Mom of Two Precious Boys

Santa Claus is Coming to Town...Again and Again

2012-02-08T13:33:00.007-07:00

Santa's First Time Coming to Town...
We went to the annual lighting of the Christmas tree at the outlet mall in El Paso, where Santa makes a grand entrance and does the countdown for the tree lighting each year. This year, while waiting for Santa to arrive, all of the children were invited onto the stage for a dance contest, where the winner would win a $10 gift card to the mall. Jaden got a sudden burst of courage and asked if he could go up on the stage to dance. He was so cute up there dancing his little heart out, and was thrilled when they announced that all of the kids on stage won the contest and would all get a $10 gift card to the mall. While the kids were still on the stage, Santa arrived in a beautiful sports car and the US Marines were lined up at the entrance to the stage so that Santa could make his grand entrance through their lineup and onto the stage. Jaden happened to be standing right at the edge of the stairs, and by the time Santa was headed up there, I could barely see him anymore, but I could imagine that he was either having a minor panic attack at the close proximity of Santa, or was thrilled beyond belief. And as the crowd began to sit back down, I could see that Jaden was anxiously awaiting his turn to talk to Santa. It was a very fun opportunity for him, and even got to help with the countdown to the lighting of the Christmas Tree!

Jaden's at the edge of the stairs in the brown and green jacket, waiting for Santa to arrive.

They had fake snow falling, which was actually bubbles of some sort. The kids thought it was the coolest thing ever!

We concluded with hot cocoa and cookies!

Santa's Second Time Coming to Town...
It's amazing how Santa can be in so many places at one, all throughout the month of December. Our second time seeing Santa was at the Railroad Museum. It started raining, so we went inside to keep warm and missed his arrival on the train, but still got to see him later.

Santa's Third Time Coming to Town...
Our third time seeing Santa was an unexpected surprise! We went to see my Grandma's Christmas choir performance, which is always a treat (Grandma's the adorable lady sitting in the front row). Jaden had commented that one of the gentlemen in the choir looked like Santa. I admit that he did, but told Jaden that that wasn't really something he should keep announcing! And at some point during the performance (must have been while we were on a potty break), "Santa" left the group. And what a surprise it was while we were jammin' to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," to see Santa enter through the back doors with Mrs. Claus, both wearing the most beautiful, authentic looking Santa costumes I've ever seen, and handing out candy canes to everyone! It was wonderful. Then Santa took his place back up on the stage with the choir, and Jaden gasped and said "I knew that was Santa!" We were sure to find him after the performance for a photo op. And when we were leaving, Jaden wanted to get a good look at the building rooftop because he was sure Santa would be up there getting ready to fly off with his reindeer and he didn't want to miss it. Right away I noticed Santa helping Mrs. Claus into their white Honda. So I had Jaden looking up, down, over...anywhere I could to distract him until Santa drove away. Didn't want to ruin the magical moment for him.

The 24 Books of Christmas

2012-02-06T17:42:00.013-07:00

This year we started a tradition that I call "The 24 Books of Christmas." It was definitely a favorite, and one that we will continue for many years to come. I began collecting Christmas/holiday books a few months before Christmas to add to the ones we already had and wrapped each one individually and labeled them with a number from 24 to 1. Starting on December 1st, Jaden and Elijah got to unwrap a book every night before bed as we counted down the days till Christmas. The boys looked forward to it every evening and it was such a special time spent as a family. And you can never go wrong with books!

Amazon.com Widgets

The Adventures of Arthur, Our Elf on the Shelf

2012-01-17T22:02:00.016-07:00

As usual, I've got some catching up to do on my poor neglected little blog! I visit it often, maybe with the hopes that someone else has started updating my posts for me, who knows. I've got about a thousand posts to post, but every time I start, I seem to run into technical difficulties, then end up frustrated and turn to Pinterest for some cheering up, which gives me tons of wonderful ideas and activities to do with the kids, which I then want to post about on this lovely blog of mine...eventually.

And thanks to a technical difficulty-free picture upload session, I can finally begin posting some of our holiday festivities, traditions, and highlights from 2011, starting with Arthur, our Elf on the Shelf. After seeing all of the wonderful Elf on the Shelf ideas (on Pinterest, of course), I had to jump on the tiny red bandwagon and get the boys an elf of their own. It ended up being such a wonderful new tradition, and definitely one of the Christmastime highlights for Jaden and Elijah. After just seeing the movie Arthur Christmas, the boys decided to name their elf Arthur, and Arthur quickly became a part of our family. He was a hot topic in each day's conversations, an influence on extra good behavior, and the reason why I went to bed way too late (or jumped out of bed in a panic in the middle of the night) many nights, just trying to make sure he had the most perfect hiding spot when two excited little guys awoke with anticipation each morning, ready to begin their search.

So here are some of the many adventures of Arthur...

Arthur's farewell gifts for the boys...

While Christmas Eve meant the excitement of Santa's arrival, this year it also meant saying goodbye to our sweet Arthur, who brought so much fun, joy, and surprises to the lives of two little guys for 24+ days. They were very very sad to see him go, and even though he will be back next year, it's just so far away! The rules of "elfery" specifically state that in order to preserve your elf's magic, no touching is allowed. The boys were very dedicated to this rule the entire time, but on his final day, I assured them that a final hug goodbye was perfectly okay!

T-Ball!

2011-09-14T14:57:00.011-06:00

I think all of summer went by without a single blog post! And it's definitely not because we had a dull and uneventful summer, or due to lack of effort on my part - I've tried uploading Jaden's T-Ball pictures about four times now. In this case, I hope the fifth time's the charm!

Anyway, Jaden's been wanting to play on a baseball team pretty much since conception. Unfortunately for him, my softball days were long gone while I was pregnant, so he didn't get to play in utero. And another bummer for him - there aren't any newborn to 3 yr. old T-Ball teams in Las Cruces. When he was three years old, I remember us driving past a field where a little tiny T-Ball team was practicing and he begged us to stop and ask if he could be on the team. Sam stopped to ask, but they said he had to be four. Imagine the disappointment on my little baseball fanatic's face.

Well after recruiting me, Sam, Elijah, Nana, Papa, aunts & uncles, and any other willing participant to play on his backyard baseball team, we were all very excited when Jaden was finally elegible for the city's real T-Ball league. And nobody was more excited than he was! His team was the Dust Devil's and he was ecstatic to have a "real" uniform - jersey, cleats and all! We got to pick his jersey number, and we chose 18 because of his birthday (Jan. 18) and his idol baseball player's number (aka Uncle Jeremy).

I loved everything about T-Ball season, for us and for Jaden. I was so happy for him to finally get to do something he had been anticipating for years - literally. And I think there are so many wonderful lessons that kids can learn through organized sports or activities, like the rules of teamwork, being a grateful winner (and loser), trying their best, never giving up, and just having fun! And for me, T-Ball season felt like the beginning of a new family chapter and family traditions. I remember growing up, my brother, sister and I always had sports or other activities going on and my mom and dad were ALWAYS there in the front row - our biggest supporters - all the way until my dance performances in college. My mom said that her and my dad agreed that we could do any extracurricular activity we wanted to, and that they would be there for every game, performance, or show. And I always remember them being there. So I loved getting to start this special tradition with Jaden, and hope it's something he will remember and cherish in years to come. Who knew a simple T-Ball team could be so sentimental!

The Dust Devils - aren't they cute! Jaden's on the bottom right.

There's my little catcher! They don't really have official "positions" in T-Ball, but Jaden was the catcher for most of the games.

Batting was his favorite part of the whole game (other than snacks after). He was a really good hitter - too bad he wasn't the fastest runner. Getting tagged out broke his heart.

There's his biggest fan!! (Along with Nana and Papa, who came from El Paso for every single game)! Such a lucky boy

Yes, I Have...

2011-07-23T16:08:00.009-06:00

I found this fun survey on my cousin's blog - Instructions with this are to bold the ones you've done, leave the others in normal type. So here goes...

Started your own blog
Slept under the stars
Played in a band
Visited Hawaii
Watched a meteor shower
Given more than you can afford to charity
Been to Disneyland/World
Climbed a mountain
Held a praying mantis
Performed in front of an audience
Bungee jumped
Visited Paris
Watched a lightning storm at sea
Taught yourself an art from scratch
Adopted a child
Had food poisoning
Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
Grown your own vegetables
Seen the Mona Lisa in France
Slept on an overnight train
Had a pillow fight
Hitch hiked
Taken a sick day when you're not ill (teehee!)
Built a snow fort (what snow?)
Held a lamb
Gone skinny dipping
Run a marathon
Ridden in a gondola in Venice (does the Venetian in Las Vegas count?)
Seen a total eclipse
Watched a sunrise or sunset
Hit a home run
Been on a cruise
Seen Niagra Falls in person
Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
Seen an Amish community
Taught yourself a new language (Gibberish)
Had enough money to be truly satisfied
Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
Gone rock climbing
Seen Michelangelo's David
Sung karaoke
Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
Visited Africa
Walked on a beach by moonlight
Been transported in an ambulance
Had your portrait painted
Gone deep sea fishing
Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
Kissed in the rain
Played in the mud
Gone to a drive-in theater
Been in a movie
Visited the Great Wall of China
Started a business
Taken a martial arts class
Visited Russia
Served at a soup kitchen
Sold Girl Scout cookies
Gone whale watching
Gotten flowers for no reason
Donated blood, platelets, or plasma
Gone sky diving
Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
Bounced a check
Flown in a helicopter
Saved a favorite childhood toy
Visited the Lincoln Memorial
Eaten caviar
Pieced a quilt (just a paper one with my students)
Stood in Times Square
Toured the Everglades
Been fired from a job
Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
Broken a bone (or 5...)
Been on a speeding motorcycle
Seen the Grand Canyon in person
Published a book
Visited the Vatican
Bought a brand new car
Walked in Jerusalem
Had your picture in the newspaper (and on a billboard, in fact)
Read the entire Bible
Visited the White House
Killed and prepared an animal for eating
Had chickenpox
Saved someone's life
Sat on a jury
Met someone famous
Joined a book club
Lost a loved one
Had a baby
Seen the Alamo in person
Swam in the Great Salt Lake
Been involved in a lawsuit
Owned a cell phone
Been stung by a bee or wasp

In summary, it looks like I've got some traveling to do!

Your turn...

Elijah's Second Birthday!

2011-06-25T00:06:00.029-06:00

My sweet Elijah turned two years old in April...TWO! Where has the time gone. It's so much fun to watch him follow in his big brother's footsteps, while becoming such a little person all his own. His little personality has really shone through this second year of his life and it's neat to see the person he is becoming. He loves humor and laughs very easily at silliness, which Jaden works very well; he is a rough and tumble little guy and likes to just pound on things, including people at times; he's also very sweet and gentle, and will randomly walk up to us for a hug. He is very strong-willed and knows what he wants; he is always on the go until the second his head hits the pillow, and then he's out. He has become quite the little parrot, repeating anything and everything that anybody says (Sam forgot this the other day and was holding Elijah while telling me a story about a coworker who was "pissed." Elijah repeats, "He's pissed! He's pissed!" Oops, daddy)! And he's at that fun age where there's a nice mixture of terrible and terrificness -perfect example: he'll get into something he's not supposed to and make a mess with it all over the floor; then give the most heartfelt "Sorry mamma" and rush to get a towel to clean it all up. Just so precious. Fortunately for us, the scale weighs heavier on the terrific side. And even if it didn't those puppy dog eyes of his can keep him out of any kind of trouble!

Two Year's Ago...

Happy Second Birthday, Elijah Norman! We love you so much!!

Elijah's second birthay happened to be over a weekend and Jaden convinced us that there was no place Elijah would rather wake up on the morning of his birthday than Nana and Papa's house, so we loaded up all of his birthday goodies and headed to El Paso! I think children's birthdays are so special and I am always excited to stay up late making all the special preparations and finishing touches for the next morning's surprise. I encouraged Sam to join me in my enthusiasm, so he and I stayed up late wrapping his gifts, blowing up balloons, hanging banners, stringing streamers from one end of the house to the other, and putting together Elijah's big gift, which was the super adorable Little Tikes Neighborhood Market!

