Jabara Krewe

8 Months

2012-01-24T18:03:00.004-09:00

Hi, my name is Alaina and this month I've been BUSY! Busy crawling, busy pulling myself up on furniture, busy cruising, busy growing teeth (3 to be exact), busy getting into Cole's toys, busy getting into Mommy's stuff, busy eating (mostly big people food...forget the baby food, I'm a big girl!) and busy just being cute! And, now that I've accomplished all of those things, I've finally found my voice and I'm busy talking. No more quiet little girl here, I'm a jabber box just like my brother. In case you're wondering what to get mommy for her birthday, maybe ear plugs would be a good choice. Good thing we're cute jabber boxes! One thing I have not been busy doing is sleeping, but maybe now that I've accomplished so much in one month, I'll be tired. Mom can only dream...

Christmas, Take 2

2012-01-20T15:52:00.004-09:00

Yes, we had two Christmas' though, since we were still receiving packages last week, it was more like 4-5. Everyone spoils us too much!
Here are pictures of some of the wonderful gifts we received from far away. Thank you so much to everyone!

Thank you, Nana & Papa for my awesome
Action Agent Ship

Thank you, Gea & Granpa for my walker
with this cool removable toy

Thank you Auntie Jojo and Uncle Adam for my
Firetruck that I like to put in mommy and daddy's bed

Cole & Alaina having a picnic together

Thank you Gea & Grandpa for my Toy Story 3 landfill!

The Big 3

2012-01-20T15:11:00.005-09:00

Just one question...How on Earth do I already have a 3 year old?! I feel like I was just bringing that sweet little boy home from the hospital. I kind of feel like 3 is a really monumental age. A lot more independence comes with being 3. He goes to preschool, he can participate in organized sports, gymnastics, and swimming lessons without us having to do it with him. It's pretty huge. I've also found there's a lot more negotiating taking place in our home. I can't tell you how many times a day we say "do you want to make a deal?" or, "here are your choices..." I think letting Cole think he's making his own decisions is going to be a very useful tool this year!
He's even started to understand that now that he's 3 he has to take 3 bites of the foods we give him. I guess there are some definite bonuses to him growing up. I know he still needs me, but it's nice to know he can be a little independent too.

We went to the doctor on Tuesday and he's doing great. He's in the 50th% for weight and height and above average for all of the skills that they look at when you're 3. We couldn't be more grateful for our happy, healthy, smart, funny, loving, imaginative, sweet (80% of the time) little, I mean big, 3 year old boy!

*3 year pictures taken by mommy :-)

Prayers needed for a special little boy

2012-01-02T08:32:00.003-09:00

I don't usually send out prayer requests, but I have a friend who could really, really use some extra love and good thoughts sent her way. To make a very long and emotional story short, her sweet little boy, Levi (15 months), is hopefully going to undergo heart surgery on Jan 5th. This is a little summary of what he's gone through in 15 short months from his Care Pages:

We found out at our 20 week ultrasound that Levi had several congenital heart defects that would require surgery shortly after birth and several more times throughout his life.

Levi has:

L-Transposition of the Great Arteries
Pulmonary Atresia
Ventricular Septal Defect
Dextrocardia
Supraventricular Tachcardia
Atrial Ectopic Tachycardia

At six days old, Levi had his first operation. He received a 4mm BT shunt, and had a simultaneous Ductus Arteriosus ligation.

That shunt lasted almost 6 months to the day. At six months, his oxygen saturations began declining and his cyanosis was much more apparent, and so he was admitted for a cardiac catheterization, which showed shunt stenosis. He then had the 4mm shunt replaced with a 5mm shunt.

It is our hope that his shunt will last him until age 12-18 months when he will get his big corrective operation.

This next surgery will include:

A double switch modified Senning and a Nikaidoh procedure with a cadaveric graft.

Levi's been sick with croup since Thanksgiving and he obviously needs to be well for such a large operation. They decide tomorrow if they can go through with the surgery or not. His mother has taken the other two boys out of preschool and has been home with them since then so they can all get well and not infect Levi. I don't know how the mother has kept sane being home with the 3 boys for such a long time, actually, I should say don't know how she's stayed sane since her 20 week appt! The entire family has gone through so much.

So, if you could take the time to say a little prayer for little Levi that he can actually have the surgery on Friday and that all goes smoothly, I'm sure they'd appreciate it.

For more info on Levi you can visit his Care Page at:

http://www.carepages.com/carepages/TheheartofLevi

Christmas, Take 1

2011-12-29T21:01:00.006-09:00

Ben had the week off before Christmas this year, so our good friends, Rob and Mollie brought their adorable 9 month old little boy, Benjamin, to visit us on Oahu. We had a lot of fun hanging out at the beach, we took the kids swimming at the Hale Koa, and we had a great day on the North Shore exploring the tide pools and eating at the shrimp truck. When the kids were in bed, we enjoyed some adult time with Champagne and Mexican Train! It was so much fun seeing them and getting to meet little Ben. He's adorable and Alaina had a fun time playing with him. I'm sure they all enjoyed their time away from the cold Boston winter too!

Who is this cute boy playing on my mat with me?

Their first picture together
(The parents have already decided on their arranged marriage)

Cole was, of course, a huge fan of Auntie Mollie

On Tuesday, we flew over to Maui to see Tutu, Gpaw, Auntie Katie, Uncle Wade and Tilly. I enjoyed a massage and Ben enjoyed a dive with Jim, Katie and Wade. We also took Cole on his first (of I'm sure many) whale watch. We didn't see too much activity with the whales that morning, but he loved being on the boat. Then there was Christmas...Cole was our official present opener for the day and he loved every minute. Today he asked me if tomorrow could be Christmas again! I'm afraid he's going to be going through serious withdrawals after his birthday.

Alaina's first Christmas present

Cole Jabara, official present opener Christmas 2011

This is something we don't see often!

Whale watch

Just being cute!

7 Months

2011-12-29T20:24:00.003-09:00

December 13th 2011

I'm just going to start this off by saying, Holy Cow, this girl is going to (actually she already is) giving me a run for my money! I'm not sure if it's because she's trying to keep up with Cole or what, but she is constantly amazing me by what she has already accomplished and the new things she does every day.
At 7 months, she has 2 teeth, is "army crawling" and, you'd think this would be slow so it wouldn't be an issue, but this girl is FAST, she can get herself back up to a sitting position after she's been crawling, and her latest lovely trick is pulling herself up to stand. Seriously, I went into her room yesterday because she was crying and she was standing up in her crib holding on to the rail. I have no idea how old Cole was when he started doing this, but I'm pretty sure he was older than 7 months. All day long, all she wants to do is practice going from sitting to standing. If you try to sit her down on the floor she locks her knees so she can stand instead of sit. She's one very cute, but determined little girl.

Standing big girl

This is my, "Ain't I cute?" look

Dear Santa,

2011-12-10T22:25:00.003-09:00

Tonight we braved the mall to meet with Santa Claus. Cole walked right up to him and just snuggled right into his jacket and was completely happy. Alaina had no idea what to think. She was quite impressed with his beard. I'm just happy we got both of them looking at the camera! We can check that off of our holiday 'to do' list.

Picture with Santa~2011

Oh, and, according to Cole, Alaina wants cars for Christmas! I find this hard to believe.

Meet Sparky

2011-12-08T13:14:00.002-09:00

Sparky is the elf Santa sent to Cole to watch over him and make sure Cole's being a good boy. Every night Sparky goes up to the North Pole and reports back to Santa and then comes back and is in a new spot to watch Cole during the day. Well, this morning we woke up and found Sparky on the kitchen counter and he had made a huge mess. I asked Cole to come in the kitchen to take a look and he walked in and said, "Oh, it's Sparky" and I said, "yes, look, he made a mess of your cereal, do you think he was hungry?" and to that Cole replied "no, mom, his mouth doesn't open." Seriously?! Way to ruin all of mommy's fun my logical child!

Half Birthday

2011-11-30T20:56:00.004-09:00

I know, I've really been slacking, but I've been trying to post pictures from Halloween in Spokane for weeks and for some reason the computer freezes whenever I try. So, I'm going to try to post Alaina's 6 month picture and see what happens.

And, it worked! Strange. Well, I guess I'll do half birthday girl's stats while I'm at it:

Weight: 15lbs 70z Height: 25"
Clothes: 3-6 months Diapers: size 3 Shoes: size 2
Food: nursing every 4 hours and just started eating solids. A little bit of rice cereal and fruits
New moves: At 6 months, Alaina is an expert sitter. This past week she's been working on her scooting and she can now easily get to Cole's toys. This has not been good as Cole does not appreciate her new found skill!
Sleeping: Not well, but I'm pretty sure this is due to the teeth almost in.
Teeth count: 0 (but I can see one coming up so hopefully it'll not be too much longer)
Other than her teeth bothering her, Alaina is a sweet, happy, very active little girl. I'm pretty sure she's going to be crazy busy like her brother. She's really inquisitive like he was at 6 months.

First Food

2011-11-13T21:28:00.005-09:00

The day before we left for Spokane, we gave Alaina her first solid food, rice cereal.

Ohhh, I finally get to eat something with this spoon!

Maybe I shouldn't have shoved the whole thing in my mouth...

Yuck-O!

Ok, fine. I guess it's not that bad.

All done!

Aulani

2011-10-17T19:31:00.007-08:00

Well, it was another very busy, but fun weekend filled with cute pictures. First, Alaina turned 5 months old!

Then, we got dressed up and went to our play group's fall fest. Alaina is pebbles this year and Cole is, you guessed it, a dinosaur! Didn't get many pictures of him because he was too busy, but you'll see more from Halloween.

