Brooklyn’s Blessing

Sunday, Brooklyn received her church blessing.  A lot of family and friends gathered together to participate.  It was lots of fun to see everyone, mingle and have lunch together.  There were quite a few kids running around which definitely kept Lexi entertained.  We were very happy to be part of Brooklyn’s day.

Busy Month

Well we have had a busy month!  By the 3rd, we had a death and birth in the family.  So there has been some traveling and visiting of family.  Gil has changed jobs (13+ years in the uniform business is enough) so we are adjusting to that as well.

Jake and Lindsey had their baby, Brooklyn Isabelle Toolson.  She was born August 2cd at 8lbs 6oz and 20.5 inches long.  She is a great baby and looks exactly like Lindsey!  We can’t wait to watch her grown up!

Despite the busy schedule, Lexi is doing great.  Miss Chatty is now saying a million words and can tell me exactly what she wants.  Along with her knew knowledge of words has come the “terrible two’s”.  Yes, she isn’t even quite 18 months, but man it hit hard.  She is very stubborn, like her mama, and will throw a fit if she can’t getting something to happen the way she wants.  Bug loves to count and sing the alphabet song.  She continues to sing more and more often and insists on watching Barney 6 times a day instead of just 2 times.  The weather has cooled a tad so we aren’t swimming as much, but try to walk to our HOA pool once a week.  As Lexi is trying to settle into a “no nap” routine, I am trying to find more things to entertain her with (besides Barney).  So we are keeping up with our Arts-and-Crafts and playing outside.  These pics are of her first finger painting experience.  And yes, she did tase it at least once.  Yuck!

Lexi is reading!!!!

Lexi is now reading four words!  I’m SO proud!  She LOVES to read and would spend all day with her nose in a book if she could.  Her words are: girl, boy, squirrel and ball.  I can’t believe how quickly she catches on.  Love you Lexi!  Keep reading and soaking it all in!

It’s Freakin’ hot in Sacramento!

I can’t stand the heat!  Bug seems to be hanging in there when it’s blistering hot in the house.  We spend almost every waking second in the pool, in the sprinklers, in range of a water bottle, or in the bath. Since Lexi has been taking a lot of cool bathes lately, we are still trying to keep bath time entertaining since we use it as a sleeping aid at night.  We ‘invested in’ (hey Tyler Howard, I used that word just for you.  I’m sure Kati would agree it fits perfectly in this context. haha) a set of Bath Markers.  Lexi wasn’t really sure what to do at first since she has only colored with crayons and pens, but Miss Artist figured it out soon enough.  She gets a great kick out of drawing on the bathtub walls and proceeds to amaze us with her coordination.

Bug has started singing.  It is precious to hear this pure little voice chorusing on with music.  She proceeds to dance like crazy to her shows in the morning and has become OBSESSED over Barney.  She loves one DVD in particular and is slowly driving me insane, but hey the things we do for our kids, right?  I have discovered that she has a very kind heart when it comes to babies, stuffed animals, and animals.  Anytime she sees them in a book or in reality, she does this cute “awwwwwwwww”.  Oh and you know those SPCA commercials that leave you on the verge of tears or on the verge of calling in with your credit card number?  Lexi gives those commercials a whole new meaning.  They should put her little puppy eyes on that commercial along with “awwwwwwww’s”  and kisses to the pets.  They would really be racking in the money then!

The summer has been fun with Lexi so far and we both look forward to the Fall, better yet Winter.  We will keep you posted!  Happer Heat!

Happy 4th!

We had a great 4th of July!  I hope everyone else did as well.  Lexi loved every second of watching fireworks and couldn’t stop saying ”ahhhhh….ohhhhhhhh…..woooooowwww”.  She pointed out all the colors and loved the sounds.  Lexi had a blast with her sparklers and glow sticks.  I think every year will even get better since she doesn’t seem to be scared of much.  We enjoyed a great picnic and firework show.  No complaints except for maybe the heat.  Blah.

Lexi is growing so quickly and not just physically.  She is so smart!  For quite awhile she has been progressing with her letters and reading.  Bug is really good at pointing at animals and making their sounds.  She loves to meet new people (not shy at all!), try on shoes, and hair accessories.  For some reason everywhere we go, the boys seem to follow her!  We will have our work cut out for us when it comes to dating!  We can’t keep her out of water either!  Her new favorite place is the pool!  She can stay there for well over an hour, swimming by herself in her swim tube.  She loves the sprinkler, as well.  You guys thought she was a chatter box before, well now she saying a lot more words.  It’s so nice having her able to verbalize what she wants.  What  a world of difference!

Wish us luck on the potty training!  We know she is a tad young and we figure it will be a bit of a process, but she is showing quite a few signs of being ready.  So here goes nothing….

Shasta

Gil has had some time off work so we have taken advantage of it.  Visiting with family, swimming, dressup, camping, etc.  We went up with Grandma and Grandpa Toolson to their Shasta property.  Gil and I were curious to see how Lexi would do camping.  She has always loved to be outside and would spend all day outside if she could.  Bug wasn’t too sure the first day (the 4 hours car ride up was no picnic either), but soon got the hang of “roughin it”.  The hikes, flowers, streams, trees, fresh air, fun fires etc. just made the trip.  There were a couple scraped knees by the end of the trip, but far worth the time Bug got with Grandma and Grandpa and the great outdoors. 

Shasta is quite the scenic place.  Very beautiful and the weather is amazing this time of year!  Grandpa was our tour guide throughout the town for an afternoon and even showed us where the start of the Sacramento River. I had no idea it started all the way up there.  We can’t wait for another trip up there!

