Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from our toy box to yours.  Little Guy LOVED trick or treating, he just couldn't get enough of it and was SO excited every time someone handed him candy.  I have a feeling he will be sorely disappointed the next time we go downtown and there aren't hundreds of children running around and adults waiting outside to fill his treat bucket.  He was especially excited with all the children who came to HIS house- there were two scary masks that got the better of him, but other than that, he was all smiles all night.  Gabe thinks I mmmaaayyy have been more excited than Little Guy, but I am pretty sure it was even.  I can't wait to see how much he loves it next year.  Now I just have to think of a costume to top his little Woody (a HUGE thanks to Aunt Mary for loaning me the starter costume that she made FIFTEEN years ago!).

Here's our 2012 Halloween Season collage.  What fun we had at the Bishop Pumpkin Patch with the Santopadres, Silveyville Pumpkin Patch with playgroup, our Pumpkins and Popcorn party, and Trick-or-Treating!

Night Two

Well night two went better than night one, so that has to be a HUGE plus!  Little Guy woke twice and was much easier to console back to sleep, even though he wasn't getting his milk.  He didn't dive into the cereal bar until 5:00 am, so here's hoping we can get him used to eating a big dinner and then being ready to eat at breakfast time, with no snacks in between.  I am still getting plenty of cuddles throughout the night, which is fine by me, so we'll see how the rest of the week goes.  Tonight could pose a potential setback, it's Halloween...

Night One in the Books

Well, night one went...it wasn't horrible, it wasn't the best sleep I've ever gotten.  We nursed at bedtime and with some water and a cereal bar at 3:30 am, we made it to our 6:30 wake up time.  His crying broke my heart, I'd be lying if I said there weren't a few tears shed on my part, but we powered through together and longer sleeping stretches are on the horizon.  I thought we had weathered the sleepless night pretty well, but guessing from the three plus hour nap we BOTH took this afternoon, we were pretty tired.  So we're at it again tonight, and I am hoping for a night at least as good as last night, if not better!  And even though we were pretty beat, we got all dolled up and headed out to our playgroup costume party!!  What a sweet sight to see all our babes dressed up.  There were tigers, bam-bams, sharks, monkeys, lions, flowers, and Woody.  The group photo is coming, EVERY last one of the babes was SCREAMING, but here's a solo shot.  I can't wait to see our whole Toy Story gang dressed up tomorrow!

Night weaning: Day One

So I have been tossing around the idea to night wean Little Guy- it's not that I don't LOVE LOVE LOVE nursing, it's just that I need a few more hours of sleep to really be my most functioning mommyself, and I think the all night buffet routine I have created isn't the best way to get said sleep.  That being said, I've asked around and done some research on just how to go about night weaning...the most common response I get is, "When you find something that works, will you let me know?"  Not one to be discouraged, we're going to give it a try this week.  I am already sad for Little Guy; he LOVES LOVES LOVES his milk in the middle of the night and I have a feeling the sippy cup of water and light snack I have all ready to offer him in lieu of the good stuff might not make the cut.  I'll report back tomorrow on Attempt Number One: Night Weaning...

Weekend Recap in Photos

We're home!  After a fun filled weekend away, it's nice to be home...where there's an endless supply of laundry and vacuuming to make one feel like they never left...Here's a few quick shots from our weekend-  Both of Gabe's grandparents were at the wedding, so we were able to snag some great four generation photos, along with a photo of all the GREAT grandchildren, and some cute family photos to round it all out.  We'll have a chance to update these photos again next July when Kim and Luke tie the knot :) !

This is why I became a dad

We are off celebrating Scott and Jennifer this weekend, and so far it has been a fun warm trip!  We arrived yesterday after an uneventful flight (the best kind!), we arrived to gorgeous summer-like weather!  Little Guy was so excited to be in Southern California that right upon arrival, he promptly knelt down, ran his hands along the airport floor, and then licked his palms...what a delicious way to start off our trip...Today was the big day, and Little Guy looked deja-vuishly handsome in his vest.  After a long night of partying, we headed back to the hotel- Little Guy was so pooped, he fell asleep in the car AND stayed asleep on the walk from the car and while getting stripped down, diaper changed, and pjs put on.  We always fight over who gets to carry him while he's sleeping (it's probably one of the most precious things ever!) and Daddy won this one.  While we were walking in, he said, "This is what I always thought of when I dreamt about being a dad"...pretty sweet!

