The Blue Park

Posted on May 1, 2016 by Mdfrisco

One thing that I really do miss about our old neighborhood is all the parks. We lived within walking distance of several playgrounds and lots of big grassy fields/soccer fields/baseball fields, etc…Our walks to the park and letting Jacob run around with a ball on the fields, was such a big part of our daily life. There was one playground that was Jacob’s favorite, I actually did a post on it. We called it the Blue Park since the ground was a blue padded/squishy rubber, and most of the equipment was blue. We spent a lot of time there. On our last day when we moved out of our condo, we stopped at the Blue Park to let Jacob play one last time, before heading to the new house. Every once in a while when I say we are going to the park, Jacob asks if we are going to the Blue Park, and still talks about it often.

In March, Jacob had a dentist appointment, and his dentist office is in our old neighborhood. When we were finished with the appointment, I told Jacob I had a surprise for him, and I started driving towards the Blue Park. When we got closer and closer, I could see on Jacob’s face that he recognized the neighborhood and from his excitement I knew that he knew where we were going.

It tugs on my heartstrings to see how much he has grown since we were here last (almost a year ago).

He can tackle things with ease now that were a little too difficult for him before.

And it was fun seeing him show Dylan around his favorite park.

And it is fun to see Dylan doing the things that Jacob did when he was a baby.

Dylan really liked the swings at this park

Jacob did swing for a little bit

But he would much rather climb

Such a big boy now!

It is these moments, that I am SO thankful for this blog, these pictures and memories. When I start to feel overwhelmed with how far behind I am, or the pictures and stories that never made it on here, I remember the trips down memory lane when I look back on an old post and the happiness/sense of accomplishment I feel when I get a new post done. It also shows me how much I have grown as a mother. When I read back on the first post I did about this park and I came to this sentence, “This particular day was a Saturday morning, there is no way I could take pictures and chase Jacob around the park by myself, so we had daddy with us.” I had to laugh. Now that I am used to the juggling act that two kids entails, bringing my camera along at the park (by myself) didn’t seem like a big deal. At times, it was a bit challenging and I always had to make sure Dylan was in a safe place when I was focusing on Jacob, but it is possible. To me, remembering old memories and creating new ones is more precious than anything, and I am so blessed to have my little family to do that with.

Springtime

Posted on April 28, 2016 by Mdfrisco

It is amazing how fast the days turn into weeks and the weeks into months and the months into years! Some days drag on forever, but time in general is just speeding by. Here we are enjoying another beautiful San Diego Springtime! With St. Patrick’s Day and Easter just a couple weeks apart, March was a fun filled month.

I love how Jacob really learns about all the different holidays not just with what we do at home but at school. They have so many fun activities, themed lunch parties, and all the holiday crafts. After his St. Patrick’s Day party at school, I tried to get a picture of both boys. Neither one would sit still, so I gave them some of the shamrocks that Jacob made at school and asked Jacob to tell Dylan about them. That lasted for about 5 seconds, when I was able to snap this picture.

Then Jacob took off and I was left with this handsome dude.

He was eyeing the artwork and trying to figure out what to do with it.

After looking at it and waving it around, he decided to rip it to shreds and see how it tasted

It must not have been very tasty, because then he took off after Jacob.

After St Patrick’s Day came Easter. Our original plans for Easter weekend were pretty relaxed. Jacob and I had a birthday party to go to on Saturday, then we were going to church on Sunday. However, thanks to March Madness, a group of us had an impromptu get together on Saturday evening to watch the game, which also turned into an Easter egg hunt for the kids, and a fun evening with friends. Here they are lined up waiting for the GO! to start the hunt.

And I will admit…I didn’t do the whole Easter basket thing this year. And since this was a last minute thing, we didn’t have a basket for Jacob to use for the hunt. So Justin ran out to the car and grabbed a wine carrier bag for him to use. Parents of the year, I know…

To make things fun for the dads we also hid cans of Coors Light for them to find. Somehow it turned into the dads giving the kids a dollar for every can they found and brought to them.

