Ohhh the Holidays are here!!!

Thanksgiving with a new baby in the family!

Every year, for the past...maybe 9-10 years, we've been going to the Macknets for Thanksgiving.  I don't think I can imagine Thanksgiving without them!  Whether it's at Danielle's house or Cathy's...it's always so much fun!  I remember the first time we made a veggie turkey (with legs and all) or eating Elaine's amazing gluten...it's just food you crave for all year long...and let me not get started on the rolls, the waldorf salad, the cranberry sauce that Cathy made last year...etc. etc. etc.  I know I'm mixing a couple of Thanksgivings, but it's just all worth mentioning.  (ohh...the pies!!  Those pies that were just....there are no words!!)
This year we went up to Cathy and her parent's house, and had an amazing meal.  The kids played in their ginormous living room till they were tired of playing.  We chitchatted and got all caught up with our lives.  It's so much fun to have friends that you can go hang out and it feels like family!
So one Thanksgiving was not enough this year!!!  We had two!  The next day we all went to the Sawyer's house.  Ohhh the yummy food!!  It was so good!!  (It always is...Thanksgiving is the best, and two Thanksgivings is just yummy^2).  So we did the same thing...we hung out...chit chatted and just had a blast!  We are so blessed we have such wonderful people in our lives!  We give thanks that we have wonderful family, friends, jobs, and most of all...baby Jordan!!  It has been so wonderful to have him be part of our family and we give thanks everyday that he is a healthy and happy baby boy!

My little Bam BAM!!

Where should I begin!!  You are a little human tornado!!!  I've been trying to clean the house for the last three days and it looks like I need to call FEMA to rescue us out of the living room!  It's not that bad...but boy can you make a mess.  You use both hands and it's grab, and throw over the head.  I need to tape you. You are sooooo cute!!!

Cute little lamb!

You are still 9 months.  This last week you learned to wave bye bye....so cute!
Teething has been really hard for you.  Right now, you have 1 and 1/2 teeth.  When you smile really big I get to see them and it makes my heart melt.

Jordan and mommy talking!

At the pumpkin patch with your friend Sophie!

Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere!

The fam at the pumpkin patch!

This one! I like this one!

You stand up all by yourself and grab everything...then fling it over your head to the floor.
You've been so lovey dovey lately.  When you wake up from your naps you become a snuggle bug.  You get so snuggly...it's my favorite.
We've been really busy lately.  Last week we went to your uncle Robby's and Gia's wedding.  It was such a beautiful event.  Everyone loved seeing you and we loved seeing them.

The Geach side of the family

The new family!

Your Grandma Ginny and your grandpa Bob loved spending time with you.  They even tried sitting you on the tractor...which did not work out so well.
love you tons,
mommy

Month 8 and 9

Dear Jordan,
Yup, you are now 9 months old.  Biggest accomplishment this month is CRAWLING!!  It was so cute to see your first crawls.  Daddy and I were both here to see you.  You were a little uncoordinated at first.  We called it the one footed scoot and hold.  You used your left leg to scoot, and your right was folded in to hold.  So cute.  So much work!  That was the first day....by day two, you had the system down.  Now, after a week, you are speedy and are getting into EVERYTHING!

Today I heard myself say, "You can play with ANYTHING in the house, you can roam EVERYWHERE...the only thing that you CAN'T play with is ELECTRICITY (this includes all electric cords, outlets, chargers, plugs or the like)."  It kind of sounded like God giving Adam and Eve instructions in the garden of Eden.  I chuckled when I heard myself say that.

We had the abuelitos here for a couple of weeks.  They left last Sunday.  It was so much fun.  Everyday we would go there as soon as we woke up for breakfast and mate.  You even tried some...well, not really...but at least I let you make the slurppy noise.

You still laugh all the time.  You love being with other kids.  We get together with Connor, Alex, Sophie, & Dillon.  You get so excited when you see them, you shake.  We are working on the concept of "Gentle."    I'm always scared you are going to claw them, or they'll claw you.

You love pressing things; doorbells, computer keys, telephone, light switches, games).  You use your index finger and point to stuff, actually just the duckies in your book.

You also like to make clicking noises on demand.  It's kind of cute.

You are cute all over!  Even if you peed all over me yesterday!

