B5- B, Beck, Babies and Burton

Taking time for a slice

2012-02-14T13:16:00.000-05:00

Our days just seem to fly by. Jocelyn and I quickly go from one activity to another, always on the move. We do enjoy our quite relaxed mornings, but I've been realizing lately that I need to stop and just absorb our time together more. Look her deeply in the eyes and really listen to what she's saying. She has just so much to say, and with so much excitement about the world too.

I took her out for some pizza this afternoon, and we sat, Mommy and Daughter, enjoying a slice. I sat across from my now big girl and just pondered how we got here so fast. She is truly an amazing human being, with such enjoyment of life She has so many questions about things- whats that sound? What's that thing? Whose that person? What's he doing? Just sitting, listening and talking with her is so amazing.

While sitting there, she all the sudden squealed with excitement because she saw a picture of "our bridge". "Our bridge, Mommy!, Our Bridge!" It was a picture of the Brooklyn Bridge up on the wall. "We go under the bridge" "That's right babe, we do." "That's our bridge Mommy, our bridge."

Taking the time for a 30 minute slice is what it's all about.

Brooklyn Children's Museum

2012-02-12T17:25:00.000-05:00

A few friends and I headed over to the Brooklyn Children's Museum on a cold wintery Wednesday. It is quickly becoming our favorite museum for it's wide variety of activities and hands on materials for the kids. After a day full of fun, when asked how the museum was, Jocelyn's response "I saw fish poopy." Awesome. She saw one small fish with a string behind it and that's what she took away from 3 hours of learning.... have to love it!

Planting vegetables in the "garden"

Avery, Mateo and J checking out the Iguana

A very large grass hopper

The Professor, Maryann and Ginger, ready for their 3 hour tour

Giants Super Bowl Parade

2012-02-12T17:08:00.000-05:00

Headed over to the Giants Ticker-tape parade! The parade headed up Broadway, starting down in Battery Park up to City Hall. It was so close to our apt, we just had to make a trip to see it! Thank goodness Chris had his ID with him, because most of the streets leading over to Broadway were closed to keep the crowds contained.

J was not amused until the music started

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The paper streaming down!

J was pretty pumped once the bands started to play!

Cupcake time!

2012-02-12T16:49:00.001-05:00

Getting to the good stuff!

Chocolate face!

Avery and Jocelyn had a blast making cupcakes together. They did a very nice job of mixing, icing and decorating.. and Burton only had 200 sprinkles in his hair.. not to bad!

rag-a-muffin

2012-02-02T16:30:00.000-05:00

Who let this kid play in the mud puddle?! Covered in dirt, happy as can be

Language Development

2012-01-31T18:13:00.000-05:00

As most kids do their parents, Jocelyn continues to amaze us. Some note ables:
- The girls LOVES to sing. She sings herself to sleep each night, she sings to her "friends" (pooh, minnie, etc), she sings as she colors... life is a constant song to Jocelyn, and it couldn't be cuter. Also to note, she's on tune too. Who knows, maybe the opera is in her future!

- Obsessed with birthdays right now. We make at least a card a week for someone, and there is much talk about sprinkles and cupcakes. She loves to belt out Happy Birthday, and again, knows all the words and keeps the tune.

- As I previously mentioned, we've begun to converse. It still blows my mind when we have a back and forth conversation.

- Loves the moon, and likes to look for it each night. Unfortunately, it doesn't often show itself here in the big apple, but it's always exciting when it does!

- Jocelyn is moving herself along with potty training. She successfully goes on the potty about once a day, although Mommy isn't really sure what to do from here. With Deuce coming along, I'm not to keen on pushing her forward to only have her fall back when he comes. For now, she's happy with an M&M each time she goes, or a try prize for an unsuccessful attempt.

- She's been waking up a bit earlier in the mornings (anywhere from 6:15-7am) which isn't so great, but the funny part is her little demanding voice calling out for "Mommy, where are you?' or "Beck, come and get me". That's her newest thing- calling me by my first name "Beck, Becca, Becky..... where are you?!"

First snow of the winter

2012-01-22T18:04:00.000-05:00

We were fortunate that we had a weekend trip planned to PA when the first snowstorm of the winter came. PA got about 6-8 inches, which made for some fun sled riding! The weekend also gave us some time to visit with new baby Emmie, Lance and Ashley's new little one.

Over at the Kleins house, playing in the snow with Dylan 4yrs and Garreth 6yrs.

The boys were super sweet to Jocelyn and they had a really good time playing together.

Emmie Klein- 4 weeks

First ride out on the new sled from Grandpa and Nana!

Although Burton can't stand water, he loves snow!

Happy Family!

Mush Daddy, Mush!

After a long day of sled riding, nothing like making cookies with Yaya!

Brooklyn Children's Museum

2012-01-17T13:23:00.000-05:00

Out of the 3 Children's museums we've visited in the NYC area, the Brooklyn Children's Museum has to be our favorite. Fairly easy to get to (we drove, took 10mins), on street parking and Jocelyn had a great time! It looks like a giant yellow banana from the outside and inside is filled with tunnels and different rooms for the kids to explore.

Chinese New Year is right around the corner, so they had a whole exhibit about it. Chris was pretty pumped when he realized that both he and Deuce will share a chinese sign- both Dragons. Jocelyn is a Dragon, I'm a Sheep.

Jocelyn getting ready for the Dragon parade!

Exploring some of the water exhibits they have.

Amazing

2012-01-15T09:31:00.000-05:00

What is amazing me today, is that I'm having full fledged conversations with my daughter now. We no longer converse in yes or no sentences, but rather discuss topics. The one that made me write this was her saying
"I can't go pee",
"Sometimes it's hard. Keep trying."
"I'm jumping Mommy, want to pee."
(this is all in attempt to get an M&M, a prize for going on the potty.)

The other day, when my mom was in, she told her that the toy was "probably in the toy chest." Incredible how quickly language development happens!

In the Hood

2012-01-14T17:24:00.000-05:00

Grabbing some Joe at Jack's Coffee shop

Checking out "our bridge" down at the new pier off of the South Street Seaport

Loving the grass on top of the new pier

Our building, nestled into the local skyscrapers

One of Jocelyn's fav't activities is to go and watch the ferry boats down by the water

Mommy / Jocelyn Adventure Days

2012-01-10T09:31:00.006-05:00

I decided to use Tuesdays to explore all that city has to offer with Jocelyn. We started off our weekly adventures at the Children's Museum of Manhattan. Nice museum up on W.83rd street with lots for the kids to explore. J is going through a bit of a weird period where all she wants to do is be home (although when we're home, she wants to go out), so I had to do some convincing that this really was fun for her, but she did 'you have fun Mommy (you's are I's in her world right now.)"

Watch out Hell's Angels, this little chick is coming through!

Lazy Saturdays

2012-01-07T17:11:00.002-05:00

Nothing beats a random warm Saturday in January. Having a great time hanging out on our balcony blowing bubbles and having fun.

Pooh's Birthday

2012-01-05T17:10:00.000-05:00

When we woke up on Wednesday, we had no idea what a big day it was- for it was Pooh's birthday! Not sure how we forgot, but Jocelyn was quick to remind us!

The first thing she said to Chris as he got her up was "It's Pooh's birthday", and proceeded to sing a fabulous rendition of 'Happy Birthday'. All morning, we were reminded it was Pooh's birthday, so by lunch, it was obvious we needed to make cookies and celebrate. Thank goodness Jocelyn was kind enough to help him eat his celebratory cookies.

It's a boy!

2012-01-04T13:09:00.000-05:00

Little Deuce Donlan is officially a boy! Mommy had a feeling. I had 2 sonogram dreams, with the last one being very vivid. I was looking at a 4-D sonogram (and could actually hold and touch it) and it was a little boy in my arms. He had very dark, tightly curled hair and was nice and chunky. Didn't realize I had this dream until the following afternoon and was slightly shocked to remember it!

J came with us to the Sonogram so she had a chance to see the baby as well. Although the image was a bit different from what I can only image "seeing the baby" meant to her, she was quite fascinated by the pictures.

We are all thrilled by the news and have already begun to tell Jocelyn about her new little brother that is on the way!

19 weeks- 10 ozs

close up of his profile

That's a wrap!

