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!

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

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!

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 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

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!

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.

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!

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!

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!

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.

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

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!

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!

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

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

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!

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

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!

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! 

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

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).

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

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! 

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.

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!

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!

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 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!

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!

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!!

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.

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!   

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 

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!

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 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!

Hugh Carrol Johnson, 74, died Thursday, July 9, 2009. He was born March 3, 1935 in Portales, New Mexico to his mother Willie Mae Wright and Father Joseph Harrison Johnson. Hugh’s mother cherished him. Hugh found the love of his life when he was 16 years old and was married to her in July 1954 in Sacramento, at age 19.
Shortly after their marriage Hugh and Patricia moved to the San Simian light house where he was stationed for the US Coast Guard. There were many places Hugh and family lived however Hugh’s favorite was Paradise, Ca. There Hugh owned a Beacon gas station as well as general contracting under his own company Johnson Construction.
Hugh and Patricia brought into this world 4 daughters and 2 sons; one son, Mikey passed on as an infant. In Hugh’s evolution of life he had a passion for nature, wisdom, animals, music, TV, friends, and especially his wife and children. In his youth and life he loved horseback riding, running track and fishing. As he grew so did his soft spot for animals especially dogs.
In his working years Hugh was a master builder. As a contractor he built homes throughout northern California. As well as being a coordinator and writer for the carpenters union.
In his later years Hugh’s relationship with God grew stronger as did his love for wife and family. Hugh and Patricia were sealed for eternity in the LDS Oakland temple. Hugh left this world July 9. He is succeeded by his wife Patricia, son Joe, and four daughters Kathy, Terri, Beth and Sandy. All who knew Hugh loved and respected him. He is missed by all.

Fourth of July was great!  Gil’s daughter, Evangeline, came up to share the weekend with us.  We spent most of the day in Galt with family.  Lots of laughter, food, and fun.  We got some sun and played.  Hearing all the fireworks didn’t bother Lexi one bit.  

Alexandria had her four month Doctor’s check up.  She nows weighs a whooping 17.5lbs!  Stands at 28 inches tall.  The Doctor and nurse both, seperately, made comments about how alert and strong she was.  She is growing great and hitting all her “landmarks”.  Nothing too new at this appointment though.  Two shots, one oral treatment, eyes look great and infact they are beautiful.  They are a blue and green color.  We get many comments when out-and-about about her amazing eyes.  Doctor says this is the color they will stay.  I’m SO excited.  I would rub my belly several times a day, in my first trimester saying over and over, “light eyes, light eyes, light eyes”.  Must have worked! hehe.

Lexi and Gil have an amazing bond.  Lexi just loves to smile at him every chance she gets!  She will cuddle up on his neck and talk to him.  Too precious!  Gil is an amazing Pappa to her and we are extremely lucky to have him in our lives!  We are even more lucky to have him be my husband and Lexi’s father.  Yeap, Gil and I are engaged.  We haven’t set a date yet, but we will keep you informed.  Coming together as a family was just so easy and right.  I love them with every fiber in my body!     

Love Bug is 4 months old today!  The time is flying by!  Can’t believe she is almost a half of a year!  Can’t wait for all the months to come!  Gil and I are so proud of our girl!

Wow, baby girl is getting big!!  Very big!  She has so much personality that I can do nothing but laugh and smile with pride!  This past two week (especially the past few days) have been a tad difficult though.  Love Bug is teething and the poor thing is hurting!  She has discovered that her tongue is a very handy chew toy and that having anything in her mouth will help the pain.  I rub her gums down as much as possible and she seems to really love it.  Tylenol is a must in our house, these days.

Bug has discovered her feet and Momma has discovered she has stinky, old man feet!  Lexi, like her momma, has sweaty hands all the time.  She unfortunately has sweaty feet as well.  I never thought a little baby could ever have feet smell like hers.  When the hot days go on and on, I swear its like she just took of running shoes!  Yuck!

Its amazing though, to watch Lexi grab her feet and pick up her Binky to put in her mouth.  She has great depth perception.  Seems to be such a smart girl.  And to think she will just be 4 months this Wednesday.

