Jaiden & Lilli

Space, our next frontier!

2012-01-20T20:19:00.001-08:00

So, I think it's pretty normal but we are once again trying a new foot for our homeschooling. We tried Earth Schooling and it just didn't fit us well. (It had elements that I liked but not enough.) then we tried to just expand on what our homeschooling group was doing and that just didn't hold his attention long enough. So new we are trying monthly themes that HE chooses. So far, so good and this is our first month. ;)
This month he choose space! And more specifically, planets. We have had a planet mobile that we were slowly working on but we hadn't done anything intense on the planets. I think I am enjoying it as much as he is. Around new years, I did some research and found some templates for mini books for a lap book. I like these because it pulls everything together for both of us. I got everything printed out and cut out what I wanted to then put it all in our "working tub" ( which is just a red tub with everything that we are studying now.)
On the days that we work on our lapbooks, we bring out the tub and go to town. I found an amazing site with videos of all the planets (and more)called Space School. He picks the planet we want to learn about then we watch the video together. As we watch, we go through out different actives. Sometimes we watch it once through then watch it again and stop when we want to and sometimes we just stop as we go the first time thought. I like to do our theme studies twice a week and on the other days we do math or reading. I try to keep them all on the theme but...and on top of that, not every theme day is a lap book day. Sometimes we will do science experiments and some days like today, we do cooking.
Today we made planet cupcakes. They are not sized correctly but they are colored and positioned in the right order. We made them with the Fun-da-middles cake mix and j wanted to add red dye to the batter. Then I just got white frosting and frosted them. After that I let him get creative. I printed out a sheet with all of the planets on it and mixed some food coloring and water in a small bowl for each color. We had to be careful because the frosting was still soft but we got the hang of it. The complicated ones like earth and Jupiter we painted with a brush. Some of the others we decided it would work better to just dip the tops into the color. He got creative with mixing the colors too. We even put rings around Saturn.
After we were done painting I was going to make him label all of them but them decided neither of us wanted to be there all day so I wrote the names of the planets on a pieces of paper (in random order) and without telling him the name, he had to label each planet. He did very good. Then we took a picture and ate our planets!
So much fun!
In love and light,
Steph, Anna, jaiden and Lilli

I love homeschooling!!!!

2011-10-16T21:10:00.001-07:00

This is one of the many reasons I love to homeschool my kids. After dinner tonight we were talking and planning our upcoming week. We are learning about apples so I want to do some cooking. I asked jaiden what he wanted to cook and he said apple candy. After a bit of conversation I figured out it was candy / Carmel apples so... We made some, tonight! We are making apple cinnamon oatmeal in the morning too! I love my life and I adore my kids! (notice the hand in the picture)
In love and light,
Stephanie

Garage sale day

2011-10-08T18:29:00.003-07:00

I have been debating having a garage sale for about 6months now and I finally bit the bullet. Today was the culmination of a month of planning. So as we were getting ready for our sale, jaiden kept saying, "I want ..." or "I want ..." so I decided to give him an opportunity to earn his own money. I told him he could have his own snack sale. He figured out what he wanted to sell and I figured out the price. Then he made a sign! It was so well ... Cute! I knew he would get board or sleep in or all of the above but i think it was a great real life was to teach him about money (which we have been talking about lately). We also worked on coin recognition and adding /subtracting. He made about $10 but I think mast of that was Nanay buying whoopers.
The sale went well, the house is a bit emptier, and I have a little extra spending money so I can finally get my honeschool room set up! Jaiden plans on buying more legos with his new stash. Below is a picture of the 2 working their booth.
In love and light,
Stephanie

Fall nature class

2011-10-08T18:29:00.001-07:00

As usual, this past thursday was "class" day the this week officially started our "fall" lessons so we decided to take a nature walk. We went to a local park that has a nice 1mile walking trail. I was so impressed that we held the kids attention. For almost an hour talking about birds, trees, bugs, plants, leaves and the like. Each kid had their own clipboards with a worksheet to make notes of what they saw. I also made a sheet with some of the common georgia trees and their leaf shapes. We all had a so much fun! Next week we are going to do a little apple science so that should be fun.
In love and light,
Stephanie

Apple picking

2011-10-08T18:11:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday our group went on a little field trip to go apple picking. Truth be told we all got a groupon. ;) It was quite chilly when we got there but we still had an awesome time that included the apple cannon, the petting farm, the hay ride and finally apple picking. For the record, jaiden likes red apples and Lilli likes green. I think they ate their weight in apples before we left!
With the 1.5 hour drive up there, I decided to stop by Burt's Pumpkin Patch before heading home which was right down the street from the orchard. it's such a drive that I don't think we would do it twice in 1season... I think we were all about done by then but we did get a few pumpkins (and a few pictures). Needless to say they were both asleep within 5 min of getting back in the car. Great trip now I just need to figure out what to do with all of there apples!
In love and light,
Stephanie

Crazy busy week

2011-10-01T19:54:00.001-07:00

It has been one crazy busy week and as I was planning out October, it doesn't look much better in the next few weeks. But the good news is we are having fun. This week we finished (or so I thought) jaidens "county fair" lapbook but when we went for show and tell on Thursday, I found a few more thinks I wanted to add. Maybe tomorrow but today we matched on. Today we went apple picking! Our group got a groups to go apple picking and today was the day. On the way up we talk a bit about apples but it was really the groundwork for the next few weeks. So there's not much"educational" in this post (not that there wasn't anything educational in the day but just not any new ideas) but there are some great pictures for the grands. I will post some pictures of the finished lapbook when it is done, or just close enough. ;)
It was a beautiful day to go to the mountains! On the way up it was 57 degrees and never got about 65 the whole day. We started with the apple cannon which was fun but for me, I wouldn't have paid extra just for that. We mover on tithe petting zoo which was great! Lots for the kids to pet and play with. After that we hit the hay ride so we could do the apple picking last. The ride was neat because we got to see to back part of the farm where they had the pumpkins and corn. After that we finally got to pick apples. The kids were awesome! I think they ate as much as they picked and that's a lot of apples. I bought an extra 20lb bag (a peck) so after the kids filled theirs, they helped me with mine. It was so beautiful up there and it was so nice to appreciate nature and all of the abundance there is really is. I will not soon forget that trip!
As if that wasn't enough, we decided to stop by the pumpkin patch too since it was right down the street. That was a quicker trip (even though it was really busy). Surprisingly the kids weren't very interested in picking out a pumpkin. They just wanted to play on the really big ones. We got a few they made the hour and a half trip home even though the kids don't remember that part. 5minuets in they were out. We came home and took a good hot shower and are now settelin' in to a nice warm bed. Life is awesome!

In love and light!
Stephanie

Fun at the big rock

2011-09-24T19:36:00.001-07:00

This weekend, my aunt and uncle are in town. They are staying at Stone mountain park so it was a natural that we would go see the laser show tonight. I'm not sure who had more fun before the show, jaiden or Davie? Then during the show Lilli fell asleep on Davies lap! I should keep him around ;) tomorrow should be a quite day at home but we shall see.
In love and light,
Stephanie

Fair day

2011-09-23T20:31:00.001-07:00

So today was the day we actually went to the county fair. We had so much fun! I will let the pictures do most of the talking but in review, both kids couldn't get enough of the rides, Lilli loved the cows, jaiden thought the vegetables were cool, Anna got her cotton candy and I got my funnel cake. Alyssa went with us which made our day even better and we saw lots of friends there too. The hit of the day however, was the bumper cars. On a homeschooling note, it was great to pull everything together for jaiden. We've been talking about it for 2weeks now so I think he understood the history and meaning a little better. well, here are a bunch of pictures to enjoy.
In love and light,
Stephanie

In case you are wondering, that is Lilli and Alyssa riding the dino ride. Can you tell who is having more fun? Next is jaiden on a ride then is a picture of Lilli petting a baby chick in the petting zoo. The rest are pretty self explanatory. I loved to cows because it looked like they were sharing secrets and the last one is jaiden and Martina on the bumper cars again. :)

County fair part 2

2011-09-22T20:06:00.001-07:00

Today was "school" day and we were having so much fun I totally forgot to take pictures. We continued on our county fair theme and focused on math today. We talked about what rides are at the fair and how many tickets it would cost to ride each ride. Then we gave each kids some coins so they could really buy their tickets. After they bought the tickets, they glued them on a chart to show which rides they rode. It was great to see how each kids handled it differently.
After that we read a great John deer book about the fair. D (one of our moms) printed out mini book so the kids could color pictures of what is at the fair. We will put these in a lapbooks at some point. Then finally, they got to play while us moms talked.
This evening jaiden and I did a little more talking about tickets and money and we even did some skip counting. I did manage to take a picture of his finished chart as well as his completed leaf collage from yesterday. I'm sorry to the grands that there are no smiling faces but they wouldn't sit still long enough. :)
Tomorrow we will actually go to the real fair so that should be fun. Can you say funnel cake?
In love and light,
Stephanie

Busy day

2011-09-21T19:44:00.001-07:00

So I didn't post anything yesterday but I'm going to make up for it today. Yesterday was a weird day but mostly very productive for me (meaning not so much for the kids...)
Anyways, we started out the day with yoga (more me that the kids but I think they will get it soon). After breakfast I knew I needed to get us all out of the house so we took a nature walk. I had told jaiden I wanted to do a craft today so I asked him what he wanted to do. He said something with glue so we decided on a leaf collage. On the walk we looked for all of the different colored leaves we could find even though there are not too many out yet. When we got home, he cut lots of little leaves out of paper (see below) then glued them down on another sheet. When that dried, he turned it over and glued down all of the real leaves we found on our walk. While all of this was happening, Lilli had her first playdough experience and loved it.
Then we went to the library. Jaiden was playing a new game called math blasters and he was very good. We haven't done any formal math yet and he got it. I was amazed. After we picked out some books we headed home for dinner. While I was making dinner, both kids thought it would be great to play in the yard with their flashlights. They were having so much fun we had to go back out after dark!
Anyways, they are both pooped! Tomorrow is "school" day so that's always fun.
In love and light!
Stephanie

Grocery day

2011-09-19T20:08:00.001-07:00

Mondays are a bit crazy around here because I usually teach on Monday nights. Add to that grocery day and that's hectic. We did get a little playtime and "school" time in though. Lilli has discovered hats and LOVES them and Jaiden has discovered tumblebooks. I found it through our library web site and there is so much online for him. He is into "Ace Lace Bug Detective" now and it will read the kids the books then there are games you play about the books. Really cool stuff! Anyways, here are a few of lilli's hats so enjoy. (I didnt get any pics of jaiden on the computer but I will try to put up the links later.)
In love and light,
Stephanie

A birthday party

2011-09-18T19:33:00.001-07:00

Today is Saturday and it was the day of the 5th anniversary party at Lotus of Life Chiropractic. I have been working with them for about 2 years I think and they are all truly amazing. It was an honor to help celebrate their 5th birthday and the kids had a blast! With the jumpy house, face painting, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, cake and a bunch of other kids, jaiden was asleep before we got on 285.
So if you are ever in the area and need a Wonderful chiropractor, stop by and see dr. Liliana Warner. Their site is www.lotusoflifechiropractic.com and chiropractic care is not just for hurt backs anymore. I dare you to ask me more. ;)
In love and light!
Steph

