Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Hiking adventure!




This last weekend Me, Jake, Jeff, Jack and Maggie went to Pena Adobe for a Hike/Bike ride. Of Course everyone else rode their mountain bikes and I strapped Jake into his front pack and set out for a hike. The weather was beautiful and Jake was bright eyed as we made our way up the mountain taking in the beautiful scenery and the crisp fall air! It amazes me how much Jake likes taking in the new world. He repsonds well to being outdoors and you can tell he really enjoys himself!

Monday, November 24, 2008

Maddie made the honor roll!!!

honor roll Pictures, Images and Photos

First trimester report cards are here and the proof is in the pudding! Maddison D'Marie made the honor roll! Since entering the fourth grade she has been working hard. This is Maddie's first year getting "real" grades. First to third grade you get N's for "Needs Work" or S's for "Satisfactory". This is her first year being graded with the A, B, C and D grades. Although Maddie has had many adjustments in the last few months I am proud that she worked as hard as she did to make the honor roll. Great Job Maddie!!!!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

The Green Eyed Monster

Green Eyed Monster Pictures, Images and Photos

A conversation that starts out as "I know this will make me sound jealous but..." is never good. Yup! The green eyed monster is rearing its ugly head in the life of Miss Maditude.

The other day we went to grocery store and in the dairy aisle she starts out a conversation with that phrase. "Mom, I know this will make me sound jealous but why is it that every time I answer the phone people ask me... "Oh Maddie how is your little brother Jacob or how do you like him?". "Why can't they just ask me how I am why does it always have to be about him?". As you can imagine this comment pretty much blew Maddie's "Oh I'm not jealous" front right out of the water.

Maddie is the only child that has been a constant presence in either my family or Jeff's. Due to this fact, I knew that our newest addition would pretty much rock her world regardless of how much we talked to her about Jake joining our family or how much we set aside time for her as an individual. I have spent many hours prior to Jake's arrival explaining to Maddie that babies are new and exciting for people and that she might feel left out or jealous but everyone loves her and we haven't forgotten about her. I have also explained that Mom has to take care of the new baby and needs her help but that doesn't mean we won't go do fun things together just the two of us. Well, she has been quite the trooper and won't display out right tantrums (not in her nature) but I have noticed a shift in her attitude and her performance in school not to mention the cues and conversations in everyday life.

To soften the blow this adjustment has caused to our only child of nine (yes count them nine) years I have taken Maddie to the movies, went to get Mommy and Daughter mani's and pedis, started a Mother Daughter book club where we read a book together switching off at each chapter. I try to keep her normal schedule making sure she is responsible for her regular chores so as not to overcompensate for our adjustment. We have regular conversations and I make sure to give her the time she needs by herself to adjust and just be.

As I know she loves her little brother Maddie has her good days and her bad days. Sometimes she feels like Jake gets everything and other days she is the typical nine year old that wants to sit in her room watching tv, talking on the phone, singing on her Karaoke machine, playing outside with her friends or writing a song. As parents, Jeff and I need to be mindful of her subtle cues and needs for attention as it is easy to get caught up with Jake since Maddie is in that transition age where she still is a little girl but is starting to pull away as she enters those tween years.

Keep us in your prayers....These are exciting times of change!

Saturday, November 15, 2008

If the zoo wants you, let them come and get you.

Maddie had the day off of school in observation of Veterans Day on Tuesday so we decided to take a trip to the Sacramento Zoo. Our friend Sarah and her twin girls Reagan and Rylie joined us in our little excursion. Being a mom to a newborn after nine years I packed the entire house into a diaper bag or two for all the “just in cases” I could justify. Just short of taking down the crib we ventured off on the first real “far away” trip with the new baby. Anyone that is familiar with where I live will laugh at this comment since the Sacramento Zoo is 25 minutes away and takes about two hours to get through and that is even stopping to eat lunch! Of course, worried as I may have been, Jake fell asleep the moment he was strapped into his car seat and proceeded to sleep through the entire adventure. What can I say…..I am still glad to know that I was prepared for the worst!

Mommy and Maddie posing as Kangaroo and Joey!



Reagan, Rylie and Maddie hanging out with the crocs.




This Chimpanzee was so cute! We got to the Zoo early that morning and this little guy hadn’t had his cup of coffee yet.


These girls love each other!





This would be the view from outside the café where we enjoyed corndogs and burgers, MMMMM!


A smile from a child is packaged sunshine

Gotcha!! I have finally captured Jake's sweet smile! Jake has been smiling quite frequently in the past few weeks but every time I grab the camera to capture the moment it's over. It probably doesn't help that each time he begins smiling I shove this big silver contraption over my face and begin snapping away blinding the poor kid with flashes. To think I actually wonder why he stops what he is doing when I've got the camera in tow. When I look at the picture on my handy dandy digital I've captured some wide eyed, surprised, contorted face staring back at me; not quite the picture I was aiming for……

Anyway!!! Here is a picture of Jake’s smiling face. Of course I have yet to perfect my picture taking skills but this will do for now.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble.

This Halloween we veered from our usual trip to the pumpkin patch in Woodland and went to Silveyville. Silveyville is the same place we go to cut down our Christmas trees each year so it holds a special place in our hearts. Now that we have added one more addition to our family establishing traditions is something we want to begin doing now more than ever. Jeff and I have fond traditions from our childhood we will want to continue honoring with our kids. My Mother in law makes chili every Halloween and my Mom has us wear special jammies every Christmas Eve.


Maddie posing for what we hope to be a yearly pic.


Rounding the corner towards the pumpkin patch and reminising about our tree last year.


Jeff is such a jokster.


Under the walnut tree with Jake in his baby sac.



On Halloween Eve we ventured back up to Woodland and visited Grandma Link and toured the neightborhood for candy. Jake was a Monkey equipped with bananna and tail and Maddie was a vampire with creepy make up and fangs!




Jake and his Monkey Suit


Maddie has to be the cutest scary vampire I have ever seen!

Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous....

Making the decision to have a child - it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking outside your body.

Its Official!!! Jacob Jeffrey Link made his arival on September 18th, 2008 at 12:10 am. After only an hour of labor, almost having him in the car, almost having him in the parking lot of the hospital....I delivered him with no drugs at Kaiser Vallejo in a delivery room. Thank God! We are at home and doing well. Little Jake is 20 inches long and 7 lbs 14 ounces.