Easter

 

We spend Easter at Grandpa G's house.  Grandma H came along too because she had come up with the intention on us taking the kiddos for their first Easter Egg hunt.  That didn't happen because it was really cold and SNOWED!  Granted Easter was early this year but good grief!

We also planned to dye Easter eggs but those plans were thwarted as well.  I'll not go into details about it but I was a little annoyed and by the time we were going to do it, it was too late in the day and the kids were going to need to get to bed.

I took a ton of pictures and the kids ate a ton of chocolate and candy.  It was a fun day and I dressed the kids up in their Sunday best!  It was nice to spend the day with family.  Trevor acted up some and didn't want his picture taken but for the most part they were both pretty good.

     

That's my mom holding Jayden, She's Grandma H.  Notice all the snow on the ground!

  Checking out the goods.  The stuff that is in your sisters basket is always better!

    What a lovely "hat" you have.  Jayden loves chocolate!  The "hat" is just a little too small for Trevor.

  MMMMM chocoate induced coma.         

Christmas pictures

Christmas was bittersweet this year. It was the first year for as long as I could remember that we didn't have Christmas with my Grandparents. They are both in the nursing home and the families all did their own thing. So I had my mom and brothers over to my house for Christmas Eve. My 2 youngest brothers are both chefs at a fancy little Italian restaurant so they actual pitched in and helped make dinner. Tim made yummy basil mashed potatoes and a scrumptious chocolate torte! It was so good. I think over the next few days I finished of 3/4 of it! So here are pictures from Christmas eve with my family.


Of course Christmas morning was a visit from Santa. And rushing to go to our two other family gatherings


Then we went to Grandma B's for lunch. Trevor really enjoyed terrorizing Scooter the Siamese cat. Both Jayden and Trevor weren't too sure what to think of Charlie the dog. But they warmed up to him a little bit.









After that we went to Grandpa G's. I ate way to much sweets and got a tummy ache. It was really nice spending a few days with family.


And finally we went home and all took a really long nap!

Qwest for a Christmas picture

I thought about taking the kiddos to Penneys to get holidayish pictures taken. But I thought back to the last time and decided I could do just as good on my own. Maybe so, they didn't turn out like I'd hope. But at least I didn't have to cough up some cash to be disappointed when Trevor made it much more difficult than it needed to be. I good a few "nice" shots. I love the moment I captured in the first with Trevor hugging Jayden. Too bad they weren't really smiling. I got a couple of cute ones with Jayden solo, too bad her fingers are all blurred in the movment.

There were a lot of tears on Trevor's part, and flat refusal to stay on the backdrop. I even got "props" I thought we be good to bait them to stay on the backdrop. Seems all that did was give them something to fight over. Notice in the last picture all of the bulbs were behind Trevor, out of Jayden's reach and she has just a little bit of beads to hold on to. I gave up after 58 pictures.

Not quite the greeting card type pictures I was going for. Oh well, I was kidding myself when I even thought about sending out Christmas cards. Maybe I'll get them out in time for New Year's cards. Or maybe I'll just save the envelopes I've started addressing faor next year. If it wasn't for all these hours I'm working these days, I really could have got them out. I suppose I have an excuse every year. But this year I'm really having a hard time. I work in a couple of really slow stores this week so I could ~maybe~ finish them at work; if I get my other paperwork I tote along with me done first. But then they'd be too late to really consider Christmas cards. So I think New Years cards it is. :o) Is there such a thing?

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year we went to Grandpa G's on thanksgiving day. Of course we had lots of great food. Trevor and Jayden both seemed to enjoy chasing Gabby around. She's a yorkie. At first Jayden was terrified when Gabby barked. Trevor now says "oof oof." The hardest part about going to other homes is that Trevor is really bad about getting into stuff he shouldn't be. We are constantly chasing him.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we went to Grandma B's. Trevor was terrified of Charlie. She's a bigger dog. So poor charlie was banished to the porch. Trevor had fun pulling around the cat's house. Scooter, the siamese cat, seemed to enjoy the ride. But Trevor wanted Scooter out of it and got a little annoyed when he kept jumping back in the house. I wish I would have thought to grab the camera sooner. By the time I did the moment was over.

I love/hate The Fourth of July

I enjoy the festivities of the forth, the annual BBQ at Trav's mom's house, the patriotism, and of course the fireworks. I'm not one to light them off myself but I do like watching.


That said... I HATE FIREWORKS AT 12:30 AM!!! As I type this the lovely firework presentation of black cats and bottle rockets has FINALLY stopped after about an hour of bangs and booms as I'm thinking about going to bed. Honestly I don't mind neighbors shooting fireworks even though they are illegal here. But PUH-LEASE try and do it before 10pm or so. I really don't want my kiddo woken up.


