TIme is Flying!

Our Family has been SUPER busy, and it seems there are not enough hours in the day. I am lucky to have 20 minutes to myself! The only way I am able to blog at this current moment, 2 of the 3 kids are in bed! Our days have been filled with baseball, and two weeks ago, the entire house had the nasty FLU bug. I have had the bug in my house already 2 times this year, but we were the lucky house to get the FLU 3 times! Previously, we have all had it at different times, but this time was a lot different. Matt had it for 5 days, and as soon as he was all better, and back to school, the rest of my household had it. Trevor and I barely slept, the kids were so incredibly sick, and there was nothing we could do, but hold them, snuggle with them, and at the same time, take care of ourselves. It was exhausting, but we are so glad to have everyone in good health...

Matthew... He is playing basketball for his school, as well as baseball for league. He is playing in the highest division for the second year in a row (Majors). His baseball schedule is very demanding. We are at the ball park 3 times a week. His first game is this coming Saturday, so we will have baseball 5 days a week, starting next week. He loves it! I love his coaches motto though, "Family, School then baseball!" I appreciate a coach that wants the kids to have a good family relationship and good grades. Last week I had to pull him early because we had a "mother/son game night/dance" to go to at his school. I was so excited to have some one on one time with him. It is not too often we get to hang out just us. We had to dress in sports apparel. Most boys and moms matched, but Matt and I couldn't. The only team we both agree on are the Sharks, but wearing a long sleeve jersey in a gym full of boys who are hormonal and run hot, I opted to wear my Giants shirt. Matt wore his A's shirt under a football jersey, not supporting my Niners. Once we got there, I was anxious to play games with him and hang out. He had a different plan. It was bye Mom, I am going to hang out with my friends... the onlytime he wanted to be near me was after the pie eating contest, when he was feeling sick.  I have a Pre-Teen! I am chop liver... But I was grateful he wanted to even go.

 
Mason... Now 7 months old!!! My little baby is growing up way to fast! I feel like just yesterday I was holding him in my arms at the hospital! Now he sits up with support still, but occasionally on his own, but is FULLY mobile. He army crawls mostly and is getting into everything! He likes to eat applesauce, pureed bananas, sweet potatoes and squash. He is finally taking a bottle, but not from me. (we have a lot of wedding events coming up quickly, so in June Trevor will have the kids for 3 days by himself. Mason HAS to be able to take a bottle and not do middle of the night feedings at that point!) He Laughs all the time! Maddison is the funniest person to him. She constantly is entertaining him, and he likes when she is a little rough with him. She treats him like a rag doll, and he doesn't seem to mind (most of the time).  He started to eat Mum-Mums and now prefers those over anything else! Mason is such a happy, easy going baby! I just want to keep him exactly at this age forever! I love it!

Maddison... She can tell you she is 2 and a half and that her birthday is July 7. not 7th, but 7. She has been making new little friends at MOPS as well as at church, and a little girl at the baseball field. She is definitely bossy and aggressive with her friends. She gravitates to older children, or boys. When she plays with them, there is NO drama. But girls her own age, there is constant friction. Yes, my daughter has a Very strong personality (the apple does not fall far from the tree). We are working with her on sharing. This is a very hard thing for her, but when she does it, we praise her! She is 2 1/2, she will eventually get it. She is fully potty trained, but I still put her in a diaper for naps and bedtime. She sometimes wakes up completely dry, but it is too soon to take the diapers away completely.

She also just helped me plant a little garden. We are growing tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, snap peas,basil, jalapenos, and rosemary.(only planting things I know my family will eat) I can't wait for the little baby sprouts to start popping up. She has her own watering can, and once we get them to start growing we will transplant them outside. I am very excited to have my OWN garden, and I am enjoying the process of taking care of our crops with my daughter.



It was raining and she was so bored in the house, so I hung up colorful construction paper all over the house, would shout a color and she would run and go get it. This kept her entertained for over an hour, and it pooped her out



We also had a scare in her mouth (I thought it was an infection) so Maddie got to go to the Dentist for the first time! She did great. She let the Hygienist look inside her mouth, as well as the Dentist. She was not keen on laying down , but they were happy to look inside her mouth, while she tilted her head back. Thank goodness it was just a secondary Molar coming in. She has three teeth coming in right now. No wonder the poor girl kept saying her mouth hurts.


Hopefully another update will come soon!

Fun in the Snow

Trevor and I took the little ones up to our friend, Brian's cabin on January 27-29th. Matthew was in San Jose with his Dad. We wanted to get out of our own house, and just relax at a cabin, enjoy the snow and spend some time with our kiddos.