Update- I think my upload failed yesterday because this was supposed to be for Saturday. Owell, you get the point :)

The end of summer

2011-09-18T19:23:00.001-07:00

Today officially marked the end of summer for the Banguilan household. Today . . . we/I took down the pool. We had so much fun with it and go figure, just as the season was coming to an end, that's when I finally figured out how the keep it balanced. Owell. It's all clean and packed up and ready for next years adventures.
Anna was actually home today so it was mostly a couch day for her and the kids (even though Lilli helped me occasionally). It was a great day and the weather was perfect. With all of the tv time, I decided we needed a little walk so after dinner we trekked up to our corner store for "desert". (pictures below)
So I have to admit that the last few weeks have been a bit challenging for me but today I realized just how lucky / blessed I really am. From my neighbor who has mowed my grass all summer to my amazing partner who is working her butt off to support us, to my kids who surprise me everyday, to my amazing parents (all 4 of them) who never waver in their faith in me. If I know anything, I know that today I am loved! My only hope is that I can give even just a fraction of that love back out.
In love and light,
Stephanie

Friday

2011-09-16T19:18:00.001-07:00

So today is Friday and I didn't get any good pics of what the kids and I did as far as homeschooling but I did take a few at dinner.
This morning we got up and did a kids yoga tape together. It wasn't much of a work out but we had fun. Then we had breakfast of homemade bread, yum! after that j and I started his pot holder weaving. You know the one. I think it's a right of passage that we all did as a kid. He did pretty good. He got about halfway through one. I'm defiantly going to get different bands though. The ones that came with the kit are really thin nylon. Anyways, after that we did sone errands and ended up at the shop. They played and played while I cleaned and heatpresed name badges. After I was done of course jaiden wanted one so Anna did one for each of the kids.
When we were all done at the shop we went to dinner. Jaiden had forgotten he wanted his face painted but promptly remembered once we got to the restaurant so, Anna painted both little faces. After jaiden's was done, Lilli kept saying, "eyes, eyes". She was quite distressed about her brothers new look but soon realized she wanted to be once again, just like him.
In love.
Steph

Our homeschooling adventure for the day

2011-09-15T18:07:00.001-07:00

So I've decided to pose here again. It's not that I stopped but I just ran out of time. Anyways, in case you can't tell by the title, we are homeschooling. We have been for a while but since j is "starting first grade" I thought I could share what we do in the hopes of helping another homeschooling family. I'm in a small (and wonderful) hs group and we meet every thursday morning. We have decided to do monthly themes and this month is "the county fair". I taught today and decided to talk about quilts. I have to admit that I wasn't too excited about it bus as usually, the more I get into it, the more I really get into it. There is so much you can talk about with the fair. We started with talking about the history a bit then we read a WOnderful book called "the elephant quilt". The story is about a family making their way from Missouri to la in a covered wagon. As they go, they record their history in a quilt.
After that, I had each of the kids make their own quilt square out of precut paper. I just had them tape or glue the pieces down but the kids did awesome!!! After we were all done, we tape it together to form a big "quilt". Below is a picture. I'm actually really excited about next weeks lesson. I'm not "teaching" so we will just have to see what d and r have planned. :)
In love and light,
S

October 2010 - Lilli's first birthday

2011-03-26T20:54:00.000-07:00

So, 5 months later I'm finally getting around to uploading the pictures of Lilli's first birthday. We had a great day and Lilli enjoyed herself too. I made the cake as I did for Jaiden's first birthday. It was tomato soup cake and it's really good so don't knock it until you try it.

The above picture is Lilli's cake and the one below is the big birthday cake. Our closest friends and family came out and Lilli got lots of great presents and good play time.

She didn't really know what to think about the cake but he finally did take a bite or two once I got a fork out for her. (just like her brother if I remember correctly.)

She was way over the hat though?

Thanks so much for everyone that came out and made our little girl's first birthday so special. We love you all,

Steph, Anna, Jaiden and Lilli

Jaiden's new lego review

2011-03-26T08:12:00.000-07:00

So, I know that I still have a lot of catching up to do but today is Jaiden's birthday and this is what we did this morning. More pictures to come, I promise. :)

A quick trip from grandma

2010-12-26T11:58:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of October, my mom started her month of traveling. First she came up here to see us for a few days, then she went to visit my sister in Charlotte, and then returned here for Lilli's birthday.We all LOVE it when she comes and I always try to do something special. On this visit, we decided to go to the Chestatee Wildlife Reserve. It's like a small zoo but all of their residents are rescued and permeate. It was so hot but Jaiden insisted on wearing his whole fire fighter outfit. He didn't care to much for feeding the camel but grandma and I had a blast. This is their world famous zedonk, Pippy. She is a very rare cross between a donkey and a zebra.

After that, we were on a mission to pick apples. I was doing my best to get pictures of the 2 of then together but... We picked about 10 lbs of apples and I made the best apple pie filling. (I canned it so we just had one at Christmas.)

On the way home, we found a corn maze. It was fun but I forgot the camera in the car. I love my mom so much and as usual, her trip was too short but we'll see you again in a week.

love and hugs,

steph, anna, jaiden, and lilli

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It's been WAY too long - Our Aug trip to MI

2010-12-25T21:36:00.000-08:00

As I write this, it is Christmas evening 2010. I was just looking back at my blog and I realized just how long it's been since my last post. We've been on vacation, had Lilli's first birthday, Thanksgiving and now Christmas so, I will do my best to catch up. This blog is really my attempt at memory keeping so that when I do get around to scrapbooking, I won't have to remember everything. I'm going to start with our vacation which we took at the beginning of August. Once again, we traveled up to Michigan to the Michigan Womyns Music Festival. This is the last year that Jaiden will be able to go into the festival so it was important to me for us to attend. It was also Lilli's first fest. We have gotten to know so many wonderful womyn up there that it really feels like going home. (I think this was my 8th year going and Anna's 15th?) We took the RV again which really is the only way to travel. We always take at least 2 days to travel so we're not rushed. Once, we finally got on the road, we had a great trip. (We had some RV trouble before we left and thanks to my wonderful neighbors, 8 hours after the RV was loaded, we finally pulled out of the neighborhood. I was about 5 min short of unloading the RV and putting everything in the van...)

Anyways, the trip was very smooth and the kids were great. Jaiden LOVES to RV. The first night we drove late while the kids slept and made it to Kentucky. The next morning we got up early and headed to Patpat and Mimi's (aka my cousins house in Grand Haven). We spent a few days with them but as always, it was not long enough. Then, off to the festival.

When you are at the festival, it's like you are in a different world. It is like a little city and it completely run by womyn (except for the nightly port-a-jane cleanings which are usually men.) It's hard to explain but the energy is totally different here. For me, it gives me a chance to "get out the the rat race". Even though I'm staying home with the kids now, you still get caught up in the stuff. It seems like you can't sit down because there is always laundry, dishes, or someone that is hungry, tired, or dirty. Up here, there is no washing machine and our "house" is a LOT smaller. We cool outside and don't have to clean toilets. If we were vegetarians, we wouldn't have to cook at all but alas, we need meat. Most of the mornings, I got up early (which is very unusual for me) and took the approx 1 mi total hike into "town" to get breakfast. It was a wonderful way to wake up; walking through the forest of Michigan.

There were/are many great workshops and even a few that Anna and I got to go to. The kids enjoyed there little time in "sprouts" and we enjoyed our kid-free hour or so. I didn't get a chance to take too many pictures there because I just forgot. We were having so much fun. On the land, which is over 500 acres, they have several labyrinth. One of them way on our way in town which Jaiden loved. We couldn't go by it without him walking it. Very close to that way the butterfly nursery so we took the opportunity to learn about the butterflies life cycle.

As Part of your admission, you are asked to do 2 3-hour work shifts. We always choose to do one in RV where we can help keep that area running smoothly and help the RV newbies. The other work shift we did was brother sun. This is where the boys over 5 and their families camp. We had never been out there and since if we come back, this is where we will be, I thought I'd better check it out. It was much smaller than I though and all of the boys seemed to be having a great time. I'm not sure if we will come back because I really don't like the idea that my son can't come with me just because he is a boy. (I understand it but I don't like it...) So we will just have to see. It is such an amazing place and I'm so glad that we were able to go as a family one more year.

All good things must come to an end to we left the festival and traveled over to Newago, Mi where Pat and Sheryl have their cabin. The picture above was taken about 5 min after we left the festival... Pat and Sheryl have a wonderful little 1 bedroom home that's on a very small dirt road. We were lucky though to find a campground about a mile away. The next day, Pat came a picked us up and took us to the cabin. Their cabin is right on a stream and the sound of the water is so peaceful. They have a wonderful porch that overlooks their mini waterfall and a bridge that goes across. Anna enjoyed a lot of r&r and Jaiden and Lilli got to do lots of exploring. (Most of Lilli's exploring was done from the carrier but...) I did a little of both.

This is the entrance to the house. The balloons were out because Sheryl threw Pat a surprise birthday party the day before.

Sheryl and Jaiden in the boat.

This is the little dirt road so no RV...

Jaiden found or remembered the old red tractor and had to tell us all about it.

After we left the cabin, we headed home. we usually take 2 days to travel so we can stop and be tourists if we want. This year, we decided to stop at Rock City. First we did the Incline Railroad. Jaiden had fun but to him, it was just a train going up a mountain. After that, we headed up to Rock City. Anna had to drive up the mountain and I just closed my eyes... Rock City is a very interesting place: weird but interesting. It was very hot but we had a blast. It's like a maze where some spots are almost too small to get through. At the end of our trek, we all got some ice cream and I finally got my bird house!

It was such an amazing trip! Anna and I are realizing that life is about experiences so to have had this one is a gift I will always treasure. Now, on to the next one.

Love and hugs,

steph, anna, jaiden, and lilli

Christmas

2010-11-23T19:33:00.001-08:00

I promise that I will update with more pictures soon because I have a ton but for now, I'm posting the kids Christmas lists. I think I'm going to brave black Friday this year so for anyone else that is just as crazy, I thought I'll give you some direction. These are just suggestions and we are TRULY appreciative of any gift.

Most of you know that I am planning on homeschooling the kids so I would really like to keep any gift on the educational spectrum. Jaiden is getting so close to being able to reading so anything that would help. I also want to start with the 50 states/geography and with that, add in some history. I will also be introducing telling time. I have added a few things to our Amazon wish list. It's under hugsarehealthy@yahoo.com. We are also planning on getting the kids a play kitchen. We have some "food" but anything along those lines would be great. As part of our reading comprehension, we are going to be reading a book then watching the movie to see what is different. I was thinking about the Disney classics like Dumbo, Bambi, Alice in Wonderland, The Adventures of Huck Finn and The Jungle Book. (We have The Jungle Book book but not the DVD).

As far as clothes, neither kid really needs winter stuff and summer stuff is hard to find now. Jaiden is always up for firetruck apparel though and right now, I'm buying 5T winter and summer. For Lilli, she is in 12 mo winter and hopefully 18 mo summer. She is just now fitting into her 12 mo stuff so... As far as shoes, 12 for Jaiden and 5 for Lilli.

