My poor hubby is a bit under the weather, so pretty much today was a jammie day for the kiddos. I did get Princess J dressed later in the day to play with the camera a little. She's a wild little diva, so she definatley gave me a run!

It's a tough balance to get Princess J to look at the camera, get it to focus, get the white balance right, get the focus right and everything else we learned at Krista's workshop. It was fun playing around though! Maybe tomorrow after a little early morning Black Friday fun, I'll play some more in the afternoon!

We hope you all had a beautiful and happy Thanksgiving!

{Smiles and Frowns}

So I picked up this idea from Krista quite awhile ago and thought it was a cute idea. I never implemented it, but I think now is a good time to do it! There is quite a bit going on around here....some good and some....not so good....

Smiles:
The care and concern that Princess J is showing for both her big brother and her little brother. Today, she wanted to play ball with both of them. She actively tried to engage Little J in a game of catch...Little J is good at catching, but not so good at throwing and then wanted to include Baby J....needless to say, the ball just whacked him in the head (it was a very soft ball..so no injury occured). She was very sad when I told her that Baby J was just too little to play ball with. Then tonight, she was laying in bed with me while I was feeding Baby J and she wanted to help hold the bottle while he ate.

Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Theraputics (FAST). All the work that they are doing to find a cure and treatments for AS! A Gala is being held to raise money for all the great work they are doing!


Grocery deliver by Safeway...1 hour early too!

Excited to pick up and borrow a new lens to try out on my camera! I see a little photo shoot with the kiddos in the VERY near future!

Gingerbread Lattes and Carmel Brulee Lattes!

Got a nice "tweet" from Jacqueline Laurita. I know I'm such a dork, but it's my brush with reality TV and she seems so sweet and genuine. :D

A few minutes in the day to read a good book!

Frowns:

Not enough hours in the day!

Trying to find time to pack up the scrap room to move it...not successful.

Missing my creative time with paper, scissors and glue.

Little J's teacher has been sick and was briefly in the hospital.

A couple of people I've been praying for have passed away in the last week.I didn't know either of them, but their stories and their courageous battles touched my heart. One was a young boy with a rare disease and the other a young mother of 2 young boys who battled Leukemia. Sending continued prayers to their families for comfort and peace. Hug your families tight and make sure you tell them you love them as often as you can!

Little J's continuous mischeiviousness is making life a little difficult lately. He doesn't understand danger and has no fear, so this mama is a little on edge lately.

That we are not able to attend the event in Chicago in December by FAST to raise money and awareness for Angelman Syndrome and research to find a CURE!

----------------------------------The next blog entry will have photos....I Promise!-----------

{Crazy Random}

See....I told you I was back!



This week has been crazy busy, with tons of appointments! Thankfully, we made it through without too much trouble.

Monday was the craziest of all! Little J had his clinic appointment with CCS, Little J had to go to school, Princess J had her speech appointment and then we were off to meet with the school district. Craziness that all those appointments and running around occured btween 8:30am and 10:45am!

Tuesday Princess J had a hearing test appointment. Originally she was supposed to go on July 30th, but Baby J made his appearance on the 29th, soooo needless to say we didn't make it. Everything went fine with her hearing test except that she didn't want to put anything on her head or in her ears! Talk about DRAMA! This girl can scream and throw and tantrum with the best of them. They got enough information to say that hearing does not appear to be affecting her ability for expressive speech, so that's a good thing. I think it's good old fashioned stubborness at play....wonder where she gets that from? She'll return in 6mos for a follow up visit to try and get more detailed information on each ear, but for now all is good.

Wednesday, we heard that Little J's teacher was in the hospital with pneumonia! We've since heard that he's at home recovering now, but keep him in your prayers! He is such a great teacher and so genuinely concerned for his students. They've all been in and out sick over the last month...including Little J, so it's definately going around and this cold/flu season is starting out with a bang! My pet peeve has always been that some parents send their kids to school knowing they are sick! Often times I know it's a daycare issue, but please!

