Christmas fun!

Such a great Christmas this year, it really felt like a "first" with Vanessa. Even though she didn't seem as excited as we thought she would to see all the presents in the morning, you could tell she knew something was up. She loved her art easel that Santa brought for her and so far cannot get enough of her new potty chair (thanks to Tia Susy) and her tea set (thanks to Tia Marjorie). Most of all the fun has been having a house full of Blancos this year! Vanessa has been sleeping well past 8:30AM (which this mom LOVES) clearly exhausted from having so many people around. We're so glad we've still got much more time to play with everyone...but so far Christmas has been all that we hoped it would be.

Ho, Ho, Ho...it's cookie making time

I can hardly believe it's December already. I love the feeling of Christmas time and it's been even better this year in our very own house, in our very own neighborhood. Every night it's like a magic transition as the houses on our streets light up with lights - such a pretty sight! Vanessa is in a bit of awe when it comes to all the lights and our tree, she pretty much just stands there staring then walks around saying "star", "lights", "balls", "pretty". Her way of describing the "kiss-miss tree" as she calls it. In my continuing quest to do "mom" things, we've been busy making up Christmas cookies this year. Who knew they were such a work out! I think I need a good nap (since I never seem to start making them until 8:30pm) and a massage by the time this holiday baking fest is over. With a few size issues, this cookie-rookie seems to be doing quite alright. I've learned a thing or two also like...what shortening is and what the heck a jigger of whiskey is ;-) Looking forward to some family time next week and a wonderful holiday!! Ready for winter Us at 22 1/2 weeks

Dancing with old friends and meeting new faces

It's no secret Vanessa loves to dance. She especially loves dancing with "friends", as many as her little hands can carry as you can see from the video below ;-) We all went to the doctor today and got to "meet" little baby Blanco! Wow...technology. Can't wait until April!

Doorbell...doorbell...doorbell

Here's Vanessa waiting for the doorbell Happy Halloween everyone! We spent this year's Halloween in our new house in our new neighborhood anxiously waiting to hand candy to all the costumed kids. Waiting...and waiting...and waiting. The rain poured down most of the night that the few kids we did get had moms & dads waiting in their car in the driveway. Poor things. The rain let up for a little while and Vanessa was all too excited to answer the door. "Doorbell....doorbell...doorbell" was ALL we heard ALL night long. Seriously, ALL NIGHT LONG. She got to see her share of costumes, including a visit from Barack Obama, and no thanks to Mother Nature and the rain mom and dad got much much more of their share of left over candy. Barack Obama visits

Pumpkins, cider donuts and Reggae music

We headed back to the apple orchard this weekend to pick up some pumpkins...of course while there we had to get a few more apples and grab some yummy cider donuts too. The place was packed with people, the line for donuts unreal but so worth the wait. You can't go apple picking without getting cider donuts...just like you can't have an apple orchard in Upstate NY without a great live Reggae band. Right??? Take a peek at the video of Vanessa gettin' her groove on to the steel drums. She was a real show stealer ;-) It's truly Fall everywhere here! We took some pictures of Juan getting his taste of the joy's of home ownership in the fall (or maybe it's the woes of owning a mulching mower and not a bagged one?)

Beach fun

Who says beaches are only for the summer...not us! We got to spend the weekend with friends up in Wells Beach, Maine and aside from a little rainy drizzle on Saturday the weekend was perfect. Vanessa got to hang with her friends Rich and Maddie and even got to have a little dance party - her favorite activity especially when she has partners to dance with. We also got to enjoy some time in the sand which Vanessa was all too happy to do. It was pretty clear to this mom and dad that next summer needs to include a lot more beach time (ok by me!). On second thought, maybe she was trying to tell us we need to buy a beach house???? Before we hit the road for Maine we had a great visit with Aunt Sue or as Vanessa calls her "Aunt Ssss-Ssss". Vanessa loves having visitors and was not shy with cuddles and kisses.

