Bitter Sweet

One thing that Ty looks forward to every night is reading "Huggle Buggle Bear" before he goes to bed. Dan and I take turns every night reading to him because its so much fun and neither of us want to miss out on it. Well, last night was my turn ...
... but I didn't get a turn. Ty was crying so hard when I took him from his dad to read to him in his room. The second Dan walked in he stopped crying and ran to him. That was the bitter part for me, seeing that Ty wanted his dad to read to him, not me. I had to laugh at myself when I realized I was feeling hurt by a 19 month old. I know he wasn't trying to hurt my feelings, he is just growing up and is starting to have his own opinion of what or who he wants. The sweet part was peeking in the room and seeing how happy he was sitting in his dads lap listening to his favorite story. It definitely was a bitter/sweet moment for me.

2011

A quick recap of 2011:

The year started off with some problems in my pregnancy and thinking we lost the baby. A miracle happened and we found out everything was ok. The next few months were a little crazy with dealing with pregnancy sickness and a 6 month old. But I tried to enjoy every second I could with Ty since I knew he wouldn't be the only child for long.

This is the only picture I got being pregnant that you can see my stomach.

In May Dan left for about a month to try the alarm selling thing. Ty and I had to stay back since I was working. It was a long few weeks without him but we were so glad when he came back home!

May 31 my baby turned one! He was still so serious back then, no smiles.

Less than a month later our little Gabe decided he couldn't wait any longer to come to earth. He scared us with how early he came, but questions were answered when I delivered the placenta with a huge tear in it. We are very grateful he came early.

4lbs 6 oz and 16.5 inches long

The next month and a half was a difficult time for our family. Having Gabe in the NICU and Ty not being old enough to come was heartbreaking. I am so thankful for our family so willing to take care of Ty and help when needed.

Watching Gabe progress day to day is what kept me going, I tried to remind myself how blessed we were that he was alive and getting better each day.

Ty and Gabe meeting for the first time is something I will never forget. Ty was too young to understand anything, but he was such a champ through everything.

Finally the day came that we took our precious baby home and were together as a family. Gabe scared us that night when his apnea monitor went off because he wasn't breathing. We called 911 but had him in recovery by the time the fire department came. A couple of weeks later the same thing happened and we took him to the emergency room. Luckily nothing major was wrong, he was diagnosed with reflux so we needed to keep a close watch on him.

Somewhere in the craziness of it all we were able to take a break and head to Nevada to spend the weekend with Aunt Lauren and Uncle Bob. They spoiled us with food, boating, games and entertainment. It was a much needed mini vacation for us!

Ty thought that Gabe was a toy when we brought him home, he though it was funny when he cried so he would find ways to make it happen. Teaching Ty to "be gentle" to Gabe was quite the process, but we got through it and he is doing so much better!

It will never be forgotten that Dan walked into a handicap sign and sliced his ear open. It was our third trip to the ER for the year and thankfully our last. It only took nine stitches to sew that baby up.

In October we blessed Gabe. I remember feeling very thankful that Dan was able to bless him and to hear all the many things that are in store for this little miracle.

Our annual Lagoon trip with no kids!

Halloween with kids :)

Ty discovered how much he loved candy and became a terrible eater because of it.

Dan finished his BFA show and graduated from UVU.

Gabe learned to smile and roll over from stomach to back.

Christmas morning with these little dudes and being able to spend the rest of our holidays with our families. We are so lucky to live close to both sides!

2011 definitely had its ups and downs, but I wouldn't take anything back if I had the chance. This has been a year of learning and growing for me and my family. I am so grateful for my husband who is my rock and is always pushing me to be a better person. Being a mom is the greatest joy I know and I am so thankful to have Ty and Gabe in my life. I am very thankful for the gospel and the knowledge that I have of why we are all here on this earth. That is how I got through this year and was able to learn from every experience. I am exited for 2012 and hope we are ready for the good and challenging times it will bring us.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

What a wonderful weekend! Christmas morning was my favorite, I loved that it was just us. Ty caught on really quick how to open his gifts and the reaction to every present was absolutely priceless! He couldn't open his gifts fast enough, it was so much fun! We also got to talk/skype my twin sisters and little brother that are all serving missions right now, it's always special to here a missionary's testimony, it makes me want to be a better person.

We were also able to spend time with both sides of the family which makes things really nice for both of us. There is nothing better than being with your family during this time of year. I have been feeling blessed in a lot of areas in my life, lately I have been feeling especially grateful for my healthy little family. It's still crazy to me that we have two boys, but I am so thankful we do because I couldn't imagine my life without either of them.

Happy Holidays!