We took some family pics yesterday.  Here are my favorites!

Big Bear Lake! (Oct. 27th, 2011 Jordan 9 months)

My favorite!!

Daddy and Jordan having fun!

Where does a scarf go?

Mami and Jordan talking about life!

Love you!
mami

Hurray for new teeth!!!

They are finally here!!!!!
"O" and "P" are slowly making their way out!!!  Your little mamelons are nice and sharp and we can see them when I manage to get your tongue out of the way...which takes a lot of skill!  Mommy...the dentist...is very happy she won't have to make baby dentures for you!!!  :)

Dear Jordan,

You're growing, and growing and growing!  I put you down at night and you wake up an inch or two bigger.  You've been a little cranky lately.  People say that you are teething...I don't know.  But one minute you are HAPPY, the next is a different story...total opposite...nothing makes you happy.  It's a little hard to know what to do.  I need to get you a sign language dvd or something! 

You are so cute!  This last week you've been giving me so many kisses.  You open your mouth and smack on my cheek.  It's the most wonderful slobbery kiss in the world.  And then you blow and make noise.  Then I laugh.  Then you do it again till my face is completely wet.  I love it!!!

You've been making so much progress with sorts of skills.  Yesterday, at sabbath school, you were riding the horses all by yourself and having an awesome time.  You giggled the bells, waved the rainbow sticks, and tons of other stuff.  

Every night when we put you to bed and you are sleepy, sleepy, you grab your blanky, put your legs up, and just fall to the side.  We love watching you do that!

Two nights ago, daddy and I missed you so much that we had to go in your room to look at you.  The floors are really creaky so we made a little noise, your eyes opened, we were trying to be totally still and quiet, but of course, I had a laughing attack.  You were smiling at us like "I'm up, you guys are funny" so we ran out of the room and crossed our fingers you went back to sleep, which you did.  

Talking about sleep, I better go to sleep...you'll wake up early tomorrow and I need to be ready to entertain!

Besitos!

mami

Dear Jordan...

You just turned 8 months and are absolutely perfect!
Your personality is shinning through more and more each day.  It's incredible to see the little person you are becoming!  You like to laugh all the time.

 We laugh, and laugh all day.  Sometimes we even pretend laugh....you really like it!  Sometimes you realize that if you keep laughing then I'll keep laughing and we just giggle for ever.
Your little hands are holding on to everything.  You have awesome dexterity, it amazes me.  You love everything that's electronic.  You still love the remote, telephone, computer, and iPad.

Jaime gave you this little contraption that has a white baseball on top of a stand, and it comes with a cute little bat.  about 3 days ago, I got it out, set it in front of you, showed you how to hit the ball with the red bat, and said, "Bam, Bam, Bam."  Then today when I sat you in your little play area you were right in front of the ball holder, you looked for the red bat, held it just perfectly and started banging that ball.  I was so proud of you!  You remember everything!

I've had a little bit of a cold these last couple of weeks.  When I caught, you pretend caught with me.  It's kind of cute!
Every time I change you, you usually hold the dipper and know exactly where it goes.  It's also kind of cute!

Today you rolled and rolled.  You want to crawl so much, but the next best thing is rolling, and you do that  perfectly!
Every night I go to sleep thinking I can't wait to get up and play with you!

Bath Time

I love you so much!!!

your mommy :)

ps...I forgot to mention that you have bionic ears that can hear "everything."

Argentina, Peru, and a little bit of Brazil!

We just got back from our trip!   (August 31st to September 11th).  It was so much fun!  We got to see the girls (Noelle and Angeles), Rolly, Giselle, and Florci.  Our itinerary was something like this:

LAX to Lima...Peru!!
We stayed there for a day and a half.  We found out we love Peru and are definitely going back!  We arrived really early on Thursday morning and asked our taxi if we could have a tour around Lima.  It's a pretty big city.  All the "parks or plazas" are color coded.  For example, San Martin, who also liberated Peru, has a white plaza.  All the buildings around it are white.  We also went by a blue plaza, yellow, and I think a pink one.
After our tour we ended in Miraflores, a suburb of Lima.  After a little nap, we started walking around town.  So much fun!!! We had heard of an open market (the Inca market) where we bought 2 alpaca blankets. After meeting a Canadian on the road, we ended up eating at the "Rosa Nautica," a restaurant on a pier.  The waves were crashing rich under where we were sitting.  The atmosphere was incredible.  White starched table cloths, napkins, real silverware, a piano playing in the background...my kind of thing! It was also Jordan's first experience with fine dinning.  His menu consisted of spinach-pea-apple mush.
From Lima we went to Iguazu where we met up the "girls" and the "Janetsko's." (Ohh...and Colin!!! I forgot!!)

