Jenna's First Christmas

Our Christmas Eve was spent in church, and then a drive around the neighborhood in the pouring rain looking at homes decorated for Christmas. We came home to get ready for bed and of course left carrots and cookies for Santa and his reindeer. The kids went to bed as usual which is always surprising to me (not even a peek out the door to check at what was going on downstairs). It's become an annual tradition here that Dave and I have snacks and wrap all the presents and get everything set up for the morning. The night was as usual.

Amelia and Ava came into our room first at 6:30am "Merry Christmas!" They waited for dad to take a shower and for Jenna to wake up. Wow, they are patient! We went downstairs to check out the loot, but actually had to wait again and wake up Drew. Drew slept through half of the presents. while Jenna tried to eat paper, bows and gift tags, Amelia wanted to get everything opened quick, while Ava wanted to try everything on and open each box as she went.

Drew and dad looked great in their sweater vests and caps, Amelia got her pixos and dinos, Ava loved her mermaid dress and heels, while Jenna is still enjoying eating whatever wrap she can find on the floor.

My mom and uncle Jon came over around 12:30 with bags of presents for the kids. We then went to Grandma and Grandpas. We opened more presents and had dinner. We drove home in the pouring rain with a crying baby who still doesn't like that car thing.

Thanks to all our family for the enjoyable day and for the gifts. Merry Christmas!

Today brought more rain which has pretty much washed away our huge snow and left a gushy mess outside - perfect day to stay in and take it easy.

Santa Wish Lists

With the super snowfall over the weekend, schools are closed this week. Then of course there's already the scheduled winter break next week.............(if anyone's counting....that's two full weeks at home). Okay, back to my post here.... Here at home this week we've had hours and hours of outside snow time, teacher christmas card making, dinosaur gingerbread cookies and the girls put together their Christmas wish lists.

From Amelia: "Pixos, new clay, a new dragon, and a snowflake that can't melt".

From Ava: "all the toys, and a singing Barbie like Kendall had last year".

I asked them what Santa should bring Drew and they told me "transformers, Bakugan, and a piano that plays music".

BLIZZARD

It started snowing about 9pm on Friday night. I was a bit worried for Dave to make it home from his work trip by midnight. He was home by 2:00am and said driving conditions were horrible. The kids were ecstatic to see him bright and early at 6:30am!!

It snowed all day and into last night. Our unofficial snow fall total here is 17 1/2 inches. Everyone got some snow time and some snoozin....

The Week in Review

I've just heard from Dave. He's about to board the plane headed HOME! He just spent the last 19 hours flying from Singapore to Newark. I am excited that he will make it home by midnight - hopefully before the big snowfall comes. Forecasters are calling for a major snowstorm tonight through tomorrow.

I was a bit worried this week how I would handle being home alone all week without Dave, but I DID IT! Monday was as usual, Tuesday Drew stayed home for a doctor appointment in Fairfax where we waited way to long for a lot of nothing. Wednesday my mom came up to celebrate Amelia's birthday and then spent the next few nights keeping me company. The kids enjoy it when Grannie is here for a sleepover. Thursday was Christmas shopping and today was Drew's Christmas party at school. Jenna slept, Ava enjoyed hanging out with her buddies and meeting Santa. Drew's class went from station to station - games, singing, crafts and a visit with Santa. Drew received a huge body pillow as his gift, but was definately happier with the chocolate chip cookies on the snack bar (photo above). My mom snapped a photo or two of Jenna and I today (above) and I tried to be artsy with the last photo (snapping the kids photo tonight with the lit tree).

Oh yes, and Wednesday morning I was getting Jenna dressed. She won't sit still at all for me anymore, so I asked Ava to distract her. Jenna isn't much for babbling yet, but there she went...AVAAVAAVAAVAAVAHH and MOMMOMOMOMMMM. And it's been fun when you say those sounds to her now - she will repeat them!

Come on home Daddy!!

Happy Birthday Amelia!

Dave is in Singapore this week for work. To celebrate Amelia's birthday, my mom brought over a roast so we had a special dinner with Grannie, Collin, Jaxson and Jaclyn. Amelia opened more presents (dinosaurs, puzzles, bendaroos and a stuffed DRAGON!) Amelia told me that at school today her class sang Happy Birthday to her and enjoyed the brownies that we sent in for the class to enjoy at lunch.

PARTY!!

Amelia will be six on Wednesday December 16th. To celebrate, Amelia, her family and friends visited Adventure Park today. The party began with pizza and cake and then the kids went to play on the play gym, the tea cup ride and all the arcade games. There happened to be face painting today and Santa was visiting. We had a great time. Amelia really enjoyed her time and loved all of her presents. Thanks to family, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Steve, Heather, Abigail, Bethany, Olivia, Grannie, Uncle Josh, Jaclyn, Collin, Jaxson, neighbor friends, Kasey, Nicholas & Vito, and friends, Lynn, Alyssa and Julia.

