Just a day in the park...

My good friend Kelly offered to take some pictures of the kids for me last week & I just love, love, love these pictures!!! The weather was gorgeous and the kids were happy making for some pretty fantastic photographs for our family to enjoy forever!! Some of my favorite pictures are the ones that aren't staged or planned but of kids being kids & playing, exploring, learning & Kelly was able to capture some great moments!

I am in shock that in one short week, my baby will be turning 1. It is amazing to me how fast this year has gone & we are celebrating his birthday this weekend with friends & I feel like I have so much to do before Saturday, including finishing up his 1 year montage. I start to tear up every time I start working on it and it brings back so many happy memories of the past year & I am so excited to share his video when it's all done!

Here are a bunch of my favorites - my beautiful duo!

A Dose of the Bella Funnies...

Our sweet Bella makes us laugh a lot some days & today is one of those days where I am constantly amazed at what she is telling me or what she is doing. I need to write these down more often so I remember to tell her one day bc some of them are just too funny and I know Ill forget

Bella Funny #1

When Andy sits down for breakfast in the morning, he usually grabs the laptop to do a quick check of his email & today, Bella decided that she wanted to do the same so she went and found her laptop. She was also enjoying her "coffee" (aka hot chocolate in her Santa mug - it has to be the Santa mug for her). Monkey see, monkey do

Bella Funny #2

She was running around and playing like usual when she starts telling me she was going to have a baby & I turn around to see this:

Bella Funny #3

I told Bella we had to go to Publix really quick & she insisted on wearing her Cinderella dress up shoes (despite me showing her all her other normal shoes to try to lure her to wear something else) and she also grabbed her cute Vera Bradley purse! Such a girly girl!! She did get quite a few compliments on her shoes when we were at the store though - she is such a riot!!

Happy Mother's Day 2010..

Happy Mother's Day - we had a nice relaxing morning. Noah gave me a nice 6:15am wakeup call but I quickly nursed him and handed him over to Andy so I could catch another hour of sleep. When I came downstairs at 7:30, he had some whole wheat pancakes waiting for me so that was a nice suprise! I went for a nice walk/run by myself & then got ready to go to Twist for lunch with our little family! It is a beautiful day out - high is in the low 70's so we sat on the patio and enjoyed the sunshine!! Now we are back home and I think I'm going to sneak in a quick nap while I can!!

this video is for the Gramma's!!!!

Noah Geismar - Red Sox All-Star of 2030.....

Our sweet little boy *LOVES* to play catch with Daddy and just recently started to hold his hands out to try and catch the ball!!! Our little athlete already!!!

Big Boy Noah!

Here's a better video of him walking that I was able to capture this morning!! Hello Toddler, Bye Bye Baby :(

Yikes!

Wow - sorry it's been almost 2 months since my last update!!! These two amazing kids keep us busy - with a big 1st birthday right around the corner and the beautiful spring weather, there just hasnt been much time spent indoors. Lots of changes lately, Noah started taking his first steps right after he hit 10 months and is now a big time walker!!! He is so cute to watch walk around like a drunken sailor but he's getting more sturdy each and every day and he's now walking more than he crawls. Bella has graduated to her big girl bed for the past 2 months and that transition has been, well....interesting. She's been sneaking her way into mommy & daddy's bed late night though and we'll just keep it at that, haha. Bella will be starting preschool at Mt. Bethel two days a week for 3 hrs in August and we are very excited we got into this great program bc we have heard such good things about this school! I can't believe she is going to be 3 in a few short months! Our house is still on the market - about 2 1/2 months now. We've had a lot of showings but no offers quite yet but that's okay, our time will come. For the time being, I will just keep turning into crazy lady on the days that we get a call to show the house in an hour. It's not a pretty sight and I feel bad for my family when those days occur, hehe. For the time being, I have my big cleaning days on Mon/Fri and try to do what I can in between to keep the house presentable :) Not always easy when I have two little kids following me around messing up & marking their fingerprints on what I've just cleaned, haha!

