Jadon Is Still Sick.

Jadon still isn't feeling well. He has a low appetite and he got bloody noses three times yesterday. Fiona and her mom think that it is due to the heat. At the same time I think Jadon might be using his I'm-sick-so-I-don't-have-to-eat-what-I-don't-want card. Fiona told me that Jadon was gagging on his lunch yesterday because he didn't want to eat vegetables. It was leftovers from dinner the previous night. Then for dinner last night, he didn't want to eat his beef. Fiona had chopped up his food so he can take it down easier. We even gave him an incentive, cookies and milk. He took so long to eat his dinner. When he took a bite, he would wimper and whine. At times he when he was chewing his food, he'd squirm like he had to go to the bathroom (but he didn't have to). We asked him if his mouth hurt and he said yes. So we think that his throat might be sore everytime he eats. Anyways we placed his cookies and milk when he was nearing the finish of his dinner. As soon as he was finished with his last bite he started for the cookies. He didn't have any problems at all chomping down on those at all. I told him that if had any problems finishing his cookies, to let me know and that I could help him out =). No such luck.

Sock Fetish.

Here is another one of Natalie's weird habits.

We have the girls nap in different rooms as to not disturb one another (although my hope is to change that in the near future). Vanessa naps in her own room and we have Natalie nap, in her Pack N' Play (bassinet), in our room. The bassinet is in between the bed and our dresser. A lot of times when I go to get Natalie, I'll find a bunch of socks sprawled across the floor. Apparently she is able to open the drawers from her temporary crib. Sometimes you can hear her from downstairs opening up the sock drawer and closing it. One time she was crying and when Fiona went to check up on her, she had her hand in the drawer. She was crying because she couldn't open the drawer wide enough to pull the socks out. *Smack my forehead* It's almost become a daily habit because if she can't pull socks out, she'll cry. So we have to place the Pack N' Play just far enough so she can open the drawers.

Jadon Had A Bad Day Yesterday.

It started when I got home from work. Jadon was already crying because Natalie had poked him in the eye. Then all of a sudden his nose started to bleed. He was dripping all over the floor (luckily not on carpet). I told him that he shouldn't keep crying because it will make his nose bleed even more. That seem to quiet him up for a bit (I think I'm on to something). Then Fiona said to drink water because that will make his nose better. He ended up drinking a lot (I think Fiona's on to something).

It was my mother-in-law's birthday so went out to dinner at a new Malaysian/Thai restaurant. On the way there, Jadon started to cry out of the blue. He really had to go poopoo. We kept on telling him that it was ok and that if he had to go in his diaper that he could that one time. We finally got to the restaurant and I took Jadon to the bathroom. He was tearing up while he sat on the potty. I had to hold him up because it looked like the seat was too big for him that he would have just fallen in. So I was squating hold him up by his arm pits while he trying to poop. After what seemed like a long time, he ended up not pooping. I think he was too intimidated. After the food was just served and I had portioned out Jadon's serving, I noticed that he wasn't eating. I told him that his food was ready and that he could eat. He was looking at it uninterested. He was also holding his stomach. Then out of the blue he just threw up. Luckily his aim was pretty good because most of it landed on his plate. Poor kid. He probably had food poisoning from earlier on. He wanted to go outside so I had to eat fast. So I took Jadon outside and he sat on my lap on a nearby bench. He ended up crying on the way home and I finally took him to his familiar potty seat where he went number two. What a relief (no pun intended)!

Talking about puking, I remember the last time that I puked. Boy was that a bad one. *WARNING: this anecdote may contain graphic descriptions* It was about 12 years (or so) ago and we were celebrating a family friend's graduation (I think). The whole family was going out to Red Lobster for dinner. I remember that I had invited Fiona to come along and she almost did but she had last second family plans. I'm glad that she didn't come because if she did, she probably wouldn't be married to me now (she probably would have broken up with me). That's how bad it was. I was getting full from my entree and my mom had some crab legs that she couldn't finish off. -Well those who know me also knew that I was a trash compactor back then. My metabolism was so high that I just ate and ate.- So I didn't resist and I had a crab leg. Well I think that pushed me over the threshold. On the way home, I rode in my dad's two door Mercedes sports car. My mom was sitting in front and luckily for me, there was nobody sitting next to me in the back (that would have been Fiona if she came along). Well it was at that point that my stomach couldn't handle it and I blew, big time. Ever watch the movie Aliens (the second installment)? There's the scene towards the end where Bishop (the android) gets attacked from behind and you see the tail of the queen alien poke through his torso. He starts to gush and spew fluid from his mouth. Well that is exactly what went through my mind as I was gushing and spewing. It went all over the back of the driver seat and on the floor. When we got home and we inspected the mess, somehow some of the puke went behind me and ended up on the headrest (sick, sick, but almost impressive). Anyways, I apologized profusely to my father and cleaned up. He didn't seem too upset by it. Of course he no longer has the car. After I had thrown up my dinner, my stomach felt empty and I was actually feeling pretty hungry after that. So I think, I recall, that I went out for some McDonalds. =)

