Halloween '08

So here are some pics of my cuties on Halloween. Jay found this cute onesie for Sasha at KMart (our only choice for shopping up here. Yeah for us). So she wore that during the day and then we put her in a fuzzy pajama that looks like a Piglet costume for the ward Halloween party. It was a fun evening, although I was dreading going. It just didn't sound fun. It was raining all day, the first day of cold that we had this fall so far. We had 70 degree weather all week before that, so I was kind of bummed that it got cold on Halloween. But it made the holiday feel more like Halloween, so that was good. And the ward thing was good too, turned out fun. That seems to be how things always go for me...something I'm unexcited about turns out to be fun and exciting. And Gabby was so excited to wear her costume and be Cinderella, since she thinks she is a princess anyway.

Hillbilly Mommy and Piglet Sasha on Halloween. I forgot to take a picture of Daddy, who was a nerd for Halloween. His costume turned out awesome too. I was bummed when I realized that I didn't take one. Especially since he doesn't dress up for Halloween very often. I have to capture those rare moments. Oh well. Next time.

Pretty Princess Gabby. So funny story about this dress. On Tuesday after Halloween, election day I guess, Gabby's friend Lauren was over playing. They were watching a Disney Princess sing-along DVD that we have. The last song on the DVD shows all the princesses dancing to a song. I was in Sasha's room and I was listening to Gabby and Lauren talk about the princesses. Lauren was telling Gabby that she was Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, and that Gabby was Belle and Snow White. "Gabby, I'm the princesses with yellow hair because I have yellow hair and you're the princesses with black hair because you have black hair." Gabby was getting so upset that she couldn't be Cinderella. I heard her tell Lauren that she was Cinderella and they were going back and forth on this. Then Gabby was getting upset and she said "No Lauren, I'm Cinderella. Come on, I'm gonna show ya." Then she started walking back to Sasha's room where I was. I knew what she was up to. She wanted to show Lauren her Cinderella dress costume because she had been Cinderella for Halloween. That would prove that she is Cinderella. Lauren didn't come with her though. She was pretty upset by the whole thing. But I thought it was cute that she is so connected to that Cinderella dress. And that she said "I'm gonna show ya." She says that to me all the time. It's cuter if you can hear her say it, but you get the idea.

Those two are cute playmates, love to spend time together. They have found all kinds of things to do together, including drawing. They like to draw with markers. However, I have had to limit this activity because Lauren has taught Gabby how much fun it is to draw on yourself with the markers. The ones I have are not washable, so it takes a day or so to get it all off. Here's a sample of some of thier artwork:

That's what I get for not supervising the art project. Oh well. Lauren's mom Lisa told me that Lauren still had some blue on her face the next day when she went to preschool. Luckily it's not permanent. It's hard not to laugh at this, we were all laughing at them. (This was taken on Nov 2nd, we were having a get together at our house with some friends when the artists got to work). There was one other little girl, Payton, who had done the same thing, but she was not interested in being in the picture. Well, next time. :)

Gabby's Birthday Party

My baby girl is growing up! She will be 3 on Sunday. I can't believe how fast the time flies. Turning three, and I'm happy to report that she is now potty trained! Yeah! It only took about 2 1/2 days for her to get the hang of it. She is doing great. But this blog is not about that. On Wednesday, October 8th, we had a small party to celebrate her birthday. Since we are leaving on Saturday to go to Connecticut for a week to visit Uncle Phil, we decided to do the party before her birthday. Gabby wanted a princess party. It wasn't super princessy, but we did have a princess cake and we made prince and princess crowns. That was the extent of the theme. I had all these great ideas about how to make it fun, but I didn't start planning enough in advance, and my ideas didn't happen. Also, most of my ideas were a little to old for a 3 year old party. I have a 3 year old, you would think that I would know what is on their interest level. Anyway, we just made the princess crowns, played a few games outside, blew bubbles, drew with sidewalk chalk, ate cake and ice cream, and opened presents. Here are a few pics from the blessed event:

The crown and wand Gabby is holding came on her cake. Of course she had to put them on as soon as she saw them. This makes princess crown #3 for Gabby. Princesses can never have too many crowns.


Gabby's friends Lauren and Cole were so excited about the present they gave her that they decided to help her unwrap it. Here is Cole pulling it out of the bag to show Gabby. It's a puppy dog in a bag. Gabby loves it.


Happy Birthday Gabby! Daddy and I love you so much. You are such a joy to us and make us laugh every day. We are so happy at all your accomplishments and know that you will be successful at whatever you do. Thank you for being such a good and loving daughter. May that never change. I'm so grateful to know that I can be with you forever. I love you!

Our Family Funtime

A few pics from our recent trip to Utah. Adorable girly girls and their Nana, Great Grandparents (affectionately known as Ggpa and Ggma), and two crazy aunties.



Cute cousins, or as Gabby would say "Friends Together!" Gunnar is only a couple months younger than Sasha, so it is fun to have them together and see how much they love to be with other babies. Babies really do love each other. Sasha is doing her signature lip biting here. Could Gunnar get any cuter?