A big (personal) accomplishment for me is that I'm going to be able to make it to one year breastfeeding Noah!! After the trouble I had with Bella and making it 4 months with her, I had a goal of 6 months with Noah but he's been a nursing champ since day 1, therefore making it super easy to continue this far!! The ease and special bond this time around has been unbelievable - completely different from my experience with Bella.

We have a slew of weddings this summer so we will be busy travelling & having fun with family & friends!! I'm also on a mission to lose some weight and I'm doing well so far - I'm just over 4 weeks into the exercising and I am feeling great & have lost 8 lbs as of my weekly weighin last Friday. A lot of walking with the kids in the early morning - I've logged 60 miles thus far, in addition to my Wii Active here and there. One goal of mine is to run a 5K at some point so I've been mixing in some running and can now run up 3/4 mile without stopping while pushing the kids in the stroller!! Not bad for a girl, who, 2 weeks ago could barely run 1/4 mile, haha. Baby steps here but I'm determined to get there!! I'll try to come back soon than 2 months for the next update - just bear with me as we have been crazy busy!!!

some of Noah's 1st wobbily steps (caught on video anyway!) This is from April 9, 2010!! It's amazing how much sturdier he is in just a couple weeks! I'll have to try and take an updated video this week sometime for comparison!!

Recent pics of our fam!

Easter Sunday - happy boy!

In their Easter best!!

my happy duo!!

movie star in the making!

My mini-me!!

daddy's little sidekick, watch the geese/ducks in the pond

cutie pie!

Bella loves pushing baby brother on the swing!!

10 month pic!

11 month pic!

More videos & pics!

playing choo choo trains

Big sis helping with the nighttime bottle

happy boy!

Busted!!! Someone snuck into the tupperware cabinet!

drumming away with chopsticks!!

2 1/2 years and 9 months

I can't believe my first born "baby" is officially 2 1/2 and my second "baby" is already 9 months old - where does the time go??? We have had A LOT going on lately & many things to look forward to in our future!

1. house is officially on the market, as of february 11. We had nothing happening for the first two weeks and then today, we finally got our first showing!! I got a phone call this evening that they want to come back tomorrow for a second showing! good news but I'm not getting too excited - it would be a DREAM to sell to the first people who looked at our house! We will see as time goes on. On Tues, we are doing a realtor caravan and then the following Sunday, we will have an open house! crossing my fingers something good happens for us!

2. In the chance that we will not be back to FL by August - we signed bella up for preschool for 2 days a week! this school was our first choice and we have heard such awesome things about it but i really didn't think we were going to get a spot bc its hard to get in & they do a lottery for the newcomers. We got a call yesterday saying we were on the waitlist BUT were #2 in line so I was feeling pretty optimistic and then lo and behold, an hour later, the phone rang and they offered us a spot bc someone had declined their slot!!!! We are very excited!

3. Bella at 2 1/2! Where do I even begin?? She has just grown up SO much the past few months - becoming much more independent and will go off on her own at playdates, classes and parties, no more clinging to mommy or daddy the whole time! Her vocabulary is expanding and she mimicks everything we say - she takes it all in! She can say 6 or 7 word sentences - maybe even more, this is just a guess. Sleeping great at night - goes down around 8:15 and is in her crib talking for an hour or so and then she usually sleeps til 7:30ish. Still taking about a 2 hr nap most days, although if we have to skip it for some reason, she is okay! We r going to have to transition her to a toddler bed this weekend, however, because she has begun climbing out of her crib. I woke up to her saying "hi mommy" right by my bedside at 6:45 this moning...i'm hoping the transition goes smoothly. She loves her tumbling class - it took her a couple weeks to be comfortable in class & let the teacher hold her hand & help her but I think it's going to be a fun class for her! This past week was really good & she only clung to me for our preclass warm up lap around the gym! She is still doing music class and just loves it so much! Our other days are usually filled with playdates & park outings. We've been really busy! It's amazing what social schedules these toddlers have nowadays! Haha!