Bug-er-Boo

My Bug-er-Boo is becoming quite the girlie-girl….and I LOVE it!  I know that was my concern with having a baby girl, was dealing with the princess stuff, dress-up, makeup, etc, but I’m finding it all so much fun.  Between accessorizing with hair clips and ‘bling’, Lexi loves makeup and toe nail polish.  Of course she is always checking herself out in the mirror to make sure she fits her own high standards.

Her tom-boy side is definitely there throughout the girlishness episodes.  She climbs everything, loves to tackle and rough house, and isn’t afraid to get dirty.  Lexi has recently discovered toilets.  Every time she spots one, she must flush it and proceed to lift the lid and stick her hands in.  Needless to say, we have gone through many bottles of sanitizer!!  SO gross!  You would think we could just close the door, but she has discovered how to open those as well.  Ugh!  Life with a toddler definitely keeps you on your toes, but I wouldn’t change a minute of it!

Little Vaca

Ahhh….another great trip to Washington!  The air is so much cleaner and more preferable weather!  We went up as a family, but Gil came back early for work while Lexi and I stayed several more days.  Lexi had lots of fun with her cousins (Quincy and Braxton).  I was absolutely amazed at how well Lexi did with baby Braxton.  She was extremely gentle with him.  The whole family was there (thanks Scotty for coming home from college for weekend!). Everyone commented on how chatty she is.  I could only laugh.  Jibber Jabber alllllll ddaaayyyy looonnnggg and I LOVE it!  Bug’s vocabulary is expanding and Gil and I sit back as Lexi is becoming such a big girl.

Happy Birthday, Mom!  While we were there, Mom turned another year older (still extremely young, Missy).  It was nice to be there for that day.  We did some shopping and relaxed.  Ahhh…

We look forward to another trip up, probably for Scotty’s farewell.  He is putting in his mission papers and will jetting off to who knows where (please not Russia!).  I’m very proud of him!

xoxo!

Happy Birthday Grandma Toolson!

We spent time with Grandma Toolson on her birthday.  We had lots of fun, as usual!  Played with toys, puzzles, ate yummy food, and had cake!  Another year wiser, right Mom?  We were happy to be part of her day and love her with all our hearts.  Thanks for everything you do, Mom!

Bath Time is Fun Time

Lexi is a big girl and sleeps in her bed all night!  She has been doing great with this for awhile now.  Some nights she will sleep the whole night.  Others she will wake up anywhere between one to four times (usually all close together in the beginning of the night).  We are both very proud of her and are happy to have normal sleep.  We couldn’t have done it without our night-night schedule.  The biggest part of that is Bath Time.  Which Lexi LOVES!  Afterall, she is my daughter which makes her a water baby!

Since her hair is so much longer now, we like to play with the soap.  Here are some cute pics….

Just Between Friends

I decided I had to put a post up for all my girlfriends and cousins that have kids.  I found out about this “Just Between Friends” or “JBF” about a year ago. So what it is, in short, is a company that coordinates huge consignment sales twice a year in set locations.  They are in quit a few places so for those of you that aren’t in California, the could be around you, too!  Millions of people get their gently used baby and kid items and tag them before taking to the location to be set up (to give you an idea on how big these are, one of the local ones we go to is at the fairgrounds due to size and mass of items).  You can get anywhere between 60-85% of the profits made from you items.  If any of your things don’t sell you can either pick up or have them donated.  They will send you a check within a couple weeks of the money you made.

Whether you decide to sell your old items and make money or go to buy, you REALLY should visit one if there is one close to where you live!  And what even beats the cheap prices and MILLIONS of items that are nicely placed out, is that the last day of the sales are always 50% off days.  Its the last attempt to sell items.  I just go on 50% days so I’m not tempted to spend too much (which isn’t very much at these mass “garage sales”).

http://jbfsale.com/findevent    – go to this address and see if there is one close to you and check out that locations website.  Its totally worth it!  So to those friends and family that are in Oregon, Washington, Utah, Idaho, Texas, Arizona, etc.  There are locations there.  Let me know how it goes!

I’ll get better about posting! I swear!

Ok, we are finally really getting on a routine now.  A lot of our projects have been done and there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  Lexi and I are figuring out how to sort our days without so many projects, though it seems we find ourselves as busy as if we were still doing them.  I can’t believe I haven’t even posted for Easter!  I feel horrible!  Sorry to those friends and relatives who depend on this site for pictures and also sorry, Lexi.  Though we do a journal and scrapbook at home, this is more or less our virtual log for Lexi.  We have internet (thanks to a neighbor who doesn’t put a password on their wireless) and I’m figuring out how to upload pictures to Gil’s laptop (this could take hours!).  Wish me luck as I upload!

Yes, we are still alive….

I know….this is the longest I have ever gone without posting!  I can’t believe it.  It has been a VERY long month and a half!  Quick update….I found a person to replace me at work.  Trained her and quit!  Yeap, that’s right I am now an at-home-mom.  Now I can focus on my real full-time job; being a mom!

Let me take a second to says thank you to all those that helped with Bug this past year.  Mainly you Mom!  I know there were many long days, but we are SO grateful for the time you had with Lexi and for making my life a bit easier by having her in your home.  Thanks to Lindsey and Tory for when they helped!  And thank you to Kelly, a friend from Mom and Dad’s church for be an amazing babysitter for Lexi!  Thank you everyone!  I couldn’t have done it without you guys!

Within 2 days of quitting my job, we moved into our first house!  Finally!  But WOW what a process.  Thanks Husband for moving just about everything we owe, by yourself!  Amazing!  While I packed one room with Lexi, he was clearing all the boxes in no time!  The new house needs lots of work, but within two weeks we are finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel of mandatory fixes!  Lots of unpacking, drilling, painting, and lifting!