We stayed in Iguazu till Sunday.  We hiked both top and bottom trails, went to see "devil's throat." Learned about the coati...large rodents that live by the falls...cute at first, but then there's so many of them, they look scary!
We also stayed in really cute cabins, ate delicious food, and toured an animal sanctuary where we got to see tucans up close, and other interesting creatures in the middle of the jungle.
The visit with the girls was too short.  I wish we could have stayed with them a little longer, but they had to go back to school.  I'm still glad we got to see them and Noelle met Jordan.

On sunday we went to Missiones to Rolly and Giselle's.  We talked and talked all the way there (we talked and talked all week).  It's incredible to have such good friends!  We are so blessed!
We hung out at their house, ate delicious food, played with Florci and Jordan, took pictures galore, and who knows what else!  We even rested up a bit!
Ohhhh and we toured Las Marias..it's an estancia (farm...I guess) where they grow and make yerba mate.  It as amazing!  We had the nicer tour guide by the name of Virginia, Veronica, Valeria...I still don't remember her name...but it started with a "V."  I love mate...and now I know way more than I ever wanted to know about it!  It was awesome and I would do it again and again!  We even saw capybara...or something like that...they are the world's biggest rodents!  Ginormous!! (and cute...I want one! :)

The more I see Argentina, the more amazed at how beautiful it is!

We had a wonderful time..the best part was the people we saw!!! I want to go back right now!

On this day....

Facebook has this little section where you can see what you wrote a year ago on this same date.  Here's what I wrote...I never update my status, by the way...I'm a very private person....but here it goes:

It's a boy! Baby Geach is on the way! The stork has made an appointment for January!

Photo editing...

So I've been dabbing into photography lately.  I was really scared of all the knobs and buttons on Jonathan's cameras.  Since he does such a good job with pics, I just let him do all the picture taking.  But, the more I get into it, the more I like it.
It all kind of started when we got Patrice to take family pics.  She is incredible!  But then I thought...I'm incredible too...or at least I thought..."maybe I can do this too. "
I think you need to be semi creative, have a decent camera, and then the icing is post processing!
Here are some before and afters:

I used Aperture to post process these.

Dear Jordan,

You are 6 months old and counting.  You are doing so many wonderful things now.  I call them tricks!!!  Some stuff you've been doing for a while, but now can do so much better.  You sit all by yourself for as long as you want.  You shake hands!!  It's hilarious and you love it.  Grandma Eugenia taught you how!  You give kisses...nice slobbery, passionate kisses on my face.  They are a little wet, but I LOVE them!!  You like to cuddle and smile...I love it!!!  You are eating all sorts of veggies and fruits.  La abuelita made you enough baby food for two months.  (pucherito:)  It's delicious...you'll have to share cause I love that stuff!!  It's all in the freezer in little bags!  She loves you very, very much!!!  You have a gazillion stuffed animals and we play with them every day.  We go to your room, set out a blanket and put all your stuffed animals there.  We sing about Manuelita, el elefante Trompita, we sing sabbath school songs, and anything that I can think off.
Here are the words to the ones you like the most:

Manuelita

Manuelita vivia en Peguajo, pero un dia se marcho.
Nadie sabe bien por que, a Paris ella se fue.
Un poquito caminando y otro poquitito a pie.

coro:
Manuelita, Manuelita, Manuelita donde vas,
Con tu traje de malaquita y tu paso tan audaz!!

En la peluquería de Paris, la pintaron con barniz,
La plancharon en frances, del derecho y del revés,
Le pusieron peluquita y botines en los pies.

Arrorró mi niño

Arrorró mi niño, arrorró mi sol,
Arrorró pedazo de mi corazón,

La loba, la loba, le compro al lobito,
Un saco de lana y un gorro bonito,
La loba, la loba, vendra por aqui,
Si el picaro sueno no quiere venir.