We will keep you updated with our Fourth of July and her 4-month Doc appointment (next Monday).

Just wanted to say hello to all my Teamsters!

My sister, Kati, and her husband Tyler live in Idaho.  It seems so far.  They have an adorable boy, Quincy!  I sadly have not even gotten the chance to even meet him (this Thanksgiving I’ll finally see him).  But I LOVE seeing his pictures and watching him grow through the Howard blog.  I’m excited to say that I will get to watch ANOTHER BABY grow, even if it is just through the internet.  That’s right…found out yesterday that KATI AND TYLER ARE PREGNANT!  Yippee!  CONGRATS YOU THREE!  Love you!

(Kati hope you don’t mind I borrowed a couple of pics…)

I just have to say…I’m EXTREMELY grateful for my job and the people I work with!  Its the best working environment, good pay, amazing benefits, union, nice location (would be better if it was closer to home), etc.  On top of loving where I work, everyone has asked that Lexi comes to work every Friday!  It is now ’set in stone’ that she is a Friday employee! hehe.  She will be allowed to come until it just doesn’t seem to work anymore.  Only at BTB!  I swear!  Everyone looks foward to Friday’s so we can have our little mascott here!

Every parents knows about Rice Cereal.  Its kinda the stepping stone from formula to pureed/solid food.  Lex and I have been experimenting with it.  A tablespoon here and there in her bottle.  She seems to really like it.  The expression on her face when she tasted the difference for the first time was adorable!  When something big or something new is going on around her, those big eyes of hers somehow get even bigger!

We are trying to adapt to a new schedule with me going back to work.  So I thought one night maybe we should try thicker Rice Cereal to help her sleep better…didn’t have cereal nipples for the bottle (I was thinking  of a thicker consistancy anyways) so why not try a SPOON!  Yes, I know she is only 3 months old, but why not?!

It was quite fun!  We both got quite a kick out of it!  At first it was weird trying to find a rhythm.  She kept trying to eat it, but was pushing her tongue out.  After a couple of minutes of giggling between bites, we figured out how to do it!  It was lots of fun and I will make sure we do it from time to time.

I was trying to feed her with one hand and take pics with the other so some of these shots are a little messed up, but you will get the gist…

I officially started work as of  Thursday, May 28th.  I figured I would come back on a Thursday so I could try two days away from Love Bug before jumping into a whole week away.  Of course, I left her Thursday morning with tears in my eyes.  I’m proud to say that I only called to check on her twice!  First call, she was napping.  Second call, I could hear her talking and giggling in the background.  Needless to say, I was comforted.

Friday, I was extremely fortunate enough to have attorney’s that asked me to bring Lexi into the office for the day.  They have all seen her before, but they got to experience her true demeanor for the first time.  They were so impressed that they joked about having her come in ever Friday.  The more they joked about it the more serious they became.  So who knows… if the parnters pass on it, I will be SO happy to have her here.  I truly am so lucky that have a such a great baby girl.  I don’t know that tons of people could bring their baby into work and still be able to get all their work done because the child is so easy going.  The ladies at work melted as they listened to her cooing and chatting to them.  I’m such a proud mom.

Lexi is getting very big!  And she has conquered several baby mildstones early (my little overachiever)!  She was holding her head up the first day she was born.  By the 1st month she was standing and smiling (and not just because of gas-hehe)!  By 2 months, Lex had rollen over.  She also acknowledged her hands and reflection (which she still gets a great kick out of).  She is 3 months, today, and is starting to chew.  Those teeth will be coming in early.  Also she perfecting her depth perception.  She can grabs things and hold things.  Woow….slow down baby girl!  Momma doesn’t want you growing up too fast on me!

Unforunately Alexandria has some eye problems.  I know lots of babies experience eye discharge, but Lexi has it pretty bad.  Her tears ducts aren’t forming.  And due to the constant issue, she keeps experiencing eye infections.  I have never seen so much puss come out of  eyes!  Poor baby!  We know have special drops.  Hopefully they help and her duct forms.  If not she will need to have surgery (the doctor started explaining how they would put a metal instrument into her eye and I got protective of Lex.  Hope it doesn’t resort to that)!