Gil’s job is going great!  His boss told him “he was the best hire he has ever made”.  I’m so proud of him!  He really knows how to do his job.  After all he is a veteran in that line of work.  He loves to come home and work in the yard! haha.  That’s “his project”.  I’m not allowed to touch apparently!  He has surrendered the inside of the house to me, but has claimed the outside.  The yard will keep him busy for the next year!  Lots of work, but makes this home even feel more like ours.

I have lots of pictures, but am not used to using this computer.  I used to use my work computer for all posts.  I haven’t even learned how to upload pictures from my camera to this laptop.  But I will learn soon so you all can see the fun pics!  I had to at least write a note to say we are still around and are thinking of you all!  I’m slowly getting into my new routine with being at home and doing so many house projects at once.  XoXo!

One Year Old!

Wow……it went by so fast and she has accomplished so much in just one year!  I’m so proud to be Alexandria’s mom!  She brings smiles to ours faces always and keeps us on our toes and even more excited for tomorrow!

Her 1st Birthday party went well.  Good food, good company and yummy cake!  Lexi spent lots of time dancing for everyone and blew out her candle right on cue!  She needed some help with the present opening, which left me to do it (felt kinda weird opening presents for her).  Overall, lots of fun and thank you so much to all those that came and/or got Lexi a present!  Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us do it at your place!

Another Day in the Life of Lexi

Same-0, same-o lately.  Just getting ready for Lexi’s big birthday!  Party is this Saturday!  Can’t wait!  And we are getting ready to move into our new and final home!  Our place is in boxes right now.  Ugh.  Feels like a constant mess, but its all part of the process, right?

Hope all is well with everyone!  Can’t wait to see a lot of you, this weekend!  Here are some pics from the past 2 weeks….xoxo

Belated Posting for Tyler’s Bday

Tyler is 4 years old!  I can’t believe it!  He is a great big brother and just as adorable as can be!  Jake and Lindsey got a Spiderman Bounce House for the swarm of kids to play in.  When it came time for Tyler to blow out candles, as usually is gets embarrassed about everyone singing to him and he hides!  Too cute!  Every year, without fail.

Happy Birthday Bubba!

Braxton Kaleb Howard

My newest little nephew was born February 10, 2010 at 10:33am.  7lbs 11oz and 19.5 inches long.  Born via C-section.  All went well and my sister, Kati, is recovering nicely.

We can’t wait to see Braxton in May!  We have been receiving lots of pictures (thanks Grammie!) and love to see his personality and how he is growing.  I can definitely see he is a Lindquist baby!  Too cute!  Lexi LOVES to stare at his pictures and smile.  Can’t wait until she can meet her new cousin!

Love you Howards!  And hope you are able to get some sort of rest!

Lexi Update

Lexi is quite the ‘big girl’ now.  She has discovered that she loves animals and proceeds to cuddle and carry every stuffed animal she can find.  Bug has always loved music, but now is tall enough to reach Grandma and Grandpa’s piano keys.  She gets quit the kick out of playing those notes. 

We have tried recently to get Lexi to wear shoes.  In being her mothers’ daughter, she doesn’t like them.  She refuses to walk in them and pulls at them until she or I take them off. haha.  We will have to keep working on that.  Good thing we didn’t waste much on those thrift store shoes, who knows if we can ever get her to wear them?!  I’m 26 years old and still refuse to wear closed-toes shoes.  Summer will be here before we know it and maybe we will have better luck with sandals.

Another fun discovery at Grandma and Grandpa’s house is their two flights of stairs.  Lexi didn’t show any interest in them until about a week or two ago.  She acts like she has been doing it for months!  If climbing stairs was an Olympic event, I would have a Gold Medalist on my hands!  She even taught herself that going on her tummy, backwards down the stairs was much better (safer yes, but now she can get down off any piece of furniture).

We did our occasional sunglass shopping.  We all get a great kick out of Bug trying on sunglasses.  She can make any pair look good! 

We are getting ready for Lexi’s Big Birthday!  Its just a few weeks away!  And the big milestone after that is our move!  Wow, it’s all happening so fast!  We are so excited about getting our new home.  We have already started packing a little.

Well I will update again extremely soon.  I have to update you all on Tyler’s birthday and my other nephew, Braxton, is being born today!  Post pics soon!

xoxo

It was the Messiest of Times….

So our little girl is walking, talking, dancing, singing, and….feeding herself!  Gil and I love to watch Lexi discover new things in the world and find her own independence, but wow it sure is messy!  I’m still trying to feed her jarred baby food along with food from our plates, but either way she wants to hold the spoon and do it herself.  Half the time she is grabbing it to examine it (with her FINGERS not eyes) and the other 50% of the time she is actually putting it straight into her mouth.  We have officially stained some shirts beyond repair!  I keep telling Gil that I’m just going to strip her down to her diaper and lay a tarp under her highchair.  Little does he know that I’m totally serious!

Mess aside, it is lots of fun!

R.I.P.

I couldn’t get myself to do this yesterday so I’m doing it today…. Pops, Rest In Peace.  It has been 2 years since you died.  I miss you everyday.  You were such an amazing man and a close friend!  I’m sad that Lexi will never get to know you.  I know you really looked forward to being a Grandpa.  I will make sure I share our corniness and that she knows about you.  Oh and guess what?  You know how you would apologize for giving me your forehead?  haha, she has it too!  A little part of her biological grandpa….She is lucky that she has so many Grandpa’s.  They all love and cherish her, just wish you around to do it, too.

Much love to my biological father, Gordon Perry Johnson.  Died January 21, 2008 at the age of 43 years old.

Leaps and bounds…

We almost can’t keep up with Lexi!  She is walking and talking!  She walked across the room for the first time this weekend.  She had never made it that far before.  It was jaw-dropping to watch because she is just so sturdy and confident.

