Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday weekend that started off on Christmas Eve by visiting Santa. I had been meaning to take both of the kids all month since I love the Broadway Plaza Santa the best, but just never got around to doing it. I begged Jason since I really wanted Paisley to get her picture taken with Santa since Roman had for his 1st Christmas. We arrived at 10am when Santa's workshop opened and were surprised to find a line that was about an hour long. Jason wanted to leave, but I knew it would be worth it. Luckily Roman was able to run around, while we waited. Once we got to Santa, we got a picture of Paisley with Santa. I knew Roman wasn't going to sit with Santa by himself, so we did a family shot. I was so happy that we waited and so was Jason.


We then ran a few more errands and got home in enough time for Roman to take a nice long nap before Church. We went to the early Church service that is kid friendly. Roman made it through about 1/2 of the service and was a really good boy. We then headed back to our house for dinner. Jason's Uncle Tom and Aunt Barbara and Grandma came, along with both of our families. It was fun to have a relaxing night, open gifts and just enjoy everyone's company.


It is so fun to see Roman play with his cousins. He just adores Scott and Tyler.


Uncle Tom and Aunt Barbara are amazing inspirations that exemplify everything that Christmas stands for. All year round they visit garage sales and buy new toys to donate for Christmas. This year, they collected 2,600 toys! They truly are angels to so many kids.


The Lietz sisters with our little girls. I bought Kira and Paisley matching Christmas dresses. I think this is a tradition I will do every year...or until they oppose. Hopefully that won't be for a few more years. I love having little girls that are so close in age. I know they will be the best of friends.


Cheers to a good dinner. Heidi, Danny, Jason and I took turns eating and chasing around the kids while everyone ate. I think it will be a while before all of us can sit down and eat together.


My Dad's Gingerbread masterpiece.

Christmas morning was perfect since we were able to sleep in a little and just relax with the 4 of us. We lounged around, ate breakfast and then opened some presents with Roman. He was excited to open a few of them, but then just wanted to play with his new toys. He tends to get overwhelmed with too many new things, so we only opened a few things than let him just play.




Roman and his new alphabet magnets.


This little boy makes me so happy.


Jay and his ladies.


Marley got spoiled with lots of bones and toys. Roman loved playing tug of war with Marley.


Betty and Bob stopped by with Roman's new kitchen. He loved it and his favorite part of it was (of course) the cell phone.


Grammy and Paisley.

We then headed to my parents for dinner.


Paisley and her Grandma's.


The men hanging out.


Look what Scott and Tyler got. Not only 1, but 2 guinea pigs. They were actually really cute and friendly. I'm excited for them to enjoy their 1st pets.


By the end of the night, Roman would say "WOAH" when he opened the gifts. It was pretty cute, even though he probably didn't even know what he was getting.


Me, Scott and Buster. The other guinea pig is G-Force.


My real Christmas present this year was Paisley. I still sometimes can't believe that she is in our lives. She is such a blessing and so special. Our family feels so much more complete with her in it and I can't imagine life without her. My heart feels so full of love everytime I look at her.


Happy Birthday to Pop! I wish we had a separate day to celebrate just my Dad. He is so special and does so much for everyone else that he deserves a night of his own. We always have the chocolate nut cake that his mom would traditionally make each year. It is a popular Birthday cake in our family.

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and wishing everyone a Happy 2011.

I am looking forward to a year of more family fun and adventures, getting in shape, enjoying NOT being pregnant, weddings of some close friends, a trip to Disneyland and a trip for just Jason and I.

Cooking Club Love

Our monthly Cooking Club had our annual Thanksgiving and Christmas parties. I love these girls so much and cherish our monthly get togethers. This club was started out by my roomie Lauren and has evolved into a support system, sisterhood and fun girls night out. I love each of these girls so much and it is always fun to have new members. WELCOME MEG!

Thanksgiving was hosted by the Allocco's and we all bring a traditional Thanksgiving dish to share and also bring along our hubbies. It is such a fun night and I think all the men like coming along to see everyone.

Here are some pics from that night...




All the ladies (and Christian) admiring handsome little Tate! I think he was 1 week old.


My favorite neighbors


H & H


Quite possibly the best Thanksgiving dessert EVER!


Cheers!

Our Christmas Party was a Cooking gift exchange at Jolynn's house. It was such a fun way to kick off the Christmas season.


Our hosts and Brides To Be for 2011.



I'm so lucky to have these 2 in my life.




Danielle, our other bride to be of 2011


Love, Love, Love this group of girls!

Christmas Photo

Merry Christmas from 2 year old Heather.
Here is a picture of me at just about 2 years old. If you ever wondered where Roman got his big head, just look at me. I think mine is even double the size of his. I was definitely a chub, just like both my kids. Now I wish Roman would sit still and sit in a rocking chair for a photo, but I guess that is the difference between a boy and a girl.

Growing Up...20 Months

I feel like I have been posting so much on Paisley, that I needed to dedicate one to Roman. Especially now that he is growing up. The most common question I have been getting from everyone is how is Roman doing with his new sister. I am so happy to report that he is doing AWWWWWWESOME (as DJ Lance would say). We have luckily not had to deal with much jealousy, anger or neediness on his end. He just adores "Baby" as he calls her. He loves to give her kisses, tickie tickie (tickles), play with her feet and smile at her. Now lets just hope it stays this way. The only challenge is him not knowing his own strength. Sometimes he gets a little rough with her or accidentally sits on her head and he likes to wake her up while she is sleeping.