First Day at Work

Love Bug had her first real trip.  We went to Washington to visit Grammie and family.  Lexi slept the whole flight their and back.  They whole airport/airplane experience wasn’t bad.  I took all carry on.  So I crammed all of Lexi and my stuff into one suitcase, had the diaper bag, and carseat with Lex in it.  Somehow we made it.

Everyone was so excited to see her for the first time!  The uncle’s  did great with her and Lexi even found her first best friend, Loren (wish Auntie Kati was there but we will see her later this year)!  Bug met her Great Grandma and Grandpa for the first time as well as her Great Aunt and Uncle Victoria and Mike.  We simply had a blast.  We relaxed, slept in, saw a movie (Boy in the Striped Pajamas- if you haven’t seen it yet, you should), did some shopping, helped Unlce Scotty with his Sr. Project presentation, experienced her first parade, and even played the guitar for the first time. – I have the greatest video ever of Lexi literally playing the guitar, but for some reason I can’t get it to upload.  I will have to work on that so you all can see it.  She played so well she even started to put herself to sleep while playing!  America’s Funniest Home Video’s here we come!

It was a great week overall and, as usual, hard to leave.  We can’t wait to go up again (Thanksgiving).  Hopefully Loren and Grammie will be able to come down before then (*hint hint*)!

Well I’m back to work in a week and a half and having a panick attack as the seconds pass!  I don’t know what  I will do with out my Love Bug next to me all day!  This is going to simply be the hardest thing I have EVER done!

xoxo!

Many people are wondering (some have asked and some look at me like they want to)…  Lexi’s biological father is not in the picture.  His name is Troy.  We dated for sometime, but he decided during the pregnancy that he didn’t want to be involved (“it just couldn’t be his kid”).  Though we have taken a parternity test to humor his doubts, he doesn’t ask to see her and doesn’t offer to help.  So…. there you have it.  No Troy in Lexi’s picture.  We wish him luck with his other daughter, Julissa.

Hope everyone is enjoying this crazy weather and we will post again after our Washington trip!  xoxo 

Lexi had her two month doctor’s appointment today.  She now weighs 12lbs 13.2 oz and measures 24 inches long!  She is in the 90 percentile for all her measurements.  (That’s my perfect lil love bug!)  Alexandria is growing fast; she smiles and talks more and more each day.  Unfortunately Lexi had to get her 2 month shots!  Talk about sad!  She had to get a total of 3 shots and one oral.  I took it harder than she did, of course (no one hurts my lil girl)!  The anxiety of waiting for the nurse to come in and give them to her was the worst part of the day.  She came in administering the oral first.  It took until the 3 shot for Lex to start crying.  That one must of hurt pretty bad because it bleed a quite a bit and left a bruise.  2 more months until she gets more shots.  I feel the anxiety setting in again….

We finally got the move over with.  Wheeeww…I’m absolutely in LOVE with our new place!!  I’ve really come to appreciate it after living in apartments for so long.  The concept of not having to walk 4 loads of groceries from the car, through a parking lot, through some buildings, and up a flight of stairs with a baby on one hips….and the concept of being able to just walk to the garage to do laundry whenever I want?!   Ahhh such bliss is the world!  I don’t know that I could be any happier; I have an amazing baby, a great home, family and friends near by… just wish Washington family was closer (you all know who you are)!!!

I decided to pay for movers.  Tory, Lexi and I just sat on the grass and watched them do all the work.  It was great.  The unpacking process has been interesting because I do have Lexi on one hip.  But we are slowly getting there.  We have had a couple delays such as the table I ordered for our big dining area will take 3 weeks to get here (stupid Becks Furniture) and then I went to put Lexi’s new dresser together and one of the parts was drilled wrong!  Now I have to wait 3-4 weeks for the new part to just be processed and THEN they will bother sending it to me!  Ugh!  For those of you who know me well enough, know I love to start a project and get it done!  This has been trying for me!  But what is done so far is great!  Once finished, I will post pictures!

Here are some random pics that have been taken in the past couple of weeks… xoxo