Mr. Sandman

It's feeling like summer again. We've been going out to the bay for some jet skiing and we all seem to benefit. Heleyna loves to play in the sand. Sometimes I wonder if she leaves any at the bay because her swimsuit and her body are usually covered in it. Brad has a great time on the skiis. Every once in a while he'll let me get on them. While I'm riding around at 50 mph I'm reminded of why he bought the jet skiis in the first place.....because they're fun! Braden gets to hang out in the tent and stay warm. As you can see from the pictures he enjoys it and doesn't complain. Sometimes his friend Jack (who is 3 weeks old now), hangs out in the tent with him and keeps him company. We will definitely miss going to the Bay every weekend. I'm not sure what we'll do in NJ to pass the time. The NJ shore doesn't sound all that appealing to us, but we'll have to give it a try.

Laughing Place

If it's true that everyone has a laughing place, Braden found his last night. Braden pleasured us with his first conscious laughs. Until now, all his laughing has occurred while in a semi-conscious state. Last night, while giving him a bath he found his place and gave me some good giggles. He's been such a great kid, very playful with a mild temperment (he puts up with me and doesn't make too much of a fuss about it). We're very lucky to have two great kids and I have to thank God everyday for them. Here's Braden in his laughing place. Enjoy!

Disneyland Part Deux

For those of you concerned that we're spoiling Heleyna too much, you may not want to read this posting. We all went back to Disneyland because Heleyna had an appointment at the Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique. She got to go shopping and pick out a dress, gloves, purse and shoes. She went into a special changing room to put it all on. If that wasn't enough, she got her hair, makeup and nails done. She really enjoyed it and the best part for her was walking around Disneyland and talking to all the other little girl princesses she saw. Cinderella has always been her favorite princess, but lately she has been rather taken with Aurora. I believe the change took place from our past trip to Disneyland and the fun she had going through Aurora's castle...again and again and again.

It was a fun day for her and the culminating event was when we left the park. We walked right down Main Street in the middle of crowds of people waiting along the sidewalks to watch an impending parade. Heleyna was in her royal carriage (stroller) and waved to everyone as we walked down the road. What a perfect way to end a magical day for our princess.

Braden enjoyed it too. Next time, we'll have to dress him up as Prince Phillip. Our kids, spoiled...Nah. Here's Braden on our way up to Disneyland. We really have good natured children and we can't believe how lucky we are.

Jersey Girl (and Boy)

Heleyna and Braden got to fly across the country to New Jersey this week. They were both perfect on the plane and Brad and I can't believe how lucky we are to have kids that can weather that kind of travel. We got to see Auntie Jenn and Uncle Eric while we were there. Heleyna gave them a nickname - Jeric while we were there. She roped Eric and Jenn into playing hide and go seek with her for a while and that changed into her pretending to slay them with her imaginary sword.

Heleyna got to go to a back up daycare center while we were there. I think it was much harder on us than on her. She was very excited about the chance to play with friends and Brad and I were both in tears after we dropped her off. She had a great time playing with water, paint and blocks and told us all about it when we picked her up.

Jenn and Brad took Heleyna swimming in the hotel pool. Braden and I got to watch from a distance, but we weren't invited to participate in the festivities (not that we would have). It was fun being there and sleeping with my kids (not something I normally get to do), but it's also great to be home. As soon as we got home, Heleyna jumped on her scooter which she had missed terribly. Braden was also happy to be home and he and Heleyna had a great time taking a bath in their own bath and sleeping in their own beds.

Easter Fun

This weekend we visited my sister Angela and her family. My parents came up to Angela's house for the weekend to see Alex get baptized and Aiden get blessed. We crashed her party and blessed Braden too. We're glad Angela was willing to let us be a part of that. She and my dad sang beautifully during the baptism program. Alex's baptism was perfect and after it, we had a small family gathering for both blessings. Angela had a nice party afterward at her home. Heleyna enjoyed playing with her cousins and chasing their dog. Heleyna affectionately called the dog Bolt and pretended that she was Penny and he was saving her. You have to see the movie Bolt to understand that.
This was the first time my parents got to meet Braden. Sad, but true. Mainly that was my fault. I was a bit inundated with all the company we had after Braden's birth that I politely requested that they wait until all the rounds of company left. Two months later, it was finally their turn. We tried to make it easy on them by travelling to Angela's so we wouldn't have to inconvenience them too much. since they were patient enough to wait to see him. Sorry it took so long mom and dad, but thanks for letting me get some normalcy back and salvage what little ounce of sanity I had left.

Braden and Heleyna got loved and adored this weekend by not only my family but also Brad's family. They both had quite the entourage and were both eating it up. Heleyna especially. I think she got three Easter egg hunts in. We also ordered snow while we were up there, but since we didn't get any, we drove up to the ski resorts so Heleyna could play in it. She had a great time and told us that she didn't have her snow gloves so she would have to put socks on her hands. She shortly found that the socks got wet and cold and promptly took them off.

Heleyna also got a scooter for her birthday. She's been riding around on it playing Penny, while I get to be Bolt, dad is mittens and Braden is Rhino (again the reference to Bolt). Here's a quick clip of her on the scooter.

Happy Birthday Heleyna

Heleyna turned 3 on April 7th. We took her to Disneyland for her birthday and I think Brad was more excited about it than Heleyna. She got to have a party with Mickey and Minnie and decorate her own birthday cake and ohhh the rides rides rides rides. Her favorite part was going through Aurora's castle. I think she went through it about 10 times. She was a good sport the whole day and wanted to end the day (at 10:00 at night) with a last ride with Nemo. While waiting in line, she fell asleep on my shoulder and I couldn't get her to wake until the submarine "dove". At least she woke up to enjoy the ride. By the time we got off the ride and back to the hotel, it was 11:30. A very late night for her, but hey, you only turn three once. Brad and I had a great time and Braden was an angel through the whole thing. His favorite part was lunch, lunch and lunch. Keep the milk flowing.

Since Grandma couldn't be here for Heleyna's birthday, we recorded Heleyna opening your presents. Enjoy. - By the way, Heleyna had just woken up. I really do fix her hair sometimes though she would have it otherwise.

Its all in the Family

I didn't think Heleyna and Braden looked anything alike when they were born; however, looking at both their baby pictures, you can definitely tell they are related. Heleyna has more delicate features than Braden, but they look like family to me. What do you think?