As with most things lately, I stressed out about this list so it is by no means complete but that would take the fun out of it right. ;) If anyone have any ideas for Anna that they would like to share, I would be greatly appreciative. For me, I really want the things that money can't buy and I have everything I really want: my kids and a wonderful partner. I would really like a Georgia bird book that is organized by color and a magnetic wand for canning.

Well, here are a few picture from when we went apple picking recently...

Love and many hugs,

Steph, Anna, Jaiden, and Lilli

Happy Nine Month Birthday Little Girl!

2010-07-23T17:05:00.000-07:00

Today is June 23 and today, Lilli is officially 9 months old. I have been in denial a bit about her growing up but for some reason, this week I've felt the need to purge and I'm really looking forward to her signing. (I said talking with Jaiden and look where it got me ;) I finally cleaned out her drawers (so we jumped from 0-3 months to 6-9 months) and listed "the stuff" on Craig's list. I already feel lighter and we haven't even sold it yet.

Anyways, back to my precious little girl. She is so unique, so wonderful, and so frustrating all in one neat little package. Physically, she is crawling like mad and cruising on everything. (no walking yet but soon...) She hates to be on her back which included getting her diaper changes and she LOVES FOOD!!! As has been the case since she was born, she still loves to be roughed up, except by her brother. She adored being tossed and swung and rolled about. And she still loves the water.

Emotionally, she is so smart and she knows exactly what she wants. She gets frustrated when she can't have it or can do it. She sees Jaiden do it so 'why can't I?' Her favorite place to be is in someones arms, usually mine or on my back. She sleeps great but mine has been a little lacking. We are working on that and last night she slept for 3 hours by herself! (usually it's about 30-60 mins) It is a process and I am in the process of enjoying the journey. The absolute best thing for me about Lilli is her laugh. It is most defiantly one of a kind. (but so is her scream.)

For some reason, nine months is a milestone in my head. As I'm sure she will do most things in her life, she has reached this one with grace and a ferocity like no other. I can honestly say that I am looking forward to tomorrow.

Happy birthday little one,

momma

The furry kid

2010-07-22T22:16:00.000-07:00

So our furry kid (Toby) decided that he wanted to show the fur-less ones that he was just as cute so, he decided to set up a professional photo shoot. He went all out and even took a bath. He has been doing so good for the past 4 years in just laying low and letting the new kids get all of the attention that he finally decided to show the wee ones who really is the fairest of them all. Take a look...

In all seriousness, a BIG thanks goes out to Heather Smith at Smith Photo Design for making out big mutt look like a movie star. Heather does some amazing work and will hopefully be shooting the whole family when we return from vacation. You can check out some more of her work at:http://www.smithphotodesign.blogspot.com

in love and light,

steph, anna, jaiden, lilli, and toby

Co-Sleeping at its Best!!!

2010-07-11T21:48:00.000-07:00

For a while, I've been doing my best to get into a bedtime routine and put the kids to bed at a reasonable time so that I might have a few moments of adult time. It's been very working well and Anna and I have both been enjoying our evening time. Tonight I wanted to move to the next step and get Lilli used to sleeping on her own. I don't think he is ready to move to the other room and the pack-and-play is too small so, just like her brother, she now has her own pallet. When I was laying with Lilli, Jaiden came over and asked if he could lay with us. After about 15 minuets, I got up and this is what I saw.

I'm not sure how long it will last but it was way too cute to pass up the picture...
In love and light,
Steph, Anna, Jaiden and Lilli

Jaiden's first Lego Review

2010-06-21T13:35:00.001-07:00

Most of you already know that Jaiden LOVES legos. Some of you even know that he loves watching Legos on youtube. Mostly he watches videos that other people make of their review of a certain kit. For a while now, whenever he was playing legos, I would hear him talking to himself. I finally figured out that he was doing his own reviews so... We decided to do an official review and post it on youtube so now, he can watch himself. We hope you enjoy and for the record, he really does put most of it together by himself. (When he gets stuck, he just asks me for help.)
Love and hugs,
Steph, Anna, Jaiden and Lilli

Jaiden's First day of camp

2010-06-15T12:46:00.000-07:00

The big news this week is that Jaiden is going to his first ever summer camp. It's Superhero camp and it's all week 9-12. There are 9 total kids in his class: 8 boys ages 4-5 and 1 girl. He did great his first day! They made spiders. I resisted the urge to take a picture of him walking in the door but I couldn't resist this picture of the artist with his first camp creation. (He had a hard time this morning but I think that was more due to the am-ness than camp. When I picked him up today, he was already telling me what they are doing tomorrow.)

Below are a few pictures for the past weekend. We went p to NC to see the other grans and were joined by the cousins. Sunday we/ the kids played in the water before dinner and from the looks of it, they all had a great time. To my surprise, Jaiden didn't want to get in the pool. He alternated between playing inside with his Lego's and playing outside being the lifeguard. Later I got his water guns out and he enjoyed those too... Lilli was her beautiful charming self and her big news.... (drum roll please) .... she got her first tooth!!! No picture of that though because it's still too small but they will come.

Enjoy the pictures,

Steph, Anna, Jaiden and Lilli

This one is an old one but I just can't resist that smile!!!!!

Lilli

2010-04-06T08:28:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to add a little about my little girl. I added these a while ago but never uploaded them. I took these around Jaiden birthday (in March). It was a beautiful sunny day at the shop which has the pretty green grass in the evening when the light is the best. She was NOT happy about being on the grass but eventually warmed up on the blanket. She has the most amazing smile and this is when her hair still stood up. I uploaded them in haste because my dad was lamenting about not ever seeing pictures of the grand kids. I hope you enjoy the smiles as much as we are!!!
In love and light,
Steph, Anna, Jaiden, and Lilli

My Son is AWESOME!!!!!

2010-04-06T08:06:00.001-07:00

My step sister started a tradition for her kids and I think it's a great one so I'm going to continue it as well. (Thanks Bev!) So in honor of my little man turning 4, here is a little about my wonderful, amazing, and (in his words) terrific son.
Anyone that knows Jaiden knows that his favorite thing in the world is firetrucks and now he has added Lego's to his list. He adores his sister and all things that go and his newest passion is dirt. He is thoughtful and kind and constantly amazes me with the things he says. He can be shy and reserved and loves to study things and see how everything works. He's not very fond of the water (ie. baths and swimming pools) or "green stuff" and his favorite food is still sushi and strawberries. He reminds me everyday what it is like to live in the moment and for that, I will be eternally grateful. We are starting on our homeschooling journey and I can't wait to see what he teaches me next!He is the most beautiful soul, inside and out, that I have ever met!
I love you sweet boy!
Happy Birthday,
mommy

Jaiden's 4!!!

2010-03-29T08:12:00.000-07:00

This past weekend our little boy turned 4!!! It was bit low key but we all had a great time. (My mom and I came to the realization that unless something really good or really bad happens, you don't remember your birthdays so I just wanted him to have a good time.) We had a sand box out back and bubbles out front and a home made green car cake. If I had to pick a theme, it would be "Jaiden's favorites": green, cars, dirt, friends. When he was opening presents, my favorite response was "wowser!" in response to the Rescue Mater shirts and short he got from Aunt Tenten (aka Martina). The Lego shirt he got from Patpat and Mimi was dirty otherwise he would have worn it. (I was lucky to get it in the wash because he has been wearing it for 4 days (with 1 wash in between.) And now, he dreams in Lego's... We missed the Michaels so Cathy, these are for you...
Love and hugs,
Steph, Anna, Jaiden, and Lilli

The Pre-Party

The Main Event!!!

Our Little Girl

2010-03-29T07:55:00.000-07:00

It seems that I know a lot of photographers but... somehow we haven't be able to get any professional pictures of Lilli yet so here is my attempt. The light wasn't very good but she was in rare form so...
Enjoy!

More from our FL trip

2010-03-29T07:37:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time in FL that this is the only thing that could possible follow...

I know I have a picture that is similar to this one except with Jaiden... We just LOVE our Grandpa Guy!!!

Love and hugs,

Steph, Anna, Jaiden and Lilli

The Orlando Science Center

2010-03-12T19:42:00.000-08:00

Today we went to the Orlando Science Center. This is a place that I have very fond memories of from when I was little. It's changed a lot but it's still very cool. They have since moved to a new building and added a bunch of new things for kids of all ages. The first thing we did was "pick oranges" and it turned out to be Jaiden's favorite. The kids would "pick" the oranges off the tree then put them in 1 of 2 places. I think he spent 30 min in this room alone...

The next stop was the kitchen which is always a hit with my boy. This one was even red so it was a fire kitchen.

After that was the water table. This is one of the better ones that we've seen. It's basically a flat table with pegs in it that moves water from one end to the other. The kids would then use the blue and yellow barriers to divert the water different ways. Then they could use the boats to show where the current way flowing... He had a blast and he was very focused.

Of course they had a transportation room which was again, set up very nicely with trains, planes and a space shuttle. (Grandma liked this room because there were nice soft couches.)

As with most museums, they had a rotating exhibit. The one we saw was frogs. Jaiden was not very impressed with this one but this tank was pretty cool...

Then we came to the room that reminded me of the old science center with all of the classic stuff. The one that captivated Jaiden was the pine car track. He mist have run that car down the track 20 times and he was so focused! Grandma and I got to play with a lot of the other toys but we'll have to come back when Jaiden is a bit older.

Another traveling exhibit was the Dino's. Again, Jaiden was not very impressed. He just wanted to see the one that moved. Jess and Anna wanted a video of Lilli 'growling' in front of the Dino's but no luck. The closest I got was a picture.

Last but not least was the toy room. Grandma and I were quite tired by this time but Jaiden was still going strong. They had this great house where the kids could build the house. I think he earned his contractors license today...It was a great day. We were sad that Nanay wasn't there too but we'll come back. Lilli has been learning b leaps and bounds. She can now roll with ease and is even pushing up on her hands. I call this baby yoga. She is so tickled with her new skill. Tomorrow is fishing with grandpa guy so more picture to come...

In love and light,

Steph, (Anna), Jaiden and Lilli

More FL

2010-03-10T19:52:00.001-08:00

So today was a GREAT day. The kids and I spent the morning by the pool enjoying the FL sunshine. After lunch, we went to Bounce U and Jaiden and I got our date. Grandma help Lilli so we got to play and play and bounce and bounce. I was laughing so hard my whole head hurt and Jaiden and I were both sweating after the hour and a half. We were the only ones there so we had the run of the place! After that, we met Ashley and Claudia for dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. Ashley brought her "lil man" who is 2 months younger that Jaiden. Again, Jaiden played and played and played some more. (Close to the end of dinner, the music came on. I looked over to find Jaiden in a fenced off corner of the deck dancing. It was great!) Needless to say, he didn't eat so we brought his dinner home. Shortly after we got home, this is what I found...

Here are a few pictures from our morning too...

gotta love the hair!!!

Love and hugs,

steph, anna, jaiden, and lilli

Our Fl Trip

2010-03-10T08:38:00.000-08:00

Here is a little teaser from our trip. More to come... :)

Lilli

2010-03-08T07:32:00.000-08:00

This one speaks for itself (or herself)...

Enjoy!

Snow Day!!!

