Snow Day!!!

Here in GA, it's pretty rare that we get snow and when we do, it surely doesn't stick arourd too long so we quickly took advantage of it. Jaiden and I stayed in mostof the day while it snowed, and snowed, and snowed... 3-4" total. Before the sun went down, we managed to get all dressed up and outside. (all 4 of us.) Here are a few pictures...
Love and hugs,
Steph, Anna, Jaiden and Lilli

Part 2

Here are a few misc pictures from my camera. I found that toting 2 kids and a camera is often impractical so the phone is a blessing.

Jaiden at the park exploring all of the different ways to go down the slide.

Sister Love!

Beautiful babies!! (even though Jaiden says he's a big boy.)

The Yellow River Game Ranch.

Happy Hair!

Not so happy hair...

Even with a bow, the hair still wins.

This is from Christmas day when the big boys (Tommy and Davie) race their rc cars. Jaiden had to get in on the action so... If you listen, you can hear him say "Watch out, race cars coming through."

I think this one speaks for itself.

Love and hugs!

Steph, Anna, Jaiden and Lilli

ps - Anna is doing great too. Maybe she will hijack the blog again and tell you for herself ;)

Wow, it's been a while

So I just realized just how long its been since I updated the blog and to my defense, I tried about a month ago. I got a few pictures uploaded and someone needed something so... I guess we'll start with Christmas. It was wonderful! We went down to FL which we haven't done in a while and of course, Jaiden loved all of the attention and Lilli got plenty of hugs (not to mention all of the presents that both kids got. A BIG Thanks to all!) Above is one version of the traditional "family photo" which is always amusing. It's great to see how the family has changes over the past 30+ years.


I recently read a book in my quest to become an API leader that really inspired me and got me thinking about family and the real meaning of the word. The book was "Hold on to your Kids" and it was all about attachment, what that means and how to create it. In years past, society was set up to foster the child's attachment to an adult (usually the parents) but now, with technology going faster than traditions, parents need to actively pursue a relationship with their kids. One part of the book was about creating traditions. I realize now that my family DOES have them, I really enjoy them, and I want to share them with my children. I guess have kids of your own lets you stop and think about what is important. For me, it's my kids.
Speaking of which, we have all enjoyed me staying home with them. Jaiden thoroughly enjoys the library and the park (when it's warm enough) and Lilli LOVES the bath (see the pics below).


Gilbert loves everyone but especially Lilli. It seems like whenever I am nursing or she is sitting somewhere, he is right next to (or on top of) her. Sometimes he will play with her but we try to limit that behavior since his play includes his needle like appendages.

I still struggle to get Jaiden in the bath but when I succeed, he has a great time. I am constantly trying to find some new use for an old thing that will entice him to de-stink so on this occasion, it was a pitcher. These pictures are definitely going in the scrap book. He is not bathing with sister yet but I'm hopeful that when she gets a bit bigger, they will have pitchers of fun together.

With the extra time of us being home, we had the opportunity to make a cake. One evening, while Anna and Jaiden were on YouTube, they came across this cake so... we made it. Of course jaiden had as much fun eating it as he did making it but that's what it's all about, right!

Lilli, on the other hand, would probably stay in the bath 24-7 if she could. that is my secret weapon if she gets too fussy, which isn't too often but it's still good to have. She is a GREAT baby but I often say how could a baby not be great. Last week she started blowing bubbles and just yesterday, she rolled over 3 times! She sleeps great at night and it helps a lot that she is in our room.

( I figured I'd include a picture of me for once...)

Jaiden's breakfast face: frozen blueberries.

I'm going to upload a few videos and a few more pictures from my phone so stay tuned.

For those of you that are interested, I am in the process of becoming an API Leader. That stands for Attachment Parenting International. You can get more information at http://www.attachmentparenting.org/ but to me, it's all about parenting with love and respect. I will keep you up to date as to my progress.

Love and hugs!

Steph, Anna, Jaiden and Lilli

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