10 Years Ago......and......Today

Drew at 4 months old - 1999

Jenna at 8 months old
Yes.... we still have baby clothes from ten years ago..... and now that I look at it...we've still got that couch!!

8 Months

Jenna is EIGHT months old today. Still crawling and climbing where ever she can - figuring out there's more to this house then the living room where we spend most of our time. Right now she's in her walker opening kitchen cabinets pulling out pots and pans and chewing on them. She's doing a bit better at night - crying out once or twice a night which alerts me to go ahead and feed her a bottle which I would say she doesn't actually need, but I can't seem to stop the pattern....

Thankful for FAMILY

Yesterday we spent the day with our family here at our house. My side of the family came over for our annual brunch. Everyone brings a dish - always different kinds of foods to try out and enjoy. Dave and Andrew have been sick this past week, so we took it easy all afternoon. Grandma and Grandpa came for traditional dinner - with the entire dinner!! Everything was delicious. Now, today the kids and I are at home in our PJ's - playdoh, fort building and lots of rest.

Thursday

Jenna - the girl who likes to stand up to everything holding on with one hand and giggles away while you try to get to her before she falls.

7 MONTHS

I'm switching my posts for Jenna's age from weeks to months starting today - per Dave's request.... Hard to believe that today Jenna is 7 months old. As I've mentioned in the past, she is always on the go - wanting to move forward and now upwards - climbing up on anything in her way. She's pulling up to stand against the chairs, sofa, bean bag and really anything. She'll then try to take a step away and plop! We bought her a walker, so now she's enjoying moving around the kitchen. She's eating 3 meals a day - you can't feed her fast enough.... Just yesterday Jenna started screaming (not a cry, but a LOOK at me!!!!!) scream. Her nights are slightly better than my last post - waking up twice a night instead of three or more times a night. Jenna gives my mom a hard time when she's watching her for me.... crying for her, throwing her head into the carpet and then giggling about it when I've come home and she sees me. Oh, and last of all...whenever Jenna catches Dave's eyes her eyebrows arch and her smile is HUGE!!!!

HALLOWEEN 2009

And this year...... U.S. Marshal Drewsie Drew; Glamour Witch Amelia, Tinkerbell Ava and Pumpkin Jenna. The troops (minus Jenna) are out in the drizzly rain trick-or treating as I write.

TODAY

Today Ava's school celebrated International Children's Day. Students took part in a parade around the school building and then an assembly. Ava proudly represented Spain wearing her dress her daddy brought her home from Spain in April. Amelia participated in "crazy clothes" day at her school. You be the judge - Did Amelia do a good job?

Last Night

Last night..... (and really every night for the past few months) has been like this......

Jenna is so tired by 7pm that she drinks 2 -3 ounces of her bottle and falls fast asleep. We put the other kids to bed by 8pm. After watching about 5 minutes of the Redskins playing horribly we went to bed - about 9pm. Half the week Drew will "talk" and make noise from 9pm to 11pm; the other half he's quiet as a mouse the whole night. That's another story....

Back to Jenna..............so.... by 10:30pm Jenna was fussing, so I went in sat with her on the rocker and she drank another ounce or two and fell fast asleep. I was back in bed within 25 minutes. Then again the same exact drill at 1:30am. Then again at 3:30am, BUT this time I did it...... I let her cry. It took 15 minutes of her "complaining" and another very long 25 minutes of outright crying (which Dave said was a mad cry, I said was a sad cry). She fell asleep and woke when hearing her brother and sisters at 7am.

I've said it before....Dave and I are tired, tired, tired. See how tonight goes....

The Weekend

This past weekend we made our annual outing to Jumbo's Pumpkin Patch in Middletown. We went early, it had been raining and crazy windy. The forecast called for even more wind and rain, but we saw a break and tried to take advantage of it. It seems every weekend so far has been a rainy one. The girls got to ride the ponies, we saw some animals and I took my pictures, but no trip out to the actual pumpkin patch - too muddy and dangerous for that hay ride. We picked our pumpkins which were already picked there at the barn. We had lunch out at the world's best restaurant (for our kids).......... Olive Garden. BTW.. I have no idea where that black dog came from.....

Nightime brought the 3rd Annual Trunk or Treat at Andrew's school. The PTA sets up a party which is supposed to be outside, but once again the weather changed that. Everyone enjoyed the festivities in their costumes....trick or treating, food, crafts, and the magician.

We recovered on Sunday.

Pretty, Pretty

Ava's dance class ended last night with a demonstration (show) for parents. Ava did great. She's got a big ol' smile sitting next to her friend at her favorite class.

And of course..... let the Halloween pictures begin!!!!

28 Weeks!!

Jenna is 28 weeks old today. She went to see the doctor last Monday for her 6 month check up. She weighs 15lbs 4oz and is 26 3/4inches tall. All is good. She's crawling, sitting and trying to climb up to the sofa, bean bag and her play saucer. She's always on the move. Her nighttimes are worse than when she was a newborn - sleeping 3 hours here, 4 hours there - definitely an area that I have to work on. She's eating two meals of cereal and fruit or veggie per day and drinking whenever she wants - 4oz here, 3oz there. She's started eating her Gerber puffs too. She still doesn't enjoy her car rides, but loves to be home and play, play, play.

