weekend pics

these pictures are from this great new park we discovered. it was so awesome that we went back the very next day with our bikes. the weather was absolutely perfect this past weekend. in the 60's gorgeous and sunny. of course beautiful weather like that doesn't last long these days. the temps dropped drastically and we were thrown right back into our miserably cold winter. i can't say that i am looking forward to the heat of the summer, but i sure can't wait for spring!

natalie asked me to take pics of her on top of the "rock" that she climbed because she felt like Princess Ariel (disney mermaid)

i swear this boy is going to be a future chef. every time i'm in the kitchen, he's right there beside me--or behind me, with his stool, insisting and ready to help. as frustrating as that can be for someone like myself, a self-proclaimed Miss Independent in the kitchen, i do my best to show him patience. not only is it great bonding time for us, i also find that i enjoy explaining things to him about what we're doing -- it makes me feel like i'm on a cook show :)

so currently we (with the exception of little russell) are fighting off nasty colds. it must be the radical and numerous weather changes here in jacksonville because so many people i know are sick as well, including my poor friend heather who has can't seem to shake off a month long cold. it's hard getting rid of germs when you have kids who bring them home and then you end up passing them back and forth, etc. etc... SO ANNOYING.

i really need to get back into the habit of updating this blog more often. there has been a lot going on that is almost too involved so i didn't feel like mentioning in on here but i do miss making my updates. and i hope you have missed them too :)

well, i'm off to watch some olympics and then to try and get some rest -- this cold is really doing a number on me.

love to all!

valentine's day...

-- after enjoying our romantic homemade chinese rice/beef broccoli valentine's dinner, we devoured this red velvet cake with cream cheese icing valentine's desert

...here's hoping your valentine's day was just as simple and sweet as ours :)

tooth #2

random photos

saturday was a rainy day. instead of staying couped up at the house, we took a trip to the mall. both natalie and daddy needed haircuts so we got that out of the way...

before:

after:
(3 inches cut off, making it SO much easier to brush now!)

she was happy to get her hair cut, by the way

sunday was a cold day. after church that morning, we wanted to take the kids to the park but thought it might be too cold to enjoy it. instead we decided to start a fire and make some hot chocolate. the kids love drinking a cup of hot chocolate and they sit in the black chair right next to the fireplace to really enjoy the moment.

watching the fire:

russell using his new yankees towel tonight:

(thanks grandma & grandpa!)

and here he is wanting to take it off LOL

HAPPY MONDAY EVERYONE!

friday, january 29th

also known as, my better half's birthday :)

that day natalie's class was bringing their Letter "P" week to a close by celebrating with a Pajama Party and making Pancakes. she was beyond excited and was looking forward to this day all week. here are some pics i took before i dropped her off at school...

while natalie was in school, i met up with russ at church downtown and then we grabbed lunch at one of our favorite sandwich shops. little russell was excited to see his daddy for lunch and enjoyed having his mommy and daddy all to himself.

waiting for lunch:

that night my family came over for some cake and to celebrate russ's birthday.

russell attacking titi celena:

singing happy birthday:

the birthday boy--err--old man

little russell is an expert at fixing his daddy's cup of coffee: natalie enjoying her cake:

the greatest show on earth!

...Is none other than the Ringling Brother's Barnum and Bailey Circus!

As a birthday gift to both of the kids, we took them to see the circus for the very first time last weekend.

During the "pre-show" they got to watch various circus acts and even participate in one! Our favorite part of the show -- which was entirely enjoyable -- was when the seven motorcycles zoomed around in this tiny steel cage. it was incredible and adrenaline pumping. the motorcycle performers consisted of an entire family -- there was even a girl in there. most of the acts were family-based that way and it was really neat to see.

meeting one of the clowns. i love russell's face here:

natalie trying on some circus clothes:

i *SO* should have pursued my hula hoop talents...

classic circus elephant moment:

little russell really enjoyed the trampoline jumpers!

as the circus date was approaching, russ reminded me of how his grandfather used to be a circus performer himself. when he was 16 years old he joined the largest circus in Poland. he was a trapeze artist and was the one who [triple] somersaulted from one trapeze into the arms of another team member on the trapeze. he also did an acrobatic act involving a chair placed on 4 stacked tables and he would back flip off the top, and was a skilled juggler as well.


that night after the circus russ and i pulled out his mom's old photo album and went through it to see the pictures. there is so much history in the old black and white photos, most of them dating from the 1930's to 1940's, some even from the 1920's. they even saved a clipped newspaper article about how his father performed for Hitler (before the war). Russell's grandfather stated "the next time he sees Hitler, the fuehrer himself will be swinging from a rope, but not by his hands." at that time, he was serving in the United States Army. sounds like he was an incredible man and i only wish i could hear some of the things he witnessed in his lifetime.