2012-01-01T19:58:00.000-05:00

Ok. So Beck has been adding pictures, descriptions, and commentary for the past 2 years. She's finally had enough with my lack of participation and requested that I write this years summary... so here goes:

One of the greatest things that I enjoy about this Blog is being able to look back and to see how much has happened to our family in a short 12 Months! Everyone says that life is short, and that time flies... Just take a few clicks back and you'll see that it really is short, and it absolutely flies!!! This time last year Jocelyn wasn't even walking yet, and now the girl is running around like a loon chasing Seagulls with Logan. Heck she was even cruising on a tractor with Caleb during Christmas weekend in Pennsylvania. Besides running she talks up a storm! Her vocabulary is endless and it seems to expand weekly if not daily, and boy does the girl like to sing!!! Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Where is Thumbkin, ABC, Itsy Bitsy Spider... the list goes on. She becomes more and more independent each day, "No Jocelyn do it.", "Jocelyn get a spoon.", "Jocelyn feed Burt." (Yes she speaks about herself in the 3rd person... we're working on it.). She also responds to most question like "Did you see a Polar Bear at the Zoo?" with "I do." No we are not letting her watch hours and hours of Say Yes to the Dress! She is also a tremendous helper. She loves to help anyone in the kitchen... She'll get items out of the fridge if needed, hand you a pot, get you a spoon... she'll even offer to have you pick her up, and she'll help you stir the sauce or flip the eggs. It's always nice to have an extra pair of hands in an extremely SMALL kitchen! Recently Beck found J in her room with the Fab 4 (that would be Winnie the Pooh, Goofy, Minnie, and Transgender Mickey for anyone who is new to the program. Yes, Mickey is actually a Minnie, but in her Christmas outfit its tough to tell, so it fills in for Mickey most of the time, but she does change it back to Minnie from time to time... Yup!), she was placing the crew into their appropriate diapers and off course giving them diaper cream where needed... She's going to be a great Big Sister!

Which I guess is some of the biggest news that we've had this year. The blog started when Jocelyn came into the picture, so it's probably fitting that I'm writing for the first time since a new baby is pending arrival, Ha! Code Name: Deuce Donlan: At the time of writing this post we are T-3 Days from finding out if Deuce is a He or She... It's very exciting! The first post for 2012 will probably be "It's A ____!" Our family is expanding. Life will change again. Time will probably start to go even faster! We can't wait to see how our family will change with Deuce's arrival. Burton will be squished between 2 car seats, but I'm sure Jocelyn will teach Deuce that it's only write to offer Burton your snack cup for his compensation; Jocelyn will finally have someone she can tutor and share all of her years of knowledge and experience; Beck and I will probably pull our hair out, cry, but mostly laugh and smile so widely that our faces will hurt (we should probably get a bigger memory card for the camera!).

2011 was an amazing year, and 2012 seems to be shaping up to be another action packed extravaganza! Already on the calendar is Donlan Disney Vacation in March (Jocelyn finally gets to meet Mickey. I think she's going to tackle him in the middle of Main Street Disney. Beck thinks she'll try and pack him up in her suitcase. We are both pretty positive that Yaya and Poppa will max out their credit buying every stuffed character for her and Caleb, and that we better pack an empty suitcase!). There is also the pending arrival of a new cousin (Michael Wilinski and Michele), and Vicki and Steve's wedding in July! The most important of all will be May 28th...! Will there be enough Megabytes on the Web for all updates??? You'll just have to come back and see!

Thank you 2011, and Hello 2012!!!

Christmas Cards

2012-01-01T17:05:00.003-05:00

Nanny's Birthday / O'Haire Christmas / New Years

2011-12-30T16:20:00.022-05:00

We had an action packed weekend over at Nanny and Grandpa's house in NJ. Three big events, all wrapped up into one weekend- pheww!

We celebrated Nanny's birthday on Friday night. The girls helped to decorate the cake (loads of sprinkles!) and sang many heartfelt renditions of "Happy Birthday" throughout the weekend. This has offically become Jocelyn's fav't song and she sings it on command to anyone who will listen (or claim it's their birthday).

Happy Birthday Nanny with two of her fav't girls

Saturday morning (a 7am wake up!) brought a visit from Santa Clause! He came in bearing gifts for all

Logan was very excited to see him. Jocelyn still wasn't quite sure what to make of him.

Santa with his girls

A visit to seaside isn't complete with out going to feed the birds! Nanny had a great time with the two older girls, making sand castles, throwing rocks in the water and visiting with the local seagulls.

Off and running!

New Years Eve brought on a new tradition- a 12 scoop sundae at Friendly's! Everyone dug in, but Logan was especially excited for it.

the girls get their candy fix from some Pezz!

J making sure she doesn't get hit from above

Coming back from talks with the local crabs

Quick visit with friends

2011-12-27T18:41:00.000-05:00

Sue & John, and the Maslowsky family all came in to NYC for a quick visit today and we had a really great time with all the kids. Always a bit crazy, but great to see everyone! The kids continue to get so big and it was so much fun to see them playing together (and watching Nola get them all in trouble!)

Karter 3 1/2 years, Nola 1 1/2yrs, Jocelyn 2yrs

Christmas Morning

2011-12-27T16:46:00.000-05:00

Christmas eve and Christmas morning were spent at home in the city again this year. This made for a really nice relaxing time for the 3 of us. After a walk around Soho and lunch at a great patisserie we went to Christmas eve service at Trinity Church (one of the oldest churches in Manhattan- George Washington was a member) and had a nice quiet dinner at home.
Christmas morning arrived and we spent it slowly opening presents and just enjoying our fresh croissants (complements of the patisserie the day before), cheese and tea. It was wonderful to watch J open her presents because there was no sense of entitlement or eagerness to open more. She's at such an age where each gift was exciting and she was ready to just sit down and play the that.

One of the big hits of the morning- stickers!

The other big hit- Winnie the pooh band-aids (check out her knee... she had to put one on a boo-boo)

Slowly going through the piles.

Burton got his present. This was completely eaten by the end of the day

Jocelyn is still a very avid reader. Books can keep her entertained for hours. This was a fav't that had somehow gotten mis-placed, so Daddy replaced it.

Playing with her new firetruck and police car.

Christmas at Mima's

2011-12-25T16:46:00.001-05:00

Mima and Piper- 7 1/2 months

Gigi with Logan, Piper and J

They both got some very fun presents!

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The Klein Family- Piper 7 1/2 months, Logan 3 1/2yrs

First Flutter- 17 weeks

2011-12-23T15:58:00.001-05:00

I felt the first fluttering of Deuce today. Just a little one, but I remember that feeling well. Just a nice reminder that their in there, growing and getting ready for a grand entrance in May!
This pregnancy has been quite easy so far. Only mild sickness for about 2 weeks around weeks 8-10 and nothing to sever besides that. I've been getting some heart burn lately, but again, nothing to serious. I've been running regularly (about 2-3 times a week), which has been helping, although I've definitely popped quite a bit earlier this time!
Our first pregnancy with Jocelyn was fairly similar- no real issues or bumps until the 3rd trimester, so hopefully this one is the same!

Marangas Christmas

2011-12-18T16:22:00.002-05:00

We headed over to Garden City on Sunday for the annual Marangas Christmas party. 55 cousins, aunts, uncles and kids all running around having a great time. As always, it was great to see everyone all together.

The aunties

Big Bear = Big fun

Santa even came for a visit!

The kids all gathering around Santa for some presents

Donlan Christmas

2011-12-17T16:13:00.007-05:00

"Christmas" morning with Yaya and Pop

A new tricycle!

Caleb (1yr) and J

Everyone is very excited for their Disney shirts

It's not Christmas in PA without a tractor in the yard!

Look how much fun this box can be!

Turning 2

2011-12-05T15:04:00.001-05:00

I still can't believe that 2 years has come and gone. The first year, yes, we could feel the slow progression of time sometimes, but this last year absolutely flew by. Jocelyn has been such a pleasure and a blessing in our lives. She has so much love to give and is just a wonderful little girl!

Speech: J can put together 4-5 word sentences now and is still quite the mimic. If you say something, expect to hear it spouted back at you. We love listening to her as she lays in her bed after waking up, singing or trying out new phrases she just learned. J doesn't stop talking all that often, so when she does, we know something is up.

Eating: We've never had a problem with J eating, and still don't. She will try almost anything, especially if it comes off of someone else's plate. She will finish up her breakfast, only to get down and then take a look at what everyone else is eating and ask for a bite. We still have to watch her cheese and banana intake as she can get a little stopped up at times.

Stats: J is 35.5" tall (92%) and 26.3lbs (48%). Healthy and beautiful!

Sleeping: 7pm-7pm with one nap from about 12:30-2:30. Falls asleep quickly and easily. J still uses a binky, but we've recently started to cut it down as she found biting it a lot of fun. It's almost to the nub, and really doesn't offer her too much comfort, but she just likes to know it's there.

Play Toys: Her fav't play toys are her "friends"- Minnie, Goofy, Pooh and new Minnie. She brings one of them anywhere she goes, and enjoys playing "school" with them. As J sits down at her table, she'll pull the chair out next to her and have Pooh sit with her as she colors. She gets SO excited to see them, and loves to give nose kisses to them.

