Vince's 2nd birthday party

On the night of Vince's birthday we took him to Vincenzo's Pizza for dinner. Seemed appropriate as he had not yet been outside the womb.

 When we saw a big guy shouting around orders to his employees (his daughters, maybe?) I asked if he was the owner and if his name indeed was Vincenzo. It was. So, I broke the news that my sweet little boy's name was also Vincenzo and that today was his 2nd birthday and if we could take a picture with him. He was flattered, I think.

Earlier in the day we bought him a talking Elmo doll on clearance at WalMart. He usually is apathetic to dolls of any kind, but he held Elmo around all day. It was endearing to watch.

The next day we had his party. As per usual parties are just too stressful for me to do. Charles and I came to a conclusion about what we can do next time to make things more pleasant for everyone :)

Ever since making Azure's monkey cake for her 3rd birthday I have wanted to make special cakes for my children each year. Maybe I will retract that decision, but it's the only "cutesy" thing I feel I do for their parties as I don't do elaborate table spreads, regardless of what my pinboards show. The cake itself was easy to make. The frosting was another story. I am learning as I go. It took me over an hour to frost this cake b/c it was too thick. I wanted to take a couple shortcuts and one was purchasing ready-made frosting. Turns out I bought the wrong kind.

Charles gave Elmo teeth. Too bad we had thrown out the white frosting beforehand.

I LOVE this surprised look of awe!

 As if to say, "All this is for me? All these people came over and are singing for me?! I wonder what's going on?" Sooo cute!

We joked around that the red frosting was going to stain his face and that we'd still be able to see it the next day. Turns out we did see it the next day, but not on his face..in his diaper. I hate food coloring.

He received a light up sword which is now being used as a major prop in our nightly reenactments of our Book of Mormon readings. Azure, of course, chooses to be anyone that uses a sword :)

January Recap

After seeing some spice racks from IKEA made into book shelves on Pinterest I decided that I wanted to do that in Vince's room since they were only $4 each. Lamenting the fact that the closest IKEA is 3.5 hrs away, I asked my parents if they could buy them and mail them to me as my Christmas present.

They did. Thanks guys! And thanks Charlie for putting these up for me.

On January 4th we celebrated Charles' 30th birthday! As usual, we are now celebrating the festival of lanterns since we are the same age for the next 6ish wks. On the night of his birthday we finally went to Paula Deen's restaurant after hearing that it wasn't that great (the reason we hadn't been before). It was really good, just shy of great. We still prefer Mrs. Wilkes though.

Since Ben and Todd's birthdays were so close to Charles', Lindsey, Jen, and I decided to do a Cafe Rio birthday dinner on Jan. 6th. The food was soooo good that it really felt like we were actually eating Cafe Rio. Good food and friends is such a fabulous combination!

It just so happens that all 3 guys have one adorable eldest blonde daughter.

Who happened to all be wearing white shirts that day.

We had some pretty nice January days that Azure enjoyed painting outside.

Isn't our backyard lovely with the hanging Spanish moss? We are going to miss this place. And isn't she such an adorable little artist? After brushing up on some family history last night and being reminded of my small French ancestry, I think she looks decidedly French here :)

Azure drew this chef pig all by herself. Then she asked me how to spell pig. I said, "You know how. Sound it out." "Oh, right," she replied and wrote it out. She still needs some prompting but, has continued to improve her reading and writing to the point that she can read this whole set of Bob books on her own. 

Vince has been so picky that I've been trying aesthetically pleasing food for him. Turns out that he is just filling up on milk too much to have an appetite to eat much with 3 cups of milk a day. Our pediatrician said to drop down to 2. It has made a real difference!

Oh, and just to keep it real I will say that I put together snacks like this about once a month, definitely not everyday. I decided to take a pic of the day I actually did something semi-creative :)

Charles finished reading Stuart Little to Azure so we watched the movie for a family date. Azure finally got to break out her huge lollipop that Daddy got her for Christmas.

The recovering meem (milk) addict.

 I love how this picture shows the fulness of his lips (he got his Daddy's kissable lips:) and his perfectly matched nose.