Elijah's such a sleep-lover that we weren't sure if his birthday surprise would take place in the morning or the afternoon by the time he finally woke up; but he must have known something was up and didn't want to miss out, so he woke up bright and early for a change. He loves the "Happy Birthday" song and was so excited for us to greet him as we serenaded him with his favorite tune. And as soon as he got downstairs, the excitement(and sugar-high) began.

Once he discovered that one of his gifts was a little bag of cotton candy, nothing else mattered but that bag of fluffy blue sugar. It's your birthday and you can eat cotton candy first thing in the morning if you want to!

Once the cotton candy was devoured, Elijah finished opening his presents and checked out his Little Tikes market! It was an instant hit!

Jaden was his personal present opening assitant, and was just as excited (or more) about the presents Elijah got!

This new red balloon is the best surprise of all!

For Elijah's birthday dinner, we stayed at my parent's house and ordered takeout from our favorite Chinese food restaurant. We had some family over and the kids just played and had a fun time!

Happy Birthay to you! Don't you just love those cupcakes! They were so much fun to make! And when a 2-year-old can tell right away who they are, you know they look authentic!

Happy birthday to our sweet Elijah! You are such a special part of our family and it is such a joy to watch you learn and grow! You make us laugh every day and always keep us on our toes! You are a bundle of endless energy, but also have a calm easy-going nature about you. I love being your mom and look forward to the new adventures and learning opportunities that each day brings! You are so much fun!

Here are some things we want to remember about you at 2-years-old:

- You weigh 30 lbs. (66 percentile) and are 34 in. tall (31st percentile).

- You are Mr. Independent and think you can do any and everything, All By Yourself!

- Your hands and mind always seem to be busy discovering and exploring.

- You love to talk - sometimes it makes no sense, and sometimes it makes perfect sense. It's fascinating to watch you as you are trying to put your thoughts together to make sentences and really communicate.

- You LOVE to eat and there are very few things you doesn't like.

- Due to Jaden's peanut allergy, you have not yet tried peanut butter.

- You absolutely love books and being read to. Story time is one of the few times you will sit and allow us to cuddle with you. It's one of my favorite parts of our day.

- You love to suck you thumb while holding your lovie blanket.

- You carry your security blanket with you most of the time, but especially in the car and at bedtime. You'd cry nonstop if you didn't have it at night. You currently have three and will accept any one of them at a time, as long as you have one.

- When asked, you says you are "four" and that your name is "Jaden."

- You love to pretend like you are talking on the phone, and just about anything turns into a phone with you - a shoe, a block, a pen, a spoon - you name it! You hold it between your shoulder and ear, hands free, and just walk around talking.

- You are a major backseat driver and shout out orders and directions if we are not driving the way you thinks we should be going. I think this mainly started because you know the way out of town to get to Nana and Papa's, so any time we weren't headed in that direction, you'd get upset and say, "No, that way!"

- You can play very contently with the same item for a long time. And you and Jaden play very nicely together.

- You have quite the imagination- you point at clouds in the sky and identify what object they are; and you take bites out of pieces of food (like watermelon pieces or chips) and turn them into new objects (which actually do look like what you says they are).

- You love to randomly count things and can count up to 14. Any any time somebody asks "How many.... are there?" you automatically say "onetwothreefour," like it's one word.

- You love riding in daddy's truck.

- You love going to Target for an Icee and popcorn.

- You frighten easily with loud noises, like the vacuum cleaner or the garage door opener.

- Your favorite song to sing is "Happy Birthday" and you will break out in song anywhere we are that you see the slightest symbolic representation of a birthday. So if you see a candle, cupcake, cake, balloon, streamer, or present...you're singing...and not quietly!

- You absolutely love to dance and also love having an audience while you perform. If you don't like a song that's playing on the radio, you say, "not that one;" and it's so funny to watch you as we flip through the channels because as soon as there is an upbeat song that you like, your body instantly starts moving and you say, "yea, that one!"

- You love playing in water, whether it's the bathtub, swimming pool, water table, or with a squirt gun.

- You run pretty much everywhere that you go.

- You are obsessed with the idea of using the potty and will say you need to to go, and end up sitting on your little potty several times a day - you have yet to actually go in it though.

- Mommy Maru (babysitter) informed me that you are one of her best behaved little guys and that you plays so well with all of the other kids.

- You love to pose for pictures and always want to see them after. Then you say, "awwww, cute" as you admire yourself.

- If there's a bottle of lotion left within his reach, you can guarantee it'll be all over you. We have to watch you big time!

- I had to call Poison Control recently because you tasted nail polish remover.

- When it comes to housework, you're a big helper and always say, "I clean;" but when it comes to putting your toys away... not so much.

- You love to be loud and scream, just because.

- You love to pretend you are a cowboy and will put on a cowboy hat and hop onto any available back or leg to go for a horsey ride.

- You have the most adorable, contagious laugh.

- You are a very good sleeper and can take a 3 hour nap, and sleep up to 14 hours at night. Thank you for that :)

- Everybody says you look just like mommy.

- You love to play outside, no matter how hot or cold it is.

- You love to be on a tall stool at the counter helping whenever I am making dinner. You're a very good pourer, stirrer...and spiller.

- You love Yo Gabba Gabba - still can't quite figure out what it is about that show.

- Your paranoid mamma does not have you up-to-date on your shots. Instead you're on an alternate shot schedule that your doctor and I decided on together.

- When Jaden was playing T-Ball, you loved hearing the sound of an ice cream truck because you knew it meant a treat for you; now you have an ice cream truck radar on at all times.

- You love coloring, painting, and anything messy. And even things that normally wouldn't be messy, end up being messy with you.

- Your favorite part of saying grace before a meal is "AMEN!" And then you follow it with "Yaaay!"

- You are very friendly, and maybe a little too friendly to strangers.

- You are a very good haircut client, always sitting very still and cooperative.

- You are getting over a phase of being scared of the dark.

- When we put you in your bed at night, you like to have a lamp left on so that you can lay and look at books. It's the cutest thing ever.

I'm Still Here!

2011-06-20T11:33:00.018-06:00

In case you've been wondering where I disappeared to, just wanted to let you know that I'm still here! And I've got a lot of posting to do, including Elijah's Birthday, Elijah and Aubrey's Birthday Party, Easter, T-Ball, Father's Day, and a whole lot of cuteness in between all of those occasions.

But before all of the cuteness begins, let me fill you in on the not-so-cuteness that's been keeping me from my blog for the past month... extreme water damage in our house. It all started with a little tiny dixie cup that was accidently (yes, it really was an accident) flushed down the toilet in the boy's upstairs bathroom one evening. The water didn't overflow at that time, so I told the boys to leave it alone and we would figure out what to do about it in the morning (Sam was out of town, of course :). Well, morning comes along and I awoke to the bathroom in our room completely flooded and moving into the bedroom carpeting; then found the boy's bathroom and hallway to be flooded as well! I rushed downstairs to grab every bath towel, washcloth, beach towel - pretty much anything I could get my hands on. And on my way, I heard bloop...bloop...bloop coming from the kitchen. Sure enough, the water was leaking through the ceiling and onto the kitchen floor and livingroom carpet. Further investigating also lead me to dripping water in the downstairs bathroom area. I went into panic mode quick, especially since the toilet had little boy "business" in it. I called for backup and my mom and brother-in-law quickly came to my aide as fast as they could.

Eventually we got some workers to come in and dry it all out and it turned into more of a production than I would have ever imagined. 8 air mover fans, 3 huge dehumidifiers, carpet and linoleum removal, and lots of drywall removal has left us with this...

Carpet removal outside the upstairs bathroom.

Carpet removal in the master bedroom, plus huge dehumidifier and fan.

Linoleum and drywall removal in the master bathroom.

Drywall removal by the downstairs bathroom.

The ceiling in the dining area.

And a HUGE mess and lots of cleaning left for me! I told them as long as they didn't touch my striped wall, we were good!

So for the past month I have been cleaning, getting estimates, and packing up as much stuff as I can because of the work that will have to be done to repair - replacement of the livingroom, stairs, hallway, and master bedroom carpeting; replacement of tile in both upstairs bathrooms; and drywall, drywall, and more drywall! I can't wait for it all to be done so I can have my house back. And for now, I must admit I'm excited to get everything moved out and completely cleaned; and then start fresh with decorating, arranging, and all that fun stuff! There's always a bright side :). I'll keep you posted on the progress.

Bath Time for the Lovies!

2011-05-06T23:50:00.013-06:00

I've got some blog catching up to do! This is one that's been on my "to be posted" list for a while now...

Jaden and Elijah each have their own favorite "lovie" blanket that they carry around, sleep with, and pretty much keep close tabs on at all times. Getting those things into the washing machine is next to impossible! Finally one day, it just had to be done, so I decided to turn it into what I thought would be a fun experience for all. I let the boys put their blankets in the washer themselves, let them help add the soap, and even let them have front row seating to watch the show. Sounded like a fun time to me!

But Jaden was very, very nervous about it and I couldn't figure out why. Finally he told me that he didn't want his Bear Bear to shrink like daddy's sweater did (Sam had a wool sweater that apparently wasn't supposed to go in the dryer - it went in a size 2X and came out a size 5T...literally)! So poor Jaden was very paranoid and watched that bear like a hawk the entire time just to make sure it didn't come out the size of a cotton ball.

And Elijah...well, let's just say he made that 40 minute wash cycle seem like an eternity! He was mesmerized by the spin cycle for the first minute or two, but after that he was done being separated from his froggy and he wanted him NOW! He cried and cried, but would not let me take him away from the washing machine. See how well my fun plan worked out!

But in the end, two animal blankets were fresh and clean, none were harmed in the process, and two little guys (and their mama) were ready for naps! (And I know you're wondering, so for the record, this was not the first time their lovies had ever had a wash - Just the first time I wasn't able to sneak them away unnoticed).

We Love You, Papa!

2011-05-06T23:05:00.005-06:00

This is a precious video that I recorded of the boys wishing Papa Sam well while he was in the hospital. He saw it just before going in to have surgery the Friday before he passed and he was so appreciative of it. It was one of the last things to truly make him smile and I will treasure it forever! (The sound and the video are a little bit off from each other)

Sweet Papa Sam

2011-05-05T21:48:00.020-06:00

I recently had to take a little break from my blog... On March 28th, our lives were turned upside down as Sam and I found ourselves unexpecteldy standing by his father's bedside offering our final goodbye's. I've attempted to return to my blog several times since then, but it has brought tears to my eyes every time, including now. "Papa Sam" was my biggest blog fan and it breaks my heart to know that he will never again read the words posted here, or that I won't receive another phone call from him commenting on one of my posts or asking when the next post will be added. I could almost guarantee that shortly after publishing any post, I would either receive a phone call or email from him telling me how much he loved reading about his "babies," Jaden and Elijah. He loved his family more than anything and always made that known to each one of us. Papa Sam and was just an incredible human being, often described by others as "larger than life." There is so much that I could say about him, as the memories are endless, but I just can't bring myself to put it into words yet. I miss him so much. For now, I thought I'd honor him and his memory by sharing some of our favorite photos of him.

Sam's family - celebrating Sam's birthday at Cook's in El Paso.

Me and Papa Sam

Papa Sam and his three sisters.

