Just When I've Had It!

On days when the "terrible threes" (they are worse than the twos) are ready to do me in it is nice to look back on pictures like this!

Breakfast with Santa

The day after Jacob's birthday we went to "Breakfast with Santa" put on by our homeowners association. Due to our mild weather in sunny San Diego Santa arrived by fire truck. (Today was 86 degrees by the way!) No snow for Santa's sleigh and the reindeer would have gotten overheated. Anyhow, we had our pictures taken, nibbled on some snacks and juice, and then Jacob (okay, mostly Michael) made a snowman bucket. We visited with some friends and Olivia, being only 11 days old, caused quite a stir. Santa was a little nervous holding her!

Here comes Santa, Jacob was in awe!

He finally arrived....

... and Jacob got to tell him EVERYTHING he wanted.

Then the whole family had a picture taken.

Michael and Jacob working on their craft.

Jacob's Third Birthday

Jacob celebrated his third birthday this month. It was a week long event. With the birth of Olivia it made things kind of crazy but we wanted Jacob to still have his special day. We had a fire truck party in our backyard with all of his friends on December 10th. Later that evening the family came over for a party and then on his actual birthday (12/15) Jacob got to go to the movies with Dad.

Jacob had fire truck cupcakes at his friend party!

Uncle Bill surprised us by driving Grandma down. She got to enjoy the party and hold Livie.

Here are Jacob's friends. Not everybody wanted their picture taken!

(Left to right: Ethan, Jacob, Jack, Bobby, Connor, Kai, and Thomas)

Jacob's fire truck cake at the family party.

Yum!

Our New Arrival

Well November was a crazy month and as you could see we didn't update the blog very well! Brandie hosted a beautiful baby shower for me at The Boat House restaurant. I meant to post the pictures but then we got busy decorating Olivia's room. I was going to post pictures of that but then I was busy prepping for maternity leave at school. I thought about updating the blog but then was busy getting ready for Thanksgiving. As you can figure out I was going to post pictures of that fun day but then I went into labor! As I said November was crazy!

On November 30th we welcomed Olivia Grace into our family, 4 weeks early! She was 6 pounds 5 ounces and just fine. I guess she didn't want to share a December birthday with her dad or big brother. After a very quick delivery she was more than happy to meet her family.

Here's Olivia just a few minutes old.

This is the midwife who delivered Olivia.

Jacob loves his new little sister!

There is a lot of pink around our house these days.

Sleepy Olivia!

Happy Halloween!

We had a very busy Halloween weekend. First we went to take Jacob's annual Halloween costume photo and then we had to carve our pumpkins. Michael did most of the work and Jacob helped decide what kind of faces we should have. After that we had to get ready for Halloween at daycare so we made chocolate cupcakes for Jacob to share with his friends at Margie's. He has finally learned the joy of licking the beater! Finally it was Halloween night and our little spider wasn't too sure about trick or treating. Jessica had to get out Halloween pictures from last year to show him how much fun he had. He finally decided to give it a try and after a few houses he realized that it was pretty cool to get candy from all of the neighbors. He now wants to trick or treat as soon as it gets dark every night!

Michael and Jacob working on the pumpkins. Two done and two to go!

This is the best part of making cupcakes!

Taking a juice break while trick or treating!

Jacob's first Pixie Stix!

Yummy!

The Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we ended our Sunday evening at the Pumpkin Patch. Jacob had a great time going on a tractor hayride, climbing on haybales, visiting the farm animals, going through the corn maze and of course picking out the pumpkins! Grandma Dottie met us there to join in the fun.

Jacob helping Michael pick out his pumpkin...

and then he found his own!

Here are the four that we decided on.

Stopping to kiss Mommy's tummy in the corn maze.

(There you go Amy we took a picture just for you!)

Fun in the tub!

Here are some silly pictures taken during tub time. Jacob found these fake glasses when we were unpacking our Halloween decorations. He thinks it is hilarious to wear them around the house. You can see what a ham he is! Sometimes that boy has too much personality.

Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's House!

Where does the time go? Michael has been busy with work and of course happy that it is now football season. He's trying to turn Jacob into a fan but that only lasts for a few minutes before Jacob runs off to find something more exciting to do. We are constantly amazed by how much Jacob takes in and processes. Everyday we are surprised by new words and sentences as well as his recall of things in the past. He is outgrowing everything and needs a whole new set of winter clothes.

Jacob is going to be a spider for Halloween and he loves to see the decorations going up in the neighborhood. He is fascinated by skeletons (bones) and ghosts (ghosties). Jacob likes to practice knocking on the front door and saying "trick or treat" and thank you!

Last weekend we went up to Ramona so that Michael could help Grandpa Larry pour some concrete. Jacob loves going to Grandpa and Grandma's house because he can play in the dirt all day and see the animals. We obviously don't dress up when we are going to visit so by the time he is done playing he looks like a ragamuffin!

Jacob playing in Grandpa's dirt pile!

Jacob giving Cooper a big smooch!

Family BBQ!

Life is hectic and crazy with everybody back at work. That means less photo ops and more chores to do on the weekends. Everybody here is good and we are starting to plan the nursery for the new baby. Saturday the 24th we had a family BBQ at the Moon house in Ramona. We celebrated Grandpa Larry and Great Auntie's birthdays and Grandma Vickie showed off her new horse Cooper!

Grandpa Larry, Uncle Bill, Grandma Vickie, Shelby, and Cooper.

Cousin Chris lounging in the backyard.