Books: Jocelyn still loves to read and be read to. She'll lay in her crib with some books and just "read" to herself or Pooh. We spend a lot of time with books, so it's nice to see her growing into such a reader. Some favorites right now are: How does a dinosaur say good night?, Brown Bear, Olivia,

Bragging: She can say her entire ABC's (prob. because we use that as her "share" song. When the song is over, she has to share her toy with whoever is waiting). Jocelyn can count from 1-10 (but doesn't recognize the numbers yet) and knows the colors blue, green, yellow, red, purple and brown (but only if you ask her to point to these colors. If you ask her what color something is, she'll tell you "blue".)

Thanksgiving con't

2011-12-05T14:48:00.000-05:00

and another Happy Birthday to Jocelyn! This one with a great Pooh cake made by Nana

The weather was warm and gorgous, so we took advantage and spent some time up at the bay playground

The pooches got in on the sunny day action as well by taking a nice swim

There's a fairy chasing the seagulls!

Happy Piper 6 1/2 mos

Thanksgiving & Birthday Celebrations continue

2011-12-03T13:46:00.000-05:00

For the 3rd year in a row, we headed up to the Thanksgiving Day Parade. The parade was amazing and it was a beautiful day. We took the subway up the east side and walked across Central Park at 66th street. We got the same great spot as last year and had plenty of space to view the balloons.

It's Turkey time!

"Want to touch" was one of Jocelyn's favorite sayings this year. She was a bit confused why the balloons kept being so elusive.

A fan favorite

We weren't sure when Kermit was coming by, so we settled on Snoopy for this years family photo

And... the celebration continues at Aunt Eileen's house

Gigi and Great-Grandpa holding some of their great grand-kids, Jocelyn, Kaylynne & Caleb

"Ah yes, hi, is this Elmo?"

Turning 2

2011-12-03T13:23:00.000-05:00

Jocelyn's birthday festivities got started a few days early with a party at Mima and Pop-pop's house. Aunt Mysh made fabulous Winnie-the Pooh cupcakes and cousins Logan and Piper helped Jocelyn to celebrate

Pooh Cupcakes

Birthday girl in her hat and beads

Logan helping Jocelyn with her presents

November 23rd- birthday breakfast muffin! Daddy took the day off of work and we headed up to Bryant Park for some ice skating

J's first time on the ice!

Doing pretty well!

Mommy was loving it (although her back was quite sore afterwards!)

Nothing like a ride on the carousel to complete the perfect birthday

Fall Fun Days

2011-11-15T18:09:00.000-05:00

These are a collection from the past few weeks of visit's with Mysh, Logan and Piper.

"Hey Alfie, come in and play!"

Gigi and Piper- 5 months

Play dough time with all the kids! Notice Piper getting in on the action

Cedar Creek Park- 5 playgrounds!

Mima's house- making cookies!

Two very good helpers (when they weren't distracted by the wind blowing by)

Reaping the benefits of cookie making, along with some hot cocoa.

Christmas Photo Shoot

2011-11-15T13:41:00.000-05:00

We got together with Nicole and Avery and brought the girls to Water Street, in front of Browne's Stationary. It's a beautiful cobblestone street, lined with historic buildings. Perfect for a photo shoot!

Bronx Zoo

2011-11-05T12:59:00.005-04:00

We headed to the Bronx Zoo for some fall fun in early November. Nana and Grandpa met us there, and we had a great time checking out all the animals. It was the perfect time to go, very small crowds and since the weather was cooler, all the animals were out and about.
On our way there, all we heard about were the "squirrels and whales." J was pumped to see both. We were able to check the squirrels off our list rather quickly (and about 500 more times, although each time prompted an excited scream), and added to the list, monkeys & baboons.

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The day wrapped up with a ride on the carousel. Very tired and happy kids!

Halloween, Bunny-Style

2011-11-01T15:20:00.000-04:00

Professional Trick-or-Treater was our nick-name for Jocelyn this year. It took her only about 3 stores to get the hang of it. "I walk in, open my bag, say "Happy Halloween", they insert candy, I say "Thank-you". Repeat.
Nothing fazed her. Not the headless man who handed out candy at the hardware store (who scared poor Avery to death), nor the zombie who was in his apartment (she had a one track mind)- candy.
Since Halloween was on a Monday this year, we had a weekend full of activities and parties.

Little Bunny over at Avery's Halloween party

Jocelyn and Avery, her BFF

Sabella the Giraffe, J, Grant the Dinosaur and Avery the Lamb

Mysh & Billy came in on Sunday for the downtown festivities. We headed over to the South Street Seaport for their festival, including story readings with the Bernstein Bears.

Mommy and her little bear, over at Washington Market Park

Halloween day- hitting the streets! We headed over to Tribecca and the stores over there. It was insane!

The girls got some good loot!

Taking their time as they scooped out where to go next

City Hall Restaurant was handing out not only candy, but hot Sangria and candied apples for the adults

Decisions, decisions.... which one do I take? Trick or Treating in Avery's building

Not phased in the least by the Mummy- he had some good stuff!

Future Teacher?

2011-10-25T08:53:00.000-04:00

Pooh Bear is Jocelyn's constant companion. He eats with her, plays with her, and lately, she's been teaching him. J seats him down next to her, and she brings out her books and reads to him. Adorable to say the least.

Piper's Dedication

2011-10-24T15:17:00.000-04:00

Little Princess!

Proud Grandparents

Logan, J and Liam out for a ride around the backyard

Godfather- Uncle Chris

Brooklyn 10K

2011-10-24T15:01:00.000-04:00

Success! We ran the Prospect Park 10K and reached our goal of running it under an hour- 58:31

Soft Soul

2011-10-20T19:52:00.000-04:00

Jocelyn has a soft soul. By this I mean, she seems to feel for others deeply. Today was just a reminder of how I've seen this in the past. We were watching "In the Night Garden," a show she enjoys and one of the characters got lost. I was getting dinner ready for her, and must have distracted her before Daisy found her way back, because the show ended, and J was in tears. She was so upset, and all she kept calling out was "Daisy!". The poor things was hysterical that Daisy was lost and wasn't home with her family for bedtime. The tears and general upset lasted a good 20 minutes.

The other day we were walking back from the park with her friends Grant and Avery (and respective mothers). As we got to our stoop, Jocelyn and I went inside but the others kept on walking. J became so upset to see her friends walking away. It wasn't a defiant, "I want what I want" cry, but rather, I'm so sad that my friends are going away.

Just a soft soul, our little J.

The Deuce is Loose

2011-10-18T14:56:00.000-04:00

We got some exciting news the other day that we're expecting baby #2, appropriately named DD- Deuce Donlan. The baby is 8 weeks along and growing nicely. It is currently the size of my finger nail- 1.5cm. Amazing how small they start out!

Chris and I are extremely excited and Jocelyn is as well, but just doesn't realize it yet. I'm feeling pretty good and as long as I eat at regular intervals (every hour and half), I'm doing ok. The doc said this should subside in about another 2 weeks and I'll start feeling "normal" again (really, how normal can a prego person feel?)

We know we're in for some big changes here- getting Jocelyn ready to become a big sister, figuring out how we're going to fit another person in our apt, ect ect. But really, we couldn't be more excited! Due date is May 28th, 32 short weeks away!

8 weeks- DD- Deuce Donlan

Getting away- San Diego

2011-10-15T14:59:00.014-04:00

NAPSLO, an insurance conference that Chris goes to yearly, was in San Diego this year, so we decided to make it into a little get-away for the two of us. Jocelyn stayed with Yaya and Pops, Burton over at Aunt Missy's, and Chris and I hit the road! We arrived early Sat which gave us 2 days to spend together before the actual conference started and Chris had to do that nasty stuff called work.

It took us aprox 4 hours to start trying to decide how we could move here. The city is gorgeous- clean, amazing weather, and right on the water.

The view from our hotel balcony. The sun would it the balcony each day for a few hours, which made it absolutly perfect.

Looking down on the hotel pool. I spent quite a few hours lounging there.

We spent Sunday over at Coronado, which was right across the water from downtown San Diego. Gorgeous beach with very soft sand. We had lunch at the Hotel Del Coronado, a historic hotel in the area.

Waiting for the ferry back to downtown

While Chris was working, I was able to explore San Diego. I headed over to Balboa Park, home to many museums and the famed San Diego zoo.

The rose garden- sat back and enjoyed reading a book

The Shore

2011-10-07T12:31:00.000-04:00

Mysh and I took the kids down to NJ for a few days to watch Kelly, and also to spend some time with Nana and Grandpa. It was quite the adventure, as this was the first time since the summer we've had all the girls together. As they are getting bigger (and more energized!), it brings more fun!

blowing bubbles with Grandpa

Some of Nana's surprises. Getting the girls ready for Halloween!

