Happy Birthday To Brooks!

Happy New Year To All!

Today is Brooks' birthday, but he has been milking it all weekend. Unfortunately, Jasmine, Taylor and I have been sick so he hasn't really been able to get away with much. Taylor and I made him a cake first thing this morning, his favorite Coldstone Creamery cake will have to wait until the January birthday party at the end of the month.

Since three of the four of us aren't feeling so hot, we'll just be hanging out at home. Taylor loves to play Transformers with Daddy, and would be content doing that all day. I asked if I could play with him and he said no because I was "too girly". Brooks also asked for steak and french fries for dinner, so I should be able to take a break from blowing my nose long enough to make that. He also wants to play basketball at the nearby courts today, so we'll see if Taylor and the Transformers follow him.

2009 was quite a year, to say the least, so we are really looking forward to a new outlook in 2010. This is also the last year in our 20's, a daunting thought only because there is so much more we wanted to do before the big 3-0. January also marks our 8 year anniversary. I can't imagine life without Brooks and am blessed to spend this day with our family.

Jazzy at 15 months

On Wednesday, Jazzy had her 15-month well check. We love her doctor, and feel blessed that both kids have been lucky enough to have great doctors. We had lots of questions for this appointment. We wanted to make sure that she was on-target for her milestones, and of course we were concerned about her weight. Jazzy has always been much more petite than her brother, and I know it is like comparing apples and oranges since Taylor was mega-size, but it is all we have for comparison!

The Little Princess weighed in at 23 pounds, which is now in the 60th percentile! Meaning that she has gained two whole pounds since her last appointment, which is surprising since she is such a picky eater. The only things we can consistently get her to eat are french fries, chips and strawberry milk. Everything else we offer her she throws on the floor. She is also still nursing, which the doctor thinks is what is filling her up. At this point, mommy milk still offers more in the way of nutritional value than whole milk. I'd be happy to be done with it, but I' be happier to have a healthy baby so that by far takes priority.

Jazz looked great, but we did have one big worry - she isn't talking. Brooks and I had discussed this a bit and he felt maybe she could be a late talker. I don't know if it is that I am a worry-wart at heart, or that I have a little bit of a medical background, but deep down I really thought it could be something else. The doctor was concerned especially since along with the talking, she isn't really even consistently mimicking us of following commands. At this point, we should be able to say "Jazzy- go to your room and bring us your doll", and Jazz would follow. But, realistically, she can't do that and maybe only follows our commands 25% of the time, if that, and does mimic a bit, but not an impressive amount. The doctor felt then that she might be displaying that she is not understanding us. We now have a referral in for the ear, nose and throat doctor and Jazzy will have a hearing assessment to check for any impairments.

Being a worry-wart, I start to think if it could be something worse- could Jazzy be autistic? It is so hard to think about- we just want her to be OK and OK really means perfect. Brooks is taking it pretty hard, but we keep telling ourselves it could really be nothing, and she might just be a late talker. She could have her hearing test and everything could be fine. As if to reassure us, the other night at dinner, Jazzy was talking with daddy and looked over at him and said, "Dad." We both looked at each other in disbelief, then asked her to say it again. Sure enough she did- "Dad". Of course she hasn't said it again, but we're still hoping!

So we have been going double time on reading with her and talking with her and explaining everything. And, we are still hoping, hoping that she is OK and just simply is a late talker.

Disneyland!

Who doesn't love Disneyland? We love it, or at least I love it and so does Taylor, and Brooks loves us so he deals with it. :)

We have been planning this trip for quite some time, and were so happy as the time finally drew near! Between the two of us, we had three friends with silver passports, which are sweet Disney passes that get the holder plus three people in for free. Brooks' former co-worker John offered use of his pass on Thursday, so we drove in Wednesday night after dinner. The kids did great and slept most of the way. I am like a baby in a car as well, and dozed off quite a bit. Brooks drove well (I think) and we made it to Anaheim a little after midnight. We like to try to stay at Embassy Suites so that we can stuff ourselves silly at breakfast. Taylor's favorite food as of late is bacon, and each morning he stuffed himself with pancakes, bacon and chocolate donuts. Jazzy discovered she liked fruit loops and strawberry yogurt and even drank plain white milk. The little princess has insisted on nothing other than chocolate or strawberry milk lately, so we were relieved she'd consider something with a little less sugar.

Disneyland was great! We started out at Disneyland and our first ride was the Buzz Lightyear ride in Tomorrowland. It was Taylor's favorite ride, and fitting since he wore his Buzz costume. We did bring a change of clothes for him, but he was rather content in his costume for the whole day. We also rode the Nemo submarine ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion (both were scary for Taylor), the Pinocchio ride, the tea cups and then headed over to the California park. Jazz squealed throughout Playhouse Disney Live and we rode the Toy Story Mania before heading back to Disneyland to ride the Buzz ride again. Jazzy got a pair of pink princess mouse ears and a pretty Tinkerbell locket.Taylor got a Buzz Lightyear/Emperor Zurg hat, a Buzz Lightyear light saber and a spinning Buzz toy.

