It's already December

Not sure where November went. It flew by pretty fast just like the year. I blame that one on Amelia. It has been quite a wonderful whirlwind since she's been here. She is now 8 months old which is so hard to believe. We are just days away from the adventures of her crawling and traveling along furniture. It's time to make sure this tiny 1100 sq foot house is baby proofed. Is that even possible with Maggie & Sam? How easy we had it before we owned legos and micro sized toys. It's going to be an adventure for sure. Here are some recent pictures.

Maggie & Sam Thanksgiving 2011

Best father ever. Colin is so wonderful with the kids.

Something about her smile here :)

Golden leaves everywhere. Fall came late this year.

Maggie, me holding Amelia and Sam 

Briones Park 12/3/2011

Beautiful!

Cold day but she kept pulling that hat off...

Maggie insists that Amelia can have her old tricycle. She was detailing it outside today and plans to hang a basket and new horn on front.  

I'm back!

It's been a little over a month since my last post. I came down with a terrible bug and although I am still being treated for it, I do feel my spirit returning! I caught C. Difficile. I never heard of it before but I now consider myself pretty educated on it. After being on 10 days of a broad spectrum antibiotic (for something else & minor) the antibiotic striped my gut of all healthy flora and then when walking in and out of hospital facilities I caught this. I will for now on take probiotics daily and load up more when I have to be on antibiotics in the future. If you have a moment, I'd suggest you read up on it. it's becoming more common and becoming resistant to drug treatment.

On to a positive note.. The kids had a wonderful Halloween. Their grandparents came weeks before and helped us decorate our yard for the big night. This was our first time home for Halloween since we have lived here and we've been here since 1/2005. Sam wanted a scary costume this year and we both agreed a skeleton would be perfect. It was on the scary side but not gory. It was hard to believe such a sweet little boy was behind such a such a scary mask! Maggie was excited that, like her, Amelia was a bee for her first Halloween. She insisted on also being a bee this year.  I of course was not in costume, but considered myself the bee keeper :)

Colin came to my rescue as always when the cards were down and picked up the costumes that I had wheeled and dealed on Craigslist and shuttled the kids to Halloween parties and even bought and carved 6 pumpkins on Halloween with the kids. I have always admired his ability to handle a lot with no problems.

 Can't forget to mention the school conferences! I missed out on that as well but Colin came home with a huge smile on his face announcing how fabulous they are doing. We are so proud of them. Now for the pictures. 

Off to plant our garlic & hopefully sneak in a garden update on the garden blog. 

 

Amelia at 7 months ~ XO

Maggie helping Sam with homework

Sam, Amelia and Maggie 

Sam and Cobie

So proud!

Amelia's first Halloween

Halloween 2011

My darling bees

Maggie & Sam

Homemade baby food for Amelia

Wash and peel the fruit/veggie. This time I made a batch of yams & apples. 

 

 

I then cut them up to roughly the same size so the cooking/boiling time was even. I added the apples to the water when the yams were almost fork tender as they cook faster.

We bought this Cuisinart Mini Prep years ago. We love it and it works perfectly for blending baby food and does not take up much counter space. Blend your fruit & veggies adding a tad of the hot water from pot if needed for a smoother run.  

Add puree to ice cube trays. Each compartment is about an ounce or a little more and at 6 months, Amelia is eating about 2 to 3 cubes of solids with cereal. 1 yam and 1 apple blended provided Amelia about 6 to 9 meals for her at a fraction of the price you'd pay for jarred food. Not to mention a healthier option. TIP: I have 4 different color trays. I use the orange and green for veggies (warm colors) and for fruits, blue & purple (cooler colors)  Freeze the cubes and then add them to freezer zip log bags, labeling date & contents. Under an hour I can make a variety of food for Amelia for a week or more. 

Moving right along..