Right Around the Corner

Halloween is right around the corner, YIKES!!, and I am still only half finished with all our costumes...I was feeling like I was really getting stuff done, until I looked at my costume pile and realized I only have six days (three of which we're off celebrating Scott and Jen) to get it all done!  So I guess I can half heartily pat myself on the back for getting my bills paid and closet organized, neither of which will help us look super cute come October 31st, but I still have that daunting to-do list..

TP

Well the Giants made it to the World Series.  We are happy campers in this house.  Little Guy is quickly learning how to cheer and run around giving high fives, two skills he has yet to perfect from watching his Daddy's Dolphins on Sunday morning.  Aside from cheering on the Giants, we've made a pretty big move in Little Guy's room.  He's phased out the crib, Lord help us, and is trying out a bed mattress on the floor.  It's killing his grandma that he doesn't have a coordinating bed set on this mattress, but we're just kicking around some new sleeping arrangements, so we'll try it out for awhile before we run out and get new decor.  So far, he's doing okay with the going to bed (once he's had his stories, his milk, and is plenty satisfied with enough rocking), and then when he wakes in the night, he toddles into us (something that makes my heart smile) and we bring him back to bed pick him up and tuck him in between us.  We're hoping to muster up some more willpower, but three in the morning sneaks up on you, and who doesn't love to wake up to this face every morning???

Bishop Pumpkin Patch

What a fun day!  We ventured out to Wheatland to Bishops Pumpkin Patch.  The Santopadres promised it would be worth the drive, and they were right!  From train rides, to petting zoos, pig races, to tunnel slide, corn dogs, hay rides, flower farms, and of course, PUMPKINS, there was fun everywhere you turned.  There were also people everywhere you turned, it was a packed house; we couldn't figure out how many people were there, but Gabe was thinking it wouldn't be far off to say maybe 10,000 visitors in the day.....crowds or not, we can't wait for next year!

 

 

Little Guy LOVED feeding the goats!

Little Guy was pretty excited to ride his very own real life Cactus!

 

 

 

 

No Rest For the Weary

Little Guy had quite the day today.  It started out with an adventure to Daddy's work where he got to run with the baby goats, work the squeeze shoot, and even do a little driving (Mommy's not too sure about this last one!)  Daddy was in heaven having Little Guy as his co-pilot.  Mommy stayed in town to work on the Halloween costumes and IKEA projects- while I was busy enough (there's always plenty to do), it was the longest stretch of alone time I've had in over 14 months, and I was sad!  Daddy says he's going to take Little Guy more often if it always results in a clean house and a freshly assembled eight drawer dresser...I assured him it most certainly will not...After some refueling naps, we headed over to the Santopadres for our first annual Pumpkins and Popcorn Party.  It was a smashing success.  You can check out more details over at Teaspoons and Twine!  After rocking an extra late bedtime, Little Guy was pooped....there's no rest for the weary though, we're heading out for a Sunday Funday Family Pumpkin Patch Adventure tomorrow, stay tuned....

14 months already!

Happy 14 month birthday Little Guy!!  Who can believe he's already 14 months old!?!?  Even with 14 months under his belt, he's still a bit baffled with the Old Navy mannequins.  It was too funny to watch him try to figure out why all the mannequins weren't talking or waving back to him, he's not used to getting such blank stares from his captive audiences :) 

14 months old and hoping for a Giant World Series!

He nose it

Little Guy loves a good tumble, or atleast I have to assume he does since he does it all day long.  Today was an extra special tumble, a feat not accomplished by many...a tumble with no hands!  That's right, while visiting our friends at Nelda Mundy, Little Guy decided a handless face plant would be a good way to make himself at home.  We made sure his nose wasn't broken, thanks to Fire Fighter Brian, and I thought that was the end of it...well, as the day went on, the nose got worse and worse...