4. Sweet Noah is 9 months! He hasnt changed a bit - unbelievably happy & mellow!! Perfect little guy! His sleep is still unconsistent (my only complaint, be it a small one in the grand scheme of things) but he's gradually getting better & I have been letting him cry here and there. It's for my sanity, haha. He is crawling, standing, cruising along the furniture and will even stand wo holding to anything for 10 seconds every now and then. At his appt this morning, he weighed 19 lb, 6 oz (around 40th%) and was almost 27 iches long (about 30th%) - dropping a little in his stats but it's just bc the kid is nonstop. His new discovery is the dog food in the laundry room. Mind you, he has to crawl across the living room, down the foyer a little and then down the longer hallway to the end - the laundry room & the jackpot doggy food. He thinks it's a game & always catches me when I'm looking away for 5 seconds. He gets there SO quick and I usually catch him when he's entering into teh laundry room & then he starts speeding up and laughing. He's such a character...he makes me laugh so hard sometimes. I think it's time to buy a new gate bc he is wearing me out 24/7. You're probably thinking, well, why don't you just shut the laundry room door & he'll stop. Well, for some reason the door will shut but doenst click to lock it so Noah just pushes the door & it'll open up. I'm at all loss unless I hide the dog food somewhere else. Who knows. He is still nursing & he's also eating both baby food & table foods. his favorites are bananas, sweet potatoes and carrots. Loves them. Pears and Applesauce are growing on him :) He's eating 3 meals a day & doing so well! He just cut tooth #7 today and I *think* I saw a corner of tooth #8 cut but I'm not positive and he hasnt let me get in there again to verify. He's got a mouthful, that's for sure. He loves his big sis - she will be wrestling and tackling with him and he just sits there and laughs like it's a game. It's so funny. He's just so sweet and innocent. He also loves his music & will rock and bob his head when he hears a good tune! Loves watching any TV show that has music on it as well, just like Bella.

I'm sure I have much more but it's really late & I need to get some sleep! I'll try to add more if I can - I hope this video uploaded - it's one of the kids from the other day out in the sunroom playing - you can see how active Noah has been!

Noah's 9 month pic!

Video - I hope it works, if not, I'll try it again soon!

Snow!!!

I get so excited when the forecasters start mentioning snow but I've realized I can't get too excited bc it usually never amounts to much more than a few flurries. Early last week, Andy was saying we'd be getting snow & I just kept brushing it off - yea, yea, I've heard that before. So once Friday morning came & saw snow on the radar, I was getting excited. They were predicting 1-3 inches so I was thinking we'd maybe get an inch. They said it'd start snowing at 10am and by 12:30 we still hadn't seen a flake. I was beginning to doubt this "snow" So we went on our way to a Valentine's Day party at a friends house & around 1:30 - the snow FINALLY came!!! All the kids were looking out the window & so excited. We left the party around 2:30 bc it was getting really heavy & I havent' driven in snow before so I didn't know what to expect. Both kids took their naps in the car on the ride home & the roads were packed with everyone leaving work early. The snow stopped around 9pm and once it was over and done with, we had just under 3 inches here at the house! It was sooooo pretty - I could just look out the window for hours at the beautiful snow!! Sat morning we headed back outside to play again and after about 45 mins, Bella was OVER the snow - she was freezing - we don't really have the attire for snow so she was wet & cold. I made some hot chocolate for Bella & our neighbor, Max - tried to warm them up a little!