Grandpa and I took the girls down to feed the seagulls. A bag of cheerios goes a long way, unless of course, you eat them all yourself like J did.

Catch the seagulls!

Logan- 3 years

Nana took very good care of Piper while we took the girls to the park

Philadelphia Aquarium

2011-10-01T13:21:00.000-04:00

Christian invited us down for the weekend and we had a great time exploring Phili with him, as well as checking out the local aquarium. It was a fantastic place, filled with hands-on exhibits.

Holy Hippo! These boys are big!

J was in love with the penguins

Waiting for the penguin feeding time

At one of the many hands-on exhibits. This could have been either the shark or starfish touching tank.

A Day in Brooklyn with Aunt Stephie

2011-09-27T14:51:00.000-04:00

After racing on Saturday, we spent Sunday re-couperating by picnicing in Brooklyn Bridge Park. This has become one of our fav't weekend destinations as it's a quick ferry ride over from Manhattan and has some great playgrounds and walk in it.
One of the greatest things about New York is you never know what you're going to run into, and as luck had it, the DUMBO Arts Festival was going on over in DUMBO. Artists and food trucks flooded the streets, and all the art studios/warehouses had their works on display.

Brooklyn Bridge Park added a new carosel over looking the water. Gorgous views!

It was the DUMBO Art's Festival and many artists had their pieces out. This artist had a huge bubble blowing machine that the kids just loved!

Popped right in her face!

Walking through the arts festival

Spartans, Prepare for Glory!

2011-09-27T11:42:00.001-04:00

Spartan Race, Staten Island, NY

The test of will- power and perseverance. An 8 miles of mud-running filled with 24 obstacles, sand, water, walls, tunnels to swim through, barbed wire to crawl under, and to many burpies to count. Needless to say, it was a blast!

The hardest part for me was the 50 yard swim through the tunnels. Water was up to your neck as you crouched down into a frog crawl to get through the pitch-black tunnels. I am not a big fan of enclosed places filled with water, so I started to freak out a bit. But my team had my back, talked me through it and I completed it.

We had teammates who didn't think they could run the full 8 miles and did amazing. The fact that it was mostly single track, off-road running made it fun. The track was full of mud, tree roots, puddles and bushes, so you were concentrating to just staying upright, you didn't even notice the miles flying by. We all made it over/under/through each and every obstacle, including the final 10 foot, 45 degree wall covered in slick.

Go Team Teal!

Team Teal! Steve, Vicki, Missy, Christian and Steph. Ready to rock before the race!

Who's going to mess with these Spartans?!

One of the 8- 10 foot walls we had to climb over

And after the race... mud in every crevace imaginable.

Done!

Team Teal..shirts are a little darker!- 2 hours 28 minutes

Making us laugh

2011-09-22T17:44:00.001-04:00

Some notes on J. She is hiliarious. Plain and simple, the girl makes us laugh. One of her favorite things to do right now is to say hi to everyone/everything; helicopters, planes, policemen, cabs, buses... anything. The cutest is her saying hi to the helicopters and ferryboats, and sort of expecting them to say hi back.

The other thing she likes to do is repremand Pooh and Minnie. " Minnie, no kick Mama in the face" (yup, that's a real one), "no time out Pooh, no time out". Listening to her in her crib at night just makes our hearts warm and our smiles grow.

She's still not very into baby-dolls, but prefers to bring Pooh or Minnie for a ride, or push them in their own mini-stroller.

Classic Quotes:
I say to Jocelyn "You are just so cute", she looks at me and says "Thank-you!" what a pip! 23mos

Apple Picking

2011-09-11T11:38:00.017-04:00

9/11 was a time of remembering and being with family for the city, so we decided to head upstate to spend time with the Klein's by apple picking. We headed to Lawrence Farms in Newburgh, NY and had an amazing time. It felt really good for us to get out of the city, after all the craziness that the 9/11 anniversary brought and it was a wonderful time for the kids. The farm not only had apples, but in-season fruits and vegetables to pick as well.

Pooh, never leave home without him.

Let's go Daddies, we're ready for some picking!

Hmmm, broccoli, how many heads of this do I need?

Picking the good apples at the top

Logan, do you prefer the Gala or the Roma apples? I'm still undecided.

Lots of apples!

Crazy Uncle Billy, I don't belong in the tree!

The farm had a great kids section, filled with pint-sized houses and toys for them to play on.

Labor Day w/e

2011-09-06T11:59:00.002-04:00

The Summer has just flown by! I can't even believe that we just celebrated Labor Day. We headed out east to celebrate Chris's Grandparent's 62nd wedding anniversary, along with 2 engagements (Vickie/Steve & Michael/Michelle) and a few August birthdays. It was a great weekend and we had some nice quality with G&G, as we stayed over Saturday night at their house.

Aaron and Kyle 'sharing' the car... neither one looks pleased about it

Cousin's discussing the benefits of riding in the Radio Flyer

Jocelyn and Caleb out for a stroll around the yard

Danny and Jocelyn convincing Burton he really wants to jump in the fish pond

Daddy, the tickle monster

Caleb and Jocelyn in the 'love hug'

Monday was spent over at Brooklyn Bridge Park- amazing park!

Cookie Monster!!!

2011-08-30T19:14:00.000-04:00

Day Trip with the Mamas!

3 Mamas and their little ones headed over to Sesame Place for the day. It was a great time, and the park is very well laid out for the kids. A nice mixture of both water and dry rides.

I wasn't sure how J would do with the characters, but my mind was quickly put at ease. Upon entering the park we rolled right up to Count Dracula and Zoey and as soon as J saw them, she wanted out of her stroller. She walked right up to them and seemed to find them more fascinating than anything. All the kids had a really good time and we'll def. be back another year.

The 3 Amigos on their way to the carousel.

Cookie Monster!!! The face says it all

ohhhhhhhhhhh! So excited

Right up at the stage to watch them all dance. This however, was not close enough. J took a walk over to the stairs to get on stage with her furry friends.

The water park section- a lot of fun!

Earthquakes, Hurricanes and Rain, oh my!

2011-08-30T12:40:00.000-04:00

NY has had a very busy week- Wednesday we had an earthquake and on Saturday a hurricane touched down. Thankfully, we were untouched by both, but it certainly was a busy week! The earthquake center was all the way down in Virginia, so we only had shock waves up here, but for a city that hasn't had one in well over 15 years, it was a bit shocking. Buildings downtown all evacuated, and as J and I returned from our walk along the seaport we found our streets flooded with people. After 9-11, the buildings don't take any chances and immediately get everyone out, so J and I came upstairs, grabbed our emergency info bag and headed to Battery Park, the lowest area of downtown.

That same low lying area would be cause for concern in just a few days as hurricane Irene came up through the Carolina's. Friday there was a mandatory evacuation of all Zone A areas of downtown. This ment all streets up to Gold Street and wrapping around the tip of Manhattan. All the news reports pointed to this happening, so we had packed up and left Thursday evening, heading to PA. Thankfully, the hurricane didn't hit us to hard, only causing slight flooding in our direct area (south street had some flooding), but many parts of NY, NJ, Conn and VT weren't so lucky.

Currently, Woodstock, VT, where Stephanie lives is completely under water. With no water or electricity, clean up could be awhile.

21 Months

2011-08-23T11:13:00.001-04:00

This past month has been a whirlwind of activity. Between time down at the Jersey Shore, spending a few days out on Long Island to watch Logan and Piper, two weddings, and our normal activities, J's been a trooper. Here are some of her updates:

Sleeping: We tried to move her down to one nap, but she seems to still do best with 2 naps a day. The first is usually 1.5-2hrs and the second around an hour to 1.5hrs. She is an excellent sleeper, although she will occasionally fight sleeping in the car. Her must haves when sleeping are her buddies Pooh and Minnie and her binky.

Food: "Oaaaattmmmeeeaalllll" is what can usually be heard before any meal time in the Donlan house. Jocelyn is on a huge Oatmeal fix and although will accept other foods, this is usually her first request. She's been going through some ups and downs with the amounts she eats, and is a bit of a grazer. She will have just a few bites, then give us the "all done", go down and come back 5 mins later for a bite. J's always very interested in what others are eating and if she even suspects you have something better than her, she'll go in for a bite.

Playing: As previously mentioned, "Playroom" time (playing by herself in her room) is going great. We are up to 30 minutes and J seems to be enjoying this alone time. She has also started to really interact with other kids (and cousins). When at the playground, she'll watch what the other kids are doing first, and then slowly head over to give it a try. With Logan, she just jumps right in (literally).