Little Guy's battle wound.  Carpet: 1, Little Guy: 0



SVU

We had a close call with our bargain shopping today.  Okay, some might not call it a close call, but it had some Law and Order:SVU potential (wouldn't we love an Elliot/Liv reunion!!)...I came across a used cozy coup on my Facebook bargains page (that's a dangerous obsession hobby on its own!) and lucky me, it was available for pick up.  We quickly set up a post-nap time rendez-vous and after a few texts, I had an address and was good to go.  Fast forward two hours, I arrive at the spot, only to be met with a vacant house and no cozy coup anywhere...we returned home empty handed only to be texted that they were now home...we arrived at the house again, and she goes to her car to get it- the car she said she didn't have earlier in the day, hence us having to drive to her...I was pretty sure that our house was being robbed or we were being set up for potential robberies while I was traipsing across town.  Good news, we weren't robbed and Little Guy has a cozy coup to zoom around in...

It IS a conspiracy!

I knew it!!!  In case you've missed it, I've had a challenging time of late in regards to misplacing Little Guy's stuff.  I can't wait until he's big enough to be responsible for his own things, then I can blame someone else when everything winds up missing!  While giving Little Guy his nightly bath, I noticed an amber necklace on the bathroom counter...Hark, I think Rochelle must have found it while cleaning today and I make a mental note to thank her!  Fast forward to the hubby strolling in from his trip to Pac Bell Park- I inform him of the great news, one necklace has been recovered...he asks me if it was behind the picture frame in the bathroom...Ummm, yes it was and how did you know that??  He can barely contain his laughter as he pulls out the other missing necklace that he had found on Thursday at my parents' house.  He's not a fan of the necklaces, so he figured he'd just forget to mention it...I told him I just may forget to only put one necklace on Little Guy from now on... I say two will be twice as effective anyways!  On a non-conspiracy side note- we had our final dose of the one year shots today, Little Guy was an absolute trooper!

  He was pooped after his shots and he needed to cuddle with his mommy.  How could I not LOVE nap time with this sweet angel!?!  And after naps we ran errands, this included a stop for some chocolate ice cream.

Road Trip!!!!

We took a short road trip this weekend!  The drive wasn't short, but the destination time was.  We traveled up to Oregon to BBQ with some of Daddy's work associates.  Little Guy did an AMAZINGLY awesome job in his car seat all the way through Redding, Weed, the Oregon/California border and then finally on to Fort Klamath.  I only snapped a few photos of him in his new party time get-up.  It was super cute, and would have been even cuter if he had worn his darling winter coat...he wanted nothing to do with the coat and would only wear his little sweatshirt in the 30 degree weather.  Some highlights for Little Guy included picking up and putting down pine cones, watching big trucks drive by, and eating his monthly share of bananas.  The cutest moment of the trip???  Little Guy bending down to hug all the old dogs at the BBQ, he was too sweet with the senior puppies.

All ready with his new clothes and Merrels

Knock Knock Knock, who's in there?



Six and counting

We've got six teeth ladies and gentlemen!  Little Guy's top right tooth broke through, giving him a total of four across the top and two on the bottom!  Now his mommy just needs to find his teething necklace she misplaced last night...that's our third necklace (I am beginning to think my husband is behind these lost necklaces, but he is maintaining his innocence...)  Cutting teeth is a tough job, so it worked out well that by default we spent the day relaxing at home.  EVERYONE we know is sick, and not the sniffly kind of sick, the yucky bathroom kind of sick, so we stayed home, alone, where it's germ free...only after dark did we venture out for great grandma's birthday.  It was a yummy fun time and then right before we left, Little Guy threw up!  Not to worry though, it seems it was just too much delicious food.   Phew, we dodged that bullet!

Little Guy HATED being in the pack and play with Brayden, but we snapped a picture anyways!

