November

Here's a quick run-down of November via pictures.

We got a new TV! Josh is usually pretty frugal and likes to stick to a budget, which I am totally okay with (he keeps me on track, too!). Sometimes, though, he'll really surprise me by wanting to buy something out of the blue. He came to me and said he thought we should get a Blu-ray player as our family Christmas present, and not get anything else for each other (Josh & myself). He said he knew I wanted one so he thought we should get one. I told him that I thought it was kind of silly to get a Blu-ray player when we didn't have an HD TV and our DVD player works fine. Then he said, "Well, let's get a TV, too, then." I was very surprised by this but after talking about it, we decided to research what we wanted. We set a budget and found the one we liked. Josh wanted one that had "apps" already installed and one that had good quality resolution because we aren't planning on buying another one any time soon. Black Friday was coming up so we thought we'd get one during those sales. We couldn't find one that was going to be on sale that fit our qualifications, though. We decided to go to Costco to look at them, find one we would be willing to pay full-price for, and then go on Black Friday and hope it was on sale. We found one we liked for a good price but since there were only 2 in the whole store, decided to get it then. Josh took myself and the kids home because we hadn't thought to bring the truck, and went back to get it. He ended up buying a different one for the same price than we had originally planned on, but I don't remember why he switched it. While at Costco we picked out one that looked about the size we wanted. When Josh mounted it on our wall, though, we realized that we definitely could've gone with the smaller size because it looks HUGE on our wall. It was really nice having the cash to pay for it that wasn't earmarked already for something else. I love being financially responsible (most of the time)! :)  We never did end up buying a Blu-ray player, though...

I decided to introduce my kids to the wonder that is fort-building. They weren't as impressed or excited as I thought they would be, but they still had fun. Maybe they need to be a bit older...

Steven coloring in the fort

Steven showing off his turkey he colored in honor of Thanksgiving

Trying on my boots...

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, we were coming inside from church. Sofia was throwing a bit of a fit, and Josh didn't want to wait, so he took her upstairs just holding on to one arm. By the time they got up the stairs, she was crying quite a bit. She started holding her arm and never really stopped crying. We finally got her settled down a bit and put her down for her nap. I started getting worried and decided that if her arm still seemed to be bothering her by the time she woke up, that I would take her into InstaCare. Her arm still seemed to bother her when she got up so I took her in. I explained what happened and the doctor said that she probably had what's called "nurse-maid's elbow" or one of the bones in her lower arm was dislocted from the elbow joint. The doctor tried to put it back into place but it would budge. She ended up having 2 different x-rays done, but nothing was broken (thank goodness!). At that point, all they could do was splint it. They told me to take her into her normal pediatrician in the morning and see if he could pop it back into place. Even though it didn't look swollen, sometimes the muscles and ligaments around the joints get too swollen to let it go back in to place. She seemed a lot better after they put the splint on and her arm couldn't move any more. The next morning, I took her in to see her pediatrician and he popped it back in pretty easily. I could actually hear the pop as it went back in. (Gross!) By the end of the day, she was acting as if nothing had happened. I'm so glad it ended up okay!

In the car on the way home from InstaCare 

Oh, and that was the night we were having a combined birthday party for Josh & I at his parents. She felt a lot better at this point, though, thank goodness.

Josh & I turned a combined age of 55 this year. I LOVE this cake that my mother-in-law makes! :)

Halloween

I really love the Holiday Season, and for me, Halloween marks the beginning of it. I start decorating with fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations (most of these are the same) at the end of September or the beginning of October and I try to plan a fair amount of fun activities to do with the kids and family. Last year my brother, Dave, & sister-in-law, Mary, bought a season pass to Thanksgiving Point's corn maze. They told me how much fun they had and they used it several times, so it was really worth it. To make it even better, they had bought it through a online deal site so it was really cheap! I wanted to buy one for 2011 because I thought the kids would really enjoy it, but when I went to go buy it through Groupon, it was already sold out! I was really bummed! Hopefully I can buy them in 2012. Here are some pictures of some of the things we were able to do.

