The Newest Banguilan

This past week was Thanksgiving but I forgot to bring my camera so,we have pictures of everything but the family visits. We had great fun though. Thursday was spent with the Banguilan side at Anna's brothers house. There was a lot a really great food and lots of friends for Jaiden to play with. This year was my first to try a deep-fried turkey and if you've never had one,you should try it. They are really good and quick to cook.

Friday, Jaiden Lilli and I went up to Hendersonville to see the crew up there. My sister and her family came over from Charlotte and my step sister and her family came up from Greenville. Jaiden and Lilli did great in the car (it is a 3 hour drive) which means that I did good too... We stayed the night friday and came home Saturday after a little shopping in Asheville.

Now on the the pictures that I do have. As is becoming a tradition in our home, we decorated a gingerbread house again. This year is was mostly anna and jaiden but she sis take some pictures. Once again, I think Jaiden ate more than actually got on the house but I think that is the fun of it. It will be interesting to see how much is left bu Christmas...

We also had some time to take some family pictures.nothing formal but I think they are the best we have so far.

Every day, Lilli is showing a little more personality. She loves to smile for anna and she loves o be held. Just like her brother, she also love to cuddle.

This is as close as we can get to a family picture.

And this is our new addition. His name is Gilbert (we think) and he is fitting in wonderfully. He was born in a home with 2 small kids and 2 big dogs so he gets along with everyone. He too loves to cuddle. I got him from my sister so I picked him up in NC. Needless to say we had a 3 hour drive home with me, 2 babies, and 1 kitten. I think I did pretty good though; the kitten only cried for about an hour, Jaiden only had to stop once to pee and Lilli only cried for about 45 min (the last 45 mins.) and I still got home somewhat sane. Anyways, he is Jaiden's new best friend and he thinks Toby is his momma...

Yesterday, I left Lilli in bed to sleep a bit longer. When I went to check on her, this is what I found.

Jaiden continues to love the camera so whenever we have it out, he has to take some pictures too. Here is one of his self-portraits.

And as if that wasn't enough, we (anna) were dog sitting for a friend. Mickey is a great dog and anna couldn't resist getting some pictures. I was impressed that she got them both to sit at the same time...

Lots of love and hugs,

Steph, Anna, Jaiden, and Lilli

It's finally done!!!

It's been about 2 months but Jaiden's new quilt / duvet cover is finally done. For the last 3 days, everynight he has ask me where his new blanket was so finally, it's done. I'm not sure how much you can tell by the pictures but the whole thing has cars, truck, firetrucks, police cars, ect, ect... We are bith very happy with the final product. I've also included a picture of the new corner unit my dad built. It is the Prefect addition for his room. THANKS POPS!!!

Love and hugs,

Steph, Anna, Jaiden, and Lilli

A Beautiful Weekend

Here in the Banguilan home, we had a great weekend!!! The weather was perfect so I really wanted to get outside. Saturday, that was not to be but Sunday, that was a different story. We'll start with Saturday though.

We woke up and as usual, Jaiden wanted to hold his little sister. Lilli's personality is just starting to come out and I think she really enjoys these moments too. After the photo shoot, we decided to get up, get breakfast and get showered. We took our first family shower and while I was getting a towel for Lilli, Jaiden found his old froggie towel and couldn't resist. Once again, Anna couldn't resist taking a few more pictures.

Even though I desperately wanted to be outside, I made the decision that we should go to the mall. (I had a little help from Jaiden too.) We decided to go to the "MALL OF GEORGIA" (echo, echo, echo...) We had a great time. At one end of the mall, there is a little kid play place and even though it was packed, the mall was strangely calm and even enjoyable. The highlight of Jaiden's trip was the train though. Going around the kiddie place was a train. I've seen them at outdoor events but I've never seen them inside. There were no tracks so it was run by what looked like a really modified golf cart. None the less, Jaiden (and Anna) had great fun. While they were riding the train, they saw Santa. Who would have guessed that Santa would be out before thanksgiving but Jaiden wanted to go see him so... off we went. It was great! There were no lines! We were in and out in about 20 mins. (The only reason it took so long is because the 1 family in front of us couldn't get their kids to smile. It took them about 15-20 tries... My family - first shot!) Anyway, Santa was great in that he made sure I heard all of Jaiden's 2 requests, none of which I had heard before.

After the Santa excitement, we decided to get some dinner and head home. It was a great day even if it was inside. With that behind us, I decided that Sunday would definitely be spent outside so we decided to go to Stone Mountain. Anna wanted to take Jaiden up the side of the Mountain in the rail cars so, we did. I wasn't sure how he would take it, being up so high, but he did great. This is a quick picture Anna took while we were standing in line. Lilli is in her new sling that Nana made for us. We both LOVE it. (BTW - the fabric that she picked out has pink Lillis on it just for our little flower.)

It ended up to be a perfect day and I swear that we could see all the way to TN. In this picture, you can just barely see the mountains in the distance. We must had sat there for an hour just staring at the sky and enjoying the sun.

Here is the rail car that we rode up on.

Jaiden and Nanay were a bit more adventurous that I was so they went down to the edge where the fence was. You can't tell that she absolutely adores him...