18 months

Ty becoming 18 months old has been such a wonderful thing, and for many reasons. One of the best changes is he can go to Nursery! I don't know how we did it for 5 months having both babies the full block, especially Ty, he is so busy! The first time we took him, I went in with him and he didn't even look back to see if I was still there. He is one independent dude, I love it! Another thing is how quickly he is learning. If I say "ready, set" he says "go!" Or I say "one, two" and he says "three!" He is learning what different animals say; cow "moo", doggy "huff huff" and monkey "oooh oooh." He is also getting better with words, he can say; "mom, dad, go, three, hi, bye, ball, yah, shoe, up please (pup peas), wow" His main way of communicating is shaking his head up and down really slowly and saying "yaaah" It is the cutest thing! Ty understands almost anything I say to him. He hates to go into "time out" but its been pretty effective discipline wise. He loves to get his shoes when I say lets go bye bye, he will get diapers, my phone and remotes for me when I ask, he loves to read books but only if he can turn the pages and read all by himself!

He has finally started being nice to his little brother! When Gabe cries he will run over and rub his head or tummy and say "shh", which is a lot better than him laughing at him or hitting like before! He loves to gives kisses, especially to Gabe. He will smack his lips twice and then kiss him. Another big change is I got rid of his binky, on accident. I was boiling his binkies in hot water one morning to sanitize but I forgot about them so they melted to the pot. He did really good the first few days but then for a couple of weeks he had a really hard time. He still looks for it when I lay him down, but he is getting better at not throwing fits anymore. Ty has the most contagious laugh, he makes me smile so many times during the day. I haven't been able to work out that much lately, but chasing him around and cleaning up his messes all day should be able to count for something! He makes life exciting and I love being his mom.

Oh I lost his exact stats but it went something like this:

Weight: 15%

Height: 15%

Head: 80%

... a real life bobble head!! ... and the cutest one ever!

BFA Show

This is a long overdue shout-out to my amazing husband for putting on his BFA (Bachelor in Fine Arts) Show! He is basically graduated, just needs to finish his website, and I am still trying to talk him into walking in the Spring. Tens of thousands of years going to UVU (really 8 years on and off, but still) and changing your major five times calls for a big celebration! This needs to happen!

At his Art Show he displayed 6 caricatures and 6 portraits. This is a caricature of my Uncle Craig who started Gandolfos, this was one of my favorites! The detail in the background and props are a lot of fun, especially the dead Yankee player that he is stepping on, GO METS! :)

I am so proud of Dan for finally getting here! It has been amazing to watch him grow and improve with every picture he has drawn and painted. Just when I think he can't get any better he does! I am also happy that I don't have to deal with having an art studio in my front living room anymore, but I am more happy that all his hard work is paying off and that he was able to share this wonderful talent with family and friends.

October

What we've been up to:

It was such a nice, warm October. We couldn't get enough of being outside! We took a long overdue drive up the canyon to see all the beautiful colors. Ty loved every time we stopped to get out of the car, he was so upset when we took these pictures because he wanted to run around and play.

This is our backyard. Love it.

We spent a lot of time going to parks. Ty loves to swing on the swings but only if he is sitting on someones lap. He also figured out how to climb up the playground and go down the slide all by himself. It's so fun to watch him play and learn new things.

We went boating, in October! It was actually a lot of fun. Megan and Marcus took us out and we enjoyed an attempted picnic on the lake. The water was absolutely freezing but Dan and Megan took turns surfing and wakeboarding, I can't imagine how cold they must've been but they were actually smiling!

Ty has been loving seeing his old toys lately. He thinks they are his, and they were his, but now they are Gabes. Someone please tell me how to explain this to a 17 month old.

Poor Gabe, he gets kicked out of his chair everyday.

I have child locks on everything! Well, most everything. I swear Ty's goal everyday is to run around the house and see how many things he can get into and if he can make a bigger mess than the day before! There are times when I seriously feel like I can't handle it anymore, but I try to remind myself that this stage will come and go and I need to enjoy these moments more. ...Sigh

This month Gabe has started smiling! I can't get enough of it! He is such a happy, easy-going baby. His favorite thing to do is lay on the floor and watch Ty play.

He also turned 4 months old. His check up went great. It's weird to say that he is 4 months old because developmentally he is only 2 months. He is not doing things that normal 4 months do but he is growing really good and slowly learning new things, the Doc said he should be caught up by 18 months.

We went to a fun Halloween Party, dressed up as a "Pair of Blue Jeans" (my name tag says "Jean" and Dan says "Gene") ...Thanks Ash :)

We are trying to keep our tradition alive of going to Lagoon on the last day its opened. It's such a fun time to go with Frightmares being there and its not that crowded. This year I made the mistake of wearing flats. It was probably 20 degrees when we got there! I only lasted an hour and then we had to find a Target so I could buy some nice warm slippers. It was such a fun day, just being together and running around like 12 year olds from ride to ride.

Introducing Ty: The Cow

And Gabe: The Monkey

Halloween was so much fun. I loved dressing up the boys, doing trunk or treat with our ward, cuddling to a movie and being home to answer the door for trick or treaters.

October, you were wonderful.