2010-02-13T20:18:00.001-08:00

Here in GA, it's pretty rare that we get snow and when we do, it surely doesn't stick arourd too long so we quickly took advantage of it. Jaiden and I stayed in mostof the day while it snowed, and snowed, and snowed... 3-4" total. Before the sun went down, we managed to get all dressed up and outside. (all 4 of us.) Here are a few pictures...
Love and hugs,
Steph, Anna, Jaiden and Lilli

Part 2

2010-02-06T09:15:00.000-08:00

Here are a few misc pictures from my camera. I found that toting 2 kids and a camera is often impractical so the phone is a blessing.

Jaiden at the park exploring all of the different ways to go down the slide.

Sister Love!

Beautiful babies!! (even though Jaiden says he's a big boy.)

The Yellow River Game Ranch.

Happy Hair!

Not so happy hair...

Even with a bow, the hair still wins.

This is from Christmas day when the big boys (Tommy and Davie) race their rc cars. Jaiden had to get in on the action so... If you listen, you can hear him say "Watch out, race cars coming through."

I think this one speaks for itself.

Love and hugs!

Steph, Anna, Jaiden and Lilli

ps - Anna is doing great too. Maybe she will hijack the blog again and tell you for herself ;)

Wow, it's been a while

2010-02-06T07:58:00.002-08:00

So I just realized just how long its been since I updated the blog and to my defense, I tried about a month ago. I got a few pictures uploaded and someone needed something so... I guess we'll start with Christmas. It was wonderful! We went down to FL which we haven't done in a while and of course, Jaiden loved all of the attention and Lilli got plenty of hugs (not to mention all of the presents that both kids got. A BIG Thanks to all!) Above is one version of the traditional "family photo" which is always amusing. It's great to see how the family has changes over the past 30+ years.

I recently read a book in my quest to become an API leader that really inspired me and got me thinking about family and the real meaning of the word. The book was "Hold on to your Kids" and it was all about attachment, what that means and how to create it. In years past, society was set up to foster the child's attachment to an adult (usually the parents) but now, with technology going faster than traditions, parents need to actively pursue a relationship with their kids. One part of the book was about creating traditions. I realize now that my family DOES have them, I really enjoy them, and I want to share them with my children. I guess have kids of your own lets you stop and think about what is important. For me, it's my kids.
Speaking of which, we have all enjoyed me staying home with them. Jaiden thoroughly enjoys the library and the park (when it's warm enough) and Lilli LOVES the bath (see the pics below).

Gilbert loves everyone but especially Lilli. It seems like whenever I am nursing or she is sitting somewhere, he is right next to (or on top of) her. Sometimes he will play with her but we try to limit that behavior since his play includes his needle like appendages.

I still struggle to get Jaiden in the bath but when I succeed, he has a great time. I am constantly trying to find some new use for an old thing that will entice him to de-stink so on this occasion, it was a pitcher. These pictures are definitely going in the scrap book. He is not bathing with sister yet but I'm hopeful that when she gets a bit bigger, they will have pitchers of fun together.

With the extra time of us being home, we had the opportunity to make a cake. One evening, while Anna and Jaiden were on YouTube, they came across this cake so... we made it. Of course jaiden had as much fun eating it as he did making it but that's what it's all about, right!

Lilli, on the other hand, would probably stay in the bath 24-7 if she could. that is my secret weapon if she gets too fussy, which isn't too often but it's still good to have. She is a GREAT baby but I often say how could a baby not be great. Last week she started blowing bubbles and just yesterday, she rolled over 3 times! She sleeps great at night and it helps a lot that she is in our room.

( I figured I'd include a picture of me for once...)

Jaiden's breakfast face: frozen blueberries.

I'm going to upload a few videos and a few more pictures from my phone so stay tuned.

For those of you that are interested, I am in the process of becoming an API Leader. That stands for Attachment Parenting International. You can get more information at http://www.attachmentparenting.org/ but to me, it's all about parenting with love and respect. I will keep you up to date as to my progress.

Love and hugs!

Steph, Anna, Jaiden and Lilli

The Newest Banguilan

2009-11-30T09:28:00.000-08:00

This past week was Thanksgiving but I forgot to bring my camera so,we have pictures of everything but the family visits. We had great fun though. Thursday was spent with the Banguilan side at Anna's brothers house. There was a lot a really great food and lots of friends for Jaiden to play with. This year was my first to try a deep-fried turkey and if you've never had one,you should try it. They are really good and quick to cook.

Friday, Jaiden Lilli and I went up to Hendersonville to see the crew up there. My sister and her family came over from Charlotte and my step sister and her family came up from Greenville. Jaiden and Lilli did great in the car (it is a 3 hour drive) which means that I did good too... We stayed the night friday and came home Saturday after a little shopping in Asheville.

Now on the the pictures that I do have. As is becoming a tradition in our home, we decorated a gingerbread house again. This year is was mostly anna and jaiden but she sis take some pictures. Once again, I think Jaiden ate more than actually got on the house but I think that is the fun of it. It will be interesting to see how much is left bu Christmas...

We also had some time to take some family pictures.nothing formal but I think they are the best we have so far.

Every day, Lilli is showing a little more personality. She loves to smile for anna and she loves o be held. Just like her brother, she also love to cuddle.

This is as close as we can get to a family picture.

And this is our new addition. His name is Gilbert (we think) and he is fitting in wonderfully. He was born in a home with 2 small kids and 2 big dogs so he gets along with everyone. He too loves to cuddle. I got him from my sister so I picked him up in NC. Needless to say we had a 3 hour drive home with me, 2 babies, and 1 kitten. I think I did pretty good though; the kitten only cried for about an hour, Jaiden only had to stop once to pee and Lilli only cried for about 45 min (the last 45 mins.) and I still got home somewhat sane. Anyways, he is Jaiden's new best friend and he thinks Toby is his momma...

Yesterday, I left Lilli in bed to sleep a bit longer. When I went to check on her, this is what I found.

Jaiden continues to love the camera so whenever we have it out, he has to take some pictures too. Here is one of his self-portraits.

And as if that wasn't enough, we (anna) were dog sitting for a friend. Mickey is a great dog and anna couldn't resist getting some pictures. I was impressed that she got them both to sit at the same time...

Lots of love and hugs,

Steph, Anna, Jaiden, and Lilli

It's finally done!!!

2009-11-18T19:29:00.000-08:00

It's been about 2 months but Jaiden's new quilt / duvet cover is finally done. For the last 3 days, everynight he has ask me where his new blanket was so finally, it's done. I'm not sure how much you can tell by the pictures but the whole thing has cars, truck, firetrucks, police cars, ect, ect... We are bith very happy with the final product. I've also included a picture of the new corner unit my dad built. It is the Prefect addition for his room. THANKS POPS!!!

Love and hugs,

Steph, Anna, Jaiden, and Lilli

A Beautiful Weekend

2009-11-16T09:09:00.000-08:00

Here in the Banguilan home, we had a great weekend!!! The weather was perfect so I really wanted to get outside. Saturday, that was not to be but Sunday, that was a different story. We'll start with Saturday though.

We woke up and as usual, Jaiden wanted to hold his little sister. Lilli's personality is just starting to come out and I think she really enjoys these moments too. After the photo shoot, we decided to get up, get breakfast and get showered. We took our first family shower and while I was getting a towel for Lilli, Jaiden found his old froggie towel and couldn't resist. Once again, Anna couldn't resist taking a few more pictures.

Even though I desperately wanted to be outside, I made the decision that we should go to the mall. (I had a little help from Jaiden too.) We decided to go to the "MALL OF GEORGIA" (echo, echo, echo...) We had a great time. At one end of the mall, there is a little kid play place and even though it was packed, the mall was strangely calm and even enjoyable. The highlight of Jaiden's trip was the train though. Going around the kiddie place was a train. I've seen them at outdoor events but I've never seen them inside. There were no tracks so it was run by what looked like a really modified golf cart. None the less, Jaiden (and Anna) had great fun. While they were riding the train, they saw Santa. Who would have guessed that Santa would be out before thanksgiving but Jaiden wanted to go see him so... off we went. It was great! There were no lines! We were in and out in about 20 mins. (The only reason it took so long is because the 1 family in front of us couldn't get their kids to smile. It took them about 15-20 tries... My family - first shot!) Anyway, Santa was great in that he made sure I heard all of Jaiden's 2 requests, none of which I had heard before.

After the Santa excitement, we decided to get some dinner and head home. It was a great day even if it was inside. With that behind us, I decided that Sunday would definitely be spent outside so we decided to go to Stone Mountain. Anna wanted to take Jaiden up the side of the Mountain in the rail cars so, we did. I wasn't sure how he would take it, being up so high, but he did great. This is a quick picture Anna took while we were standing in line. Lilli is in her new sling that Nana made for us. We both LOVE it. (BTW - the fabric that she picked out has pink Lillis on it just for our little flower.)

It ended up to be a perfect day and I swear that we could see all the way to TN. In this picture, you can just barely see the mountains in the distance. We must had sat there for an hour just staring at the sky and enjoying the sun.

Here is the rail car that we rode up on.

Jaiden and Nanay were a bit more adventurous that I was so they went down to the edge where the fence was. You can't tell that she absolutely adores him...

After is got dark, we went over to Cross Roads to have dinner. They too had started their Christmas festivities so the lights were beautiful. We discovered that Jaiden loves to shop. Maybe because that's seems to be all we do but anyways, he loves it. After dark, they had their little Christmas parade which was short and sweet and Lilli even woke up to see it. Anna now calls her roster because her hair sticks up n the back. Even though we are seen more of her eyes, we still can't tell what color they are. I think brown and Anna thinks hazel but we both agree, they are stunning.

Here is a little video of our little girl in "action".

We hope that you are having as much fun as we are!

Love and hugs!!!

Steph, Anna, Jaiden and Lilli

silly time with momma

2009-11-05T18:20:00.001-08:00

Now back to our regularly scheduled blog...

This morning we had a special little treat. Nanay stayed home a bit longer jut to cook us breakfast and to let me leep a little bit longer. These are the highlights.

Jaiden found a new hat. (a bowl.)

...and we got to play a new game. kiss momma - kiss Jaiden!!!

And this one is just for Gran-gran!

love and hugs!!!