Steven was a tiger for Halloween this year. This costume was made by my awesome husband when he was in high school for his younger brother. A few of the grandkids in Josh's family have worn it now. Here's Steven holding the pumpkin he picked out at a pumpkin patch we went to.

Steven showing off his tiger "roar"

Josh with his very large pumpkin

Josh, Sofia, & Steven

We went over to Josh's parents' house before trick-or-treating so they could see the kids in their costumes. Sofia was a lady bug

Papa with Sofia

Steven & Steven :)

Steven & Sofia at Grandma & Papa's

I didn't get any pictures while the kids were out trick-or-treating, unfortunately. It was a really nice night, though, and the kids had lots of fun! Steven understood what Halloween was this year and was really looking forward to it for quite a while. Sofia wanted to walk the entire time, hold her pumpkin pail (which got pretty heavy towards the end), and also wanted to keep up with the older kids. It was fun to see them both so enthusiastic about it! :)

Steven with the vampire teeth he got while trick-or-treating. He loved those! 

Sofia didn't quite get how to wear these properly but really enjoyed trying :)

Baby Basics

I have some friends that are expecting their first child in February.  We were talking & the soon-to-be-mom was saying that they had recently completed their baby registry & how she felt a little overwhelmed at all the stuff there is to buy.  I told her that you don't really need all of the stuff that they try to sell you in those stores.  She said that she had been told that before but no one had ever actually said what you do need.  They are the first in both of their families to have any children & also one of the first of their friends to start having kids, so they haven't been around babies a ton.  I thought it would be nice to make a list of tips, tricks & things you actually do need for them.  I'd love to hear ideas from any one who is willing to share!  :) 

18 months!

This Friday (the 28th) my little girl will "turn" 18 months!  It's really crazy to think how fast time passes.  She's such a funny little girl & I'm so glad she's in our lives.  Here's what's been happening with Sofia lately.
-I won't know until Friday exactly how much she weighs & how tall she is, but she's still a fairly petit little girl.  She generally eats more than Steven, though, & drinks milk like it's going out of style, so I'm really not too worried ;)  (Seriously, she drinks a TON of milk.  I'll buy the 2-gallon pack at Costco & we'll easily go through it in about 10 days.  Not much of that milk is used by the rest of the family. Milk-aholic.)
-She loves her big brother, even though they don't always get along.  Steven is usually the one to start fights or hit her, but she's learned that if she pulls his hair he will stop bugging her.  They generally play pretty nicely together, though.  Steven is really good about getting making sure she gets a treat if he's getting one or he'll get her milk out of the fridge if I ask him to.  Sofia, in turn, loves to give Steven hugs & kisses when they're going to bed, even though Steven doesn't always like this.  They love "dancing" in the car together to the music on the radio ("dancing" mostly includes flailing the arms about...but it's cute!).  This afternoon, they were chasing each other around the house & having a great time doing it.  It was a bit challenging at first, but I'm really glad they are so close in age because I think they'll be great friends growing up.
-Sofia definitely gets more & more of her own little personality as time goes on.  She can definitely be a little diva & will stick her lower lip out & pout if she doesn't get what she wants.  Most of the time, though, she is a happy little girl.  She likes to give kisses, which are still mostly just her putting her open mouth on your cheek for a while, but now she's got the sound to go with it.  She'll say "mwaaahhhh" as she does it - very cute! 
-She's starting to get to the "helpful" stage, which I love.  She knows how to throw stuff away & loves to help put the silverware from the dishwasher into the drawer.  In fact, she loves doing that so much that if she notices me doing the dishes, she will take the dirty silverware from the dishwasher & put those away.  That gets a little annoying but I'm glad she likes to help!  I need to savor it while it lasts, right?
-She isn't really talking much yet, she's much more of a grunter.  Her affirmative answer is just a very muddled "uh-huh".  However, she does sign some words like "please", "thank you", "more", "milk".  She can usually get what she wants without talking, though, so I don't think she really sees a need yet.  She does say the words, "Hi" & "bye" (both while waving which is very cute), "mommy", "daddy" & "papa" (grandpa) & a very muddled version of "grandma" which sounds very similar to "papa".  I'm trying to get her to say "Fifi" for her name because I think it would be much easier than "Sofia" but it's really just two "F" sounds.  Like I said before, if she gets what she wants without talking, in her mind, where's the incentive?
Sofia LOVES whipped cream...but really, who doesn't?  She was just using this strawberry as a vehicle to get her more whipped cream.  She's definitely my daughter ;)