Papa Sam and Shirley - spring break trip to Las Vegas when Sam and I got engaged

Sam's mom and dad with us on our wedding day

One of my favorite pictures with one of my favorite people

Sam and his dad on our wedding day

Sam, his brother Bengy and nephew Ben, and Papa Sam - at our wedding

The whole Cordova clan

Sam and his dad - at a New Year's Eve party in El Paso

Proud grandpa, "Papa Sam" - the day Jaden was born

Papa Sam, Mom, Dad, Sam, Grandma O'Brien, Jaden, me, and Grandpa O'Brien - celebrating Grandma's birthday

Papa Sam admiring baby Jaden

A picture that we always laughed about - Jaden giving Papa Sam the "bird"

Precious picture of sleepy Jaden and sleepy Papa - when Jaden was a baby, my mom and dad and Sam's dad took turns taking care of Jaden each day when I had to start back to work. I came home one day to them both sleeping in the rocking chair by the window

Papa Sam and Jaden - helping Papa blow out his candle

Papa Sam and Jaden - talkin'

Grandpa O'Brien, John, Beto, Jason w/ Jaden, Sam, Bengy, Justin, Sammy w/Lance, Dad, and Papa Sam - Christmas 2007

Sam, Jaden, Papa Sam, and Bengy - at the wine festival

Papa Sam and Elijah - Christmas morning 2009

Papa Sam and Aubrey - Christmas morning 2009

Papa Sam and Elijah - at Elijah's first birthday party

Papa Sam, Sam, and Elijah - at the Space Museum in Alamogordo, NM

Papa Sam and Jaden - at the air show

Papa Sam, Bengy, Me, Elijah, Sam, and Jaden - Family Christmas photo

Papa Sam, Jaden and Elijah - visiting Papa Sam while he was at the rehab hospital in El Paso (one of the last times the boys got to see their beloved Papa)

Haircut Time!

2011-02-23T15:48:00.009-07:00

Elijah has the most beautiful head of curly hair that gets him quite a bit of attention anywhere he goes. I have trimmed it several times just to keep it from getting too wild, but I swore I wouldn't cut it for a long time for fear that his precious curls would be gone forever! But after Sam couldn't handle him constantly being mistaken for a girl, he begged me to take Lijah to get his hair cut. I told him I'd just trim it again, no problem! But Sam was adamant and even went as far as Googling pictures of the hairstyle he thought would be perfect for our 18-month-old (let me just add that he doesn't have the ultimate say, but he liked feeling like he did :)!). So while he was out of town for work, I took the boys to a kid's haircut place in El Paso and Elijah got his first real haircut.

This place was so much fun! There were toys for the kids to play with while they waited and Jaden even got to blow bubbles while getting his hair cut!

I'm cringing inside as Elijah's hair is about to be chopped off. He's as happy as can be!

The final results...I think daddy will be pleased!

Here's a little video I got of Elijah getting his hair cut. He was entirely too busy eating a lollipop and watching Yo Gabba Gabba to pay any attention to me. But he didn't mind getting his hair cut at all!

Snow Day!

2011-02-21T17:24:00.012-07:00

It's very, very rare for us to get snow here. Throughout the winter, we either experience 70-degree weather; or get a major meteorologist report warning us of a big snowstorm coming in overnight, and then wake up to another 70-degree day! So when every news channel was warning us about a major snowstorm approaching, I thought we may get a light powdered sugar-like dusting with all evidence gone by morning. And boy was I wrong!

The snow started late in the afternoon on Tuesday and it just kept falling...and falling! I was tempted to wake the boys up from their naps for fear they would miss it it all if I didn't; but when it started to stick, I decided they could sleep. But I was excited and I couldn't wait for them to see! By the next morning, the amount of snow on the ground was unbelievable! It was a beautiful sight to see! We couldn't wait to get bundled up and go outside to play!

All bundled up and ready to go.

Jaden and Elijah braving the snow! They loved it so much and didn't want to come back inside. Jaden was ready to bring out every toy from the playroom

Jaden made a snow angel.

My adorable snow babies having fun in the snow!

Snowball fight!! Jaden's favorite part of the day! (I'm not sure if Elijah was the thrower or receiver in the picture below, but either way, he was a good sport about it!).

Snow castles, tractors, and tunnels are also fun in the snow! The boys had "snow" much fun (corny, but I wouldn't be a preschool teacher if I didn't say it - haha!).
The upside to the snow, other than us actually having some, was that we had three days off of school! The downside to all of this snow was that our little city practically shut down! Apparrently I'm not the only one who didn't believe the meteorologist reports - the entire city was unprepared! There were blackouts galore, water shortages, and busted pipes all over the city. When we finally left the house on Friday to go to a restaurant, the waitress kindly informed us that they were expecting a rolling blackout to hit in twenty minutes. Kids...eat fast!

The water fountain outside the restaurant was completely frozen. Jaden was anxious to get a closer look. Doesn't it look neat!

We ended our snow filled week with a movie night and ice cold ice cream! And there was enough snow still on the ground to play again tomorrow!

Jaden's Birthday Party

2011-02-19T23:14:00.016-07:00

For Jaden's fourth birthday, he requested a Toy Story party. I tried talking him into a more general, less commercial theme, like monsters or cowboys, but he didn't go for it, so Toy Story it was. We had his party at the house, and planned to have most of it take place in the backyard, which we are fortunate to be able to do in January in New Mexico! But just as his party was about to begin, the wind started picking up and we ended up having to move a lot of the activities (and what seemed like 20 kids) inside. It was crowded, but fun nonetheless!

The decorations are one of my favorite parts about planning a party. I loved being able to use lots of different colors with the Toy Story theme. I recruited the help of my mom, sister, and sister-in-law and we made the banners, party poms, cupcake toppers, and adorable alien favor bags! (And I promised that I would have my Cricut Machine up and running by the next party :).

Isn't the cake adorable! One of my student's moms made it and I thought she did an amazing job! Sam was in Florida the week before the party and went to Downtown Disney to get this set of Toy Story figures to use on the cake. Jaden was so excited!

While looking up ideas for a Toy Story party, I came across a great idea to serve food like the Toy Story restaurant, Pizza Planet. We had a variety of pizzas for the adults, and the kids got to make their own personal pizzas.

In the backyard we set up a little jumping balloon, a sand and water table, a playhouse, playdough, and a table with Toy Story games (Kerplunk and Buckaroo). The kids had a hard time trying to play with sand and playdough in 60 MPH winds; but the jumping balloon remained a hit! And we also played several rounds of musical chairs, which proved to be a hard lesson in losing for some little ones. We knew that everyone was a winner, but they weren't buying it. And I know what you're thinking -- as a preschool teacher, I should have known better and shouldn't have taken out any chairs so that everyone really was a "winner" each round; but in my recent studies, I've read that it is best for kids to learn at an early age about being good sports and that they can't always win; so call it what you will, but I like to think that I was helping them grow and develop :o). And once they got the hang of it, they were all smiles!

These mammas did not want to brave the windy weather!

I found the cutest Toy Story candy necklace kit that had a package for each child to make their own necklace. They were really focused and had so much fun making these!

Time for the Pinata! I think this pinata was holding at least ten bags of candy! It was so heavy. As soon as they strung the rope through and lifted it, the weight of the pinata made it break right through the rope. My dad had to do some reconstructing (which is why there is a towel taped across the top of it!).

Time to sing "Happy Birthday!"

I regret not getting a picture of Jaden with all of his little party guests while they were all still there, but I got a couple of really cute ones with the few kids we could round up at the cake.

Surprisingly Jaden wasn't asking me if he could open his presents the entire party, so we almost forgot about this part! He got so many thoughtful and wonderful gifts from so many thoughtful and wonderful family and friends! What a lucky, loved little boy!

Happy Birthday Sweet Jaden!

Jaden's Big Day

2011-02-08T14:36:00.011-07:00

As sad as it makes us to see our little guys get so big, so quickly, birthdays are always very exciting and something we make a HUGE deal about around here. Jaden's birthday was such a special day just to celebrate him and how special he is to our family.

I spent the evening before his birthday decorating the living room with streamers, balloons, and a birthday banner. I was going to cover his bedroom floor with balloons, but Sam talked me out of it, and for good reason - can you imagine getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of night to a floor covered in balloons; or a balloon popping in your room while you sleep (what was I thinking!?). I wrapped all of his presents and I knew he would be so surprised the next morning!

I got a tennis racquet for Christmas, so now he and I can play together!

Probably his most favorite gift of all -- books (and my favorite gift to give)! While at Target one day, he asked me to get him some of these little leveled readers for his birthday. He was so excited to see that I had remembered his request. The readers he got were Little Critter, Fancy Nancy, and two Toy Story ones.

It was Jaden's special day from beginning to end, so he got to pick a special lunch - Happy Meals!

While the boys napped, I attempted to make Jaden a Buzz Lightyear birthday cake. He loved it and that's all that matters.

Jaden had his choice of restaurants for dinner and was torn between Cracker "Bells" (Cracker Barrel) and Peter Piper. Then I suggested a fun place in El Paso called Jungle Jaks, and he was all for it! So as soon as daddy got off of work, we headed there and met the rest of the family for an evening of fun!

Jaden, Elijah and Aubrey can't wait to get that cake in their hands...

...and Landon would love it if he could just get that hand in his mouth!

Presents - for Elijah too! Lucky boy has some awesome grandparents who didn't want him to feel left out in the present opening. He got an adorable little remote control train.

And Jaden got the Toy Story GeoTrax train set! Thank you Nana and Papa!

One last ride on the bumper boats and bumper cars before it was time to go.

He had such a wonderful day and was so sad to see it all end. But I know this is just the beginning of a year full of fun and adventures to come!

Happy Birthday to An Amazing "Big" Boy!

2011-02-04T23:34:00.007-07:00

On January 18, my sweet Jaden turned 4 years old! It was definitely BIG excitement for him, and something he has been looking forward to since January 18, 2010. Apparently when you turn 4, you officially achieve "big boy" status, so it was a day my little guy had been anxiously anticipating for exactly a year. And I'll be honest, it was a bittersweet day for me. It made me miss the days where I could just scoop him up and snuggle the heck out of him; the days where he would happily comply with anything I suggested; and the days that I was not yet thinking about the choices he will make with the pressures of being an adolescent. It also made me wonder why we are constantly subconsciously encouraging him to grow up so fast by talking to him about being a "big boy," behaving like a "big boy," and doing things that "big boys" do. And even though I wish he could just stay little (and often ask him if he will...he says nope), this day also made me so proud to reflect on the wonderful "big boy" that he is inevitably becoming. He is such a good-hearted, sweet-natured little ("big") guy who is so considerate of others. He loves his family more than anything and if we could have a family get-together everyday, he would be in seventh heaven. He's a ball of endless energy, always on the go and coming up with new games to play or jokes to tell; although he's shy (so he says) around new people. He's a little four-year-old attitude with an occasional case of selective-listening. He is so wise and thoughtful and I am constantly amazed at the things he comes up with. He's very inquisitive and is never short of curiosity and questions (and ironically, he knows the answers to everything, too!). And it makes my heart happy (and eyes teary) to think of what an amazing big brother he is. He would do absolutely anything for his Elijah, and Elijah loves him just as much. Jaden is such a blessing to our family and I am thankful for him every day. He has probably taught me way more than I have taught him. I am so thankful to be able to spend most of my day with him and Elijah (and am so appreciative to my hard-working husband who has given me the opportunity to spend this time with the boys each day). And as much as I would love to slow down the process, my little guy is growing up whether I'm ready to accept it or not. So as he grows, my wish is that he continues to love learning and reading; that he always treats people with love and respect; and that he never loses his joy for life.

Happy Birthday to our amazing "Big" Boy. We love you so much!

Holiday Season Part 6: Welcome 2011!

2011-01-31T22:33:00.013-07:00

We rang in the new year with family, friends, and a serious game of Bingo, complete with the dreaded white elephant gifts as prizes! And the evening wouldn't be complete without little ones discovering the excitement in a New Year's horn. Aren't they cute!
Me with my sweetie pie niece, Aubrey!