Miss Pebbles

Bouncing Dinosaur

She found her tongue

On Saturday, we got to go stay at the new Disney resort, Aulani. It was pretty cool and Cole had a blast. It was nice because it wasn't too over the top Disney, which I liked. The pools were super fun, they have two water slides and a huge splash pad/jungle gym that Cole was deathly afraid of. The best part by far was the character breakfast. Cole loved getting to eat with Mickey, Minnie and Goofy. He kept saying, "Look at his shoes!" about Goofy's big feet. It was pretty funny. After two days out in the sun playing in the pools at the resort, we were all exhausted, but it was well worth it! And, for all of you who think it might be something you want to do when you visit...you probably won't when you find out the price of one night at the resort. The only reason why we went was because we got a huge discount for Ben's group doing the conference there. Otherwise, we never would have gone! But, you can still do the Character breakfast without being a guest at the hotel, so that would be fun if you're interested in that. We'll just have to use the beautiful beach instead of the beautiful pools!

Story time by the fire pit

Mickey!

Aulani Character Breakfast

Olivia provided Alaina with the perfect
outfit for breakfast with Minnie :-)

Auntie's Parade

Alaina LOVED Minnie
(Yup, right after this shot she sucked on her nose!)

And Minnie Loved Alaina, too!
I think she would have taken her home if she could.

Cole's favorite...Goofy. Fitting, isn't it?

Pool Time

Busy, Busy Weekend

2011-10-10T21:15:00.007-08:00

Ben had a 4 day weekend (and I don't think that's ever happened where we've just stayed at home) so we made the most out of it by doing some fun things together. First, we went with Cole's playgroup to the pumpkin patch. Cole loved it and said it was his favorite place and he wants to go back again. It was nice for Ben to be able to go with us on a field trip.

Cole did NOT like Alaina eating the pumpkin

Cole with his buddy, Luca

Yes, he's wearing the same shirt from last year

My 2 little pumpkins

He finally found the one he wanted!

I had to do a comparison shot:

2011

2010
(I can't believe what a baby he looks like in this picture)

Having fun on the hay ride

On Saturday, we skipped gymnastics and had a day at the beach. We checked out Bellows and it was great. Though, going to the beach with 2 kids is not exactly a relaxing day. We were all exhausted but it was fun and I got some good pictures.

My bathing beauty. I love this picture of her!

Two beach bums

Little Lainey-bug

Umm, no, mommy, I don't like this at all!

Cutie Pa-Tootie

2011-10-04T23:29:00.003-08:00

My little dolly

Big girl practicing her sitting

I'm sure she'll be able to do this on her own very soon!

Big Changes

2011-10-04T23:12:00.005-08:00

I really feel like Cole grew up this month and I realized that I sure don't have a baby boy anymore.
We got down and dirty and finally got him daytime potty trained. We're still working on naps and haven't even attempted bedtime yet, but during the day he now wears big boy undies and it's so stinking cute!

Cole also started preschool! Yay! He's attending TRACE Academy two days a week in the mornings and he loves it.

1st Day of Preschool
September 26, 2011

I also love it as it gives me time to focus on my new business...yes, you heard me right, as of today, I'm officially a business owner. I've started a company called Creative Kids Dance. Instead of working at a studio, I'm going into preschools and daycares and teaching classes. So far, I have two schools interested and that's probably the most I'll personally teach at and the others I'll hire teachers for. I'm really looking forward to running my own dance program. So far, I'm getting really great feed back and the school directors are very interested so hopefully it'll be a big success! So, needless to say, it's been a big, busy month around here, but that's nothing really new. Life would be so boring if I didn't have a million and a half things I was trying to do, right?

4 months

2011-09-15T18:43:00.004-08:00

Yesterday Alaina had her 4 month check up. She's doing fabulous. She's super strong and has great head support. She's in the 40th% for her weight, height and head and other than that there's not much else to report from the visit. She got her vaccines and did better this time. Cole got his flu shot yesterday as well. I asked him if he wanted to get a shot after lunch and he said yes. When they stuck him he said very calmly, "Ouch" and then he was fine. The nurse said, "Oh, you're such a big boy you didn't even cry!" and he replied, "Nope, I just said ouch." and that was that. He's a strange child, but it makes me feel a lot better when he's not screaming from his shot.

Here's Alaina's 4 month stats:

Weight - 13lbs 8.5oz
Height - 24.5" long
Clothes - 3-6 month; Diapers - size 2
New tricks - rolling from back to tummy and sometimes from tummy to back. Laughing out loud. She recently started to do a crunch while laying down like she's trying to get up to sitting. This little girl needs to slow down...she's growing up way too quickly :-(
Sleeping - waking 1-2 times a night to eat. (I should look at what I wrote here for Cole, I'm sure it was like 4-5 times!)
Eating - nursing every 4-5 hours, sometimes 6 hours at night. No solid foods yet.

Fun on the playground

1st time at the pool

Sweet smiley girl

Can he do it?

Yes he can!

I look over and this is what I find...Cole strapped into
Alaina's seat. Note, he does not even have a diaper on
because he was working on going on the potty today!

Are You Ready For Some...

2011-09-07T16:43:00.004-08:00

FOOTBALL?!?! These cuties are!

Geaux Saints!

Packers vs. Saints tomorrow night :-)

Rainbow Pigeons

2011-09-03T22:54:00.003-08:00

I'm so excited to be writing this post because I now have proof of the rainbow pigeons. Yes, you heard me right, rainbow pigeons. It all started about 6 months ago...
I was driving in the car with Cole and I looked up in the sky and there was a huge flock of birds above us. Ok, what's so strange about a flock of birds you ask, well, there were pink birds and purple birds, some were green, some orange and some blue, and it took me a minute to realize that birds don't naturally come in those colors. They looked like they flew out of an Easter basket. I will admit, I really thought I was hallucinating. I asked Cole if he saw the colored birds and he said, "yes" but you can't really rely on a 2 year old. Another strange thing about this flock was that they were flying around in a circle just over one part of the neighborhood. When Ben got home that night I told him what I saw and he reacted the way I suspected he would. He thought I was high and then I told him Cole saw them too and he still didn't believe me.
Well, a couple of days later there were the birds again. I wasn't crazy! But, again, it was only Cole and myself in the car so Ben still didn't believe me. Later that week while driving past where the flock was flying I saw a little sign hidden in the trees. "Rainbow Pigeons" and then it had a phone number under it. I've driven on this road every day since we moved to Hawaii and I had never before seen that sign. So, somebody somehow took pigeons and colored them these strange colors and trained them to fly around and then come back.
I've told many people, including my mom, Rick, Linda, and Jim about these birds and no one believes me because so far Cole and I are the only people who have ever seen them. Well I'm happy to report that the birds were out the other day and I happened to have my camera sitting in the front seat next to me and I was sitting in traffic. So, for all of you haters and disbelievers here are my Rainbow Pigeons!

Maybe I'll have to rent them for Ben's graduation so everyone can see them up close :-)

End of "Summer"

2011-09-01T08:29:00.005-08:00

I can't believe it's Sept. 1st already. But, what I really can't believe is that a year ago today I was shocked actually, I should say, !!!!!SHOCKED!!!!! when I took a pregnancy test all because Ben had a dream two nights earlier that I was pregnant and it turned out to be positive! It's been a crazy, wonderful, busy year, but I wouldn't change it for anything.
Now we're entering my favorite season of fall. One thing I absolutely hate about Hawaii is that I miss fall. I'd love nothing more than to put a cute little sweater on and slip into my Uggs and walk around outside with the leaves falling in the nice crisp air. But, instead, I'm going to plug in my new scentsy sent "pumpkin marshmallow" and pretend until I get to do those things in Spokane the end of Oct.
In other news, in all of my pregnancy shock last year, I guess I should have been signing Cole up for preschool, but I wasn't. There are apparently only two schools on this side of the island that will take him part-time and he's on the wait list for both. This kid is ready for a little school so please say a prayer that he'll get into one soon! Oh, and while you're praying, you might as well say a potty training prayer too. On an exciting note, Ben got word yesterday that he was selected to attend the national radiology conference in Chicago the week after Thanksgiving all expenses paid! Very few people are selected for this and he's really excited. He was trying to tell me all of the different talks he could go to, but they mean nothing to me, but he's excited so that's all that matters.
Alright, on to the cute pictures!

3 months!

Someone decided to share a dinosaur with his sister

Party Girl ready for Tutu and Gpaw's
40th Anniversary Dinner

Family shot before anniversary dinner.
Notice how Cole is in his jammies...he wasn't invited!
He got to go play with a friend, which was much more
fun for him and made a more relaxing dinner for us.

Sleeping Beauty

Cole showing Alaina how her new toy works

She loves it!

Summer 2011 Mainland Trip

2011-08-18T23:17:00.010-08:00

Ben received 10 days of paternity leave to use within 90 days of Alaina's birth, so we chose to use it and go to Spokane and Portland. Since it's such a long and expensive trip, Cole, Alaina and I flew back to Portland with Katie, Wade and Tilly so we could stay for longer than 10 days. We were there for almost 3 weeks and it went by so quickly! Of course our trip was busy visiting visiting and introducing Miss Lainey to everyone. Cole had a blast with everyone. He followed grandpa around the house like a little puppy and he loved playing with all of his cousins. The older he gets the harder it is to get on that plane and to head back home. He loves all of his family so much and now he's at the age where he's asking to go to people's houses back in Spokane. Yesterday while driving home he asked if Andrew could come to our house to play dinosaurs with him. If only it was that easy...
But, we are happy to announce that we'll be coming back for another visit in late October and early November. It'll be a quick 10 days, but I've got to get my family and fall fix!