Today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Memorial Day. Tonight at 7pm, I am lighting a candle to honor our Jacob Daniel who passed away on October 10, 2001, three days after his birth.

Today

Today my son Jacob would have turned eight. Hard to believe it's been eight years... I think about Jacob all the time. What would he have been like? I think a lot with Jacob's death; how differently the course of my life has gone from how I thought it would go....Eight years later I have five gifts from God all brought to me in very different ways, but loved the same with all that I've got. I am torn sometimes. Don't get me wrong I wish Jacob were here, but on the other hand the life I have now just wouldn't have been.

Jacob, you are always with me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO AVA

Ava turned 4 years old today. It's been a busy week for her - returning from Yellowstone, returning to Montessori school and then starting a new school in the afternoons and most exciting of all - riding the school bus home with her brother! Ava's Montessori class had a birthday celebration where Ava walked around the sun for each year of her life while her teacher read the story of Ava's life to date. I signed Ava up for the same class Amelia attended last school year at Andrew's school. We'll see how she can manage, just turning 4, missing a nap she still takes and attending two completely different programs. We will see.

Today, our tired Ava wearing her absolute favorite dress turned four and celebrated with a princess themed party. Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Steve & Heather, Grannie, Jaclyn, cousins Abigail, Bethany, Olivia, Collin and Jaxson all made the day special for Ava. There was plenty of make-up and princess jewelry, a tinkerbell cake, and crazy freeze dance.

Right now, Ava is experimenting with her new make up kit. She's got pink lips, blue eye shadow and glitter galore.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVA!!!

Family Adventure ---- YELLOWSTONE!

We got back from our Yellowstone tour this past Tuesday night. Here's a recap...

Last Wednesday we flew out real early to Salt Lake City(Amelia's favorite - going in the car in her jammies at night). Within an hour of landing in Salt Lake Drew had a runny nose, which we knew would turn into an outright cold. We stayed in Layton, UT the first night. Kids went swimming, had pizza and went to bed east coast time (2 hours difference).

We were ready by morning to take the four or so hour drive to West Yellowstone, Montana. We arrived to our hotel - the one with the wooden bears climbing all over it and went to the Grizzly Zoo which was across the street. We watched the grizzlies and also the wolf feeding, more importantly the girls played on the playground.

The next morning we went into the park. The girls got their wildlife look out papers from the Rangers. Amelia was looking for big horn sheep, while Ava was looking for bear. We were all very excited with our first animal sighting - elk, and then a lonely bison walking along side the road. We weren't ever able to find those bear or those big horn sheep. We stopped at many of the thermal feature boardwalks and enjoyed them even more than on our past trips. It was great to see how interested the girls were, especially Amelia. We made it a short day in the park to get back to the pharmacy to pick up Drew's antibiotic which I called our doctor at home for. Drew and Jenna were in full cold mode at this point. The girls did some more swimming at the hotel while dad and Drew got some much needed rest. After the swim and Ava now napping Amelia, Jenna and I walked into town for ice cream and to find Dave's favorite beer - Moose Drool. Mission Accomplished. We spent the night shopping - happy kids out at night like college kids (late at night).

The next morning we drove back into the park to see Old Faithful, the Lodge, waterfalls and more geysers. We made our way to Mammoth Hot Springs - our next hotel stay.

We arrived at Mammoth ready to get out of the car, but unfortunately to find out how little bitty, bitty our hotel room was. It would be a long night, but staying there in Mammoth with the Elk herd right outside the window (Drew & Dave being bugled at by a very concerned bull elk) and with the beautiful scenery this would all take away from those tight quarters. We celebrated Ava's third Adoption Day (September 27th) in Mammoth. That night, Jenna and I wandered the hotel lobby from 2:30-3:30 am. Just us, the front desk clerk, a very cold wind and a very very dark sky.

Morning came kind of quickly..... We had to change travel plans - we were to head south, but fires in the park closed some roads, so off we went - north to Chico Hot Springs (as planned) and then back to West Yellowstone (a change). Chico Hot Springs is a resort outside of Yellowstone where there is a natural flowing hot spring pool. The air temps were warmer than normal (60's). The water temps were very warm (100's). The kids loved our time at the hot pool. The girls found friends and Drew sang a happy song for all of Montana! We drove through Bozeman and on Dave's favorite route back to West Yellowstone. We spent the last day with one last short drive in the park and then driving back through Idaho to the same hotel in Layton, Utah.

Our kids seem to love to travel and are very good at it! This makes Dave and I happy. We love this kind of travel and are loving sharing these adventures with our kids. We weren't ready to come home! While driving to the airport Tuesday morning, we contemplated a different adventure...... heading east to Cheyenne, but no..... home and our day to day lives were there waiting for us.... When can we go back? or Where can we explore next?