Russell turns 4!

***

last friday, january 22, russell turned 4.

it's so hard to believe that my "BABY" is already 4. i was watching some old videos of the kids last night and some of them felt like they happened just yesterday. it's crazy how quickly time passes by. i think you realize it more when you have kids and every year they keep growing -- older, bigger, smarter, etc.

little russell has always been my cuddle bug. he knows when i need comfort, and does not like to see me sad. as sweet as he can be sometimes, he is also a force to be reckoned with. he is definitely the stubborn kid of the two. wants things done his way and isn't afraid to tell you. putting up a fight until the both of us are emotionally exhausted, but i hold my ground and he spends his fair share of the week in time out...yet his apologies always melt my heart.

full of life, full of energy (i wish i had HALF the amount that he has!) and full of HEART. he definitely has mine, that's for sure :)

***

we went to the march for life in downtown jax on friday. daddy met up with us there and we had a quick lunch before heading home to pick up natalie. that night we went to eat dinner at buca di beppo, where grandpa and grandpa tagged along :) here are some pics from that night:

happy about his mini batman cake

blowing out buca's birthday candles with grandma's help:

enjoying his cake:

***

on saturday, we celebrated russell's birthday with the family. here are the pics from that day:

wearing his new batman/lego t-shirt:

with cousin Cheryl:

russell with his "woody" cake:

***

here's a video of everyone singing to him at the restaurant:

good sport

it was sad seeing him have to do this for the first few times but russell got used to it rather quickly. for 15 minutes he would sit and watch tv or a movie, usually the Charlie Brown Valentine movie that we are borrowing from the library... that's their favorite movie right now.

the doctor said to continue these treatments until his cough was gone and thankfully i think we might be able to stop now. this medicine made russell's heart race about 100 beats per second and he turned into a ball of energy, bouncing off the walls and aggressively throwing things, all the while laughing at every little thing -- or, nothing apparent. it was definitely weird, yet strangely funny to witness. but i'll be glad when it's over for good. i'm happy to have healthy kids again. let's keep it that way please!

our morning with dr. arango

yesterday morning, russell was sick -- threw up twice, had the chills and horrible congestion. as the day progressed, so did his cough. at one point i *thought* i heard wheezing while we were laying in bed together. it was so faint and i knew he was having trouble breathing from the congestion that i didn't think much of it. to be safe, i called the doctor's office and spoke to the nurse. she suggested i bring him in the next day due to the various symptoms he was having. later in the day, russell was acting completely normal (aside from the coughing and runny nose) and he slept through the whole night without any trouble. it crossed my mind to maybe just cancel the appointment, but with his birthday being in 2 days, and a trip to the circus planned for sunday, i thought: it's better to be safe than sorry! so we went to see our beloved dr. arango this morning for an 8:15 appointment. seconds into the exam, dr. arango revealed that russell's was in fact wheezing and as it turns out he has a lower respiratory infection. he said i was right to bring him in today because otherwise we could have ended up in the ER. dr. arango said russell's lungs were so tightly closed and his oxygen saturation was very low (90), which concerned him. we were told to stay at the office and received 3 back-to-back albuterol treatments with a nebulizer machine. so, in what i thought would be a short trip to doc's office to rule out my silly notion that russell had something beyond a cold, turned out to be something much more seroius. russell is now on prednisone for the next week, doing albuterol treatments every 4 hours, and also on antibiotics to treat the viral infection he has on top of the respiratory infection. boy am i thankful i stuck to my gut by taking russell to the doctor today!

let me just say that it's hard to believe he is that "sick" by the way he is acting today. and also, may i mention that it would have been nice to have been forewarned by the doc how ridiculously HYPER albuterol would make my kid! just when i thought it couldn't get any worse...HA! it's going to be a lot of fun in the upcoming days. there's a first time for everything...especially for us moms!

did you get the memo???

"christmas is OVER."


dear: celena

enjoy the change to the blog :)

love: katrina