Last year we took Matt and Maddison to the snow, and Trevor and I took turns sitting in the car with Maddison because she wanted nothing to do with it. It is amazing what happens in a year. This time, she wanted to play in the snow without her snow clothes, in her pajamas and little Mary Jane shoes. She was so excited to build a snow man with Daddy that was "her" size. She named him George. (Maddison has a fascination with pigs, and loves to watch the show Olivia and Peppa Pig. For those of you who are not familiar with Peppa Pig, It is a cartoon of a family who has a baby big named George, Peppa Pig the sister, Mommy Pig and Daddy Pig. They speak in British accents and Maddison thinks this how is HILARIOUS!)

One of the days we decided to go sledding in the snow. Maddison sat on my lap as well as Daddy's. Mason watched from the side, and would kick in excitement as we passed him, so Daddy of course thought he should get a turn! (I was a little nervous, of course) We went down the hill countless times, but of course when you go down, you must go up! Talk about exhaustion, but it was totally worth it! The expression on our little girls face, made the entire day worth it!

We have tons of pictures from our Big Snow weekend... You can tell the kids had a lot of fun! And another great thing about playing in the snow, in high elevation, it is a lot of exercise! So, when the kids went down, the slept DEEP! So Trevor and I go to enjoy having a couple drinks with our friend Brian!

 

Potty Training

Maddison had no interest in potty training for the longest time. Ever since her second birthday we have read books on potty training, Talking about being a big girl, wearing big girl panties, and finally one day it clicked. On January 5 after I changed her diaper, she wanted to run around the house naked.

I told her she can't pee pee on the floor and if she didn't wear a diaper she had to go potty on the toilet. She said "ok mommy"! Thirty minutes later I was getting nervous and told her mommy had to go potty and asked of she wanted to sit on her potty seat and go too.

We both sat down and to my surprise she went pee pee in her toilet! After I cleaned her, we washed hands and I picked her up butt naked, ran around the house screaming in excitement! She was laughing and I kept telling her I was so proud of her. We called her dad and left him a video message. Trevor was out of town and sent her a video message back. She watched it at least a half a dozen times.

I didn't want to pressure her, and she wanted to our a diaper in after that but the next day she went potty in the toilet 2 times. I knew she was ready to be potty trained. Later that night, we went to the dollar store and together we filled a basket of goodies to be her prizes. Maddison loved filling her own basket!

When we got home, i explained to her about her potty chart, and if she went potty she would get to pick a prize. She was so excited, and at that moment wanted to start. So she went potty and Earned her first prize.

The next morning she woke up and immediately put panties on. She had no accidents until after her nap. She ended up pooping on her pants. Trevor explained to her that she can poop in the toilet and that she can't in her pants. Later that day she ended up pooping two more times in the toilet!

The next day, Sunday, she stayed dry the entire day, and of course has gained a new confidence! She now will go into the bathroom by herself and turn the light on, take off her clothes, sit on her toilet and potty. We don't let her clean herself, although she wants to, then she will wash her hands.

Maddie prefers going potty baked. She takes off all her clothes in order to go the bathroom. Even though we tell her she can just pull down her panties, she only gets comfortable when she is completely naked. That is why she always looks naked in her potty pics. Trevor and I have to redress her all day! But it is worth it.

After she fills up her potty charts she gets to go to chuck e cheese. It only takes a week to complete. So, that is another motivator for her. I can't believe how easy this has been. I love how proud she is of herself! She tells everyone she is a big girl! We are so incredibly proud of her!

She loves tattoos!

Mason is 5 months old- January 5th.

On January 5th, Mason hit his 5 month mark. He is rolling over extremely fast and has started to scoot by pulling the blanket and carpet to pull himself. He also uses his head as a weight. His head will be down on the ground and he will put his little butt in the air and push with his legs to scoot. It is so funny. Poor little guys head is heavy for him so he put it down to rest...

He also loves to pull hair. My hair is basically up in a ponytail everyday because he likes to not only pull it, but eat it. I am constantly untangling Maddison's hair because as soon as she gets near him, that is the first thing he grabs.

Along with pulling hair, he also is interested  in whatever I am eating or drinking. He is quick too, so I have to watch my coffee cup. We let him try mashed potatoes, even though he is not old enough for food. He is definitely an Irish boy! Loves potatoes!

We are very blessed mason is a happy, easy going baby. He has found his little vocal box and occasionally gets loud, but it is a cute surprise when he does "talk". Otherwise he is pretty quiet and content. I can't believe how fast he is growing and developing.

Right now he is in 6 month clothing, a size 2 diaper and weighs about 14-15 lbs.  He wakes up 1-2 times in the middle of the night to eat. His hair is coming back in  but you can still find a bald spot on the back of his head. 

