Tis the Season

I love the holidays!!! Being a Momma gives this time of year so much more meaning, sure as a child it's cool, and even when you get older and you get super cool presents it doesn't suck, but watching your baby experience all the wonder and joy the holidays bring beats all of it!!!

In my attempt to get a Christmas photo to send out to our family, Kyle and I decided to brave the mall for Kaelen to meet Santa for the first time, now most of you have already heard that it didn't end up so well and Kaelen is not a fan of bearded men. She loves the lights and all the pretty things Christmas has to offer but...so can do without the jolly old man for now.

I totally kick myself in the butt for coming to the rescue on this one!! I would have liked nothing more then to capture my poor baby screaming her head off but the "Momma, hold you" came out and I couldn't resist coming to her rescue...

Thanksgiving was awesome for us! We spent 5 days with the Jones side of the family in AZ. It was too much fun watching Kaelen play with her cousins, learn how to say Uncle Shawn and Chy, fight over toys and get excited to see her grandparents!!! We decided to try the Santa thing one more time just for good measure...

Here's Nana and Kaelen waiting for Santa to pull up on the boat, poor thing has no idea what she's in for...but the lights are pretty

Yep, just what we though, she still hates him...maybe next year...

Fast forward a few weeks and Kyle and I are attending my company Christmas party.

Don't let the dress fool you, there's a baby in there! It's crazy the timing of my pregnancy really, 2 years ago I was 18 weeks and attending this very same party and now we're at 17 weeks and counting the days until we find out what kind a baby we are having.

Kaelen still doesn't fully understand it. If you ask her where Mommy's baby is she points at my tummy but I doubt she realizes that sooner then later there will be this new person stealing her mommy and daddy time. We are doing everything we can to teach her about the sibling she will soon have. We have bought her a stroller and a baby of her own and I have come to terms with that though of leaving one baby with Grandma and Poppa so the other gets our undevided attention. We are so excited about our growing family but I must say that I am a little nervous for Kaelen. I can't imagine what it will be like for her to have to share the 2 people in her world that have been only hers for all this time. She consumes my every thought, my whole world has been her...and Daddy...for 18 months and though, I can't wait to meet #2 and I am already head over hills with love for this baby, I am trying to soak up every minute we have with just us 3!

Here's the big news!!! We are starting to potty train. It's been about 3 days, we've had a couple "misses" but over all Kaelen is blowing our minds with the understanding she has of being a big girl and using the potty!!!

We bought her her own potty about a month ago so she could get used to it and understand what its for but now that she has actually taken an interest in doing it we have found that the big potty is what she preferrs. She spends every morning in the bathroom with Daddy and I and has been curious for sometime so we thought, lets give it a try. Never did we think she would pick it up so fast. I'm not saying we're done or this is going to stick forever but we are making progress and she is doing so well. She knows the difference between Pee and Poop and she'll let you know if she didn't make it time, but if she does, she is totally jazzed!! I must say, Kyle and I are equally excited and totally shower her with praise when she makes it. We have always talked with Kaelen like she was a big girl and I must say I think this is why she is doing so well with this amongst other things!

Good Job, Kaelen Patri! We are so very proud and blessed to have you!

Family Fun

Yay for Veterans!!!! Kyle's friend, a.k.a Uncle Jimmy, was nice enough to use his Navy ID Card to get us all into Knott's this past weekend, which was a total blast!

I used to think only tourist took photos like this at theme parks and in my, I'm 15 and know everything, days I would make fun of these people!

I'm thinking the big rocks and pretty waterfall is better viewed from a far...

Typical, me and my self portrait shots...

The bests part about this Knott's adventure was 1. Fabby has never been on actual rollercoasters and 2. Kaelen actually went on a ride with us!! That's right, us, I spoke with the Doc at my last appointment and asked if I was ok to go on rides and he said yes! I went on EVERYTHING and felt just fine. Of course after being at the park ALL DAY I was a little tired and ready to put my feet up but who says prego people can't do flips and things!!!

Jimmy won her a puppy, how sweet is he!

Oh yeah, can't forget, thank you Grandma and Poppa for having Patri overnight and letting us be big kids for a little while!

Sunday was a good Mommy and Kaelen day! Daddy and Jimmy went golfing so it was girl time at the Jones house! We ate, we napped, we talked, we played. Perfect!

Kaelen took this one herself, which is totally fitting, seeing as how she is obsessed with shoes!!!

How cute is she with Daddy's glasses and her apples and oranges!

October-ish

So October was a busy month for the whole, Patton-McCracken-Jones-Tay, family!!!

The month started with the best of all events, besides births and engagements, my Momma and Poppa finally made the damn thing official! Our family made it up the mountain to our favorite B&B for the perfect ceremony surrounded by friends and family. Kaelen and all the nieces and nephews absolutely loved the Manor and all it had to offer!

In true fall fashion we made our way to the Pumpkin Patch to take Kaelen for her first time ever and though it did not go as planned it was still an event for US and well worth all the tears. Halloween was a blast!!! Kaelen did so well with the Trick or Treating. Her costume was adorable, of course I wish I would have made her one instead of buying it but what we had planned would have been too cold so Party City had to do and naturally I added a few details. I did however make the costumes for Kyle and I, not to self…cheap costume out of a box makes for a super cute idea but need to rethink functionality for potty breaks!!!

