It's Starting to Feel a lot like Christmas!.....

We had a hard time waiting for the day after Thanksgiving this year to decorate. I had all of the Thanksgiving decorations put away by lunch time on Thanksgiving day since we did our big feast the Saturday before. I also had all of the Christmas decorations down from the attic before we went out for Chinese food with Tyler, Cynthia and their twins. It was a different Thanksgiving, but it was nice to do something different. We enjoyed being with friends, having a relaxed low key day together, and I especially enjoyed not cooking!

On Friday we got the tree up and most of the decorations moved to the location where they would end up. Due to poor behavior we weren't able to finish decorating until Saturday. Mark the elf didn't come until Sunday night once Axel and Phoenix were in full understanding how important it is to always be loving and respectful to each other and those around them. 

Axel was my helper in getting the lights on the tree. He some how pooped out when it came to putting up the hundreds of ornaments, but this year Phoenix was a champ in helping decorate the tree.  This meant that over 70% of the ornaments were within the height that she could reach. I had to sneak afterwards and help distribute the ornaments to cover the entire tree.

Daddy and I had fun watching them. 

After Daddy's bike ride on Friday he had fun introducing this pumpkin to Rubix. Rubix tried every possible way to get it into his mouth. So cute!

On Saturday afternoon Phoenix and I went to her friend Arya's birthday party. They had a "petting zoo" set up in their backyard. All of the animals were from the animal shelter. I thought it was the coolest most progressive idea for a birthday party. Unfortunately, Phoenix was a little more scared than in years past and only pet the little bunny rabbits and not the other animals.  

Rubix continues to become more mobile. He is becoming more proficient at getting onto his knees and pulling himself up to standing. His balance still is not great, but he loves to stand regardless. He is super quick at his military crawl. It is really quite cute! We tried sleep training him for a week. He did great until day 6 where he reverted back to screaming. I couldn't handle it and broke down and had Keith feed him in the middle of the night. We have had to feed him for three nights now, but I really think he is in a major growth spurt because his day time intake is just as high as ever. He is drinking over 30 ounces. Typically 4 bottles but sometimes a 5th bottle. He is also up to two meals a day. We are doing sweet potato, carrot, pear and banana. We will add beets tomorrow and then green beans. His is having 3 cubes and then half a banana with a cube of pear. He is pooping once or twice  a day and hasn't thrown up since he had squash so things are looking pretty good. 

With the excitement of having Mark the Elf return the kids wanted to be little elves themselves. They both still fit in their pj's from last year. Axel made Elf hates and then grabbed this box to complete his Elf costume. 

Here are the kids being extra cute!

Here is a really cute of Rubix wearing Phoenix's clothes. Apparently he ran out of back up clothes at Angela's so when I picked him up he was dressed like this. I couldn't stop laughing. He was so cute. 

Daddy  has been home for his sabbatical which means park time with Daddy. We have been having so much quality family time together. Life would be awesome without work!

Here is a cute picture of Rubix and Phoenix!

Yesterday Keith and I went to his 35th and last Linear Technology Party. As of next year they will be Analog Devices. It was really fun, but sad. Before I get a head of myself I wanted to share a couple of photos of Rubix. Rubix has been trying to get into the shower for a couple of weeks now. Because I really needed to get ready for the party while the others were out for a bike ride I decided to let him go in and get wet. 

He played for over 20 minutes before he decided he didn't like being wet. He splashed and opened and closed the door a hundred times. What fun!

So back to the party. We had Foreigner perform for us. We was a good concert, but as I was saying the whole night was just sad. The CEO's made speeches about the great journey the past 35 years have been since the 4 originals guys had a dream that they managed to turn into a multi billion dollar company. 

All in all Keith feels blessed to have been a part of LT for the past 17 years. Only time will tell what the future holds for the thousands of LT employees. We hope and pray Keith's group and job stays fully intact with equal compensation. We know the next 12 months are taken care of but there could be lots of change in 2018. For now we will focus on today and enjoy each day to the fullest!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had our annual pre-Thanksgiving feast last Saturday. It was one of the better meals I have prepared. I finally made great Grandma Connie's dressing and it turned out! My sweet potato casserole wasn't as good as usual because I decided to change the recipe. Note to self...don't change recipes day of. Stick with what you know is good! For some reason I never remember to take photos on this day. I think because it is so action packed with preparing food, cleaning up and visiting with friends.  I managed to take a picture of Phoenix. She was so hungry she just couldn't wait for everyone else. I let her start 10 minutes early rather than listening to hear continually ask for food :)

 I also managed to take one photo of the 7 kids having a dance party at the end of the evening. I set up an arts and crafts table which was great for the kids, except....it required a lot of my attention to help them with all of the crafts that I had purchased from Michaels. Good thing is the kids had fun.