Meeting Aunt Viv

Playing Golf aka "Dino Hockey" with Grandpa

Meeting Aunt Holly

Snuggle time in the morning with Isaiah

We love aunt Viv!

All the crazy cousins love being together

Gea, Grandpa and all the grandkids!

This was the best pic of this group out of about 10.
It's impossible to get a good picture of all of these people!

Meeting Aunt Jill and Aunt Patti

Getting to know Nana and Papa

Cousin Chelsea

Lovin on Auntie Jojo and Uncle Adam

Aunt Trudi & Uncle Bill

Cousins Erin & Lindsay with
Rylan & Alaina

Connie & Denny

Grandpa and Grandma

Alaina, Debbi, Eve & Alaina
Yup! That's where I got her name from :-)

checking out the blocks

He liked riding the tiger that did not move
better than the moving horses

Whee!

Cuddles with Bette

Visiting at PJ's house

College friends = used to party at the bars,
now we're wearing babies at the zoo and we wouldn't
change it for a second!

Dinosaurs at the Portland Zoo

T-Rex!

Meeting Auntie Trish and her fiance, Matt

2 month check up

2011-08-18T22:09:00.003-08:00

Wow! I'm a whole month behind....Alaina had her 2 month well baby appointment before we went to Spokane.

Here are her 2 month stats:
Weight: 10lbs 15oz Height: 21.5 inches (though the doctor did not think that was correct, she though that was too small since she had only grown .5 inches in one month)
Clothing: 0-3 month Diapers: size 1 Shoes: size 0
Hair: getting longer by the day :-)
Sleeping: in her crib waking 1-2 times a night to eat. Still napping quite frequently
New discoveries: her hands, they're apparently really tasty
She's such a happy, healthy, smiley girl!

Mommy Fail

2011-08-14T16:26:00.004-08:00

Well, I have bad news. I'm a complete failure at taking a picture of Alaina everyday. I just can't do it. Not that I can't snap a quick picture, but some days they're taken on my phone, others on the camera, some on the beach camera, etc, and it's just too hard to organize and keep track of all of them. Plus, some days are just boring and nothing's going on and I forget.
But, I do have good news...since it won't take me so long to organize, I will be able to post more frequently. I hate quitting things, but it'll be so much easier to get all of our adorable pictures posted this way. Ok, I feel better now!
So here are the pictures up to when we left for Spokane.

Can you find Alaina on the mat?

Apparently baby mats are fun for toddlers too.

4th Festivities

2011-07-07T17:13:00.007-08:00

This year was a really fun 4th of July. We were over on Maui and on Friday morning we checked out the rodeo. Cole loved seeing the horses and calves and getting to wear his "pony hat"

Playing with the doggies

Then later that night, daddy flew over and Katie, Wade and Matilda joined us. It was the first time Tilly and Lainey met and they're already so cute together. On Saturday, we went to Makawao (which is an old cowboy town) and we watched the parade. At the beginning of the parade, the kids can participate in a stick horse race, so, of course, Cole had to be decked out for the race, which he didn't really want to participate in once it started! He looked cute though, which is important, right?!

All ready for the big race!

He raced a little, but not much...maybe next year!

Alaina ready for the parade

On Sunday, we went to the beach with the family and then had a big bbq dinner at Tutu and Gpaw's house and on Monday we did the same thing, but went up for dinner at the Baldwin's (Ben's Aunt and Uncle) beautiful new home.

The girls laying out and gabbing on the beach

Cole and Tutu exploring the rocks

Day 53
(My cute little firecracker!)

Mama's girl

Tutu, G-Paw and the 3 grandkids

The whole Jabara Fam

The Baldwin's adorable new puppy, Mele

My favorite picture from the whole weekend!

Happy 4th of July!
Love, The Jabara's

Unfortunately, daddy had to go home Monday night (and Cole was crying so hard he made Tutu and mommy cry too!) but we stayed until Thursday because Ben's cousin, Michael, and his wife, Kristen, came into town from Chicago with their two kids, Lucas and Owen. Lucas is 9 months older than Cole and Owen is 9 months older than Alaina. The boys had such a fun time playing! I wish we lived closer so the boys could always play. On Wednesday night on the ride home from the Baldwin's Cole kept saying, "What a nice day. I went to the beach, found a crab, put him in a hole, he climbed out, I played in the sand with Lucas, I went up to Aunt Sally's, we cooked marshmallows, I ate them, then I ate Aunt Katie's brownie. It was a nice day!" I would have to agree with him, it was a nice day and a really nice week and a half on Maui with the family!

Day 55

The boys having fun playing up at the Baldwin's

Alaina, Owen and Tilly

Day 56
(With Auntie Kristen)

Catching up

2011-07-07T16:29:00.005-08:00

Just going to do a quick post of pictures to get us caught up to the 4th of July...

Day 39

Day 40
(ooops! Mommy forgot)

Day 41
(Shopping!)

Day 42

Day 43

Day 44
(1 sec after I took this, she puked ALL OVER daddy!)

Day 45
(our new bath time)

Day 46
(Tutu and G-Paw's puppy sniffing her out)

Day 47

Day 48
(with cousin Maggie)

Day 49
(Smiling at Tutu)

Day 50
(Meeting cousin Matilda.
Alaina's wondering where all Tilly's hair is)

Day 51
(Baby swap)

Day 52
(Elton John Baby, she was not a fan!)

Oh, nap time...

2011-06-21T16:28:00.002-08:00

Well, naps have been interesting around here. Alaina sleeps like a champ (thank you, Lord!) but Cole has always been a bad sleeper. So, in an attempt to get him to nap, I've been putting him in his room at 1:30. This worked for a while, but lately, things have gotten rocky again. He plays quietly in his room for like an hour to an hour and a half, but then the other day this happened:

Now, ever since we moved him to his big boy bed, he's ALWAYS climbed back into his bed to fall asleep after playing. Well, today, this is how he fell asleep. By the door, screaming "hell-oh! hell-oh! anyone out there? I want to come out! hell-oh!" After about 15 minutes of this, that's how I found him. We couldn't help but take a picture. Good thing I saw him and didn't just open the door to see if he was sleeping like I usually do!

Father's Day

2011-06-21T16:12:00.004-08:00

Well, Sunday was Father's Day and it was so nice because Ben took Friday off so we got to celebrate all weekend long. On Friday, we went to the aquarium (which was kind of a bust, next to the Washington, D.C. aquarium, it was probably the worst we had been to) and then we took daddy to get his present. Living Social had a deal on diving certification, which Ben has always wanted to do, so the kids bought him that. He was really surprised and excited about it. On Saturday, we had our usual gymnastics and then Mel and Dax watched Cole for us while we went to Ben's end of the year radiology dinner party. Thanks Mel and Dax! Cole was wondering where you were the next morning :-) It was fun, and, of course Alaina was the hit of the evening. She was very good, but towards the end she just wanted to sleep which was difficult with them doing the program and giving out awards and everyone clapping. We were so exhausted on Sunday, we ended up going to the grocery store. I know, exciting Father's Day, huh? But, it was just nice to have a relaxing day as a family because the next 6-8 weeks are going to be CRAZY!

Day 30
(She's always sleeping)

Day 31
(Lola looking out for her girl)

Day 32
(Smiley 1 month old)

Day 33
(This one's for you Aunt Trudi. Alaina and her lovey)

Day 34
(She fell asleep in her bouncy seat)

Day 35
(I was cooking dinner while Cole read to Alaina -
How sweet is that?)

Day 36
(The Honolulu Aquarium)

Day 37
(Ben at his dinner with his best work buddy, Greg)
*Ben was the MC so that's why he's dressed like an 80 year old man.
**Just kidding love, you looked great!

Day 38 - Father's Day
(Even Lola was smiling in the background!)

Auntie Jo Jo Visits

2011-06-20T20:29:00.002-08:00

Auntie Jojo came to visit us and meet Alaina. We all loved having her here, but esp. Cole. I got to do some things around the house, and, of course we did some fun Hawaii things too! The week went by way too quickly. Jojo has most of the pictures on her camera, so if you want to see more, harass her :-)

Day 24
(Snoozin' with Daddy)

Day 25
(Pretty girl in her hat that she was supposed
to wear at the hospital but it was WAY too big)

Day 26
(Foot comparison between Cole and Alaina)

Day 27
(1st Zoo trip. I like to call it "Snooze at the Zoo")

Day 28
(Mmmmm, Shave Ice on the North Shore with Auntie
Not for you yet, little Alaina!)

Day 29
(Getting some snuggles in before Jojo has to leave.
We'll see you soon!)

2 year old Shenanigans

2011-06-14T10:41:00.004-08:00

Just thought I'd give everyone a little update on our very active almost 2 1/2 year old...

First off, I just have to say for the record, Cole is an EXCELLENT big brother! He's so concerned about Alaina's well being. He tells her "it's ok, it's ok" when she's crying, he helps me burp her, he gives her "his" teddy bear, he always thinks she needs snacks or something to drink, and right now he's telling me "I think he's crying, will you go and get her? I think he's scared of something!" It's so cute, and I already know they're going to be the best of friends.

Of course, he's a rough and tough 2 year old, so he often needs to be reminded to be gentle around her, but it's been a month and so far, no injuries (knock on wood) so that's good.

Here are a few funny pics of what he's been up to around the house lately. You can't help but laugh at the kid. He has such a great personality and is constantly cracking all of us up with his shenanigans.

Just playing some dinosaurs with his best buddy

His dragon fighting helmet

Where's Cole?

There he is!

