This time its the real deal!

On our way to the babysitters this morning Hailey asked me when we were going to "Mickey's House", a question that she asks several times a day in anticipation of our trip. The conversation went something like this:

Hailey: Mommy we go to Mickey's House Soon
Me: Yes, in a few weeks
Hailey: Its my birthday
Me: Yes, when we are in Mickey's house it will be your birthday, but today is Adelina's actual birthday so we are going to sing to her tonight.
Hailey (in a serious and stern voice) But Mommy we already sang to her!

Well who could argue with that. Someday she will learn that birthdays and holidays in Mommy's family tend to last a long time rather than just one day. HEE HEE!

Oh How Fun, Teething!

Poor little man is all I can think when I look at Joey. After being really moody for about 3 days I finally took him to the doctor's to see what was wrong and to make sure it wasn't anything serious. The doctor informed me that his ears, chest and throat are all good but it looks like he is cutting his 1 year molars on the top and the bottom. For a little boy who didn't have any teeth until after he turned 1 years old his teeth are on the war path and are coming in in full force. We are trying to help him through this ordeal with baby orajel and tylenol but he still is not his happy self. Yesturday Hailey and I were talking to Joey and the conversation went something like this:

Me: Oh Joey, when Hailey was teething she wasn't so moody she was tough, be tough
Hailey: Grrrrrrrrrrr
Joey: (smiling) Laughs!!
Me: This is why girls are tougher cause we aren't wimpy
Hailey: Grrrrrrrrrr
Me & Hailey: (singing) Wimpy Wimpy Wimpy
Joey: Laughing Hysterically

Last night I even said that if his teeth don't cut through soon I was going to cut into his gums and take them out myself. I know that doesn't sound pleasant but that goes to show how unhappy my usual happy little man is.

We'll See you soon Minnie!

Kaitlyn and Adelina celebrated their 1st birthdays together with a big party at the Firehouse in Bellmore.

Knowing who was going to make a surprise visit I payed close attention to Hailey's face when the "special guest" finally arrived. She walked in and Hailey hadn't noticed and finally it happened. Hailey looked over and there she was Minnie Mouse standing there in her purple and pink dress. Hailey's eyes went as wide as can be and she had a smile from ear to ear. Not being shy at all she went straight over to Minnie and she gave her a big hug.

How far we've come in only a year when Hailey would shy away from the characters in Disney. This time around she even sat on Minnie's lap. When Minnie was leaving we waved goodbye and said "See you soon in Mickey's house" Disney 2008 will be here soon. We can't wait!

Thanksgiving 07

Thanksgiving is the official start of my favorite holiday season. As our annual tradition goes we had lunch with the entire Baccaray clan including Tita Baby and Veronica in Westbury. We had great crab cake appetizers thanks to Uncle Rodney and a Turducken Roll bought by Lolo & Lola. The main course which included the turkey with all the trimings was enjoyed by all. Then came the dessert. Not one, not two but 5 different kinds of cakes/pies. Lunch came to an end around 5:30 ish and after cleaning up, changing into comfy clothes and resting for an hour the kids and I headed over to the Mammina house to catch up with them. You would think that at 7:00 they would be on the dessert course but not this family. When we got there they were just finishing cleaning up their antipasto course and sitting down to their main meal, turkey with all the trimings. Sooooo what did we do, we sat and ate dinner, AGAIN!. Only on Thanksgiving is it okay to eat the same stuff for lunch and dinner. Till next year!

Pigs in a blanket on Thanksgiving?!?!?!?

Thanksgiving Eve has become its own little holiday. We all gather at Aunt Trudy's to help her prepare what becomes more of a 7 course meal to be enjoyed on Thanksgiving Day. The "Eve" is so important that I have even begun to prepare The Baccaray Thanksgiving feast on the Eve of Thanksgiving Eve just so I can still partake in the festivities at Aunt Trudy's. Such things prepared are stuffing, mashed and sweat pototoes, stuffed mushrooms, baked clams and so much more. The highlight of the evening is the preparation of our annual antipasto contest. The teams are Laura & David Jr, Nicole & Annemarie, and finally Sarah & Danielle. This year David and I made a black pilgrims hat using black olives as our main ingredient. Sarah & Danielle won the gold medal this year making "Guitar Hero" out of their antipasto. It was very creative. Hailey, Andrew and Blake also helped out this year preparing pigs in blankets for all to enjoy which raises the question, Did the Pilgrims & Indians eat pigs in a blanket on the 1st Thanksgiving? I don't think so!

The Mall.....AGAIN!

For someone like me who hates shopping we have been spending a lot of time in the mall. You would think since its holiday season and all it would be because of shopping, but it is not. This Saturday we took Kaitlyn and Adelina to get their ears pierced. While waiting for them to finish, Hailey and Andrew were able to take in some rides. Joey was off with Dad in Target.After about $5 in rides the kids were exhausted and took to resting on the masage chairs they have in the mall.
Looks like they had a rough day, doesn't it?