We also went to the circus with the Coopers and the Bryces. We had high hopes of a fun family outing but, were somewhat disappointed. The circus girls were quite scandalous- sheesh! And Azure apparently was so tired that she kept laying down on us and whining about losing her cup. I think she was feeling anxious with the step up. We all sat on one row so she was spread out from her friends. Also, I think she was uncomfortable with the environment. So, we left at intermission.

We promised Azure a tea party set if she consistently read one book to us and did her chores everyday and was good about listening to us the first time. We wanted her to work towards getting something. She did a wonderful job. She responds really well to being motivated by rewards!

Since earning her tea party set she is still helping me every week with the laundry. She puts her and Vince's clothes in the washing machine. When the cycle is over she transfers it all to the dryer. Then she sorts it out and puts Vince's in his room and hers away in her drawer. She cleans her bathroom and the downstairs bathroom about 3x a month now. She also puts the silverware away from the dishwasher. I am really impressed!

Enjoying her tea party set with Mommy and Daddy.

Daddy seems to be enjoying himself a little too much :)

We started talking in an English accent whilst drinking the tea much to Azure's chagrin. She was thoroughly annoyed!

A mini photo shoot after church.

How cute is she?!

Our rule is only 2 shows (PBS Kids) and 1 movie a day. But, sometimes I have a hard time coming up with things that they can do after they've reached their limit. I think they were on their 4th show when I finally turned the TV off in exasperation and gave Vince a bowl full of dried beans. This entertained him for about 30 mins.

Another day while Vince napped Azure and I attempted to make a "cloud" out of soap, water, and toilet paper. That didn't really turn out but, Azure enjoyed it anyway.

Oh, and I got new glasses. That about sums up January.

My 2 year old boy

My little Vincey is growing up! His baby stage has lasted so much longer than Azure's did but, he really is growing up.

He is no longer attached to my leg at social gatherings. Which I am so grateful for! He runs to go play with his friends with ease. He is still a little timid around those he isn't too familiar with though- which obviously is normal. I am not very outgoing around people I don't know well either.

He is talking up a storm now and says new words almost daily. One of my recent favorites is: "Az-juice, 'mon." (Azure, come on) He does this incredibly adorable voice inflection on "ma-on". Melt my heart.

He's always liked Baby Signing Time but, the last few weeks he has become obsessed, addicted, a Signing Time fiend. He wakes up in the morning screaming for me, "Mom-EYE". I don't know why he switched from Mommy to Mom-eye. Then when I come in he either says, "Eat!" or "Baby Time" (meaning he wants to watch Baby Signing Time).

Just in the last 2 weeks he's learned about 20 new signs and new words. And he is speaking much more clearly now the words he's already known.

At his 2 yr old check-up last week he weighed 25 pounds and didn't even whimper when he got 3 shots! The nurse said she has never seen that before and called him a "stud". Both Azure and Vince were sick 2 weeks ago and Azure complained that her ear hurt. We got them both checked out and Azure didn't have an ear infection, but Vince did. We were surprised because he had not been crying in pain like Azure had when she first had an ear infection. After seeing his calm display at getting 3 shots we decided that he has a very high tolerance for pain!

He is quite the screamer. (And I don't think it's b/c he still has some fluid in his ears from the infection.) He is usually pretty well-behaved. He is pretty aware of social situations already. Today I dragged him along to a Primary meeting and he kept asking for a strawberry and running up to the snack table while a prayer was being said. He looked around and noticed that everyone's eyes were closed with folded arms and bowed heads so he put his head down and came and stood right by me quietly until the prayer was over. I was impressed.

He comes up to give me kisses all throughout the day while he plays. This boy really has stole my heart.

I always get a little sentimental at my children's birthdays- ok, any day I guess :) I, of course, love my children equally but, I love them differently. Azure has always been so independent. Vince is very needy and clingy. I hadn't yet experienced that as a mother and it's pulled my heart strings in a profound way. It's hard and frustrating to be wanted all the time but, yet it is so endearing and makes me feel valued in a way I haven't felt before.

As I reflect on his birth and the intense bond I felt to him almost immediately, I feel so grateful for the man that Vince is. He has shaped me into a better mother, a better wife, a better person. And I know he will continue to play a vital part in making me the woman God would have me be. I distinctly remember thinking that he looked and felt so familiar to me as I held him in my arms the day after he was born. I have no doubt that we were together before this life.