After is got dark, we went over to Cross Roads to have dinner. They too had started their Christmas festivities so the lights were beautiful. We discovered that Jaiden loves to shop. Maybe because that's seems to be all we do but anyways, he loves it. After dark, they had their little Christmas parade which was short and sweet and Lilli even woke up to see it. Anna now calls her roster because her hair sticks up n the back. Even though we are seen more of her eyes, we still can't tell what color they are. I think brown and Anna thinks hazel but we both agree, they are stunning.

Here is a little video of our little girl in "action".

We hope that you are having as much fun as we are!

Love and hugs!!!

Steph, Anna, Jaiden and Lilli

silly time with momma

Now back to our regularly scheduled blog...

This morning we had a special little treat. Nanay stayed home a bit longer jut to cook us breakfast and to let me leep a little bit longer. These are the highlights.

Jaiden found a new hat. (a bowl.)

...and we got to play a new game. kiss momma - kiss Jaiden!!!

And this one is just for Gran-gran!

love and hugs!!!

Steph, Anna, Jaiden, and Lilli

The adventures of "me"

This is not going to be the usual post so if your looking for the wonderful pictures of our beautiful family, check back later. The title of this blog is (or should be) the adventures of Jaiden and Lilli one day at a time but today I'm feeling the need to share part of my adventure. Not so much for anyone else's benefit but more for a feeling of just getting it out knowing that someone else will see it, understand it, and somehow validate it even if it is all unspoken. I'm still not sure that this is the right place but here we go none the less...
I guess we'll start with my day. I had a feeling it was coming but this morning, I lost a very dear friend; my cat of 10 years Oscar. He was always a very loyal companion and as much as any cat can be, he was mine. His energy will be greatly missed along with the occasional head-butts and the evening lap warming.
Along with this loss, I feel like my life is taking a new direction. I realized today that I've had Oscar as long as I've been in my current profession (a little bit of everything at Studio 8). Yesterday, I went to the shop for a visit for the first time since Lilli's birth and it was a very weird feeling. Not bad but weird. It was like suddenly looking down and realizing that the shoes you've been wearing for the past 11 years don't fit anymore. They're very comfortable shoes but when you look down, they just don't feel good. When you look a little closer, you realize that they don't look good either and they have a few holes in them. It's not really that big of a deal because you know you can just go get a new pair of shoes it's just a weird feeling because you've worn them so long. Anyways, that's how I felt yesterday at a place where I've called home for almost 11 years. It seems like everywhere I look, I see change. Good change but change none the less. One neighbor is moving due to foreclose, another lost his job, a new life is born, and an old friend is lost. I feel so blessed and I'm not scared. I think I'm just trying to figure out this new role called "me". Anna had a meetup last week called "What hats do you wear". I feel like I am gracefully taking off one hat in favor of another even if I'm not sure what that new hat is. I am so enjoying staying home with my children and I'm not under any delusion that this is it for me. In some ways, I envy those women (and men) that can devote their whole lives to their kids putting all of their dream on hold. I know that I'm not one of those people. My children will always come first and how can I teach then to be true to themselves and enjoy life if I can't do the same.
When I think back, I had a similar feeling to this after Jaiden was born. That's when I decided to become a Hypnobabies instructor. I have never regretted that decision and because of that I know that the decisions I make from here will always lead me in the right direction, I'm not sure where this new road is going but I'm going to do my best to enjoy the ride.
In love and light,
Steph

Halloween 2009 - a first for everyone

This year, our Halloween was a bit more laid back. Lolo and Lola Kathy came in from AL to visit and the even brought a friend with them. Maya, Kathy's grand-daughter came to celebrate her 7th birthday (and to see the new baby.) Everyone fell in love with our little girl.

Uncle Tony and Aunt Liza even came over for a visit.

After a 3 hour family nap, we got ready for trick-or-treating. Jaiden couldn't decide what he wanted to be so I think the final verdict was a fire-fighter pirate. (notice the sword... which did eventually get ditched because it impeded his ability to run to the doors. Nothing like candy to motivate.) He started out just wanting to be a pirate but wouldn't put on the shirt. Then he switched from the pirate hat to the fire-fighter hat so there you go... I was originally just going to let Anna take Jaiden (and Maya) out but as she was walking out the door, she said, "Now, how do you do this again..." I remembered that she didn't grow up with holidays and had no clue how to trick-or-treat... I quickly grabbed the baby and some shoes so off we went...

Lilli was a zebra (thanks to aunt jess) complete with ears and a tail. She was nice and warm for a cold and rainy trick-or-treat.

Nanay was GREAT!!!! Jaiden said he wanted her to be a pirate too so, never the one to disappointed, she pulled this out of the closet. (I'm not sure how many people can randomly pull a pirate costume out of their closet but that's my girl!) What you can't see in this picture is the sword and the thigh high leather boots... I am so luck/ blessed to have such a wonderful family!


A few final notes. I realized again tonight that to me, trick-or-treating is a very odd tradition. As a parent, sending my 3 year old up to strangers doors for candy is more than a bit frightening. As an adult, I remember thinking of the parents who would drive their kids around in their van and how it was some how "cheating". This year, we were those parents...

Much Love and Hugs!!!
Steph, Anna, Jaiden and Lilli

Gran Gran ... part of the official Lillianna delivery team.... wooohoo!! Momma Steph, literally hours after giving birth, she is such a hostess....

Fuzzy baby love!!!

The kidzzzz ....No refund needed!!

Thanks Steph, you sure do make some pretty kidz....
Lovin' my family bigger to 'da sky!!

Amazing....

Happy Nanay (pronounced nie-nie)Love...love...love :)