Speaking: J doesn't stop talking.... ever. She is onto full 3-4 work sentences and is a full blown parrot. If you say something, she is sure to be repeating it. J has even begun over the last week or so, to sing. We'll hear her in her room, or in the backseat, practicing the songs she knows. Have to say, she carries a pretty good tune!

Toys: Jocelyn is very into her shoes and buckles right now. She'll spend a solid amount of time trying to get shoes on and off, and will also sit with a seat buckle (from her high chair or stroller) and work on clicking it on and off.

Dressing: J is becoming more opinionated about what she wants to wear, although she is distractible and doesn't put up to much of a fight. The outfit she wants will usually have flowers that are "pretty". She is also very into her shoes and will even take yours on and off your own feet.

Funny Antics: *When J sees a picture of herself, she gets very excited and says "youuuuu!" With time we figure she'll figure out you is really me.
* J was spending a few days at Mima and Pop-pops while Chris and I were up at Linda's wedding. She was napping when we arrived to pick her up, so when she woke up, I went upstairs to get her. Upon opening the door, she shot up out of her pack & play and began to excitedly point at the door and yell "Burrtooooonnnn! Burt, Burt, Burt, Burt....." she heard him downstairs and needed to see him immediately (even before Mommy or Daddy). True love!

Flower girl Debut

2011-08-17T11:54:00.000-04:00

Chris's good friend Lance got married this past weekend and asked if both Chris and Jocelyn could be in the wedding party. Chris had a tough time making it down the aisle, but J aced it ;)

Our little Flower girl

The Best Man and Flower girl

Lance and his groomsmen, Chad and Chris

Concentrating very hard on those flowers

Jocelyn did well, and made it down the aisle once Daddy came and took her hand.

Lance and Ashley

A little rain doesn't stop this party!

Big smiles for her Daddy!

"Yeaaaa Seaside!"

2011-08-17T11:29:00.000-04:00

We were fortunate to get back down to the shore for another long weekend and a great visit. J was a lot more at ease with the sand and was quite comfortable playing in the waves! She wanted to sit down at the shore line and have them come up over her, and even when one splashed in her face, she just laughed. "Yeaaaa Beach!" (one of her cheers)

"Walk with Nana!" J had a blast walking the shore line and picking up shells with her Nana

Second time around J was much happier with the sand. Notice, she even has her shoes off!

Beach baby!

Lazy Day's of Summer

2011-08-17T11:16:00.000-04:00

This has been a wonderful summer! Full of warm/hot days, small pools and lots of running around. Wednesdays were our designated "Long Island" days and we went out first to visit with Mysh and the girls and then once she went back to work, just over to Mima's to help out as she watched the girls for the month of August.

I had the 'privilege' of watching all 3 girls for 2 days while Mima and Pop-pop were up in Boston. With a bit of juggling, and some help from my friends (thank you Danielle, Candice and Missy!) we made it through.

These are some pictures of the last few weeks out on Long Island.

Getting ready for some pool time

Mima helps fill up the buckets of water

Slate boards!

"Now I've got them!" J LOVES Logan's shoes (well she loves all shoes, but especially anything that is Logans)

Success! She got them on!

Logan was kind enough to share, and allowed J to keep one on. Rest time with the Mickey cups. Notice the similarly bruised knees on the girls

Piper taking it all in - 3mos

Logan, Piper, Emmerson and J. It rained for a few hours that day, and Danielle and I were very thankful we have only calm girls! They were quite happy having tea parties, dancing around and working on puzzles

Piper is a very happy and easy-going baby. Loves to just watch the older girls play

Playroom time

2011-08-04T11:25:00.001-04:00

We started doing Independent playtime with J a few months back. It started with playpen time, and a few weeks ago, moved onto room time. The transition was rough at first- the first week she cried and screamed for most of the 20 min. We took a break when we went down the shore, and upon returning, J has turned the corner. Yesterday she actually asked for "playroom time" and dragged the gate over to her door. Big improvement from having my super asking "is everything OK with Jocelyn?"

At the moment, she does 30 minutes of room time each morning after breakfast, and spends most of her time with puzzles and her toys.

As a reminder to myself, I'd say just stick with it because they get used to it after a few days and just like in her playpen, begin to enjoy this alone time.

*mid August- J now not only requests "Playroom time", but pulls out the fence on her own and today, looked up at me said "kiss" and then went right over to her toy box to start playing. Next to CIO, this is the best thing I've ever implemented with her.

Jersey Shore - Part 2

2011-07-29T11:51:00.000-04:00

Mysh, Logan, Piper came down during the second week. Billy wasn't able to make it, but thankfully my Mom volunteered to come down with them to help Mysh out.
The girls had a blast together. It is so much fun to watch them play, and at the end of each day they were ready to drop!

exploring the fun of the hose in the pool

Logan loves to squirt anything with the hose, so watch out!

Even Kelly got in on the action and really enjoyed the bath!

SO excited!

Can the grin get any bigger?!

Logan loves water more than air, and should have been born with gills!

Love

Dinner out on the deck at "the kids table" What you can't see is Burton lurking around waiting for the food scraps!

We spent quite a few days just hanging around the house, playing in the pool and with the fun sprinklers

Mima and her girls... some look happier than others!

Piper Anne - 10 weeks

Ay ay Captain!

Each morning began with a "death march" in order to tire the dogs out. This is our group ready to head out

Seaside Heights! The girls had a lot of fun. Logan was tall enough for most of the kiddie rides, and J will be right there by next year

Heading up on the Ferris Wheel

The Boardwalk

Chris was an expert sand castle maker by the end of the trip

As the weeks progressed, Jocelyn became more and more comfortable with the waves and sand. However, she always loved being carried in Daddy's arms and dunked as the waves came up... future surfer?!

Mommy and her little beach bum

Jersey Shore - Part 1

2011-07-26T10:38:00.000-04:00

We spent the better part of July down in Seaside Park, NJ at my parent's house while they traveled the National Parks out west. It was a win-win situation as they needed someone to watch Kelly, their dog, and we were happy to have a beach house for 2 1/2 weeks! The time flew by and it really gave Chris and I an opportunity to slow it all down and really enjoy our time.
Chris worked for a portion of it, taking about 2 days off each of the weeks. Traveling back up north for visits was a bit rough for him, but as he said, there's nothing like driving over the bridge back onto the island to ease your soul!
Alice (Yaya,), Sam, Caleb and Steph all came down the first weekend we were there. We had a great time visiting with them and even made it over to see the Donlan clan in Lavalette (about 3 miles north of Seaside).

J did really well with the ocean, although it took her about a week and half to get used to the sand. Her favorite quotes of the vacation were "Yeaaaa Seaside!", "Yeaaaaa swings!" and we added in "Yeaaaa sand!"

Yaya giving J the low down about how to properly chase the seagulls

Caleb right before taking a huge mouthful of sand. He did really well with the beach and even took a nice short nap while we were there.

"and I'm a big kid now!" J in her big girl chair

Aunt Steph

Family shot

Caleb checking out the goods

J playing the part of the big cousin nicely, showing Caleb how to draw with Mickey

Over at the Donlan's house in Lavallette. We had a great time BBQing and catching up with that side of the family

J's new fascination with zippers, landed an almost naked baby on the deck

Kelly assisting J in figuring out how to put her shoes back on.

Will you listen already?

2011-07-06T12:50:00.000-04:00

J had been asking to go "night-night" for over an hour, but since it was to early, I kept putting her off. Finally, I caved into her repeated asking, and we headed into her room. We read our book, and as I told her "ok, we're going to go into our sleep sack for night-night" she actually said "yeaaaa!" and started to clap. The girl knows what she wants, when will we finally listen to her?!

4th of July

2011-07-05T16:19:00.000-04:00

We had a really nice long 4th of July weekend, spending time out east at Chris's grandparents, hitting the annual Tomao 4th of July party and wrapping it up a BBQ at my Mom's. Full of food and fun!

Checking out the seagulls off of Grandma & Grandpa's deck

The gorgeous view from their backyard

Tomao 4th of July party- J refereeing the Bocce game

Billy and his new little one Kaylynn (5mos)

Southold 4th of July parade

waving to Aunt Cathy, an EMT, who was marching

Beautiful, small American town

Cathleen came with the triplets, so she had Uncle Roman's car set up as shaded area

In the pool with Logan at Mima's house

Gigi and Piper (8wks)

loving life!

Aunt Jane getting some baby hugs in

The Kiddie table, complete with a puppy-dog to pick up the scraps

How many toys can you fit in Missy's yard?

2011-07-05T15:49:00.000-04:00

Sarah, Charlie & J take turns "watering the grass"

Emerson- 15 months

Charlie had the right idea and turned this into a water slide!

Clayton found his new BFF

D & Emerson

Lucus came to play!

