Thanksgiving 2009

We had visitors this year! YAY!

My parents and my sister Deb and her husband Dave came up to visit us this Thanksgiving and it was wonderful! My parents stayed for 10 days and Deb and Dave for 3.5. We had so much fun and Gwen got a lot of needed Grandparent time. My parents watched Gwen for about 9 of the 10 days they were there so Jason could finish his work and so we could go take my sister and Dave around the town. It was nice having time alone with another couple (especially since it was my sis!) but what was even nicer was seeing Gwen grow from such a small time of interaction with others. She loved it and actually cried when my mom and dad didn't get back in the car at the airport. It really breaks our hearts. We will move back sometime, but not yet. My parents on the other hand keep saying they will move out here, LOL!!

We did all the touristy things like Macy's Parade, Macy's windows, Rockefeller Center / Tree, Bus Tour, Ground Zero, South Street Seaport, The Rockettes, Central Park Strawberry Fields, Perry Street (for my sister who is a HUGE Sex in the City fan...)and of course hit up some bars and good food :)

Gwen really loved the parade and all the balloons. I wish we would have gotten closer, but we arrived so late because of a train mishap that we were about 100 feet into a side street across from Central Park West. We didn't get to see any of the bands or floats, but the Balloons were amazing (although oddly enough seemed to have a lot to do with Balls...right everyone?!?! hehe) and my sister and I decided we are going to invent the Pocket Bleachers :) (copyrighted so back off, lol)
Here are some of my favorites of Gwen oogling over the balloons!



Snoopy looks like he is going to be crushed between Jason and Gwenie!



Of course Gwen needed her own balloon, we love Nemo!





Jason and myself cooked Thanksgiving dinner for everyone too! Dave helped with the gravy because I did't have any patience for gravy this year, lol. Deb helped me make her baked sweet potatoes since last year she never told me to drain them and I ended up making what I like to call, vomit soup. I will say, this year the baked yams ended up being my favorite thing! It was a wonderful meal and such a relief that we actually have a dining room table now, that 20lb turkey would have made the card table buckle, LOL! I did end up making Turkey Noodle Potato Soup with some of the left overs and we STILL had turkey left!



My mom took some pics of the decorations and of the food making and the final product so I will post them as soon as I get them. Can't wait till Xmas now, we miss everyone!

Spiderman

My parents bought Gwen a Spiderman mask for the fun of it a while back. She likes to put it on and walk around wearing it. We thought she just figured it was a hat or something, lol. UNTIL last night.

Jason was gone and Gwen and I were playing in the living room when I heard her talking to the DVDs. She was pointing at them (specifically 3 of them) and giggling and pointing at her face. I just sat there listening because it is one of my favorite things...listening to her conversations with random items.

I finally went over to her and asked her what she was saying and she pointed again at the DVDs then her face. I looked at the DVD she was pointing to and it was Spiderman (all 3 of them) and I about cracked up! I then asked her where her Spiderman mask was and she ran off to dig into the toy chest and pulled it out!

So for the first 10 minutes of So You Think You Can Dance, Gwen was dancing with a Spiderman mask on and THAT was entertainment. I took a pic with my phone. Now all she needs is a Spiderman doll for sure!



Don't worry, she can breathe!

Mommy turns 28!

Jason surprised me this year with a wonderful Birthday night. I knew he was going to make dinner, but I was not expecting him to bake a cake OR paint me a picture. I was so very excited and surprised, it was the best.

I came home from work to a great meal waiting for me. A candle in a yellow cake with chocolate frosting (my favorite!) and then Gwen walked out of Jason's office to bring me my present. It is a huge painting that she helped with. I don't mean like her little hand print is on it or she made one line. She actually used crayon and colored all over it then Jason used his paint and blended it in with the crayon! I started crying it was so beautiful and meaningful.

Here are some pics.



Here is wher eyou can really see the parts where Gwen used her red crayon. Jason helped her make the curls, but the lines are all her!



My yummy cake and dinner waiting :) I have the best soon to be husband and baby in the world! I love you!



We also decided to purchase a dining room table off of craigslist and will be picking that up tonight. 6 chairs, table with leaf to make it a square, all for $150! Our good friends Randi and Mike are coming over with their truck to help us get it from Hoboken to JC, very sweet of them. So, this is our bday/xmas gift to ourselves as well. It will be needed for Thanksgiving when my mom, dad, sister and her husband come out to visit :) We won't have to sit on the floor and use books to hold our food anymore, HA!