Pumpkin Patch Pals

We love our Tuesday playgroup- we've made great friends (both Little Guy and Mommy) and it's always a highlight to see what yummy snacks are being made!  We decided we were finally ready to venture outside the comfort of Tuesdays, so we took our first big playgroup field trip today to the local pumpkin patch.  Little Guy looked quite the part with his scary spider tee.  Our trip was a smashing success- we rode the ATV train, hit up the new duck pond, went down the slide a gazillion times, ate a picnic lunch and even left with a perfect little pumpkin.  Naturally, when you have six mamas, you're going to have a few photos taken...

Getting a photo with both of us looking is next to impossible...

Deep in thought

Just chillaxin' while he waits for the train ride to start.

All the mamas and their boys, plus little Miss Maddy!

Liquid Gold

What a difference amoxicillin makes!  After just one dose, we are feeling SOOOO much better!  Little Guy's doctor got him feeling all better with an inhaler and some of the good pink stuff!  So after some much needed doctor TLC and a long nap, we headed out to oak-town!  We tailgated with the boys, hoping to help cheer the A's to a do or die victory!  We had a great time with Daddy, g'ma, g'pa, Uncle Brian and even Uncle Mike from Indiana.  Wouldn't you believe it...only a few cars down from us was a HUGE bunch of balloons.  I am pretty sure I made 87 trips trips down there in between hot dogs and lamb chops.  Tailgating was great, but we left the gaming to the big boys.  We headed home for our warm beds and instant replay- and it's a good thing we did, because we got to re-watch the A's victory over and over!  Two more to go!!!

We were so nervous that Little Guy would make a break for it and be running loose in the parking lot...good thing we had a spare dog leash in our car.  I've never been a fan of the child leash, but I think this just brings it to a whole new level.

Little Guy and two of his favorite great uncles.  Uncle Mike is always bringing the crazy from Indiana and there's Uncle Brian being suckered led to the balloons.

Sick in Bed

Momma called the doctor and the doctor said...I wish the cure was just no more monkeys jumping on the bed.  Little Guy has had a cold that has lingered for two weeks now.  We thought he was all better, but it came back in full force last night and the end result was him and I shacked up in the rocker, trying to get some sleep.  We spent today cruising around the house with a small trip out to pick up an inhaler to try and open his airways to help his coughing.  Here's hoping the inhaler and the Benedryl (in case he has any allergies that may be flaring up) help us all get a little better night sleep.

Classy Little Joint

You know how old memories can play nasty little tricks on you...sometimes they make your childhood seem like it was all rainbows and ponies and other times you only remember eating nothing but sugar free cereal (my husband swears this is the case, his mom says he wasn't quite so neglected!)?  Well, I remember my childhood filled with sunny days, laughing and running around Pixie Playland, filling up on pink popcorn and taking a spin on the speed boats- I remember it like it was yesterday and it was glorious.  We went back to Pixie Playland today and I have to say, I owed my husband some kind of explanation when we were riding the dilapidated merry-go-round with a tarp offering shades where the striped tent top once stood.  I had talked it up- a real family fun adventure, something Little Guy would love, which he did, but I hadn't planned on how run down the park would be and how sad it would make me to remember how nice it had once been.  But bless my dad's "the glass is half full" heart- he noted that the small crowd meant less(none) waiting for rides and we were able to park front and center.  And my husband found some inspiration for some matching airbrushed jerseys that he may or may not be lucky enough to get for Christmas (he better be on Santa's nice list!), while I survived a visit to my personal hell, the duck pond!  So it may have been a blow to my childhood memory, but it was a fun day to make new, if not slightly comical, memories.

Little Guy and Daddy riding the cars!

I was in personal hell and Little Guy was unfazed.  He was more excited to eat the bread himself then feed the ducks!

Otherwise Engaged

Today we went to an engagement celebration for Uncle Luke and Aunt Kim.  They are getting ready to get married next July, and in the meantime, we're partying it up.  Little Guy looked especially handsome in his suspenders and argyle sweater, but his outfit was missing that je ne sais quoi...

