We're So Blessed!

 

So, this was our first Thanksgiving away from the Fabbi Family and Las Vegas...which also means that it is the first year that my mom didn't make EVERYTHING for me to just show up and enjoy! I have been a VERY spoiled child. ;) We missed you guys and love you! It was a lot of fun though to figure out cooking times and preparation to get all of our food done at once and head over to Scott's sister's apartment without the food getting cold! Thanks to Bryan and Kalyn and their van, everything ran smoothly and we had a delicious Turkey Day-- full of food, family, thankfulness games, a movie outting, animal balloons and of course, Rock Band. Wednesday night we also walked through Central Park and saw several balloons being filled for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade! What a site! There were way too many people there!
Scott's parents flew up last weekend and his brother and family drove from North Carolina to have a Thanksgiving with family, New York style. We are so blessed to have the family members that we have! We just love you guys so much, thank you for coming all the way out here...cousin, grandparents, aunt/uncle and sibling time is so important to us, we know what a sacrifice it was to travel with our crazy economy right now! Hugs and Kisses.

This is for Grandma Sue...

Who would have known...SHE CHEWS ON PORK CHOP BONES, MOM!!! She's your grandaughter, for sure.

 

Dreams Come True...

Ya know those moments when you were younger, when you noticed something and hoped that one day you had the same experience? I am so happy to have two little girls and husband that do what I had hoped...
So as some of you know, during college I worked for a children's birthday party company, in Las Vegas. One of the consistent jobs that we did was entertaining at the Rainforest Cafe, where I either dressed up in a costume as a red-eyed tree frog named "CHA-CHA" and ran, jumped and danced around the restaurant, or I was the Frog's keeper and balloon maker. One morning as I was working, through the corner of Cha-Cha's left armhole, I noticed a little girl, with her arms around her dad's neck and she was smothering his cheeks in kisses, just over and over again...and that was the moment when I thought, "I hope I have sweet little girls who smooch there daddy's cheeks like that!" And voile, while Scott was carrying Ella up our stairs on our way home from church today, like several different times now, there she was repaying him in kisses on his cheeks! I want to eat her sometimes, so sweet.
So, I want to hear similar experiences from you!
Traveling in the rain is so not fun, especially in Sunday wear, but I can't resist photo opps. sometimes-- no matter how cold or tired I am! These are from today on our way home from church.

Who are you most like?!

This is for my mom and mother-in-law! But hey, you can try it out too! :) I was quite content with my results...I wouldn't have minded if I were like Alice too-- only because she was the funnest to read about and see in the movie. I preferred the book over the movie...one's imagination can depict it WAY better. It was still fun to see with family and I'm more excited about New Moon.



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It's been six months!!

 

Time has really flown by...we have been living here in New York City for 6 months (on Nov. 19th)! That's half a year my friends! We are still loving it, and as my sister-in-law Elena worded so well today, "Whatever your life lacks in convenience, it surely makes up for it in enriching activities!" It is so the truth. There are times when I am thinking, "WHAT IN THE !$@# ARE YOU DOING JULIANNE?" Usually when I'm hauling home groceries with two kids or running to the Subway, in the rain, with two kids, a stroller and 2 bags, trying to get Ella to school on time...thankfully I've got a doll of a husband that usually carries the groceries home or takes Ella to school on his days off from school...let's not forget all of the lovely people of NYC that offer to carry my stroller up the subway stairs...EVERYDAY...most of the time we aren't even in their way and I don't usually say yes, unless I'm desperate. ;) But really, this has been such an amazing adventure so far, we couldn't be happier.

So here are some pics of...

Tarrytown- I hadn't been back to Tarrytown since 2000 (where we visited my moms brother and family, viewed Washington Irvings Estate, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, my mom had to visit all of the dead authors graves...I'm glad that we did that now, not at the time when I was 18. It was fun to remember that trip we took and realize how close we are to those sites.) So, we actually just missed all of the apple picking orchards this Fall, that's alright, we'll hit it up next year. We went to a fun little nursery and picked out a tiny Christmas Tree instead.

My 27th Birthday!