Steph, Anna, Jaiden, and Lilli

The adventures of "me"

2009-11-04T15:59:00.000-08:00

This is not going to be the usual post so if your looking for the wonderful pictures of our beautiful family, check back later. The title of this blog is (or should be) the adventures of Jaiden and Lilli one day at a time but today I'm feeling the need to share part of my adventure. Not so much for anyone else's benefit but more for a feeling of just getting it out knowing that someone else will see it, understand it, and somehow validate it even if it is all unspoken. I'm still not sure that this is the right place but here we go none the less...
I guess we'll start with my day. I had a feeling it was coming but this morning, I lost a very dear friend; my cat of 10 years Oscar. He was always a very loyal companion and as much as any cat can be, he was mine. His energy will be greatly missed along with the occasional head-butts and the evening lap warming.
Along with this loss, I feel like my life is taking a new direction. I realized today that I've had Oscar as long as I've been in my current profession (a little bit of everything at Studio 8). Yesterday, I went to the shop for a visit for the first time since Lilli's birth and it was a very weird feeling. Not bad but weird. It was like suddenly looking down and realizing that the shoes you've been wearing for the past 11 years don't fit anymore. They're very comfortable shoes but when you look down, they just don't feel good. When you look a little closer, you realize that they don't look good either and they have a few holes in them. It's not really that big of a deal because you know you can just go get a new pair of shoes it's just a weird feeling because you've worn them so long. Anyways, that's how I felt yesterday at a place where I've called home for almost 11 years. It seems like everywhere I look, I see change. Good change but change none the less. One neighbor is moving due to foreclose, another lost his job, a new life is born, and an old friend is lost. I feel so blessed and I'm not scared. I think I'm just trying to figure out this new role called "me". Anna had a meetup last week called "What hats do you wear". I feel like I am gracefully taking off one hat in favor of another even if I'm not sure what that new hat is. I am so enjoying staying home with my children and I'm not under any delusion that this is it for me. In some ways, I envy those women (and men) that can devote their whole lives to their kids putting all of their dream on hold. I know that I'm not one of those people. My children will always come first and how can I teach then to be true to themselves and enjoy life if I can't do the same.
When I think back, I had a similar feeling to this after Jaiden was born. That's when I decided to become a Hypnobabies instructor. I have never regretted that decision and because of that I know that the decisions I make from here will always lead me in the right direction, I'm not sure where this new road is going but I'm going to do my best to enjoy the ride.
In love and light,
Steph

Halloween 2009 - a first for everyone

2009-10-31T19:10:00.000-07:00

This year, our Halloween was a bit more laid back. Lolo and Lola Kathy came in from AL to visit and the even brought a friend with them. Maya, Kathy's grand-daughter came to celebrate her 7th birthday (and to see the new baby.) Everyone fell in love with our little girl.

Uncle Tony and Aunt Liza even came over for a visit.

After a 3 hour family nap, we got ready for trick-or-treating. Jaiden couldn't decide what he wanted to be so I think the final verdict was a fire-fighter pirate. (notice the sword... which did eventually get ditched because it impeded his ability to run to the doors. Nothing like candy to motivate.) He started out just wanting to be a pirate but wouldn't put on the shirt. Then he switched from the pirate hat to the fire-fighter hat so there you go... I was originally just going to let Anna take Jaiden (and Maya) out but as she was walking out the door, she said, "Now, how do you do this again..." I remembered that she didn't grow up with holidays and had no clue how to trick-or-treat... I quickly grabbed the baby and some shoes so off we went...

Lilli was a zebra (thanks to aunt jess) complete with ears and a tail. She was nice and warm for a cold and rainy trick-or-treat.

Nanay was GREAT!!!! Jaiden said he wanted her to be a pirate too so, never the one to disappointed, she pulled this out of the closet. (I'm not sure how many people can randomly pull a pirate costume out of their closet but that's my girl!) What you can't see in this picture is the sword and the thigh high leather boots... I am so luck/ blessed to have such a wonderful family!

A few final notes. I realized again tonight that to me, trick-or-treating is a very odd tradition. As a parent, sending my 3 year old up to strangers doors for candy is more than a bit frightening. As an adult, I remember thinking of the parents who would drive their kids around in their van and how it was some how "cheating". This year, we were those parents...

Much Love and Hugs!!!
Steph, Anna, Jaiden and Lilli

2009-10-27T22:17:00.000-07:00

Gran Gran ... part of the official Lillianna delivery team.... wooohoo!! Momma Steph, literally hours after giving birth, she is such a hostess....

Fuzzy baby love!!!

The kidzzzz ....No refund needed!!

2009-10-27T21:51:00.000-07:00

Thanks Steph, you sure do make some pretty kidz....
Lovin' my family bigger to 'da sky!!

2009-10-27T21:35:00.000-07:00

Amazing....

Happy Nanay (pronounced nie-nie)Love...love...love :)

The "real" story....by Nanay

2009-10-27T20:13:00.000-07:00

It was a few days after her official due date and all through the house nothing was stirring, ok, Steph was stirring, being quiet as a mouse.

We started our hypnosis scripts and that just wouldn't do, so we found a rocker and some toast, nothing really new.

We relaaaaaaaxed and used our peeaaacccce ques, Kerry would be so proud, we were very calm and not very loud.

Call the midwife.."call back in 30, don't put her in water, it will slow things down.

Baby is on its way and the midwife is heading to town!

Mary (Steph's mom) hears us stirring and comes in to see. "What can i do?" Some towels and some blankies please....

No stopping now baby is on the way, she is wanting to come out and play....

We put steph in the shower to settle things down, it's as if we knew that speaker phone would have to do as midwife became coach, talking us through...

Watch for the head, watch for the cord, gently guide, a little pull and then sliiiiide... she had her water birth...so, it was in the tub, what a great way to come into the world...rub a dub dub...

Our little girl is here with very little fuss, gran-gran here to help was a great plus!

She has been weighed and measured, kissed and loved, too bad I didn't have time to get my catchers glove!!

She is finally here!!!

2009-10-24T13:05:00.000-07:00

After a few extra days, our precious little girl is here. Lillianna Marie Banguilan was born at 6:53 am on 10/23/09 in our home. She weighs 9 lbs 9 oz and is 20.5" long. At the moment, she is sleeping peacefully in her swing and Nanay and Jaiden are at the Taste of Suwanee Festival (so it's a little quiet). I thought I would take this moment and write down some details before I forget so for those that are interested. It's a bit long and has lots of details so I posted it on my other blog at www.atlantahypnobabies.blogspot.com. Anna's versions is coming soon for "the rest of the story..."

All in all, it was a wonderful and very FAST birth. 3 hours from start to finish. Jaiden is doing GREAT too. He loves his little sister and is very helpful. He is getting plenty of attention and lots of play time with all of the friends that are stopping by.

The happy big brother.

Day 2: Lilli's first bath.

Waiting for Baby

2009-10-21T07:21:00.001-07:00

Well, while we are waiting, we decided to have some fun with our (for the moment) only child. As well as keeping me busy and walking, the park up the street provided us with a well needed distraction. Monday, my mom, Jaiden, and I went to the park (after 2 Dr's appts) so we could all stretch our legs, get out of the car and get our minds off the fact that it really could be another week + before we meet our little one. So... here are a few pictures I managed to catch of Jaiden. He was a good bit more adventurous than normal which was great to see.
Love and hugs to all,
Steph, Anna, Jaiden and still???

39 weeks+ and a little catch-up

2009-10-17T08:16:00.000-07:00

In preparation for our new little one's arrival, I've been cleaning, organizing, cleaning, cooking and buying the necessary items. Part of this process includes cleaning out the camera where I found some great pictures of some of our latest adventures (that I have neglected to put up.)

We've been very busy in the past month with an art show, a baby shower, belly casting and general preparations so we'll start with the art show. On September 26, 2009, Anna hosted yet another art show at her gallery (/our studio). For this one, she joined up with a local art teacher, Anita, and sponsored an art contest for kids. The name of the contest was "Art is for the Birds" in honor of Anna's mom who loved chickens and the fact that Anita loved penguins. Any submission that had to do with chickens or penguins was accepted. There were 8 awards given and included a free class at Anita's ArtsCool in Buford to each 'winner'. We had a great turn out with a lot of variety. In addition to all of the kids art, Anna had some new artist featuring their work as well. Anna and Jesika still showed a good bit of their work too. the evening was a great success that included a TV crew, live music by Reklin, face painting, a graffiti wall for all to contribute to and live art by Anna herself. (I didn't stay for the entire show as I was quite tired but Jaiden and I did make an appearance.) We didn't get pictures for that night but here is Anita and some of her art. If you would like to stop by, all of the art is still up and will be for another month. I think Anna is planning another show in the beginning of December but we'll keep you posted.

On to the baby shower...

We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends who decided that second babies need a little attention too. On Oct 3, Martina and Jesika threw a "She's about to pop" baby shower. We had a great time and Jaiden even got a lot of cool stuff too. Thanks to all that came out to celebrate the arrival of Banguilan baby 2 and of course to Martina and Jess for everything!

When I was pregnant with Jaiden, We decided that a great way to celebrate the pregnancy was to get some maternity photos taken. I really enjoyed the experience as well as looking back at the pictures. For this pregnancy, we decided to change it up a bit so we did a belly casting. For those who don't know what that is, basically you take a plaster mold of your pregnant belly then (if you choose) decorate it however you would like. In true Anna and Steph fashion, we invited a few friends (Jess - the other resident artist who is studying plaster casting in her 3d art class right now, and Crystal - our good friend, artist, fellow screen printer and photographer for 'the event') and made it a party. It was great fun, really messy, and went a lot quicker that we all thought but the casting turned out great.

Through all of the preparations, Jaiden has been the wonderful and amazing child that he has always been so it was a wonderful surprise and blessing that one of our clients (who has 2 young boys too) stopped by this week with a hugh box of dress up clothes that were just Jaiden's size. When I think of dress-up, I think of little girls but boys love it too. Throughout the past week, Jaiden has been trying one each of the costumes, posing for a quick picture and then promptly taking them off. I guess the act of getting dressed is more fun than the act of pretending to be something you know nothing about... Anyways, here are a few pictures and big thanks to Sherri!!!

So last but certainly not least, baby #2. As I write this, I am 39 weeks and 3 days pregnant. Anna and I are both very excited about meeting our new arrival even though I think we are the only ones being patient about it. We have all of our necessary supplies for the birth and beyond. I checked the weather and all is clear so we don't have to worry about the roads washing out. My mom is on here way up as we speak so now... we wait. I am constantly thinking of "one more thing" to do or to get but in reality, we're ready. Things have been feeling a bit different the past day or so but nothing major so next week, I'm going to spend with my mom and my wonderful son just relaxing and enjoying being a family of 3 until we become a wonderful family of 4. I have so many things I want to share with he new baby but I think that will not be on the world wide web. So for all of you out there waiting with baited breath, have no fear, we will post pictures as soon as he or she decides that the time in finally right.

With MANY hugs and loves,

Steph, Anna, Jaiden and bb2

ps - and yes, I can still smile at 39 weeks! ;)

my sewing adventure

2009-09-15T16:23:00.000-07:00

With this pregnancy, I've found that I am nesting much (MUCH) more and for far longer that when I was pregnant with Jaiden. That being said, I've been sewing. I'm outgrowing my maternity tops and I just can't bear to spend money on clothes that I might wear for a few more weeks so I decided to make my own tops. I've made 2 so far. The first one looks a but "frock-ish" so until I alter it, you will not be seeing any pictures. The second one turned out much better. It still needs a bit of adjusting but it's wearable, it fits, and I think it's kind of cute. My lesson in all of this is that I really need to make 2: 1 from the pattern and 1 that fits me... Anyways, Here are also some belly pictures of my week pregnant belly too. And of course, I had to throw in a few of Jaiden. When we went to Joanns, Jaiden picked up a kit to paint motorcycles so here is our artist in action.
Love and hugs,
Steph, Anna, Jaiden and ???

Jaiden's new Halloween costume. I think we will have to get another one before then because I have a strange feeling that this one will be worn out. (He hasen't taken it off since we got it on Sunday...)

a little compairson

2009-08-23T09:31:00.000-07:00

So I was looking through my old photos and I found a few from when I was pregnant with Jaiden. Everyone keeps commenting on how big I am so I just wanted to see if I really am bigger so see for yourself...

20 weeks with ???

26 weeks with Jaiden

27 weeks with ???

30 weeks with ????