Sunday morning we celebrated the real reason for Easter at church. After the service we did another Easter egg hunt. Instead of quickly gathering as many eggs as he could, Jacob would pick one up, and crack it open to see what was inside before putting it in his bag. He is very selective…

And then he and Dylan got into a groove where Dylan would pick up an egg and Jacob would take it and put it in his bag.

After the service we went to our friends house with a group of our church family and spent the rest of the day there.

We feel so blessed to have all these wonderful friends who are like family to get together and do life with.

He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ – Luke 24:6-7

Month 11

Posted on April 17, 2016 by Mdfrisco

I can’t believe how close we are to Dylan’s first birthday! This little guy is such a snuggler! After picking him up, he will often lay his head down on your shoulder or against your cheek. If you are sitting down he will come over and pull himself up and lay his head down in your lap. Or if he is just playing on the ground he will all of a sudden lay down and snuggle with the carpet.

Dylan loves playing with us, but is also very content on playing alone for a few minutes. One of his favorite things to do is push a car across the floor and around in circles. He loves pulling all the books out of his book bin and turning the pages and looking at them. That’s when I start feeling bad that I don’t read to him as much. So I’ve been trying to be better about that. His favorite book right now is “Where’s Spot?” Every time he lifts the flap to open the door, closet, clock, etc…he shakes his head to say nooooo. And a few times I’ve caught Jake reading the book to him, that alone makes all the difficult times in parenting so worth it.

He is tearing all over the house with his walker and getting braver about letting go and standing for a few seconds before sitting down. Between crawling, his walker and cruising around on furniture, this kid gets around, fast!

I often look at him in amazement. He is such a big boy, not only in size, but in maturity, the way he acts and the things he does. I know having an older sibling has a lot to do with that. It is fun to see Dylan try to keep up with Jake and see them play together, but a part of me misses my little baby. Jake has a workbench under the window in his bedroom and when he knows someone is coming over, or daddy’s on his way home, or when he wants to be nosy, he stands ontop of the workbench and watches the cars drive by and waits for whoever he’s looking for. I call him the Neighborhood Watch! Now whenever he gets up there Dylan starts fussing and reaching up to me so I will lift him up and stand him next to Jake. And they giggle and bang on the window and push cars along the windowstill together. As I stand back (spotting Dylan) I am shaking my head at the two boys and it is during those moments I have to keep reminding myself that he is not even a year old yet!

Here are his weekly photos

Week 44

Week 45 – showing us his serious side

Week 46

Week 47

Week 48 – It’s a good thing we are almost done with these weekly pictures, because it is getting more and more difficult to keep him still, he would much rather launch himself forward off the couch.

Ranch Style Photos

Posted on April 14, 2016 by Mdfrisco

In February we were back at the Broken Branch Ranch. And every once in a while we do a little photo shoot to try and get some cute pictures of the boys around the ranch and with Grandma and Grandpa. The main focus this time was on Dylan, mainly because a certain 3 year old is not too keen on sitting still and smiling for the camera. We also were trying to recreate something similar to our favorite “cowboy” picture of Jacob when he was 8 months old. Since Dylan is a little older than Jacob was, it was harder to keep him still, but I think we got some good ones. There’s not a whole lot of story to tell here, just heavy on the picture side…

First we loaded up the props in the wagon.

Then while we were waiting for the guys to bring the bales of hay I started snapping away at Grandma and Dylan

Then Dylan was ready for his close up

When Grandma and Grandpa joined in, Dylan could not take his eyes off Grandpa. He loves Grandpa’s deep laugh and in every single picture I took he is smiling at him.

Then we tried to get one with both boys and we ended up with more outtakes. But they are still fun pictures to have, that show the general craziness of two boys.