Danielle & Emerson (15mos), Candice, Sarah (4ys) & Charlie (2yrs), Kelly & Lucus (2yrs), Me & Jocelyn (19mos)

What a good looking group (minus the tears!)

Logan's 3rd Birthday

2011-06-25T10:52:00.013-04:00

A very happy fish in the pool!

J isn't to sure about the deep pool, but does enjoy getting splashed!

Piper- 2 months with Nana

The theme was Carebears!

Nana did a beautiful job with the cake and cupcakes

Pinita time!

Who needs a swim-suit, when your dress can get wet?!

More sugar....! need more sugar...!

Summer begins

2011-06-24T15:49:00.000-04:00

And with the beginning of summer, comes fireworks. There is nothing poor Burton hates more than Fireworks. This year, rather than just hide under the bed, he found a new shelter... the tub. Ironic for a dog who has water as #2 on his most despised list.

Jocelyn and Avery at the Children's Art Museum of Manhattan for an art class. They both got really into the bingo stamps- who knew one could use such simple things to amuse them!?

Trick

2011-06-20T13:46:00.000-04:00

J played her first trick on me yesterday. I was laying down on the couch with my eyes closed (long day!) and she comes over, whispers "quiet" very softly waits 5 seconds and then yelled "bahhhh!" in my face. She thought it was hysterical and so did I actually!

Picnic in the Park

2011-06-20T13:44:00.000-04:00

We headed over to Governor's Island with a few other families this past weekend for day of picnicking and play. It was a perfect late spring day and we walked down to the southern tip of the island to a gorgeous spot, right across the river from the Statue of Liberty.

Super serious running face

The crew- The Faccio's, Kelly's & Donlan's

The 2nd best bubble invention- a bottle of bubbles with an automatic popping up stick. (The best bubble invention is really the gun that you just point and shoot and a bunch of bubbles come out)

J & Sabella

The girls in the Adirondack chairs

J with her girlies- Avery and Sabella

Strolling along

2011-06-17T10:34:00.000-04:00

Over the past few weeks, Jocelyn has become more interested in her stroller and has begun wheeling it around the apartment. We showed her that her baby doll goes in it, but she promptly threw it out- no baby for her. That space belongs to either Pooh or Minnie, or in this case, her precious beads and flowers.

Strolling down Maiden Lane on our way to play group at 2 Gold. The alignment might be off on the stroller because J did a bit more pulling then pushing of it and eventually just walked away from it... very fickle in her love of her beads!

A very happy 'Mama'

Avery was kind enough to oblige Jocelyn and go for a ride around the playroom. That may be fear in Avery's eyes though...

Mama to Mommy

2011-06-14T19:49:00.000-04:00

Whenever you leave your children, whether it's for one night or five, when you return, it looks like they've grown 5 inches and aged 2 years. Chris and I went to Atlantic City for a long weekend (Sat thru Tuesday). He had an Insurance conference from Sun-Tuesday and I brought a really good book and enjoyed the sun deck and pool. J stayed with Yaya and Pop (Chris's parents) and thoroughly enjoyed getting completely spoiled. When we picked her up today, her first words to me were, "Mommy"... I was no longer my little peanut's Mama'. Might not seem like a big deal, but to me, it was just another reminder of how quickly J is growing and changing.

So now, rather then hearing "Mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama....." I'll hear the full "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy"... maybe she'll find it too much of a mouth full and just stop at one "Mommy"..... one can only hope! ;)

Governors Island with Mima

2011-06-03T09:41:00.001-04:00

We were blessed and excited to spend a day here in the city with my Mom, Mima to Jocelyn. She took a day off of work to come in and we headed over to Governors Island, an island about 3 miles off of downtown Manhattan. It's a gorgeous, quite place, that used to be used to house the Coast Guard. Now, it's used by City-ites to enjoy some "country time" while not going far.
My mom also stayed over night which allowed Chris and I the very special treat of a date night, without worrying about a babysitter! Something special indeed!

The view from Picnic Field. Across the water is downtown Manhattan.

Raspberries!

It was a pretty windy day, but that didn't stop us from playing in the sand at the Boat Basin

Very happy girl to have her Mima with us!

Wednesday Playtime

2011-06-02T10:46:00.000-04:00

Mysh is home on maternity leave, so we've set up a recurring Wednesday play-date for the girls. It's so great to see them playing together and they both LOVE being together (J 'calls' Lolo or Mysh on the 'phone' at least 4-5 times a day)

Springtime!

2011-06-02T10:30:00.000-04:00

J wakes up from her naps ready for action. As soon as her door opens, she pops right up in her crib and begins to talk about something (Pooh, her horse, a book... could be anything!)

Love those baby blues!

Loves the slide and swings. She is beginning to feel her independence a bit more and will try and slide down by herself

Weeeeeehh!

No Daddy, I do!!

And off she goes to do it again!

So many beads, so little time...

18 months- getting so big!

18 months

2011-05-26T09:20:00.000-04:00

A part of me can't believe our little munchkin is already a year and half! Time has certainly flown. At 18 months she is 34 inches tall (97%) and 24lbs (55%).

Her personality continues to blossom everyday and even though she was a tougher baby, as a toddler she is extremly enjoyable. J is very direct in her movements and is patient enough to wait for toys or items she wants to become available. An example of this was at a class we take, they brought out musical instruements. The week before J had a lot of fun with these bell type instruments, but they got scooped up as soon as they were put on the floor (J ususally waits until the crowds clear before making her choices.. she's not in a rush, she'd rather watch the situation). I saw her survey the group, zero in on who had one and just casually go and stand next to the adult with her desired instrument. As soon as it was put down, she scooped it up and came walking over to me with a huge grin on her face.

A few other things she's doing right now:
Speaking: She upto over 70 words and is beginning to put 2 words together. We call her our little parrot because everything we say, she mimics. Her newest is "coffee - kaafee"

Sleeping: J is 7-7 at night and is still on 2 naps a day, but transitioning down to just 1. Her naps range in lenght from 1hr-2.5 hrs.

Eating- put it in front of her and she'll try it. Eats most things and isn't to picky. If she dosen't like it, Burton will!

Playing: Loves her books, puzzels, beads (any sort of necklace), and her rocking horse. Any item that slightly resembles an electronic is a phone and she loves to call "Misshhhh or Lolo".
I have her doing Independent Play in her playpen for 30min each day after breakfast and she does fairly well (a little complaining at times, but nothing serious).

Interactions: J is often the "switzerland" of her friends. As other kids are beginnign to push or fight over toys, for the most part, J stays out of these types of situations. She shares well and loves to be with her friends Avery, Sabella and Grant.

Caleb's Christening

2011-05-15T11:23:00.000-04:00

With his god-parents up at the alter

Caleb John Kromer

The proud parents

J walking the red carpet

With Great-Grandma and Grandpa Marangas

Now to the good part- the playground! With Logan

Aaron, Tristan & Kyle

J was causing a road-block

Girls in the Park

2011-05-11T13:52:00.000-04:00

Jocelyn, Sabella & Avery in Battery Park. 1 1/2 years

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-10T14:40:00.000-04:00

We had an amazing Mother's Day this year. J "woke me" by coming into the room carrying a huge bouquet of flowers, and a great big grin on her face. We spent the day walking over the Brooklyn Bridge, having a great lunch at an outdoor restaurant, ice cream on the pier and finally, after walking back over the bridge, some cocktails down on Hudson as we watched the sunset. It doesn't get much better then that!

A Mother's Day smile... Love it!

Playing around in the Brooklyn Bridge Park

Jocelyn consoling Burton who was not allowed into the park with us

Daddy and Baby by the bridge

Feels like Spring!

2011-05-10T14:29:00.000-04:00

Late last summer an amazing playground/ water park opened up right down the block from us. As the days get warmer, J and I have been spending quite a bit of time there. This past week, it even got warm enough for the water park to be open and for J to start exploring the pools!

Tribeca Family Fest

2011-05-06T10:50:00.001-04:00

Each year, the Tribeca Film Fest hosts a family day and this year, we headed over to enjoy it. It was a gorgeous spring day, and we had such a good time watching J interact with her enviornment. The festival is really well done with tons of booths full of arts and crafts for the kids, face painters, balloon makers, puppets, acrobats, kite making and so much more. We look forward to going back each year and watching J participate in even more activities.

The cast from Circe D'Solie preformed on the street

The large "puppets" that were walking around

J was very intrigued by everything going on around her

Headed to the new park on the west side Pier when we were done for some of J's fav't things- swings!

I've got Daddy's hat!

Piper Ann Klein

2011-05-06T09:57:00.000-04:00

Piper Ann Klein was born May 6th, weighing in at 8lbs 6ozs, 21 inches to a very happy family!