Anyone who knows Bug, knows she is quite the gabber!  She loves to chat, chat, chat!  Well she has said a few words by now (ball, cats names; Boo and Britches, hey, hi, momma, pappa, bat, etc.).  To Gil, Tory and I’s surprise yesterday…Lexi said her first sentence/asked her first question, “Who is it?”  Now let me explain why….

Bug has this fun Door Game she plays.  She loves that she can open and close doors, and can entertain herself with that door for quite some time.  Well when she closes the door too far and can’t open it again, I like to go knock.  I try to hold my giggles in as she says things every time I knock.  Well yesterday, I called Tory to the back of the house to have her listen to how cute her talking was…I’m glad I had a witness there!  I knocked…”Huh”….I knocked….”Whooo izz ett”….jaw dropped!  Both Tory and I looked at each other in amazement.  “Did you just hear that or did I imagine it” was said simultaneously.  Sure enough.  Lexi said it 2 more times that afternoon while playing the Door Game!  The cutest version of “Who is it?”  I have EVER heard!

Not to mention is she walking and talking more, Bug can now open containers! haha.  She proceeds to open her food containers when hungry and takes snacks.  Who needs a babysitter when she can feed herself?  Now if only she could change her own diapers…..

Grammie:  Lexi loves the “Arms Up” game more than ever.  She will even start the game and look around at everyone in the room to make sure they do it, too.  Its priceless.  Can’t wait until you can play it with her next month!

It’s been awhile…

I know, I have been HORRIBLE about posting these past few weeks.  With Christmas, New Years, Gil getting a new job, me being sick for 2 weeks….sighh….lots have been going on.

Lexi is doing great, as usual.  She is SO tall!  She mainly wears clothes 24months and up.  And guess what?  She is walking!  Still hasn’t mastered walking all the way across the room, but when she is in the mood, that girl will pop up and just start running until she falls! haha, the funniest thing to watch.  She is fearless (which makes me proud but scares me at the same time)!  Bug is a tough cookie and loves to rough house.  She just thinks its hilarious to tackle each other (football and waterpolo player on our hands?)  We love to chase each other and dance!   That girl will drop everything and start dancing (sometimes looks like body convulsions) to any music or commercial!  She sure can shake that cute booty!

Hope everyone had a great New Year’s.  Keep us updated!

Christmas 2009

I took all of Christmas week off this year.  Gil, Bug and I had the best week together!  The time off came just in time because I truly needed the break from work.  I got to relax, catch up on movies (rented about 10 movies overall), went on walks, got some shopping done, lots of playing with Lexi, got to experience being white trash (vowed I would never be one of those people who went to the grocery store in their pjs.  Sure enough I went wearing sweatpants, sweatshirt and slippers!  Granted it was 10pm, but still..unacceptable!), and best of all share Lexi’s first Christmas with her and the people we love most!  We had four different Xmas dinners….wheeww that was a lot of running around! 

 For next year, Gil and I have decided that we will be holding the Xmas celebration at our house because we aren’t wasting our day traveling between everyone’s houses when we have a daughter who is missing out on her Christmas.  Blah blah, yes going to those houses is “part of Christmas”, but we literally only got 30 minutes to have our “Christmas Morning” before we had to jet off!……Sigh….takiiinnnggg a deeeeeep breeeaaatthhh……  Don’t get me wrong, family!  We were happy to share the day with all of you, but you have no idea how exhausted we were!

Lexi got the concept of ripping presents open, right of the bat!  She almost had more fun opening the presents then seeing what was inside!  Bug is a lucky girl and got lots of fun toys!  Major plus on the rocking horse from Jake and Lindsey and talking Leap Frog Puppy from Jeffrey!!  Lexi is absolutely in LOVE with them!  She gives the biggest smile to the puppy every time it talks to her.  I dont’ know how Lexi learned to use a rocking horse, but sure enough as soon as she was put on it, she started rocking away!  Smart instincts!  Must get it from her Momma, haha.

Well the Christmas decorations are down and we are moving into the year 2010!  What a fast year!  I’m excited for what the next year has to bring (i.e. Bug turning 1, Evangeline turning 18 and graduating, us getting our first house, me becoming an at-home-mom, etc. etc.).  I hope everyone enjoys their Holidays and see you next year!

P.S.  Bug is going to be walking soon!!  She is already taking up to two steps by herself!  Any day now!

Our Christmas Bug!

We did them extremely early this year (glad I did with how busy our fall/winter has been).  Lexi looks a tad different since we took these pictures, but oh well.  They are still cute, nonetheless.

Washington Family Pictures 2009

We got the pictures back from the photographer.  Some turned out really cute!  Next are the Toolson Family Pictures!  Here are my favorite….

December is here!

I have been so excited for Bug’s first Christmas!  Of course she doesn’t understand whats going on around her but I’m having the fun for her. haha.  Lexi did a good job picking our first tree!  She had to touch just about every single tree before she chose the perfect one!  Bug even helped decorate.  That was a fun night!

Every year, growing up, I looked forward to walking through Dove Wood Court.  The Court of Lights!  I was sure Lexi would love the Christmas lights.  We walked through (luckily we dodged the rain) and Lexi got her fill of lights, decorations, cars, and people.  She loved it.  We look forward to going next year!

This past weekend, Lexi discovered the sliding door on the side of the house.  It was hilarious watching her.  I tried to snap a few pics!  She is so adventurous now.  She can crawl across the house in about 2.3 seconds!  Bug is pretty clever, too!  That girl keeps us on our toes!