This is what we get if we ask Jacob to smile or laugh for the camera (and again Dylan was focused on Grandpa laughing)

This would have been a good one if Dylan had been smiling, but I think he was over it at this point.

Dylan was tired of sitting and being held, so we let him stand up and play on the bales of hay

and he was sampling the goods

Then we went for a ride in the wagon

Which led us to the horses

And that is usually where you can find this guy hard at work

I love some of the facial expressions I get, he takes his jobs seriously! I can just hear his voice in his head saying “Don’t mess with me mama, I’m busy!”

Once his legs get a little longer he will be tearing all over the ranch in this thing, he knows exactly how to drive it, but he can’t quite reach.

After my dad saddled up Thunder the two of them went for a a little ride

When they were finished, Jake goes right to the bin with the horse treats to fill up his pockets with treats to give the horses.

Mission accomplished!

Wish he was this passionate about doing chores at home!

New Beginnings

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Mdfrisco

Justin’s parents recently moved. Same town, different house. They bought a triplex in a great location nearby shopping and restaurants. So they have been busy fixing them up, moving into one and getting the others rented. In February, when the dust settled a bit on their renovation, we made a trip out with the boys to spend time with them. Papa J, daddy and Jacob kept busy doing little projects around the property. There were golf cart rides, a trip to the Children’s Museum, a walk down the street to an old car show and swimming in the pool.

My favorite times during these trips are the family dinners. Papa J is a pretty great cook and the food is guaranteed to be good,

but I really enjoy the time just relaxing, letting the kids play and talking with everyone. I’ve been feeling bad since I don’t have many pictures of Dylan with the family (second kid syndrome, I know…) so this was the perfect time to get out my camera.

Snuggles with GG

We are very happy for Papa J and Nonnie and their new beginning.

At the end of our trip, Justin and I got away with my dad for a while to drive out to Whitewater. We’ve been trying to find materials for our fireplace hearthstone and we finally found it!

Some day I will get a blog up about our remodel/move, someday…

Frisco Thanksgiving

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Mdfrisco

Yes, I know it is the end of March…As I’ve said before I am trying to go back and blog the pictures I never posted. So in the current sunny springtime, let’s go back to chilly November and revisit Thanksgiving!

This year, Justin’s cousin Lisa and her family hosted Thanksgiving. We had a few minutes before we needed to leave and since I am always behind the camera, and have very few pictures of me with the boys, I asked Justin to take a picture of us. It is NOT easy getting them both to look at the camera and smile, I think he did a pretty good job!

Lisa’s parents were in town from Kentucky and none of them had met Dylan yet, so it was a fun day of them meeting the littlest Frisco boy.

I love this one 🙂

We had so much amazing food and enjoyed time catching up with family.

The best part for me was the built in babysitters! Lisa and her husband have 6 kids who love playing with babies/younger kids. I feel like I hardly saw Jacob the entire day. He was busy playing all their musical instruments

They took him outside with them to play football

And Dylan took a nice long nap when it came time to eat, so I actually got to enjoy a warm Thanksgiving dinner!

We are so thankful for the blessing of family and love spending time with them!

Broken Branch Ranch

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Mdfrisco

Last November, Justin had a meeting that was about a 6 hour drive away. To try and shorten his driving time, we went to my parents ranch the night before so Justin only had about 4 hour drive and we got to spend the day playing on the ranch while daddy was gone. My parents ranch here in Southern CA is called Broken Branch Ranch. One day recently, we saw an airplane in the sky, Jacob and I started talking about how we were going to get on a plane again to go visit Grandma and Grandpa at their ranch in Oregon. After thinking about it for a minute, Jacob said “No lets drive.” I told him that would be a really, really long drive. And he said “No lets drive to the broken ranch!” He really loves going to my parents ranches, there is so much for him to do and his favorite thing is helping Grandpa with his chores. The minute he wakes up in the morning, before Grandpa has had a chance to finish his first cup of coffee, he is bugging Grandpa to go outside. So off they go in the cart to pick up after the horses and feed them breakfast.

