Christmas again!

My brother Ryan is so good with my kids. He loves them so much and they love him tons. It's been a month and a half since they've seen each other. Everyone was so excited today because he came over and gave the kids their Christmas presents. He drove up to the house in his Santa hat and had a trunk full of presents!


Jaden got a tool set, a big helicopter, and a big truck that carries all of his cars!



Kaylie got a baby doll that cries, eats, sleeps and comes with a carrier and a diaper bag and other baby accessories. She loves it so much. The first thing she did was start feeding the baby a bottle.

She also got some My Little Ponies and a play guitar

He also got them 2 outfits each! What a great Uncle! He did an awesome job picking out all the toys. (the outfits were picked out by Grandma) The kids were so happy and played with the toys all day. Thank you RyRy!!! We love you!

The fun day ended with him buying us Smart Cookies - the delicious sugar cookies...mmmmm!!!!

Pee-pee on the potty

Kaylie went pee-pee on the potty for the very first time yesterday! I was so proud. I'm starting on potty training Jaden officially this time and she wanted to do it, too.

Mr. Jaden

Megan: Jaden, do you want to take a nap? are you tired?
Jaden: No, I woke up at 9, I'm not tired.
(he must have heard me tell my mom on the phone that he woke up at 9 this morning and I was so excited!)

AJ and I bickering about something we were buying at Walmart. Jaden says to me, "It be okay Mommy. Daddy is just teasing you." Talk about sweetest little boy ever!

Mommy: What do you think about that Mr. Jaden?
Jaden: Mr. Mommy!!!

He knows his full name now and he says it all the time. "Jaden Ath-stotle (Aristotle) James"

What makes me happy

Jaden giving me hugs and saying "I love you so much Mommy."
Kaylie's little voice in the morning saying "mommy!" with her big smile.
Talking to my mom on the phone everyday.
Getting little packages in the mail from my mom.
The rare times that my sister Megan and I get to hang out by ourselves and have girl time.
Watching good TV shows.
AJ telling me I'm beautiful or that I'm a good mom and do an awesome job.
Tanning...being tan...getting tan...looking tan. =)
When Jaden and Kaylie get new toys or clothes.
Sleeping in...uninterrupted.
Nap time!
Having a car that I love to drive.
Pizza and yummy food.
Playing games with my family or friends.
Watching AJ play with the kids and make them happy.
Football season - when the Cowboys and the Cougars win.
Cuddling with Jaden and falling asleep.
Re-runs of Full House, Saved by the Bell, Beverly Hills 90210, Friends, Reba.
Hanging out with Nicole and the kids.
Getting my hair and nails done.
Losing weight!
Going to the gym everyday.
Being a mom =)

bounce-o-rama

Kaylie was scared to come down the slide by herself so Jaden waited for her at the bottom saying "I got you Kiki, I won't let you fall." awwwwwwwww

A few days ago we took the kids to Bounce-o-rama. It's one of those fun play places for kids with big blow-up slides and arcade games. We had a lot of fun. Jaden especially loved the Lightning McQueen slide from Cars. AJ and I had fun playing each other in some basketball shooting game. I beat him everytime!!! I was quite proud of myself. Oh and I also beat him on the motorcycle racing game. Which is really funny because he has been riding for a long time.

Private Practice

-one of the best shows ever-
I started watching this show a couple of weeks ago. AJ downloaded all the episodes for me. I'm almost done with the second season. It is such a good show!!! I just love having shows to watch and escape from the real world for an hour. I love "McSammy" - LOL, that's my nickname for Sam. Grey's Anatomy has "McDreamy" and "McSteamy" and Private Practice has "McSammy."

C-A-R-S!

I'm a mom so I have bragging rights...My little boy is awesome!
Jaden's favorite thing for sure is Cars - the movie, anything from the movie, all of his cars, the music, etc. We have been teaching Jaden the letters of the alphabet. He can sing the alphabet and can now point out what the letters look like. Daddy taught him how to spell CARS! He can spell it out loud or spell it with his big letters. This kid is freakin smart if you ask me! He's not even 3 yet!!! I'm so proud of him.

This little man also has an extremely good memory. It's amazing to me how much he remembers up to every little detail. He will randomly say things that he did or something that happened from months ago. He'll remind me of things that I need to get at the store or things I need to do. I tell him before he goes to bed that tomorrow we need to go to the store and get more apple juice and that he needs to remind me. Sure enough, the next morning he tells me we need to go get more apple juice.