33 weeks with Jaiden

Our Natural Born Boater

2009-08-16T20:23:00.000-07:00

Here is a little video.
Enjoy...

Our Baby Moon

2009-08-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

This year, we decided that for our annual vacation, we would go to Fl to see the Grans before the new baby comes. We always have a great time and this year/trip has been no exception. We drove half the way Thursday night and the other half Friday so it was a surprisingly easy trip. Jaiden, as always, was great. Saturday was an easy day with a bit of pool time for the boy. He got to try out Gran-gran and Grandpa guys new kayaks and he is a natural born boater. He got to paddle while Nanay pushed him around. Saturday night, Nanay and I got to have a real date so we went to see Cirque De Solea. No pictures but I did get a really BIG candy apple.

Today was another great day. We rented a pontoon boat at Hontoon Island and spent about 4 hours on the water. This was Jaiden's first trip in a real boat and he love every minuet . We took sandwiches and after a while of tooling around, we stopped to swim for a bit. After that, we did a little more boating and even saw some wildlife. After about 15-20 min, Jaiden loosened up and really started to enjoy himself. Toward the end of the trip, he even got to help Grandpa Guy drive.

In true FL fashion, we did run into a little rain storm but again, in true FL fashion, there were beautiful blue skies above. The shower was short lived so we did a little more exploring. We got to see some neat wildlife but for me, the coolest part was seeing cows next to the water. (I'm guessing mom and baby but???)

It was an amazing day and I only ended up a little burnt. I guess I didn't put the lotion on evenly. :{ but it's not too bad. (I guess I really have learned a few things in the past 30+ years.) The trip still holds a few more adventures so we will keep you posted.

Love and hugs,

Steph, Anna, Jaiden, and ???

A little rain shower with beautiful blue skies above...

More beautiful Fl landscapes.

Nanay and her shadow.

The Cows...

The rest of the story....

2009-08-16T07:48:00.000-07:00

So I am finally getting around to publishing (in the words of my favorite radio personality) "the rest of the story" from the fourth of July. Mostly because 1. I found my camera again and 2. I need to room on the chip because at the moment, we are currently on another adventure. I'm calling it our baby moon because it's probably the last trip we will take as a family of 3 (before the new baby.) Anyways... Here are a few pictures from the second day our our trip to Alabama: the actual 4th of July. It was VERY HOT. I really wanted to go to the beach but it was way to hot so we went to the battle ship to see the fireworks. We went early so we could have a picnic on the grass. It being the USS Alabama, the had a bunch of "other" things things there too. They had a really big airplane, a rocket of some sort, a helicopter and a few other smaller planes. Out of all of that going on, Jaiden wanted to go see the firetruck parked all the way on the other side of the lawn. (It wasn't an old firetruck or a navy firetruck, just Company??? from up the street making sire nobody got to stupid...) He was just so excited, how could we help but get excited too...
It was a great evening with and awesome sunset and wonderful live music. It was still hot but we had a great time.
Love and hugs,
Steph, Anna, Jaiden and ???

Jaiden and Nanay hiding from the sun eating cookies...

Jaiden and Lolo checking out the really big plane...

The Fire Truck..

The USS Alabama

Happy 4th from Mobile

2009-07-04T12:20:00.000-07:00

This 4th, we decided it would be as good a time as any to make a trip to Mobile, AL to see Anna's dad and Kathy. We got down here yesterday (after a WONDERFUL stranger helped with a screw in our tire). This morning, we went downtown to eat brunch at one of dad's favorite restaurants called "Spot of Tea". Downtown Mobile always seems to have something going on and this morning was no exception. They were having they usual Saturday morning Farmers Market. After breakfast and walking around a bit, we picked up a few veggies and I got some home-made cheddar and jalepeno bread. (I'll let you know how it is later.) After driving around Mobile looking at the sites, we stopped at a little park on the bay. It was quite hot so we promptly came home to play in the water. (Nanay took her usual Saturday afternoon nap...) Here are a few pictures from the events this morning with more to follow soon.

Happy 4th!!!

Love and hugs,

Steph, Anna, Jaiden, and ???

Friday night, driving with Lolo...

A Spot of Tea

Jaiden's World

2009-06-27T19:00:00.000-07:00

For Jaiden's 3rd birthday, he got a digital camera from Aunt Emily and Uncle Evan. He was very excited about it and after about a week, we checked to see what we could see and alas, nothing but black pictures and a few feet. Recently, we tried again since he was showing a lot of intrest in my camera phone. (one evening at dinner, he took 30+ pictures with my phone...) The camera is great for him because it does still and video pictures even thought there is no sound, so here is what we found... Life according to Jaiden...

Now I know why they call it the Emergency Room

2009-06-14T18:14:00.000-07:00

This weekend, we had some great plans but as plans go, they often have a mind of their own. We were planning on heading to Ashville, NC for the weekend right after my class on Saturday and spending some time with Anna's friend from high school. My silly body had something else in mind. Let me start off by saying Jaiden is great! So Saturday morning about 5:30, I woke up with a lot of pain in my lower right back. No big deal, I just thought I slept wrong so now I'm awake so I have to pee... After that, something just didn't feel right so i thought I'd go downstairs to put the heating pad on my back but before I got to the stairs, I got very sick to my stomach so I went into the other bathroom to sit (and pee again). Anna came in to check on me and then helped me downstairs. I just couldn't get comfortable and the pain just kept getting worse. I started to get worried because things weren't getting any better. After throwing up, I decided to call my sister. She said if I was in that much pain, go tot the er. (I didn't want to.) After writhing some more, I decided to call my ob and they concurred so off we went. Anna grabbed Jaiden then helped me to the car. We got to Northside and they were wonderful. Needless to say, after 2 shots of Morphine, I could still feel the pain but I just didn't care. Then, after I had an ultrasound, I finally started to feel human again. I told Anna it was like someone turned on the light and I was me again. In the middle of all of that, Aunt Rosie came to get Jaiden who was as always, wonderful. They ultrasound came back normal and the dr said since I was feeling so much better, they would let me go home. They think it might have been a kidney stone or some other irritation but the bottom line for me is, whatever it was, it's gone now. I don't think it will come back but to be sure, I'm drinking a LOT of water. I can honestly say I have never been in that much pain before and i hope to never experience it again.
Jaiden got to spend the day with Aunt Rosie, his cousin Charlotte, Jen and Jonathon. They had great fun swimming, shopping and going to Monkey Joe's.. He even went down the slide all by himself; alot!. We went to Rose's house or dinner, after a wonderful nap, and just had a relaxing evening. I'm not sure if Rose will ever understand how much I appreciate her taking such great care of out little one. Thank you so much Rosie!!! She did take some pictures and when she sends them to me, I'll post them here.
Anyways, our other little one was also quite the trooper. Through everything I was going through, her heartbeat was strong and steady. We have any appt with the midwives on tues just to make sure.
Today was much less exciting. We stayed at home and just rested. We got to have dinner with Pops and Nana and earlier we did watch Wall-E. While we were watching, Anna took a few pictures. No post would be complete without a few pictures of the little one so here they are.
love and hugs,
Steph, Anna, Jaiden and ???

One of our family photos...

The 20 weel belly picture

2009-06-12T19:25:00.000-07:00

So, as promised, here is the latest picture of our smallest one. To day, I am 20 weeks and 2 days pregnant with lost of fun still to come. I will keep you posted as to how things are going. We have our next appointment with the midwives next Tues so we'll keep you posted.
Love and hugs,
stephanie (anna, jaiden and ???)

And here is just another random and adorable picture of Jaiden...

A little catch-up

2009-06-11T19:01:00.000-07:00

I know I have been quite remiss about updating the blog lately and since I finally found my camera, I thought I would add a few things. This is from a few weeks ago. We decided to make an impromptu stop at the park up the street. They have a great water park/ splash pad that is great for the kids in the summer. Since it was spur-of-the-moment, we didn't have a bathing suit for Jaiden so... We all had great fun and it was well worth the delayed dinner.
As far a baby 2 goes, we are both doing very well. We are just past 20 weeks now and I promise to get some updated pictures of me too. We are still not going to find out if it is a girl or a boy but everyone (except my sister) thinks it's a girl. I guess we'll find out for sure when she is ready. I'm feeling really good so I've started tackling the room switch project. (We are taking the guest bedroom/craft room and turning it into Jaiden's big boy room and the nursery will stay just that with some updated decor. It's a REALLY big project but I'm making some progress.) I'll post some pictures when I have a chance.
Business is finally picking up so we are all staying really busy. Anna is still holding her Law of Attraction meetings and she is also starting a improve comedy group. My classes are going good even if they are not as full as I would like and our wonderful son is just that; completely and utterly amazing. His latest thing is playing the air guitar and fishing of the back deck. I hope to get some good videos soon so I'll keep you posted. For now...
Love and hugs,
Steph, Anna, Jaiden and ???

Blowing out the candles

2009-04-06T20:15:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick video of the birthday fun... If you look closely you can see momma (steph) in the background just-a-crying. I thought I did great by only crying twice. Once during Happy Birthday and the other when he opened a "Big Brother" shirt from Aunt Cathy....
Enjoy!

Jaiden's 3rd Birthday

2009-04-06T18:56:00.000-07:00

This past weekend (the 29th), we celebrated Jaiden's 3rd birthday. It was a small but awesome party. I decided that we would keep thing low key (as much as you can with 4 kids in the house). For the entertainment portion of the afternoon, we decided to let the kids decorate their own cupcakes. I thought it could be a mess but they all did GREAT! We set up a table in the kitchen (just in case) and stocked it with lots of decorating supplies

Before...

During (with lots of smiles)...

and the prize. Eating their spoils!

Jaiden got lots of great presents. The hit of the day was this Black and Decker tool set. All of the kids got in the action and since then, Jaiden has been "fixing" everything.

His favorite tool: the drill!

Even little Sammy got in on the action.

He got a new soccer net from aunt Essie (Alyssia) so he got to use his tools to help put it together.

Afterwards, he got LOTS of hugs and kisses from everyone, especially Aunt Rosie!

Thanks to everyone for making Jaiden's 3rd party the best one yet...

Love and hugs,

Steph, Anna, Jaiden (and ???)

Misc Catch up

2009-03-25T20:09:00.000-07:00

Hello,
I have been prompted by more than a few to add some pictures. In looking back, it has been quite a while. Honestly, I was very ill with morning sickness that wasn't just in the morning... All is well now that I found accupuncture and our second blessing is doing great (and giving ne heck). It's amazing!!! Anyways, here are a few random pictures that I found on the camera. Tomorrow starts the beginning of the birthday celebrations so we will be adding more pictures soon.

Love and hugs,
Steph, Anna and Jaiden

Anna has been having meeting at the shop once a week and for one of them, she got these "creative glasses". Jaiden calls them "wobble goggles" from Imagination Movers. Any way you say it, they just fun...

Sunday, we went to Joellen's for dinner and Jaiden found her garden. He was "planting" the copper flowers... :)

Gran-gran came in today as for his birthday, she wanted to take him to Toy-R-us so he could pick out his own present. We found this fishing pole which is perfect becuse we will all be going camping in about a month... He was practing in the tub.