**Washington Turkey Day**

The Toolson Robledo fam went to Washington for the week and we had the BEST trip ever!  It was my first holiday with the Lindquist family.  Grammie was excited to finally have all her kids together for a holiday.  It was only the second time I had even seen my sister, Kati (first time ever seeing her son, Quincy)!  It was a visit way past due.

My nephew Quincy Bear is simply a doll!  Love that boy!  I was extremely happy to see how well he and Lexi Bug got along!  At the same time though, it was a bit sad because it was heartbreaking to know they lived so far from each other and would get to play together very little.  Needless to say, those two peas in a pod took advantage of the time they had together.  They screamed, giggled, tackled, hugged, ate, and played together.  Though we ALL had a great time, I would probably have to say Lexi Bug had the best!  Except for cutting another tooth (7 teeth now)!

We got to visit with lots of family and we even snuck in some Black Friday shopping!  We considered showing up at Walmart at 3am, but decided sleeping was way more important.  We went about 10:30am and the store seemed to be pretty calm for such a busy day.  Of the two special priced items we hoped to get we got one; the more important of the two.  We stocked up on cheap camera chips.  I do tend to go through a lot of those!  We got some other good buys and had lots of fun in the process!

As usual, it was hard to leave everyone.  But Grammie and I have noticed it makes it a bit easier to leave knowing when we will see each other next.  Lexi’s birthday!

Decorating for Christmas tonight!  Tree and all!  Will post again very soon!

p.s. check out some of Grammies Xmas decorations!  She had them set up so we could see (Thanksgiving and Xmas combo).  Lexi LOVED the lights!

Birthdays and Thanksgiving Meal

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Melissa and Jake!  We celebrated Jake’s birthday during this past week.  Tyler and Kaitlyn helped make his cake and some fruit jello to go along with dinner.  They are growing up so fast!  Great taco’s and cake!

We got to celebrate Melissa’s birthday, Saturday, when we all gathered to have Thanksgiving dinner.  Robledo’s figured we should do it when we all were in town.  It was fantastic food!  Lexi loved the potatoes and turkey, of course!

Check out Bug’s cute new slippers!  She doesn’t always seem to be able to keep her socks on when crawling around the house.  Plus its been freezing lately.  It was a bit of a shocker when we measured her feet and found that she wears a 6 1/2 wide!!  She isn’t even 9 months old, yet! haha.  All the cute girlie slippers were either too big or too small.  So we got stuck with Spongebob Square pants lucky us!  Lexi thought they were fun toys at first, but soon forgot they were even on her feet as she sped across the room.

P.S. keep in mind, for those who haven’t figured out the format of this layout…you can click on the pictures to see the full pic.  Plus you can click again to make it bigger.  There is an option to leave comments on the pictures, as well.

xoxo

Happy Birthday KiKi!

We all celebrated Kaitlyn’s 2cd birthday this past week.  She is getting so big!  Such a pretty girl and I’m SO happy her red hair is still around!  She got a little bashful when we sang happy birthday, but Tyler helped her blow out the candles.

We had a relaxing and fun weekend.  Lots of playing on the floor, going on a walk, an errand or two, cooking, etc.  Some good quality time with my hubby and baby girl!

p.s. Washington family- I added a pic of Lexi’s hair so you could see how curly its getting.  But I guess you will see that first-hand in a couple of weeks!!!  Yipppeeee!!

xoxo

1st Halloween

Alexandria’s first Halloween!  It was lots of fun!  We went to Grandma and Grandpa’s to spend time with friends and family.  We had a great dinner with special treats and even went with the cousins and friends to a couple houses to trick-or-treat.  Lexi was quite the trooper and had lots of fun.  Once we hit that second house she was slowing down for the night.  When everyone went to knock on that third house, her head was on my shoulder (which means BED NOW).  We went home to camp out in the front room, watch movies, and hand out candy.  It was the best Halloween I’ve had in a long time!

Lexi is growing, growing, growing!  She had sprouted a couple of inches, has 6 teeth, has gorgeous curly hair, crawls as fast as the wind, climbs like a professional, walks around furniture while holding it, eats food from our plates (great at solid foods), etc. etc.  She is getting so big!  And hit her 8 month mark 2 days ago.  Wow….

 Bug is my world!  Love you Bug!

Happy Birthday Grandma Robledo!

Grandma Robledo’s Birthday is this week so my brother and sister-in-law, Eddie and Melissa, came up for the weekend.  We all went out to dinner (yummy Wasabi) to celebrate.  It was a fun experience.  They cooked our food right in front of us (food and a show).  Sushi was good, too!  Lexi did great, as usually.  We decided to bring her Bumbo seat with us.  She was a Big Girl and had her own chair.  Bug is getting better about finger foods so I brought some along and she ate with us. 

It was fun for everyone to see Lexi crawling.  I love her crawl!  Its half walking/half crawling.  She crawls on one knee while walking on the other foot! It looks kinda gimpy, but adorable.  Gil and I laugh because we still have not gotten too used to the idea that she is crawling so we still get surprised when we see that she has made it across the room and up the couch (LOVES to stand and climb) in a matter of 2.3 seconds!  No going back now, ladies and gentlemen!

We had fun making a mess and carving pumpkins!  Lexi couldn’t quite tell if she liked the taste or not.  She tried it several times!  Britches had fun, too!  She loves the taste of pumpkin!  The pumpkins turned out great and we will be cooking the pumpkin seeds tonight!

I can’t wait for Halloween Saturday!  Happy Trick-or-Treating!  xoxo

Pumpkin Patch

Lexi got to experience her first pumpkin patch!  I thought her pumpkin hat would be appropriate!  We played for a little bit and looked at all the scarecrows and activities they had there. 

It took a little deciding (looking, touching, tasting) on Lexi’s part to pick the right pumpkin, but she picked the cutest one!  It was fun for me to be able to pick pumpkins together.  I can’t wait until she is a bit older and can be more involved in the holidays. 