Saturday, I was so lucky to take a photography workshop by Krista! You can see the photo shoot she did for us this summer here! She is an awesome photographer and friend! She gave us tons of information and I'm actually beginning to understand a little bit about how to get the photos I want! It's going to take some practice and a different lens than what I have......insert Christmas wish here....LOL! I'm actually going to borrow the lens I think I want and test it out a little bit and see what I can come up with before I put it on the official wish list. My goal is to become a better photographer so I can capture all those moments with my littles.....time is going by so quickly and I don't want to forget a minute of it! I'm looking forward to her future workshops! Need to get a better understanding of photoshop as well....to fix all my bloopers! LOL! For now, I think Krista gave me just enough information to work my brain for a little while and give me something to play around with....just in time to try and get photos of the kiddos for our Christmas card! Hopefully, with Josh out of school for the week I'll be able to find some time to play around with the kiddos and the camera.....

So much to do and not enough time to do it! G got the Christmas lights up outside and they are just about ready to go for Thursday. Still gotta get the tree up and the Christmas dishes out too! I love Christmas and all the fun, but it's a lot of work! I liked it better when I wasn't the adult who had to do it! LOL! G is better at getting it done than I, but I'm going to be better this year! LOL! I also need to pack up my scraproom and move it! Oy! I need to make a dent in it this week! Otherwise Baby J may be 18 before he gets his own room! We're moving my scraproom downstairs again, Princess J is moving to my scraproom and Baby J is taking her room.

So much random rambling! If you made it this far, thanks for sticking with me and thanks for coming back after my hiatus! <3

Let's Start Over....Please?

This poor blog has been overly neglected this year. First it was neglected, because sleep seemed to be the most important thing while Little Peanut was in control of my body. Now that he's here, it's been neglected while we try to get used to being outnumbered by the littles in the house, overcome illness' (nothing serious) and keep our daily routine going. I love this blog and really want to get back to it, but I think I was over pressuring myself to have pictures everytime and really have something overwhelmingly wonderful to say.....

Let's catch up, shall we?

Little J- He's been a bit of a challenge lately, but overall is doing amazingly well. He's settled into his kindergarten class and seems to really love it and love his teacher and the aide that primarily works with him. He's making lots of friends and we're so thankful that he's got another "angel" buddy at school with him! He's still not a functional walker, but he's walking further and further independently all the time....so it's a matter of time! He's also discovering things that I had hoped would remain a secret or of non-interest for years to come....I'll leave it at that.

Princess J- She is still the sassy little diva she's always been. She is such a riot to be around! This is the first year she really "got" Halloween and she had a blast! Sadly, Josh was sick, so Halloween wasn't everything we had planned, but she had a great time. She can't say "Trick or Treat" yet, so when we took her door to door, we had her say "BOO!" when anyone opened the door. She thinks she was scary! She still runs around the house screaming "BOO!" to scare us! It's too funny!

Little Peanut-Is going to be a linebacker! He was born the smallest, yet he is growing the fastest! He is my little super chub! Currently he likes sleeping in a seated position....so thank goodness for baby swings and bouncy chairs, otherwise this family would be awake 24/7! He has (knock on wood) stayed healthy while Little J and Princess J have battled some colds and Little J a flu of some sort that is going around his classroom.

Everyone here has thankfully had an easy time getting our seasonal flu vaccines and our H1N1 vaccine. Little Peanut is too young to vaccinate, so it was important we all got the shots to do our best to protect him from what I fear is going to be a very crazy winter for colds and flus.

I will do my best to play catch up from past photos, but am not making any promises. I'm going to try and start fresh here and try to give you lots of photo love going forward!

The photo above is just before my parents left to go home. Little Peanut is only 1 month old and I just love the smile on Little J's face! My poor Little Diva was not happy about being contained for a photo opportunity....

CHEEZ-IT THEIF!

After a stock up trip to Costco, Princess J showed off her expert skill at opening doors. She took a quick peek into the pantry and stole her new favorite item. She was initially very stealthy and hauled this huge

box all the way to her room without anyone noticing. It was when she became giddy with excitment that we figured her out. Perfect opportunity for a photo shoot and to catch her little cheezer smile!

Heart Attack at the Zoo!

Today, Grandma, Grandpa, Little J, Princess J, Baby J and I headed for a day at the zoo. Since Baby J arrived, the kids have been pretty cooped up in the house as we settle into a new normal. Today, we had to get the kiddos out of the house and test the waters out in the world.

