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!!