 Daddy went to the Warriors basketball game with buddies on Wednesday night and got to witness one of the funniest blow outs he has ever seen. The kids and I had a great time at home. All three kiddos took a bath together for the first time. They all had a blast. Axel is almost too old for baths so I hope they can enjoy this time together for a little bit longer.

 On Thanksgiving morning everyone slept in except Rubix and I. We made yummy pumpkin scones and then pumpkin lattes. The scones were done just when everyone woke for the morning.


 We enjoyed a mellow day together and managed to call of the grandparents. It was an extra special Thanksgiving because it was Grandpa Brian's birthday. Here are the three kiddos. Rubix was ready for his nap. Too bad I wasn't able to get a better picture.

 Today we have been enjoying more family time together with bike rides, park play and Christmas decorating!

 Here are a couple of cute photos of Rubix trying a banana for the first time.

 All was great until he accidentally took a bite rather than sucking on it. He has been tolerating carrots and sweet potatoes this week. Banana was not on the plan and not what the allergist recommended, but I decided to listen to Rubix's desire to try something new and suffer the consequences later if he has a reaction to it. I am hopeful he will be fine with it.

We are all looking forward to the fun activities that the next 4 weekends have in store. Until then, God Bless you and your families!

Rubix is 8 months old and Axel lost his second tooth!

On Tuesday November 15th Rubix turned 8 months old! He is such a joy to be around. He still only cries when he is tired or hungry. He is becoming more vocal though and will grunt or cry if someone takes away what he is playing with. He will also make some noise if he gets frustrated with what he is doing. In this picture he pulled himself up onto his knees from his stomach. He can also pull himself up to a standing position and then he falls over immediately. 

 He is still doing the military crawl. He gets up onto his hands and knees all of the time, but still hasn't figured out how to crawl on them. He is quite quick for the military crawl on his stomach and loves to pull books off the bookshelf.

 These pictures are all from Sunday afternoon before he turned 6 months because I had a feeling that I wouldn't have time to take pictures on Tuesday, and I was right. My work week is crazy busy!


Here is Rubix babbling. You can see how happy and how solid he is in this video.

Here is a cute picture of Phoenix Sunday afternoon. She is learning a routine in gymnastics that she is excited to share with daddy and our guests tomorrow for our pre-Thanksgiving feast.

On Tuesday, I was able to capture pictures of Phoenix and Rubix taking his first big boy bath! He was beyond thrilled to be in the bath with Phoenix and Phoenix was just as excited to have someone to play with again, now that Axel mostly takes showers. 

 Rubix loves the water and loves to splash. You can see here how he is splashing away.

 Yesterday, Thursday, after school I tried to capture a few more pictures of our 8 month old. Axel wanted to join in as usual :)

 Rubix loves to bounce in the stroller or anytime he can. When he stands he immediately starts to jump. Hopefully he will learn soon that standing doesn't always equate to jumping/bouncing :)

We started solids again about 2 weeks ago. He has done well with the sweet potatoes. Yesterday I gave him one cube of butternut squash. He threw up last night and this morning and cried for hours last night. It is hard to know if all of that was a reaction to the squash or if it was just coincidence. He has not thrown up or cried at night like that since we stopped solids about 6 weeks ago. I can still see his top right tooth under the gums so it could have been that or he may be coming down with something because he has a little rash and a red cheek. I was too afraid to try squash again today so I gave him only sweet potatoes. I am hoping and praying for a good night of sleep tonight because it is hard letting him cry. Typically, Rubix has been waking once a night. Keith or I feed him just a couple of scoops of Neocate with about 3 or 4 oz of water. This is enough to satisfy him for the remainder of the night. I decided a couple of weeks ago I rather do that then hear him cry for hours. Keith, Rubix and I get more sleep that way :)

Rubix loves Louis and being outside. He loves watching Phoenix and Axel play. He loves to read his books and stand in the pack n play at Angela's, but most of all he loves to bite and chew on anything and everything!