We are predicted to get another inch or two of snow tonight & tomorrow morning - would be cool! We will see what we wake up to! Happy Valentine's Day - we are having a nice, low key day. I'm recovering from a bad head cold (as is our sweet Noah - it's been a rough 2 nights) so I'm not feeling my best but I'm going to attempt to make a cuban dish, Ropa Vieja tonight for Andy and I. Bella was so cute this morning and said "Happy Balentimes Day" to Andy w/o me even prompting her :) We are going to head out once Noah wakes up from his morning nap and let Bella pick out a present - we kind put Vday on the back burner once the snow hit but I think we're gonna get her some paint and paper for her easel & we'll figure out something fun for Noah. She was so happy to see her balloons, chocolates & new Hanna Andersson dress this morning though!!

playing in the snow!

tossing the snow in the air!!

watching his big sis playing in the snow!

sibling love

view of some trees out back!

sat morning shot!

patching up her mini frosty

our veggie snowman

mmmm - hot chocolate

Changes for the New Year...

2010 is all about some big changes for the Geismar family!! We have decided to put our house for sale in hopes of getting back near our families & friends in South Florida!! It's a big decision & we are anxious, excited and nervous about what the upcoming months hold for us! We've spoken with a realtor and made a few changes to the house and have decluttered as best as we can in hopes of selling quickly - but with this economy - it's wishful thinking, I'm sure! The photographer comes next week to take pictures of the house & then we will put the house up the follow week, most likely! My dream for the past 3 years of moving back is now becoming a reality!

We have just been so busy lately, hence the reason for lack of blog updates. Between decluttering and cleaning the house, packing up some boxes of useless stuff, the holidays, Andy's big mortgage tests & 2 kiddos - we've just been swamped!! Andy passed both the National & Georgia tests over the past couple weeks so he is now a licensed mortgage broker - something the government is now requiring as of March 30 this year. He will probably be taking the Florida test as well sometime in the future bc he will need that when we move since it's most likely he will need to find another job. Another new government law - if you work from home (which is what we were hoping Andy was going to be able to do once we moved & still work for his same company), you're basically looked at as your own branch and there is a lot of liability issues that his company is not willing to risk anymore.

We've also been checking out preschools for Bella next fall, if we are still here! We went on a couple tours last week and we liked both schools - they both offer what we are looking for & we'd be able to send her for 2 mornings a week. It's just crazy that my baby Bella is turning 3 this year - where oh where has the time gone??? So bittersweet!! She is doing great though - nothing new to report on her changes - just more and more vocabulary each and every day! We are hoping she's ready to potty train soon. Another thing that needs to be done by preschool in August :/ She has a lit

Noah is always changing - this kid is such a gem, makes me want a third right now!!! He just turned 8 months last week - he's all over the place, crawling, standing, trying to climb. Oy vay! I weighed him the other day and he's only gained 10 oz since his 6 month check up and I was a little worried but then quickly realized that 6 months was when he started crawling and moving so it makes since his growth has slowed. I've also read that breastfed babies start to taper off around this age as well so it's fine! He's been getting the hang of eating better now as well. I mix it up btwn jarred baby food (bananas, carrots & sweet potatoes are favs!) and table foods. He will eat basically everything that I cut up small for him - he loves mommy's homemade organic pasta sauce & spaghetti, blueberries, bananas, toasted english muffin, mozzerella cheese, yo baby banana yogurt is his fav as well! He still won't eat a ton of food but he's getting better. He's just a happy little bugger, all the time! He is finally in his crib (for most of the night anyway) About a month ago, I just needed to get some sanity back and had to stop cosleeping so we stuck him in the crib & I had to let him cry, for just alittle, in order to sleep. The first night took 13 mins of on and off crying and then the 2nd night was only 3 minutes of crying til he fell asleep. Now it's a piece of cake & he goes right down without a peep!! He now gives me anywhere from 7-11.5 hours at a time! Phew! Finally got him in the crib & gives mommy & daddy a break at night! Another thing Noah loves is rocking to music. Andy said he was the same way when he was little & Bella never did this so it's hilarious to put some music on or sing a song and watch him rock and back like a crazy little guy on all 4's! I gotta get it on video bc it's so adorable!! He's also babbling a lot more now as well - mostly "dada" and some "mama's" are thrown in to make me happy. hehe!