You guessed it- he just needed some sparkly pink sunglasses to complete his look!

Mexican Fiesta

Motherhood changes everything about you...EVERYTHING, including what you deem acceptable/normal topics for conversation, such as POOP!  So in true motherhood fashion, I have to report how amazingly excited I was to change Little Guy's SOLID poopy diaper today!  For all those not knee deep in cloth diapers, a solid poop meant no diaper spraying, just a simple shake of the poop into the toilet!  Hooray for solid food and therefore solid poop :)

And here's a sneak peek at Little Guy's "before" Halloween costume.  He's part of a Toy Story entourage and will be playing the role of "Woody".  I am simply in love with everything about his costume- the fact that I got an awesome pattern to follow from my aunt who made the same costume 15(!!!) years ago and the other fact that I scored all the other pieces at the consignment store and there was even a crumbled dollar in the pants pocket, SCORE!!  The slippery cowboy boots complete the outfit and also leave Little Guy unable to walk, so we have to work on a shoe alternative.  Stay tuned for the completed outfit in three weeks!

Going Crazy....

You know those days when you feel like you're walking around in a fog?  When you need to write EVERYTHING down and could benefit from a to do list that included reminders for brushing your teeth, putting on a bra, and grabbing Little Guy's shoes (it's always the shoes these days!)? 23 months ago I could blame it on preggo brain, and then 13 months ago it was chalked up to new mommy brain...but today, I am left with little to blame it on besides me just going CRAZY!  We literally spent 25 minutes in the Costco parking lot today searching the car for my cell phone.  I knew we had it in the car because Little Guy was holding it while I loaded the car.  I unpacked and repacked the Armada a hundred times (that may be a SLIGHT exaggeration...).  I asked the Costco cart guy if he had seen a phone in the parking lot, he said no...just as I was about to lose it, he yelled for my attention, it was still in the cart I had returned!  And the kicker is, I had already double checked the cart, which is apparently only helpful if you double check the cart you actually used.

New Shoes

As you know, I was a mess about our lost sandal last month, only to be relieved when I found it three days later in the parking lot...and then we lost it again a few weeks ago.  This time, I know it made it home, which leaves me to suspect that Little Guy put it away for me- in a place where I will probably never find it.  That being said, I have been in a shoe flux- we have some darling fall shoes, but they don't exactly go with the shorts Little Guy is still wearing in this blazing heat!  We borrowed a pair from his buddy Jackson (YAY!!) but we needed ones just a few centimeters bigger...Nope, I didn't find a pair on Facebook, my newest obsession for bargain hunting, but instead at a local Just Between Friends sale!  A BRAND NEW PAIR OF SIZE 5 SANDALS FOR 5 DOLLARS!!  I felt like I had won the lottery; my husband was too distracted by the previously owned undies being sold to really celebrate my victory!!  We finished off our day by heading over to Uncle Luke's and Auntie Kim's to show off Little Guy's new kicks and enjoy some dinner with our Girimonte cousins.  Daddy was in heaven with the freshly caught abalone and corn flake potatoes!  It was a nice midweek dinner treat!

Say Yes to the Dress

We spent the afternoon wedding dress shopping with Auntie Katie!!  It was so much fun and even more fun, SHE FOUND ONE!!!  It is stunningly beautiful and includes a veil, something she wasn't sure she wanted, but ended up being something she TOTALLY NEEDED (and as tempting as it is, I won't be trying the veil on everyday, even though it's hanging in my closet...)  It was a little surreal to see my baby sister in white lace, and it came as no surprise that she looked beautiful in every dress- even the ones picked out by the brave men who dared to join our shopping trip!  The dress is ordered and on its way, it should arrive the first week of November!  Then we only have 10 months to wait until we see her walk down the aisle to become Mrs. Mirch!!  In the meantime, we have plenty to do to keep busy...

I may have a little veil envy...matching bride and groom attire...

Little Guy side note- He climbed up onto our elevated king size bed ALL BY HIMSELF this morning...the climbing stage has begun...