Damn Smoke Detector!

Why do smoke detectors have to chirp at the most inconvenient time? Early this morning at 3:45am or so it started off with a chirp. That woke me up but I don't think it woke Fiona up. I decided to ignore it hoping that it was just a warning and won't keep chirping. Five minutes later it did and then the frequency was getting shorter. Fiona was up by then and I had to just change it. That meant turning on the lights, finding a 9 volt battery (luckily we have one left) and I had to change it out. Since we've moved in 4 years ago, I have only changed out a smoke detector battery once. That first time it happened was also in the wee hours of the morning. I had no clue what to do because, at that point, I hadn't changed one out. I ended up setting it off and I was really freaking out because I didn't want to wake Fiona or Jadon up (plus I was groggy up to that time). I know, I know, I'm bad. I should be doing it at least once a year. Guess what I'll be doing after work?

My Weekday Routine.

Last year I wrote (commented) out my weekend routine on a friend's blogsite. Well here is my weekday routine as of today:

5:05am - My alarm goes off and I hit the snooze button

5:14am - My alarm goes off again and I turn it off

5:15am - I brush my teeth, use the potty, and take a shower, get dressed, and give Fiona a goodbye-have-a-good-day kiss.

5:35am - Eat a bowl of cereal while watching ESPN.

5:42am - Finish breakfast and wash any remaining baby baby bottles (from the previous night feeding).

5:45am - Leave for work.

6:00am-6:05am - Arrive at work.

1:30pm - 2:00pm - Depending on whether I have to run work errands, I leave work at 2:00pm

2:20pm - Get home. First thing I do is wash dishes and make sure the kids' laundry is in the dryer.

2:30pm - Hang out with the kiddies.

3:30pm - Put the kids to for their afternoon nap. This is where I would either play with my PS2, take a nap, or watch some T.V. (my second favorite part of the day!)

5:00pm - 5:30pm - The kids start to wake up. Fiona is prepping up dinner while I am folding the laundry clothes, prepping up the nighttime-bath-and-bed routine (laying out their pjs, towels, lotion, diapers), and playing with the kids.

6:00pm - Dinner time

6:20pm - Finish dinner (yes I eat fast). Wash up the dishes, boil pacifiers, wash Fiona's pump.

6:30pm - Kids finish up dinner, clean them up, clean their high chairs, wash their dishes and their drinking cups.

6:45pm - We either go out to the mall, or get some dessert, or take a walk around the neighborhood.

7:30pm - Start of the kiddies' bedtime routine. I give Vanessa her bath.

7:40pm - Dry off Vanessa in her bed. Lotion her up, diaper her, and get her dressed. Then after that, I brush Jadon's teeth/ During this time Fiona is giving Natalie her bath.

7:50pm - I feed Vanessa her bedtime milk bottle.

8:00pm - I finish up with Vanessa and give Jadon his bath. I'll let him play in his bath of a little bit. During that time, I'll go downstairs and wash up Jadon's water cup, and remaining dishes, clean up toys, and cut some oranges for Fiona and I.

8:15pm - Finish off Jadon's bath, dry him off in his room, lotion him up, diaper him, dress him, and wish him a good night.

8:30pm - Go downstairs, sit on the couch, and veg in front of the T.V. (my favorite part of the day!)

9:30pm - Fiona gets ready for her bath-and-bedtime routine (she takes a long time too!). Then I follow suite.

10:30pm - While Fiona is doing her nighttime pumping, well talk, do a quick bible study, and pray.