That's all I have time for today! I'm really hoping I can get on and update more often!! Here are some recent pics of my amazing kids!!!

beautiful bella kaye!

happy, sweet Noah!

the crawling duo, haha

pulling up to see his toy bin!

pulling to stand by the fireplace

we made a pretend boat, ha!

tubby time fun!

look at those teeth!!

pretty smile!!

8 month birthday!!

7 months & Croup...

Happy 7 months to our precious Noah!!! We were a little scared at the start of the day, however. While up late & working on the kids "2009" Photobook online and holding a sleeping Noah around midnight, he started that hacking cough and it just sounded so terrible :( I went upstairs and Andy knew immediately it was croup bc he use to get it when he was young. So off to the bathroom we went to fill it with lots of steam to try to break up his "barking" cough. Wasnt too successful and I was a worried mommy all night with him sick. I could tell he was in pain and he was waking up every hour, if not more, coughing and crying. At 4am, he felt warm to me so I took his temp and it was 100.8 so I gave him some tylenol and back into the bathroom for some steam. Thankfully, Andy let me sleep in til 10am with him. I needed him to get some sleep and he's been happy for most of the day - has a couple coughing fits here and there, but nothing like last night. I'm really hoping tonight is better - they say the croup is worst at nighttime so I'm crossing my fingers. It's so hard when the kiddos get sick, it's one of my least fav things about being a parent because I feel so helpless :(

I'll try to add his "7 month pic" later today once I take it (he's taking a nice long nap right now) and we are gearing up for the Geismar's arrival to GA on Tuesday! I'm trying to finish up some last minute treats & housework. Also trying the best I can to disinfect this house from sick kid germs. And, wishing everyone a very, Merry Christmas if I don't get back on to post before then!! Remember that Jesus is the reason for the season!!!!

2009 is coming to an end...

I can't believe we are already at mid-December! 2010 is right around the corner and we are busy here gearing up for Christmas (as you can tell - I havent posted an update in over a month - bad Sara!)

The kids are great - we got back from 2 weeks in sunny FL last Sunday and have been adjusting to being home and back in the cold! Noah started army crawling last week - at 6 1/2 months! He needs to slow down - Bella wasnt crawling til just before 8 months! He also cut 4 of his top teeth last week - bam, bam, bam, bam - all in a row. I actually don't mind getting them done in clusters - makes it a quicker process. So yes, he has had a busy month of new things! He still loves and adores Bella most! She can make him laugh the longest and loudest & it's so fun to watch! His new thing is to mimic us - when I make a noise at him, he will repeat it back to me. It is pretty funny, I'll have to try to get it on video one of these days! He is still not sleeping in his crib so he has found a nice spot in our bed for the time being. At first, I was hesitant to be cosleeping with an infant but since this is the only way I can get a decent night's sleep right now, it is what it is :) Maybe after the New Year, I'll make him adjust to his crib. We are lucky to get one hour in the crib before he wakes up screaming.

Noah slowed down in his weight gain for 6 months and weighed 17 lb, 13 oz and was 26 in - right around 50th% for each.

Bella is doing well - she is still the little drama queen but she is growing up quickly and her vocabulary continues to expand every week. Lots of sentences & phrases these days. I think that once she can communicate fully with us, she will get easier. It's just such a power struggle some days and we are working on patience but that just doesnt seem feasible to a 2 yr old. She loves her baby brother & has a lot of fun playing with him these days! I'm so happy she's finally warmed up to him!!

One funny thing that Bella said to me today when I asked her what she wanted for Christmas. Her response "I want cake" Well, okay - I guess I'll return the train table & all the tracks and trains if you want cake, LOL! Everytime she see's a picture of Santa she says "Ho, Ho, Ho, Meeeweee Chrissmuss"

I will try to update more soon - the Geismar Clan arrives next week to celebrate Christmas with us so we are looking forward to having our house full again!!! :)

Mommy's little helper...

2 days ago, we began giving Noah some fruits/veggies & now Mommy has a little helper :)