"Bank"

2009-02-15T08:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, before we went to the circus, Jaiden and I had to run a few errands including the bank. Lately, he has taken to "spelling" the signs he sees while we're out and yesterday was no exception. He knows the bank because he gets a lollipop so while we were at the teller window, he was "spelling" the signs. He said "F-D-I-C "Bank!" I told the teller and we got a wonderful laugh for the day!
Love and hugs...

The Big Apple Circus

2009-02-14T18:48:00.000-08:00

Happy V-Day 2009!

This year, we took a trip to the Big Apple Circus at Stone Mountain Park. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. There were lots of very talented actors there and Jaiden had a blast. (the adults did too.) We went with Rose and Charlotte so when Jaiden and Charlotte get together, they always have a great time. I think Jaiden's favorite part was the jugglers (or the dogs but just because they brought the dogs out in a train.) Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment.

Love and hugs,

Steph, Anna, and Jaiden

Jaiden and Charlotte at Wendy's before the show.

Anna and Charlotte goofing-off during intermission.

Jaiden's Bike

2009-02-01T17:12:00.000-08:00

I promised an update on the bike Jaiden got for christmas so here is it. This past week, he finally showed intrest in it again and got on it. To my wonderful suprise, he can actually ride it. He even loves his red he-met (helmet). Here is a short video.
Love and hugs,
Steph, Anna, and Jaiden

My Dilly Bread

2009-02-01T16:53:00.000-08:00

While we were in MI, Sheryl sharred lots of great recipies with me. My favorite so far is the Dilly Bread. It's really easy and it tastes great.

Thanks MIMI!!!

Christmas Adventure - Catchup

2009-02-01T15:55:00.000-08:00

Since it's almost Valentine's Day, I thought it would be a good time to do a little catchup from Christmas... We had a wonderful Christmas morning with lots of presents for (guess who) Jaiden. The best was the big-boy bike that Patpat and Mimi got him. I think he was a little overwhelmed because it is so much bigger than his old one but just last week he learned to ride it. (See the next post.) We all got a little something but most of all, a lot of smiles. After we opened all of the presents, we decided to go sledding. Sheryl took up to her old stomping grounds to the most perfect sledding hill ever. We purchased 1 toboggan (I now know the difference between a toboggan and a sled) and 1 flying saucer and Sheryl had 1 saucer too. Jaiden would only ride the red toboggan I think because it was like a car. The further he got down the hill, the bigger his smile got. Toward the end of the trip, he realized that it was better to ride with momma, not because he loves me sooooo much but because with more weight, you go faster... It' didn't take up too long for us walk away happy, batter and bruised. I actually outlasted Jaiden and Pat even went down (once.)

We ate like kings (/queens) the whole trip so Christmas day was no exception. The only difference was that I cooked Christmas dinner and gave Sheryl the evening off. It's been a while since I cooked such a big meal and I really enjoyed it! After dinner, everyone let me rest while they cleaned. That was the best show I've seen in years.

The rest of the trip was quite. Friday I finished Pat and Sheryl's hats and scarfs and went out for some after Christmas sales while Jaiden and Anna's routine consisted of: eat, play, eat, sleep, repeat. The weather was nice for the trip home and the drive was uneventful. We got home Sunday afternoon to a VERY Sick cat. He is much better now after some great vet care and way too much money than I care to admit.

All and all, we had a GREAT trip and if we're had, we plan to go back soon. We love you Patpat and Mimi!!!

Hugs and Love,

Steph, Anna and Jaiden

Jaiden's new Bike!!!

His tea set.

Pat and mimi's new digital photo frame.

It's hard work opening all of those presents. He feel asleep at 11:00 am under the table.

The (frozen) lake where we go camping in the summer.

Pat walking up.

Nanay hauling jaiden up the hill.

momma and nanay on their way up.

Christmas Dinner (for 4.5)

Pat and Mimi showing off their new hats!

The Christmas Adventure - Part 3

2008-12-24T14:42:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more pictures from our Michigan Christmas Adventure. The weather was a bit warmer today so the snow was a little heavier which was perfect for snowmen. We had great fun. I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as we enjoyed making them.
Love and warm hugs,
Steph, Anna, and (a very tired) Jaiden

The Christmas Adventure - Part 2

2008-12-23T16:46:00.000-08:00

Today was pretty low key. The weather was a bit worse than we thought it was going to be so we just stayed around the house and cooked. The excitement for the day was that Anna learned how to use the snow blower! On the third round, the blower broke so we had to shovel. No big deal though, Jaiden was a big help. We're hopping to get out and sled tomorrow so I'll post more pictures soon.
Love and warm hugs to you all,
Steph, Anna and Jaiden

Our car after sweeping it off once already. (I think it had 4 inches in as many hours!)

The Christmas Adventure Begins

2008-12-22T19:41:00.000-08:00

So, if you've been reading along this year, you know that we've decided to get a little crazy and travel north for the holidays; WAY NORTH! We decided to visit PatPat and Mimi on Grand Haven Michigan. (That's about in the middle of the pinkie.) It's about a 14 hour drive for us so we decided to take 2 day for the drive. The first night we did really good and made it to Indianapolis for the night. We wanted to get an early start the next day because we heard that there was a front moving in. When we woke up on Sunday morning, the high was 9 (I think.) When we got into the car, the thermostat read 6 and just went down from there. The lowest it got was -1. Needless to say, we didn't get out of the car. When we talked to Pat, she said it was about 12 here so... Anna and I were fascinated but the dropping mercury but Jaiden was ... asleep and unimpressed. It was VERY windy so it was hard to tell when it started snowing or if it was just the wind blowing the snow off the fields but it was beautiful. When we crossed the MI broder, it started to snow pretty heavy. Then it got a little worse... and a little worse still. Me being a southern girl, I figured it would be wimpy to stop and wasn't this how it was all of the time up here??? Well, we made it here safely and we were greeted with a warm hugs and apple pie in the table. (Really!) Later, when we were watching the news, we found out that we drove through one of the worst storms this area has seen in a long time. There were/are blizzard warning out for the whole coast. All is well now and we are having a wonderful time! Jaiden LOVES the snow. We had to go out today and but him snow pants, boots, and new gloves. (they really don't sell the proper snow attire in GA. go figure.) He has no problem putting all of the stuff on. Today we ventured out onto the back deck and slid down the stairs on the flying saucer. I think tomorrow, we're going to find some real hills. The weather should be warming up a bit so that we have a good ride home but I'll keep you posted with lots of pictures.
Love and warm hugs to you all!
Steph, Anna, and Jaiden

It does really say 0 degrees at 11:31 am!

Somewhere in Indiana

Somewhere in Michigan. (and this was not the worst. we could still see the car in front of us. All I have to say is thank God for the Spider!)

Patpat and Mimi's road!

My poor car...

My crazy, beautiful wife.

She did put more clothes on to go "play" (and shovel).

Our evening craft project.

Pat, blowing off the driveway.

Oh no!!! We lost the baby!!!

A new christmas Tradition???

2008-12-15T22:27:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, we tried our hands at making gingerbread houses. I went and got ALL of the fixins'. We decided to do graham crackers instead of real gingerbread because Jen wanted to make then eat her house and it really worked out for the better. The kids did GREAT and the adults had fun too. I was planning on making one too but Jaiden did a bit more eating than decorating so I just "helped"with his. I showed Charlotte how to use the ziplock piping bag a I was amazed at how well she did. She did here whole house just about all by herself! Enjoy the pics and Happy Holiday to you all.
Love and hugs,
Stephanie, Anna and Jaiden

The gang!

The evidence!

The process!

Charlotte's house

Jen's house

Jaiden (and Mama's) house

The Village

A random picture I couldn't resist.

Thanksgiving 2008 - the day after

2008-12-11T18:36:00.000-08:00

On Friday, we decided to go fishing and Grandpa Guy gladly agreed. (As you will see in the pics, he's the one that does most of the work.) My mom has her favorite spot on New Syrmna at the end of the beach where there is an inlet to the inter coastal waterway. It's beautiful! There is a lighthouse across the water and you get to see all of the boats coming and going. With all of the traffic, I didn't really expect to catch anything (we go just for "casting practice") but we actually caught a lot!!! I think our total count was 7 white fish, 1 blow fish and 1 stingray in 3 hours! Jaiden was so-so about the fishing but he loved playing in the sand with his trucks. He and Nanay took a nice long walk and I even found a whole (dead) sand dollar. He did get excited when we caught something and he'd come running over. After we all got our fill, we would unhook them and wavy bye-bye to the fish. I was brave enough to bait my own hook and unhook the fish but gran-gran was a different story. At one point, we saw the dolphins swimming in too! They were having a blast jumping up and splashing all around. I did a little more of my artistic photography and we called it another great day...

Stay tuned for our next adventure - Christmas in Michigan!

Happy Holidays and Love and Hugs to you all!!!

Steph, Anna and Jaiden

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-12-09T17:07:00.000-08:00

This year, we took our annual trek to Florida for Thanksgiving. Recently, the uncles have gotten the go-carts up and running again and what fun. (For a few years, there were no go-carts but trying to play volleyball in the dark was quite a blast.) Anyways, we had great fun and lots of great food. This year, someone found a little battery operated go-cart that was made for kids. If didn't have a battery in it but Jaiden didn't mind one bit. I think it's a good think he's the only young one now because they would have had to fight to sit in it. I'm glad that it wasn't working though. He would have been all over the place. As for the "adults", they take their racing very seriously with race charts and all. I think most of the carts made it to the end of the day the adults however, were a different story. We just had a few wrecks and narrowly avoided a trip to the ER but all if well now. I got to do a little artistic photography and these are a few of my favorites.

All 8 carts lined up and ready for the next race. After every race, they all had to get out and swap stories and carts.

Father and son... (Tommy and Steven)

Can you get any prettier!!!

Teresa is the designated family photographer so I though I'd get a shot of her...

Maritza was the track assistant this year. Both her and her sister are growing up to be such beautiful young ladies.

Jaiden in one of the big boy carts; trying it our for next year. (or maybe the next...)

just a little wreck...

and another one...

Halloween

2008-12-06T19:17:00.000-08:00

So, I finally got my camera back so I thought I'd play a little catch up. This year, Jaiden (with a little help from momma) decided that he wanted to be a Monster Truck driver for Halloween. As with most things in our life, it was a process. Wednesday, I started the box/ truck and by that evening it was really starting to look like a truck. He informed me that he wanted to paint roads on the truck so, we did. That evening we took a trip to Lowe's to get some accessories including bumpers, a front windshields and real lights. That evening, momma put the final touches on the "Might Mega Monster Truck". On Halloween day, his outfit was completed with goggles, a hemet, and a pit crew.

Happy belated Halloween,

Steph, Anna, and Jaiden

Target

2008-11-03T19:07:00.001-08:00

One Saturday, we went out to eat lunch. When we got done eating and back in the car, I looked in the backseat at my wonderful son and found this: green flannel pj's (that are a bit too small but because they have trucks on them, he wouldn't take them off, a light blue sweatshirt because that's all I could find that was clean, orange sunglasses because orange sunglasses compliment ever outfit, Anna's sailors hat because it's the latest style don't you know, and teddy grahams and milk that was left over from his favorite lunch activity of "charm the waitress".

The next Sunday, we engaged in on of my favorite past times: shopping. We needed to get a new pair of jammies that fit so we took a family trip to Target. This is what we found....