He has had a rash for two weeks all over his back. We put Benadryl cream all over it but at night and early in the morning it was back. I thought maybe it was the laundry detergent, so i rewashed all of his clothes in dreft. Then thought maybe a soap allergy, or reaction to eating potatoes. I was wrong.We had a nurse look at it and  It was heat rash! He slept with no shirt for two nights, and his rash was completely gone. He can no longer wear footsie pajamas because he runs too hot in those, so I just cut off the feet. His rash is gone and he is comfortable sleeping...

Our sweet boy loves to laugh, play peek a boo, and eating his toes. He just found them. Instead of sucking on his fist, he sucks on his toes. But if he has sock on, he just found his thumb as well. I make sure to take it out of his mouth as soon as he starts sucking on his thumb. That habit could lead to so many problems later.

With so much going on, 3 kids keep me busy, but enjoying every minute of it. I know they will only be small for so long and before I know it, they will be grown up :(

Christmas the season of giving

Our children have been and always are extremely blessed! They are loved by so many and I hope one day they understand that is the greatest gift of all. To Love others and be loved! But since they are still small, they think about the presents! And believe me, they were SPOILED!!! Between all their grandparents, aunts, uncles and family friends, you can say these kids were not short on presents. A HUGE gift our family received this year... we were able to spend Christmas with our entire family!

December 16- I went down to San Jose to go bridesmaid dress shopping with my sister and her wedding party, but while I was there, I spent some time with my Dad and his wife Connie. Mason finally met him! The other two kids were at home with Dad. So it was just me and the baby! My Dad couldn't stop holding him. We had dinner and a gift exchange. I was glad they were able to finally meet!

December 21-  Grandma Mimi's Christmas

Our Family, along with Trevor's sister and her family met at Carole's (Grandma Mimi's) where we celebrated Christmas together. She made homemade tortilla soup and Tiffany made a delicious (that is an understatement) cornbread (to DIE FOR- better statement). We spent the evening letting the kids play and us adults had a glass of wine and just chatted. The kids opened up their gifts and Grandma Mimi opened hers. It was nice and quiet, but definitely a lot of memories made. We were so excited to be able to see Tiffany, Travis, Alyssa and Ayden a lot on their visit to California!

Christmas Eve: Trevor and I opened our home and hosted Christmas dinner with my side of the family. All my siblings, their significant others and My cousins and Aunt came! Since we had 15 people at the house, all adults with the exception of my 3 kids ( Matt thinks he is an adult), we played minute- to -win-it games! Every person playing had to bring a $5 gift card to wherever. If you could not only pass the minute to win it game, but also had the fastest time, you won a gift card. Some people won a few and others went home empty handed. I think I had too many games, because after an hour, some adults got bored, and decided to play drinking games instead. ( Maybe it is just their age though too) I have to say, I almost peed in my pants from laughing so hard! Some of the games you needed a partner.

One game we played was called the holiday kiss. Each team had to hang 5 ornaments on a string, using only their mouths. If you touched the ornament with your hands you were disqualified. The winners were my cousins Austin and Rachelle. These two were big winners that night!

Brad and Janna

Brady and Megan

Rachelle and Austin

Brianne and Brittany



Debra and Donna ( Grammy and Granty)



The funniest ones to watch were my mom and my aunt Doo. (Granty to the kids). For one of the games called stack a cup, it was like watching in slow motion. (they think they are moving fast) My siblings, cousins and I couldn't help but make fun of them. Of course it was all innocent and in good humor.

 

 

 

 

  Lastly, Christmas! We spent Christmas morning with my siblings and my Mom, as well as with the two new additions coming into our family in June and September! ( Janna and Mikey) We sat around eating candy from our stocking, watching the kids open TONS of presents and eating the cheese balls Matt got from his Uncle Brad and Auntie Janna.

Maddison had so many presents she ended up getting tired of opening presents. And when she did open presents, she wanted to play with it immediately. She was quite entertaining and we loved seeing the look on her face when she opened presents she absolutely loved. (you could tell she wasn't so excited about clothes)

 

Later that afternoon, we packed up and went to Pa and Grandma's house (Trevor's Dad John and Deb's)

The kids, once again spoiled! This was Mason's first time meeting his Aunt Becca (who is expecting her first in June) and Uncle Jason. We Loved that the entire family was all together.

Maddison was obsessed with her Aunt TT. After getting to spend the week with Tiffany and the family, Maddison now knows new dance poses, as well as how you get a monkey out of a tree (You shake the tree!)

 

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Christmas was eventful, but absolutely wonderful! We were so happy we were able to have these memories created and our so fortunate to have such a wonderful family to spend the holiday's with.