Thump thump...thump thump

Yesterday we all went to my OB appointment and got to hear the little heartbeat growing inside! Thump, thump...thump, thump. Music to our ears. Even Vanessa was curious about the funny sound coming from mommy's belly, either that or wondering why this strange woman was putting a machine over it. I'm 13 weeks at the end of this week, the countdown to April 2010 has begun. The new blanco isn't the only one growing, Vanessa had her 15 month check up this week and is getting taller by the day. She weighed in at just 21lbs (our little peanut still), but is now 31 1/2 inches tall. She may only be in the 10% percentile for weight but she's now in the 60th percentile for height....grow girl, grow. Nothing wrong with being tall and thin! The better to hit the golf ball according to daddy.

Apple Picking

We can hardly believe the summer is over - blink in Upstate NY and it seems like you miss it. We spent the summer visiting with friends and enjoying every bit of the outdoors. It really seems quite amazing how every day things you've done before suddenly seem new and exciting when you start seeing them through the eyes of a 15mos old! Vanessa had a great summer for sure and we're now moving on to Fall...and nothing says Fall like a little apple picking! Vanessa (and Juan) had their first taste of what this little tradition is all about. Now I've got to learn to make apple pie :-/

Our new t-shirt is much more than a pair of cute owls

Nothing says "sorry we've been slackers about blog posts" better than a new post showing off Vanessa's new t-shirt ;-) Baby Blanco #2 blessing our lives on, around or as close to April 10th, 2010

Cruisin' on the lake

Summer fun here in NY! What could be better than sitting out on deck watching an amazing lake view with friends? We spent time out at Lake Bonaparte this weekend with the Hardings and our gracious hosts Doug and (Sara) Zido. Vanessa boarded a boat for the first time and seemed to like it (well, except the first time but we'll blame that one on poor timing and planning on mom's part since it was dangerously close to dinner time). It was also her first real feel of wet sand. LOL! Very funny to watch, she didn't quite know what to make of the way it felt in her toes. Wet sand aside she had fun playing and splashing in the water, watching (or was it stalking?) two-year old Maddie and hanging out with everyone. She even fell asleep sitting up in mommy's hands on the way back to camp.

Visitors from the east

We were lucky this weekend and had two special visitors from MA come to play...Kelley and her little boy Colton. Vanessa had lots of fun chasing (or was it following) Colton around, playing with his cars and of course a little dance party action was had! You think Vanessa has some moves, you should see Colton salsa! Once the kiddies were in bed the mommies got to hang on the deck with a nice bottle of wine, some hungry mosquito's and lot's of girl talk! On another note, miss Vanessa's getting pretty good at holding a golf club. Daddy's very proud. Watch out folks...it's not just Sam Woods you'll be watching on the future LPGA.

Enjoying summer

We've been keeping busy and trying to enjoy every nice day we have...isn't summer great! Hoping everyone had a great 4th full of family, friends and fun. Can't believe it's July already...where does the time go?? They aren't kidding when they say once you have children the calendar seems shorter. Vanessa is doing great - walking, no wait...nearly running, everywhere and babbling away more than ever. So funny to have "conversations" with a 13month old. This past weekend marked my first Utica Boilermaker 15k RoadRace (9.3 miles)...one word = amazing! An insane amount of people everywhere it was so crazy and yet so fun. I finished 4,811th out of 10,852 runners. LOL!! Amy and I were happy with our time (1:23min) especially since the first three miles we could barely take four steps before we were getting kicked in the shins by the people in front of us. Seemed as though every time we passed someone there we were again behind a "wall" of sweaty rear-ends. I never ran in such a zig-zag before, but I'll do it all again next year. The fact that the finish line is at the Saranac Brewery might make up for some of the frustration. We left Vanessa with grandma since we figured an 8am start and 40,000 spectators might be a bit much for her...maybe next year.

Father's Day fun

Happy Summer! We spent a great weekend having fun with daddy and Tia Susy. Went out for breakfast this morning and after Vanessa finished eating a bowl of fruit, two scrambled eggs and some toast (not bad for a little 18lb peanut!) we hit the park for some swings. I think Vanessa has found a new love in the swings. Happy Father's Day Dad's!

Cupcakes and candles...look who's ONE!