A bit of catch up

2008-11-03T18:35:00.000-08:00

I have been totally remiss about updating our going-ons lately, and there has been a lot going on. I will post some more pictures later but unfortunately, I let my camera in SC last weekend before I got a chance to download the pictures. I do have the pictures from our adventure to the Monster Truck Rally so... that will have to do for now.

Anyone who knows Jaiden, knows he is TOTALLY obsessed with trucks, specifically, Monster Trucks. We have the most wonderful client base and I am reminded of that on a daily basis. One day, one of our wonderful clients Harold, informed is that the Monster Truck rally was coming to Gainsville and he was getting us all tickets. Mommy was a little less excited about it than Jaiden but still looking forward to it sooo... Off we went to the bit rally...

Let me stop here for a moment a recap my Friday. Most of you know that I am starting a new phase in my life: teaching childbirth classes and providing doula services. Well, my first Hypnobabies students and my first doula clients had their beautiful baby boy at 9:18 on Friday morning. I was up most of the night with them. It is a totally different perspective being on the other side of the table and it was the most amazing birth! Mom started contractions at 10:00 pm and was handling everything wonderfully. I arrived at about 3:15. We got to the hospital at about 5 and she was already 8cm (100% effaced with a bulging bag.) She labored peacefully, with no drugs for the next 2 hours, pushed for then next 2, again with no drugs, and gave birth to a 10 lb. 2 oz baby boy!!! (They were expecting a 7 lb baby girl!) Both parents did so well and I feel so honored to have been a part of the process.

So back to Friday night. I have come down from my "birth high" and was pretty tired but I couldn't miss Jaiden's first Monster Truck Rally... I thought he would either be scared to death or be in hog heaven. Needless to say, it was the latter. We got there early for the pit party so he could meet all of the drivers and see the trucks up close. Earlier in the day, we made Jaiden and Harold's granddaughter sweatshirts with monster tucks on them so they both had to get all of the drivers to sign their hoodies. Jaiden even got to ride in a real Monster Truck.After that was over, we were making out way to our seats and they started the trucks. I don't know who jumped higher, me or Jaiden. I promptly put his earphones on and he didn't resist a bit. In all of the commotion, I forgot to bring the camera so Anna and I were both taking pictures with our phones... Jaiden loved every minuet and I'm sure that was not our last rally. He kept talking throughout the show but I couldn't hear him through the trucks and my earphones. Here are a few of the highlights...
Love and hugs,
Stephanie, Anna, and of course Jaiden Lee

They had a mini monster truck for the kids to sit in. It did come out during the show and it was pretty funny.

Jaiden and Harold getting candy from a driver and yes, that id the front bumper of the truck above Jaiden's head.
Jaiden and Harold.
Riding the Monster Truck.

Getting the signatures with momma...

and the winner is...

You might be addicted it...

2008-09-24T09:48:00.000-07:00

You might be addicted if...

you pull up to the Starbucks window and before you get a chance to even think about what you would like, your 2 year old is in the back seat yelling "Decaf Mocha!" (pronounced decafffff moooochaaaaaaaa!!!.)

Our weekend in Florida

2008-09-21T19:34:00.000-07:00

This weekend, we decided that it would be fun to go visit grand-grand and grand-guy and go to Sea World. Yesterday we spent just hanging out at the pool. Jaiden found his glasses...

Today, we went to Sea World. It was hot, exhausting, amazing and incredibly entertaining. I have a bit of a confession though. the past week, I have been listening to a book on tape called "The last Lecture" by Randy Poush. It was an incredible book and I recommend it to everyone (just be ready to cry). It is a non-fiction book and in it, he talked a lot about childhood dreams. So naturally, I've been trying to think of what mine were/are and I couldn't think of any... Today I remembered. I want to swim with the dolphins. (When I was little, it was to be a trainer for Shamu but...) Anyways, today was amazing. The best part of the day BY FAR was seeing the look in my little boys face of absolute wonder and amazement. Of course he had to find a truck or 2 but I hope I never forget that look and that he never forgets that feeling. Here are just a few picture. I'll probably post to snapfish but I'll keep you posted.

Love and hugs (and childhood dream),

Steph, Anna, and Jaiden

Our Self family portrait.

Bubbles on Saturday

2008-09-13T19:23:00.000-07:00

Our Saturday morning tradition is now eating breakfast on our new deck. This morning, we included some bubble play.... We got this new toy that makes bubbles in bubbles. Way cool so enjoy the pics...
Love and hugs,
Steph (anna and jaiden)

A Littler Hello

2008-09-07T20:17:00.000-07:00

I think the video says it all...

Love and Hugs,

Stephanie, Anna and Jaiden

Goofing around

2008-09-06T19:42:00.001-07:00

Sometimes, When Jaiden and I are brushing our teeth, he gets out my bag of barrettes and wants me to put them in his hair. Tonight was no exception. He's even sporting the pink monster truck shirt that Nanay made for him... Even teddy had to join in the fun...

Enjoy,

Steph (Anna and Jaiden)

A Little Catch Up

2008-09-06T17:50:00.000-07:00

This year, to show our support for our "community", we attended the Atlanta Pride festivities. It was July 4th weekend and this year was a bit different because instead of it being at Piedmont Park (as it has been for so many years past) it was at the Atlanta Civic Center. Many of our friends boycotted the festival because of the new location but we attended. It was a great time and there was even a bit of ac around... One of the places we visited was the Mega Family Project area. They had a great room set up for the kids with lots of activities and snacks. They also had Turner Broadcasting there taking free professional pictures of any families that wanted to step in front of the camera. We were of course game so here are the results. I wasn't sure how they would come out (it being July in Atlanta) but I think they're great!
Enjoy!
Stephanie (Anna and Jaiden)

Our new deck

2008-08-12T20:32:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we took on the project of building our new deck. A few years ago, Anna and I built an arbor over our upper deck. This year, we decided that we needed to add some decking under it to complete the picture. We had some help from a cousin and here are the results.

the MN Adventure link

2008-08-05T13:50:00.000-07:00

Here is the snapfish link for ALL of the picture from our recent adventure...
Enjoy
http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=44321217722214098/l=412024445/g=5029776/cobrandOid=1000131/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Our Trip to MN

2008-07-27T20:09:00.000-07:00

Last week, The 3 of us took a trip to the land of 10,000 lakes, Minnesota. The Aho side of the family was having a cousins family reunion so we decided to take the trip that I haven't taken in 25 years, up to Virgina MN. At the least, we figured that we would meet some new family and have a little down time. Well, We did meet some GREAT people but as for downtime... well... we didn't see any of that. :) I can't possibly begin to explain our trip here. We did so much that I'd be writing for days. I am going to post the pictures on Snapfish so when I do, I'll post that link too so for now, here are a few teasers.

The family reunion at the Finn Fest.

Jaiden and Nanay dancing to the Finn music.

Steph and Pat (Pat)

Leah and Jaiden.

At the Mall Of America (echo, echo, echo...)

And the most exciting thing about our return is that Jaiden is now sleeping in his own big boy bed. Eveyone is very excited!

The Yellow River Game Ranch

2008-07-13T18:11:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a beautiful weekend so we decided to go to the Yellow River Game Ranch. It is a local petting zoo with just about every kind of animal you can imagine. We had a great time and spent most of it chasing Jaiden (like usual). A lot of the animals will walk right up to you and eat out of your hands but the few them are in cages have tubes into the cage so you can still feed them. I think Jaiden enjoyed these the most. He didn't quite know what to think about the squirls and deer coming right up to him. When they did, he would just throw the food to them.

The bears were my favorite. The one would sit on this platform and just wait for you to throw them food. They were so fun to watch. (I think there were a total of 6 bears.)

It was a bit hot so when we got done, we went into the bathroom to wash our hands and faces...

After a long day, we decided to get out the fabulous AVON foot bath and scrub. Jaiden and Nanay had a little bonding time soaking their feet.

Hears to another great chapter in the Banguilan book.

Love and hugs to you all,

Stephanie, Anna, and Jaiden

Father's DaySuprise - Round 2

2008-06-18T22:03:00.000-07:00

I think Pops has gotten Jaiden hooked on blue tractors because when we pulled up to the shop this morning, what did we find...

a big blue tractor....

The only way I got him into the shop was with the temptation of a cookie... Have I mentioned how much I love my son...

Love and hugs,

Steph, Anna, and Jaiden

Father's Day

2008-06-18T21:36:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was Fathers Day and while there are no fathers in this house, there is not shortage in the family so Jaiden and I went to see pops. The story goes... Thursday, we had planned a trip to the local water park with some friends. When Jaiden woke up that morning, he had other things on his mind. The first thing he said to me was "See pops!". I responded with "would you like to call him instead?" Well, that was obviously not good enough because he said "see pops house!" I figured this would pass and we would call pops later so they could talk. That evening, when we got home, he threw the biggest fit because he didn't want to be at "jaiden's house", he wanted to be at "pops house". This pattern continued for another day (without as much drama but none the less...) until we finally went to 'see pops' on Sunday. It turns out that pops had a big surprise for the little insistent one: A BLUE TRACTOR!!!. He was a little hesitant at first but we think it's just because he wanted to drive the tractor by himself. (We have a riding lawnmower in the garage and when we get home some times, Jaiden will 'drive' the tractor at home.) It took some doing to finally get him off the big blue tractor, but what a great toy for Jaiden and pops.

I'm not sure that anything could top the tractor but after that, we went to the pool and we swam, and swam, and swam some more. (no pictures... you know... water and expensive camera...) but when we got back to pops and nanas, Jaiden took a nice long nap and woke up to eat 3 plates of nana's fish. We had an easy trip home and I hope pops had a great fathers day. We love you pops!!!.

Love and hugs,

Steph, Anna, and Jaiden

I'm Official!!!

2008-06-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

Just and update, I'm officially certified as a Hypnobabies instructor!!! It is the beginning of a great adventure for me and if you're interested in learning more, my web site is www.atlantahypnobabies.com...

Love and hugs,
Stephanie

The Renaissance Festival

2008-06-18T21:12:00.000-07:00

So on the very last day of the Renaissance Festival, we decided to make the trek an hour south to see what costumes the people came up with this year (and to see if we could get anything at a good sale price ;) We also thought Jaiden would get a kick out of it. He took it all in stride as usual. Here are a few of the highlights... First we went to the petting zoo but I didn't get any pictures. Jaiden had a good time watching me feed all of the animals but he did pet a few.

Then was the highlight of the trip for me: the turkey leg!!!

(and the fried pickles. This year they had fried coke??? We were not feeling That adventurous)

Jaiden enjoyed his share too...

Nanay found her favorite juggling sticks...

... and Ten-ten (aka Martina) took him on the swinging dragon...

I'm not sure who had more fun...

It was a great (and very hot) day and from the adventure, Jaiden had gained a few new experiences and 2 new dragon friends that he sleeps with every night.

Pleasant dreams to you all,

Steph, Anna, and Jaiden

Jaiden's Aura

2008-06-11T12:39:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we all went to the psychic fair. I know that not everyone believes in thsi stuff but we usually do it for fun. Anyways, we had Jaiden's aura picture taken (because we just can't resist taking pictures of our beautiful son) so here it is... It looks like he has wings but anyone who has meet him already know that.