Piper at 1 week. Still had dark hair at this point

3 1/2 weeks- beginning to look more like a Klein with blond hair and blue eyes

Love those sleepy smiles

Ouch

2011-04-27T18:38:00.000-04:00

There are times when it is SO hard to be a good mom. This is one of those times. I recently chopped off the tip of my index finger (yea, gross) and had to go to the ER to get it taken care of. Recently, as in yesterday. The doc's orders were to keep it bandaged up for a few days to let the healing process begin, but in the mean time, he said it was going to be very painful.

I love my daughter, I really do, but I think today she took it upon herself to try and whack that finger as many ways as possible. The piece d'-resistance was just ripping the bandage (and any start of healing) right off my finger. I saw stars...

Chris is out, so while trying to regain my breathe, I must have scared her, because she got upset. So now I had a throbbing finger (thank goodness, not bleeding again) and a scared little girl. My initial reaction was anger. Not proud of that, but I was hurt and I was angry at the person who did it. This is where parenting is hard. Knowing that your little one was told (many, many times) not to do something (like touch Mommy's "boo-boo") but did it anyway, but really, didn't mean it.

Hopefully, a learning process for both of us... for me, to double wrap any injuries, and for her, boo-boo means please don't touch!

Easter

2011-04-24T13:57:00.000-04:00

Jocelyn dressed up in the Easter best!

Staten Island Children's Museum

2011-04-23T19:19:00.000-04:00

We discovered the wonderful Staten Island Children's Museum on a nasty and rainy Saturday this month. The Museum is wonderful- full of hands on activities for the kids and J had a blast. We spent over 2 hours there and as she gets older, there will be even more for her to enjoy.

Thinking about her plan of attack.. how to get both "horses" as her own

Don't let the jeans fool you, we are really in Antarctica on a dog sled

Life sized Connect Four.. doesn't get much better!

Arts and Crafts time- making a bunnie book mark (those googlie eyes didn't have a chance once we got it home)

Our little bug

Construction Jocelyn at your service. For all your demolition needs

One minute I'm a construction worker, the next, Doctor Donlan to the rescue! There are no pets I won't treat!

Hangin' with the big guy

2011-04-20T19:03:00.001-04:00

One of our close friends Christian popped in for dinner the other night and Jocelyn had a ball running around and playing with him. With a nephew right around J's age, he knew just what to do.

A little game of tag on the pier at the Seaport

checking out the lighting, making sure it's up to code

Museum of Natural History

2011-04-20T15:04:00.001-04:00

The Museum of Nat. History is having a special Butterfly exhibit for a few months. My friend Megan's sister-in-law works there so we were able to get in VIP style!

Some of the beautiful specimens

The crew fueling up - Jocelyn, Avery, Grant & Sabella

Check out the size of those feet!

All the kiddies!

2011-04-19T14:44:00.000-04:00

Charlie started with a hug, but that just didn't do it, so he went in for the kiss

The happy couple on the way to the prom

An attempt to get all the kids in a photo at the same time... difficult
Emerson 11mos, Jocelyn 17mos, Sarah 4 yrs, Charlie 2yrs

A bit happier with moms

Missy gets her dose of birth control

Hair cut

2011-04-18T14:41:00.000-04:00

The before... the child needed some shaping done!

J did great!

but did even better when she sat on Mommy's lap

The finished product- a much smoother looking doo

Love that bob!

Things that make us laugh

2011-04-14T10:05:00.000-04:00

As most 16 1/2 month old children are, Jocelyn is developing quite the personality. Here are some things that just make us laugh these days:
- Bows, bows and more bows. J will lay on the changing table and point up to the basket where the bows are stored and request "bow, bow, bow". Once you hand it to her, she places it on her head to signify that she'd appreciate it if you'd place it in her hair. The same things goes for if she sees a bow on the ground or on a table. They all belong in her hair.

J's got her bows on and is ready for Lunch!

- Beads. The same thing goes for these. They all belong to J and she wants them around her neck.
- All bears are Pooh. No matter size, color, ethnicity.... they are Pooh. And the correct way to call them is "Pooooooooooohhhh~"
- after 12 pm, outside is the only place to be for our 16 1/2 month old. She'll stand at either door (our balcony or front door) and just yell "outtttsiiidddeee!" Before 12 noon, J is happy to play inside, but as soon as she finishes her lunch, she knows it's fresh air time and she wants to go!

The boots are right by the front door, so while yelling "outside!" she also attempts to get the boots on

- Bath-time = chase time. Daddy and Jocelyn have a little game where she now runs out of the bathroom before getting into the bath and he is suppose to "chase" her. A very cute site to have a naked baby running around!

The chase of the Munchkin begins

-Singing is definitely in Jocelyn's future, with a possible career in Opera. That girl loves the high notes!

16 1/2 month schedule

2011-04-12T09:41:00.000-04:00

Just some note keeping for myself. This has been J's schedule for a few months now, with the addition of Independent Play in the last month (which is going great now)

7-7:15am Wake-up
7:45 breakfast
9:00 Independent Play in her playpen (we are up to 20 min w/out any fussing now)
9:30 Nap (1-1.5 hrs)
11:30 Lunch
Outside play / classes
2:00- Nap (1-1.5hrs)
3:00- snack
playtime
5:30/6- dinner
7pm - Bedtime

Pre-easter

2011-04-11T21:52:00.000-04:00

The girls in their Easter outfits, and it's not the picture that makes J look like she went 12 rounds with a back-hoe, she took a face plant on some cobble stones that morning. This was the best photoshop could do!

Love these two!

Nana and Grandpa set up an Easter egg hunt, and the best part was, the eggs were filled with M&M's!

Logan showing J how to get to the good stuff

Hey, there's nothing wrong with eating while you look, right?!

The evidence is all over her face

Watch out world, I'm a mean, pink machine!

and I'm comin' to get ya!

Wildlife Walks & Baby K

2011-04-04T10:52:00.000-04:00

We spent a great weekend out in PA with newly named, Yaya and Pop. Jocelyn shortened Grandpa to just Pop and it's a keeper. After realizing that Grandma was going to take a few more months for J to say, so Alice decided to go with Yaya (it's already a keeper!)

The weather was beautiful and we spent both Saturday and Sunday walking the trails around Yaya and Pop's house. We also had a great time with Cousin Caleb, who is now 4 months old and is getting so big! He has adorable blue eyes (as you can see!) and is quite the handsome little guy!

Caleb John 4 months- love those baby blues!

Somehow Jocelyn still believed she fit comfortably in this chair

Checking out the horses along our walk. If Jocelyn could have jumped over the fencing, she would have- so excited!

All we heard for the next hour was "neigh, neigh, neigh!" as J discussed how happy she was to finally see a "neigh!"

Baby J and Baby K

Jocelyn 16 months, Caleb 4 months

Walking with Yaya

Daddy gives the best rides!

Girls Just Wanna have Fun!

2011-03-28T10:20:00.000-04:00

Logan and Jocelyn are hysterical together. J is getting to the age where she is just beginning to interact with Logan, and adores her. We brought Logan up to the room where J was napping, and J jumped right up from where she was laying and began jumping up and down in her playpen. It's so awesome that they have each other.

Playing in the kitchen. From watching Logan, J has begun to explore more, although mostly just likes to empty the cabinets on the floor

Frap time! They were chasing each other (and Burton) around the house. When they met in the middle, would scream, and then run the other way

Look at those smiles!

Logan is always a good helper with the "plug"

Mima is so happy that she can now bring her two girls around the backyard in the wagon

Aunt Claire was visiting from Oregon and brought with her some very pretty gifts. J loved wearing her tutu around and looked quite diva-licious

This was not the parents idea!! J picked up Burton's leash and thought it was a necklace, so began to try and put it on. Chris thought it was funny so put it on her and then quickly felt bad and tried to take it off, but J wouldn't have it. She wanted to keep her "fancy belly necklace" on for awhile

Shore Days

2011-03-23T14:25:00.000-04:00

We were down in NJ at my Dad and Maureen's house for a long weekend. We watched Kelly their dog while they went to see the Yankees spring training down in Fla.

Jocelyn found her wings! She saw these and pulled them right towards Daddy asking for them to be put on. It's really quite entertaining to see her little personality developing (loves bows, necklaces, fairy wings...) And that is their 'small' dog Kelly behind J, keeping watch for any evil fairies coming our way.

The gorgeous sunset off their front deck overlooking Barneget Bay

Off to feed the ducks!

Daddy showing J the proper bread throwing technique

"Look out below!" watching the Goose/Seagull/Duck frenzy for the bread

St. Patty's Day 2011

2011-03-22T13:53:00.000-04:00

It has now become an annual (and by that I mean this is our 2nd time) tradition for Jocelyn and I to go up and see the St. Patty's Day parade. I used to take my 3rd grade class to the parade every year so knew the in's and outs (aka, where to stand so you are not surrounded by a bunch of inebriated people) and always found it to be very fun & educational. As J gets older we can talk about the different military branches, the pros and cons of being a Tuba player, how short skirts can't possibly keep those dancers warm, and so much more!

