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Thursday, December 31, 2009

New Year's Resolutions 2010

I looked back at my 2009 New Years Resolutions and I have to say, I did pretty well! I did not eat any food from McDonald's, Burger King or my beloved Taco Bell for one entire year. And my resolution to be more healthy and make my own baby food was kept, too...until this month...i am still making baby food, but the month of December was anything but healthy. Needless to say, I'll be stepping outside to run some miles often!

This year, I am keeping it simple. Just two: 1) Spend more time with my kids (reduce my work hours) and 2) Make a kick-ass homemade pie crust. If I can do those two things, it is going to be a great year!! Happy 2010!

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Bathtime Breakthrough!

We have discovered the wonderful time saver of bathing the kids together! Don't ask me why I didn't think of this before, but it's so awesome!!! They entertain each other, have a ton of fun and saves us a whole lot of time. Not to mention it's GREEN because we're using less hot water! :) HA! I recommend doing this with your kids until they are old enough to press charges against you for doing this to them. :-)



Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Chores!

We figure it's never too early to start teaching Brookey to wash dishes...especially while she's BEGGING us to do it....how long does this phase last?





Saturday, December 26, 2009

Christmas 2009

It's impossible to get them both looking:


Gingerbread cookies!!
'Lil Santa


She's on the "nice" list!

He is, too!!
Family Pic


Loves his new dump truck!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Our Big Girl

Brookey had her 4 year Dr. appointment with Will yesterday and she's definitely still a big girl! She weighs 40 lbs (75th percentile) and is 43 inches tall (95th percentile). She's been 75th-95th percentile on both since her first Dr. appointment at 10 days old so this is nothing new! I can also tell by looking at her and comparing her to other 4 year olds that she is definitely bigger than the average girl. It scares me a little that she'll be HUGE when she starts Kindergarten, which won't be until August of 2011!!!

Other than that, she's doing great and is all H1N1'ed now! Woo hoo!

Monday, December 21, 2009

9 Months Old!

Little Buddy is NINE months old! I still can't believe it! Since we had some "issues" with his previous Doctor, we had to make a switch so his 9 month appointment was a little late.

Buddy weighs in at 22 lbs (50th percentile) and 28.5 inches long (50th percentile). As I have mentioned before...Even Steven!!

His newest milestones over the last month have been crawling, of course! Along with saying consonant sounds. His favorite being "dadadadadada!!" He loves to clap his hands, stand, chase his fire truck and do anything in close proximity to his sister. He's definitely moving past his "infant" stage and coming close to being a little toddler! He's extremely observant, curious and of course, HILARIOUS! Fun times are ahead!! :-)

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Buddy's First Train Ride!

Napa Wine Train--Santa Express!

We're continuing the holiday cheer and took Brooke and Buddy on their very first train ride! In style, of course! No Amtrack for them! We took the Napa Valley Wine Train's Santa Express. Santa, scary gingerbread men, snowmen and Rudolph...along with about 50 crazy kids were aboard.

Brookey played with her twin and school buddy, Madeline the whole time and Buddy was just absolutely in awe the entire time. It was the funniest thing ever! He was so excited he skipped his morning nap. Unprecedented! We had a great time!

Ready to go!




The Bobsy Twins!




Chunky Monkeys!






Saturday, December 5, 2009

First Christmas Tree Lighting

And we didn't even actually SEE the lighting of the tree!! It's the thought that counts...I figure in about 5 years we'll have the timing down :-)








Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Belly Laughs

If only we all laughed like this as much as he did!! He loves his big sis!

Monday, November 30, 2009

Brooke's 1st School Picture

Ah, it's just how I remember my school pics back in the day...good 'ol blue background...hair in front...semi-icky lighting...forced smile. Some things never change!

