Friday, May 08, 2009

May





Here are pictures of Zachary and Kaitlyn making Vau's gift box. Kaitlyn liked painting the box but she REALLY liked painting herself. Please note the paint in her hair, eyelashes and ENTIRE body! She also tried painting Zachary. Zach usually stays pretty clean but he had to join in on the silliness and paint himself also.

Easter 2009





Zachary loved dying Easter Eggs and making Easter cupcakes. Kaitlyn only found 1 Easter egg. After the first egg, she figured out that she could sit there and eat and Zachary would find all of the eggs for her!

February








Hmm...noticing a theme here. Apparently I only take my camera out at Zach's school. Well, one of them is not at Zach's school. Zach and I had a camp out in my room one night.

Nikki also got some really great pictures of the kids at Halle's birthday party. I LOVE having talented friends! Halle's birthday party was a princess theme. There are a few pictures of Kaitlyn in her princess dress and Zachary in his Knight costume.

Pictures from Halle's birthday My favorite picture of Kaitlyn is 145 and Zach 89

January




Since we don't have snow in South Florida, Zach's school brought in a huge truckful of "snow" one Saturday so the kids could have snowball fights and play in the snow.

Ballin' the Jack Dance

M-O-M-M-Y

Don't worry I'm still alive...

So I can't believe it has really been 7 months since I last blogged. Hi, my name is Christina, and I'm a blog failure!

I'll start with updates

Zachary: He is the sweetest big brother. I can't wait to see how he is with his newest little brother. He continues to come up with new names for the baby. My top 3 favorites are:
1. Ted the White Guy
2. Moskowitz (the last name of a boy in his class)
3. Tom, just Tom.

I absolutely love his preschool. I went to a mother's day tea there on Tuesday. It was amazing. This was the first time Zach actually sang and danced the entire time. He was so adorable. I loved the pride he had in his face while he was doing it. You could tell he was just so tickled by himself. Then as soon as it was over he ran over to give me all of my gifts. He made me a bracelet, a flower pot and a picture. Great day!!

Joe's mom was in the hospital for a few days so we made her a gift box to send to her. He absolutely loved doing everything for his "Vau". We went to Michaels and I let him pick everything out. Then we came home and made it. He even had to carry it all in to Fed Ex and pay because, it was for his Vau. I had him tell me what to write on his card and he told me to write, "I love you so much Vau and I can't wait to do a spiderman puzzle with you." I love that kid!

Kaitlyn:
She is doing great. She is talking but on her terms. She can name everything in all of our books but she is reluctant to actually talk in conversation. Her favorite expressions now are "what happened", "i sorry" "uh oh" and Zachey!!! She LOVES her brother also.

She also is the greatest eater. She will try anything I give her and loves her veggies, at least one of my kids eats!

At her 19th month appointment on the 1st she weighed 24lbs and was 34 1/2 inches long. I think that puts her in the 95%.

Kaitlyn is usually the happiest child and is smiley all of the time, except if you take away her food or her books, she pitches a huge fit. The tantrums are starting to stop now that she sees they aren't working though.

Baby: So I'm feeling pretty good. I look like I swallowed a basketball. It is amazing how all 3 of my pregnancies have been so different. I think we've decided on Jaxson Terrell (Jax). We are still struggling with the spelling, meaning Joe doesn't like the way I want to spell it. Any thoughts?

My next post will be a 7 month update in photos and videos.

Monday, September 08, 2008

Slightly Disturbed

I'm sure most of you moms are familiar with Arthur on PBS, right?

Well Zach got Arthur's birthday last time we were at the library. We began reading the book last night and there are 2 different references to playing spin the bottle. One of the girls even buys him a special "spin the bottle" game for his birthday. Does this seem odd to any of you?

Monday, August 25, 2008

Milestones

Kaitlyn - She signed more for the first time and has been consistantly doing it for a week! She took 1 step last week and was up to six today. My baby is walking. Exciting and sad.

Zach - Hiked his first trail all by himself.