Irish eyes were smiling down on us, because the day was gorgeous! 60 degrees and bright sunny skies. We stood on 72nd and the kids were entertained for a lot longer then I ever thought, a good 45-60 minutes.

J and her buddy Grant enjoying the parade

After the parade, we walked into Central Park and things got even better... swings!!

Enjoying the sunshine on her face

"Oh Danny Boy..!!!! "

Mommy and J

J and her trusty binky

Play time

2011-03-14T15:46:00.000-04:00

Jocelyn has recently discovered her own stroller. Nothing is more fun for her then to take her bears in and out of the stroller. She even has her very own parking space right on Burton's bed!

The advancements we see each week are amazing. Just this week she began to recognize that the blue ball goes in the blue circle (however, she is not doing that here!) and her fine motor skills have increased so much!

Ride Em' Cowboy!

Nana helps both girls play with the puzzle.

Independent Play

2011-03-14T15:35:00.001-04:00

We / I started implementing independent playtime into our day today. J is fairly good at entertaining herself, but we want her to start getting used to playing by herself, without looking for Mommy or Daddy to play with. I'm following the babywise method, which advises starting with around 10 minutes and using a timer. J goes into her bedroom, surrounded by all of her fun toys, the gate goes up, timer goes on and off she goes.... if only it were that smooth! Today (Day #1) she stood at the gate and screamed the entire time. When the timer went off, I went in, and very happily talked to her and looked at her toys with her.

This can take some time, but I'm hopeful it will work out well!

** Note: We first started I.P on Monday and in her room. Wed. we switched to in a pack-n-play and by Friday she was ok with it. J still gave out a few screeches here and there, but she mostly just played and walked around the pack-n-play. As soon as she is good for the full 10min, I will extend her to 15, and on from there.

New Doo

2011-03-01T13:47:00.000-05:00

As getting dressed, Jocelyn 'strongly' pointed at the box containing her hair bows. I gave her one, she began to put it in her hair. I continued to dress her, and she continued to "strongly" point at the box. I gave her another, she tried putting it in her hair... and the activity continued. This was our finished product, and J was very happy with her stylist.

We made sure that even her backside was covered.. can't miss any bows here people!

Much to my amusement, Jocelyn had no intention of having the bows taken out. This is her, a bit later, happily eating her lunch like a lady (that means using both hands to stuff herself full of raviolis).

Beautiful Sunday in the Park

2011-02-27T13:47:00.015-05:00

We had a gorgeous day in the park right down the street from us. How wonderful it felt to be jacket-less for a few hours! J is quickly becoming a much stronger walker now. She will venture off a bit on her own, giving her some freedom.
At this point I'd say she's 60/40 crawling to walking.

When I saw this picture, it made my heart melt. How much I love my little girl...

So proud of herself!!

Scowling at us... we obviously interrupted something.

Off with Daddy to the other side of the playground

Daddy taught her to bang on things, and oh did she like that!

Chillin'

Have to love the Converse!

15 months

2011-02-25T14:23:00.000-05:00

As Chris and I sat down for our date night last night, the conversation of course, turned towards Jocelyn. This wasn't an unusual event, as she is one of the largest part of our lives. It's more of the the picture of the smile that comes over both of us as we talk about her. The warmth that fills our hearts when we think about her, and the laughter that comes from our lips. This child has brought us more happiness and enjoyment then we could ever have expected.
She is growing up so quickly and everyday I see her attempting new feats. Today I watched her try to put the rings back onto their holder and also watched her walk down the hallway all by herself (although I was in front of her coaching her along the way.)
Books continue to be her fascination, although she is becoming attracted to other toys now too. Her new thing is to point up to the book shelves we have in her bedroom and say "booooook" while waving her pointed finger about. In Jocelyn language that means "I don't want to read the books in the basket any more, I'd much rather get a hold of those enticing books you have so nicely placed on those shelves. Of course though, once I get a hold of them, I will quickly realize I don't want to read them because they don't have soft things to touch and play with and will merely begin to throw them all on the floor... but really, you should let me get a hold of them."
Crawling is still #1 in J's book, and walking is something she does only to amuse Mommy and Daddy. I spoke with the Doctor in case this was something to be concerned about, but she felt it's fine and J will become a stronger walker in her own time.
Talking however, is a different story. Jocelyn says new words on a daily basis, most of them just mimicking what ever it was you said, but some of her fav't new ones are:
* book (or booooook), no-no (for most things), peas, cheese, shoes, Mi-mi (Mima), Pop-pop, Daddy (an advanced Dada). As mentioned earlier, Chris and I have also started to have date nights again (and by again, I mean the first time in 15 months). We always swore we would be the couple that did them, but time just gets away from you and suddenly, we're 15 months later without a sitter or time to catch up with one another. So we found a girl that we liked (a young girl from the neighborhood) and we started her out as a Mommy's helper during the early evenings. This allowed me to get my tutoring work done without stressing, and it worked out so well that we quickly moved her to night time sitting. Having her on speed dial has been the second big game changer for us (the first was putting the car into a garage here in the city). The sense of freedom that comes along with calling someone to sit in your apt while you go and act like adults is amazing!

Chris continues to really enjoy his job, and we are so thankful that he is with such a good, family oriented company. He splits his time between here in the city and Long Island, so he's on the road quite a bit, but on the road now means Rockville Center, not Florida.

I continue work as a Math tutor 2 nights a week, which I love. I currently have 6th, 7th and 9th grade students and I love the challenge of working with all of them. For the fall I'm looking to go back and begin acquiring the 10 additional math credits I'll need to become fully certified as a secondary math teacher (I currently hold an elementary w/ math specialty certification).

We really feel blessed right now, and thank the Lord every day for the family he's given us.

The Massey's come to town

2011-02-23T09:53:00.000-05:00

Laurie and the girls came down to Long Island for a long weekend visit over the Winter Break. It's been almost a year since we've seen them, and the girls have changed so much! Both are as sweet as can be, but have very different personalities. Emma is very nurturing and loves soft, comfortable things. Grace, aka, Ms. Sparkle, loves bright, shimmery things and has an easy big smile. Both were wonderful with Jocelyn and were great big cousins!

It was so nice to catch up with Laurie too, and it's been way to long since we've had the chance to sit down and talk. Mima and Pop-pop were thrilled to have all their little girls in one place and although the house had a certain circus feel to it, everyone had a lot of fun!

It snowed about 4 inches Monday morning, so we had some fresh "powder" to play in! Emma did a wonderful job of making sure J was comfortable and happy

Emma and Grace taking J for a ride around the yard

In her snow suit, checking out how to walk on this white stuff!

Our two "little!" nieces each with their own very distinct personality

Mima keeps Jocelyn company while Emma and Grace keep Burton running around like a mad-man

Grace making a snowman and Burton playing with the basketball

Look Mom, I can walk in the snow!

A mothers dream! Having a 7 year old around to help feed the baby! I'll take it!

The smile on Jocelyn's face was precious! She was SO happy being walked around the house by her big cousin's, she didn't need anyone or anything else!

"Here we go!"

Logan and Grace playing with the kitchen- there was a lot of restaurant service going on that day

Uncle Chris gets in on the action (maybe not by choice though?!)

Emma, Grace and Jocelyn

Mima and Pop-Pop's girl's!

Our Little Valentine

2011-02-14T16:29:00.002-05:00

An afternoon with Caleb

2011-02-06T19:44:00.000-05:00

We were hoping for another ski weekend, but icy rain made that impossible, so Grandma Donlan won another gold star and watched both grand kids while Sam, Chris and I went out for lunch and a movie.

This is what happens when things get ugly.. Mickey stickers come out

Adorable little Caleb with his big baby blues- 8weeks

J working out the kinks in Caleb's "Jeffery" (the male version of Sofie)

We are Walking!

2011-02-06T18:53:00.001-05:00

All it took was a big, bad bean bag chair to motivate J to get those little legs moving, and off she went! At 14 1/3 months, Jocelyn is walking!
We were over my friend Megan's house and she placed Jocelyn on her new bean bag chair and she began freaking out. She wanted nothing to do with this chair, so Megan picked her up and placed her down onto the floor, and off J went running to her Mama! We turned her around, and off she went in the other directions. All J needed was some fear motivation!

This is J's gearing up face... she starts blowing all sorts of bubbles and then off she goes! (makes quite the mess!)

Here she comes!

Working it between Daddy and Aunt Sam

So proud!!