This isn't our first issue with these neighbors. They are pretty much a daily annoyance. But certain things make my blood boil and this is one of them. I have to work tomorrow! I fumed for about a half hour and Travis and I discussed what course of action to take. He was considering going over there to yell at them. I told him not to because I was afraid they'd want to fight, stab or shoot him. They seem like they have the potential to be ~those~ kind of people. Yeah great to have that living next door.


So I called the cops, he asked what their address is and I wasn't exactly sure of the house number but had the cross streets and he got a fowl attitude with me and said, "Look ma'am, we have A LOT going on tonight!" Well no shit Sherlock!!! Not like I didn't realize that or wanted them there immediately. I was not the least bit short or rude and was about to joke with him a bit that I was sure this wasn't the first call of it's kind for the night. Asshole... I was reporting a public disturbance and the law was being broken. What is the point of them being outlawed then? After he said that he pretty much cut me off while I was giving the cross streets. Somehow I get the feeling my call isn't going to be followed up on.


Anyway... Happy Fourth of July!!! Even though it is now the 5th! I hope you all had a great Holiday!

Fireflies, Cheerios, and Crocs...

... in Trevorland are much more interesting than fireworks. We chose a fairly distant (remote) location as to make a quick escape if needed. Travis says "I told you so." But I thought he might be interested. After all, he did enjoy the fireworks at Grandma B's party on Saturday. But those were up close and personal however on a smaller scale of course.

We started with him throwing a fit because he apparently wanted to go run through the weeds in the ditch. Then he noticed the fireflies and was pointing at them. Fireflies soon lost interest and he got cranky again. So I gave him a snack bowl of Cheerios and munching on those kept him interested for longer than I expected. When he was done snacking on them he started playing with my shoes. Then he realized it would be fun to put the Cheerios IN my shoes! And then he started trying to balance my shoes on his head. One of his new favorite skills is balancing things on his head. Interlaced in these preoccupied periods were brief moments of minor freak outs when we had to hold him by the shirt to keep him from running off into weeds taller than he. Based on how my allergies are bugging me, I'm guessing it was ragweed.

From time to time he would cast a semi interested glance in the direction of the fireworks and that was about it. At least Jayden slept most of the time. If she would have started fussing I think we would have had to pack it up. Next year we need to consider sitting at least a little bit closer.

These pictures were taken last week at Grandma B's house. We had alot of fun but man is it a lot of work chasing after a busy toddler and taking care of an infant.

"Ouch Mama! The flash hurts my eyes!"

Father's Day Creation

I made this for Travis for Father's day.

Easter

We didn't do outside Easter egg hunts because the weather was so cold. I especially wasn't going to take Trevor out in the cold with his cough/runny nose. (yeah, he's still sniffling, poor guy) I couldn’t even drag myself out of the house to go to church. We didn't go to family dinner like we were hoping because of the nasties that we have in our house. I don’t want to pass it on to anyone else. I was also a little worried about everyone wanting to play pass the baby with Jayden and with all the crap that’s going around now; I don't want her to get sicker.

Trevor and Jayden got Easter baskets from the "Easter Bunny" and Trevor enjoyed his first milk chocolate bunny. He had more fun with his basket than any thing. It was a cute plush monkey basket for my "little monkey" he wore the basket on his head for awhile and got mad when I put it away. Attached are pics of my babes with their Easter baskets. I was feeling pretty crummy on Sunday so the Easter bunny didn't visit until evening for Trevor. And the pictures of Jayden with her basket were shot the next day when I was feeling better and could take advantage of some natural light.

Hopefully next year will be a little more spring like so we can partake in the Easter festivities. I was really looking forward to going on an Easter egg hunt. It’s a fond memory from my childhood and I’m anxious to share it with him.

Our Thanksgiving

We decided not to make the journey down south this Thanksgiving and just spend the day at Trav's dad's house. Yummy food but chasing Trevor wore me out. It is so hard to spend any length of time at someones house that is not completely baby proofed. All day it was up and down and trying to prevent Trevor from falling down the stairs that he seemed so deteremined to climb down! I'm suprised I didn't loose my voice from telling him "no!" so many times. I was so busy chasing him all the time that I didn't even pull out the camera while we there.

Add to that we brought his travel high chair but forgot the chair. So, he had to belly up to the table for dinner and kept trying to pull the table cloth off the table. After dinner he at least slowed down and sat with us for a long while. He was obviously soooo tired and starting to get cranky but we couldn't get him to go to sleep.

