Saturday, January 31, 2009

Bay Area Extravaganza

A mini photo shoot of Mazzetta family.


Keller bonding with Adrienne.

Keller's Giant shirt, although a little scrunched...still the cutest thing ever and Keller is pretty adorable a well.


Vera and her godfather!

Vera and Zia...seriously one of the funniest pictures of Vera I have seen yet. She looks almost angelic...later J told me that this is the shot you get when you catch her coming down from a jump.

Coffee break with Regina. Vera had honey milk, which she inhaled.

Love Papa!


We have finished another Bay Area whirlwind trip. There are always so many people to see and friends to catch up with and the days fly by so that the whole trip feels like it is over before it starts. Having said all that, the beginning was awesome! J and I had a magical moment on Wednesday night. We were driving up to J's parent's house and we took a second to look at each other. It was the easiest drive to SF trip we have had since Vera was born. Both kids took a 2 hour nap (unheard of in Vera's world) and they didn't freak out when they woke up. An easy 5 hour car trip, it was a miracle.

It was a good trip. A big shout-out to our friends Matt and Jessica who not only hosted a Togo's sandwich filled lunch at their house, but also let Keller harass their dog. Keller found the love of his life in Adrienne. We visited with many friends and got to spend time with Nana and Papa. Plus, Jan and Jay cooked amazing dinners every night...love Big Jay's Panang Curry.

On the way home we visited with my stepfather and stepsister's family in Atascadero. It made me miss my mom, but also made me thankful that Richard is still a part of our lives. Vera and Keller have a Grandpa that can tell them stories about their Grandma and that means a lot to me.

Okay, that was a very fast synopsis of our trip and all that happened.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Everyone Look at the Camera and Say CHEESE!


Any picture where the four of us are all looking at the camera is a good thing! Now, we will work on getting one where everyone has a smile.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Smile Maker


Seriously, can you look at this goofball without smiling? Both of my kids do weird things with their tongues. When Vera was born, she had the biggest tongue you have ever seen sticking out of her little baby mouth. She comes by it naturally of course, as both my sister and I can both touch our noses with our enormous tongues. At two she would stick it to the side when she was concentrating. Now, at 3 she swings it side to side in her mouth...so hard to explain and such a nervous tick.

Keller has decided to follow in his big sister's footsteps and has started making little faces while he sticks out his tongue.

Friday, January 23, 2009

OMG

When is it ever okay to walk out of a bathroom stall and start touching a random stranger's baby!!! Why do these things seem to happen to me? With Vera, it was the cashier who stuck his finger in her mouth...money is so dirty. With Keller now, it is the bathroom lady who touched both his hands and then washed her own. Seriously, are you kidding me?

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Sleep

I have never before realized how much sleep, or lack of sleep, can cause a whole world to be turned upside down. Vera was a sleeper. I don't remember the exact age at which she slept through the night, but it was early on and she has loved sleeping ever since. Even when she gave up naps we could handle it because she sleeps from 7 at night to around 6:30ish in the morning.

Keller is a whole new ballgame and I am having trouble playing. He has these days where he will wake up twice at 10pm and 4am. These are his GOOD days and I think that the world has changed and that he is starting to improve and there is a light at the end of tunnel. In other words, I can function during the day and not get too irritated with my toddler. Then, after 3 or 4 of these days he backtracks and we are up 4-5 times a night instead. Three night ago there was definitely a reason...damn gassy broccoli. Two nights ago there was no reason for his restlessness. He ate solid food 3 times during the day and a lot of it. He had a snack in between meals AND he still nursed 5 times. He is getting plenty of food.

My current plan is to read as many books as I can to see what sleep system will work best for him. Yesterday I read a book that promises that your child will sleep 12 hours straight. Here is a catch and I don't know why it is throwing me. The systems requires that you feed the child four times throughout the day. Sounds easy, right? Well, when I take in Vera's and my eating schedule, it is hard to have him eating at those four hour intervals. Plus, and I know that many would say this is bad, I nurse him to sleep for naps. It is a little for him and a lot for me. I love to watch him as he nurses and falls asleep.

There is my rant about sleep. I have hopes again that he is improving, as last night he was only up twice. Fingers crossed!


Sunday, January 18, 2009

Pump, Pump It Up


Yeah baby! We hit the extreme jumpy play zone Pump It Up for Vera's 3rd Birthday Party. Our little girl has basically had a birthday month. She is starting to think that she should get a present each and every day. Pump It Up is basically a 3-year-old's idea of heaven. You enter the first room and there are four different jumping apparatuses. After forty minutes you switch to another room filled with more jumping opportunities...and then you head to a party room. I saw Vera at the beginning and then at the end, between those times I only saw a blur sprinting past me as she partied with her friends.

The majority of the guests were Vera's friends and their parents from our PEP Group. It was one of those days where I realized how cool it is that Vera has friends that she has known since birth. It was also a day that reminded me of a wedding day. You plan and plan for so long and then the whole thing was over in 2 hours and I was left wondering what happened to the time.