Chill-axin' with the "dead lizard" dog

Right after I finished typing the above post, Alaina was crying, so Cole went in and gave her his Baffle and Blankey and was patting her on the tummy. I just hope this sweet brotherly love lasts forever!

Newborn Photo Shoot

2011-06-12T23:25:00.007-08:00

My friend, Tonya, is a photographer and she came up to the house to do Alaina's newborn photos. Here they are. Family, and/or friends, if you want any copies just let me know which ones. Thank you, Tonya, for the beautiful pictures!

(I think this is one of my all time favorites!
She was not a fan of the basket)

2 week check-up

2011-06-07T02:58:00.005-08:00

On Tuesday, Ben went to work and left me here with both of the kids by myself all. day. long. Of course, we didn't plan it very well and he ended up being on call, so really it was all day Monday (he got home after we were all in bed) and then all day Tuesday. Well, not only did we survive, we did really well. Our friends, Erin and Taylor, came over for a little play date and lunch, which was so nice and really broke up the day. One of the reasons we did so well is that Cole is such a wonderful big brother and he's been so good. (Knock on wood!) But I'll talk about this in the next post if he keeps it up :-)
On Wednesday, Alaina had her two week check-up, though she was 2 days shy of 3 weeks. She now weighs 8lbs even and was just a hair shy of 21 inches long (though if we actually measured her hair, she'd really probably be 23 inches long!). The doctor said she looks perfect and there's really nothing else to report, thank goodness.
In other news, Auntie JoJo is here! She got here Friday night and we're just hanging out, having fun, and taking Cole on some "adventures" to keep him entertained.

Day 23
(Auntie JoJo is here to meet me!)

Day 22
(Such a good girl praying while she eats)

Day 21
(Just chillin' with my big brother)

Day 20
(Alaina's 2 week check up)

Day 19
(Our first day on our own)

Day 18
(Daddy's home for Memorial Day)

Busy, Busy

2011-05-30T03:43:00.006-08:00

Like usual, things have been crazy busy around our house. Gpaw came over from Maui to meet Alaina and spend some time with us because Ben had a 4 day weekend for Memorial Day and mom left on Saturday. So now we're just trying to get back into some semblance of a routine and I'm trying to get a little organized. I'm going to have my first day by myself with the kids on Tuesday (and it's going to be a LONG day because, of course, Ben's on call the first day by myself so he won't be home until both kids are in bed. Hopefully we'll all survive!). It'll be nice to have some down time, and Cole really needs to just relax around the house a bit, but I'm sure I'll really be ready for Friday night when Joelle comes into town to help out.

Day17
(Snuggle time with mama)

Day16
(So sweet)

Day 15
(Daddy's Girl)

Day 14
(Meeting Gpaw)

Day 13
(A little preview from her newborn photoshoot)

Day12
(Lola loves her new baby)

Day 11
(Nap time with Gea)

Mommy's Birthday

2011-05-23T03:39:00.007-08:00

Eeek! On Saturday I began my last year in my 20s. All I wanted to do that day was have a day of shopping with my mom without Cole there to slow us down and drive me crazy. So, Ben watched Cole and mom, Alaina and I hit the mall. We shopped for about 5 hours and Lainey was a perfect angel the entire time (I forgot how easy newborns are, during the day that is). When we met Ben and Cole up for dinner, Cole walked in with a present. I was so surprised. Ben had taken Cole to Target after gymnastics and he let Cole pick out a dress and a card for me. It was so sweet and totally made my day!

Day 10
(Spending some time with Daddy)

Day 9
(Happy Birthday, Mommy!)

Day 8
(Snuggling with Gea)

Day 7
(First time at the beach)

Day 6
(Friends come to meet Alaina)

Cole's playgroup friends came over
to play and meet Cole's little sister

Everyone else was excited about Lainey...
Cole was excited about the presents of course!

Here we go again...

2011-05-18T02:25:00.004-08:00

Alright blog readers, I'm not sure how many of you there are left from when Cole was born, but I'm going to try to make an attempt to start all over again and post 1 picture a day of Alaina until she turns 1. We'll see how it goes with two kiddos now, but really, as long as I don't forget, it's a pretty easy task. Last time I got a little mixed up towards the end when we were in Spokane, so I'm going to try to stay a little more organized and on top of things this time. Since I'm a little busier this time around, maybe I'll even pick one day, like Sunday to post the pictures from the following week. I'm not the type of person who quits things when I start something, so I'll feel really bad if I can't follow through with this and have to stop, but please try not to judge me too harsh if I do :-)
So, without further ado, let us begin...

365 Days of Alaina Reese Jabara
(with a lot of Cole mixed in too)!

Day 5
(Sleeping Beauty)

Day 4
(Cute Ruffle Butt)

Day 3
(My first clipee in my hair)

Day 2
(Meeting Gea)

Day 1 - Friday, May 13, 2011
(Happy Birthday, Alaina Reese!)

Alaina Reese's Birthday!

2011-05-14T12:17:00.005-08:00

I never thought in a million years that Friday the 13th would be one of the top three days of my life. It started out a little rocky, but all of the pain and frustration was of course worth it in the end.

After 5 days of "patiently" waiting, on Thursday, we took Cole to the zoo, I went to the doctor, walked around the mall, and before dinner, took Lola for a walk (which, we all know, is more like a jog). I finally started having contractions after dinner and by 11pm they were getting stronger and about 5 - 7 min apart. We decided to take a trip to triage to see what was happening. Well, after being hooked up to a monitor for an hour, they sent me home even though my contractions were 2-3 min apart. I wasn't dilated enough, so home we went to get some "rest" Ben got rest, I got an entire night of painful contraction every 2 minutes. At 5:30, I went into work with Ben and I was determined not to go home without my baby! The doctor (whom I was not a fan of at this point) wanted to send me home again, but luckily, another doc was kind enough to call my real doctor who told them that I could stay and have a "social induction" i.e. your husband is a resident of my husband's so I'll be nice and let you stay and have your baby. Social or not, I got to stay!

To make a long story short, pitocin was started at around 9am. At 10:30 I got my epidural (tank God for epidurals!). At 11 they checked me and I was a 5. They wanted to break my water but it happened on its own at 12. And that's when things got a little wild....I went from a 5-10 in one hour and was in excruciating pain because it was all happening so quickly. Finally they came in and gave me more drugs and once those kicked in at 1:00, I started pushing. I think I did 2 test pushes and then 3 real ones and the next thing I knew, at 1:25 I was holding our beautiful Alaina.

She's healthy, nursing like a pro (though I can tell she's getting frustrated because there's no milk yet) and gorgeous! We couldn't be more in love with her. Cole was very cute as well, after he was freaked out by seeing me in a wheel chair, he warmed right up to her and he was very upset when we all couldn't go home with him. Hopefully he'll continue to love her :-)

As it turns out, Friday, May 13th, was a pretty lucky day!

Alaina Reese Jabara

7lbs 0.9oz, 19 1/4 inches born at 1:25pm

Meeting Tutu

Perfect little family of 4

Big Brother holding Lainey for the 1st time

"She's so cute!"

Reading her his new I'm a Big Brother book

that his sister brought him

She's already completely wrapped around his finger!

Easter Fun

2011-05-01T23:17:00.003-08:00

The day before Easter, we painted our eggs for the Bunny to hide. Cole had a lot of fun making an egg for everyone, including Lola, and, we worked on our colors, which he's getting quite good at.

See that glass of yellow dye? Yup, it got spilled.

Waiting patiently

Our pretty, pretty eggs

I needed a bribe for Cole to be quiet in Mass, so our first Bunny came overnight and brought Cole's basket for his breakfast. Then, imagine this, he came again while we were gone at Mass! That time, he hid eggs as well...

Breakfast Bunny Presents

Quick little egg hunt

Finding his basket under mommy and daddy's bed

Opening gifts with daddy

Showing Lola his swimming pool rockets.
(She was quite impressed, can you tell?)

First Kiss

2011-04-25T10:12:00.002-08:00

At the Bunny Bash, Cole randomly pushed his friend, Haley, so I immediately had him apologize and give her a hug. Well, after the hug, Haley said, "And a kiss!" and she planted a big one right on Cole's lips! It was so adorable we had to recreate it when we saw Miss Haley on Saturday so we could get a picture. She's a cutie for sure!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-22T16:36:00.003-08:00

The next two days are going to be super busy, so
Happy Easter Everyone!

Love, The Jabara's

Easter Bunny Bash

2011-04-22T16:22:00.005-08:00

Our play group had an "Easter Bunny Bash" today out at some stables. I was under the impression that the kids would be riding ponies, but no, they were full grown, large horses! I was a little nervous considering when we got there the horses were freaking out a bit due to all of the commotion, but they calmed down. Good thing Daddy wasn't there because he never would have let Cole get on the horse (he's not a horse lover and I told him they were ponies). Cole was very hesitant as well. He pretty much had a death grip on my hand the entire time and kept on saying "I don't like this!" but he managed to stay on the horse for the ride.
After the horse ride we played a bit and then they had a little Easter egg hunt. That he liked of course.

"It's not my favorite" - his new saying
when he doesn't like something

I told him if he smiled for a picture he could get
off the horse. I know, I'm such a mean mom!

This is WAY more fun to ride

The hunt is on

Examining his loot

Brand New Big Boy Room!

2011-04-18T20:49:00.003-08:00

I feel like this was a long work in progress since I've been thinking about it since I found out I was pregnant. But, all of my planning paid off. I absolutely LOVE how his room turned out and, most importantly, Cole loves it too. I was so worried because the first night I had to lay in bed with him until he fell asleep because he kept on climbing out of his bed. But, the second night he stayed put and went to sleep and he's been sleeping and napping in there ever since! He doesn't even get out in the morning when he wakes up. I'm sure it won't last long, but I'll take it while I can.