Oh and look at these cute pics Gil was able to snap while Lexi and Boo were on my lap!

Toolson Trip

I slacked last week on getting the San Diego trip up so here I am finally getting around to it. 

We flew down to San Diego to see the Toolson’s, Potter’s and Baker’s.  It was GREAT to see everyone again.  It had definitely been awhile.  All the cousin’s are getting so big!  A reminder that I’m getting older too, not just them!  The real highlight to the weekend was seeing Grandpa Toolson (Lexi’s Great Grandpa)!  He is getting older and getting around is a bit harder, but he still looked good to me.  He was in high spirits with everyone there and the look on his face was priceless!  I wish I could see him more; all the Toolson’s for that matter!

It was Lexi’s first time at the beach.  The water was pretty cool, but a lot of us still played in it!  Bug wasn’t too sure about the feeling of sand so after going on a sea shell search, we watched the waves, saw the boardwalk, and we sat on the beach and watched everyone play in the sand.

We didn’t stay as long as the rest of the family.  Just enough time to see everyone and spend sometime at the beach.  Poor Gil got sick while we were there.  He finally got the flu that has been in the process of being passed around.  So that put a little damper on the trip.  But we had fun, nonetheless.

I feel terrible because I didn’t get all the pictures I wanted.  I’m usually really good about getting a ton, but didn’t seem to get many of the family.  Sorry everyone! 

Our Fall Bug

The past two weeks have been trying….after recovering from a stupid accident (a guy hit the back right side of my car.  Thank goodness Bug wasn’t in the car) and recovering from being sick (105′ temperature and lots of porcelain time)…..I can finally sigh in relief and at least enjoy the change in seasons!  I love the cooler weather!  Nothing better than cuddling with my hubby and Bug in a big blanket!

We went and got pics done of Bug (long past due)!  They turned out so cute!  There are a couple more to show you guys, but those will have to wait until later! hehe.

Can’t wait to see all you Toolson’s, Baker’s and Potter’s in San Diego this weekend! XOXO

Keeping Busy

Our household is keeping busy!  The work days are long and then we try to fit family life in, at the end of the day (which is WAY more important).  We just don’t get enough hours in the day!  Even Lexi knows that we have to savor every minute after we all get home because she will force herself to stay awake.  Its cute, but sad at the same time.  She isn’t getting enough sleep.  She will force herself to stay awake so she can be apart of everything.

Needless to say, the weekends are gold!  We try to balance chores well enough during the week so we can “play” on the weekends.  This past weekend we relaxed and even had a little ‘camp-out’ in the family room.  We pulled an extra mattress out there along with blankets, pillows, and snacks.  We played, read books, and watched a couple movies.  Lots of fun! 

Bug is in love with the cats!  Surprisingly Britches is so desperate for attention she will go up to Bug, every so often, and let her pull on her fur.  It is priceless when Lexi see’s Boo!  She cries out this cute giggle and waits for him to come around or for me to grab him for her.  I’m shocked he hasn’t tried to bite or scratch.  I even catch him purring as she pets him and rips out his fur (usually more of the ripping of fur happens).

Pappa’s Birthday Weekend

This past weekend was fabulous!  Grammie and Loren came down Wednesday night and I took Thursday and Friday off work.  Lots of catching up, laughing, Lexi’s Doc appointment, Evie in town, AND Gil’s 40th Birthday!  We had a yummy BBQ with family and overall a fun and relaxing weekend!  We were so lucky to have Loren and Grammie here and we can’t wait until we get to see them and the rest of the clan at Thanksgiving!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPPA!  WE LOVE YOU!!! -your girls

6 Months Doc Appointment

I was SO anxious for Lexi’s doctors appointment so I could see her new measurements!  Loren, Grammie, Pappa, Bug, and I showed up at the office and didn’t wait too long before Alexandria’s name was called.  Loren waited in the waiting room while the rest of us crammed into a little office.  Before a nurse could even come in to measure Bug, I was putting her on the scale.  I couldn’t wait another second!  That girl is now 19lbs 11.5oz!  So big!  Her weight is perfect!  Lexi is very tall for her age.  She stands a smidge under 29inches.  Lexi is big, healthy, and just plain adorable!

Besides four shots in the thighs, the doctor’s appointment went great! 

Labor Day Weekend

A lot happened over Labor Day, for Bug.  She now violently shakes her head “no”, reaches to be held, has a new adorable way of chatting, gives kisses, gets her teeth brushed every night, has moved up to size 3 diapers, and has more teeth coming in!  Whheewww…that little girl is BUSY!

Another fun thing we did this weekend was pick a TON of apples at Grandma and Grandpa’s and made lots of fun apple stuff (i.e. canned apple pie filling, dehydrated, apple juice, applesauce).  TONS of work!  And I made quite the mess, but it was yummy stuff!  What a fun experience trying to figure out how to can fruit without any knowledge of it! haha.

Happy Half Year Bug!

The past 6 months have flown!  I look forward to everyday of watching Lexi change, grow, and learn!  She is the biggest joy I have ever known!  Her smile melts all my stress and problems away.  Love Bug, I love you with every fiber in my body!

Her First Tooth!

The time is flying!  Our little Bug isn’t an infant anymore!  She has officially stepped onto a whole new playing field of baby; she has teeth!  You tell yourselves as parents you want to do ‘this’ and ‘that’ while they are babies and while growing up, but before you know it they have already grown past that point!  I can’t let Lexi grow up too fast on me! 

