Snow!!

Snow Day!

What a looker!

Preview of what Somerset, the girl will look like

A moment of sunshine means a trike ride must take place!

Still BFFs

Fashionista!

We had a few days of snow last week and the kids were able to get outside for a few minutes before it all melted away. Of course, they both had a blast...Leo made snow angels and tried to catch snowflakes on his tongue. Now the rain is back and simply will not stop. Oh, how I dream of Spring.

Somerset has been taking a music class with me through Parks and Rec and she loves it. She feels very comfortable in class and is not timid. She has a ton of fun interacting with the teacher, other kids (although mostly just curious about them), and the parents. She is much more engaged in classes than Leo was at this age. He would always be the kid exploring all areas of the class that were off limits or else would have his own ideas for what he wanted to do. Somerset is content with going with the flow, which is easier to handle as a mom.

Somerset has been climbing chairs and standing on things. This is dangerous and scary for me!!! She also likes to help herself to Leo's food.

She is much more into "girly" things than Leo ever was. She enjoys watching me put on make-up and wants me to apply it to her (I pretend). She loves her dolls too, however, she loves choo-choos and cars as well, but anything with wheels is a choo-choo to her. She also shows an interest in what I dress her in and likes her shirt with the kitty on it. She has been loving her sunglasses and walks around the house wearing them with pride and a big smile on her face.

Leo continues to amaze us with his "hugantic" personality. He tells the funniest stories and loves jokes, although his jokes don't make sense and are only funny to himself (we love to hear them regardless). He also continues to excel with games.

His favorite tv show is Phineas and Ferb, which I know is for much older children, but it is funny and cute, so we allow him to watch it.

Leo has been the sweetest little love bug recently. He still naps and this is our time to cuddle together. He always tells me how much he loves me and how I am the best mommy in the world and that he will always protect me. I soak all of this up. I LOVE these times with Leo. Even though he can be a stinker, he is the sweetest, most loving person I know. He speaks from his heart and loves his family so much. I hope he is always so demonstrative of his feelings.

I have been feeling really blessed with my children and husband. How did I get so lucky? They are so healthy, smart, fun and amazing (cute too)! We have such a wonderful family and sometimes I just have to take a moment to appreciate this moment in time. Is it difficult? Heck yeah! Is there a lot of money? Nope. Are we sleep deprived? Of course. But this is the happiest I have ever been and I don't take any of it for granted.

Happy New Year!

Leo cuddles all his pals at bedtime!

I love watching these guys play together

Sitting Pretty

Joe's new glasses and super reflective shoes (oh, and Summy too).

The year has started out with lots of fun. I have really been enjoyed the time with the family now that crazy holiday hours have ceased. I have been spending a lot of nights watching movies with Leo and Joe. The kids and Joe also seem happier when I am around (at least I'd like to think so).

Poor Somerset has been teething like crazy. Our whole weekend was consumed with caring for a very grumpy baby girl. Sunday night, she woke up every 2 hours at night and her temperature reached 104.6 degrees. This made us realize that she probably was fighting something other than just the teething. Luckily, she seems completely back to normal.

Somerset now nods yes and no, and in a very exaggerated manner. It is soooo cute. This also makes us realize how much she now understands.

She also loves sitting in chairs. She is exerting her independence and wants to be more of a little girl (sniff, sniff).

Leo is playing fantastically with his sister. He can make her giggle like no one else and of course she idolizes him. He can tend to be a little rough with her, but it is just because he is a boy, plus, I appreciate that she will be able to hang with the big boys when she is older.....it's all this training she is getting now.

Leo is FANTASTIC at games. He plays a lot of games on Joe's i-Phone and tends to score higher than most adults. I don't play these games, so I have a difficult time seeing the value, but Joe explains that there is a lot of problem solving and logic to be learned. The fact that he is so advanced at such a young age is no surprise to me though.

He continues to be obsessed with numbers. Since he learned to count to 100 (and beyond) and can recite the ABCs, we are now working on addition. We let him determine in what he is interested in and then focus on teaching him that, so numbers it is! He is also a big fan of Phineas and Ferb, the Blazers (He loves to follow the scores of games) and the game Chutes and Ladders.

Joe still loves brewing beer and is getting quite good with his Amber and IPA. He also has commanded a pretty spectacular sneaker collection. He updated his look with new glasses and sunglasses. I will have to try to get some cool photos of him.

I continue to run. I am getting faster and stronger, so I am now challenging myself to run at 6.5 as opposed to 6 miles an hour. Kicking it up that much is actually quite an adjustment. Really though, my life is all about the family. That is my job and my hobby and although it can be exhausting at times, it is the best feeling in the world to have a family hug.

We are all excited for the new year and all the wonderful things to come in 2012!!!

Christmas!

A Christmas miracle!
A photo of the 2 of my darlings (both smiling)!

Could these eyes be any prettier? Or bigger?

Aunt Tiffy!

Uncle Martin is so much fun!

Aunt Kim and Barry

Tiff and Parents with my love

My "cool" husband....still so cute!

New game!

My scooter bug!

The ladies love him!
Leo with Adelaide and Hazel

Play date with twin girls from Leo's preschool class

We had a really lovely Christmas. This was the first year that Leo was well aware of what Christmas is all about and he was just oozing of excitement and anticipation. Somerset had no idea what was going on, but she had fun as well.

On Christmas Eve, we got some Chinese take-out (I am trying to establish some tradition). It was great, although Leo declared that he did not like Chinese food. We also picked up a raspberry coffee cake from Beaverton Bakery for Christmas morning.

Christmas morning was CRAZY. Leo got a little out of hand with all the excitment. We were not really surprised, but an early nap sure did help.