Oh No! Mom needs to watch what she says.

I try and pride myself on speaking nicely in front of the kids. I try to set a good example so that when they are older they will do the same. I even correct Ron when he says "sucks" instead of "stinks". Well, it has happend, Mom has had a slip and of course I was busted by non other than Hailey. On Saturday morning I was changing Hailey's diaper. When I stood her up one of the velcro tabs opened and not even thinking I said "damn it"..Well than Hailey said "damn it"..I immediately realized what I had done and told Hailey that Mommy was wrong and that that is not a nice word and that she should not repeat it again. Hailey replied "damn it". So I dropped the subject thinking that if I let it go and didn't say it again she would forget about it.

That afternoon it happened again. Ron and I were in the kitchen and we were joking about something and I turned to him and said "your so stupid". Hailey walked in the kitchen as I said it and said "your so stupid". And trying to correct MY ERROR AGAIN I said to her "oh no, mommy was bad again and we shouldn't say that". Luckily this time she just smiled and walked away.

Not sure what was worse, the fact that my own daughter caught me, or the smile on Ron's face showing that I had done the exact same thing that I ask him not to. Lesson #1 for Mom, watch what you say, Hailey is always watching.

Friday with the Hoisik's

A typical Friday consists of pizza and a movie with the kids. This Friday we were joined by the Hoisik's and I jumped at the chance to get some cute pictures of the kids. After asking serveral times I finally got Hailey to sit nicely with John and take a picture. And look how great it came!

Joey was busy playing but I was able to get him to look at me for 2 seconds. Its getting harder and harder to keep up with this boy, lucky for him he is very cute. Unfortunately I couldn't get a picture of Collin as he fell asleep too early, or maybe I just pulled the camera out too late. I'll catch him next time. This weeks movie was Shrek the Third and the kids loved it..or at least they loved the parts they actually watched.

Cousins!

Hailey has been on a "cousins" trip lately. Every now and again she will say to me "Mommy, Andrew's my cousin" which I reply "Yes he is". On Saturday we took another trip to the mall this time to try and get Kaitlyn's ears pierced. While getting ready at the house the conversation between Hailey and I went something like this:

Me: "We are going to take Kaitlyn to get pretty earings like you"
Hailey: (excited) "Kaitlyn is getting earings like me? Kaitlyn's my cousin."
Me: "Yes she is just like Andrew"
Hailey: "Andrew's my cousin too"
Me: "Yes, you have a lot of cousins. Andrew, Kaitlyn, Adelina and Nathaniel too"
Hailey: "Wow, I have lots of cousins."


Of course a trip to the mall would not be the same without taking a ride on one of the 25 cent rides. This time Hailey got to drive a big quad with Kaitlyn in the passenger seat. Joey was off to the side chomping on cotton candy which he loved. Our task at hand was not complete as we did not get Kaitlyn's ears pierced because the store was not equiped for that on that day. Till another day!

Sunday!

With the hats and gloves purchased we headed home for Sunday dinner at our house where we were joined by Aunt Annemarie and Kaitlyn. I thought it would be cute for the kids to try on their new hats and to take some pictures. Do you think it makes me a bad mom that I laugh at the site of my son crying in this picture? You would have thought I was pinching him real hard once I put the hat on his head. As you can see he truly doesn't like it. We were later joined by the Woolfson's of Soifer Ave (hi Aunt Tracy) and Sunday dinner was complete.

In previous posts I had written about the "nighttime crawler". This would be Hailey coming into our room wanting to hop into bed with us. Well let me tell you this child is no fool. She now has figured out how to climb into our bed over the footboard and she crawls in between us without us even knowing. This morning at about 6:30 am, Joey woke up. I went and got him to bring him back to bed with me when I noticed Hailey's cup on the floor. Confused as I was I bent down to pick up the cup just to make sure what it was. I then looked over to where Ron was sleeping and noticed Hailey sleeping right up against him. She is tricky this little one!

Will shopping ever be the same again?

I would like to know whose brilliant idea it was to put 25 cent rides in the mall. In the beginning it was nice. "Hailey, lets go shopping and you can ride the rides" which she would then reply with a big "yeah". Well, Sunday started out as a simple trip to Target to get the kids their hats and gloves for the impending winter. Of course once you start shopping you can't stop. Hats and gloves turned into dress shoes for Hailey, snow pants, clothes and pajama's for Joey. We, with Grandma along for the ride then decided to get some lunch at Johnny Rockets cause what would a trip to Broadway Mall be without some JR's. Silly us forgot that we needed to walk
through the mall to get to JR's. Well there they were, THE RIDES. Of course Hailey saw them and said "oh, look" which Ron and I than replied simultaneously "OH NO". So being the good parents we try to be we let the kids each take a turn on a ride. Of course Hailey wanted more but I quickly pulled her off the ride and ran towards JR's. This was the first time that a trip to "the rides" only cost us 50 cents. Usually its a $5 occassion.