 Last night Axel lost his second tooth. It has been loose for awhile and it was finally loose enough that with one pull forward by daddy and a little brushing of the teeth it fell out. Good thing because the tooth behind it is full grown and needs some room.

We are gearing up for lots of fun over the next few weeks. We have several birthday parties, Keith's company party, The Los Gatos Holiday parade for boy scouts and all types of fun activities in store. I will do my best to keep the blog current!

Fall Ball

What a beautiful fall is has been so far. We have had a nice amount of rain with warm sunny days otherwise. We have continued to be busy, but we are all trying to slow down a bit and enjoy each other. Here are a few of my favorite photos over the past couple of weeks. 

 Look at Rubix at the library! He is such a big boy now. He loves to sit in the stroller and jump/ bounce while holding on to the bar.

Grandpa Paul wanted videos of Axel playing baseball. Here is a video of Axel pitching and hitting. 

 Last Saturday we went to Jack Fischer Park. Here is daddy and Rubix. Axel and Phoenix had fun playing with two of Axel's classmates from school.

 Here are a couple of cute phtotos of Phoenix at gymnastics.

 You can see what a social butterfly Phoenix is. She is very animated in her conversations as you can see in this picture as she is talking to Macey.

 My little monkey absolutely loves the bars. She loves to flip. I am excited to see how she does in a month or two when she moves up to the 4's group.

 Best Buddies! Macey and Phoenix are signed up for mini t-ball in the Spring. We will see how that goes with us mom's managing and coaching the team!

Today was the fall ball baseball party. The kids went to the batting cages and hit for an hour. Coach Keith (daddy) rented 2 cages, the whiffle ball cage and the 35 mph cage so the kids got unlimited hitting. A couple of us moms and dads also tried it out. I managed to remember how to hit fast pitch softball. It was really fun, except I learned that you get a really bad blood blister if you wear your wedding ring and no gloves! 

It is hard to believe that Rubix will be 8 months on Tuesday. I hope to get good photos and videos of him to do a full update on the next blog post.

Happy Halloween! Axel's great report card!

We have been getting rained out of our baseball games almost every Sunday this month. Luckily, we have been able to make up the games during our practice time on Wednesday nights. Rubix and I try to stay as long as we can, but we have to leave early to get him to bed by 6:15 pm. He usually starts to melt down about 5:45 pm. His meltdown is a little cry and he really only cries when he is hungry or tired. Axel was sitting out the 3rd inning because they had one extra guy this game. He wanted to visit with Rubix before we left for the night. He loves him so much. It is really cute! Axel has been playing better and better. I have found it amazing watching the past two games as it actually looks like baseball now. They can field, throw the ball and get outs. They are also making contact while hitting. It is very exciting to see the boys transform into baseball players!

 Phoenix continues to do gymnastics. She still loves it. She is gaining more confidence and more strength. The thing I love most is to see how much she loves having her best buddy Macey there. They are really two peas in a pod.

 On Thursday afternoon Axel's class had their Halloween party. I wasn't able to make the entire party because of nap time, but I was able to sneak in 5 minutes before the bell was going to ring. I was able to catch him saying something very sweet about the birthday girl they were celebrating. As you can see from the picture he was very surprised to see me taking a picture of him.

It has been a very rainy week. Luckily, on Friday we had a break in the storm for about an hour. Phoenix begged to go to the park. We brought a towel and dried off the swings and slides. We were able to get a solid 30 minutes in before the next system started. It was really nice to get out, even though it was only for a short bit. 

 On Saturday everyone got dressed up and we headed to the Pumpkin Walk, which is the biggest school fundraiser at Marshall Lane. Phoenix is showing her purple finger nails and admiring herself as princess Ariel.

 They were both so excited that the day finally arrived.

 Rubix and I, along with the Jolley's joined the fun an hour later. Rubix could hardly fit in his dragon costume. He continues to grow at light speed and it is hard to keep him in clothes that fit, let alone a halloween costume!

 It is amazing what a couple of years can do for confidence and coordination. Axel ran around with his best buddies. I saw him very little over the course of the afternoon. I was happy to get this picture of him. You can see how much fun he was having.