Me - Continued to lose weight and excercise the entire time I was on vacation for 10 days! I was shocked at how much willpower I had. I was extremely lucky that my sister-in-law had a mega fancy treadmill with a TV and a fan in it. I swam laps in the ocean while we were in the Keys. I'm so glad that I'm sticking with it. I actually feel like I'm finally back in the habit of exercising and it feels SO good!!!

A couple more pics


Catch up






We had a great time on our vacation to West Virgina/Charlotte. The plane ride started off well but ending bad. Zach was fast asleep on my lap when we started our descent. He woke up screaming because he couldn't get his ears to pop. I tried to get him to do everything but he was scared so he just was freaking out. He actually wet his pants he was so upset. It was so weird.

Once we got our rental car our drive to West Virgina was very nice. The kids slept most of the way thankfully. We had a great time at the reunion. It was pretty interesting. It is the longest consecutive running family reunion in the whole country. They had a picture of the family tree up and tons of old pictures and a letter from Pres. Bush and Laura congratulating them on the family's 100 year reunion. I finally figured out how Joe's Dad was related. I guess the reunion is for the descednants of his dad's great great great grandfather. Needless to say when you start going back that far most of the people at the reunion were 3rd and 4th and possibly 5th cousins so nobody really knows anyone else. It was pretty neat though. I'm sure it would be fun to start something like that and actually keep it going.

On our way to Charlotte we stopped at the New River Gorge. It was beautiful. Zach was so proud of himself for "hiking" the whole way himself. I was so proud of myself for carrying Kailtyn the whole way up the stairs and not collapsing :-)

We stayed with Joe's sister, Tina, and husband, Troy, for a few days. Zach had a blast playing with their golden retriever, Elvis and swimming in their gigantic clubhouse pool. I'm so mad that I didn't get pics of him going down the waterslide.

We met Angelle and Leah and Erin at the Discovery Museum and once again the kids had a blast. We also spent the next night with them. Zach and Leah got to have a sleepover but neither of the kids wanted to go to sleep so we had to separate them until Zach fell asleep. They woke up together though :-)

We got home Thursday and Joe and I left Friday morning for my firm outing without the children.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Almost a big step

I went to my parents house for dinner tonight. My sister was planning on spending the night there so she asked Zach if he wanted to spend the night too. Zach was extremely excited. He told me, "Bye Mom, leave now."

I packed up Kaitlyn and headed out the door (after installing the car seat in Melissa's car - which of course took forever. Why does it take so freaking long to put those things in?? Is it just me?) Ok, sorry back to the story. I was Crushed and excited that my baby was growing up. I couldn't believe the flood of emotions that this seemingly small thing brought out in me. I started to drive away and Zach came running out of the house. He wanted one more hug. I gave him a hug and closed the door. Then my father stopped me again. This time Zach wanted to hug Kailtyn and oh one more hug for me. I start to drive away again and Zach breaks into hysterics.

Zach is sound asleep in his bed here with me. Maybe he can stay a baby for just a little longer? I'm not sure I'm ready for "get out mom" quite yet!

Ouch

I'm very excited because every muscle in my body is sore. I'm doing a biggest loser contest with my hive friends and I've been working out everyday. Yesterday I went for a walk in my neighborhood and did a Billy Blanks Bootcamp DVD. I didn't realize how completely out of shape I was.

So I'm actually excited that I'm so sore because that means it worked! Hopefully I'll keep up the hardwork and win some cash for my new skinnier wardrobe.

Next week is going to be a huge challenge for me because we are flying to West Virginia for the Stewart family 100 Year Reunion. We will be gone until Thursday and then we fly back to Fort Lauderdale for Thursday night and then leave Friday for our firm outing to Key West. It is going to be a true test of my willpower to be in the Key's and stay on plan and find time to exercise on vacation. Wish me luck!

Thanks to my in-laws Joe and I are taking our first trip without the kids. We will be going childless to the Key's.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Firsts

Kailtyn's first tooth finally poked through on Sunday. I haven't been able to get a picture yet but hopefully I will soon.