A Great big Lion (from sabbath school)

A great big lion to play with, a great big lion there'll be,
A great big lion to play with and I won't be afraid of him.

Heaven

Heaven, heaven, heaven is a special place
Heaven, heaven, I want to go there.

There's a million songs that we sing.  But the first two, we sing all the time, the last two were the first sabbath school songs we sang to you.  You love to sing when we sing.  It's hilarious.  You start oohing and ahhhing and it's really cute.

Your favorite toys at the moment are the phone and the remote.  You LOVE the phone.  I can't talk in peace, ever!  When we give you the phone you are listening intently, like if you understood everything.

Life is so much more fun with you in our family.  Daddy can't wait to get home from work to play with you.  When he gets home you just want to be with him.  You ignore me a little, but I love to see you both play together.

You also love bath time.  Two days ago, you learned how to splash.  We've been working on this for a little over a month, but on Sunday, you splashed a little, liked it, and then tried it some more.  Then when you got one hand down, you tried it with the other.  Then together.  It was so cute.  We were so excited for you!!  (the kitchen got a little wet...but ohhh well!!  :)

Ok...better go get more stuff done while you are still napping!!

love you!

mommy

My baby is 6 months old!!! Whaaaaaa!!!! :(

Yup....he's 6 months and as cute as can be!!
He started solid food last week (6 months).  The menu consisted of banana, banana and more banana which he loves!  He's also had sweet potato, squash, cabbage, potatoes, mango, and cantaloupe.  He loves it all!!  It's so cute to feed him.  I bought him baby spoons and a pacifier with a mesh bottom which he absolutely adores!  You fill the mesh and Jordan feeds himself!  How fun is that!  I usually put a dish towel around his neck and let him go at it.
He's also sitting in the bumbo nice and straight.  He started sitting up all by himself about two weeks ago (at 5 months).   He's rolling over, bouncing up and down, stretching, kicking, and charming everyone he comes in contact with.  We even have an occasional temper tantrum!!
His daddy and I are trying to keep his bed time and nap times consistent (which can be hard at times) but he is a much happier baby when that happens.
Life is getting a little more routine little by little at the Geach household.  I started working part time last week and so far I love it cause I get to spend more time with Jordan.
A day with Jordan goes something like this:
*wake up and play
*sing songs
*do worship
*eat
*nap
*play/tummy time
*eat
*nap
*sing more songs
*story time
*eat
*play
*eat
*sleep

and then it repeats all over again the next day!!

Did I mention that I'm way more busy now, then when I worked full time??
Yup...but I guess I have the occasional moment to blog!

Ohh....one last thing...Jordan can say MAMA and PAPA...yup...he can say it when propped (Saturday July 23) and today he was mommying and pappying from his crib!!!
My baby is growing up too fast...but I'm enjoying every sec!!!

Favorite quotes to live by!!!

"Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives - choice, not chance, determines your destiny." Aristotle

"Life is made out of choices." Laura

I read the first quote a few months ago and I loved it!! I believe in this quote completely and it made me think of decisions I've made.

I think that overall I've made some great choices in my life. The first one that comes to mind is Jonathan. I couldn't love him more. He's my best friend, best husband, best father!! I am so proud of him and the man that he's become. I'm also happy that I got so much education. Not only do I feel like I accomplished and finished something great, but I know that I will be able to help so many people along the way. I've made millions of choices so far, some big, some small, but I think that these two are the ones I'm most proud off.

Mommy and baby Jordan!!

I love you so much and love all our time together!!

One of my favorite pictures of us (Jordan 2 1/2 months)!

Having sabbath lunch (Jordan 2 1/2 months old) 

More lunch pics 

Jordan and me!!

After church pics!

Mommy loves Jordan!!

Holding Jordan (we are matching :)

Sabbath school has been so much fun since Jordan has been with us!!  It has always been fun, but going to cradle roll has been a blast!  The kids are hilarious!  Jordan sometimes sleeps through the whole thing, and sometimes just the lesson! :)  But he LOVES all the songs!!

More grandparent visits and other things!

My parents came on a business trip to LL just a few days after Bob and Geneva left.  