What a great day we had! We got to see lots of animals and we were pretty impressed with the Oakland Zoo. I can't even remember the last time I was there, but I'm sure I probably paid the kids admission fee! LOL!

Princess J loved the River Dog, the Giraffes and the Elephants. Baby J was a trooper and was soooo good! He made it so easy for mommy! He enjoyed the fresh air and snoozed as we strolled around and entertained Little J and Princess J. He even slept through their lunch and woke wanting to be fed just as we were all finishing up our lunches! What a perfect baby!

You'll notice the extra photo of Princess J and she doesn't look happy!


We tried giving her a few opportunities to be out of the stroller and check things out. I really was trying to get a photo of her with the Giraffes, but as I've posted before, she has one speed......FAST! She took off running down the path so fast! We had to reign her in and put her back in the stroller. This did not make her happy in the least. She got over it pretty quick and when we gave her freedom again to check out the lions she was pretty good about sticking close to Grandma or mommy. So good about holding hands and everything!

As we were preparing to leave, Grandma decided to get the kiddos some shirts for their visit at the zoo. We left Little J and Baby J out in the strollers in the shade with Grandpa and too Princess J inside to the gift shop. She was having a great time checking out all the stuffed animals, the books and the animal figures. She was being soooo good about staying put and holding hands and just being a good little princess in general. Then, something caught her eye and she took off running faster than a speeding bullet! I followed in the direction she went calling out her FULL name and by that I mean First, Middle and Last! The only problem is she was no where to be seen! Thankfully, Grandma caught her coming around another corner! She pretty much did a circle around me from the direction she initially went. I was sooooo SUPER FREAKED OUT! Needless to say, she got into big trouble and her freedom was over. From now on, I can guarantee that my kid will be one of those kiddos with the "backpack leash" attached to her!

In case you are wondering about the second photo of Princess J, she is imitating the elephants! It is soooo stinkin' cute!

Happy 4th Birthday ol' Blog!

Who knew! Life has changed so much since I started this ol' blog! Little J was almost a year old when I started this and who knew all the life changing things we would go through just eight months later! Since I started this blog, Little J was diagnosed with Angelman Syndrome, he's started and finished pre-school and will soon start kindergarten. I'm glad I had this blog when our family went through that very difficult period after Little J was diagnosed. It's been very helpful to be able to talk about everything from his amazing accomplishments, the diagnosis, the difficulties that Little J faces and just his smiling little face. We also welcomed Princess J to our family and she has just been an amazing gem! She is so stinkin' cute and so stinkin' smart and just one little pistol of a drama queen little girl. We also welcomed Baby J just a couple of weeks ago!

I'm so happy with my sweet little family of 5 and hope you will continue to follow our adventures in this joyful life of ours....with a little drama on the side sometimes! LOL!

Uh-Uh

So, we spent a lot of time telling Princess J about her new little brother. She spent many nights laying in bed with mommy and checking out the baby belly. She was so sweet and gentle and would give it kisses.

She was a little upset the day of the delivery, because mommy and daddy had to rush out of the house to head for the hospital. She and Little J stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa said that Princess J kept grabbing his hand and taking him to the door wanting to go too. The kiddos were a little out of sorts that night and didn't get to sleep until late.....not that they were not in bed, they just wouldn't go to sleep! Daddy came home pretty late, as peanut and I didn't get to a room until almost midnight after the delivery.

The next day Grandma brought Princess J over to the hospital to see me and to meet Little Peanut. We asked her where her little brother was and she pointed (as usual) to mommy's belly. When we told her no and showed her Little Peanut, she just said uh-uh and turned her head away. Even after bringing him home, she's still not completely sold on the whole little brother deal. She's been a little mad at mommy lately for bringing Little Peanut home! LOL! She's slowly....very slowly warming up to him though. I give her another month and she'll be just as smitten with him as the rest of us! LOL!

I just had to get these cute little photos of Princess J the other day. It's so hard to snap her photo though, because she only operates in one speed......FAST! Can't wait to sit down and order photos and get back to some scrapping!