SNOW!!! And ICE!! Jaden was so excited to finally see some snow this Winter (he didn't think that Christmas was supposed to even happen without snow)! And Elijah was just excited to be outside!
Just before New Year's, I was reminding my mom of the New Year's Eve parties we had with our cousins when we were little - hats, horns, leis, noisemakers... So my sweet mom went out and got the whole works for the party!

BINGO game-o!

Watching for the ball to drop.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! (And yes, Jaden partied the night away and stayed up later than anyone - and woke up earlier than anyone the next morning, too!)

Baby Landon is all partied out!

It seems like 2010 just flew past and 2011 crept in without a warning! 2010 will be an unforgettable year. It was filled with countless milestones for the boys' (Elijah walking and talking; Jaden's first soccer team...) and so many wonderful family memories (Our first trip to Disney World - pictures still to come!). It is also the year we lost my amazing grandpa; but his memory will carry on throught years to come!

I look forward to what is to come in the New Year and althought I am sad to realize that my two little guys are growing up faster than I'm ready to acknowledge, I can't wait to see all of the ways that they continue to grow and develop into their own little individuals! I look forward to growing as a family - not in numbers! But in love, faith, happiness, and unity. I look forward to being a better mom, wife, daughter, and teacher. And I also look forward to cooking more meals at home, living healthier, being more organized, cutting more coupons, doing more tot-school stuff with the boys, procrastinating less, and living and loving each day with true intention. Sounds like it's going to be an amazing year! Hope it is for you too!

Holiday Season Part 5: Christmas Day

2011-01-20T21:32:00.025-07:00

Phew! Finally made it to my Christmas Day post! Thought I might never get here. It would have been much easier to just skip it and join the year 2011 with the rest of the world, but I hate for there to be gaps in what I consider my documentation of my kiddos childhood! And Christmas day is arguably one of the most exciting, most eventful, and memorable days, especially in the eyes of a four and two year old! As an adult, I would love to be able to see Christmas through the eyes of a young child. In their eyes it must be a picture of pure joy and perfection. They don't have to worry about all of the "behind the scenes" hustle and bustle of it all; although I do admit I love all of the busy preparations and and little details of the season as well. I love everything about the Christmas holiday.

This year we really tried to make it a priority to help Jaden begin to understand that the joy and beauty of the season is not only in the gifts we receive from others, but more so in the giving of ourselves to others. He was very receptive to it, and really is such a loving and caring little guy. He loved reading the Story of Christmas and was very curious about baby Jesus and wondered when he would get to meet him. He was sure he would be there when he woke up on Christmas morning. And he really got into the spirit of giving and wanted to pick out something for someone else everywhere we went; and of course, just like any other four-year-old little guy, he couldn't wait to see what Santa would bring him. And between ourselves and other family members, the underneath of the Christmas tree often looks like Santa's sleigh exploded in the living room. This year I struggled with deciding exactly how many presents would be designated "Santa" presents because I don't want the boys to think that Santa brings any and everything. I also wanted them to really appreciate the individual that the gifts actually came from; and besides, Santa shouldn't get all the credit, right?! So after much contemplation, we finally decided that in honor of the Three Wise Men and the gifts they brought to Baby Jesus, the boys would each receive three gifts from Santa. I felt it would be a meaningful way to tie Santa into the true spirit of the season!

Christmas Morning!

Just like any other morning, Jaden stayed true to form and was up before anybody else in the house. And after a long night of playing Santa, I was awakened waaay to early by a wound up little guy announcing Santa's arrival! But it's amazing how the fatigue was instantly transformed, and I felt just as joyful as Jaden did! Jaden got to open his stocking and presents from Santa while we waited for everyone else to wake up. The presents that Santa brings are always wrapped in Santa wrapping paper, and this year had a special bow and Christmas bell attached. I even had my brother-in-law address the labels so that I wouldn't be discovered! Santa brought Jaden an Imagniext Helicopter, Superheroes Dress Up Trunk, and a Transformer Jet. And in his stocking were some cars, baseballs, and a "real" football jersey. And I'm not sure why Santa thought it would be a good idea, but he also got the boys a ball house!

And Elijah, also true to form, slept most of the morning away! When he finally decided to join the party, he was amazed and excited by all of the people and commotion! Santa brought him a Little Tikes Shopping Cart, a Healthy Dinner play food set (which, ironically, you can see him admiring in the picture below while holding an iced sugar cookie in his hand), and the Little People A to Z Learning Zoo. And in his stocking, he got cars, a toy train, and a toothbrush.

On Christmas morning, my brother and sister-in-law and their baby Landon, and my sister and brother-in-law and their little girl Aubrey all came over to my mom and dad's house and we had one HUGE gift exchange. I feel so blessed that we are such a close family and really cherish these together moments. We are very fortunate to share the closeness that we do and that our own children are able to begin sharing these wonderful memories and traditions together!

When my brother, sister, and I were babies, our Aunt Jeanette made us each an amazing quilt with our names and birth announcement on it. This year my mom surprised us with a "special project" she had been working on, which was quilts for our babies that she had modeled after the ones my Aunt Jeanette made us! A true treasure!

Precious Moments.

We had such a wonderful Christmas and it's sad that it comes and goes so quickly! Fortunately Sam was off the whole week after Christmas, so this was only the beginning of a week full of family, fun, get-together's, tons of board games, and lots of love and laughter! If only we could bottle up all the joy, love, and peace that the holidays naturally exude and sprinkle a little bit of it here and there throughout the year...if only.

Holiday Season Part 4: Christmas Eve

2011-01-11T23:16:00.011-07:00

Christmas Eve is always such a highly anticipated day, almost as exciting as Christmas itself! For us, it means family, traditions, and togetherness. As soon as the kids eat the last chocolate out of the Christmas Countdown "thingy," excitement instantly kicks in! We always go to El Paso for our annual Christmas Eve family dinner and gift exchange, which was our plan for this year as well. We started packing, wrapping the last of the gifts, and loading up the cars first thing in the morning, and about 5 suitcases, 8 duffel bags, and 10 hours later, Sam got called into work! He promised it wouldn't be for long, so we waited for him at home. Felt like we were all dressed up and nowhere to go. It put a slight kink in our plans, but in the end, we still got to be together with family, which is the most important part!

Cousins playing together.
And a brand new cousin Landon getting his rest in so that soon enough he will be keeping up wiht the other three!

My two little Christmas cuties! It's not often that I dress them the same, but for some reason, Christmas is always an exception!

Jaden, Elijah, and Aubrey were so excited to get to open their first Christmas gifts. Jaden got a remote control moster truck and two very cool Nuts and Bolts Storybooks from his cousin Scarlet. These gifts were a combination of all of his favorite things - trucks, reading, and building! Thank you Scarlet!
Elijah was so excited to tear the wrapping paper off of his gifts! He got a Fix and Learn Speedy and a Fridge Wash n' Go from cousin Landon!
This year we decided to start a new Christmas Eve tradition for the boys. Once we got settled in at Nana and Papa's house and got all set up for Santa - cookies and milk ready to go - we let the boys each open two presents. One was a pair of matching Christmas jammies (see, there's that Christmas matching thing again!), and the other was a Christmas book and coordination stuffed animal. Jaden got "Llama, Llama Holiday Drama" with a little Llama stuffed animal, and Elijah got "Duck and Goose: It's Time for Christmas" with a duck and goose finger puppet. They were so excited to get their new jammies on and just sit and read together!

And while daddy stayed upstairs with Jaden to make sure he stayed nestled, all snug in his bed (while daddy was probably the one with visions of sugarplums dancing in his head), Santa was in for a long, busy night ahead of her!

Holiday Season Part 3: Letters from Santa

2011-01-11T17:19:00.011-07:00

After visiting Santa at the mall, the boys were surprised with letters from Santa that came in the mail, straight from the North Pole! Fortunately for Jaden, he can't read yet so he doesn't know that the envelope reads El Paso, TX as the place they were sent from - thanks to our real-life secret Santa's, Nana and Papa!

Elijah was napping when the mail arrived, but I just couldn't wait to share Jaden's with him. I knew he'd appreciate it more than Elijah would anyway. He's at that awesome age where this is all so magical and exciting to him, which you can clearly see in his facial expressions in the pictures!

Santa must know how much he loves stickers!

He was so proud of his letter! The most surprising part for him was when Santa mentioned one of his buddy's names in the letter. As I read it to him, he gasped and looked up at me in disbelief and couldn't wait to tell his friend Seth that Santa said "hello."

The adorable letters and stickers that a very thoughtful and loving Mr. and Mrs. Nana and Papa Clause sent.

Holiday Season Part 2: Pictures with Santa

2011-01-04T17:07:00.004-07:00

I was so excited when Jaden actually said "yes" to taking pictures with Santa this year! We were already out and about; otherwise I would have planned outfits that were a little more Christmas-y. But I didn't want to risk Jaden changing his mind if we decided to wait and do it another day, so we just went for it. And of course when we got there, all of the other little kids were all done up in their adorable Christmas outfits, down to the detail, and hair perfectly combed - as you can see by the picture, we obviously didn't have a comb to fix Elijah's hair and spit just wasn't doing the trick. Oh well, they're adorable anyway! And they both willingly sat with him (and later cousin Aubrey joined them) without a single tear!

Funny Story: As we were getting out of the car in the parking lot at the mall, I saw a rather homely looking, white bearded older man walking into the mall. I jokingly whispered to Sam that he just might be Santa. And just as we got in line for our pictures, the current Santa was getting up to "take a break." About 15 minutes later, lo and behold, the parking lot Santa arrives and takes over the job! Good thing he cleans up well! He turned out to be a very nice looking Santa I thought.

Holiday Season Part 1: Family Photos

2011-01-02T22:00:00.005-07:00

As our family continues to grow, my mom has been wanting to get us all together for a family picture. We are all together just about every weekend, so it doesn't seem like it would be that difficult of a task to accomplish. But making sure that everyone has coordinating outfit colors and that all of the kids are napped, fed, and awake at the same time can be a little tricky. Finally my mom had to make an executive decision and told us all the meet at 'x' place at 'x' time because we were getting these pictures done! So glad that we did!

The Cordova Family - it took a couple of candy canes to finally get these pictures done.

Daddy and his boys! Elijah will do whatever his big brother does, so when Jaden climbed on Sam's back, Elijah followed suit.

The Cash (my mom, dad, brother Jeremy, sister-in-law Melissa, and nephew Landon), Lopez (my sister Angela, brother-in-law Beto, and neice Aubrey), and Cordova (us) Families...

Happy Holidays from all of us!

First Annual Girls Trip 2010

2010-12-16T21:09:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Disney on Ice - Let's Celebrate!

2010-12-05T10:39:00.013-07:00

I've been awaiting an opportunity to go to Disney on Ice and when their "Let's Celebrate" tour was headed to El Paso this fall, I had two perfect reasons to go - Jaden and Elijah!! I've never been, so I was just as excited as they were. I have always enjoyed live performances, and I think that the addition of ice skates made this so much more entertaining and magical. It was like a party on ice as they celebrated several different occasions and we had such a wonderful time! Thankfully, Buzz and Woody made an appearance at the end, which was the cherry on top for Jaden!

The show opened with the Dancing Broomsticks. This was Sam's favorite part and he must have You-Tubed this scene from the show for a month after. (And if you're curious yourself, here's a You-Tube video of this scene of the show: Let's Celebrate).

Halloween

Love/Valentine's Day

Summer

Chinese New Year

Mardi Gras

Christmas

And Jaden doesn't know, but this was just the beginning of more Disney fun to come! (On Friday we are headed to Disney World!! -- shhh, it's a secret!)

Farewell Fall

2010-12-02T21:05:00.015-07:00

I'm wrapping up the Fall season with some of our favorite fall memories, including pumpkin carving, the pumpkin patch, and trick or treating!

Trick or Treating!