Sasha, zoning out. Earth to Sasha! Maybe my alien implant is effecting her brain too! (See April '08 dental entry for more details). Darn that breast milk. :)


Two cuties lovin' their Ggpa! I know he loves them too. Just look at the sparkle in his eye! Oh, well, you can't see his eyes. Well, it's there, believe me.


This has got to be one of my favorite pictures of Sasha. Look how cute she is! Of course, I'm not biased or anything (wink, wink). I'm so glad that we have been able to visit with my grandparents when we are in Utah. I know having the girls there just perks my grandma up and makes her have a better day. She is always so happy to see them and play with them. They love her too. Gabby has developed her special games that she plays with Ggma, and she loves to give hugs and kiss her hand.

Remind me again what's so funny? I took the picture so I could remember why Holly is laughing and now I don't. Oh well, it doesn't matter. Good times. These two will just laugh just to laugh. Somehow they can communicate through laughter. It's their special language. I'm a little jealous.

Thanks Auntie Cami for the beanie. I love it. Look how cute I am with it on! :) I will be styling this winter thanks to you. :) I'll be taking orders from all my baby friends, so get your knitting needles ready!

Fun Summer Pics

So here are my two cuties. Can't believe how fast they grow. Cheezers.

Every year in Tehachapi there is something called The Freedom Festival. It happens each August and it's like a town fair, including parade, booths, and carnival rides. We went to the parade with our friends Lisa and Lauren Price. Gabby and Lauren have gotten to be good friends and they like to play together often. Here is a picture of them together at the parade.

We went to the carnival rides, only for about an hour, but Gabby had fun going on the carousel and a bug ride. Daddy helped her win her very own generic Whinnie the Pooh! Good thing Daddy is fast at shooting a water gun. :) They won on the first try! Gabby sure loves her daddy. :)

Running to exhaustion

I wanted to post this picture because I thought it was so funny. I got my hair cut and colored on June 11th, right before our Utah trip. The appointment went a little long and I got home right around Gabby's bedtime. When I came in the house she was crashed out on the couch. I just started laughing. Little kids can sleep anywhere if they are tired enough! Ha ha! I picked her up and took her to her bed. She slept the whole night. She must have run herself into the ground to be that tired. As memory serves, I believe she did not take a nap that day either, so that would add to the exhaustion. She's a cute kid.

Silly Gabby

These pictures were taken around Feb 20th. Gabby knows where her Baby Sister is and likes to give her hugs and kisses. Daddy was trying to get a picture of her actually kissing my stomach, but with the delay our camera has we never quite captured it. Anyway, here are a few of us goofing around.

These last 2 I call Gabby doing her "Baby Gangster" face. She's trying to be all 'cool dude', so funny. Jay and I were just laughing at her, so funny. What a personality.

Mommy's Big Helper

I just had to put this picture on the blog too, nothing really special about it except that it's just so cute of my little sweetie pie and it captures her cuteness so well. She has blossomed so much in her personality over the last 6 months. It is amazing how much you can see her personality come out now that she is talking better. The more she can say the cuter she is, I guess because what she says is cute/funny and she is still learning to put sentences together so sometimes it comes out funny. One game that she loves to do right now is to ask me "Where's Mommy?" or "Where's Daddy?" when we are sitting right there. Then I'll say "I don't know. Where's Mommy/Daddy?" And then she'll point to whoever she is talking about and say "Right there!" So cute. She identifies both of us and herself, and she can point to where "Baby Sister" is, although I'm not sure if she understands what that means. We are trying to prepare her for having a baby in our house. She will love it, I'm sure, as she loves babies and is very good at giving hugs and kisses. "Baby Sister" will not be at a loss when it comes to getting loves from her Big Sister. Speaking of "Baby Sister", anyone have any name suggestions? See our baby name poll for more.....

So this picture...I was folding laundry one day and Gabby was "helping" me (which means taking all the clothes out of the clothes basket and throwing them all over the floor, then hiding in them and yelling "Mommy, watch!"). She found a pair of Daddy's socks and she wanted to put them on. It was so funny, I was laughing at how cute she looked and was being so I had to take a picture. I have to admit, being a blogger has made me more picture-conscious. I am more often than not looking for opportunities to take pictures to post. It makes the blog more fun. But I should just write on it more too.

American Gladiator Junkie

Who would have thought? My 2-year-old daughter is an American Gladiator Junkie! When we saw that they were remaking the old classic we decided to watch it, just to see how it compares with the old version. (We like it, by the way). Gabby was totally enthralled with it from the get-go. She saw the gladiators and just thought they were the coolest and something about all the events just makes her mezmerised to the T.V. Gladiators and Mickey Mouse just do it for her, I guess. :) So here we are, watching a bit before bed. Maybe that's why she doesn't want to go to bed alone! ha ha

As a side note, we are trying a new technique of just putting her in the bed and leaving and then going back in and doing it again for as many times as it takes. Last night was only about 3 times, so I think we are making improvements. Jay has taken the reigns on this one too, I think it has helped, in some way that I can't really describe or comprehend. Hopefully we can figure this one out! :)

Gabby has something that she wants to say: pofllll knk (I guess it says "GO TITAN and TOA!!") from Gladiators.....I think she just likes the sound the keys make when you type since she was running her fingers on the keys but not really typing.