The kids were showered with sooo many gifts from family and Santa of course. Angry birds, a play tent, a princess car, puzzles, musical instruments, a remote controlled dog, new clothes, books, stuffed animals, kid's learning/gaming system and tons of candy. Our children are truly blessed.

In the afternoon we hosted a Christmas dinner and exchanged gifts from our Secret Santa. This a family tradition as well. We all had a good time and it was so great just to relax and spend time with family.

Walking and Counting

New Hat!

Waiting for Sn

With my crazy holiday work schedule, it has been difficult to post. I have been working much more than usual and much later as well. I am so tired and exhausted all the time, but the season is almost over and the extra money really helps the family.

Leo has been really interested in numbers and I promised him that we would take him to Mc Donalds if he could count to 100 unassisted. Sure enough, he took on this challenge with great zeal and counted to 100 last week. I was so impressed!!!

Somerset is walking so much now. Yesterday she made a major turn and started walking more than scooting or crawling. She still scoots, but she tries to walk a lot more now.She still has the Frankenstein walk, but it is the cutest!

The kids have been playing really well together. Leo loves to hold her hand and walk around with her. The other night he was pulling her around the house on a blanket. We were all laughing; I don't think I have ever been happier.

So much to be Thankful for!

Busted! Joe left Summy alone for a minute and look what she got into!

Walking!

Thanksgiving was a pretty low-key event. It felt good to relax with the family. Uncle Aaron came to visit us for a few days from college, so we were all thrilled to see him, especially Leo. At night, we went to my parents house for turkey dinner and Somerset decided to debut her first steps there. Perfect timing! I guess she was just waiting for the perfect audience. Since then, she is slowly building her confidence and I have witnessed her take as many as 8 steps in a row.

Leo has been very interested in numbers and counting and he is trying to learn to count to 100. He is very close to doing it without assistance, so I bet that by the end of the week, he will reach his goal. Go Leo!!!

We decided to finally sleep train Somerset. The first night was difficult with her waking almost every hour, but luckily for me, Joe dealt with all her wake-ups. The next night she did great, no wake-ups, just an early morning wake-up (5:45 a.m.). Last night, she only woke up once and went back to sleep easily. I am so relieved that we have decided to start getting more sleep.

Tonight we visited Santa at our mall, and the kids looked so cute. I really wanted that perfect Christmas photo, but Somerset freaked out when we put her on Santa's lap. We may try again soon, but this time Joe and I will jump in the photo to help our precious girl out.

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

New outfit....cute guy!

Crazy hat lady!

My 2 favorite guys!!!

Somerset LOVES drawing.

Our blanket fort.
It stayed up all weekend.

Almost walking!

Joe turned 35 on a very special day, 11-11-11. He took the day off and we had some quality family time. Joe did what he wanted to, which included much needed napping and a trip to a local burger joint. We planned to go out and have some fun with a few of Joe's friends at night, but babysitting plans fell through, so Joe went alone. I tried to make the most of my night, so I built a blanket fort with Leo. Joe received some $ for his b-day and plans to add to his sneaker collection. I also bought him a new outfit and had the kids make his framed art using their hand prints.

Somerset is sooooo close to walking. She cruisers confidently and can pull herself into a standing position without the aid of furniture. She can also stand for up to a minute without sitting, so I am sure she will be walking very soon.

She is down to one nap a day and I am also trying to ween her. I remove a feeding here and there, but the next big step will be to stop the night time feedings. Yikes!!!

I started a class with Somerset called Tots and Tunes, which features singing, instruments and general play with kids ages 12-18 months. We had so much fun!!! Leo was always a challenge in these settings because he was into mischief, but she was super engaged in the class and loving every minute of it.

She has recently become obsessed with books. She often comes to me or Joe with a book and requests for us to read it. Her attention span is quite short, but I love that she has so much interest in books. She also pretends to read books on her own, which really surprised me and Joe.

Leo loves playing a game in which we pretend like we are animals. We are dogs, beavers, foxes or mice. I am always the mommy and Leo and Somerset are the babies. Daddy is usually the pet owner. He gives us names too. He has been Coconut Pie, Zumba or Mickey. Somerset is almost always Zoey and I am Skateboard Ice Cream. He likes to play this game in my bed and burrow under the covers to sleep and then wake up for snacks. It is amongst the cutest thing he does.

He has also become so much better behaved. The last 6 months have brought about a dramatically more mature Leo. He is so much more reasonable and Joe and I love it!

He is also getting a more refined sense of humor. The other day, when I was cuddling him for a nap, I accidentally said, "I love you Summer." He responded with, "I love you Daddy," with a gleam in his eye. He then said, "Daddy, can I play with your phone?" knowing darn well that I don't have a phone for him to play with. He was clearly teasing me and it was so much fun.

Leo is also really interested in numbers. He is always asking what number combos are called, Mommy, what's and eight and a seven?" I think he will have 1-100 down soon enough.

Halloween!

My little Spiderman and lady bug had a great Halloween. Our little Summy was sick leading up to Halloween, so she missed the trick or treating, but she was able to greet the the trick or treaters with Joe.

The day before, we took the kids to Bridgeport Plaza (an outdoor mall), where they went from store to store gathering candy. The treats were great and the kids had so much fun. Leo was able to practice using his good manners and we got even more candy (oh know!).

Halloween was fun! I got into the spirit by carving a kitty bat pumpkin and making orange, skull sugar cookies with Leo. I love these holiday themed activities. I also LOVED taking Leo around our neighborhood, which is small enough to hit up most of the houses. Leo loves collecting the candy and showing off. Since he is so outgoing, it is fun for him to meet new people as we cruise the neighborhood.

The candy has been a great incentive to get Leo to eat. If he eats all the content of his meals, breakfast excluded, he gets to choose a candy.

Now, I am getting excited about Christmas...my favorite holiday of them all!