Monday, December 1, 2008

December 2008

Sorry, all the pics are actually in reverse order, but oh well! This is basically our December, consists of Maya's dance recital, Simone's first tooth, Build a Bear, visiting Santa and Christmas at home and in MI. I have tons more, but this is as good as it gets for now.



The girls opening some more gifts for the holidays.

Maya got to go to Build A Bear. She wanted the "Ariel" dress up outfit for her bear of course. She wanted to be silly and wear the wig herself.


Simone above opening up a X-mas present at Grandma's in MI. Below, her and daddy fooling around.
Maya got a Belle dress up dress. I think this is the only one she does not have. Actually she still needs Jasmine to finalize the whole princess dress up collection.:)
Here is my little Simoney Bologney! She is 7 months old!
Maya with Santa Claus. We visit him and Mrs. Claus every year downtown Crystal Lake in their cute little house. It was very cold, but the good thing was, not a long line at all! As you can see, she LOVES santa!


Maya's first year in the Winter Wonderland performance. She did the "Peppermint Strut" tap dance number, it was very cute and she was a star as usual!:)
Simone got her first tooth right before we headed to MI for X-mas!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Daddy Day Carving Pumpkins

Today Maya and Will went to the daddy day at preschool. They carve pumpkins, sing songs and have a snack. Since I'm on the preschool board, I helped out in the kitchen with the donuts and refreshments. Simone was in the stroller the whole time, not a peep out of her, just a few smiles for the teachers who stopped by to see her. Maya didn't want to sing for whatever reason, she's a little under the weather I think, so that may of been why? Most of the dads were doing all of the work, but Will let Maya trace the face with a marker and then he cut and she helped take out the seeds and guts. They had lots of fun!

Maya's teacher from last year stopped by to say "hi"!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Cookie decorating with Ryan

After preschool we went over to Maya's friend Ryan's house to decorate Halloween cookies and have a little playtime too. She had lots of fun! I forgot to take a picture of the cookies when they were done and once we got home Maya passed them out to Will and I and she ate hers and they were all gone. Very yummy!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Maya's field trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Today Maya had her first big field trip. The parents have to drive them there and back, but it is still her first big trip with school! We went to a pumpkin patch, lots to do. We went on a hayride to pick out a pumpkin, spooky house, corn maze, animals and more. Her favorite part was the hayride and seeing the pig, it was a fun day! Afterwards, she said "mom, thanks so much for taking me to the pumpkin patch". "We had such a good day, didn't we mom"? Too cute!



Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Parent viewing Maya's dance class

Today Will, Simone & I sat in on Maya's dance class. It was parent viewing and saw what they have learned. The other girls have been taking dance for 1-2 yrs already, so I can see the difference, I'm sure she will catch up though. Here is a short clip of the "welcome" song they do at the beginning of each class. She learns ballet and tap in this 45 min. class. She will have 2 recitals, one in Dec. and one in May. She says she likes it and the ballet part is he favorite. Glad she is having fun!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

More cute pics..

Simone is 22 weeks this week.










Grandma's last day...:(

Grandma left today and we will miss her. We had such a great time, went by fast though.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Day 2 Grandma stil here...

Today we went out to Brunch Cafe, thought we would take Grandma to our fav breakfast spot. After that Maya, Grandma and I went shopping. We had fun, grandma wanted to find a cute dress for Maya. We came home and I cooked my cranberry chicken and we made a chocolate cake for grandmas birthday. Her birthday is not untill Nov. 8th, but we wanted to celebrate while she was here. We watched the Bee movie, it was very cute. Long day!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Grandma is here!

Maya had preschool and we came home for lunch and then headed to Schaumburg where we were meeting our friends and grandma to pick her up. Grandma was so happy to see her girls!
We went to Noodles for dinner and then came home and watched a movie. I forgot the name of it, but I fell asleep, I was too tired.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Grandma is coming soon!

Grandma is finally coming to visit us! We wish she could come more often, but ever since my dad passed away in March, she has lost a lot of confidence.:( So she is getting a ride with some family friends and we cannot wait! Hopefully she will be able to come visit more in the future! Maya was so excited, she could hardly get to sleep tonight!