The spot :)

Here it is! This is the spot where Jason proposed to me :) The cliff at the park that overlooks NYC. Just imagine a full moon to the left of the Empire State Building and you've got it. It really is more beautiful in person...the camera does not do it justice, but it works for a reference. Ahhh, I'm getting all smiley again!

Growing like a weed...

Well, we know what Gwen needs for Christmas.
CLOTHES!
Seriously, she doesn't need toys or books or anything else but CLOTHES! 24 months and above. She is growing like a weed! I am going to have to cut off the footies of all her 12 and 18 month pjs...she has about 5 long sleeve shirts and maybe 3 pairs of pants that fit right now, talk about growth spurt!!

Santa will probably bring her a toy or two, but I called him and told him clothes as well...an elf took the message so I hope he gets it! :)

We are getting really excited for Thanksgiving. My mom, dad, sister Deb and brother in law, Dave are all coming out to visit us! My parents are staying for 10 days (it's their magic number) and Deb and Dave for 4. We are definitely going to the Macy's Day Parade then coming home where Jason and myself will be cooking them a home cooked meal! (Yes, we know how to cook...this will be our 4th Turkey!) The rest of the time will be filled with The Rockettes, Central Park, Rockefeller Center, eating good food and shopping! It will be jam packed, but totally worth the craziness. Gwen is very excited. She actually says "Grandpa" so maybe we can get a "Grandma, Deb and Dave" out of her, too!

We also realized that we now have a babysitter :) for at least 1 or 2 nights (parents) and we NEVER have this so we are taking advantage of it! We are going into the city for a friends bday party on the 21st of Nov. and then probably go to a movie one night during that next week.

We are decorating our house this weekend for Xmas. Early, I know, but we don't want to waste any days when the family gets here decorating, so this weekend is it! We are pretty excited about Gwen seeing the decor this year...she is so into pretty things lately and loves to point at Jesus in the manger (in her book) and say, "baby" and then give him kisses. I am sure Baby Jesus loves it.

I have a Toys for Tots fundraiser for my Mary Kay business this weekend that we are looking forward too. Should be a good turn out of a bunch of rich New Jersiers, lol...or just loud, HA!

We are also having a Hideous Holiday Sweater party on Dec. 12th. It is combined with our overdue housewarming party. Food and drinks and a prize for the worst Holiday Sweater. Monica and myself are going to Goodwill next week to look for sweaters. Monica is my preggo office buddy (she got me this job!) and is having a girl that cannot wait to play with Gwen...we know this, yes. hehe.

Other than getting the holidays started we have been researching and planning the wedding. Mainly researching...we have not nailed down anything at all besides our wedding party, but things are coming along very nicely now that I am not dieing of H1N1 anymore.

If you have not seen the wedding website, please check it out HERE.

I will be posting pics from Amy and Patrick's wedding we were at in October. Jason was a groomsman, I was a bridesmaid and Gwen was the flowergirl. All 3 of us wore dresses, LOL! Actually, it's partly true. The groomsmen wore Kilts. It was really cool. And yes, they had undies on!

Can't believe my birthday is coming up. Less than 10 days now and I will be 28, WOWZA! I think I am OK with it. Almost married, great job, beautiful wonderful baby girl...yes, I can do this...I can be 28. Still...wow.

New Words / New Quirks / New Tantrums

Gwen's vocabulary is getting wider. Lately she is putting 2 words together and stringing long sentences together of new sounds. Some of the most recent add ons to her vocab are:
"Hey dudes"
"Eddie No"
"No, no, no, no, no" (said in a singsongy voice)
"So you"
"Butt"
"Bath time" and that usually comes right as she starts to pull her clothes off and get really excited, I swear she will be a swimmer or at least a perpetual bath taker!
"Grandpa"
"Plee" is Please....and it's very rare, lol.

Some of her new quirks is clicking her tongue to call the cat over to her. Patting her legs with both hands to call the cat to her. Yelling at Eddie and hunching over to get real into it. Getting the Yoga mat out, rolling it out and bending over to do stretches with mom. Pointing to her dirty diapers when she soils them. Putting away groceries when we bring them home...more like rearranging the fridge! "Vaccuming" with mommy. She also has a CD player in her room now and everytime she wakes up she points to it and she says "on" and starts to dance. Her hair is long enough now that we can put it in pig tails/pony tail but that doesn't last long because she pulls them right out and then wants you to do it again!

