Yum Pizza

Gave her the crust and it kept her occupied FOREVER. Like a dog bone for babies;)

Tea Parties and Storage Tub Rides

Jammie Time

This was Todd's strategy for getting Veda to put her Jammies on. We ended up holding her down... it took two of us.

Daddy Day Care

Since Kathy has been gone, one girl has been great and the other has been a bit challenging.  To my total surprise, Adele has been an angel (eats all her meals, finishes all her bottles, goes to sleep in under 3 minutes, etc, etc).  Veda on the other hand has been a bit of a nightmare.  Kathy told me she's been in the same funk for her the last couple weeks, but I'm not sure it was quite this bad.  After several rounds of screaming and tantrums tonight, the monster sleeps (actually she's a really cute monster in this picture...but don't let that fool you.)  Here's also a few pics of Adele being funny the last two days (to note, dad's version of feeding is VERY messy - it's so messy, we can't wear shirts.)

And it Begins....

What's the best way to get ready for Kathy's 3 day work trip? Veda vomiting for 3 hours with food poisoning last night...after a work party at my boss's house last night.  Clearly something didn't agree with her, but whatever it was, it's not there anymore.  After 3 bedding changes, 2 baths and about 10 towels, I got her back to sleep.  At 4am, Veda woke me up with, "I need milk dad!"....at least by then I knew it was food poisoning and not the flu....Kathy left for the airport at 4:45am and is still sitting there waiting for her flight to take off (from LAX into the Chicago snow storm).  Our little built in alarm clock (Adele) showed no mercy...waking up at 6:15 this morning doing her best motor boat impression.  I think they call this a crash course in single parenting....

We have a WALKER!

Yes - it's true. Just days short of 9 months Miss Adele took two little steps. We were at Todd's office holiday party last night and she must have been showing off for all the on-lookers. Everyone was delighted that they were present for this milestone. She might have taken another step but she freaked out and fell when I started screaming... oops.

I'm currently sitting at LAX waiting for my flight that will likely never leave. I'm flying into the eye of the storm... O'Hare - the most miserable place to be when there is "weather." To make matters worse I'm going on 4 hours of sleep. I don't feel too sorry for myself because Todd got less sleep than I did last night and he is on Dad Duty for the next three days while I travel.

Veda had a pretty severe case of food poisoning last night. She barfed and dry-heaved for three hours until she was sooooooo exhausted that she just collapsed into a coma. Todd and I spent the night cleaning sheets, towels and jammies. Veda got 2 baths and we finally got smart and figured out how to minimize the mess.

Here's a picture of Veda babysitting Adele while Dad takes a break.

P&G Christmas

The P&G Holiday Box arrived last week. Todd was quick to claim the chocolate almonds. He doesn't think I know where he hid them. Really? That's the best you could do?

This Will Only Hurt for a Second

Veda is making good use of her styling tools and Adele is a cooperative subject... for now.

Progressive Dinner

Saturday night we had a progressive dinner with our neighbors. The kids loved it because they got to play with each other's toys... although I don't think any of them enjoyed it when the other kids were playing with THEIR toys. We bought Wii Let's Dance and the older kids had a blast with it. The highlight was the Prime Rib the neighbors made... totally trumped my Apple Cobbler.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Don't worry Mom. I was sitting at the end of the bed on my computer. I didn't leave Adele unattended in bed;)

Veda's Big Night

We had the neighbors over to watch Veda's big night on America's Funniest Home videos. Veda and Teaquen were much more interested in each other than the TV. We even got her sushi as a special treat... which she loved (to our delight). She didn't get that she was on TV but hopefully someday she will. The studio audience seemed to enjoy her clip;)!

Over My Head

I took Veda to the Christmas Fiesta in downtown Camarillo Friday night. She LOVED the ginerbread house display. In fact, she keeps calling every house on our street with lights the gingerbread houses. So Sunday we tackled the $9.99 target house. The box said easy to assemble... pretty much all you have to do is decorate. Well let me tell you this project is not suitable for 2 year olds OR 34 year olds. In my defence the roof came broken. I told Veda the house was hit by an earthquake. She didn't care, she just wanted to play with the pretty candy.

Spaz

It's hard to give Adele a bath without getting wet.

Where are your reindeer Santa?

Veda was very excited to see Santa but very disappointed that Rudolph didn't make it to the party. She kept asking everyone (the elves, Santa, and anyone else who would listen) where the sleigh and the reindeer were hiding. Lucky for her Rudolph is airing on CBS right now so she is getting her fill. Adele was just along for the ride... she was pretty excited about Santa's buttons and his spongy beard.

Dec 1

It's finally here. Veda has been asking if she can play with the "Baby Jesus Farm" (aka Advent Calendar) since we hung it several weeks ago. This is Kel and Chris' Xmas present for the girls (sent early so we could enjoy it this year). I have such fond memories of tracking the days of December when I was little, in anticipation of the big event. This is the perfect scene of the manger so we can help Veda and Adele understand the story of Baby Jesus... on his "farm";) and the significance of the holiday.

Christmas Cheer

I was dragging the inflatable mattress up the stairs and it happens to be stored in a large red bag. Veda asks "Mom, are you Santa Claus?"

It's Offficial!

Veda's going to be a star. Watch her eat the macaroni right out of her nose this Sunday (Dec 5) on ABC's America's Funniest Home Videos! If you live close come watch it with us at our house Sunday night!

A day at the Phoenix Zoo

While everyone else was fighting Black Friday traffic, we opted for the PHX zoo.  Lots of fun stuff for Veda to enjoy...we started with the "nakes" in the cages and then moved on to the giraffes and ostriches (which served as great photo opportunities).  Veda and dad got to ride a camel and then we stopped by the monkeys with the pink butts.  Veda got an up close and personal encounter as one of the monkey really liked her.  He just stood by the window as she "petted" his nose.  We ended at the petting zoo, where Veda got to poke every goat in the eye.  She was seeing if they were really sleeping.  All in all, a good 4 hour experience.

Dancing Christmas caroles in the kitchen...

to burn off a few extra Thanksgiving dinner calories.

Hanging Christmas lights with DiDi and Papi



Lots of activities leading up to the big Thanksgiving dinner.  Served as a good distraction for Grandpa Gary (and Veda had fun too).  To note, Veda does not have a black (or red) eye....she decided to color her face with permanent markets (thanks Aunt Kelly for the non-washable markers).

Happy Birthday Bull

Dad - Thanks for being such an amazing Grandpa. We can't wait to see you in December. It seems like forever since we saw you last. Enjoy your turkey dinner. Love you - Kathy, Todd, Veda and Adele!

Sisters Being Silly

Getting into Trouble!

We had a scary moment today when we both left the room. We didn't even realize Adele was missing. Todd went upstairs to get something and found her sitting at the top of the stairs. We've been blocking the stairs with her exersaucer and other barricades but I guess we need to break out the steel doors. Today she stood by herself for 15 seconds. She just turned 8 months last Tuesday! She just refuses to sit still... and low!