Roman continues to talk all day, but most of it is still hard to decipher. However he is getting new words each week. Most recently he has said "Poop" and "Potty" (yes Uncle Ryan, you can be proud). I guess I shouldn't be surprised that those words came before a few others since he is a boy. He has a very sweet, little voice and I can't wait for him to be talking more and more. He has also discovered how to get our attention with a high pitched squeal. We are trying to ignore it, but haven't had much luck getting him to stop.




Roman is definitely a free spirit and has a sweet personality. Many times he will just lay down in the middle of a room or even a restaurant and just gaze up at the ceiling and smile. He isn't aggressive and usually just goes with the flow. My sensitive, sweet boy! He has gotten so much better with me leaving him, but still cries when I leave him at the Church Nursery during Bible Study. He loves his routines. I run a pretty strict daily routine and I think that has helped make everything so much easier. He loves when we read to him at night and has his favorite Sandra Boynton books that we must read multiple times before bed. He now only gets his binkies in his crib and within the last week he has started demanding having 3 in his crib. My mom says I was the same way.


He adores his Grandpa's and loves when they watch him on Mondays and Thursdays. He says "Bye" to me once they walk in the door and I know they have so much fun together playing. He is obsessed with playing with his Mega Blocks, still enjoys his books and just started liking to color with crayons. Other than those 3 items, he really doesn't play with much more, other than electronics and our iPhones. We think he may be an engineer one day since he is obsessed with figuring out how everything works. It is funny since Jay and I are so not like that, but he must have also gotten that gene from his Grandpas. He gets very frusterated when things don't quite work how he wants them too. We are just starting to see little glimmers of the terrible two's and he has mastered the crying foot stomp. We know that this is just the beginning and are hoping this is a short lived phase.


Even with some tantrums here and there, we still feel so lucky everyday. Roman is always making us laugh and smile.
We love you and are so proud of the wonderful Big Brother you have become.

2 Months

Paisley turned 2 months today. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. Sometimes it feels like it is going too fast, however I also appreciate everything getting easier.


Here are some highlights at 2 months...
-Smiling and so sweet
-Feeling so much better. This weekend was the 1st time without major crying/fussing from 5pm - 8pm. I am hoping this trend continues. YEAH!
-Loves the bathtub. We may have another waterbug.
-Pretty strong with her neck.
-Great sleeper at night. Long nap in the morning and then small cat naps in the afternoon.
-Likes being on her back and looking around at everything.
-Starting to coo and make all kinds of noises.
-Likes the Ergo Carrier and often falls asleep in it.
-Spit-up everywhere. We both have about 3 outfit changes a day.
-Eyes are starting to lighten up and look blue.
-Starting to get those adorable chubby legs. Love the rolls.


We are so in love with Paisley. My heart just melts when I look at her. Paisley and I went on a little shopping trip to Toys R Us this weekend, mainly for Roman's Christmas presents. I got really excited thinking about the future and all the fun, girly toys for her. My Little Pony, Barbies, Cabbage Patch Kids...I can't wait!


Paze, Chubs, Lovebug, Lil P
We LOVE You!

My Chubby Twins

As Paisley continues to pack on the pounds, she is looking so much like Roman. I really can't believe how similar they are in so many ways. Even their expressions and mannerisms are so similar. Here is a picture of both Roman and Paisley at 2 months. The main difference is their noses, but other than that I think they look like they could be twins.

Lil P Update

So I feel like my last post was a little dramatic and probably made me sound like I was barely surviving. The good news is that I have gone dairy free and it seems to be helping. I think the combination of my new diet and Paisley taking medicine for the last week has helped a lot. She still has pretty bad reflux, but the discomfort seems to be better. I am hopeful that I can keep up the diet since I feel like I am starving myself. At least I'll lose those few extra pounds that are lingering this time around. I do need to be better about researching some recipes and substitutes that I can eat. For the last 3 days, Paisley has been much more happy and calm. She still gets a little fired up at night, but that we can deal with.


I've been calling her "Chubbs" since she is so round and loving. I hope she doesn't mind. I can't believe how much she has grown in the last month.

Del Osso Farm

The day after Thanksgiving we decided to get out and do something as a family. I had heard about this Farm in Lathrop (past Tracy) that was festive for the holidays. We drove an hour and found ourselves in the middle of nowhere at this Farm. I would say that Osso Family Farm is part farm, but also part fairgrounds. We had a fun day and most importantly Roman had fun running around playing in the dirt. We wanted to go sledding, but after seeing the course decided that we should wait another year before Roman was ready. The tubes went pretty fast.


They had a zipline and Jay decided to try it out. I think he may have been one of the 1st people to try it out for the season. Thank goodness it didn't break.


Hi Jay!


They also had a giant jumping balloon. Roman loves bouncing around and had so much fun.


We got to meet a few of Santa's Reindeers.


Roman made sure to tell the Reindeer what he wanted for Christmas.


1st Pony Ride wasn't too ideal. When purchasing a ticket for this, I didn't realize you had to wear a helmet. Roman does not wear anything on his head, so after about 2 minutes on the horse, he had enough. We politely thanked the horse and decided to stop the ride before a temper tantrum took place. At least we got a cute photo.


Lastly, we got a family pic with Santa. Roman wasn't too sure about Santa until he gave him a candy cane. Santa definitely knows the way to my man's heart...food.

We can't wait for all the fun and traditions that happen with the holidays. This year, we are going to try and get our tree and decorations up by next weekend. I'll let you know if that happens.