Amelia is really on the move these days. Rolling off her blanket and ending up pretty far away from it pretty fast. Now that the kids are in school, she's enjoying a lot more time on the floor. Everything seems pretty interesting to her and I am constantly on the lego look out. Yikes. Christmas will be fun with the tree and all.

9/21/2011 - Amelia turns 6 months. Teeth are coming in and teeth are coming out :)

Hard to believe it's has been 6 months since Amelia's birth. She has two bottom teeth already in and is handling teething well. No fevers and not too fussy. Rolling over is a constant thing and she is no longer being swaddled because of it. She is still an excellent sleeper, most nights sleeping all the way through and sometimes waking around 4am for a bottle but goes right back down without a hitch. The kids are enjoying her more and more. Especially now that her personality is coming out and she's doing more things. 

See my two teeth!?

Sweet Sam lost another tooth. This time a top tooth. 

Both sweet. Carrots and Sisters

I can't tell you how often I catch sweet moments like these. Sure the kids bicker and argue just like most siblings but there are plenty of these tender moments in between and that's when everything comes together, my heart flutters and I realize just how close Maggie and Sam are and how lucky I am to witness it all.

Kaiser well appointment. Maggie helping Sam tie his gown. 9/14/11

I'm having fun making Amelia's baby food and she certainly is enjoying it. So far, apples, pears, yams, carrots, green beans, peaches, nectarines and baby cereal.

Just when we thought our family was complete...

Meet Cobie. He's an 8 year old Golden Retriever and came to us from NORCAL Golden Retriever Rescue. I got a call last Wed about him being available. His family that he knew all his life had lost their home and could no longer keep him. He is a gentle giant with the sweetest face. He is potty trained, sits, shakes and fetches. We currently are fostering him a few days to see if it's a perfect fit. We think it is and are already considering him ours..    

Flashback Fridays

Amelia Rolling Over

Some BIG Firsts!

Amelia turns 5 months ~ 8/21/11

Amelia rolls over for the first time on 8/18/11

See it here! http://youtu.be/RCYyMyLpN3Q

Maggie fed Amelia her first solids (cereal) on 8/19/11

Sam picks out his first backpack for school. A green Jansport! He is so proud.

First day of school 8/23/11 ~ Maggie is in 4th grade & Sam 1st

Back To School They Go

During the last few weeks of summer I usually hear more than once from fellow mothers about how happy they are that school will be starting soon and that they'll soon be able to reclaim their mornings again.  I understand what they mean and agree that the idea of smoother mornings sound nice but I'm going to miss them. It's always bittersweet sending them back. This is our 2nd year at JME and we are optimistic about it. Maggie ended up getting Mrs. Hussey for 4th grade and Sam, Mrs. Kitchens for 1st grade. Our friend who was PTA president at our school told us that both teachers are excellent. Good news to our ears. The school year begins though with some disappointment. Maggie's best friend Morgan got Mr. Williams for her teacher and the girls are separated and pretty upset about this. Explaining to Maggie that this unfortunately happens  but that she will still be able to play with Morgan at school and after, just isn't working so well. Life lessons can be hard sometimes. Sam on the other hand shows no real concern for anything and is looking forward to 1st grade but I'm already having a hard time with fact that he won't be getting out at 11:30 anymore but now 2:45. I'll be missing my time with my little buddy but Amelia will no doubt keep me busy and at almost 5 months old, the fun begins.

 I often find them like this holding hands. School registration 8/17/11

Sam's Sunflower

We have been planting sunflowers for the last few summers. Sam had the largest sunflower in his raised bed this year and he was SO proud of it. Unfortunately we missed it blooming while away in Morro Bay but it was still very exciting for the kids to see it's beautiful face. Even though it had fallen over. Our 90 year old neighbor, Mrs. Bray however enjoyed watching it open up. She loves to look out her bedroom window every morning and see all the sunflowers. They bring her much joy. For this reason alone, they will always have a home in our garden.

Mrs. Bray, Maggie & Sam

Just a few of the lovely notes from Mrs. Bray