The way I cheated out of having to make a cake!



Monday, January 12, 2009

6 Month Appointment


Keller had his 6 month appointment today and checked out just fine. He is measuring 28 inches and just over 18 pounds. I had a long talk with the doc about this kiddo's eating and sleeping habits. It boils down to the fact that he has only wanted to nurse and is still waking up 3-4 times a night. When the pediatrician heard our daily schedule she remarked right away that he feeds like a newborn, every 3 hours, pretty much on the dot.

So...

And, I have to give the doctor much props, she spent 15 minutes planning a detailed eating schedule for him. We are starting him on soup, purees, and everything and anything that I can stuff in his mouth (mostly homemade). It is true about the second child...he gets everything earlier and it just seems like we are less careful with what he is eating in regards to allergenic foods and introducing new things one at a time.

Keller Soup

2-3 cups water
Piece of chicken on the bone (I used a drumstick)
5 slices of fresh ginger
green onions


Boil and then simmer for 20 minutes until chicken is cooked. Vera ate his chicken, but the piece could go in the soup along with any other ingredients that sound good...rice, peas, spinach...etc, etc, etc. I threw in some butternut squash that I had roasted with olive oil, salt, and pepper (so yummy) and brown rice. The soup ended up half in his mouth and half soaking into his shirt.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Bad, Bad Stairs

At times, the fact that we remember only tidbits of childhood is probably a blessing. Lately, Vera falls, trips, stumbles, and goes splat more than J and I would like. She isn't particulary clumsy, yet has these spectacular accidents that can cause her parents to have minor heart attacks. Now, when one of these mishaps occurs, I cringe. She will go from standing to splayed on her belly in 2 seconds flat. If I fell like she does I would be out of commission for a week and sore for double that amount of time.

Vera's most recent fall was a doozy. She was walking down the stairs in front of me when about four steps from the bottom she pitched forward. In doing so she bashed her nose on a part of the baby gate we have attached to the bottom of our stairs. Having been hit in the nose before, I can only begin to imagene the pain that she felt. Yet, after about an hour of mommy comfort and a quick visit to the doctor to make there was no permanent damage, she was playing and laughing like nothing had happened.


This photo was taken the day the fall happened. It has been a few days since the accident and the bruises and are getting worse, which I am told by J is quite normal. It now looks like she is going to have two black eyes, just in time for her 3rd birthday party!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Vera is 3!!!




Vera is 3, which I can hardly believe! I swear she went to bed and was tiny and then woke up and is a little girl. She is smart, funny, and unbelievably cute. At times she is the spitting image of her dad and yet when she opens her mouth she sounds exactly like her mama (hopefully with better vocabulary). She loves her baby dolls, being read to by anyone and everyone, and being chased by monsters. The current edition of the monster game includes Keller as the monster.

Her day started off with presents from mom and dad and a round of "Happy Birthday." Then, we headed off to the zoo with friends. After getting back and while eating lunch, Adam came over to show Vera the special treat he had brought her from Mammoth. SNOW! Adam carried snow home in a cooler and then proceeded to teach her how to eat it, throw it at cars, and soak her baby brother.

Lots of time...and then we had Vera's dinner of choice. She chose pancakes (butternut squash & chocolate chip), eggs, and bacon followed by brownies. All in all, a pretty good day for our munchkin.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

It's Going to be a Montage!

Christmas break has come and gone, here are a few of my favorite photos that are out of order, but show everything good over the break. We had a fantastic visit with my friend Red, a night out with our with friends for dinner (thank you Nonni and Nonno for babysitting), fun on Christmas morning/day, and new toys to explore. I had forgotten how much I love play-doh.













Friday, January 2, 2009

Hanging at the LA Zoo



Living in Santa Barbara, we forget how to drive to different places. We consider driving to our local Costco in Goleta a "trip." We plan for the trip and make sure that while we are all the way out in Goleta we complete any other necessary chores that need to be done out there...lists are made in hope that we won't have to make the trip again for another week or so. Of course, driving to Costco takes 15 minutes on a bad day and 10ish if you are driving at a reasonable speed. Spoiled, we are spoiled living here where it takes 5 to 10 minutes at most to get to the places where we need to be.

However, every time we head to LA for one reason or another we have the same conversation, "It really isn't that far!" From the time we leave our house to Downtown LA takes about a hour and a half. Plus, we have several good friends that live there. Plus, it is a big city. It fills our need when we think we live in a too small town where nothing happens.

On December 20 we decided to take an road trip to see our friends and threw in the LA Zoo for kicks. Love zoos! Highlight of the trip was an ape that was using a piece of rope to snag bamboo outside of her cage and rope it back in. Other highlight, a crazy koala and kangaroo duo. On a fully random note, our friends gave Keller and Vera each a Christmas gift. Sometimes people just nail it. Vera was given two doll outfits. After opening them, she no longer wanted to be at their house or the zoo. No, she wanted to go immediately home to dress up her dolls. Keller got a stacking toy that then turns into rolling balls. Pretty awesome! You have to see it to understand that I am talking about.