Lots of fun in 2012

The last 2 and 1/2 months have just flown by. It's been a busy beginning of the year. There have been birthdays, playdates, a visit to the fire station, a trip to Myakka State Park, spring break and all it's fun, and news from Gainsville! We have lots to celebrate and be thankful for. First, both Uncle Adam and I (Mommy) hit some milestone birthdays if you can call them that. We celebrated with lots of cake, candles and a smiling 2 and 1/2 year old who loves to blow out candles for everyone! Then came spring break filled with playdates, the children's garden, strawberry picking, visits to Mote Aquarium, the beach, a trip to Dakin Farm, and back in the pool for the first time since last summer with Jonah swimming like a fish, not in the belly of one! ;) Also, during the week our family got some great news about Aunt Leah's residency which will be at UF for a year and then in Brooklyn, New York. Congratulations Leah!!!! It's amazing how life goes in circles sometimes and things have a way of working themselves out. It will be a wonderful adventure and learning experience for you Leah! And now we will have an even bigger reason to visit New York! There is to much to blog about that I had to collage lots of pictures, so have fun scrolling through all of them! :)

A random fun night with Rachel visiting. These two are so silly together!
Jonah loves fire trucks! We took him to visit the new Palmer Ranch Fire Station. The Firemen so graciously showed us the big fire truck and all the equipment they use!
Family trip to Myakka for a visit with the gators, a picnic lunch, and a walk with a view way up high!

Uncle Adam's 30th Birthday! Jonah loved helping blow out the candles!
Only a week later for Mommy's Birthday. My little helper eating the chocolate off the cake before we could cut into it! :)


Spring Break! Strawberry picking with Mommy. We had so much fun. Jonah ate as many strawberries as we picked and so did his shirt!
Fun play date with Abby, Liz, and some friends at The Children's Garden. Jonah loves the big dumptrucks to run around with!

At Mote Aquarium with Rachel, Marni, and Jay. Jonah loved the turtle that kept swimming up to him. He bravely got close to the shark tank and held a Starfish all by himself! I was impressed.
A picnic lunch with lots of food to share hit the spot after a busy morning with the marine life.
A morning at the beach with Daddy, finally home from work and with us for a couple of days. We did lots of playing in the sand and then swam in the pool later in the day. The gulf water was still a little to cold for us!...I have pictures from the beach!

The next day we took a trip to Dakin Farm in Myakka. Where we saw the cows being milked, feed duck, goats, a sheep and baby cows, took a hayride, watched a pig race, saw chickens and a turkey, made butter, and even tasted their yummy chocolate milk. Jonah had such a good time, he's been talking about it for days after!
While we were playing at that Dairy Farm....Leah was receiving her big news about her residency! This is the photo that was in the Gainesville Sun Newspaper about Match Day! Way to go, Leah!!!

November and December 2011

I can't believe that it has been two months since my last post. All I can say is that it has been a busy couple of months with Thanksgiving, birthdays (Daddy's, Uncle David's, Grandpa's), the holidays, winter break and more. As for updates, here are some quick ones....work/school has been super, busy, fun, hectic, and just flying by this year. Jonah is growing and growing as usual...mimicking everything, talking more and more, reading books with me from memory...books that he wants repeatedly read to him, and really making connections and reasoning with things not just talking. He loves his trains, his kitchen set, his tools, big trucks and fire engines, his vacuum, and musical instruments! We spent lots of time over winter break playing at the park, the beach, baking cookies and cake pops (my first try which came out pretty good), seeing holiday lights around town, and visiting with friends and family. Uncle David was home for a couple of weeks and Auntie Leah was between residency interviews, and so we hung out, visited, took bike rides, and played. We even made it out to Mote Aquarium where Jonah fell in love with the turtles and manatee!

Thanksgiving and Jimmy's birthday weekend!