11:00pm - We finally go to sleep!

And in about six hours follow the same routine.

Shiva.

Last evening, Fiona, the kids, and I visited my boss. He and the rest of his family were holding a Jewish tradition called the Shiva which is a seven day mourning period. It's a good way to transition from a loss of a loved one. The mood was festive and they had a lot of food (crackers, cheese, bread, sliced meats, fruit, salads, cookies, ice cream, and maybe even cake). Jadon was such a curious little kid. He was just walking all around the house. The girls were a little reserved at first, especially Natalie (she was crying of course). As soon as I put Vanessa down and she was walking, Natalie decided that if her sister was fine with it that she would be fine with it as well. The girls were also all over the place after that. There were a couple of other babies there too. There was a nine month old boy that was almost as tall as Natalie and weighed more than her. My girls are small! We were there for a little less than an hour (passed the kiddies bedtime).

Persistently Mental Girls.

The girls have each developed mental habits that are either making smack my forehead or getting me a little frustrated.

Vanessa has gotten in the habit of taking off her shirt sometime after she has been put to bed. It started last week where when I got her up in the morning, she had her shirt off. Then throughout the week Fiona mentioned that she does it every morning and even one time caught both girls without their shirts. At least though they don't cry from freezing their little butts off. The last straw was a few nights ago. I had already put Vanessa to sleep. Fiona was putting Natalie to sleep and when she went into the girls' room, Vanessa was crying handing her shirt to Fiona. That's when I smacked my forehead. We ended up putting a onesie (shirt that has buttons on the bottom) on her. Case closed...for now.

Another more frequently occuring habit is that both girls are climbing on the couch. I wouldn't have a problem with that except that the girls arent quite stable as far as climbing off of it. Heck they don't even go down the stairs yet. Yesterday Natalie tried to go down a step walking down. The results were pitiful. She slipped, twirled, and landed on her head (on the floor). Luckily she was only on the first step and luckily there was a bag to break her fall. So I have told the girls that they aren't big and old enough to do that yet. They don't seem to get it through their heads because they keep doing it. I scolded them and the would just cry. As soon as I go upstairs or there is no adults to watch them, they'd go ahead and climb on the couch again. I'd come downstair and I'd catch them and scold them some more. They would cry and a few minutes later they would try climbing up again. Quite frustrating.

A Beautiful Yet Sad Service.

There were two parts to the service that I attended yesterday. I had an entourage of my coworkers following me from work to the service. I met up with Fiona at the synagogue where it was held which was in Irvine. There they had eulogies and sang songs. At the memorial service, I was able to keep myself composed and not shed a tear but it was tough. I have to say that the hebrew language and songs are quite a beautiful sounding language. It reminds something out of the Lord of The Rings when the elfs speak.

After the service, family members and friends went to the gravesite service which was about 10 minutes away. Fiona went home to tend to the kiddies and I carpooled with a coworker. There, the rabbi prayed and the burial transpired. The way they did the burial was a nice tribute to the deceased. First they had family members shovel the dirt in and then they opened it up to the rest of us. When I saw my boss start to shovel the dirt in, was when my eyes swelled up and the tears just rolled on. The two times that I have seen the casket lowering into the plot is when it had hit me. It was just a sad, dreadful, and even spine tingling feel. I had the chance to shake my bosses' hand, give him a hug him and tell him "I'm so sorry for your loss." He was well composed. He had asked me if Fiona came and I told him that she made it to the service but that she had to go home to tend to the little ones. He understood and thanked me for coming.

I'll probably try to visit him early next week and hopefully show him my support.

Memorial Service.

Today at 2:00p.m., I'll be attending the memorial services of my CEO's wife. This is only my third such function. The first one was a father of an intern pastor at my old church some 5 years ago. I had only met the father once. The second one was a funeral/memorial service for Fiona' s grandmother. It was shortly after Jadon was born (that was his first one too). Each time I always think of what to say. Do I say "my condolences," or "I am sorry for your loss."? Do I hug or do I shake hands?