Sabbath lunch/Joking around

Holding Jordan after coming from the airport

Happy baby

Jordan in full concentration

Jordan loves his leapfrog play seat.  When you hit/pull on the mobil, a light lights up on the top.  A couple of weeks ago I could see his little brain trying so hard to put his right hand inside the ring.  It was amazing when he got his hand inside and held on!!  Now it's his favorite pass time.  He loves getting the light and song to go off together.  He gets a little frustrated when he pulls on the red bird, but wants the blue fish light to turn on!

What a visit!!

Jonathan's parents came to visit Jordan this past week.  We had such a wonderful time!!  They were so excited to meet their grandson and we were so happy to see them again.

Meeting Grandpa Bob and Grandma Geneva

Reading Pip Pip to Jordan

Like always, their visit was full of projects and fun outings.

Before: scraping the old paint

After:  Playground rejuvenated!!

We went to the Wild Animal Park in San Diego and got to meet aunt Jane again.  That's Bob's aunt Jane!!  She is 95 years old and the sweetest lady.  We also went out to eat a lot.  We went to the Lotus Garden..I always forget how delicious it is!!

Benjoran: sitting out on the patio

 I can't believe we got so many things done!!  My favorite one was our old play set got rejuvenated!!! It looks brand new!!  I can't wait for Jordan to play in it.  It's going to be so much fun!!  I wanted to have it all ready to go.  It's my OCD shinning through!  When we were done I realized he  needs to "walk" first.

Jordan supervising the rejuvenation of the playground (2 1/2 months)

Daddy and Jordan leaving Benjoran

Jordan all bundled up and ready for take off!!

The paper that never ends and other things!!

So I started a masters program at Tufts University of Dental Medicine (I just think the name is cool) about 3 years ago.  I'm almost done!!!  I can just see the new diploma hanging on the wall, but there's just one thing in between me and that little piece of paper...my thesis!!!  It's been so hard to just sit down and finish it off. For example, I'm blogging, instead of working on it...it's so much more fun!!!
On the family front, Jordan had his first set of shots yesterday. He really didn't like the shots!   I can't believe he's two months old now.  He was 11lbs, 7 oz. and measured about 23 inches!!  He's perfect!!

I dressed him like a little bear for his appointment..so cute!

Picture of a picture!

I found this picture in a family friend's album and took a picture.  This is me when I was little.  I think I look totally cute!  I love it!

January 22 Happenings

On January 22, 2011, Jordan Bradley Geach was born in Loma Linda, California.

Dear Jordan this is a recap of when you were born,
Mommy went into labor on friday night, and you were born on Saturday morning at 8:55. We were so happy to meet you. Daddy was so excited, he snapped a million pictures!

Welcome to the world!

It was so nice to hold you. You were so cuddly, soft and fragile. 

What a beautiful baby!

We couldn't get enough of you. Mommy stared at you for hours and couldn't believe you were here.

 I thought that the day I found out we were pregnant was the happiest day of my life, but when I saw you, it was incredible. My heart just burst with happiness. 

 We were able to share that day with so many people we love. Los Abuelitos, auntie Angeles and Laura were at the hospital just waiting to meet you. 

 Angeles and Laura kept an eye on the nurse while she was cleaning you and getting you ready to go see mommy in the OR.
We called grandma and grandpa Geach right away and they were so happy to know you were here.
Auntie Danielle came to visit that same day (she was working at the hospital) and thought you were a very cute and adorable baby.
So many people came to visit. You had a grand welcome!

We finally took you home monday night. You looked totally adorable in your white take home outfit.

We bundled you up like a little eskimo because it was really cold outside and it was already night time.

We had a great time getting ready for you. We had the room all set up. After 3 baby showers, mommy had more than enough baby stuff to be all ready for your arrival. Our friends were so generous and everyone gave you awesome presents.

Auntie Laura and Danielle threw mommy the best baby shower ever. It was a brunch and all my friends were there. Everything looked so pretty and the food was so yummy!! We even had activities planned by auntie Laura.

You are 7 weeks old right now but I wanted you to know a little of what went on when you came into our family.
It was the happiest day of daddy's and my life!!! We'll never be the same again!!

We love you very much!!