I think my favorite part is the grass bedskirt.
Tutu and her friend did such a great job on it!

I also Love the palm tree decal I got off of Etsy
and the $120 dresser off of Craig's List was a pretty great deal!

The adorable painting was done by my friend, Rebecca Bawcom

And Tutu cut out and painted the super cool surfboard/headboard

We even have an organize closet with room for books,
and a "sleeping spot" for his dinosaurs and cars

*Special thanks to daddy and g-paw for their hard work on the beautiful floors!

"Real Life" Dinosaurs

2011-04-17T09:58:00.005-08:00

The Bishop Museum here has a dinosaur exhibit until September. We've been wanting to take Cole, but we were kind of uncertain if it would keep his interest. On Saturday, the YMCA was doing a healthy kids day there and admission was free for Hawaii residents and Military, so we thought we'd brave the crowds and check it out. It did NOT disappoint! We parked right next to a HUGE Brontosaurus and Cole was hooked. He kept on wanting to see an Ankylosaurus, which unfortunately they did not have, but we convinced him it was too hot in Hawaii for them to be here. Some of our friends who had checked out the exhibit before told me that their kids were scared because the dinosaurs move around and make noise, not Cole! He was upset when they weren't moving. Overall, Bishop Museum, two thumbs WAY UP, Cole woke up from his nap asking to see the "the dinosaurs that worked" so I'm sure I'll be hearing about it for eternity and I'm also certain we'll have to go back before the dinosaurs migrate in September.

A HUGE Brontosaurus right by our car!

Can you tell he's not scared at all?

Big T-REX!

Triceratops

Velociraptor
(and some lady in the corner who looks like
she's trying to imitate the dinosaurs)

ROAR!

Stegosaurus

Pteranodon

I think he's in awe

"Look! More dinosaurs!"

And to cap the day off, he got to sit in a big firetruck!

Very Special Visitor

2011-04-15T11:37:00.004-08:00

Last Friday, daddy found this special guest in our yard:

It's a Jackson Chameleon

Ben is always on the lookout for one, and there he was, just chillin on our tree. Cole was VERY excited to see this little dinosaur. We contemplated keeping him, but decided it was best for him to be in the wild. I'd feel really bad if he ended up dead in his cage, and with the baby coming, taking care of a lizard is probably the last thing I need. It was fun while he visited though!

Gea & Grandpa's 1st Visit

2011-04-05T23:56:00.007-08:00

A couple of weeks ago Gea and Grandpa got to visit us in Oahu for the first time. We were very, very busy, but we had so much fun!

We, of course, had to start out their visit with a trip to WalMart to get some dinosaurs. We did many fun things like going to the beach, shopping, visiting the zoo, driving up to the North Shore for a fun day seeing turtles, the tide pools, and eating shrimp from a truck, Cole showed them his skills at gymnastics, we spent some time at the pool, and we went on a whale watch. We were all pretty tired from our fun filled week. We loved having them visit and Cole was very upset when he woke up and they weren't there anymore, but we're looking forward to Gea coming back once the baby is born.

Watching Dinosaur Train (surprise, surprise) with Gea

Zoo

Mmmmm, Shave Ice!

Looking out at the big hole above on the North Shore

Turtle right up on the shore

Stretching is not his favorite...

neither is the high bar.

But, he does like the balance beam

Star of Honolulu Whale Watch

Whale tale

Sooooo tired from the fun time with Gea and Grandpa

Surprise Shower in a Box!

2011-03-29T23:01:00.009-08:00

Holy Cow! I was outside working on the new room this afternoon and the FedEx truck pulls up and delivers this HUGE box. Well, it was too heavy for me to get inside, so I had to wait patiently until Ben got home. I knew my dear friend, Sarah, put it together, but I had NO IDEA what to expect inside. Well, Ben finally got home and we moved the box in and after getting past the layer of a gazillion diapers, which are awesome, there were gifts from so many of our family and friends on the mainland.
This was seriously the most thoughtful and loving thing ever. We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives and Little Miss J is so lucky. The only thing of course that would have made it better is if everyone could have been here with me, but since y'all couldn't, we tried to take as many pictures as possible. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, to everyone for the wonderful surprise! It truly brightened my day and made me so much more excited for Little Miss J!!!! Love you all!

So many pink gifts!

Having a little drink before the opening madness begins
(Don't worry, y'all it's just cider!)

Cole showing us where his sister is

My helper even got a gift, thank goodness.
(That smart Gea thinks of everything!)

Bib and a sling from Mollie & Rob

Cute dress from Aunt Holly

We love the flamingo from Mary Solberg

Receiving blankets from Gea

Toy and soft blanket from Auntie Amy & Uncle Brian

Cool shades and cute shirt from Eve and Monica

One of the adorable outfits from Auntie Amanda

Sleeper from Aunt Viv

One of the sweet outfits from Aunt Sandy

Mommy's helper

The first of hopefully many tutus from Nana, Aunt Jill, and Aunt Jojo

Swaddle blanket and cute shirt and skirt from Sandy

Every girl needs cute shoes and hair accessories from Aunt Patti

Sunscreen (a must) and diapee and wipee case from Aunt Katie

Tutu onesie from Tutu (ha! that's pretty funny in writing)

Precious outfit, and of course, a lovey from Aunt Trudi

Sweet clothes from Auntie Sarah

Another cute outfit from Auntie Sarah

Carseat cover and Sophie the Giraffe from Alison and Avery

Jammies and blanket from Debbi Osterholm

Adorable handmade burp clothes and outfits from Nana, Papa,
Auntie Jill, Uncle Joe, Chels, and Bri

"I guess we don't have to worry about her not having
any clothes anymore!" ~ Daddy

34 weeks, yes, I feel huge

Thank you, everyone! Aloha!

Pregnancy Pictures

2011-03-04T16:51:00.007-09:00

Here are the rest of our family/maternity beach pictures, hope you enjoy them!

2 Year Update

2011-03-03T23:26:00.004-09:00

Don't judge me. I'm only two months late...better late than never, right?
Cole had his 2 year check up and he is surpassing his milestones and some of the 3 year ones as well! My only concern was that he knows all of his letters and his numbers but he is horrible at colors. So, I asked the doctor when we should be concerned about this and she assured me that as long as he can recognize 3 out of 5 colors by his 3 year appointment, he was fine. I felt better knowing that we had a year to work on this, but I was still a little concerned. Then, literally that afternoon when we got home, Cole was playing with his magnetic letters on the fridge and he arranged them in rows according to color! Seriously? After making me look like a fool in front of the doctor he goes and does that! Then, he started sorting his blocks by color as well. At least we know he's not colorblind...he's just doesn't care about what colors things are I guess.
Anyway, here are his stats and, his 2 year photos :)

Height: 34" Weight : 27lbs 8oz
Clothes size 18-24 months, diapers size 5, shoes size 6
Favorite foods: waffles with peanutbutter and strawberry jam, hot dogs, any fruit!
Sleeping: 1.5-2 hour naps, 11 hours of solid sleep at night
Favorite toys: trains, planes, dinosaurs, and legos
Favorite books: The "How do Dinosaurs..." Series, "The Lorax" & Clifford
Favorite show: Dinosaur Train, Zaboomafoo Dinosaurs
Vocabulary: Too many words to count, and he talks ALL DAY LONG! Seriously, the kid talks our ears off and you would think that at 2 you wouldn't be able to understand much of what he says, but he makes total sense about 85%-90% of the time. And, not only does he talk, but he has the best memory of any person I know. The child retains EVERYTHING! Rule of thumb, don't make a promise or mention something to Cole unless you intend to follow through because he'll bring it up over and over again. I told him 3 days ago that Gea and Grandpa were going to take him to buy a triceratops when they come next week and everyday he asks if today is the day they're coming to get him a triceratops. He even asked if we could go to their house today and get it!
Potty Training: I'm sure this is going to be blank for about another year or so...
Temperament: He seriously is a sweetie. Though he's constantly busy, he's very affectionate and puts a smile on our faces more times than not. Due to playgroup, he's becoming so much better at sharing and taking turns with other kids and being gentle, all of which will come in handy in 2 months. He has his 2 year old moments, but I'd say he gets easier everyday. If I only had 1/4 of his energy, he'd be really easy!

and we had to go out and buy some of these blocks...

seriously, are we done yet?

Cole with his "present" aka, his bribe for taking pictures

My Sweet Valentine

2011-02-08T11:31:00.004-09:00

Here's my attempt at taking some cute pictures of my little Valentine. It took some convincing, by convincing I mean M&Ms, but we got a couple of cute shots.

Year of the Rabbit

2011-02-04T19:51:00.005-09:00

Well, in light of the Chinese New Year, I guess it's fitting that I get on top of things and post our pictures from our American New Year. Tutu, GPaw, Auntie Katie, and Uncle Wade or "Wave" as Cole calls him, came over to Oahu to ring in 2011. We spent the day on the beach and at the pool of the Hale Koa in Waikiki and went out to a nice dinner with our friends, Mel and Dax. Then, Cole's favorite part (that he's still talking about), the FIREWORKS! It was pretty amazing. This was the last year fireworks are legal in Oahu and there were just people everywhere on the beach setting them off. We went to bed before the big ones because I wasn't about to let him stay up until midnight, though I'm sure he would have with no problem. Cole would also like to add that "fireworks go KA-BOOM!" We are really looking forward to everything 2011 has in store for our family, esp. meeting Little Miss J.

Happy Birthday, Baby Colton!