Sofia's our little artist.  She loves to color & I will find her on her stomach on the floor coloring like this.  It's fun to see because Steven never did this. 

Notice she's got her milk that she carries with her everywhere...

 Both Steven & Sofia love our neighbors' cats.  Whenever we are outside & see any of the cats, both of the kids get really excited.  The cats are usually pretty patient with them, too, which is great.

 Sofia's really excited face

 This was at a little carnival at our condo.  The goal was to throw these little ping-pong balls & get them into the bowls that were floating in the little kiddie pool.  Sofia was actually pretty good at it but she seriously stood like this for a full minute before throwing.  She did this each time she threw the ball...

 Ah, sibling love.  Sofia sharing her cereal with Steven

 Sometimes Sofia will wake up & you can tell she could really use more sleep.  This usually only happens in the morning because Steven is not quiet when he gets up.  This was in the afternoon, though, after she'd gotten up from her nap.  I was in the kitchen doing something when I noticed Sofia had been really quiet for a while.  I looked in the living room & found her like this.  I didn't want to move her & wake her up, so I left her there & tried to be fairly quiet.  Fortunately, Steven was still asleep this whole time & she actually slept for about an hour like this. 

My Baby turns 3!!

It doesn't seem like very long ago that this little man was born!  I can't believe we celebrated his THIRD birthday just a few weekends ago! 

Steven's actual birthday was on Sunday, September 11th, but we took him out on Saturday. I thought he would enjoy going to the zoo so we took him there for a few hours in the morning. He wasn't over the moon about it but he had a good time. Josh thought it would be really fun to take him to Chuck-E-Cheese's as well and he had told him that we were going. Steven had no idea what Chuck-E-Cheese was but he was excited to tell people that we were going there. That day I was checking my email and found a good deal for a different but similar place called Planet Play. We were able to go for about half of the regular price which was really great. They had a pizza, salad, pasta, and dessert buffet which wasn't too bad. Obviously Steven was too little to play a lot of the games but there were a few he really liked. He also liked going on the Go Karts with Josh. He was able to even get a few little prizes from the games he won. Sofia really liked walking around and watching all the kids play. There was a toddler area that she really liked, too, because it had a slide she could get up and go down herself. She also thought the lights on the games were very mesmerizing.

On Sunday (his actual birthday) we had our families over for cake & ice cream.  I had been craving white cake with strawberry filling & a whipped cream frosting so I decided to make for the cake.  I amended it a little because Steven said he wanted a chocolate cake.  It turned out really good, in my opinion, but of course Steven didn't eat any of the cake himself. 

This year his birthday was a lot of fun.  He's old enough now to kind of understand what's going on & be excited about it.  If you ask him when his birthday he will tell you "September 11th".  He got a lot of great things for his birthday & he will proudly tell anyone who wants to know (or doesn't, it doesn't really matter to him ;) ), "I got this for my birthday" or things of that nature.  It's pretty cute. 