Every once in a while I think of how I would like my memorial service to be done. I would want something more festive and celebratory. I'd want a mandatory no-black-article-of-clothing to be worn. Perhaps after the ceremony and eulogy, I'd want people to gather at some place that is fun and decorative of balloons and confetti. A juggler and a balloonist to lighten the mood. Some upbeat music or band playing in the background. Refreshments such as cakes, cookies, etc to be served. How grand would that be?

A Somber State Of Affair.

Yesterday, at work, I found out that my CEO's wife had finally succomb from breast cancer that she had been fighting for the past four years. There's an article about her in today's Orange County Register (I can't locate a link just yet). It's really sad to see her go. She was such a sweet and vibrant person. They came to my wedding and everytime I saw her she would always inquire about how the girls (Fiona and Jadon as well) were doing and developing. I really admired her and her husband because they (like Fiona and I) were highschool sweet hearts. My heart goes out to my boss. He did everything he could to find a solution. He used his vast medical resources to do whatever he could to save her but couldn't escape the inevitable. I just hope that through time he was able to accept what God has in store for her. That he, like her, finally found peace (not only them but the rest of the family as well). She'll be sorely missed.

Going Against The Grain.

Something tells me that Natalie is going to turn out to be a unique individual (in a strange and funny way). She seems to be going against the social norm (the norm being Jadon and Vanessa). Yesterday, before dinner, I was playing with all three kiddies upstairs in the master bedroom. I was being the ferocious-dog-snarling-monster crawling and chasing the kids. Jadon and Vanessa were laughing hysterically and running away going into the hallway/tech area. Natalie doesn't follow suit. She clumsily runs towards me. Either she's not scared or she's not aware of the game. I'm guessing the latter. So I grab Natalie and gnarl her neck and tickle her. -She giggles but I don't think it's because it tickles her. Fiona and I think she mimics her siblings when they get tickled. - Then I go after Jadon and Vanessa and have my tickle fest with them. Finally everything comes to a slow. Jadon and Vanessa are panting, recovering from their laughter. They make there way away from me just in case I get my second wind and decide to go after them again. Everything calms down when Natalie finally joins us from the other room. She gives her little cub roar thinking that we're still playing. Then she flops her whole body onto my lap. Although I welcome individuality and uniqueness, I hope that in the future it doesn't alienate her from making friends or hanging out with her siblings.

Father's Day x4

This was my fourth Father's day with my three kiddies (4 with Jadon, 2 with the girls). The girls gave me a chance to sleep in on Sunday morning (a rarity). Fiona and I slept in (if you call it sleeping in) until shortly after 8:30am. Vanessa is usually the one who cries and whines to get me out of the bed on the weekends, but this time (on Father's Day) she was quietly playing in her crib. How thoughtful.

After breakfast I opened up my father's day gifts from Fiona and the kiddies. The first gift that I opened up was really one for the kids (mostly Jadon) but a gift that I will enjoy also. It's a dvd of Veggie Tales: Are You My Neighbor. They are really cool videos that cover moral issues. This particular one spoofs Star Trek. We recently finished off one of their other videos "Lord of the Beans." Can you tell what movie it spoofs off of? It's quite hilarious and really fun for the kids. The second gift that I got was a book by Robert Wolgemuth "She Calls Me Daddy." It's a book that will hopefully improve my parenting skills and enhance my relationships with my girls. The third gift was precious. If you recall what I got last year on Father's day. I had gotten a little booklet of the kids' footprints along with a translated poem from the each of them. Well Fiona, it seems, has started a tradition because she did it again this year too! Holy cow, their feet are bigger (of course). One of the things that was funny was when I was reading a portion of Natalie's poem was it made mention of that at times "she smells as if she farted" and as if she had been practicing, she farted on queue! Hahahaha!

The girls took their morning naps and I took Jadon to the park. To "de-wuss" him, I took our recently purchased baseball-with-bat-and-glove set out. This was the first time for him. We went to a part of the grass that was shaded by palm trees because it was getting hot and it hadn't reached 11:00am yet! I have to say that for the first time trying to bat the ball, Jadon didn't do too bad. I mean, he didn't hit it out of the park and his batting average was probably less than .100, but he was able to get into batting position (albiet awkward at times). When I pitched him the ball and he'd swing and miss he would say "I suck!" hehehehe. I kept on pouring on positive encouragement and praise though. At one point there was an ant that got on to his yellow plastic bat and he threw it on the ground. He was telling that there was a bug on it and that he wanted me to get it off. *smacked my forehead* He had a great time playing though. At the end he wound up hitting the ball off the grass. Maybe we should have gotten him some golf clubs instead.