 Phoenix and Braylin had a blast together. They both wanted to ride the go Karts so they patiently waited in line for over 20 minutes.

 Here is my little princess driving her car.

Here is a video. Auntie, Uncle and I laughed so hard watching the girls drive, I was almost in tears.  They were so cute trying hard and listening to the guys running the go karts. You can see Braylin about to crash. Both girls did some pretty funny driving. The guy running it said we better watch out and prolong their driving years!

 Braylin was a hit and everyone wanted attention from Braylin. If you look closely you can see Braylin saying no as Axel and Phoenix "fight" over her.

 The kids continued to play for hours after the Pumpkin walk ended. Auntie told Braylin they had to go, but Braylin said that they hadn't taken a bath yet. It is so cute to me that she remembers them taking baths before we leave so we took a bath. Axel really doesn't take baths anymore so it was a treat for the trio. He is getting a little old too, so this could be one of the lasts baths with the three of them.

 Here is just a random cute picture of Axel watching Rubix while I ran to take care of something on the other side of the house. When I returned he asked, "Can I get up now". How I love Axel!

 On Sunday we carved our pumpkins. I did the yucky part and dug out all of the seeds. Axel said he did the hard part because he cut out both pumpkins all by himself! Phoenix thinks she did the hard part because she took forever to trace her outline. But she did it, and that is what counts!

On Sunday, Rubix's military crawl became a little more like a regular crawl. He is now bringing his butt and knees up and then drops back to his stomach and pulls himself forward in a reciprocal motions rather than pulling himself forward with both arm together with brute force. It is really cute. I need to get a video of it.

On Monday, Halloween, Keith and I got home early to make sure we were able to feed the kids an early dinner and get to Nico's house for his party by 5:30pm. After an hour of fun, Phoenix was getting impatient and wanted to go trick or treating. Axel wasn't ready to leave the party just yet so Phoenix, Rubix and I headed home to put out the pumpkins and candy and to start trick or treating. It just so happened that our next door neighbors and Axel R. were at our house at 6:40pm. Keith had texted them that we would likely head out then. So we all headed out. Axel joined us around 7pm as well as our new neighbor Arianna.

 Here is a cute picture of Axel and Nico at his party.

 Here are the group of kids that we trick or treated with. Phoenix, Charlie, Evelyn, Axel, Arianna, and Axel R. It was a fun night!

Rubix and I headed in at 7:30pm. He drank his bottle at 6:45pm while we were trick or treating and took a late nap until he woke at 7:20pm coughing in the carrier. That is when I decided to bring him home and get him in bed. Axel and Phoenix came home at 8pm. They were exhausted but excited which made getting to bed a little more difficult. Luckily, both kids were asleep by 8:30pm. 

 Before I headed to the room I had to capture a picture or two of my view. His smile and face just puts a huge smile on my face. He is so calm and happy. He went right to sleep despite having his normal routine interrupted.

Rubix has progressed to 7 oz bottles over the past three days. He is back to waking only once in the 12 hours he is asleep. I am hoping if he sticks with the 7 oz bottles we can drop the night feeding all together because he will basically be getting the same calories as 5, 6 oz bottles with the 4, 7 oz bottles (minus 40 calories or so). I am almost apprehensive in starting solids again next week because things are FINALLY falling into place after over a month of chaos.

In Axel news, today we had his annual parent teacher conference. He had a great review. We found out that his current reading level is between 5th grade 9th month and 6th grade 2 month. We knew his reading had improved, but we were pleasantly surprised that he tested so well. He is in the 99th percentile for his reading, vocabulary and comprehension. We also found out that he is doing very well in math. He is in the enrichment math class, which consists of the top quarter of his class. He scored a 23 out of 24 on the pretest for the current module they are studying. Basically he knew how to do everything before they even started teaching it. We hope he continues to do well. He has stated that he gets a little stressed out during math clustering because they move so quickly. He doesn't like not being able to plow through his work, so anything that takes a little thought gets him a little worked up. Hopefully, he will work through this and understand that school is about learning and that is why he is there.

Tomorrow and Sunday are Axel's last two baseball games. We have another boy scouts meeting on Thursday so our schedule continues to be busy with Axel and Pheeny's extra-curricular activities.