St. Dominic Preschool 2009-2010

Friday, November 27, 2009

Brooke Elisabeth Rooney: 4th Year

4 Years Old: The Best Things

Brookey's 4th birthday is tomorrow, and I realize I need to stop and take a moment to write down some of the things that are sooooo cool about Brookey at this age. Of course, every "stage" of babyhood and childhood brings so much joy (well, kind of--i have been told this "joy" ends around 6th grade), but Brookey's fourth year was definitely a AWESOME year.

1. Potty Training is a thing of the very distant past. No more accidents or that constant worry she'll have to pee at the most inopportune moment. She can hold it now :)

2. She can say her "r"'s now...she's not going to be "foy," she's going to be FOURRRRR!! She doesn't open the "doy" anymore..it's the DOOR!

3. The booster seat is a wonderful thing after the 50lbs Britax for the past 3 years!

4. It never amazes me how much she learns without me being aware of it. Even though we worked on letters and letter sounds a little this summer, I had no idea how much she was actually learning. Now she knows all but one or two letters and a lot of the sounds. She can name things that start with a certain letter. I really had no clue she knew all of this--with her I just figure things go in one ear and out the other. I guess she does really listen sometimes :-)

5. Age 3 was the princess phase. Now it's the Star Wars phase. The little "phases" are so cute and funny! I guess it's like when I went through my New Kids on the Block Phase or the Care Bears Phase...

6. They can have real "relationships" with friends. Play is moving from "parallel play" (playing alongside one another but not really WITH one another) to true playing TOGETHER. Playdates are a relaxing time to catch up with my mom friends rather than constantly having to make sure the kids aren't choking on a little toy or pulling each others hair.

7. Pretend: Age 3 started out with every sentence that came out of her mouth started with "Pretend that...." Now 99% of her play is some type of role playing or "pretending." This is especially funny when she pretends to be one of us. She'll be talking on her play cell phone and she'll say "Yeah, dude you're such a MORON." (pretending to be Daddy talking to Uncle Chris).

8. She calls me out: I have to be careful what I teach her!! She "calls me out" on things we will say. If I say "I don't want that one," she will say, "Mom, you get what you get and you don't throw a fit." Hmmm....wonder where she's heard that one?

9. Taking her places is easy now. It's not a hassle whatsoever. She can walk everywhere--NOOOO more stroller!! And generally she goes with the flow, can eat whatever, whenever, will pee whenever I do. It's actually pretty fun to shop with her. Of course now we have Little Buddy which just cancels all of this out... :-)

10. She makes me laugh. Everyday. No matter how crappy of a day it has been, I laugh every single day.

Happy Birthday, Baby!!!!!!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

8 Months Old!

Mommy's a little behind on the months, but here is Mr. Will at 8 months. This was a big month for him...it seems like he's truly transitioning from quiet little INFANT to more of a sitting, babbling, smiling, almost crawling HUMAN BEING!

He's VERY curious now, especially about anything Big Sis is doing or playing with. He loves to laugh and say "dadadadada!" even though he's a true Mama's Boy! He eats a lot but definitely has his faves of apple sauce and yogurt. Anything veggie-related creates a scrunched face and gagging. We will keep trying!

He's definitely a chunker. My guess is about 20 pounds. He's in Size 4 diapers and wears at least 12 month clothes even though I am buying all 18 months since he's growing up so fast!!! It's just so sad...my "baby" is going to be 4 this week and my 'Lil Buddy is no longer 'Lil anymore!! Boo Hoo!!!





Pre-Thanksgiving in Fresno

We spent the weekend stuffing ourselves at a Pre-Turkey Day dinner at my moms. The 3 cousins finally got a chance to play together and the house was definitely more noisy than it was just 2 years ago! Mr. Will started to crawl so look out world! He's into everything and at that "curious stage" so Lord help us for the next 2-3 years!! Such a FUN, FUN, FUN age!!

We'll be stuffing ourselves again at home on Thursday and then off to the Aquarium on Friday!








Quick and Easy Meal Prep for Breakfast + Lunch + Snacks!

Ready for a SUPER quick and easy meal prep?! No joke, it took me longer to find all the lids to these containers than it did it prep my b...