In exactly one week Lexi will be 6 months old!  A half of a year old!  I need to do more sign language with her.  I need to read to her more.  I need to just plan and simple, have more time with her!  My little girl is getting so big!  And I know as Bug hits the age of one and two and three, that time will fly by just that much quicker!  And that scares me!  Why can’t babies just stay babies?!  I love you Alexandria K!  Don’t become a big girl too soon!

Another weekend gone too soon

Our household had a very good weekend!  Just the kind of weekend that is needed every so often to remind yourselves why we work so hard; so we can enjoy those simple times together.

The weather was warm but nothing that a baby pool inside couldn’t fix!  Gil thought I was kidding when I suggested bring the baby pool inside and filling it.  After getting a RIDICULOUSLY high Smud bill this month, we are trying to cut back on our AC usage.  Bug was hot and I was hot.  And a hot Momma and Bug is a GRUMPY Momma and Bug!  So in pool came!  Lexi and I had SO much fun!  She loved the water!  Its funny that just a month ago she could only sit supported in it.  Now she can sit on her own, play, and slash around.  It was cute because aside from splashing around, Bug kept trying to put the pool in her mouth! haha.  She still has to put EVERYTHING in her mouth so why not a soft, air-filled pool?!  I would have to keep a close eye on her to make sure she would put her face down too far and inhale water (which she did do once making her sneeze a few times).  We cooled off real quick and got out only after getting pruney.

Also on Saturday, Gil went a got a tattoo.  His birthday is coming up very shortly and he asked to get a tat done for his present.  We had been discussing a similar tattoo together and Gil was ready!  He got a tribal band with and ‘R’ in the middle for Robledo (our last name).  To the right is an ‘A’ for Alexandria and an ‘E’, on the left, for Evangeline.  And on the backside of the tat is two Indian feathers  representing our families uniting.  The feathers have two beads, each representing our daughters.  The tattoo took a long 4 hours, but it turned out great!  And I’m IN LOVE with the feathers!

Sunday was a relaxing day!  We slept in, watched a movie, made breakfast, went on a walk, went to the park, took a nap, watched a couple more movies, made a big yummy dinner (those stuffed pasta shells that everyone loves), and hung out!  It was perfect!  The only bad part of the day was the heat that snuck up on us later in the evening.  We broke down and turned on the AC!  It was one of those moments where I said, “screw the Smud bill!  I wont live another second unless we have cool air!”  We were trying to take naps and we had our arms a legs sprawled out.  If any appendage touched another you would automatically start sweating!  Yuck!  Damn California heat!

I had to add some cute pictures of Lexi sleeping.  I thought it was amusing because she is mimicking Gil and I.  I always thought I was weird because I had to sleep with one foot outside of the blankets.  I would always take my time getting settled into just the right spot in bed then “pop” out comes the foot.  Ahhhhhhh.  How ironic I thought to meet someone else who does the same thing?!  Sure enough, Friday night I hear some rustling of the blankets and then “pop” out comes Lexi’s huge foot over the side of her bed!  I laughed outloud!

Hope everyone’s weekend went just as well!  Stay cool!  XOXO

Evangeline

Evangeline is my step-daughter.  She is an amazing 17 year old who’s personality shines through when you meet her!  Evie is patient, smart, funny and amazing with kids!  I’m so proud to have her be Bug’s big sis!  I’m very lucky to have her in my life!  I can’t wait to get to know her even more and watch her graduate and explore life as a young adult!  Gil and I will do everything in our power for her!  We love you Evie!

Class of ‘88

Gil’s High School reunion was this last weekend in Salinas, CA.  We loaded up the girls and headed down.  Lexi did well during the drive; slept the first half and played the second. 

We got there and right away met up with some ‘old high school buds’.  It was great to see Gil in his element and chat about ol’ times with the boys!  I’m really glad we went down.

We stayed at my sister-in-laws, Melissa.  She has a cute home in Salinas where family from the area and from Elk Grove came to visit.  Besides the reunion, we also celebrated Grandpa Robledo’s birthday.  It was nice to visit and be in the cooler weather!

I’ve added some photos of Lexi from work the day we left for Salinas.  We bought her a new toy for her carseat and she LOVES it!  She is always so curious.  Also a vendor came by, while at work, and gave us some treats.  Lexi liked one in particular…the ball!  It was a stress ball and feels really cool.  Well on her gums it must feel great because she started sucking and chewing on that thing so hard that you could hear the “squeaky clean” sound all the way down the hall!  Too cute!

Dex Baby

I just have to say I LOVE this product!  I got it at Walmart for about $19 and I can make all the baby food I want with it!  Leftovers from dinner and fruit from Grandma’s tree’s!  I have SO much fun with it!  I would promote this to anyone!  Oh and to those who have babies…I learned this great trick:

Get a few ice cube trays.  Make baby food and fill the trays with the food.  You can freeze the food for up to a couple of months.  But what’s really great is by putting them in the trays it is premeasured (each cube is about 1 oz) and all you have to do it let it thaw (don’t put in microwave).  Saves money!  Is healthier!  And is fun!!

Squirm Squirm Squirm

Lexi is just a ball of happy fire!  She is always ready to learn new things and play with anything!  Its so much fun for Gil and I to watch the progress she makes; progress at such a fast rate. 

Lexi hasn’t never really liked ‘tummy play’ much but this past week she will stay on her stomach more and move around more.  She knows how to scoot, twirl around, and flip from tummy to back but we haven’t gotten the legs to crawl.  It will only be a matter of days or weeks.  I don’t think she will crawl long before she starts walking.  She has such an interest in standing and moving around.  Bug has been able to sit up on her own for awhile now which makes playing much easier.  She laid on the living room floor for about 2 hours yesterday, just moving around and laughing.