Later that day when Dylan went down for his nap, we saddled up my mom’s horse, Checkers, for a little fun.

Jacob is very comfortable ontop of a horse

First they started off by walking around

And he kept saying go faster, go faster. So grandma got up with him.

And he got to go faster!

Then Dylan woke up to join the fun

It is so great that our boys get to experience this different kind of lifestyle of working around a ranch. They love it!

Tickles with GG

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Mdfrisco

Last October the Pittsburgh Steelers were in town playing the SD Chargers and Justin had tickets to the game. He invited his dad and some friends to go with him, so Papa J, Nonnie and GG came to visit for a few days. Earlier in the day before the game, we went to the Bernardo Winery to walk around. In the tasting room, Jake and GG sat down on the couch. He would start out on the other end of the couch and slowly start creeping towards GG, once he got within her reach, she would start tickling him.

And they both laughed and laughed and laughed

Then he would go all the way in for a snuggle before retreating to the other side of the couch to start over. They were having so much fun and I love watching him play with her!

Back outside Jacob found a fun swinging bench.

Which made a good spot for an impromptu family photo, can you tell the Steelers were playing that day?

My cool boys!

Then Papa J and Justin left for the game, which the Steelers won! And the rest of us went back to the house and baked cookies while watching the game on TV. Football, family, wine and cookies, doesn’t get much better than that!

Splish Splash

Posted on March 20, 2016 by Mdfrisco

Both my boys have been big fans of bathtime. What’s not to love about popping bubbles, playing with toys and splashing water, everywhere! And mom loves the clean bodies afterwards. One of my favorite things about our new kitchen is our farmhouse sink. It is so amazing for many reasons, but one is it makes the perfect baby bath! It is just the right size and it saves my back from having to bend over the bathtub.

It is kind of hard to believe Dylan was ever this small!

(1 month old)

Jacob likes to pull his stepstool over and “help” me give him a bath.

When Dylan found his feet he spent all his time in the bath kicking his legs, grabbing his feet and flashing that smile that melts my heart.

(5 mos old)

Then he was no longer happy laying down, so he started sitting up in the bath and discovered all the things within his reach from this new perspective.

(7 mos old)

As much as I love using the farmhouse sink, I think those days are numbered…because now he knows how to work the level for the faucet and grabs the hose any chance he can get, which results in water getting sprayed all over the place.

(9 mos old)

And gets his hands full of bubbles and starts clapping which sends bubbles and water on the kitchen floor, window, cabinets and anything else close by.

But he thinks it is all quite fun!

And the best part of getting a bath is the nice lotion massage afterwards, fresh diaper and warm pajamas.

Good night!

Month 10

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Mdfrisco

I really can’t believe how fast Dylan is growing up! He is such a sweet, smiley, happy boy and he is such a bright light in our family! The only time he really gets upset is if he is left alone or his brother takes a toy away from him that he was really enjoying at the moment, which unfortunately happens quite a bit…

He is getting faster and faster with cruising around after pulling himself up.

I often find myself looking for him around the house because he is so quick getting where he wants to go, he disappears. Usually he will be in his brother’s room turning over his toy bins, shoe bins, pulling clothes off the hangers in the closet and emptying the bookshelf, I’m guessing it’s payback for all the times Jacob takes a toy away from him.

Or maybe it is his way of telling me I need to read to him more often…poor second kid!

Justin taught him how to say Bye Bye while waving, and he says it all the time. It’s really cute when you are saying goodbye to someone and then his little voice and hand pop up and he repeats the Bye Bye after you. I haven’t been remembering to sign to him as much as I did with Jacob, life is a little crazier the second time around! But he does know how to sign more and all done when we are eating.

Speaking of eating, this kid is very into whatever WE are eating. One night he was sitting on my lap while we were having pizza for dinner and he kept grabbing for my slice, so I finally gave him the crust and he loved it.