She also waved goodbye for the first time without me asking yesterday. Joe picked her up from my arms and I said goodbye. She looked at me and gave me a huge smile and waved goodbye. It was so adorable.

I don't think she is doing any signs yet. She will move her hands when she is eating sometimes but I don't think it is the sign for more. I'll keep watching. Zach, on the other hand, loves signing. He likes to "practice" doing signs with Kaitlyn.

Irony

So I've been discussing things lately with Joe. I told him that I don't think accounting suits my personality. I told him I think I would enjoy teaching. Then today I took this personality test and this is what I got. I'm not sure if it is fate or just a coincidence but I thought it was very ironic.

Idealist Portrait of the Teacher (ENFJ)
Even more than the other Idealists, Teachers have a natural talent for leading students or trainees toward learning, or as Idealists like to think of it, they are capable of calling forth each learner's potentials. Teachers (around two percent of the population) are able - effortlessly, it seems, and almost endlessly-to dream up fascinating learning activities for their students to engage in. In some Teachers, this ability to fire the imagination can amount to a kind of genius which other types find hard to emulate. But perhaps their greatest strength lies in their belief in their students. Teachers look for the best in their students, and communicate clearly that each one has untold potential, and this confidence can inspire their students to grow and develop more than they ever thought possible.


In whatever field they choose, Teachers consider people their highest priority, and they instinctively communicate personal concern and a willingness to become involved. Warmly outgoing, and perhaps the most expressive of all the types, Teachers are remarkably good with language, especially when communicating in speech, face to face. And they do not hesitate to speak out and let their feelings be known. Bubbling with enthusiasm, Teachers will voice their passions with dramatic flourish, and can, with practice, become charismatic public speakers. This verbal ability gives Teachers a good deal of influence in groups, and they are often asked to take a leadership role.

Teachers like things settled and organized, and will schedule their work hours and social engagements well ahead of time-and they are absolutely trustworthy in honoring these commitments. Valuing as they do interpersonal cooperation and harmonious relations, Teachers are extraordinarily tolerant of others, are easy to get along with, and are usually popular wherever they are.

Teachers are highly sensitive to others, which is to say their intuition tends to be well developed. Certainly their insight into themselves and others is unparalleled. Without a doubt, they know what is going on inside themselves, and they can read other people with uncanny accuracy. Teachers also identify with others quite easily, and will actually find themselves picking up the characteristics, emotions, and beliefs of those around them. Because they slip almost unconsciously into other people's skin in this way, Teachers feel closely connected with those around them, and thus show a sincere interest in the joys and problems of their employees, colleagues, students, clients, and loved ones.

Mikhail Gorbachev, Oprah Winfrey, Pope John Paul II, Ralph Nader, John Wooden, and Margaret Mead are examples of Teacher Idealists.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

He loves to cook...she loves to climb



Zach is going to make some woman very happy one day. He absolutely loves to cook. The other night I had Barefoot Contessa (my favorite show) on and I was getting ready to go make dinner so I asked Zach if he wanted me to turn on Sesame Street while I made dinner. He told me to wait until the show was over. I love it. He'd rather watch a cooking show than Sesame Street.

PS- ignore the messy kitchen :-)

Kaitlyn is doing an amazing job at keeping up with her brother. Yesterday we went to Chick-fil-a. They have a toddler area at the indoor play area with some mirrors and other things for the little ones to play with. Kaitlyn looked in the mirror for about 2 seconds and then she was done with that. She wanted to chase her brother. She climbed into the tube slide thing and crawled/climbed about half way up. Then she turned around and climbed down all by herself. She got to the end of the slide and put her hands down and then slowly kept moving her hands forward until she could bring one leg down at at time. It was unbelievable. I'm going to go back with my camera this week but I'm sure it won't happen again.

She is such a crazy lady. I've had to put all of Zach's chairs in other rooms because she wants to crawl on top of them and then stand up. I definitely don't have a timid little girl on my hands.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Hot Dog

This video is from a couple of weeks ago, but I think it is hilarious. Zach absolutely loves the HotDog song and this is what we do every Saturday when it comes on.