We usually go to El Paso for Halloween, but a friend told me that my very own neighborhood was apparrently the place to be, so we decided to do our Halloween get-together at our house, and sure enough, by 9am on Halloween morning, neighbors were outside decorating and setting up their front yards and porches, just as my friend had promised. We were so amazed and excited by it all that we rushed to the store to get some of our own festive decor and 10 more bags of candy (plus we didn't want to seem like the Halloween scrooges of the neighborhood - not a good reputation to have!). Sam set up and decorated the driveway, complete with spooky music playing in the background. And while Nana and the Papa's stayed at the house handing out candy, Woody, Buzz, and Jessie excitedly set out for an evening of trick-or-treating! It turned out to be such a fun time for the kids and us! Jaden, Elijah, and Cousin Aubrey are all at a wonderful age where the sights and sounds of Halloween are not toooo scary for them - Jaden was terrified last year, but was great about it all this year and Elijah and Aubrey were unphased by all of the "spookiness." And these three characters were quite the little show stoppers everywhere that we went (and didn't mind all the attention one bit!).

Pumpkin Carving!

Carving pumpkins and roasting pumpkin seeds is always one of my favorite fall activities to do with the kids. Neither of the boys were too willing to dig in and scoop out the pulp and seeds (and actually, it took me becoming a preschool teacher to even be willing to do that myself); but they were very good supervisors and observers.

The Pumpkin Patch!

We are very fortunate to have a wonderful corn maze/pumpkin patch right down the road from us and it seems to have more and more activiteis for the kids every year (that or the kids are finally getting big enough to do the activities that they've had there every year...hmm). Either way it's always a wonderful time had by all, and one of our true indicators that the boys are in fact getting taller every year (see pictures)

And of all the big, orange, perfectly round pumpkins in the pumpkin patch, these are the two that Jaden chose because, in his words, they were "beautiful" and "perfect."

Sam jokingly said that Jaden definitely will not be picking out the family dog that we adopt, if ever we adopt a dog. Haha. But isn't it wonderful how innocent and non-judgmental kids can be. I love it.

Hope you all had a Happy Fall!

"Goldfish Colors", Minus the Artificial Colors

2010-12-02T20:28:00.004-07:00

When we go grocery shopping, my little helper has gotten into checking the labels on products like I do; not becasue he can read them, but becasue he is hoping that I will tell him the pack of cookies or fruit snacks he wants is in fact sugar free! Unfortunately for him, that happens very rarely. He has even become a bit frustrated with the manufacturers. Today he said, "That's not very nice of them! They should make some stuff that doesn't have too much sugar."

While we were out shopping today, Jaden picked up a pack of the colored Goldfish crackers and asked if we could get them. My immediate response was no, mainly because I try to avoid products that have artificial coloring as much as possible. And with the name Goldfish Colors, it's pretty much a guarantee that there's a whole rainbow of colors listed on the ingredient label.

But today, I was pleasantly surprised to see this advertised on the package!

Now the ingredient label includes beet juice and watermelon juice for color! Jaden was thrilled when I turned my no into a yes, he almost couldn't believe it! He looked at the package and said, "So this doesn't have a lot of sugar?!" And they taste great too!

New Mexico State Fair

2010-11-14T01:11:00.009-07:00

I decided I better hurry and post all of my Fall "to-be-posted" posts quickly before Christmas sneaks up on me and then I'll be behind on those too! I previously posted about our trip to Albuquerque, NM for the New Mexico State Fair last month, and shortly after that is our local New Mexico State Fair, which is another of our favorite Fall family activities! It's become a trend that we go to our local fair twice while it's going on, and this year was no different! We went the first time with some friends and their kids, and Aunt Melissa (and baby Landon to-be). Then we went again with my mom, dad, sister, and cousin Aubrey! (And unfortunately, all I had with me both times was the camera on my phone :(. And for the second time around, my phone was dying, so I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I would have hoped, but these are some of my favorites).

NM Fair, here we come! Jaden's was super excited, and clearly Elijah was just as enthused!

Jaden got to ride on a select few of the carnival rides. This kiddy train was his favorite, along with his friends Abbey and AJ.

Elijah was thrilled looking at all of the different projects that the local school kids created...

...and was much less excited looking at (and listening to) all of the show animals! My little Mr. Independent was suddenly clinging to Aunt Melissa as if his life depended on it!

The goats were so friendly and the kids loved feeding them.

State Fair, Take 2

This time, Daddy and Aunt Angie were the lucky riding buddies.

Those goats have got to be pretty full by now.
Jaden was shocked to actually hear the cows "mooing" up close and personal!
You just can't go to the State Fair and not go on a pony ride!

Amigo Airsho

2010-11-13T22:57:00.014-07:00

The Amigo Airsho is one of our favorite October events here, especially having two little guys who absolutely love airplanes! The shows that the different airplanes put on are absolutely mesmerizing and have a way of making us feel overwhelmingly prideful of this amazing country we live in! In addition to all of the airplanes, Jaden was definitely in awe of all of the soldiers that he saw and must have pointed out every single one.

At last year's show, we got to see the stealth bomber fly, which was amazing, and amazingly loud! Jaden liked it from a distance but was terrified by the noise. This year, he kept reminding me that he's bigger now ("I'm four now," he kept telling me - Even though he knows he's still 3 for a little bit longer, he's insistent that we should just say he's 4 already). And along with being "4" comes an immunity to insanely loud airplanes. So since I didn't have to worry about Jaden, I tried to get Elijah to keep earplugs in his ears before the Thunderbird's show began. He wasn't having it, so I left him unplugged and figured that the Thunderbirds probably wouldn't be too loud. Boy was I wrong! My mom and I jumped out of our skin when we heard the loud rumble of the jets as they flew by, but not Elijah. When he heard the jets, he started... dancing! Now I know there isn't a noise that little boy won't dance to! Both boys loved the show and I enjoyed the time together with family.

Jaden had to take every plane he owns with him to the Airsho and whenever we saw a plane flying, he'd fumble through his bag to find a plane that resembled it the closest, and then imitated the airplanes actions with his own plane.

The Thunderbirds Show

The boys got to take a picture with one of the paratroopers. You can imagine that was the highlight of Jaden's day. Elijah was just happy to have his socks and shoes off!

Airplanes up close!

These two cuties had so much fun!

Here are a couple of videos I took at the Airsho. (Too bad I didn't get Elijah dancing).

Our Trip to the "Jungle"

2010-11-03T16:48:00.016-06:00

My blog has been seriously neglected lately. It's not that I don't have any new blogging material; it's the exact oopposite, actually. I've got a waiting list of blog entries to post that I just haven't had the time to work on because we are so busy making new memories that will also eventually have to be added to this "virtual scrapbook" of mine, which then adds to my ever-growing list of blogs to be written/posted! It's an endless cycle. Here's a perfect example of my extra emphasis on "eventually" - Here is a blog post that has been awaiting it's debut since back in July!

It's our trip to the El Paso Zoo! It was so much fun, although you can't tell by looking at Elijah's face in the first picture. That is what we experienced from the second I put him in his carseat until the second I got him out! In our efforts to save gas and only take one car, the poor guy was surrounded by carseats and a row of people in front of him. Needless to say, he wasn't too thrilled about the seating arrangements. But the only way to get three carseats into one vehicle was to take Sam's truck, and it we were cozy! Fortunately for Elijah, there was plenty of excitement and animals awaiting his arrival on the other end of the torturous ride to get there. It didn't take long to cheer him right up!

The El Paso Zoo has grown and changed so much in recent years, and as close as it is, we don't get out there nearly enough. We were excited to see their new Africa exhibit, which is where we spent most of our time. Plus we caught a sea lion show, which the kiddos loved!! And a trip to the gift shop ended with a large stuffed giraffe for Elijah to ride home with, made for a much more peaceful (and crowded) drive!

A few weeks after our trip to the zoo, Jaden asked me if we could go to the jungle again. At first I had no clue what he was talking about, but I didn't want to make him feel bad by seeming so clueless, so I played along with what I thought was an imaginary trip to the jungle. I imagined we were in full safari gear, binoculars in hand, checking out all of the jungle animals. Then I realized we were living two separate jungle experiences when I asked him, "How will we get to the jungle?" He gave me the "You've GOT to be kidding me" look and said, "Mooooomm..." (you know, the long drawn out "mom," which I'm sure in a few years will be accompanied by a rolling of the eyes), "...the same way as when we went with Nana, Aunt Angie, and Aubrey!" That's when it hit me - what I thought was an average everyday trip to the zoo, Jaden thought was his first official trip to the jungle.

Here are some pictures of our jungle adventure!

Fall = Fairs, Festivals, and Fun!

2010-10-13T14:58:00.018-06:00

Even though the 90-degree weather isn't exactly indicative of the season change, we love the Fall season around here!! For one, it's the beginning of the holiday season, which is so much more special with two little guys who get so excited about it all. It's almost like clockwork - as soon as the calendar says "First Day of Fall," we automatically start to feel all holiday-ish. In fact, Sam was feeling so festive that he even checked the XM-Radio to see if the holiday station had started yet (much to his disappointment, it hasn't yet). We also start to imagine that the weather is getting cooler and begin unpacking all of the winter clothes and jackets, knowing good and well we won't need any of them for at least another month. And while we anticipate all of the fun holiday festivities to come, one of our most favorite things about the Fall is Fairs, Festivals, and loads of Fun!! We kicked off the season by heading to Albuquerque for the New Mexico State Fair! Jaden couldn't wait to see all of the animals (and I couldn't wait for all of the fair food)!! It's also big excitement to get to stay at a hotel, which provides a second burst of energy when it's time to get ready for bed! And Nana and Papa surprised the boys and joined us at the fair the next morning!

This amazing sand sculpture was being made while we watched! It's a years worth of holidays in 150 tons of sand. Pretty incredible!

Yummy Fair Food!

At Old McDonald's Petting Zoo

Hanging with Nana.

Being silly with daddy.

Of course we had to get a bubble gun, which was well worth the price in giggles and fun!

McDonald's Farm is awesome for the kids! It's set up like a scavenger hunt with different activities to try and different things to collect on the way. The kids are given a list and bucket when they enter and have to find all of the items on the list in all of the different sections of the farm (like apples and pecans from the trees, eggs from the hen house, and vegetables from the garden). As they exit, they sort all of the items and then get a nice cold popsicle!

Twins?? Haha (my dad and Sam)

The Giggling Brothers

2010-10-10T11:12:00.006-06:00

There is no better sound than the laughter of children!! I just love hearing these two boys giggling together. Jaden absolutely loves when he gets Lijah laughing, which you can tell by the video is pretty easy to do - Jaden had a corndog stick in his mouth and he was making it go up and down with his teeth. That's all it took to start all of this excitement! I love it!

Mommy's Brain

2010-09-24T16:58:00.004-06:00

Now that I am back to school, I have been so busy with helping support and develop a new autism program at my site, which I thoroughly enjoy; and in exchange, my blogging has had to take a temporary back seat! But don't worry, I'm still here and have lots to blog about...eventually!

And just in case you've ever wondered what my brain looks like, Jaden apparently knows and has illustrated it for everyone else to see too (and even though it doesn't look like there's a whole lot going on in there, I assure you, there is!)...

Project Playroom - - UPDATE!

2010-08-30T16:50:00.013-06:00

Waaay back at the beginning of June, I posted about beginning our Playroom Project (see that post here: (http://momoftwopreciousboys.blogspot.com/search/label/Playroom). Well, here we are at the end of August and I have yet to post an update on the big project, which literally took me all summer to complete! We (meaning my Aunt Mary and I) still have some final touches to do, but here it is!!

After much contemplation, I decided to go with GREEN for the walls!

My little helper ready to go!

I was so nervous about this part, but after a little while it was Jaden's nap time, and by the time he woke up, the wall was completely painted! (He is wearing a tank top of mine, not a dress - in case that question was going through your mind :o).

I originally had white shelving in the room, and something about it just wasn't "right" in the space with the new wall color, so I decided to go with dark brown instead.

And here the room is now, after two months of work!

The Reading Area...