2011-01-25T22:03:00.004-09:00

We just wanted to give a little shout-out to our great friends, Josh and Amanda, and welcome adorable baby Colton David into the world! Congratulations on your beautiful little boy! We wish we could be there to meet him, but we send our love none the less!

Chugga Chugga Two-Two!

2011-01-23T21:32:00.005-09:00

While in Spokane, we celebrated Cole's 2nd Birthday with our family since we don't know too many people in Hawaii yet. It was fun getting together at 5 Mile Heights Pizza with our family to celebrate this milestone. Of course, it was a train theme. The funniest part of the evening was when it was time to blow out the candles, I said to Cole "you want to eat your cake?" and he just went face first into the cake and took a huge bite out of it! It was a pretty delicious cake and a very fun little party.

Back to Christmas

2011-01-13T16:57:00.008-09:00

Now that things are a little more calm around here and Cole's birthday is over, I have some back-tracking to do. Our Christmas was busy, as usual, but wonderful. We had a lot of fun on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning up at Grandpa and Grandma's with the McMillan's (who had an adorable puppy with them) and Auntie JoJo, Uncle Adam, and Archer and then Christmas night, we had fun up at Nana and Papa's with everyone up there!

Of course, Cole's favorite part was the presents. He was a lot overwhelmed on Christmas morning, but for days after he just kept wanting "More Presents!" "More Presents!" Between Christmas in Spokane, Christmas in Hawaii, and his birthday, we've created a monster!

The kids open Christmas Jammies

Playing with the puppy

So cuddly!

Lots of Puppy Love

Santa was here!

Somehow he knew which present to go for first

Christmas Morning Chaos

Brian, Amy, Zavien, & Zanna

Brianna, Jill, Joe & Chelsea

The Jabara's

Lindsay (and baby girl) & Ben

Joelle & Adam

"More Presents!"

Yummy!

Pretty Girls in the Kitchen
Cole's 1st "Frosty"

Sporting the adorable hat our friends, Josh and Lianne sent him

Happy 2nd Birthday, Cole!!!

2011-01-08T22:55:00.008-09:00

Sweet baby only 5 days old

Our baby is finally 1!

Our big boy is 2!

I can't believe today we celebrated Cole's 2nd Birthday. It feels like he just turned 1! It's amazing how much he's grown and learned over the past year. And also how far we've come the past year as well. He sleeps like a champ now, finally, and he's eating so much better too. A few months ago I couldn't get the kid to eat any meat and now that's all he'll eat. It's just so funny how quickly things change. Also, as of this week, Cole has been completely weaned! He nursed for one year and 357 days. I can't believe we nursed that long! I'm very grateful that I'm getting a little break before the next baby though. I'm going to do a complete update after his 2 year check up, but I thought I'd just add one of my favorite things that Cole does now. He says so much and can be so sweet, but I think my favorite is when he says "bless you" when someone sneezes (or coughs). It just melts my heart every time he does it. Especially though when he's involved in something and you don't think he's paying attention, but then you sneeze and he stops whatever it is he's working on and says "Bless you!" and little does he know that we are very blessed because we have a perfect 2 year old in our lives!

It's a....

2010-12-28T19:12:00.008-09:00

GIRL!

We are so excited to announce that we are having a daughter and Cole's getting a baby sister! Though, Ben did mention to me that he is super nervous to have a girl. It's pretty cute. He's worried that since Cole's so cute and he can be so easily manipulated by him, he won't know what to even do with a little girl. I'm sure she'll have him wrapped around her little finger in no time! I'm more worried about the amount of money we'll be spending on cute outfits and dance classes :)

Other than the fact that we now know the gender, more importantly, we also know that she looks perfect so far. She has all body parts and her organs look fabulous. She was quite the ham for the camera and was moving around like crazy today. She's measuring 2 days behind, though I already knew my due date was more on May 9th rather than May 7th and so far she weighs 15oz.
Here are some of baby girl's first pictures. And, no, she doesn't have a name yet, and she won't until we meet her!

She's smiling...so cute!

We're finally sure she's a girl!

Little foot

I think this picture is so funny.
There are a lot of limbs in one small place!

Ho, Ho, Home to Spokane!

2010-12-17T13:56:00.005-09:00

After Thanksgiving, we had a crazy 2 days to get ready before heading home to Spokane for the month of December. We've had a lot of fun getting ready for the holidays with Gia, Gipa, Auntie Jojo and everyone else we've seen so far.
We've been so busy! We flew into Portland and had a quick visit with Auntie Sarah, Uncle Jesse, and Owen Altig and of course Auntie Katie and Wade. Then we drove up to Seattle where we had a great lunch and visit with Auntie Kyndra. We then stayed the night at Aunt Holly and Uncle Tom's beautiful new house and played with the puppies! Cole had an even better time playing with his cousins and all of their toys though. Then we made it over to Spokane where we've been shopping, visiting, shopping, baking, shopping, playing, and shopping. We got to have breakfast with Santa at Gonzaga Prep (where Ben and I went to high school). I was a little nervous about how he'd handle Santa this year, but he practically jumped out of my arms and ran to him and just hopped up onto his lap. No worries there! Like I said, it's been busy, busy, but we're really looking forward to daddy joining us tomorrow!

"Cole, what does Santa say?" - Lindsay
"Presents!" - Cole's answer :)
"Um, no, he says, Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas!" - Lindsay

Playing in the snow with Auntie Jo Jo

Snow is fun!

Gia, I'm not doing anything to hurt your tree!

Hmmm, he's looking a little suspicious here...

Hi Puppies!

It's a good thing we live in Hawaii, or we probably would
have to take one of these

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T19:49:00.003-09:00

There are many so many things that I am grateful for this year. But, I'm most grateful for these two goofs that bring so much joy to my life every day! Happy Thanksgiving!

Playing Rollercoaster with Daddy

Gobble Gobble

2010-11-16T19:14:00.005-09:00

Gosh, we're half way through November and no pictures! I guess we've been pretty boring...
We did do a little Turkey Arts and Crafts project today. We had to go to the store to get some eyes or "yougalie eyes" as Cole calls them and then we went to work skewering our marshmallows onto our apple and making a cute little turkey. Cole named the turkey, can you guess, "Yougalie Eyes"!
He's a goof ball. We had fun, until he started eating the dyed marshmallows and got a blue tongue.

Picture of Cole and Lola getting ready to
Trick or Treat

Placing colored marshmallows on toothpicks
takes a lot of concentration

So proud of his turkey he even let me take a picture!

Cole with his friend, Yougalie Eyes

Spoooooky!

2010-10-30T17:30:00.008-08:00

I'm not quite sure why I LOVE Halloween so much. I hate scary things, I will never step foot in a haunted house or watch a scary movie, but I still love Halloween. I've loved the fact that Cole gets so excited over the pumpkins, ghosts, and skeletons everywhere, he loves to watch special Halloween shows and read Halloween stories, and he looks so sweet in his special jammies and shirts. I'm pretty sad it'll all have to be put away after tomorrow and Thanksgiving isn't too terribly exciting, so be prepared, we might be moving to Christmas a little early :)
Anyway, we've done a lot to prepare for Halloween this week so here are the pictures, and there are a lot of pictures.

Cole making his Mr. Potato Head Pumpkin

Doesn't quite get the face concept yet...

Daddy's helping him fix it

That looks a little better!

Daddy and Cole's skeleton pumpkin

Making cinnamon raisin bread with Tutu

Cole ate a LOT of raisins out of the bread dough

Mmmm, our bread is tasty!

Thursday, Halloween Hoopla at Aloha Tower

What is this clown doing to me?

No, Cole, that's not what a real tattoo feels like,
just remember that.

Cole's 1st Tattoo

Cute lil conductor

Knocking down the soda bottles

On Friday, we took treats to Daddy's work

These treats we made are pretty tasty!

Friday Night Pumpkin Carving

Hmmm, what's in here?

Yuck! Guts!

This is a better way to do it, daddy

Lola bear is managing this operation

All cleaned out

He really wanted that pumpkin top on

Finished Product

The Jabara Krewe is Growing!

2010-10-26T18:45:00.003-08:00

Cole is very excited to announce that he's going to be a BIG BROTHER! We went to the doctor yesterday and the baby is measuring 12 weeks exactly, so that means he/she is due to arrive around May 7th. For some reason I feel like he/she is going to come on May 10th, so I'm calling that date early :)

We do have to admit that this was a bit of a shock. Yes, we know where babies come from, but we had such problems conceiving Cole and I didn't really think my body was changing for the better, so we just figured we'd need to do the fertility route again. Then at the end of August, Ben had a dream that I was pregnant! I told him he was crazy and that was no way possible. A few days went by and I took an expired test and there it was, clear as day! I took another one just to make sure and within seconds it was positive. A small shock but a huge blessing to say the least. Now that we've seen the baby and it's strong little heart it makes it even more real.

Cole of course doesn't quite understand what's going on, but we talk a lot about babies and how nice and sweet babies are. I just ordered him a book called "What's in Mommy's Belly" that another friend suggested and we've been rocking our baby doll and putting diapers on her. He's been very sweet. The other night he lifted my shirt and kissed the baby and then he went over and lifted daddy's shirt to kiss "daddy's baby" (I thought this was hilarious, Ben, not so much)! He'll figure it out one day...hopefully before the baby is born.