We spent the next day at Downtown Disney, swimming and relaxing at the hotel. On Saturday, we met my friend Annette in Long Beach. She lives a bit of a drive, and we have a hard time finding some place in between that would work. This particular area of long beach was a great suggestion and we had a nice afternoon at the beach. The kids love the beach, and so do Brooks and myself!

We stuffed ourselves silly Sunday morning for breakfast, then headed back home. It was so nice to get away. We love visiting California.

We're Back!

Once again I have gone way, way, too long without posting. Things have been nuts, but I am starting to realize that is just how things are going to be with two kids. The most recent exciting events are that the laptop bit the dust, so we now have a nice, new computer, and our little Taylor recently received his first, and we hope only, stitches. It's been about three months since we backed up our files, so Brooks is going to try his best to retrieve what he can.

The story of the stitches: The kids both had a tummy flu, and we were up one night with Jazz about 3:30 in the morning when Taylor woke up as well. He calmly asked for us to "snuggle with him" (I love having a little baby snuggle bug!), so daddy laid down with him while I was cleaning up the puke then we switched. The next morning, he woke up around 8am and asked to watch TV. When I looked at his sweet little face, I did not have either my glasses on or my contacts and couldn't quite tell what he had on his cheek. I looked again and he had a bad gash. I woke Brooks up so he could panic with me, then called the pediatrician and off Tay and I went to the ER, while Daddy stayed home with Jazzy the puker. Taylor received three stitches in his cheek and although we knew we had a big, brave baby boy, he didn't cry at all! When he received the anesthesia injection in the actual wound he just turned and calmly told the doctor, "Ow. That hurts."

Of course braving through something has major as stitches requires a special present, so Taylor got the Octopus play dough toy he has wanted since Christmas. Daddy can't stand play dough, but loves his boy. The bigger mystery is what exactly happened to Taylor. We think he may have fallen out of bed, which is why he woke up at three when we were up with Jazzy. But, he didn't cry at all, so I guess we'll never really know. Since every scar has a story, Taylor can now make one up. Maybe he was wrestling alligators or battling the evil Emperor Zurg.

Boo at the Zoo

Last weekend we took the kids to the Phoenix Zoo for "Boo at the Zoo". They had a small parade, music and performers, Radio Disney was there, and they fed some of the animals pumpkins. It has been a few months since we went to the zoo, and Taylor loved it! We used to have an annual pass, and I am thinking we may want to consider getting another one. We took the kids wagon,which was an adventure getting to fit in the car, but worth it since I knew Taylor would not want to walk the whole time. It's hard to say which animal he liked best, as he was very interested in all of them. Jazzy was great, as always. I think she just enjoyed being out and about. It was a warm day, but lots of fun!

Picture Catch Up

This Bug should have won...


Hanging out in Grandma's Bus


Just call him "Dance Machine"


Jazzy's Ugg Boots


Going to the playground


Pretty, Pretty Princess

Here we go again

OK, so it would be impossible to catch up on the past three months now since I last posted, without a ridiculously long blog entry. So, just suffice it to say we were ridiculously busy, things were beyond hectic and now we are back to our normal pace around here. Well, as normal as I guess we will ever be :)

The kids are great, getting cuter and sweeter every day. Yesterday they went in for the second dose of their flu shots and neither baby cried! My big, brave kids :) I guess when kids get the flu shot for the first time, they have to have two doses. So, next year and going forward they should only need one dose.

We spent this past week down between Tucson and my mom's house in Sonoita. We spent the first Saturday in Tucson for my uncle's surprise 50th birthday party. It was a blast! The food was delicious, and Taylor danced and danced! They had a mariachi band play for the first hour, then a DJ, and Taylor was non-stop. He is a great little guy,very social and is always comfortable and not shy wherever we go. Jazzy fell asleep about 8:30, so Brooks and I headed to our hotel and Taylor went home with my mom. We met them the next day in Patagonia for the Fall Festival. I wish we would have taken more time to look around and enjoy the day, but I don't think those types of events are Brooks' cup of tea. Brooks dropped us off back at my mom's and headed home to Phoenix. We spent the week watching the kids, playing around the ranch and helping my mom out with stuff. I only went into town once, and spent just a few hours with Araceli visiting her and the new baby, and then had a quick afternoon visit with Kereese before heading back to the kid's school in Elgin to attend the Burger Burn. Brooks returned to town on Saturday and we stayed at my mom's that night. Mom, Louis, the kids and Taylor headed in to Tucson that day for day one of Bugtoberfest. We met them in Tucson the next day at Bugtoberfest. Although my mom won first place last year, this year she had some stiff competition and was pretty disappointed that she did not place. I still think it was a fun event, and Taylor loved it.

Kereese came to Phoenix this week to visit her boyfriend and we got to visit again. The thing I love about Kereese is that we can go 6 months without talking to one another if we're busy and just pick up right where we left off. We have been friends since junior high. The rest of this week has been spent catching up on emails, cleaning the house and attempting to tackle the never-ending pile of laundry. Jazz is trying so hard to crawl, and I think she will have it any day now. She also has become quite the bed hog and most nights you will find either Brooks or myself on the couch so that Jazzy can have the bed. I joke I should just sleep in her crib so that someone is using it.