We have been noticing some tantrums lately. They seem to happen when it is time to put away the crayons or get out of the tub the most, lol. But in all seriousness, we read about it being natural, but everytime she reaches any type of limit on what she can do or how high she can reach or if she can't get something through something else...she tries again, and then gets super frusterated. It's actually really funny, but we just try and "show her" what to do now. So far, no crazy fits in public. She really is a public baby.

Coloring. The girl loves coloring. We have a big roll of paper that we just roll up to the next open spot and date it. She absolutley loves it. We started showing her how to trace things and that resulted in her trying to color the items, but she still thinks it's cool.

Happy Halloween 2009!

It was Gwens first time Trick-o-treating and she did pretty well with it.






She ended up being a puppy dog and she loved it! The costume was a bit small so we cut the neck area to give her more room. She barked and growled and did very good at taking a piece or 4 of candy from people and then putting the candy in her Princess Pail.



Everyone loved her and thought she was a beautiful dog! One Tinkerbell little girl wanted to take a picture with Gwen, it was adorable!

Here is a montage of the Halloween fun taken and created from our new Flip camera. Oh yea, since I was so sick we didn't have time to actually carve a pumpkin so she colored some instead on paper!



We were also very excited that the family on the 1st floor of our 3 family house decided to decorate. Our place was one of the only houses on the block that even decorated! I have to say, it's not as awesome as my parents house and I think if we would have used some of our decorations it would have been even better, but it was a big hit either way. Here are some pics!

City Park!

In our new city, Jersey City, there are a TON of parks. We have a favorite right now called River Road Park (I think...) but we call it City View Park. Here is why...



We go there the most. Gwen loves the playground area. It has this foam cement that does not hurt when you fall and that is a GOOD thing, ha! She is addicted to swings and slides. They also have this piano game and an abacus that she really like playing with as well. We let her go alone (holding her hands) down the small slides, but the big ones she goes with Mommy!



Here are some fun pics of her love for slides...she is going to LOVE water slides, I can just tell! Rollercoaster rides too!

Softball Glove!

She knows how to put on her softball gloves! Yes, I said gloves. She has 3, ha! It's really funny when she puts them on at the same time - 1 on each hand, lol! I can already tell she will be strong and like being active...hopefully a catcher - she has a heck of a squat! Here are some oldies but goodies from our old apartment of her playing ball. OH, we have to get a video of her throwing the ball because that is amazing...nobody will steal on her!

Petting Zoo / Church Picnic

These pictures are about 1 1/2 months old, sorry! We went to a church picnic with my friend and coworker, Monica and they had a petting zoo. Gwen was loving in it! she really does love animals and oddly enough, she didn't attack them and go crazy which is usually what happens when Eddie is around. It was a hot day, but we all had fun and Gwen really enjoyed seeing all the people and animals. Enjoy!!

The Car Seat Dance :)

Just too stinking cute :) Daddy filmed while I drove so no worries, no one risked lives here!

Test Results!

Gwen's blood is normal! :) YAY! All the test results came back completely normal...we don't even have to give her the Fer In Sol drops anymore (Iron drops...I called them her Meat Drops, HA!)

The Dr. said finger and heal pricks for blood can give less than accurate results, but 4 vials straight from her arm tell the truth, lol. They even ran an extra test for her hemoglobin and it came back normal, too. A-OK :)

Sigh of relief.

Last night in the old place tonight...kinda sad yet exciting at the same time :) Gotta take over 1 more load of stuff and then clean the rest of the old apt. and we are out by tomorrow at noon! :)

Will post pics soon.

15 Month Dr Appt.

Gwenie had her 15 month Dr. appt on the 21st and she had to get 3 shots :( plus more blood work done. At 12 months she had a low hemoglogin count so they wanted to do it again. Well, she had a low count again so they sent her to the Lab to get 4 vials of blood drawn :( It was so sad. She was screaming. I cound not go so poor daddy had to hold her down and watch. Ugh. We don't know the results yet but the Dr. was thinking it was either she is Anemic or that some hereditary thing where she just has a low count and it is no big deal. Let's pray it's one of those!

We did get her height and weight. She is 30.5 inches tall (75%) and 25.5 lbs (90%. She did a dance for the Dr. and then followed him out into the hall causing everyone to oooh and ahhh at her :) Then the shots came and she was ticked off, lol.

The next appt is in Nov. unless the blood work comes back with other news. I will post when I know :)

We are moving!