Mommy's Big Helper

2010-10-21T20:40:00.003-08:00

I usually don't get too serious or talk about parenting on my blog, but I came to a very big revelation this week. I try to do a lot of different activities throughout the day with Cole to keep him busy, to teach him new things, and let him explore the world, but I've always been somewhat concerned about things (mainly him and my house) getting messy or him hurting himself or breaking something that I've kind of been holding back. This week I decided just to let go. As long as he's having fun and his attention is on one task and he's leaning and exploring, and not hurting himself of course, then it really doesn't matter what else happens and I can deal with it later. Now, you're probably thinking, THAT was your "big revelation" shouldn't you have already realized that by now? And, I guess I did to a certain extent, but not to the degree that I know now.

So, with this parenting post come a series of pictures and a video of Cole being Mommy's Big Helper and LOVING every minute of it! It all started with spaghetti sauce. I needed to make some and Cole needed attention. In comes my brilliant idea...get out the step stool, a small cutting board, and his baby knives and get him in the kitchen helping. Cole's first job was taking the stems off of the mushrooms and then he put in the tomatoes, the sauce, the wine and stirred it all up. He was intrigued the entire time and even though it probably took double the time, it was so worth the learning experience and the fun in the end.

Cole's sauce was SO DELICIOUS!

The next night I went in to make dinner and Cole ran and got the step stool and drug it over to the counter to "help". There wasn't much he could do for this dinner, so I put him on dish duty. Once again, water ALL OVER the kitchen, but oh so worth it. He even had to do the dishes again this morning because it was so much fun.

Tonight, it was pizza though it ended up being less about helping and more about Cole eating all of the ingredients once he realized they were tasty. Still, he stood next to me and was so proud of the pizza we made together.

I'm actually really enjoying the age Cole is right now, though there are still moments of pure frustration, it's so much fun now that he's a little older and he can start helping me. It's just amazing how much he learns everyday and his vocabulary is just exploding. We definitely have a big boy on our hands and not a baby anymore!

He thinks it's so funny to go "nigh night" in our bed after his bath.

Fall Family Fun Fest

2010-10-19T14:20:00.003-08:00

Last Friday, we attended the YMCA's Fall Fun Fest. There were little games for the kids, hot dogs, and the favorite...a Bounce House! Cole really didn't care much about the games, and at first he didn't like the bounce house either because he didn't want to take his shoes off, but once he forgot about his shoes, we couldn't get him out of the castle. Cole's been anti-picture this past week so they aren't the best, but still cute.

Choo! Choo!

Daddy and his train engineer at Fall Fun Fest

Bouncing Around

Pumpkin Jammies!

Reading his new Halloween book, Big Pumpkin,
we've read it about 583 times since then.

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-08T16:33:00.004-08:00

We've been going to the Armed Services YMCA play group for a couple of weeks now and today we had a field trip to the pumpkin patch! Yes, you can grow pumpkins in Hawaii :) It is very odd though slathering on sunscreen before your visit to the pumpkin patch. It was also a little crazy because they told us to wear long pants and shoes and socks so we were all baking in the hot sun, but it was fun. As soon as we got out of the car, Cole just kept saying "pumpkin, more pumpkin" over and over again, but I also think Cole's favorite part was the tractor hay ride!

PUMPKINS!
(or Po'oki'i in Hawaiian)

Tractor hayride

So many to choose from...

He was very unsure about sitting on the pumpkin

Thorough examination of the large pumpkin
(with my buddy Luca in the background)

Ugh, these things are HEAVY!

Kaneohe Air Show

2010-10-08T15:41:00.004-08:00

A couple of weeks ago we went over to the Marine Base and watched an air show. Cole had a great time watching the airplanes and helicopters. We even got to tour some of them!

Daddy and Cole in a Helicopter "chop, chop, chop"

Watching the planes

Cole signing for "more airplanes"

Cole's first shave ice

Airplanes!

Oooh, Mommy, this is delicious!

Funny Pics to Brighten Your Friday

2010-09-24T09:38:00.006-08:00

Cole does so many silly things...I'm always running to get my camera. Here are a few pictures of the past few weeks, some funny, some just plain cute!

Cole looking so pretty in mommy's jewelry.

Daddy's not going to like this...

but your future wife will!

Taking pictures with Cole = an easy distraction!

Silly boy, that's not how you sit in your chair!

Big boy at 20 moths!

Just relaxin' and enjoying the view.

Shoveling dirt into Lola's food bowl is hard,
hard work. Time for a water break.

How can you not love this face?!

Home Improvement

2010-09-17T17:33:00.006-08:00

We've been in Hawaii for about 6 weeks now and I feel like my home away from home is the Home Depot (and Lowe's). I never realized how much I would learn to love a hardware store! I really couldn't stand the sight of our master bathroom so we decided to tackle that project first. It was relatively simple, but at one point I thought I'd never be done painting. One, in some parts two, coats of primer, and 3 coats of paint later, the hideous blue is history!
My dads would be so proud too...I pretty much did the entire project by myself. I had Ben help install the plumbing and the lights, but I did all of the painting and installed all of the hardware. The most impressive part is that the hardware is level!
We haven't decided what to tackle next...but I'm sure it'll be exiting! My husband has put a ban on me from visiting the Home Depot until our credit cards are paid off, but I'm sure I can talk him into another project soon.

Before:

After: So much more relaxing!

Cole's 1st Trip to the Dentist

2010-09-11T21:25:00.003-08:00

Last week Cole had his first dental appointment. His dentist is Dr. Ancheta-Carroll and she's the wife of one of the pediatricians at Tripler. She was VERY nice as was her entire office staff. Cole did a fabulous job. He just sat on my lap and was such a good listener. They counted his teeth (16), brushed with toothpaste, which he had never tasted before, and flossed! He goes back in 6 months. They warned me though that he's going to need braces since his teeth are so crowded, esp. on the bottom, and he has a very deep bite on the bottom. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I should have guessed he would do great since he's always wonderful with strangers!

The Star Patient!
(He's such a big boy, sniff, sniff)

18 Month erh...19 Month Check Up

2010-08-30T14:31:00.006-08:00

Since we were in Spokane between Dugway and Hawaii when Cole turned 18 months, we were a tad late (1 month and some change late) for his check-up. I really wanted to wait and do it at Tripler though so we could get him in with his new pediatrician. Cole was a gem for the doctor, of course, and he gained some weight which we were very happy about. The only issue was that he has not been to the dentist yet, I know, bad mommy, but I blame daddy because he never signed him up for insurance. Anyway, he's going on Thursday...I'm hoping he's as good for her as he was for the pediatrician! He also got vaccines and he's done with them until he's 4! Crazy that seems like such a long ways away. I'm sure it'll be here before we know it though.

Weight: 24lbs 12oz (25%)
Height: 32.5" (30%)
Head: Can't remember, but it was like in the 70-80th%

Clothes: 12 - 18 months, Diapers: size 4
Favorite foods right now: black beans, blueberries (the combo makes for an awesome diaper change by the way), grapes, hot dogs.
Favorite Toy: Any trucks or trains. I swear the kid wakes up and the first thing that comes out of his mouth is "choo choo"
Words: Too many to count! But his favorite word, you guessed it, "NO!"
Sleep: Cole's totally sleeping through the night, but waking up at 6 because he hears Ben wake up. 6am - 6pm is a really long day to be by yourself with a toddler, but at least we're in a place now where we can run a few errands and go on outings!
Teeth: While we were in Spokane Cole got his 15th and 16th teeth. Now we're just waiting on his 2 year molars and he'll have them all!

And for your viewing pleasure: A little video of Cole nicely sharing his breakfast.

Random Pictures

2010-08-23T17:03:00.006-08:00

Here are some random cute pictures that have been taken since we've been in Hawaii. Enjoy!

Those are some big, big pancakes!

Reading with dad

Just driving my truck up the tree,
waiting for Mass to start

Tripler Army Medical Center
(Daddy's new work)

The fun fun car at Babies R Us

I <3 Blueberries!
(So much that I ate 2lbs from Costco in 1 week)

Cole's new tricycle
(that he can't yet pedal so we have to push him)

Mr. & Mrs. Dudak

2010-08-21T16:50:00.009-08:00

7.31.2010. Joelle and Adam's Big Day has finally arrived! Here are some pictures (not the professional ones yet, but still some great shots taken by my father-in-law). I've also included my toast in case you missed it or couldn't understand what I was saying through my crying :) Congratulations to my baby sister and my new brother-in-law!

The Haugen's

Mom and Daughters

Dad and the Bride

Dad and Dolores with the Bride and Groom

The Jabara's

Ben and Katie

Keeping Cole entertained before the ceremony

I love my little family!

Sweet boy

My niece, Brianna, singing "Lucky" - She was so awesome...I cried!

Cole, being the center of attention on the dance floor

Auntie Jill and Cole

Watching Aunt JoJo and Uncle Adam dance

Cole with Nana and Papa

Mom and Rick

Gorgeous and oh so delicious cake

Family Dance

Hello. Most of you know me, but for those who do not, I’m Joelle’s older sister, Lindsay. I’m going to try my best to keep my composure while I give the bride and groom some advice…

Let me start with Joelle. I’m not going to get too mushy here, mainly because I won’t be able to finish my speech, but also because I think we all know what a beautiful person Joelle is. One of my earliest memories is the night Joelle was born. We had a family friend, Fr. Jerry, over for dinner at my grandparent’s house and as soon as we sat down for dinner, my mom’s water broke. I remember my mom telling me to take care of Aunt Viv so she didn’t freak out and then I remember playing in the waiting room with grandpa and grandma while I patiently waited for my brother or sister to arrive. I was VERY excited that she turned out to be a girl. I was really trying to think of a mean or incriminating story to tell about Joelle from our childhood, but honestly, we got along so well that nothing comes to mind. I’m sure she’d be quick to think of one for me though…Anyway, Joelle, you’ve been a wonderful sister, a fun aunt and a loyal friend and I know you’re going to be all of those things to Adam as his wife.