Wow...one year already. OMG time flys!! A short 12 months ago we were spending the day at the hospital helplessly staring at this tiny little girl wondering if we would ever be able to stop. Of course we never have stopped staring since every day it seems like there's something new to look at or watch. Yesterday she was all swaddled up and barely able to 'break free', today she's walking around the house singing (at least that's what we call it). We celebrated her one year with family and friends and cupcakes.....later we celebrated "way-to-go-mom-and-dad-you-made-it" day alone on the couch with a good movie and a great bottle of wine ;-) Thank you to everyone who was able to make the drive. It meant a lot to us to have you all there. We know those that could not make the trip were there with us in spirit and we appreciate that just the same! Here's a little video of Vanessa opening a few of her first birthday cards that she received in the mail...if you can't tell, she loves getting mail. l

Two Teef

We finally got a good shot of the chompers on miss Vanessa...wanted to share this no longer toothless grin with the rest of ya

Mother's Day and drive way walking

This past weekend I got to celebrate my very first Mother's Day. I loved every minute of it! We had a great family weekend hanging out in downtown Saratoga, strolling in the park and taking in the Albany Tulip Festival. Vanessa continues to amaze me (us) every day....I can't believe she's nearly one! Below are videos that will hopefully make you smile and laugh as much as it did us. I fell victim to "I want that" at Babies R' Us last week and bought, on the spot, a new toy for Vanessa. What? You would too if you saw how much she loved it! She started playing with the piano keys in the store and laughing, singing and dancing up and down to the point that every shopper near to us stopped and commented. How could I NOT go home with it??? As you can see...she loves it even more at home!

Eye of the Tiger

Today marked my first run with my daughter. Only thing is that all you people out there who make running with a stroller LOOK so easy...forgot to tell me that it really is NOT easy! At first I thought it was just the fact that I can be a bit um, shall we say "uncoordinated", but now I really just think running with a stroller is hard work! I swear I started singing 'Eye of the Tiger' on my way back just to pump myself up. You can see from the video that Vanessa clearly does not share my views about how difficult running with mom might be. If you listen closely, she'll tell you just how marvelous she thought our run was.

What a difference a day makes

Lot's of excitement around here over the weekend. To start we had oodles of playdates! We were lucky enough to have the Wells family come stay for awhile while they were in town for a wedding...lucky really to have Richie all to ourselves for a bit. Although Vanessa couldn't get enough of him (probably wanted too much for Rich's liking at times), she really liked when he left for the wedding and she got to play with all his toys solo! The fun continued with a visit from our friend Marina and then even more friends on Sunday as we finally got to meet Kay Tichy (of course mom forgot to take pics!). BUT the biggest news is that we finally **drum roll please** have a TOOTH!! A little bity piece of white, sharp as a nail, on the bottom popped out on Sunday morning. We think Vanessa must have had some great sleep on Saturday night because she woke up Sunday and started using a few of her signs that mom's been working on all by herself ("more", "milk", and "eat") and has a tooth. Wow...what a difference a day makes! Trying to get a shot of the tooth!

Easter! Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! The last pic is a little shot of Vanessa "helping" mommy with the laundry. The pants on the head is in honor of our friend Haley Larson!

Home Sweet Home

Ahhh is pretty much the word of the day EVERY day around here these days. Back from Orlando, we're getting settled in and 39 Timbira is really feeling like "home". Hence the .....Ahhhhhh. We had such a great time in Orlando and were so glad to be able to spend time with our family down there. I got to celebrate my birthday (22?) and have my very first VeggieTales party. Party hats and all! My nephew Joshua was also born on 3/20 so we decided to make it a joint event. Good thing he's a fan of Bob the Tomato! Vanessa loved all the company and couldn't get enough of her cousins! Vanessa is the big 1-0 today! 10 months old and this mom can barely keep up with her. We've mastered crawling and moved on to standing and are on the verge of the "cruising" stage. "Careful what you wish for" is what I keep reminding myself. I'm certain that no sooner will I see her take her first step and then she'll be sprinting down the driveway! We're waiting for Spring to not just come but to really and truly STAY! I'm getting ready to start training for this years Utica Boilermaker 15k Road Race and these OLD bones just can't hack a run in the cold!!