In honor of my hubby :)

All of my posts thus far have been about the children and family life, so I decided that my wonderful husband deserved one, too—after all, he did come to my rescue twice in the past week or so. Last Wednesday, as I was driving to pick up the kiddos from daycare, I realized I had a flat tire, so he had to come and save me. 2 days later, we were hit with a bad snow storm. It began around 10 AM, and came at a rate of 1-2 inches an hour. I had planned to attend one of our holiday parties at 1, but after seeing how fast the snow was falling, I decided it would be better to go get the kids and get home safely. I left around noon, and when I got outside, I realized that we were already accumulating some heavy snow. My route to daycare involves some serious hills, but for some reason or another, I didn’t think they would be a problem. Keep in mind, I was driving a sedan that has no snow tires or 4 wheel drive. On my way up a big hill, I had to come to a complete stop at a yield sign, and when I attempted to accelerate again, my wheels just spun and spun. I reversed and tried over and over again, but to no avail. I was panicking, since there was a line of cars behind me. Eventually they just went around me. By this point, it was heavily snowing and I didn’t know what to do—there was no way this car was making it any further up the hill. There happened to be a couple people standing next to me at the bus stop, but it took them 10-15 minutes to come and offer to push me, which they eventually did—thankfully! They were able to push me so that I could go straight, rather than right, and then make a left turn. My plan was to head back downtown and go a different route to get Isabella and Owen. By now, my nerves were totally shot….apparently, my car is horrible in bad weather! As I was making my way back down a steep hill, my brakes locked and I had no control over the car. I saw a giant, windy downward hill in front of me, and realized if I kept going and didn’t regain control over the brakes, that I could easily drive off the side of the road down a cliff or I could hit someone coming the opposite direction. Instead, I tried to turn into a parking lot that was on my right, but the car didn’t make the turn and skidded up over a curb. Thankfully, I missed a metal rail thingie by a foot or so, and there was no visible damage. Plus, I was okay, just totally freaked out. So I called Jamie and told him to go straight to get the kids, and that I would leave the car there and walk to the bus stop and catch a bus into town. I told him that the road I was on was super steep, super dangerous, and that I didn’t want him to drive on it. But he refused and told me to stay put and that he would come get me. After 45 minutes of me sitting there and watching cars fishtailing and wheels spinning and being scared that everyone I knew would get in an accident, he arrived. He was able to get the car off the snow covered curb and told me to go sit in his car. He was going to get the damaged one safely down the hill, park it downtown, and walk back up the hill to where I was waiting…..all in a suit, tie, and his dress shoes. This was a STEEP hill, with lots of heavy snow. But he knew that I was too shaken up to drive it myself. 10 minutes later, I saw him trudging up the hill to get me. It sounds cliché, but in moments like that, I am reminded of what a good guy he is, and how lucky I am to have him. No matter what situation I get myself into, he is always there to help bail me out. He would do anything for me and his family, and is always putting us first. When I called to tell him I had an accident, he was in the middle of an meeting, and he could have easily told me to call AAA or just to take the bus, but he wanted to come and get me and make sure I was ok. I know that no matter what, I can always always always depend on him. And together, we went and got the kids and made it home safely. So this post is a thank you to my husband, for being the best husband and father in the world!


Happy holidays to all!!

Cute pictures from the week.....

There isn't a lot to report this week--we have just been busy getting ready for Christmas. Isabella is now old enough to really understand the holiday, and she is super excited. If you ask her what she wants from Santa, she will undoubtedly say "camera!" Since she has been such a good girl all year, Santa is fullfilling her wish. Owen has been a good boy too, so he will have some treats under the tree as well. We have the cookies and apples all ready to go for Santa and his reindeer.

Here are some pictures from the week. As you will see, Isabella was a big helper when we were making homemade hot chocolate as part of the gifts for their teachers. Notice that she is always wearing a dress, usually a summer one. The first thing she does when she comes home from school is run and put her dresses on. A couple pics were from Owen's 4 month dr. visit, but I hadn't uploaded them as of my last posting. And finally, there are a couple of Owen in his Jumperoo, which he absolutely loves and is totally getting the hang of. He has so much fun jumping, and it's just adorable.

4 month stats

Owen had his 4 month check-up this week, and he is doing great and growing well.
Update on stats:
Weight: Almost 15 lbs (50th percentile)
Height: 26.5 inches (92nd percentile)--LONG boy!
Head circumference: 50th percentile

Time to chow down!

