snow!

last weekend we were so lucky to be able to go up to pinecrest for a few days. ben's parents went up before us and got it all ready for us (SOOO nice, thank you!) and then my sister and her family met us up there! it all came together so last minute but we had so much fun. the kids and ben had been sick all week before (read prior post) and we were all seriously crawling the walls. we needed to get out of dodge, so we went!

somehow my sister and her family were able to find the perfect rental car for an amazing deal and were able to get away for a few days, too! we arrived on friday and stayed through monday. the kids had so much fun in the snow.
jake had a blast just face planting in the powder, rubbing it on his face, throwing snowballs at everyone... the girls preferred to shoot down the boat launch ramp on the snowboogies. cat and i ventured out on snowshoes (oy) in deep, powdery snow. what a workout.

at night we made fancy dinners (pink dinner for valentine's day, courtesy cat!) and busied ourselves with dominoes. we had such an amazing time. we're hoping to get back up there in a couple of weeks if ben doesn't have classes. i love the snow! (for a few days, anyway!)

**UPDATE - I had to add a video that my sister, Cat, took while sledding down the boat launch ramp at the lake. The sweet giggles you hear in the video are her 4 year-old daughter's, Annika. This video makes me laugh every time!!

sick

everyone's sick. everyone but me, that is.
(KNOCKING ON WOOD!!)
annabelle's first cold - it's not too bad, really, just a lot more liquid coming from her nose than an infant should ever experience. but thankfully, so far, no fever, cough or anything like that. i suppose she could even be teething. it's clear snotters... that's a good sign, right? anyway, the biggest problem is that she is an absolute paci girl and with a stuffy nose she can't suck on her pacifier. it's so sad! suck, suck, suck, sniff, sniff harder, cry! and so forth.
jakey has some bug - fever on and off for two days and a really nasty sounding cough. all day today he seemed like he was getting better then just before bed he started crying that he didn't feel well. sure enough the temperature was back up and his whole chest area sounds congested. i can hear him in there coughing as i type.
to top it all off ben ALSO has some other kind of bug. he feels horrible but his is more tummy than cold. it's all around me!! my mother-in-law was telling me about this study where the people who slept 8 hours were better able to survive the sickness so... goodbye late bird. time to hit the sack early tonight. i am praying to God i won't get sick!

fingers crossed....

report card?!

so today we had the pleasure of meeting with jakey's preschool teacher. it was our first parent-teacher conference ever. the first of many, i suppose! we weren't sure what to expect. of course at home we see all sides of mr. jake. he is so sweet, happy, respectful, polite... but he can also be mr. stinker, mr. contrary, whiny pants, sobbing his head off over um... very little... even telling a white lie here and there. like my last post stated, of course we think our kid is just the best, but it was very interesting to see jakey through his teacher's eyes.

apparently our little angel is considered the wanderer of the preschool class. every other kid is sitting where he/she is supposed to be, listening to stories, paying attention to the daily "lesson," and then there's jake... wandering the classroom, sprawling across the tabletops, sucking his thumb and laying on the floor. what?! i am a teacher for goodness' sake! my child is THAT kid?! ah, well... he's three. or at least that's what i'll keep telling myself. until may. then it will be, "he's four." i'm sure i'll always have an excuse. he's my kid! he can do no wrong! well, not often anyway!

anyway, it was very enlightening to see another adult's perspective on mr. jake. we are biased, and our lovely family is also biased (we love you guys for that). so to hear the opinion of someone we see on a weekly basis who may not be QUITE as in love with him as we are... it was definitely eye-opening.

and the control freak in me is determined to change that!!

cutest kids ever

of course i'm naturally biased when i say i have the cutest kids in the world... but really! they are amazing. lately they just look at each other and laugh and laugh. they love each other. annabelle can be crying her head off and take one look at jakey and just stop. he can be whining about one thing or another and see her start to get upset and all of a sudden all of his focus is on cheering her up. in his highest pitch voice he says, "baby girl!!! it's your brother here!!!" it's so sweet. they sit in the backseat of the car and just crack up at each other. it is to die for! just had to share. every mother thinks her kids are the cutest/best/sweetest... but i know mine are :)

heehee

A Day with Belles

Today my fabulous mother-in-law picked up Jakey and took him to her house to play with her and grandpa. He had such a blast with them, as always. I got to stay home with Annabelle. For once we didn't have any plans, nowhere to be, no one to see... it was a little strange but also really nice. Annabelle still sleeps a lot, so when we're home with Jake I feel like I get to spend a lot of time with him. But for the most part when she is awake, so is he, so I don't get very much alone time with her. Even when he's at preschool she is usually napping. Karen has taken Jake a few times and it always amazes me how EASY it is to be at home with just one kid. Now, I never would have said this before having two kids. You just can't appreciate it before you have more than one. And anyone out there with more than two kids wants to slap me right now and tell me I have it so easy with two! Regardless, Annabelle and I had a great time just hanging out at home and laughing at each other. She's such a doll - so happy and smiley and laughing all the time. She lets everyone know the minute she's had enough. If you get her in the right window she just goes right to sleep so easily. She's such a good baby, but the girl knows what she wants. I think that's a good thing.

We took this photo today on my cell phone (hence the lovely quality) for Jamie. Jamie and I went to see Marley & Me yesterday and we were both a MESS. I decided to send Jamie a picture of my purple baby girl to cheer her up, so here it is. Doesn't quiet capture the laughing and cooing she was doing up until the moment I pulled out the phone, but it is still Annabelle in all her glory.

the dentist

so jakey finally had his first dental visit! i know, i know, i'm a bad mom, waiting so long. most of my friends' kids have already been several times. i guess i was afraid of being scolded for the fact that he still sucks his thumb and his teeth are moving all over the place as a result. luckily for me, dr. rimi was really sweet about it. she gave us some tips to help him transition out of the thumb-sucking, and we're working toward that slowly but surely! i was surprised to hear that we should be taking belles in for her first dental visit when she turns one. that seems pretty early to me, but what do i know? knowing me and my procrastination, we'll see if we can get her in before her 3rd birthday! :)

Happy New Year!

Wow, 2009 already. And January is almost over! We had such a great time over the holidays, having our Big/Little Bidwell Christmas celebration up here then heading down south to visit the Little Vosovics, the Greens, Turley-Boultons, Mom & Prasad, Auntie Barb & Bill, Dad & Nonnie and Ben's grandma Mary for her birthday. We got to stay with my long-time friend Hallie in Laguna for a couple of nights which was great. Her sister, Meg, was kind enough to put us up in her in-law unit. We also got to meet up with Megs K. for coffee for a bit one day. I wish we had been able to see some other people (Kara O, Annette, the Shostac Clan) but, as usual, the time just went by way too quickly. We headed back up north to celebrate New Year's Eve with some good friends, and have just been trying to readapt to life back in the bay.
The kids are doing so well. Jake is mastering his new bicycle (with trainers) and still loving preschool. He was so happy to go back after the break. He loves all the little girls in his class (ladies' man already?!) and loves the off days when he gets to see his buddies Tyler and Joey.

Annabelle is learning to roll over and make use of her lungs. She really has learned how to get everyone's attention. She is laughing up a storm and will probably be sitting up in a month or so. She's a pretty sturdy little gal. She is absolutely in love with her brother. No one can make her laugh like he does with his zerberts. (click on Zerberts for a video)