After the girls got up from their naps, Fiona took me and the kiddies down to Dave & Busters down at the Irvine Spectrum for lunch. One of the places that is great for taking babies. Loud, not terribly crowded (except weekend nights), and yummy food. Then we walked and got some dessert from Cold Stone Ice Cream. For some reason I'm not really fond of the place (it didn't really standout from other ice cream stores except that it was a little more expensive) but yesterday's treat tasted really good. Fiona had gotten a good portion scoop of vanilla ice cream with bits of Twix candy bar in a waffle cone. We all shared it and it was quite delectable.

We took the kids home after that and put them for a nap until it was dinner time. I was a little stuffed but I still packed it in. We went to dinner with Fiona's parents at our always-fall-back restaurant, China Palace. This place doesn't require a reservation and never quite gets busy. Plus the food is great and Fiona's parents know the owner so we always get freebies.

All in all a good Father's Day.

Puzzle Completed!

This past Friday, Fiona and I completed our puzzle that we started last month without much fanfare. If you recall it was "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by George Seurat. I didn't even take a picture of our accomplishment. It was past 11:00pm and my contacts were getting dry but we decided to make a strong push to finish it. We didn't even take a moment to really look and stare at our challenged work. We'll probably get some puzzle glue and frame it and we'll have to look for another puzzle to start on.

Napping With A Mate.

Have you ever seen the episode of Friends where Ross and Joey accidently fall asleep on the couch? They wake up realizing that they had just fallen asleep in each other's arms and are freaked out from their insecurities. They vow to never mention the incident to anyone. Throughout the episode they try to fight the urge to discuss it but realize that napping with each other is the best nap that they've ever had. Joey tries to lure Ross back to his couch. After a few failed attempts, at the end of the episode, Joey and Ross are caught napping together by their friends.

My point is this, I am the same way when it comes to napping. Not with another guy mind you. I've told Fiona that I nap better when she's there with me. I nap like crap (20-30 minutes) when she goes out and I nap like a hibernating bear (an hour to an hour and a half) when she's at home. She doesn't necessarily have to nap with me (sometimes she does though) or be cuddling. As long as she's on the couch with me. Most of the time she's reading a book. It's bliss when I nap and she's there. I wake up groggy but that is because I had a quality snooze.

Measuring the Consequences.

Last night, Fiona was reiterating to me a conversation that she had with Jadon. He was getting into some trouble and this is how the conversation went:

Fiona: Jadon, do I have to put you in timeout?
Jadon: Which corner?
Fiona: I don't know, I haven't thought about it. What about the one next to the vacuum?
Jadon (quickly responds): No! (-he despises the vacuum, cries like a baby when I turn it on)

That's the next step in the evolutionary process of measuring out what Jadon can tolerate when it comes to being punished. It makes me wonder what corners he would tolerate. We don't put him in many timeouts. I have used a corner in our master bedroom. I've used one in his room and one in the downstair's bathroom. None of them he tolerates at all.

Talking about timeouts, Jadon hates Rainforest Cafe. Ever since the baboon experience, he doesn't want to go near there again. I asked him if it was okay if I went and that he didn't have to go. He doesn't want me to go (or his momma). Anyways I have jokingly incorporated Rainforest Cafe into his timeouts. When he doesn't listen to me, I'll say "Jadon, if you don't listen to me then put you in timeout at Rainforest Cafe." That works really well.

Miss Frankenstein & Miss I-Don't-Want-Stuff-Animals-In-My-Bed

The girls have exuded different behaviors, both purposefully and unpurposefully. It's always a joy to observe the habits of the twins and just wonder where in the heck they learned it from. They're so different in their personailities and what they do. It's not like they watch that much television and it's not like they are exposed to a whole lot of people to the point where they are picking up funny habits.

Natalie is really picking up her walking as of late. Although she is behind the "normal" child for her age (about 4-5 months) in her development, it's still a joy to see her hit her milestones. She's probably walking 75% of the time (as oppose to crawling). The funny thing about her walking is the expression of her face and what she does with her arms. She looks like Frankenstein. Her arms stretched out in front of her and she lifts her shoulders up so she looks like she has no neck. Then her facial expression can look hilarious. She has her crooked opened mouth smile. Fiona and I just love to imitate her. She's definitely a much happier baby now that she has found this new mode of transportation.

