dear santa,

all i want for christmas is your cookies!!

love, elena jae

"mmmm santa, your cookies are goooooood!!"

"oh, don't want to miss any!"

"definite thumbs up from me!"

what?! what do you mean they're FOR santa?!

"well why didn't you tell me THAT?!"

"no, no, no, don't take them away!!! santa will understand!"

"yea, that's it....put them right here! i will keep an eye on them!"

::hating santa::


"Instead of being a time of unusual behavior, Christmas is perhaps the only time in the year when people can obey their natural impulses and express their true sentiments without feeling self-conscious and, perhaps, foolish. Christmas, in short, is about the only chance a man has to be himself." ~Francis C. Farley

Santa Baby Party '08

mommy-n-me parties continue....here are some pics from our santa baby party last saturday! santa is so nice to stop by every year and bring a special gift early for each of the kids!


elena is not too sure about santa...

until she gets up close!

1 santa, 14 mommies, 17 kids (ages 7 weeks to 3 1/2 years)...

and 6 more on the way (all due within 9 weeks of each other)...

makes for a very exhausting santa baby party!


you can see more santa baby pictures ~Jessica Archmint

family time

just hanging out, having some family time. we rarely get a picture of the 3 (really 4) of us anymore...

having fun with daddy...

kisses for mommy...

and some for bubba too...


"You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them." ~Desmond Tutu

keeping us warm

elena has a slight obsession with our dirty dishtowels...really her obsession is covering up her dolls, etc and she thinks they're blankets. well since my clothes are fitting, um, differently and being on the floor all day - sometimes i get that lovely not-quite-back/not-quite-butt showing (please tell me you know what i'm talking about). well elena feels the need to go get a dirty dishtowel and cover me up!

sorry for the odd view, it's not so easy to get the pictures, but this is her covering my exposed back/butt.


i'm not the only one she likes covered. leo and dallas get the blanket treatment too.



"The finest clothing made is a person's skin, but, of course, society demands something more than this." ~Mark Twain

here we go again...

incredibly, i have had the luck of going through both of my pregnancies with great friends! not only do we get to experience this amazing (and a-little-less-than-amazing sometimes) journey together - we get to bounce off all the ideas, complaints, worries and joys that are running through us.....but we also get to watch our children grow up together, which has been so fun!

here are two of my dear friends and our little ones....

pregnancy #1: laurie and emilie are close to 8 mos and i am about 5 mos here

charlie (6 mos), elena (2 mos) and evvie (5 mos)

elena (4 mos), charlie (8 mos) and evvie (7 mos)

elena (8 mos), charlie (12 mos) and evvie (11 mos)

at the march of dimes

evvie (19 mos), charlie (20 mos) and elena (16 mos)

at it again....going through #2 together as well!
pregnancy #2: laurie (7 mos), me (6 mos) and emilie (8 mos)


this weekend elena and i will be getting together with a bunch of our friends, so there will be lots of baby and momma pictures to come!

"It is said that the present is pregnant with the future." ~Voltaire

16 months old

here is just a little of who our 16 month old is...

- can follow two step directions.
- has taken a liking to letting us floss her teeth, but is still hit and miss with the toothbrush.
- still loves to be quizzed on animal noises/actions and body parts.
- gives us hugs and kisses with no prompting, showing us how sweet she is! she'll often run back and forth between me and jason, loving on us!
- she loves hiding with one of us from the other. she wiggles and giggles as if she's going to explode while we try and find her.
- has just recently taking a liking to elmo and elmo's world. (too bad santa didn't look like elmo.)
- answers most yes/no questions appropriately.
- loves baths! "swims" and scoots on her belly all over the tub - even long after the water has been drained.
- sings! and you can actually make out what song she's singing. she'll also fill in the blank if you're singing and suddenly stop. and she gives requests if you ask her which song we should sing.
- yells accross the house if she's looking for you (for us, the dogs and her friends). it's hilarious.
- could probably feed the dogs by herself if we let her (helping is one of her chores). she also helps with laundry and unloading the dishwasher, as well as anything else that requires putting in and taking out. she also likes to spit and then wipe it up....nice.
- twirls and walks on her toes like a ballerina (but not at the same time).
- "reads" to herself (sits flipping thru books mumbling).
- can still throw a helluva tantrum, as she knows what she wants and when she wants it.

"Children are one third of our population and all of our future." ~Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health, 1981

looking for an agent

elena gets called a "movie star" just about every weekend when we're out and about as she's of course wearing her sunglasses through target, grocery store, post office, etc. well....she's living up to the comments. she can giggle and cry on que and will show happy, sad, mad and silly faces when asked. although it's hard (ok, near impossible) to film her do anything because she doesn't sit still for very long....i tried and we just may have a little future movie star. in the meantime, her much exaggerated emotions are sure keeping us amused!


little miss actress from Molly Leone on Vimeo.

"Acting is all about honesty. If you can fake that, you've got it made." -George Burns

more practice

really it's just her own obsession with babies. she has no clue she's getting a brother or sister in a few months. but she definitely loves taking care of her baby dolls....so here's hoping it lasts. :)

and i have no idea where she learned to swaddle - she used to just cover them. such a natural!






until we hear music - then the hands go up and we shake it! woot! woot!


"How do people make it through life without a sister?" ~Sara Corpening

the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, part 2

she's always been a good eater. there's just no denying it. she set records at our hospital after birth when she gained 13 oz's in 2 days (most newborns lose weight in the beginning). we've been very lucky here so far. well we're just very lucky period...

but if something edible is there to eat, no matter how hungry, no matter how full - she will eat it...just like her mother! it's not a bad thing now since we control the edibles in front of her...but i'm hoping she will take after her less excessive father as an adult. :)

in the meantime - who the hell needs a dishwaher?!

"oops, i think i missed some here..."

"yea, i'll just get that really quick."

"still more there for me..."

"this should do the trick."

"is there some on my chin over here ma?"

"wouldn't want miss anything, ya know?!"


"Don't worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you." ~Robert Fulghum

the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, part 1

elena most definitely prefers her hair undone... uncombed... untouched! thankfully, she doesn't mind it being washed.



i'm sure it has something to do with my severe lack of hair-doing skill (on me and her), but the apple does not fall far from the tree here.

"There comes a time when a woman needs to stop thinking about her looks and focus her energies on raising her children. This time comes at the moment of conception. A child needs a role model, not a supermodel." ~Astrid Alauda, on the "hot mom" trend

our genius

we are aware it's a fluke, but you can't deny the almost perfect rectangle (in green) and trapezoid (in orange) in this masterpiece of elena's. :D


"There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it." ~Chinese Proverb

thankful

i just need to say how thankful i am for my little elena. here are some pics of her from thanksgiving...

"what's this - a holiday where we just eat and say thank you!?"

"me like! i think i could get used to this holiday!"

"thank you!!!"

"umm wait....wasn't there some pie or something i heard you talking about?!"

"nevermind - i see mommy ate it all!"


i've been trying to make note of all i'm thankful for, but i realize there's way too much. i'd be here forever. the small little things that we could get into that you most certainly are thankful for....from, family to sunshine to toilet paper! when i really think about it, i'm thankful that i have so much to be thankful for. i know how lucky i am, but it's so important to have reminders! elena and bubba are my reminders!

i'm thankful to all of you who check in on our little girl and soon-to-be little one!! it means so much to us that they're thought of, prayed for and loved! family, friends, friends of friends and family (trabuco counselors!) - i thank you!

"There's always a lot to be thankful for if you take time to look for it. For example I am sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt." - unknown (in a fwd from aunty jan)