Here is a cute pic of Simone. I love the sleeping baby pics, it just captures their innocence.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

My little fire fighter

Today at preschool the local fireman visited the school. They talked about fire safety and had their picture taken on the fire truck! She was excited to come home and tell me all about it! She made her own fire hat and also got one from the fireman too!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Indian summer

So nice out today, we met up with some friends at the park. We had a picnic lunch and lots of fun! Tryng to take advantage of this great weather in October!!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Just trying to play catch up here!

Just trying to get recent pics uploaded!


Simone is still just eating baby cereal. I have not tried out baby food yet. I think she is breaking out from the oatmeal cereal, her face gets all red and blotchy as soon as she eats it, so back to the plain rice cereal. We will start her on other stuff soon! She is a grunter, loves to eat and once its in her mouth she starts to make this funny growling sound!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Mops and Awana

We attended Mops today. Mothers of Preschoolers. I enjoy the time with the other mommies and listening to speakers. Maya goes to Awana and today was the first time I left Simone in the baby room. She did fine and didn't cry at all. I was sad to leave her, first time leaving her with someone besides Will(I was down the hall the whole time and it was for 2 hrs), but still it's hard. Maya had a bible verse to learn and she did a great job memorizing it! The speaker's topic today was ways to save money. I pretty much knew everything she had to say, I did learn a few new things though. It's been a long week and I'm looking forward to my monthly Bunco night with the CMG moms! Yipee!Maya sitting pretty in pink, with her new pink glasses on!

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

26 days left..till we vote!

I'm enjoying the presedential debates! I'm really getting into it and all fired up! After the town hall debate, they are saying "game over", but I don't know about that. As much as I want Obama to win, I think it's still a fair game. What a historical event it will be if he wins! Gosh, I'm aniticipating the moment..so fired up for this!!!


Simone 5 months old, such a cutie pie!

Monday, October 6, 2008

7 year wedding anniversary!

Today Will and I have been married for seven years! Happily I may add! So Maya still had a fever, it didn't go away overnight. So she stayed home from school and was very out of it still. So since she was sick, we didn't do anything exciting for our anniversary. We got take out from Portillos and had BBQ Ribs..very yummy! We still made the most of it and being with our girls and hanging out at home is what it is all about! OK, so maybe a date night to our favorite steak house would of been nice too?!

Even though Maya was sick, she wanted to try on her "owl" mask for me that she made at school! With the mask on, you can still tell she is sick!:(

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Long Grove Apple Fest!

We love this time of the year, we enjoy going to the Fall festivals on the weekends. Will's favorite is the Long Grove Apple Fest. Apple donuts, caramel apples and brown bag apple pies. The lines are outrageous, but totally worth it! We headed out to beat the rain that was on the way. We got there and it started to sprinkle, but not that bad. As we were in line waiting for our apple delights, it started to rain harder. As soon as we had our treats in hand, we headed back to the car. We didn't realize it till we got home, but Maya was not feeling well. That night, she got a fever and was out of it!

Simone had fun at the apple fest and still full of smiles when we got home! She is 5 months now, can you believe it?!

Saturday, October 4, 2008

CMG Halloween Party!

Today we had the CMG(http://carymomsgroup.com) Annual Halloween party. This year we had a family BBQ and it was lots of fun! The weather was sunny and 70 degrees! Perfect! I dressed up the girls as Hula girls and as soon as I get pics, I will add them! We had a good turnout and all the planning paid off. The kids had fun with the activities planned and just running around and playing at the playground. Can't wait till next year!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Busy days...

Seems like everyday is so busy. The days go by so fast and worst of all, I don't seem to get anything done! Let's see I have tons of pics I would love to get printed and put in albums, Simone's baby announcments out to more family, cleaning the house, organizing in the kids rooms, cooking and the one thing annoying me is to finish Maya's baby book..she is now 4yrs old!!! Well, seems like I assumed being a stay at home I would have tons of time to get everything done! Have a spotless house, dinner ready every night and time to do fun crafts and work on learning like abc and reading with Maya. LOL! That is so not the situation! I am a strong believer that I should spend the quality time with the kids and not be stressed about the house. I just wonder if that is the excuse that works for me and the easier route.:) No, I truly want to make sure I spend the time with the kids and not look back and regret cleaning the house and not playing with the kids.

