Eye Contact

"Did you say something?"

With these two, just about every moment is a proverbial Kodak moment. Love to watch 'em interact.

Pumpkin Patch

Birthday Visitation

Hey, we don't throw away perfectly good candles around these parts. In our house, everybody turns one... all the time. Happy birthday abuela lela!

Unpredictable

Okay, so I'm changing Jasmine's diaper while she's in the crib... which is rare. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I would do this on the changing table, but she just looked so content that I decided to bring the diaper to her. So anyway, she's squirming all over the place, which has me focused and honed in like a pilot trying to land a plane in bad weather... Total tunnel vision.... And then she starts squirming double-time, laughing and kicking all over the place... And before I could ask her, "what in the world are you doing?", I look to my right... and Justin is in the crib. Yep. I didn't see him. I didn't even hear him. Mister Man totally escaped my peripheral vision (but not Jasmine's) as he climbed himself into the crib, made himself at home, and started the comedy hour for Jasmine's delight. And all I could do was laugh. Hilarious. And such is life with a 2 year old and a 6 month old. You never know what either of them will do next. The best you can do is keep a camera close by, and enjoy the moments as they come. What better way to start a Monday morning.

Jazzy Milestones VII

At just shy of 6 months, Jasmine Olivia is most certainly on the move, taking a page out of Justin's playbook with her commando baby crawl. She's not fully crawling yet, but certainly on her way. We gave her 2 targets, figuring that between the two toys on the floor she'd find motivation to get to at least one of them.

stretch...

toy a... or toy b?

how about option c: none of the above.

(why am i not surprised?)

And of course, as it always turns out, that's exactly the book

that Justin was just thinking about getting. And so the two

fight over a book that neither one of them can read... go figure.

"I'm telling mommy!"

Boston Market

Your kids. The neighbor's kids. It doesn't matter. Just snatch 'em up. Kids eat free at Boston Market for all of October. We tried to get a chicken leg and some cornbread for Jasmine, too... but they made us read the fine print [something about not having teeth and being bottle fed...details... details]. Oh well. Still a great deal.

Baseball Playoffs

... start today. And this household is all set to cheer the Yankees on as they make a run for the World Series. Let the games begin!

Justin reacts to a 6th inning grand slam by

Alex Rodriguez... while Jasmine wonders why

there are four men running in a circle.

"Hurray... I'm so excited. Daddy said it's my first

post season! Hey, Justin... what's a post season?"

The Finish Line

It dawned on me one day that, with our garage in the back of the house, we see it about 10 times more than our front door... which means it essentially serves as our foyer and sets the tone for the rest of the house upon every entrance. So with that, the extent to which it was starting to become an abyss of messiness and clutter was killing me... hence the birth of the garage project. As for the title of this entry, "The finish line" is exactly what I thought I'd never see with this most recent home improvement project... but it's done! After more nights and weekends than I care to mention, our garage has officially been spruced. Whoo hoo...

Okay... celebration time over. And just like that, it's time to move on to the next project: the aluminum fencing that we ordered for the front of the house came in about a week ago and is just sitting in the backyard... taunting me with every pass... and awaiting installation. Oh what fun. Home ownership. The eternal project. Bitter sweet. Gotta love it.

The south side of the house used to be a swampy bug-infested area that I just loathed to mow and maintain. So I finally got wise, filled it with rocks (still can't believe I paid that much for rocks), and made it suitable for a shed and storage area. If nothing else, I was excited to get the lawnmower (now in the shed) out the garage. Talk about a space saver.

October Sands

It was only 75 degrees on this October Sunday, but with both kids already on the verge of a cold (Jasmine Olivia's first since her post birth stuffy nose, and thankfully Justin Alexander's first cold since he shook that 3-month cough he had 5 months ago)... we figured, what did we have to lose? And in the end, everyone had a really good time. Despite several prior trips to the beach, this was Justin's first venture into the ocean water. In short, he loved it. And so, with our final beach trip in the books, we're officially ready to take on Fall and Winter now. Here's to one last hoorah before the cooler weather prevails.

Adjustments II

The biggest challenges of staying home with the kids:

• Getting Jasmine to eat when she'd rather watch her brother or anything else that moves or is colorful in the room. Unlike her momma, Jasmine will miss a meal to stay in "the know"!

• Getting Justin to realize that Jasmine screaming at the top of her lungs is not an invitation to become a screaming duet with his little sister. Of course, this only happens in the car, when I have little control over the situation. Go figure!

• Getting one of Jasmine's three naps to coincide with Justin's only nap of the day so that Mommy can catch a break for a few minutes (and even a quick nap, too).

• Getting ready to leave the house in less than an hour. By the time I've prepared a bottle for Jasmine, a snack for Justin and reloaded the diaper bag with stuff I forgot to replenish the night before, it's time to change Jasmine's diaper AGAIN (or maybe even feed her AGAIN) or take Justin to the potty AGAIN (or all three at the same time on a really "fun" day).

• Getting in some regular exercise that is going to help me get rid of this extra baby weight. Thank God (and Abuelo) for the double stroller. It has been a total life saver when I need to get in a brisk walk (or take the kids with me anywhere for that matter). Also Jerome has been great with coming home and taking over as he is able so that I can get to the gym a couple of times a week.

And the best parts:

• Not having to pump at work and drag all of that gear everywhere!

• Getting to watch how much Justin is really enjoying his sister. He's become a little comedian and loves to make her laugh.

• Practicing my Spanish with Justin. Since I am still pretty self-conscience about my pronunciation and ability to recall the right words I am looking for when I need them, it helps that Justin is just following my lead and doesn't even know that I used the wrong tense of verb (or does he?!). Hopefully, I am not messing him up too much in the meantime.

• Getting to connect with other moms and support each other while giving our children opportunities to interact with other children their age. We tend to have at least one scheduled play date / interactive activity each week, although every trip outside the house is an adventure all by itself.

• Getting to see Justin light up when he hears the garage door open or the keys go in the door to indicate that daddy is home!

• Realizing that in the midst of all of the craziness, this is still the best "job" in the world and I am so thankful to have the opportunity to do this (at least for a little while). So, although I secretly never thought I'd be any good at this role (always thinking I was more of a career woman), I am absolutely loving every CRAZY minute that comes along with being at home full-time.