Vanessa has two stuffed animals in her bed, a blue bear and a white bunny dressed in a light green outfit. Both are very plush. We wanted the girls to have a stuffed animal that they can befriend (just like Jadon and Doggie). Well every nap and sleep, Vanessa always throws her animals out of bed (just like Jadon did with Doggie). We thought by now that she would have grown an attachment to either one of the stuffed animals but it doesn't look like it's meant to be. We have lectured her on throwing things out of her bed, but we've abandoned that method. Last night I decided to put her stuffed animals into each of the corners of her crib. I wedged them in between her mattress and her crib so it would be difficult to catapult them to the floor. When I put her to sleep, she tried to throw them out but she was unsuccessful. Then she started to cry. So I took them out and left her to go to sleep. She stopped crying a minute later. I didn't check but I'm sure she probably happily threw them out.

I've Been Regifted!

Ever watch the episode of Seinfeld where there is a character by the name of Timothy Watley who ends up regifting a label maker?

Well I have been a victim of regifting (unpurposefully). And do you know what's the worst thing? I have been regifted by my own gift! Would that be "self-regifted"? I won't name any names and I won't say what the gift was. It was a gift that I had given to someone last Christmas and now, for my birthday, had been given back that gift. That hurts.

I remember years back (in college) that for Christmas, I had been given a present from a friend of mine. It was one of those in-fad-hollusion images made into a puzzle. I unwrapped it but I had never opened it. I ended up giving it to one of my other friends (on purpose) for their birthday. From there it just kept going as a joke. It must have been passed on about half a dozen times until finally it got back to the original present-er. She finally decided to open up the puzzle.

Aquarium Outing.

Yesterday I took a day off. Fiona had a last minute orthodontist appointment in the morning which meant that I needed to be home to watch the kiddies. We decided to hit up the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach after that. The last time Fiona and I went there was not too long after the grand opening back in 1998. One of the things that I remembered there was that we were only there for a little less then 2 hours. We were hoping that this time around the aquarium would have expanded and that our stay would be longer. We thought wrong. We arrived at at the aquarium at about 1:30pm. It took about 20 minutes to get our tickets because they only had one ticket booth opened. After the line got longer the staff members decided to open up another one. Still though, they took a freakin' long time. The place around there has certainly developed with an out-door plaza with a lot of restaurants. Natalie was the first one to start crying. When we hit our first tank she was in tears. As we got going and we occupied her with gold fish, she started to calm down. Then that was when Jadon started to act up. He started to get scared because the viewing areas were dark. Vanessa, on the otherhand, seem to enjoy herself. She was laughing at the sea lions and at some of the fish. Jadon got to touch his first shark (I'm not sure what type but it was a small one). I was able to touch a sting ray. Reminds me of sushi. Probably some of the cooler exhibits were the different jellyfishes. They came in all sorts of colors and sizes. They also had this partiuclar tank where they displayed four different egg sacks (about the size of a clam) . They were able to open one side of the egg and cover it with a clear protective sheet so views can see inside. You can see baby fish growing inside. So how long where we there for? We were there for a little over an hour or so. Jadon wanted to go home and the exhibit itself isn't that huge. Fiona and I determined that for the price of admission it wasn't worth it even though we had a 'buy one get one free' plus we got Jadon's admission for a discounted price PLUS the girls got in free. At least the kiddies got to go to see an aquarium for the first time.

Natalie The Bully And/Or Vanessa The Cry Baby?

(Vanessa has developed into quite a little speedy walker. You take your eye off her one moment and *zip* she's gone. She's an independent trooper. Natalie, on the other hand, is taking her time in learning to walk. She's in a transition where when she walks she uses her hands to balance and she is taking steps like she's in rehab. She's a clingy and needy baby. You would think that Vanessa has an advantage over her sister when it comes to getting away from her.)