Today we went to the DMV then Maya to ballet class. Came home Simone down for a nap and then had to wake her up to go get the little girl I babysit for from school. Then came back got dinner going and took the little girl I sit for to soccer and hour later back home. The day is then almost done! Not really exciting, but routine. Tomorrow Maya will be going to preschool in the am and then going to stay n play afterwards, so this will give Simone and I some extra time together.

Simone is getting so big! She is almost 5 months old and is such a good baby. So sweet and happy. What a little love! Seems like she is growing up so quickly and I wish I could slow down the time. I need to go get her 4 month pics done somewhere before she turns 5 months, but not sure if that is going to happen. I remember with Maya we got her pics done professionally almost every month and feel bad it won't be the same for Simone. I'm sure she will turn out just fine though.:)

Monday, September 29, 2008

Maya's has glasses!

We finally got around to getting Maya her new glasses. I guess a part of me was not in a hurry, I know she needs them, but wishing she didn't have. She has been really good so far. We will try to have her wear them as much as possible, but letting her take them off during the day too. She says she can see a lot better and she keeps saying Simone looks bigger and bigger!:) She wore them to school today and kept them on the whole time. She did a great job and said her teachers and friends all liked them!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Johnny Appleseed Festival

We went to the Johnny Appleseed Festival today. We try to go every year, it is lots of fun! Very hot out though, I'm ready for the cool fall weather to arrive. We had lunch there and went to Kaleidoscoopes for ice cream.

Maya picked a pink balloon and wanted it in the shape of a flower.
Simone was content, while Maya went and played some games and the little petting zoo.
The only animal she wanted to pet was the pig. Guess why? The pig is her favorite color...PINK!:) She was scared of all the other animals though and still scared of pony rides?? Hopefully one day she will grow out of this?


Simone had her first try at baby cereal today! She liked it, but did tend to keep sticking her tongue out a lot, so we will see. She was so cute, her eyes kept getting really big and she would make a huffing sound like she couldn't wait to get it! I'm trying to load a video clip of it, but it's not letting me, I will keep trying.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

This is so true!

Motherhood
Being a mother


We are sitting at lunch when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of 'starting a family. ''We're taking a survey,' she says, half-joking. 'Do you think I should have a baby?


''It will change your life,' I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral. 'I know,' she says, 'no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations....
'But that is not what I meant at all.

I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes. I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but that becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable. I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking 'What if that had been MY child?' That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her. That when she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.

I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to a primitive level of abear protecting her cub. That an urgent call of 'Mom!' will cause her to drop a souffle or her best crystal without a moment's hesitation. I feel I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood.

She might arrange for child care but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her baby's sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of her discipline to keep her from running home, just to make sure her baby is all right.


I want my daughter to know that everyday decisions will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy's desire to go to the men's room rather than the women's at McDonald's will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in that rest-room.
However she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother. Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself. That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give it up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years -not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs. I want her to know that a Cesarean scar or shiny stretch mar ks will become badges of honor. My daughter's relationship with her husband will change,but not in the way she thinks..I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his child. I think she should know that she will fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic.


I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried to stop war, prejudice and
drunk driving.

I hope she will understand why I can think rationally about most issues, but become temporarily insane when I discuss the
threat of nuclear war to my children's future.


I want to describe to my daughter the
exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike.

I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is
touching the soft fur of a dog or a cat for the first time.

I want her to taste the joy that is so real, it actually hurts My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes.

' You'll never regret it,' I finally say.

Then I reach across the table, squeeze my daughter's hand and offer a silent
prayer for her, and for me, and for all of the mere mortal women who stumble their way
into this most wonderful of callings.

This blessed gift from God!Being a Mother.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

So can you tell who is who? Which one is Simone and which one is Maya? There both the same age in the pictures with the same outfit. Everyone says Simone looks just like Maya, but I definitely think they both have their own look. Come on, post a comment and see if you can easily get it right!!

Would love everyone who checks in my blog to post a comment, love to hear from you all!