Above the Block Area, my Aunt Mary painted this frame to surround the collection of picture frams. I attached wall decal dots, and she printed the Dr. Suess quote "Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is noone alive who is youer than you." around the inside border.

The photo collage wall. I used the old wrapping paper trick to get each frame placed just right (I traced each frame onto wrapping paper and cut them out, then positioned them with tape until I was happy with the layout; then swapped the wrapping paper for the actual frames).

Organizing (my favorite part)!!! I have a bit of an obsession with labels, organizing, containers, and baskets. I printed pictures of each container's contents and slid each one into a plastic badge holder and used the badge clips to hook them onto the containers (and added a little bit of ribbon, just cuz)! Did I mention how much I love organizing :o).

Still to Do: The main green wall will eventually have a large blue tree painted on it, along with some framed pictures. And a few Dr. Seuss wall decal quotes will be added.

Jaden Got Mail!

2010-08-19T14:35:00.006-06:00

As part of their usual routine, Sam takes Jaden with him to get the mail everyday -- granted the mailbox is only three houses away, but it's very exciting to a three-year-old who loves any kind of "daddy time." He always wants to know which item is his in the big stack of junk mail and bills, and as much as I would love to give him all the bills and let him take care of those, I don't think that using them for cutting practice or painting projects will keep the electricity on. So lucky for him, I frequently get classroom supply magazines or stickers and such, and those are his "mail." Until the other day, when he really did get his very own piece of mail! And he knew it was his because it was addressed to HIM! (And I think it's possible that every other person in our neighborhood also knew that Jaden had gotten mail because of his extremely outward expression of excitement... AKA jumping up and down and screaming his head off!!) He got a letter from his cousin Lance in San Antonio and he could not wait to open it; actually, he had mevverify a thousand times that it was in fact his name and address on the envelope! As you can see by the pictures, he was so thrilled! Thanks cousin Lance for making Jaden's day!!

Goodbye Summer

2010-08-16T19:35:00.004-06:00

Sadly, my summer vacation has come to a quick end. Seems like just a few weeks ago I was hurrying to get my entire classroom cleaned and packed up so I could begin enjoying my summer vacation with my boys! And just a week ago, I headed back in to unpack, set up, organize, and even paint my classroom walls! And as sad as I am that we are back into our usual school-time routine of going to bed early, waking up early, rushing around in the morning, and getting the boys to their babysitter, I am also hugely excited about the school year ahead. After a few years of contemplating and requesting, this year I was approved the opportunity to share my teaching position with another teacher, meaning I will only work for half the day and will get to spend the other half of the day with my two favorite people in the world! I couldn't be more thrilled! I get to spend my days doing the two things I love the most, being a teacher and mostly a mommy!

Name that Tune

2010-08-16T19:31:00.003-06:00

All day today, Jaden was going around singing (or attempting to sing) the words to a currently popular (very un-preschool) song. See if you can guess what song he was singing.

Jaden: "Alley, alley, ondro....Alley, alley, ondro..."

People - from a Child's Perspective

2010-07-28T16:31:00.009-06:00

Jaden is recently very into drawing pictures of "people." I just think it is so cute the way probably every preschoolers draws their first people pictures: a huge head with disproportional eyes, a nose somewhere on the face (in this case, under the mouth), and a mouth that stretches past the eyes; the classic arms and legs coming straight out of the head; and occasionally hands (with a thousand fingers) and shoes. And no matter who the subject of the drawing is, they all look exactly the same.

Here's his drawing of me:

Gotta love it!

Backseat Traffic Cop

2010-07-23T16:27:00.002-06:00

Whenever we are in the car, Sam and I are so lucky to have our very own traffic cop on board, sitting right in the back seat. Jaden definitely keeps us in line and makes sure we are following the rules of the road at all times. Who needs red light cameras when you've got a three-year-old making sure you stop on red; and he's got tickets ready to hand out, if necessary. Here's some of what we hear from our little backseat traffic cop:

"Mom, the light is red up there. You should start to slow down."

J: "Dad, did you see that red light that you just passed?"
S: "It was a yellow light that turned red."
J: "But yellow means that you are supposed to slow down."

"Why are all the cars not going and the light is green?" (Then I had to explain that it just takes everybody just a minute to move their foot from the brake to the gas to get going again....geez.)

"Are we going too fast?... Are we going too slow?... Are we going the right fast?"

"Are those cars speeding? I think the police are going to give them a ticket. But not us because we're not going too fast, right mom?"

"Are we going the right way? I think we are supposed to go the other way."

"Why is everybody going so slow?... Why are we stopping?" (FYI: construction)

"Mom, there are two red lights up there, so we will have to stop two times."

"Don't go until the light turns to green."

"What number does that sign say about how fast we can go?" (He's always keeping an eye on speed limit signs).

By the way it sounds, you'd think we've had several run-ins with the law! But I assure you, we have not. And I hope our little backseat traffic cop continues to keep us safe on the road!

Summer, Swings & Ice Cream

2010-07-22T18:52:00.009-06:00

Whose bright idea was it to go to the park right smack in the middle of a 100+ degree afternoon?? Oh yea, that'd be ME. And the boys couldn't have agreed more. They thought it was a grand idea too! Unfortunately the slides, tunnels, monkey bars - okay, just about everything - was too hot to play on (like I said, bright idea). But the swings were like baby bear's porridge...just right! And who doesn't love a good ride on the swings? They would have stayed on those swings for hours; don't worry, I didn't let them. We stayed just long enough to get a good dose of Vitamin D and tire the boys out for naps...but not before stopping for an extra special summer treat.

Such disappointment that the swings came to a final hault (or maybe it's exhaustion?).
And we finished off the afternoon with with cherry topped Dilly Bars (and snoozing boys in the backseat by the time we got home)!

We love summer!

Little Bitty Bookworms

2010-07-22T11:19:00.004-06:00

I have two little guys who absolutely love books and will gladly hop in a lap to listen to a good story! (But they aren't picky -- the floor will do just fine if a lap is not available :o).

An Unexpected Water Day

2010-06-25T15:10:00.010-06:00

Our day began with the boys going outside to "help" me to water the yard, which turned into a very enexpected water day -- in pajamas! And why not...that's the fun part about summer, right!

Jaden did everything he could to make sure the water from the sprinkler not only watered the yard, but that it also soaked every last square inch of his body, making sure not to leave a bit dry. He went back through several times, just to be sure that he wouldn't be dry any time soon. He had water sqishing out of the sides of his shoes, dripping off the ends of his eyelashes, and even coming out of his ears. I'm pretty sure we could have filled our swimming pool just by wringing out his clothes and dumping out his shoes. Elijah was content playing with the water in the water table, while watching his silly brother and contemplating whether that looked like more fun...

...and i guess it eventually did. Elijah decided to abandon the water table and got in on the sprinkler action. I think his main plan was getting to the watermelon, but he didn't mind getting soaked in the process. Much to his disappointment, the watermelon wouldn't come detached. And by wringing out the water from his soaked clothes, I'm pretty sure we would have been able to water the garden for a week.

Next was soaking wet car and bike riding, which would normally be a good way to dry off, but with the amount of water in these jammies, it didn't even turn them from soaked to damp.

And eventually, all of this water fun led to stripping down, leaving the wet clothes outside, and going inside for popsicles (because there's nothing a mother appreciates more than kids eating popsicles without their clothes on -- well, maybe a few things, but this is definitely up there on the list)!

One of the many joys of summer with two awesome little guys!

Where's Elijah??

2010-06-23T17:22:00.007-06:00

Not really, Elijah's not in there, but if he could figure out a way to get in, I'm sure he would. And in case you're curious to know what's in our fridge, here it all is, like an open book - how embarassing! But I had to post it because this is one of Elijah's favorite places to play. As soon as the door opens, his refrigerator radar (I guess that could be called a "refrigeradar" - ha) goes off and no matter where he is in the house, he comes as quickly as his little hands and knees can take him, hoping to make it before the door shuts. And he loads up the shelves with whatever he can find. Did you spot a few things that don't belong? These were the treasures he left, and this time, he even had a little help from big brother, which is how the green ball got all the way on the top shelf!

And here he is, getting caught in the act.

Garden Update...

2010-06-23T15:28:00.008-06:00

We have WATERMELONS (or some kind of melon)!!! I am so excited!! Aren't the flowers beautiful! I usually go out and water in the afternoon and was concerend because all of the flowers had been closing up. But one morning, I went out early in the morning to water and was so pleasantly surprised to see all of these beautiful flowers open and taking in the morning sun!

This was our first watermelon to start growing, so I am going to take pictures of it often, as it changes shape and size. Jaden is excitedly watching it grow and change, and can't wait to eat it! I thought it'd be fun to print all of the pictures for him to put in order and make a little memory book of his watermelon plant!

Here it is on June 19th:

And again on June 21st! It's growing so fast!

*UPDATE*

June 25:

What Is A Dad?

2010-06-21T10:12:00.017-06:00

"A Dad is a person

Who is loving and kind,

And often he knows

What you have on your mind.

He's someone who listens,

Suggests, and defends.

A dad can be one

Of your very best friends!

He's proud of your triumphs,

But when things go wrong,

A dad can be patient

And helpful and strong.

In all that you do,

A dad's love plays a part.

There's always a place for him

Deep in your heart.

And each year that passes

You're even more glad,

More grateful and proud

Just to call him your dad!

Thank you, Dad...

For listening and caring,

For giving and sharing,

But, especially, for just being you!"

Happy Father's Day to our wonderful dads!

And I do mean WONDERFUL! We have some truly incredible Dad's and Grandpa's in our lives and are so blessed for the closeness that we all share. Both Sam and I have incredible Dads who have become even more incredible Grandpas to our boys. It's truly a precious thing to watch your own dad become completely wrapped around the fingers of someone so small. They would do anything for their grandchildren and Jaden and Elijah are so blessed to be so loved!

They were also blessed to have know their Great-Grandpa (my Grandpa); to experience his love, laughter, and silliness; and to have shared many wonderful memories with him before he passed away in March. In my eyes, he was a perfect picture of love, family, and values and I look forward to sharing all of those with my boys.

And Jaden and Elijah are truly blessed to be celebrating this Father's Day with a Dad who is truly one-of-a-kind! Sam loves and cherishes his role as "daddy" and he shows that each and ever day. He is so in love with these two little guys and would do anything to make them happy, hear them giggle, and see them smile. And they love him just as much! It brings me so much joy to see the relationship the boys' have with their daddy, because too often today it seems like the ever-important dads are absent in the lives of their children; and even if they are physically "there," their hearts are often missing from the job. And heart is a requirement! And so is tickling; playing every kind of ball that there is; being totally hands-on; watching Saturday morning cartoons; teaching how to use a hammer; letting the boys play with a baby doll if they want to; reading stories; riding in daddy's truck; hunting for bugs; not minding messes, but teaching how to clean them up; setting a shining example; teaching respect, patience, and love; loving no matter what; and being a superhero, to name a few! Jaden and Elijah are so lucky, their daddy has all of the qualifications, and many, many more! Happy Father's Day!

Here's some of my favorite father-son pictures from the past year...

Dear Daddy...

2010-06-21T09:55:00.006-06:00

I made this perfect gift to share with you today,

It's one of a kind and very unique,

Yet it changes everyday.

It can hold on tight and wave goodbye,

It can even say hello.

It's a part of me that will grow to be

Like Daddy's when I'm old.

I give you my handprints that I painted just for you today.

It's my way of saying "I Love You,"

Each and every day.

Love,

Jaden and Elijah

First Dentist Appointment

2010-06-14T15:57:00.006-06:00

Just after Elijah's first birthday, he had his first dentist appointment! Jaden is always the best client/patient, whether he's getting a haircut or at a doctor's appointment. And for Elijah's first dentist appointment, he definitely came in a close second! I wasn't sure what to expect from him, but he was so good! The dentist couldn't believe it, especially specializing in children's dental care, I think they automatically brace themselves for the top-of-the-lungs scream. You know, the type where you have to say "breathe, baby, breathe." But not Elijah! He was happy as could be, especially when he got to use the BIG toothbrush to brush the doggy's teeth! Jaden loved that part too, along with getting to sit in the big-kid exam chair!