On to the good stuff!!! Kaelen is 17 months and blows our minds everyday! She is talking up a storm. Uses her manors, both please and thank you. Has the occasional, almost 2 years old, fit which is quickly put in check and handled rather well if I do say so myself. She understands why she is put on time out and listens when we talk to her about it. She is starting to get used to the idea of going POTTY!!!! We talk about it quite often and she can even tell you if she’s going pee or poopie, and as soon as she done with her business she rushes to get a ‘new butt’ or sit on HER potty in the bathroom. We plan on starting the actual potty training in just a few weeks J She is starting to pay attention to the TV and absolutely loves Big Bird and Whales. She has an imagination and wants to tell us stories, she feeds herself and says sorry if she does something she knows she is not supposed to. We are truly blessed to have such a smart, understanding and well mannered little person! Just don’t turn your head too long…she’ll be in our pantry, your cupboards or your shoes in minutes!

Lions and Tigers and Pumpkins...Oh My

So last night we ventured out to the pumpkin patch with Kaelen and our brown child (Eliana) for what was supposed to be a fun filled outing!!

Halloween is pretty much on of my favorite times of year and with Kaelen being much bigger this year I was really looking forward to the whole process of picking out a pumpkin, taking it home and getting all the gunk out, making a mess together and carving it with Daddy. Kyle had already helped Eliana with her pumpkin and Kaelen was super into it once it was done and the candle was lit so I was super pumped for our turn.

We get to the pumpkin patch after swooping by Grandma’s and stealing her to come with and Kaelen at first glance is excited. She’s not scared by the enormous inflatable slides or the LITTLE petting zoo, she’s her typical 1 ½ year old self eager to get down and explore. Which made me all sorts of happy! Things were going great, we were looking at pumpkins, Daddy found the biggest one, Auntie Holly showed up to help look, AND THEN the CHOO CHOO. If you have spent 10 minutes with Kaelen you know that she loves all things Broom Broom, she even has a pink toy Choo Choo at home that she adores…but this one was NO GOOD!!! It scared the itty bitty crap out of her and after the first time around I couldn’t let go of her. It circled the pumpkins and drove her to hysterics. Kyle and I didn’t so much understand it and had to laugh at our poor scared little baby.

Look at her body curl backwards towards me at the mere thought of me putting her down…so sad and cute!

Overall it wasn’t soo bad, Grandma found us a super cute pumpkin, Mommy got a cute white and green one for décor and we all got out of the house. Now for the fun part….carving! More to come!

Daddy get me, it's coming again!

All too familiar

Here we are at 11 weeks, for the second time, and everything is right on track.

(it varies in size depending on my blatter and my food intake, funny huh)

The icky morning sickness is starting to subside but, lucky me, I am still feeling pretty crappy half the time. I can’t wait to have the first trimester behind me and be past this stage. I am constantly tired and my moods swing so much I can’t keep up, thank heavens for Kaelen and being preoccupied! So far everything has been the same with #2…except the excitement. Now I know that sounds bad but hear me out…

I never understood it when I would see other couples going through it, I thought it rather strange that they could be so blasé about having a baby even if it was their second or third and now I totally get it. It’s not because I will love Kaelen more then the Nugget or she is more special, it’s just that every feeling I will or will not have this time I have already had with Kaelen. I know what to expect even if they say every pregnancy is different. I know the changes that are happening from week to week and what to expect with each month, now that’s not to say I’m not excited, I just see it coming now. I guess when they say, there’s nothing like the first time, it applies to everything…even pregnancy. I almost feel guilty, like I’m not being fair to #2 but I’m sure those are just my crazy pregnant emotions coming into play. I am almost too busy with Kaelen right now to remember half the time that I am even pregnant and for right now I am thankful of that! I can say this though… I am beyond excited for Kaelen to go through this process with me! I cannot wait for her to actually see my tummy grow, or see the Nugget kick and finally understand that there is a baby inside Mommy. She is beyond smart and into everything, she wants to know how and what everything does and I’m sure that my growing baby bump will be no different…at least I hope not! I hope she is as into the changes that are going to happen as much as I am cause there really isn’t anything like growing babies...even if you’ve done it all before!

P.s. She still says “No” when we ask her if she wants a brother or if she wants a sister and I guess we’ll just chalk that up to her not knowing what’s going on. But, Lord, help us if she really wants neither!

P.s.s. It really stinks that I was just about down to where I wanted to be, got the pre mom bod back and now it's going to be shot all over again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aquarium of the Pacific

So, I don't think anyone would disagree with me when I say, yesterday was one of my favorite days, thus far, as a parent!!! We ( Me, Marisa, Allison, Tiffany & Megan and our offspring) spent the day exploring all there was to see at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific.

This is Jennifer, she is the cutest little greek girl I have ever laid eyes on!! She belongs to Allison's boyfriend and fits right in with our crowd!!! Plus, she adores 'the baby' and Kaelen just want to hug and kiss her right back!

Introducing Michael, Alli's BF. He's great and I'm glad we got to spend the day with him! What a big help with all the little ones running around!

In utter amazement of all the fish and the sharks and the sea lions and the jelly fish. Murdoch will blow your mind with what he knows!! Incredible!

Auntie Bash feeding (getting attacked by) the birdies. Kaelen had a death grip on my arm but couldn't get enough of them!

I swear, this day was perfect!

Kaelen was not afraid of anything. She stuck her hands right in...until they came to the surface of course, then she was crawling up the first Aunt she could find!

All of our kiddos checking out the Sea Puppies...which Murdoch was so quick to correct them on. It's a Sean Lion girls, duh!

Hers so so big!!!

Bash, look!

Checking out the sharks and the sting reys...

You do it first Mommy!

Totally loving it!

Kaelen's Tia and Eliana!

Then End! Yesterday was beyond awesome. I would have loved to be inside any one of our kids heads!!! They loved every minute of the Aquarium...and totally wore all of us out!