His vocabulary is awesome! He speaks in full sentences, prepositions, adjectives, verbs, etc.! AJ's mom was a teacher and she keeps saying how smart he is and how good is vocabulary is. I'm so proud :)

Daddy has been taking Jaden to the middle school here to drive his Lightning around.
He will set up cones and Jaden will actually drive around them. He will reverse and look behind him as he is doing it. He can even do a 3-point turn. :) He loves driving his Lightning. He knows that whenever it is sunny outside he gets to go out and drive it. Maybe he'll be a professional race car driver!


The other day he was talking to me about something and I was just staring at him thinking how cute he is. I said to him, "Jaden, you're so cute!" and he says "No, I'm handsome!" How sweet!

He has formed a new habit of sticking his cute little tongue out a little bit when he is focusing on something. Whether it's reading a book, coloring, drawing, working on something, or driving his Lightning. It's really cute, he's a little Michael Jordan.

Diva, formerly known as Kaylie :)

a true diva will do anything to get what she wants

D-delightful
I-invasive

V-vivacious
A-attitude


definition of diva: A girl or a woman with an exaggerated sense of self-importance. Requiring a great deal of attention and excessive effort to maintain beauty, style and image.

Kaylie "Kiki" James aka Diva! That's her newest nickname that'll probably stay with her forever. We love our little diva, boy is she a diva! Over the past couple of months she has learned to master the temper tantrums. We all know that she's always had a little attitude since a few days after she was born. Don't worry, it hasn't gone away! :)
Here are some tips on how to handle Kaylie...you must handle with care...and be very cautious...

• do not take anything away from her (even if they don't belong to her)...toys, cell phones, food, camera, keys, Jaden's cars, TV remote, etc.)
• do not try to take her away from mommy
• do not try to give her kisses if she is grumpy
• do not leave her in a room alone
• do not buckle her in her car seat
• do not talk to her why she is watching Dora the Explorer
• do not try to feed her anything - she will do it herself
• do not sing songs she doesn't want to hear
• don't tell her what to do. period.

I hope you all got a little giggle from this post. Kiki is definitely full of personality, but that's why I love her! She is a handful, but also so incredibly sweet and gives me the best hugs. I love my Diva!!!

Cowboys for the win!!!!

What a great weekend of football! The Cowboys beat the Eagles last night, the Patriots lost today, and the Cardinals pulled off a win tonight! They were all good games! I love football season...I'm sad that it's almost over.

Today AJ's parents took the kids to the Discovery Museum. It was so nice to have some peace and quiet at home. We watched football and I watched a movie. The kids had so much fun. They came running in the house all excited, telling us what they did. The grandparents said that the kids were really good and had a lot of fun.

As for the movie I watched this afternoon, Lucky #7, one of those silly movies on Lifetime. This one was rrreally good though. It had Kimberly Williams Paisley and the one and only "McDreamy" aka Patrick Dempsey.

On a more serious note, the other day I took Kaylie with me to do some errands. We were walking inside Target and saw a man right in front of the entrance. He was obviously homeless and was digging through the trash can looking for food. He had a shopping cart with him and was putting any food that he found in the cart. It made me really sad, but also very grateful. It made me think of all the times I complained to my parents growing up about the "gross" dinner we were having or not having anything "good" to snack on. I sent a text message to my dad saying thank you for taking care of our family as we grew up and making sure we always had food to eat. My dad said he was very touched and I of course made him cry. Anyway, I'm just very grateful for what I have. Times have been really hard the past few months especially, but I know they could be a lot worse.


I have so much more that I need to blog about, but not enough time here in Cali to do it all. We are going home this week. I'm excited to be back in our house, but we will miss Daddy!!!!

Let's have a tea party!

Kaylie got a doll set for Christmas from her great aunt. We set it up a few days ago and ever since then the kids have loved playing with it, (yes, even Jaden). It came with a table and chairs for dolls, a high chair, a set for a tea party, and a cradle. Quite a few times a day Jaden will say "Mommy come have a tea party with me!" Kaylie really enjoys it as well. She will go off to the room by herself and play with it and put all her babies and stuffed animals in the chairs and feed them. They also like to put their teddy bears and dolls to sleep and cover them up with a blanket. It's really fun to watch them pretend play.

Jaden taking Kaylie for a spin

Jaden and his new ride