Adam, I just want to take this opportunity to welcome you into our family. As you already know, our family structure is a little complicated, so I have a gift for you…I made you a chart of our family so you’ll always know who belongs to whom. Even after 6 years of marriage, Ben still gets a little confused, so for those times when you’re sitting at dinner and Joelle says something like, “I got a call from Chris today and he’s doing well,” and you can’t remember that Chris is your brother-in-law who’s stationed in Korea, you can just play along and then when Joelle leaves the room, you can pull out your pocket edition of your family chart and look real quick to see who the heck Chris is! So, now that you know who everyone is, on behalf of your 2 father-in-laws, 2 mother-in-laws, 7 brother-in-laws, 6 sister-in-laws, 10 nephews, and 7 nieces, welcome to the nut house, I mean, Family!

Finally, I just want to offer Joelle and Adam a piece of advice: don’t lose sight of the individuals that you are. Many people think of marriage as two people becoming one, but, as we all know, one plus one does not equal one. You’re now a partnership. Two people living their lives parallel to one another and helping each other learn and grow. You both have strengths and you both have weaknesses that compliment and balance each other out. And now as two individuals together, love has made you stronger and more capable than you were alone.

So with that, please raise your glasses, Joelle and Adam, may all your days be sunny, may all your adventures be exciting, and may all of your pain be champagne! Cheers!

My attempt and not crying during my toast = Big FAIL!

Adam's Family Tree Chart

Joelle's Last Night Out...As a Single Lady

2010-08-14T16:15:00.008-08:00

We had so much fun for Joelle's Bachelorette party! We started the night at Azteca on the patio, which turned out to be a blast mostly due to our gay server, Mateo, and then we had Joelle do a little scavenger hunt, which included stops at all of Spokane's "hottest" bars. The night was filled with drinks, dancing, and just a bunch of good clean fun of course!

Joelle's Last Night Out!

Bride's Maids, including Krista

First shot of many

Sisters with Mateo

Proclaiming her love for Adam before sliding down the red wagon

Chubby Bunny Contest

Her good friends from HS serenaded her

Singing on top of the bar at O'Doherty's

Creepy Mexican at Dempsey's

Dancing Queens

Piano Bar

Spokane Fun

2010-08-10T16:20:00.000-08:00

Here's some random fun we had in Spokane during the month of July. Cole and I did swim lessons at the YMCA. Then Sarah, Jesse and Owen visited us and we had some fun at Coeur d'Alene beach. And, we had a playdate with Danette (a high school friend) and her son, Logan, at Discovery Park. Cole had such a wonderful time playing with both of his buddies!

Mr. Blue Eyes

Swimming Lessons are SO FUN!

Kick, Kick, Kick

1,2,3, Jump!

Owen having fun on the beach

The Altig's

Walk through Coeur d'Alene

Best Buddies

Cole-Bear

Bouncing with Logan

Future Mrs. Dudak

2010-08-10T16:02:00.000-08:00

Our first big event in Spokane was Joelle's bridal shower. It was a gorgeous Friday evening and everything was perfect. Here are a few pictures of the event.

The Bride

Hosts - Trudi, Connie & Me

Mother and Daughters

Bride's Maids

Gifts!

So cute tabletops

A few of the guests
Holly, Jenna, Sandy, Doreen, and Jolene

Delicious spread

Auntie JoJo visits/Army Ball

2010-06-29T10:52:00.000-08:00

A week and a half ago, Auntie Jo-Jo (or Gigi as Cole says it) came to visit us in UT! For Father's Day, all Ben wanted was to go see Josh Ritter in concert and he was playing Friday night, so Joelle came in and watched Cole for us while we enjoyed a night out. Then, on Saturday, we had to go to the Army Ball so she got to watch him again! It was so nice having her here and not worrying about a stranger watching him.

While she was here, we did have some fun, we didn't just make her watch Cole the whole time :) We got our nails done, went to Gymboree class, did some shopping, ate some good food, went to the Sunday market in Park City, and visited a petting zoo. Cole's so funny, he copies everything Gigi does and he would wake up in the morning looking for her and calling her name. We're looking forward to spending the whole month of July with her. Thanks again Joelle for flying to SL to take care of your bug!

Beautiful Park City

Cole's 1st pony ride on "Charlie"

Sweet baby goat

The softest little lamby

Dugway Army Ball

Thank you, Food Network

2010-06-13T18:04:00.000-08:00

As mentioned in my previous post, Ben and I have a love for the Food Network. Specifically, Ace of Cakes, The Best Thing I Ever Ate, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Diners Drive-ins and Dives (from now on will be referred to as "Triple D"). So, when we planned our little trip we for sure had to visit some of the awesome restaurants on these shows. I guess what's so much fun about eating at these places is the fact that 9 times out of 10 you wouldn't just run into them. Plus, we love to try new restaurants and this is a sure way to know that the new restaurant you're going to try is going to be a good one. Added bonus, none of these places are fancy or expensive!
So, we start in Boston where we visited a Triple D called Sam LaGrassa's. It's in downtown Boston and it's known for it's sandwiches, Ruben's in particular. I'm not a fan of the Ruben, but Mollie is, so that's what she had and Ben and I had others on the menu. They were huge and definitely delicious. Now, I really wanted to post the little segment of all of the restaurants, but I can't figure out how to post a YouTube video to the blog, so if you're interested, I'm adding the links.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD5Z9npYKzY

Next stop was the Shady Glen in Manchester, CT. This was on Best Things "Cheesy" episode.

This is our awesome car we drove!

This diner has their own cheese made so it will do this:

Crazy spaceship burger

The shakes weren't bad either!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnhyNVcX5fQ

The first night we were in Philly, we just happened to turn on Man v. Food on the Travel Chanel (sorry food network, no props for this one) and the host was in Philly eating not a Philly cheesesteak, but an Italian pork sandwich. The next day we ventured into Reading Terminal Market, which we probably wouldn't have and we are so happy we did because it was the neatest indoor market with a ton of food vendors. We got one sandwich from Dinics, which is an Italian sandwich with sharp provolone, pork and broccoli rabe, and another cheesesteak from Carmen's Deli, which was featured on The Best Thing "Between Bread" episode. Ben preferred Dinics, I preferred Carmen's, but they were both delish!

My favorite stop on our culinary tour was The Pop Shop in Collingswood, NJ (just across the river from Philadelphia). This restaurant was featured in Bobby Flay's grilled cheese Throwdown and we knew we had to visit as soon as we saw the episode because we both LOVE grilled cheese. It's the cutest little diner in the cutest little town I've ever been to. They have a full menu, but they're obviously known for their 31, yes, I said 31 different types of grilled cheese. I had the Calvert, a grilled cheese special featuring Monterey jack cheese, roasted turkey, apple-wood smoked bacon, avocado and balsamic mayonnaise on rosemary focaccia bread. This is the sandwich they made for the competition. YUM! They also had a huge list of ice cream sundaes for dessert. I would probably eat there once a week if given the opportunity. Cole loved his mac and cheese, but he also loved the ice cream of course! Added bonus, their menu was in the form of a newspaper, so we took it with us and have been creating really delicious grilled cheese at home.

Yum-O!

Do I have a little something on my face?

Finally, in Baltimore, we stopped at Chap's Pit Beef, which has been featured on both Triple D and Best Thing "Between Bread" episode. All I have to say here is awesome, tender, bbq beef sandwiches. Oh so tasty. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81D8lqg4bnk

We obviously had a lot of fun trying all of these new restaurants and we hope this inspires you to take the time to look up and try some local favorites in your neighborhood or when you travel. You'll get a great meal, support local businesses, and have fun at the same time! Bon Appetite!

Baltimore

2010-06-08T12:22:00.000-08:00

Our final stop on our trip down the East Coast was Baltimore, MD. But, first we made a quick stop Monday morning in Arlington, VA. Our friend from high school, Chandra, had a gorgeous baby boy a few days before we got there, so we took the opportunity to visit him. He's a big boy, but sooo sweet. Cole really liked seeing the baby, but he also really liked their dog of course. We didn't have the camera with us, so I'm borrowing a pic from Chandra's facebook page for your baby enjoyment. Congrats Burnside Family!!!

Tom Connally "TC" Burnside, II

After meeting TC we drove up to Baltimore just for a quick stop before we caught our flight home. So, as some of you may know, Ben and I have a slight obsession with the Food Network (if you didn't know this before, you'll see if first hand in my next post) and really the only thing I wanted to see in Baltimore was Charm City Cakes, which is where Ace of Cakes is filmed. Well, the whole way there I was thinking, "I really wish we'd catch some of the bakers walking in and out of the bakery." So we pull up and I look across the street and sitting at a picnic table are like 7 of them! I really hate just walking up to people and bothering them, so I devise this plan to park the car down the street and take Cole out and walk him by where they're eating and they'll of course think he's the cutest thing ever and come up and talk to us, right? Wrong. We did park the car and get out, but by that time, they were all going back into the bakery. Cole stopped right at the entrance and was being so cute smelling the flowers right outside the door, but they just walked on by. Apparently they were too busy to stop and see my adorable little boy :) Then my favorite, favorite person on Ace of Cakes walked out...Geof Manthorne. He was enjoying what looked like a romantic lunch, so again, I didn't bother him, but I did get a paparazzi shot. I guess all in all our trip to Baltimore was successful!

Charm City Cakes

Geof eating lunch with his girlfriend
(I know, I'm a dork)

Cast of Ace of Cakes
(Geof's the guy sitting on the far left. We did not see Duff at all,
but he was there because his motorcycle was parked out front)