Bug still comes to work with me on Fridays.  I’ve noticed everyone refers to Friday’s as “Lexi day”!  Its a real morale booster!  She loves to chat with everyone and roll around in a conference room chair (which I refer to as her thrown).  I will have to take a pic of that for you guys.  As she gets more and more mobile, I’m not sure how much longer Lex will be able to come in with me but I will push it to the limits! haha.

Alexandria is very happy to try new foods.  We have tried lots of baby food flavors, fruit, and crackers.  I’m still trying to keep her on formula.  Formula during the day and baby food at nights.  But weekends we tend to do few extra jars.  We all tend to laugh a bit during the eating process.  Especially yesterday.  I decided to get creative…rice cerael (not fully dissolved-not necessarily the plan), a tad of formula mixed in, along with apples and blackberries!  Quite the mixture!  Lexi ate almost the whole bowl!  It was the most mess we have ever made while eating!  I couldn’t help but laugh!  We ended up having to soak her bib in cold water before washing because it was so trashed.

Bowling Night

We had a fun family bowling night, last night!  I think we all expected to have fun, but didn’t realize we would have that much of a blast!  The night was full of laughter and competition!  Gil and Grandpa are quite the bowlers!  I had my work cut out for me!  Speaking of good bowlers, wow Tyler!  For his first time he sure did really well and beat Nichole, Tory, Grandma, and Jeffrey!

Lexi had a blast!  She was excited because she had something new to watch.  She would watch Pappa pick up the bowling ball, roll it, and watch the pins go down…she soaks EVERYTHING IN!  I swear if she would walk she would have just gotten up and played herself!

Bug, as usual, made lots of friends at the alley!  She has admirers EVERYWHERE we go!  People stop us in our tracks telling us how pretty she is and what a good and happy baby she is!  There were quite a few league bowlers there who thought she was just the next best thing to bowling and beer!  They chatted with her and asked lots of questions  about her.  One lady in particular would keep coming over to talk with Bug and see her.  Lexi would just giggle and laugh out loud when she saw her!  Her laugh could melt anyone’s heart!

Oh and sorry about the picture quality!  An employee told me I couldn’ have my flash on.  I had only gotten a couple of pics before he said that so bare with the crappy shots!   

Lexi’s 1st Camping Experience

We had a great trip to Lake of the Springs, this past weekend.  I was a tad hesitant because I was worried about Lexi in the sun.  But we brought sunscreen and a sun hat and we were good to go!  Lexi LOVES the outdoors so it was an extra treat for her this weekend!  Nothing better than to have clear skies, a warm lake, dirt all around, and tents (and air mattresses that ALL seem to have holes in them!)…. 

It was a little hot, but if you sat near the lake the weather seemed to be much different.  It was extremely relaxing and fun to be with family!  There were paths to take walks on which is one of Lexi’s favorite things (walks outside).  The sites seemed a little crowded, but everyone was very friendly and I even made a little friend!  The cutest little handicapped boy who would always call me Momma, Momma, Momma while pointing his finger at me.  I just wanted to wrap my arms around him and squeeze him!  Such a cute boy!

While we were in the groove of trying new things with Bug, we decided to try her first jar of baby food!  Luckily we have eaten with Rice Cerael a few times so the spoon concept was known.  I looked forward to that first bite where she actually had flavor in her food.  The only flavor she has had was watermelon, canteloupe, and cherry tylenol.  Formula and Rice Cerael are basically tasteless.  Her first jar was Mixed Cerael with Applesauce and Banana.  Smelt pretty good and apparently it tasted just as good because that jar was empty in no time!  Later that night we cracked open another jar; Carrots!  Took her a second to get used to that, but she loved it!  Our little girl is growing up so fast!

Bug’s teeth are so much closer to coming in now.  She has her spells of grumpyness and restlessness due to pain, but overall it has been ok.  I look forward to watching the gangly tooth stage happen.  We will keep you updated on the teething.  Oh and check out Lexi’s new baby doll!  Her first doll!  Too cute!  Several people at work stated that the doll looks like her! haha.  The baby seems to help Bug with her teething because she loves to suck and chew on it!  Too cute!

Until next time…XOXO 

Hitched!

The afternoon of July 22cd, Gil and I took our daughters and made our relationship official.  We got married!  Everyone thinks we are nuts because of the age difference and length of knowing each other, but we are SO happy and fit SO perfectly!

Update

Lexi is just getting SO big!  I know I will continue to say it every post, but I swear she has weeds in her genes because she gets bigger overnight!  She is big enough to play with more toys, sit in chairs, and grab at EVERYTHING.  She LOVES the chair the Auntie Cindy/Howard family gave to her!  Bug will try to put all the toys in her mouth and when those don’t all reach far enough, she will just bend down and suck on the chair! haha.  Her gums are still sensitive.  No teeth have  broken skin yet, but you can sure feel a few of them getting close!

Lexi is eating more with a spoon and has even done some more experimenting with swimming.  She loves the water, but gets unsure about larger bodies of water.  We jumped the gun a little when testing Grandma and Grandpa’s pool so we backtracked and pulled out the baby pool.  Very refreshing in this 106′ degree weather!  Yuck!

We have purchased our plane tickets to Washington for Thanksgiving!!  Can’t wait to see everyone again!  Several people have asked when we are coming so now you know! hehe.  We will finally be taking a new family pic!  I’m so excited!  Wow what changes since the last picture!  Two new babies, one on the way, a new husband, and a new partner!  We are all just growing up so fast!

Miss you guys!  Will try to keep up with the posting!  The past couple of weeks have been VERY busy and stressful.

xoxo

Gil is adopting Lexi!

Gil has been looking forward to this process since we first met!  He adores Lexi and calls her his own.  We now have the okay to move forward and make it legal!  Lexi’s biological father is relinquishing his parental rights so that Gil can adopt her!  We are excited beyond belief!