Once we got home we all layed down and took a nap for about 4 hours! It was a busy day and we were all wore out.

Thanksgiving at Trav's mom's house was on Saturday but I had to work. :o( Of course the mall was insanely busy both friday and saturday. Luckily this time of year is our slow season at work so at least work wasn't complete chaos! I told Trav to take some pictures so that we would at least have ~some~ thanksgiving pictures. So here's Trevor during Thanksgiving dinner doing what he seems to love doing the most lately...

Halloween

Happy belated Halloween!!! Trevor had a busy evening. We were planning on getting his pictures done at Walmart. I should have known better than to give them another try after what happened last time, and that was during halloween too. They really screwed us over and we ended up waiting for 1 1/2 hours. Trevor was only about 3 months old at the time and after waiting so long in his halloween costume he got pretty cranky and the pictures didn't turn out so good. But I thought we'd give them a try again, cuz he's just so cute in his costume but I really didn't want to spend much on the pictures. So we scheduled an appt for 4:00. I get a call at 2 asking to reschedule because they had an emergency come up. I understand that things happen. But I guess I'll take this as a sign that we should not get pictures done at walmart!

Que sera! I decided to take him to penneys and pay a little more and forego the headache. Our mall here has trick or treating. Of course he's still too young to have all of the good stuff, he can have suckers and such. I had to take him out just to have a reason to put him in a costume! What else were we going to do. It was fun going through the mall and seeing all the kiddos in cute costumes. I felt kinda odd, almost like a begger thinking that the store people thought we were just out to get candy for ourselves. (although that is a perk!)

Trevor started to get pretty cranky before we got through the whole mall. And man I tell you... some parents need to teach their children manners and learn some themselves! I don't know how many times there was an obvious line of 10 people or so in front of a store and kids would jump just right to the front of the line (parents included most of the time) And I only think I ever heard 1 parent say to their children they needed to wait their turn. Grrrrrr. I totally intend to teach my child manners and hopefully lead by example. Then 2 old ladies jumped to the front of the line for the elavator. The elavator is tiny and with tons of strollers pretty much everywhere you look the line for the elevator was pretty long. Again obvious a bunch of people were waiting and these 2 ladies jumped to the front of the line. Grrrrrr.

I took Trevor on the merry-go-round that is in the mall. This would have been the 2nd time he's been on 1, but the first time he rode with me. This time he rode with my standing beside him. Let me tell you... It is damn hard if not nearly impossible to have a good hold on an unhappy toddler perched upon the back of a horse going up and down. All the while trying to hold on to him and my camera and starting to get dizzy and sick to my stomach. I thought the ride would never end! Needless to say we won't be riding the carousel any time soon. At least until he's old enough to ask to ride it!

After that fiasco, we took him to penneys for his pictures. By this time he was pretty much fed up and I don't blame him. He was pretty hot and cranky. He managed to squeak out a few half ass smiles and pretty much all he wanted to do was climb off the table and run around. Normally I like most all pictures taken of him, but this time I only liked about 3 out of about 15. And those were only *ok*

And after the mall, we went for a road trip to his Grandpa G's. We stayed awhile and I ate way too much chocolate and Trevor got to play with Gabby, Trav's brother's baby yorkie. She was sooo tiny and Trevor got a kick out of watching her play with a soda bottle that was nearly as big as she was.

This morning after breakfast Trevor had his first lollipop. He had a few licks of one before, but I wasn't smart enough to put him in his high chair first so that only lasted for just the few licks. This time I plopped him in his chair and took off his shirt and pants and let him go to town. He really enjoyed it and even wanted to share a lick with me. I had to pass! Unfortunately, Trevor's new favorite thing to do when he's eating is to play with his hair. So when he finished, despite my best efforts he was still a sticky mess!



*credit: Halloween graphics from http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/halloween/clip.html

Happy New Year

We rung in the new year at home. It was a quiet evening for us. I was working like mad trying to get insurance claims filed for work. All 2005 claims had to be filed before midnight. Yuck! I brought about 30 claims home and worked for about 4 1/2 hours. What a way to spend new years!

Travis sat in the office too and downloaded music, organized music files and played his games. Trevor was in a good mood! He was babbling alot throughout the night. He does that alot now. He has learned how to make all different sounds and he practices alot.

Trevor has become quite the night owl! He definately takes after us, especially Travis. Trevor seldom goes to bed to stay before 1am. So needless to say Trevor was up to ring in the new year with us. We didn't have any wine or champagne in the house, so our toast was Mt. Dew in champagne glasses. I gave Trevor just a tiny little taste on the tip of my finger. He seemed to like it! But it is not something we will be repeating anytime soon. I don't want him to become a Mt dew junkie like us!