Great Uncle Bill, Great Auntie, and Jacob with Cooper the horse and Shelby the dog.

We missed a week!

Well like we said life gets crazy when work begins! As you can see we haven't posted in awhile but we also haven't had a lot to share. School started, Jacob finished his swim lessons, and we went to visit the grandmas in LA. Jessica finished her big scrapbook project and actually started another one! Jacob wants to be a photographer and below you can see his attempts, not bad for only 2!

Jacob's picture of Uncle Sean!

Jacob is currently obsessed with motorcycles so he was excited to see that Great Uncle Mike has one stashed away in the garage!

Our current favorite picture of Jacob!

Jacob's picture of Daddy!

Aunt Brandie was at Granma's too! (Jacob took that one as well)

August 15th - August 21st

Well summer is officially over at the Catanzaro house. Jessica went back to work this week and the kids arrive Monday morning Aug. 22nd. Jessica and Jacob ended their summer with a trip to the zoo, just the two of them! They had a great time and of course Jacob had to see the goats which are his favorite. Tuesday Jacob went back to daycare and Jessica headed off for a meeting. She did sneak away for lunch with her 5th grade team! Wednesday through Friday Jessica prepared her classroom and all week she took Jacob to swim class. He is really swimming well and is advanced for his age. Saturday Jessica still had some work to do at school and Jacob wanted to show Daddy the goats so off they went with Grandma Dottie back to the zoo. It is nice that we are members and can visit whenever we want. Sunday Michael and Jacob went on a boys trip to Home Depot and picked out some new flowers to plant in the yard. We had a family day full of yard work and housework and a lot of playing! It was a nice way to get ready for another school year.

Jacob on the Skyfari at the San Diego Zoo!

Jacob's favorite goat! This is the day he went with Mom!

Back at the goats with Dad. I'm not to sure what those goats were doing!

Michael and Jacob gardening.

Jacob helping sweep up after Michael mowed the lawn.

August 8th - August 14th: It's A Girl!

Well our most exciting piece of news this week was finding out that we will be having a girl in December! While we have always said that it wouldn't matter what we had it is fun to think of having a boy and a girl. Jacob wanted a big sister but he's fine with having a little sister now! This was the last full week of vacation and we started it on Monday with another trip to the pool. This time we took along Nikki and her kids Kerri, Bobby, and Elli. That night Jessica went out with the girls to celebrate her friend Jenn's birthday. Tuesday Jessica was back at work for just a half day to do Safety Patrol training. Unfortunately that really hit home that vacation was just about over. Wednesday was the big doctors appointment so Michael took the day off. He joined the playgroup that morning at the Rueben H. Fleet Science Center and a ride on the Zoo Train. It was a small group this week just Jack, Kai, and Jacob were able to make it. Friday was Jacob's last gym class and we took our friends to the pool one more time. Friday night we had a great time at the Gillespie house where an elaborate meal was prepared by the Gillespies, Hollingsworths, Mosses and Weeds. The food and company were wonderful and the "soon to be" middle school girls took Jacob off our hands for the whole evening. We didn't even leave until midnight! Saturday Cheryl and Jessica tried out a new adventure called Dinner A'fare! They prepared 12 meals in just a couple hours and brought them home to freeze. It saves time on shopping, prepping, and cleaning up. The experience was great and we can't wait to try out the dishes. Finally we come to Sunday where we picked up Auntie Brandie and Uncle Sean and headed for SeaWorld. Having annual passes makes it easy to drop in for a quick couple of hours and see just a few things. Later that evening Michael went to the movies with our friend Garrett and that brings us to the start of another new week!

Elli in the pool!

Jacob at the Science Center.

Michael, Jacob, Cheryl, Jack, Sharon and Kai on the Zoo Train!

Michael, Jacob, Auntie Brandie, and Sean at SeaWorld.

Jacob holding a sea star from the tide pool at SeaWorld.

August 1st - August 7th: Pool, Pool and More Pool!

This has been a wet and wild week! We started the week on Monday with a trip to the pool. This time Christina, Lauren, and Connor were down to play. Tuesday we had our last pre-preschool class. Jacob did a fun paint project where he painted a dolphin using a marble. Our Wednesday playdate was at Christina's house but due to landscaping we actually went over to her mom's house to swim. Jacob discovered he really liked to wear Lauren's goggles and wouldn't take them off the whole time! After our fun with the boys we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house to ride their new horse Cooper. Thursday we went shopping to get Jacob his own goggles and he picked out a cool green pair! That evening we went to dinner over at the Gates' house, a celebration of their new kitchen. We had a great time visiting with the Treltas family, Gates family, and Audette family while the kids had a fun time with some night swimming in Jack's pool. Friday we went to our gym class and then once again found ourselves back at the pool with Sharon, Jenn, Kai, and Thomas. The boys came over after swimming for a nap while the ladies enjoyed lunch and a visit. Saturday Michael and Uncle Sean had plans to play golf so I took Jacob and Auntie Brandie back to the pool! That night Grandma Dottie came to babysit while Michael and I enjoyed a dinner out. Sunday Michael and Jacob did yard work while I snuck away for a movie and lunch with Becky. I definately got the better deal! :-) More next week but the news will start to slow as work is rapidly approaching!

Here is Jacob wearing his brand new goggles!

Jacob riding Grandma's brand new horse Cooper!

Jacob, Lauren, and Connor at the pool!

Jacob relaxing at Christina's mom's pool!

Enjoying dinner at the Gates' house!