So we decided to let Owen get a taste of rice cereal when he turned 4 months old. Isabella started right at 4 months and loved it, so we thought we would do the same with Owen. We let him have cereal 2 days in a row, and although he made a mess, he really seemed to like it. He chowed down both times, and on the second night, it filled his belly so much that he slept from 8 pm straight through to 6 am (he usually still wakes up once a night around 3 am). He would grab hold of the spoon and wouldn't let go--that boy has a tough grip! However, when we went to the doctor on Wednesday for his 4 month checkup, he recommended waiting another month (in general, they recommend between 4-6 months), since the longer you wait, the less likely the child will develop food allergies. We have listened to his advice, and haven't given him the cereal again, but part of me wants to let him keep eating. I guess in a situation like this, mommy's intuition should take a backseat to an MD degree, so we are going to wait another 3 weeks to indulge him again.

Bath time fun

Ever since he was born, Owen has enjoyed his bath time. Isabella, on the other hand, was not such a fan when she was a tiny baby, so it has been easier this time around. With the help of Aunt Caro, we decided to try to give Owen a bath with his big sister. As you can see, he really enjoyed it, but it's definitely a job that requires two people. Prior to getting in the bath, he peed all over me, but at least he got it out of his system before he was in clean water. Isabella liked having her baby brother with her, so I think we will give it another shot tonight.

Owen turns 4 months!!!!

And yet another month passes....Owen is now 4 months old! He is getting bigger and bigger everyday, and is changing so much as he gets older. I just pulled up some pictures of him at 3 weeks old and I barely recognized him anymore! This time, we celebrated his monthday (a word coined by Mag, rather than birthday) with cookies, and as you will see, he was quite interested in them. He kept trying to take one, but once again, they were only for show (and for Jamie, Isabella, and I to gobble down in his honor!) Looks like I will have another Cookie Monster on my hands :) This post includes one of my favorite pictures of the kids to date--with the 2 of them staring at each other. So adorable.

It didn't take long.....

for me to fall behind on my blog! It's now been almost 3 weeks since I've posted anything, so I'm going to attempt to make up for it with lots of photos and several posts chronicling a few things that have happened recently. Stay tuned for more in the near future--little Owen turns 4 months old tomorrow AND he will be trying rice cereal for the first time. His 4 month checkup is on Wednesday as well, so I will have an update on his growth progress--I can't wait to find out how he's doing! Enjoy!

School days

Owen has been thriving at school, and I realized I hadn't taken any pictures of him in his new environment since his first day. He loves his teachers, and the older kiddos (8-18 months) seem to really enjoy having a baby around. He is the baby of the classroom, although there is a new baby girl in the room attached to his. He is happy the majority of the time at school and is always smiling, cooing, and playing with toys. He only recently started sleeping in his crib for short periods of time at school, and seemed to enjoy sleeping on a floor pillow that had a mirror above it for babies to see themselves in. I'm attaching a pic of him sleeping peacefully on this pillow. I love being able to see/feed him on my lunch break, and hope to continue this for as long as possible. I can't wait until the clock strikes noon. It's great having Isabella and Owen together in one spot, and Isabella has even been able to visit her brother on a few occasions. She loves at the end of the day when she gets to spend some time in his classroom while I'm either feeding him or getting him ready to go home. It will be great when he is bigger and they will see each other on the playground! Here are some pictures of him at school.

Miscellaneous

Since I'm so far behind, here are some shots of life over the last few weeks, including the first snow of the season, our friend Alisha's first birthday party, Owen in his Jumperoo, random cute pics, and of course my favorite--a picture of Isabella and Owen in the morning. Every morning, when they first wake up, they sit together on the couch while Jamie and I get breakfast made and start the day. Isabella loves to snuggle with Owen and the other day while kissing his head, she said "I just love my baby SOOO much"....it was just the cutest thing in the world.

A mini Turkey Day

A week before actual Thanksgiving we went over to the house of our friends Charlie, Mag, and Sebastian for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner. Mag made her very first turkey and it was delicious! The whole meal was fabulous. The boys also had a chance to play, and we got some great shots of them together. The funniest thing was watching them looking at each other. I kept wondering what they were thinking looking at another baby! Charlie was kind enough to get Wall-E for Isabella, and everyone had a good time.