I'm really bad about keeping resolutions, This year my resolutions are:
1. To eat healthier... and hopefully lose a little weight
2. Journal/Blog/keep up with Trevor's baby book on a regular basis
3. Work on my Digital scrapbooks on a regular basis
4. Get all my 35mm pictures scanned/archived
5. Keep the house a little cleaner/better organized

Well so far I'm blowing # 1, I've been sitting here eating cookies all night. I'm doing good on # 2 though!

Here's to a Happy 2006!

Christmas Gifts

This is just so I can remember and keep track of what Trevor got for chrismas this year.
Grandma H: Big stuffed pony, crawl thru activity center, stuffed puppy, rattle, set of 3 pictures for nursery
Grandma B: fabric/crinkle book, little frog, socks, boots, fisherprice puppy, jack in the box tigger, leapfrog see and learn piano, fisher price thing for car/crib, neurosmith sunshine symphony, caterpiller rattle
Grandpa G: Leapfrog discovery ball, baby einstein video, fisherprice power touch baby + 1 book set
mommy &daddy: Jitter pal, rattle with pictures, bunch of books
Tiana: Tigger
Tim/Jim: kaliedoscope, rainstick thingy
Greatgrandparent's G: money for vtech move and crawl ball

Christmas Happenings

We had a very busy christmas. We went down south to visit Grandma H and everyone christmas eve. Trevor did really well with the 2 hour drive there and back. Everyone seemed to enjoy interacting with Trevor and commented how quickly he is growing. It is amazing how quickly he is growing and advancing.

Christmas day we went to Grandma B's and Grandpa G's. It was a really long day for Trevor. He fell asleep about 6 pm and only woke up to eat and for diaper changes until about 11am the next day. I got kinda sick the day after christmas and spent the whole day on the couch sleeping. Luckily I feel much better today. It's a good thing too... today is the last day of my christmas holiday. So tomorrow it's back to work. :o( The house is a disaster so I'm working on getting everything put back together today.

Trevor is having fun today playing with all of his new toys he got for christmas. He really "cashed in" his grandparents really seem to enjoy spoiling him! He better than doubled his toy collection. Well that didn't take much though cuz he didn't have too many to start with. Right now his favorite toys seem to be: leapfrog discovery ball (from grandpa G), animal sounds cloth/crinkle book (from grandma B) and infantino jitter pal soft toy (from mommy & daddy)

His other favorite toy (well mommy's favorite toy anyway) is the fisher price puppy. He sings a bunch of tunes... my favorite... I mean Trevor's favorite is: "do your ears hang low can you tie them in a bow...?" I couldn't walk past that thing in walmart without turning it on and singing a tune that made Travis want to strangle me. Well that's another story, maybe for another day.

We still have some presents under the tree for Trevor to unwrap... just some little books and stuff. Now we need to find somekind toyshelf or something to keep everything organized. It's crazy how quickly our house is getting cluttered with toys and stuff. And I know it is only going to get worse.

Thanksgiving Happenings

Grandma B. got Trevor an activity station thing a few weeks back but it doesn't do a whole lot for him laying down so we modified it a bit by taking the activity thing off of his kick and play and sliding the leapfrog one up while he is sitting in his bouncy seat. He loves it! We put him in his sit and he grins ear to ear and gets really excited.
The day before Thanksgiving we had him in the seat in the kitchen while I made cheesecakes for the holiday and he was actually reaching out for it and moving stuff on it. It was so cute, he was concentrating really hard.
On the morning of Thanksgiving day, Trevor was trying very hard to work his hands. We noticed he was looking intently at his hands and trying to clasp them and reach for stuff. He's been practicing his new skill alot!!!
Thanksgiving day was fun. We went to Grandpa G's house. As always Trevor was a hit! Everyone commented on how big he is getting and how alert and active he is.
I had to work very long days Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. Travis said that Trevor was extremely fussy pretty much all day both days. This morning we looked in his mouth and you can see the teeth looking like they are all coming in. I didn't figure that we'd be able to see them all under the surface but they're there alright. Maybe that is why he has been so fussy.
My Uncle Ron, Aunt Debbie, and Cousin Nate stopped by on their way home to break up the drive a little. It was nice to see them. I cooked lunch for them and they got to meet Trevor for the first time. After they left we put up the christmas tree. It made me think of the years to come. Next year Trevor will probably be trying to pull christmas decorations off the tree. It's hard to believe it is christmas time already. Last year this time Trevor was with us but we didn't know it yet.