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary...

2010-06-14T14:46:00.009-06:00

How does our garden grow?

With soil and sun,

Lots of love,

And a little guy who helps water each day.

We decided to plant a little garden this spring! I admittedly don't know a whole lot about gardening, but the important part was doing it as a family, while providing a wonderful learning opportunity for Jaden - and what 3 year old doesn't love digging in the dirt! I have no idea what fruits/vegetables grow best in our area, or even what amount of space is needed. So we did what we could to bring a little garden into our even littler backyard. We prepared a 4-foot area and planted a few of our favorites - watermelon, honeydew melon, peas, green beans, and carrots...yes, all in a 4-foot space! I figured it was worth a shot! And much to my surprise and excitement, our garden has made lots of progress over the last month and a half! Here are some of the pictures of our growing garden...

End of April: Planting our garden. Jaden was so excited to have his own gardening gloves and tools, and althought a bit big, you would have thought he was a real working farmer! He was a little disappointed that there wasn't enough room to drive a tractor around on our little "farm."

Mid-May: Our garden has sprouted! I regret that I forgot to label the rows, so it will eventually be a surprise to find out what is what!

Today: Beautiful Garden! Our little garden is growing like crazy (with the exception of one of the rows, which has yet to sprout)! The melon flowers are starting to bloom, and after pollinated, our watermelons and honeydew melons will start to form (so for now, there are lots of bees hanging out in the garden)!

Stay tuned for garden updates...

Project Playroom!

2010-06-06T13:01:00.007-06:00

Now that I am off for the summer, let the summer projects begin! I decided that am going to redo the playroom and spruce it up a little. I am going to move some of the toys into storage, get rid of some of the shelving, hopefully get some new shelving (if not, then paint the ones we've got), paint one of the walls, and get some new fun stuff...on a budget, mind you! Here are some playroom pictures that have insired me!

Love the yellow wall color, alphabet decals, and chalkboard wall stickers. (Land of Nod)

Love everything about this room! I want to find a similar world map wall hanging that isn't as expensive. I found floor cushions like these on Etsy for half the price! I love love love the rug and combination of colors. Might even make a pape chain! (Land of Nod)

This is the color that I want to do the playrom shelving...I think. (Land of Nod)

Love the three hanging art boards. (Pottery Barn Kids)

I am torn betwee painting the wall yellow or green like this. I have lots of black picture frames with white mats and white furniture and love the way this looks. (Bungalow Insanity)

I love this blue tree! I have been looking for tree wall decals and have found some similar ones. I also love the blue couch, star accents, and combination of colors.

I am going to try to recreate a version of the hanging candelier using paper lanters instead. We'll see! I also really like the bulletin board that is above the shelves. (Pottery Barn Kids)

Shoud be fun! I have one little helper already ready to start painting!

I Spy...

2010-06-04T22:05:00.003-06:00

Jaden is recently very into playing "I Spy." He wants to play in the car, at restaurants, at the grocery store, and even at home. I think it's great becasue he practices color recognition and vocabulary. However, he tends to play like it a little like Tuke and Rutt in the movie Brother Bear. Here's a recent version of one of our games.

J: "I spy something....green."
Me: "The tree?"
J: "Yep! Your turn."

Me: "I spy something red."
J: "The car?"
Me: "No, try again."
J: "The red light?"
Me: "Yes, you got it, your turn!"

J: "I spy something...green."
Me: "That building?"
J: "Nope."
M: "The trees?"
J: "Yep! Your turn."

Me: "I spy something blue."
J: "The sky?"
Me: "Yes! Your turn."

J: "I spy something..green."
Me: "The . . . t r e e s??"
J: "Yep! You got it!"

Such a silly little guy! I think it's so adorable when kids are first learning the concept of these games! He's also attempting "Knock knock" jokes recently. Pretty much goes the same way as his "I Spy" games, except it's always a potato at his door. Don't ask me why!

Little "Helpers"

2010-05-28T17:33:00.006-06:00

Having two little "helpers" with me when I was trying to get my classroom all packed up wasn't really all that helpful! But it was fun! And actually, Jaden was quite a big helper and went around with Clorox wipes cleaning everything he could, including the floor (the rest of the time he was entertaining his baby brother or asking me if we were done and ready to go yet). Elijah was busy taking things out and putting them back into my class "treasure box." One of the "treasures" that he discovered was a lollipop. When I noticed he had it, it was still wrapped, so I let him be...until he was suddenly very quiet. Here's why...

Elijah and Aubrey's First Birthday Party!

2010-05-11T23:30:00.017-06:00

Better late than never...as promised, Eljah's first birthday party! Elijah celebrated his first birthday with his cousin Aubrey, who turned 1 just five weeks before him! It was such a fun time, and a little emotional, as I watched in amazement and thought how unfair it is that my baby boy turned one so much quicker than anybody else (*tear).

The theme for their party was Nursery Rhymes! Is there a more perfect them for a baby's first birthda!y I didn't think so. My sister, mom, and I had so much fun with it and went all out to make sure the invitations, decorations, favors, treats, cake...everything fit the theme perfectly! It's a good thing the party came when it did, or I would have just kept going with it! We had the party at a wonderful little park in El Paso. The weather turned out perfect for the day and the two little guests of honor had lots of friends and family there to help them celebrate!

Here are some (hundred) pictures from the day!

The decorations...

I ordered these adorable cake slice favor boxes, bag tags, and banner on Etsy.

The party favors! Everything inside the pail had a Nursery Rhyme theme, including the pail (Jack and Jill)! Here's what was inside: a lamb finger puppet (Mary Had a Little Lamb); a monkey finger puppet (Five Little Monkeys); a mini popper (Pop Goes the Weasel); star stationary set (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star); toy spiders (Itsy Bitsy Spider); Humpty Dumpty eggs; and duck horns (Five Little Ducks). And for every single item, we printed little cards with the words to each nursery rhyme on them and attached them with ribbon to each item (what can I say, I'm a teacher. Gotta tie in literacy somehow :o). So much fun!
The goodies, also with the nursery rhyme attached! Moon sugar cookies that my mom and sister made (Hey, Diddle, Diddle); sheep cupcake cones (Little Bo Peep); and little feet rice krispy treats (This Little Piggy).

And of course, the cake! This was made by one of my student's moms, who does amazing work, as you can see! I showed her a picture of the cake I wanted, and it came out more wonderful than I ever could have imagined!

My sweet little birthday boy!

The birthday babies with their mommy's and great grandma (aka "Deyga")
And the birthday party fun!! We had a Humpty Dumpty egg hunt, a huge parachute and balls, kites, bubbles, and lots of smiles and laughter!

Happy Birthday to Elijah and Aubrey... Elijah couldn't wait to dig into that cake, and lucky birthday boy was being fed cake and ice cream from about five different plates!

And the result of nonstop activity, tons of people, overstimulation, lots of excitment, and first dose of sugar is this...

Elijah got so many wonderful gifts from his generous and loving family and friends!

Elijah's First Birthday

2010-05-11T19:41:00.011-06:00

For Elijah's first birthday dinner, we let Jaden pick the place. Any guesses on what his choice was?? Well, he felt very strongly that there was no other choice but Chuck-E-Cheese to celebrate Elijah's first birthday. Isn't that where every one-year-old wants to be the evening of their first birthday? So, Chuck-E-Cheese, here we come!

Elijah with his Aunt Angie and cousin Aubrey, who just turned 1 a month earlier.

Checking out the huge mechanical mouse. Jaden won't go near that thing and has to be reminded each time we go to CEC that it is only a robot.

Big one-year-old cousins, Aubrey and Elijah!

And the most wonderful Big Brother any little guy could ask for.

Elijah and Aubrey taking a ride in the Chuck-E car.

Elijah and Jaden going for a ride with Chuck-E.

Looks like Lijah won the Jackpot!

Precious brothers! I think there are many moments like these still to come!

Cake time! Elijah can hardly wait to get his hands on that thing! I was wishing I had made that sugar free Banana and Applesauce cake that I'll be making for his birthday party!

Finally got his hands in it! I was having terrible flashbacks to the night of Jaden's first birthday. He was up crying all night with a tummy ache after all of the green icing he had on his first birthday cake - the first time he had ever really had sugar!

Making sure to get every last crumb...

I see a sugar crash coming on! Happy 1st Birthday sweet boy!

Elijah's One Year Old!

2010-05-10T22:43:00.010-06:00

I can't believe it's already been a year since our precious Elijah was born! April 17, 2009 was the day that Sam and I became parents for the second time and Jaden became one awesome big brother! I have to admit that the months leading up to that day were........well.......ummm, how do I say this without hurting Elijah's feelings...miserable. I was sick day and night from month zero till about April 17th, 2009. That's what it seemed like, anyway. I can't count the days I had to miss work due to my sickness. So much for saving up my sick-leave days for my maternity leave. Eventually my doctor put me on some anti-nausea medication, which worked wonderfully to cure my constant nausea and vomiting; BUT ended up causing intense constipation (I know you wanted to know all these details) and I couldn't decide which I would rather have felt because apparently it wasn't possible to have my cake and eat it too (literally, because I would have vomited!). It gets worse, but I'll spare you the details.

I remember telling my mom half-way through my pregnancy that I was NOT going to be pregnant EVER AGAIN! She gave a sympathetic smile and said "You'll forget about all of this once the baby is born." Sam and I checked into the hospital super early on the morning of the 17th, as I was going to be induced that day, about a week before my due date. Nana and Papa stayed with Jaden and I couldn't stop thinking about how tremendously his life was going to change, in tremendous ways! I couldn't wait for him and his new baby brother to meet. But we had a long 10 hours ahead of us, and since the epidural I had with Jaden didn't work, I decided I wouldn't even attempt one this time. Eventually I decided I couldn't take the pain anymore and went ahead with an epidural and quickly thougth "why didn't I do that five hours ago!" At 6:31 PM pm, Elijah Norman was born, weighing 8 pounds, 9 ounces! And my mom was absolutely right! It was like all of those months of pain and misery completely left me as soon as Elijah was born. Initially I was anxious to meet the little guy who had been causing me so much pain for the past nine months; and as soon as I held him, I knew that I would have done it all over again in a heartbeat.

Elijah has been the most perfect addition to our family. There is so much to love about this little guy! Elijah, here's what I love about you...

How easy-going you are. You are so good at entertaining yourself and keeping yourself busy.
How your big brother makes you giggle and laugh harder than anybody.
Your chubby little feet, still in tiny size 3 shoes! I especially love your first pair of tiny flip flops!
Your adorable teeth! You have two on the bottom and four on the top...and hardly ever makes a fuss about them.
How cute you are when you pull up to stand, after many failed attempts and lots of practice.
That you loves to eat! You never crawls as fast as when you think it's time to eat!
How well behaved you are when we are out at a restaurant.
How much you absolutely loves put-and-take play activities! You love to put items into containers, empty, and repeat...again and again.
How much you love to sleep (including naps).
That you are finally using a sippy cup instead of bottles and are mostly accepting of them.
How cute it is when you suck your thumb while you are sleeping.
The way you say "momma."
The way you sneakily pick the food off your tray that you don't like and drop it onto the floor.
How much you love your bath and your first trip to the swimming pool!
The way you try to escape into the backyard any time daddy is out there watering.
How cute you are when you swing. You giggle so much, and sometimes fall asleep.
Your long wavy hair, and the adorable curls that are still on either side, just above your ears. I just can't bring myself to cut them yet.
The way you love to play with your toys. You cry in the morning as we pass the playroom to get into the car, while squirming to try to get down and play.
How much you love books and being read to.
Your bright, beautiful eyes and sweet, friendly smile.
How much fun it is for you when Jaden feeds you, which he loves to do.
Seeing the sweet relationship you are developing with Jaden. You love to play with him, and sometimes even crawl right into his lap.
The way you try to imitate the mouth sounds that we make. You are so funny!