Hanging out on a cool day with Mommy and Daddy....
A day at Mote Aquarium. Jonah can't stop talking about the turtle that got stuck in it's toy and the manatee who kissed him. :)
Chanukah celebration downtown...with an ice sculptured menorah!
Celebrating with Rachel and her family...check out that elephant chair! What a great present! Jonah loves laying and reading books on it!
Jonah and Rachel always having fun and getting really silly together!
Celebrating the last night with everyone at Grandma and Grandpa's!
Jonah is trying hard to spin dreidels and being silly with Mommy...:)
More cute pics with the family!
Lots of smiles at the park!Spending time with Abby and Liz at the Sarasota Children's Garden. What a great place for toddlers. Lots to explore and see for the kids and a great chance for Liz and I to catch up!

Its Pumpkin Time!

Time is flying by as usual. Jonah is growing, talking so much and definitely expressing his wants more than ever! In between our hectic schedule we have spent plenty of time playing, taking advantage of the cooler weather with visits to playgrounds and the beach. We are enjoying fall with pumpkin patches, apple cider, fall festivals and more... Halloween was lots of fun too! Our roaring lion had fun walking down the block and picking out candy with Rachel (the moo, moo). Jonah's favorite part was the Yum, Yums! (M&Ms)

Pumpkin patch...I love the fall colors and the weather. Jonah loved picking up the pumpkins and running around the field.
At Fruitville Grove....with Adam and Leah!
Not shy at all.... :)
Leah was the brave one....NOT ME!
Loving that red tracker, vroom, vroom!!!
Halloween fun with Rachel, Marni and Jay...ROAR!!!
So cute!!!

Catch up time...again.

The time between Jonah's birthday, August 11th and about mid-September seems to get super busy and next to impossible to keep up with everything; laundry, house cleaning, cooking, work, and least of all blogging. It's the time of year where we jump from big birthday celebrations to school starting. Which means me back at work, Jonah back at childcare, and a completely hectic schedule. I started off this school year with a crazy world-wind change of classrooms and grade levels. Basically, I had 3 days to tear down an already set up 2nd grade class and move to set up a new 4th grade class. Thank goodness my mom was so willing to help! So after the first couple of weeks of craziness, I'm actually really enjoying my 4th grade AW kids! Lots of fun projects and great topics to study!
As for Jonah's birthday, he had a wonderful day and weekend celebrating. On Thursday, the 11th we enjoyed a fun day and celebrated with family. Jonah, of course got lots of fun and useful things to use and play with. Then, on Saturday we had a big celebration at Play Away with a bunch of children! That was incredibly fun for everyone! We spent the rest of summer filling the days with visits to the beach, the pool and waterpark, and spending time with family; especially with Uncle David who headed off to college just a week after Jonah's 2nd birthday. So we Skype a lot now! Jonah is doing great back at school with lots of friends, talking more and more, learning how to bead and cut, ABC's and numbers, and doing super with potty training, just to name a few things!

Here are a bunch of pictures from Jonah's birthday!

The big birthday boy! So excited about his #2 birthday...sing "happy to you, happy to you!" all day :)
Lots of presents! Yay!
Getting down with the keyboard...It's music time, sing!
With Grandpa and Grandma ...suddenly known as "Baboo" and "Bumma"
My sweet family!
Make a wish time....yummy cake!
My big boy!!! 2 years old already!
Then, the big party at Play Away....trampoline, bounce house, slide, ball pit, car rides, swings, bubbles, music, frog scavenger hunt, parachute and more....
Pizza,cake, and smiling faces!
Wow, the presents....!!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Sweet Jonah!!!

Dear Jonah,

The past two years has filled my life with the most amazing kind of joy that any mother can imagine. I have watched you grow from a tiny baby to an incredible little person; talking, singing, and discovering the world. You have brought so much happiness into my life and I am blessed to watch you grow, learn, and shine. Jonah, you have an amazing personality! You are extremely lovable and kind-hearted. You are also very playful and silly and just lots of fun to be around. I love listening to your stories about what happened throughout the day, hearing you sing, learning colors and opposites, playing with you and your cars and trains, your vacuum, and make tea for Mommy and Daddy in your kitchen, and saying new words everyday!

We love you so very much! Happy 2nd Birthday, Sweet Jonah!!!