This weekend is the big weekend. Nervous, sad and excited at the same time! I mean we like the Apt we are in because it is where we raised Eddie and Gwen :) hehe and it was our first real place together (thats the sad part) but this new place KICKS THE OLD ONES BUTT! (Excited part) And the nervous part...actually moving, ugh! I don't want either of us to throw our backs out or drop something, lol...stressing, but no extra money to hire movers so it looks like it is up to us!

Oh, quick update with Gwen. She is very very whinny lately, maybe she is growing. But, something new she does - One of us says "Pee-You" and she plugs her nose! HA! Another one she will do is say, "no no no" after we say "no" to her...cute, but I am sure that one will be annoying soon.

Gwen dancing, signing and talking, oh my!

I know I am going to miss some, but I wanted to write all the new things she is saying and doing lately...it's just amazing!

She now says complete words such as:
Banana
Dog
Night Night (sounds liks nigh nigh)
Kitty (although it does sounds like Titty, lol)
Hi
Hey
Bye Bye
Daddy, Dad, Dada
Mom, Momma, Mommy
Eddie (sounds like Dede)
Read
This

She makes animal noises based on the animal we show her or say, such as:

Tiger/Lion - She roars, but it sounds like s smokers roar, lol
Sing "Old McDonald had a farm" - she goes "yeiyeeeo" close, lol
Horsie - she makes a high pitched raspberry noise with her mouth

She dances to any music playing. She knows when it is faster and slower and changes her "styles" when she hears different music. She does headbang (sorta, lol) and LOVES to use her feet. Here are some videos of her dancing. More to come!





She uses silverware...although what she ACTUALLY does is move the silverware around in the food and stab at the food, then grab the food with her other hand. She knows how to feed herself, but we think she thinks she is tricking us!

She plays hide and go seek now.

She "puts away her toys" but that usually means her putting about 5% away and Jason and I putting the rest away, but it is still cute.

She uses "sign language" but not correct sign language, more like our own sign language. She knows/does "swings (moving her hand back and forth fast), seesaw (moving her hand up and down slowly), and birds (using her fingers to chirp)"

She remembers actions to phrases such as:
Yummy in my Tummy (she rubs her belly)
Soooo Big (raises her arms)
All Done (raises her arms again, but more out to the sides)
Where's your milk/juice? (she goes and find her sippy cup)
Put your toys away. (she starts to pick things up and take to her toy box)
Do you want a time out? (she points to the corner since she has gotten a few, lol)
So you think you can dance? (she instantly starts dancing...from the show name)
Elmo Slippers? (she finds her slippers and tried to put them on)
Hugs and Kisses (she hugs/kisses what she is holding)
Smell the Flowers (she leans into this scratch and snif book we have and makes sniff noises!)

She knows body parts and points to them including:
Ear
Mouth (finger usually goes IN the mouth)
Hair/Head
Tummy
Belly Button (she usually finds it on Me first...now that is a sight)
Nose is close...but she is more interested in Jason's right now, lol

Man, I know there are more things! She holds entire conversations with herself, toys or us in her own language with emphasis on certain sounds and pauses, etc. When she can actually string words together to make sentences, it's going to be hilarious and I am sure, non stop!

Of course there are her favorite books she has a read all the time and she remembers what to do on each page...she practically shows us before we even get there! OH, she wipes her face and cleans the floor with towels.

I hope this helps keep you all up to date with her changes, I know there are more, but I am going blank...I swear everyday I come home from work she has something new she does...I really miss her at work, but Jason and her are having a heck of a fun time with each other and that is great!

Des Moines Birthday Party 5.30.09

Finally I am posting the 2nd birthday party extravaganza for our little girl! We had it at Grandma & Grandpa Wright's yard because it is big and would hold all 50 people we invited. No joke, I think at least 40+ came! There were already tables and tents set up for us when I arrived on Sat. morning and Gwen even got pretty decorations from her Aunt Jan and family! The place really was cute and the balloons topped it off. I thank everyone who helped make that day so special! Uncle Gene and Grandpa Gene did the grilling and it is a good thing we got the foor in bulk because it was all gone at the end! Everyone brought some type of side which helped us with having enough food as well and we got the cake. A very successful party if I do say so myself :)





Gwen got an early birthday present from Becky, Jake and Max...this dress! Cute now, Cake later :)





One of Gwenie's boyfriends, Tyler came by to wish her a happy birthday!



Grandma Debbie, you are goofy!!!




Our Little Mermaid :)



These next few are just absolutley priceless...I love when she eats cake!







The finale :)



2nd outfit, some present opening fun and some cute shots with Daddy and Grandpa :)






And 3...2...1...passout.