Elijah, I can't believe you are one year old already! You are so amazing to us and we are so blessed to have you in our lives! Thank you for being precious, sweet little YOU! We look forward to all of the exploring, learning, and growing that you will do in the year to come!

Here are some wonderful memories of your first year.

Elijah on the way...

Elijah's Birth

Elijah's First Week

Elijah's First Month

Elijah's Second Month

Elijah's Third Month

Elijah's Fourth Month

Elijah's Fifth Month

Elijah's Sixth Month

Elijah's Seventh Month

Elijah's Eighth Month

Elijah's Ninth Month

Elijah's Tenth Month

Elijah's Eleventh Month

Elijah's One Year Old!

Easter 2010 (Elijah's First!)

2010-05-10T21:13:00.018-06:00

The Easter bunnies (my mom, sister, and I) stayed up very very late getting three Easter baskets ready for each of the kids! It was so much fun and I felt like a child waiting up for the Easter bunny myself because I couldn't wait for the kids to get up and find their baskets early the next morning. Of course, Jaden was the only one who really understood the excitement and absolutely couldn't wait! Aubrey was excited just to see that Jaden was at Nana and Papa's house that morning. And Elijah decided he would sleep in late Easter morning and let Jaden and Aubrey have their fun so that he could have an Easter basket "solo performance" later that morning!

Jaden's at such a wonderful age where every holiday and event is that much more fun and special because he is beginning to share in the excitement, experience the traditions, and looks forward to every family opportunity!

Coloring Easter eggs with Aunt Melissa.

The Easter baskets!! When my brother, sister and I were little, I remember that the Easter "bunny" always hid our baskets somewhere around the house and we were given clues to help us find them. We continued that special tradition with the kids this year and hid their baskets in different places around my mom and dad's house, along with clues for Jaden to help lead the way in finding them.

Discovering all of the goodies that were in his Easter baskets.
Aubrey loving all of the goodies in her first Easter baskets (in her adorable flower tiara that Jaden picked out for her at the Farmer's Market).

More baskets!!

Elijah finally joined the Easter basket party! And he was glad he did! The Easter bunny brought him so much fun stuff!

Helping Nana peeling (and eat) the beautiful eggs he colored the night before.
Jaden's solo Easter egg hunt. Next year his brother and cousin will be out there with him (instead of inside napping).

Elijah ended the afternoon doing his most favorite thing - swinging!

Super Powers

2010-05-05T17:14:00.004-06:00

Jaden is recently experiencing a slight case of "super hero obsessiveness." He makes capes out of blankets and pillow cases and flies around the house insisting that we refer to him by his super hero name. I really don't know a whole lot about any of the super heroes, and frankly, I am just not quite ready for the stage of action figures, super powers, pretend weapons, shooting webs... So any time that Jaden is in super hero mode, I remind him of how kind and helpful super heroes are; that they always listen to their mommies and daddies; that they have very nice manners; and whatever else I need him to do at the time (super heroes do those things, right?).

Well, one morning as I was getting ready for work, Jaden came bouncing into the room. My initial thought was "how did you get out of your bed (the top bunk)," but that was quickly diverted as Jaden held up a hanger with his Batman shirt attached and said that was what he was going to wear today. I immediately thought of the warm weather out as he insisted on wearing this long-sleeved black T-shirt, but decided it wasn't worth a battle, so I agreed; after all, getting yourself up in the morning and picking out your own clothes is a super power all it's own! He was thrilled to put it on and it was almost like he instantly acquired the super powers that went right along with it - luckily they were the super powers that I always remind him super heroes have. Next thing I know, Jaden is zooming around the room putting away clothes, picking up toys, and then ran out of the room and back in with an outfit for Elijah to wear. He said, "I got this for Elijah to wear today...," then said "...say Thank you Batman."

And the best part was that this super hero also had the power to give massages! Well.....that may be a bit of an exaggeration...this super hero had the power of good intentions! As I was getting ready, I felt a pain in my back and said "ouch!" Jaden quickly asked what happened and I told him that I hurt my back. He then offered to massage it:
J: "Do you want me to massage it for you?"
Me: "Sure!" (I'll never turn that down)
J: "I can massage it for you, but just one massage (He put total emphasis on the word ONE; wouldn't want me to think I was going to get two massages out of it!).
J: "I just need to find some lotion."
He then found the container of Eucerin lotion, which is about as thick as a tub of butter. He plunged his hand into it and came out with a huge dollop, plopped it onto my arm, making minimal effort to rub it in. Then said, "There you go mom, that was one massage. Does it feel better?"

Spring Fest 2010

2010-05-02T11:33:00.012-06:00

We had an awesome little event here just before Easter called SpringFest, which was especially for kids!! I think my ears were made specifically for this purpose - listening for any event or activity that pertains to KIDS - and we are there! And in this case it was all free, so even better! Unfortunately we missed the Easter egg hunt, but we got to do loads of other activities while we were there. Daddy was out of town for work this weekend and missed all the fun, so I had to make sure to capture every moment for him. And you know how I love pictures, so here it goes...

Elijah and Aubrey feeling a little parched from the warm spring weather.

Jaden got to make a Fruit Loop necklace. He was really good at stringing the loops onto the yarn. It took a while because this is kinda how it went..."string a loop, eat a loop, string a loop, eat two loops..."

And the mommies made Cheerio necklaces for the babies!

Writing with Easter egg chalk. (It really wasn't as sad as Jaden makes it look).

Enjoying the duck pond.

There were huge sandboxes set up and the boys had so much fun getting down and dirty. Aubrey wasn't too sure she wanted to get involved in that mess.

JUMBO building blocks! These were so much fun. I looked into getting a set for the house after this. Only $300.00 - hmmm...I guess we'll just have to wait and enjoy them at next year's SpringFest.

This was the most clever use of old pots, pans and utensils! The pots and pans were strung and hung from metal bars (like pocket chart stands) and there were all sorts of utensils (forks, spoons, whisks, potato mashers...) that the kids could use for banging and making "music." Now this we can recreate at home.

Spring Break Fun - Dinosaurs & More at the Museum of Natural History

2010-05-02T00:59:00.022-06:00

As I posted earlier, I am super behind on blogs and have a lot of catching up to do! And because my main purpose in blogging is for myself and recording my family memories, I don't want to leave any of these moments out! So even thought it was over a month ago, here is the beginning of our spring break trip...

We couldn't vacation too far for spring break because Sam was only off on the weekend, so we decided to spent the weekend in Albuquerque, NM, which is close enough to drive, but far away enough to feel like we were actually on "vacation"!! And it's the perfect place to go to experience some fun family activities that we don't have here. I did some research before our trip to plan our days to get the most out of our time there! On our agenda: New Mexico Museum on Natural History (Dinosaur Exhibit); Ice Skating; Science Center and Children's Museum (which was a surprise addition once we discovered it while already there); Aquarium; Botanical Gardens; and Trader Joe's.

(Thank goodness for Play Foam! This stuff entertained Jaden the whole way there and back. Elijah liked it too...his diaper had little blue and white beads in it for a week after.)

Our first stop was the Museum of Natural History, which had a dinosaur exhibit, and Jaden is all about dinosaurs! One of his current favorite books is a little critter book called Just Me and My Mom by Mercer Mayer. In the book, little critter and his mom go to the Museum of Natural History's Dinosaur Exhibit. Jaden felt like he was living the story, only his was called Just Me and My Mom and My Dad and My Little Brother.

Making dinosaur footprints in the sand. Elijah loved the way the sand felt and kept trying to climb in!

Getting a closer look at the only bug Jaden likes...butterflies. Sweet, huh!

Wouldn't be a museum without a couple of fish tanks.
Walking through a volcano with roaring dinosaurs and running lava...just a little nervous!

The Dinosaur Experience.

In Jaden's Little Critter book, little critter gets in big trouble at the museum because he touches everything, even though all of the signs read "Do Not Touch!" or "No Touching!" So throughout our walk of the museum, Jaden wanted to know what every single sign said. And at this wonderful museum, Jaden was very pleased to find that many of the signs read "Please touch!" And he followed those directions perfectly!

Solar System Exploration.

And of course, souvenirs!!

Spring Break Fun - Ice Skating!

2010-05-01T23:47:00.012-06:00

At last...the moment Jaden couldn't wait for...ICE SKATING! When we left Las Cruces for our 4(ish) hour drive to Albuquerque, Jaden insisted on wearing his gloves and hat the entire way, in anticipation for ice skating later that evening! He absolutely could not wait. I'm not sure why he was so excited about it or what he even really knew about ice skating in the first place. After thinking about it, I came up with two possible reasons for his overwhelming anticipation to step foot on that ice: 1. He wanted to be just like his former figure skating mother and get a early start at doing the twirls, jumps, triple lutz, and of course, the triple salchow that I used to do in my younger days; OR 2. He loved watching the figure skaters in the Olympics and was excited to try his hand (actually, feet) at it. Hmmm...I kinda like the way the first one sounds. I'm gonna go with that one.

But whatever the reason was, once he stepped foot on that ice he was a natural at it! I wasn't sure he would actually want to continue once he discovered the possibility (the very likely possibility) of falling. But he was amazing and would have stayed on that ice forever if I hadn't pooped out on him. It was so exhausting trying to keep my balance and make sure I didn't fall (after all, it has been a while since my ice skating days...haha), while also holding him up and making sure he wouldn't fall! It was so much fun getting to skate together. And once ice strollers are invented, Elijah will get to join us instead of watching from the stands.

On the way to Albuquerque...Jaden's ready to go ice skating.

They had the most adorable little ice skates!

All suited up and ready to start training for the Olympics (you know, like his mom used to do). Actually, he'd been suited up for about 12 hours at this point. The only thing he needed was the skates!

On the ice at last! We hung very close to the wall, just in case...and used it many, many times. Acutally, I used it more than Jaden did :o).

Being the beginners that we were, I didn't know about the "skating bar" until we saw a little boy, a little older than J, gliding around the ice with ease (and no exhausted mom trying to hold him up). He was holding onto an interestingly shaped metal bar and pushing it along to keep himself up. Brilliant idea, I thought. Sam hurried to get us one and Jaden was excited to get to skate by himself. Well...after about the third fall, Jaden decided he was done. And uninjured, thank goodness! We had a blast!

Spring Break Fun - Albuquerque Aquarium

2010-04-26T20:59:00.011-06:00

Spring Break Fun - Albuquerque Botanical Gardens

2010-04-25T08:31:00.013-06:00

We visited the Albuquerque Botanical Gardens, which was beautiful and very fun! When we first entered, there was a castle and a huge dragon. We walked over the castle bridge and suddenly felt like we were in the movie "Honey I Shrunk the Kids." Everything was HUGE...huge insects, flowers, vegetables, and a huge pumpkin that we walked inside of (I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of everything ): ).

The gardens also had an amazing, elaborate toy railroad set up. Of course that was Jaden's favorite part of the whole trip! The detail was pretty amazing! His least favorite part (along with mine) was a bug exhibit that they had, displaying huge tarantulas, cockroaches, and too many other yucky things to even describe. I couldn't even bring myself to get close enough to get a decent picture.

The flowers at the gardens were amazing and have inspired me to attempt to plant my own flower garden this spring...I don't have a green thumb at all, so I will update you on that project later!

This is about as far as we got into the "Fantastic World of Bugs"

The flowers were amazing! I definitely plan to go home and start a garden of our own. Well, I guess "garden" is a stretch. Maybe a flower "pot" is a good start.

Enjoying the duck pond.

The trains were so much fun to watch. While I work on getting a garden started at home, Sam's project is to set up one of these in the backyard.