This little man definitely has a mind of his own.  He is generally a pretty sweet boy and will tell me things like, "I love you, Mommy.  And I love Daddy & I Love Sofia."  or "No, Mommy, you can't go to work.  You have to stay here with us." (that one kills me every time!)  He will also say stuff like, "Thanks for making dinner, Mommy" (he calls all meals "dinner"). or, "Good job, Mommy!"  He's also usually very sweet to Sofia & will try to comfort her when she's sad.  He's also big enough to help me out with a lot of stuff.  He can open the fridge & get Sofia's sippy with milk out for me or help me with other stuff.  He is incredibly independent & wants to do nearly everything by himself.  On the flipside, he definitely can have a temper & be very stubborn.  He will hit Sofia sometimes or scream at me or refuse to do the things I ask.  Fortunately for me, though, the good moods outweigh the bad.  He also has a TON of energy.  I can tell when he's getting bored beause he's been cooped up inside for too long because he'll start getting all crazy & will try to wrestle you or jump on stuff, etc.  We've found that when that happens, if we tell him to go run around for a little bit, it helps calm him down.  Another little side note: a few weeks ago my mother-in-law asked if we wanted an extra Uno game she'd found in her house.  Josh showed Steven how to play & he LOVES it!  He will ask to play it all the time.  It's really a very simple game & he knows his numbers & colors very well so he caught on pretty quickly.  He doesn't quite get that it's a bad thing to have to draw more cards but he does get the whole "skipping" concept & finds it very funny to skip someone. 

I'm so glad to have this little guy in our family!  I can't imagine life without him :)

Josh, Steven, & Sofia at the zoo

Steven riding on the minature merri-go-round at Planet Play

Steven & Josh enjoying some air hockey

Steven & Josh about to race go carts

Josh helping Steven open his presents on his birthday

Steven modeling his new vest Grandma got him

Giving hugs to his cousins for his birthday presents

Josh with the birthday cake

Bittersweet

For me, Sunday was bittersweet.  Not only was it my son's third birthday, but it was also the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks.  This year was especially poignant for me.  I don't know if it was because I'm hormonal or because people everywhere (media especially) were talking about it.  It's probably a mixture of both :)
I remember a lot about that day.  I was 15 and a sophomore in High School.  At that time, my mom would get up early to work out and then would watch the news before starting her day.  That morning, I was getting ready for school when my mom called up the stairs to me.  She said, "A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center."  I really had no idea what she was talking about.  I didn't even really know what the World Trade Center was; it only sounded vaguely familiar.  And as for the plane, I thought she meant some little prop job that held maybe 2 people.  I think I probably said something like, "That sucks." and went about my business getting ready for school.  I think I barely glanced at the TV.  It wasn't until I got to first period, Biology, that I realized what was actually going on.  The teacher had the TV turned on to the news while we were working on our flashcards.  I normally don't like watching the news when they have some special breaking news because they tend to just replay the same stuff over and over again.  This was not the case on that day, though.  Everyone sat glued to the TV in horror as we watched the tower burn, and then when the second plane hit, and then when the towers collasped.  I didn't know anyone in New York but I did have a sister that lived right outside of Philadephia and one that lived right outside of Washington D.C. and I was definitely worried about them.  Both of them were fine but it was definitely a crazy day. 
This year I watched some of the specials they had on TV in honor of the tenth anniversary.  They definitely pulled at my heartstrings.  It's amazing to me that any human being could do what those terrorists did to another human being, let alone nearly 3,000.  My heart goes out to those families who were tragically affected and forever changed on that day.  I'm also so grateful for all those men and women who are working so hard across the world to defend our freedom.
The other day I was listening to the radio and they played this song.  I seriously cried through the whole thing!  Check out the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R5KKdkWEmY&feature=grec_index

Facebook Sabbatical

I've noticed that ever since I got my new fancy-schmancy "smart" (whether it's actual smart is another story...) phone in April, a new habit of mine has been forming.  I truly have become a Facebook-aholic.  Before then I would get on Facebook probably once a day or so (sometimes more when I was working and really bored) but now with it at my fingertips, I've started getting on it almost constantly.  I'll check it, and then an hour later get on it again, and guess what!  Nothing has changed.  It's just silly.  So I've decided to take a break from Facebook, both on my phone and on the computer for at least a week.  I started yesterday and it's really no big deal.  I figure the people that I actually want to talk to can either call or text me or I will call or text them.  We'll see how it goes!