Yesterday, Jadon was playing with a bell that he got from the wedding (there were little bells placed on the dinner table so you can ring it to try to get the bride and groom to kiss). There were times when Jadon would just leave the bell on the ground and that would be a green light for the girls (especially Vanessa) to pounce on it. Vanessa got her hands on it, and her face just lit up as if she finally got the prize that she has been eyeing for so long (her facial features resemble that of Gollum on Lord Of The Rings when he finally has the ring in his possession). Natalie would notice what Vanessa had and walk after her. Vanessa (aka Speedy Gonzalez) zoomed across the room. She's laughing and avoiding being caught by Natalie. Natalie decided to forget walking after her sister and she got into a crawl (where she knows that she is quicker). So Vanessa ran all around the room and Natalie was catching up to her. Vanessa went from laughter to whining because she can't seem to shake Natalie's trail. Vanessa ended up getting stuck being cornered by the couch and the wall. Natalie latched on Vanessa's clothes and grasped at the prize and Vanessa broke out into a cry. Daddy, who is sitting on the couch and observing this, was laughing hysterically. Jadon ended up taking the bell away. Vanessa finally stops crying, her face all red and tears streaming down her face. Natalie's face was emotionless (as if she was saying "what did I do?"). A few minutes later, the bell is no longer with Jadon. It laid on the floor unnoticed for a few minutes. Vanessa noticed it and then.....rewind it to a few minutes....same thing happens and Daddy was laughing even harder. This happened again a few minutes later.

So is Natalie a big bully or is Vanessa a big baby? I know that Vanessa loves to be chased after because I do it all the time. But I think that Natalie likes to torment her younger sister. Sometimes I think that Vanessa wants to get caught by her sister even though she cries. Shortly after the whole bell scene, Natalie demonstrated this behavior. Jadon likes to collect plastic cups (with lids) that he gets from his kids' meals from various restaurants that we go to. So there's enough cups for all the kids to play with. Well Vanessa had cup in hand and Natalie was going after her's even though there were two cups right next to her. I pointed out the unused cups on the floor to Natalie. She saw them, but went after Vanessa's. Of course that led to Vanessa to evade Natalie and start crying (and Dadda laughing).

I am sure that someday my demeanor will all change and I will get frustrated from the girls fighting all the time, but I just have to enjoy it while I can.

A Birthday And A Wedding.

This past weekend we celebrated a birthday and a wedding. My birthday was yesterday (Sunday) but Fiona started the festivities on Saturday (I will leave my age unsaid although I have reached a new decade in my life and it's not after forty ;)). She took me and the kids out for lunch at Knott's Berry Farm Chicken Restaurant. Biscuits.......hmmmm so good. Then for dinner she took us to the Macaroni Grille. Lobster ravioli.......hmmmmmm so delicious. Then for lunch the next day she took us to Island's burgers. One of my favorite burger places. Fries with ranch dressing......hmmmmm so yummy. As you can tell, we're into food big time.

Yesterday evening I attended Swit and Jennifer's wedding (Congratulations!). We couldn't secure a baby sitter to look over the kiddies, so I took Jadon with me and Fiona took care of the girls at home. It was held at the Summit House Restaurant in Fullerton. The ceremony was held outside. Beautifully done, except the heat was a little overbearing (all the shaded spots were taken). The reception was really well done and extremely festive and fun. There were several people that I have not seen for a long time (a lot of them were my parents' friends children who have all grown up). Aside from some instances of being scared of flies and being approached by Swit's 18 month old nephew (and the ring bearer), Jadon just had a ball. He met lots of 'uncles' and 'aunts' but the special one is him seeing his cousin Jessie. Jadon gave her a hug right off the bat. The last time they saw each other was when Jadon was a month old or so. Jessie was the flower girl for the wedding and she looked so cute. She resembles her papa so much. Jadon was on the dance floor showing off his new moves. It was really cute to see him dance with Jessie as well. When it came time to leave, shortly after 9:00pm and way past Jadon's bedtime, he reminded me that we still have chocolate birthday cake at home. On the way home he was yawning and he told me that he wanted to go to sleep when we got home and that he could have the cake some other time. You would think that a kid would be so focus on something such as a sweet cake but he has the understanding that sleep is more important. I just love his thought process. So when I got home, I gave Jadon a bath and put him to sleep. Fiona and I celebrated by having a Dairy Queen Chocolate Ice Cream Cake (not really cake). Hmmmmm yummy.