Happy Birthday son! We love you so much!

A post on his Elmo birthday party to come...

Azure's quotes

Today while Azure was getting dressed she shut the door to her room which is unusual. Vince began knocking/pushing on it to be let in.

Azure said, "Vince I'm getting dressed. I don't even have a shirt on. You can't come in. You can't be my husband, you're my brother!"

She is so funny! Apparently she was listening very carefully when I told her that the only boy that can see her naked body when she gets older is her husband.

Christmas Eve & Christmas Day

*and I'm just now getting around to posting about Christmas*

I have to say that this past Christmas was one of my favorites so far.

Christmas Eve we made some goodies for our neighbors: caramel stuffed apple cider cookies and brownies.

We did a photo shoot at Bonaventure Cemetery. Kinda morbid to do family pics at a cemetery, right? But, it's such a picturesque place. I will post some later.

We had a low-key Christmas Eve dinner consisting of potato latkes with applesauce. I am not one to stress out making extravagant meals 2 days in a row.

After dinner we headed out to look at Christmas lights around town. (The houses that went all out.)

By the time we got home it was past Azure and Vince's bedtime and they were tired. The "fun" traditions I had planned- act out Luke 2, read A Night Without Darkness, sing Toyland had to get scratched.  So, we sang Silent Night (I think) and briefly acted out Luke 2 while Daddy read. All in Christmas jammies, of course. I love Christmas jammies!

After we put the kids to bed I read Nephi's scriptural account and decided to change our tradition of acting out Luke 2. As great as that chapter is- this is much more pivotal and moving to me! Christ speaks to Nephi the night before He is born, as a man and then is born as a baby the next day. It's amazing to me that not only those in Jerusalem saw the star, but those in the Americas too who were waiting patiently for it and who were about to lose their lives because of their beliefs. So miraculous! So timely. I love the Book of Mormon!

I woke up before anyone else Christmas morning to put the finishing touches on breakfast- oatmeal pancakes with apple butter, leftover latkes, sausage and egg casserole, and strawberries.

Then we found out our exciting news that we were so giddy about! That was one of the reasons it was such a memorable Christmas. As an update on the miscarriage- I am still feeling good and peaceful. Thank you so much for your kind comments friends!

I think the main reason Christmas was so memorable was because it was on a Sunday this year. I wasn't sure if I'd like it, but I LOVED it. It made Christmas much more meaningful to me.

I loved that we only had Sacrament meeting and could come home and spend the rest of the day as a family. I honestly wouldn't mind if we only had Sacrament meeting every Fast Sunday :)

I got to sing "O, Come, O, Come, Emmanuel" in a quartet. And then I led the Primary children singing, "Picture a Christmas" and "The Shepherd's Carol". Charles was one of the narrators. The whole program was so beautiful!

Azure was happy to receive a photo book from Aunt Tally and Uncle Angel.

The sweetest gift I received was a little notebook from Charlie filled with 48 reasons why he loves me, complete with illustrations, entitled: "A Pocket Guide to Deanna Marie Lamadrid-Jensen Lovability Quotients." I cried and laughed. It's good to read when I start to get upset with him ;)

How awesome is this?!

I loved Charlie's reaction to this gift I put in his stocking:

He's still waiting for a chance to use it. Maybe Halloween?

We continued with our tradition of caroling at Hospice on Christmas Day. This was the icing on the cake of a meaningful and memorable Christmas. We sang to a woman who was very hard of hearing. At first she didn't even look at us and continued watching TV. Then as we began to sing she turned towards us and a huge grin spread across her face. Charles was holding Vince and she kept looking at him and smiling. Charles and I could barely sing because we were so choked up with the spirit. We will most definitely keep this tradition.

Afterwards we headed over to the Coopers for Christmas dinner. Among other things, I made a chocolate peppermint trifle that was really tasty thanks to Emily's peppermint bark. However, I sliced my finger pretty badly while chopping up candy canes with the new knife Charlie bought me for Christmas.

I can't wait until the next time Christmas falls on a Sunday!