Paisley's pre-school that is on Mondays, in an old Lutheran church. I'll have to take pictures of the outside of the building...beautiful. and Paisley as the Puppy Princess.

Silly pictures Ella took of her parents

Ella making her "Crown of Leaves"

And of course we have been practicing for the holidays by baking cookies...one occasion with our friends and neighbors Benjamin (5) and his mommy Norma. I am so happy we will be living next to each other for the next two years, they are such a nice family.

Here are some of my favorite pics from this Fall. Some include...

-The Great New York Read: Target puts on an awesome reading event in differnt cities...I went ot Vegas' two years ago where they had Deputy Drip and other "local" celebrities...in the ghetto. It was alright. So, there were also "local" celebrities this year, performing and reading on stage, including...Choo-Choo Soul with Genevieve, Johnny and the Sprites, Yo Gabba Gabba, many other Playhouse Disney people and stars from Nick Jr., Several Authors...we went to see Jane O'Connor and to get books signed for gifts! This event was AMAZING. It was FREE and there were thousands of people there.

-Aubrie and Ella catching up after not seeing eachother for 3 months! We love spending time with you!

-Girls night out. I went to my first Piano Bar with Karisa, Tara and Beth. We also went to our high schools homecoming game...ah memories, hadn't been there in 8 years!

-Great Grandma and Grandpa Fabbi's house, picking carrots, Papa Don teaching Ella about gardening and cousin time

- Appearances by Leesy Graham at Shake Shack and Halloween.

-Children's Museum, Magnolia Bakery, Ella and School friends

Two parts...

 

So this is kind of a two part post...

1. My best friend Tara came to visit! We've been friends since...well our mom's walked together when they were prego with us, so that long! She, her husband Trevor, Nelson (went to highschool together) and his wife Hollie all came out for some serious sight seeing. It was so fun to have a very full house and everything ran very smoothly, they were very nice house guests. Plus, they gave us a huge handful of dang cute homemade headbands for me... I mean the girls. We went out one night to Little Italy and ate of course, at Sal Anthony's I think the name is. Then we got some gelati/gelato... what is the difference besides the pronounciation and spelling? Someone please tell me. I got a canoli. I have tried SEVERAL canolis out here and my favorite is still the pistachio one at Nora's...in Las Vegas. Anyways, the family picture is from a hot chocolate outing we took with the couples up to a rooftop on Columbia Campus...that is the George Washington Bridge...or if you're Ella and Paisley, "Our bridge".

And the next part....
After almost 6 years of bliss....THE HONEYMOON IS OVER. Look at my stinker of a husband putting ice cream...I'm sorry Gelati/Gelato on my nose. That little punk, I made him lick that off. Oh, and the other one is just Ella getting her proof on film that I threaten Scott, that I'm not afraid to "Knock his little tooth out." Oh, alright instances like those make me even more crazy for him.

Peso is Tres...

 

...hooray for her! WAAAAAHHHHH for me!! Not my baby Anne, 3 already?!

While we were in Vegas, we decided to celebrate the November birthdays, since we would obviously be in New York for mine, Paisley's, Jason's and Jen's birthday. So there are some pics of that night and some pics of today...

So here was our schedule for Paisley's 3rd Birthday...all went pretty smoothly except when it started pouring rain as we left and when we left our camera at the museum and Scott had to go back and get it...got it! and when the girls did their occasional disagreement on the way home, in the subway with hundreds of people in that dang car...oh I'm sure people just LOVE us here. No one has said anything out loud, so we're alright...alright on with the schedule.

Children's Museum- Paisley's one request was to go back to the museum. It was a lot of fun and we even ran into Penelope, one of their favorite little buddies that we live right close to.

Beans and Rice, I mean Chipotle- Her favorite, until the beans became "too spicy"...she'll only eat them out of the can now...cheaper alternative too.

Magnolia bakery- YUMMMMM...we finally went Jen, we will have to go the next time you're here. I've been twice in a week, you can see it in my tummy.

Toys R Us- She picked a toy after avoiding the stuffed animal and FUR REAL aisles / distracting her from bringing ANOTHER puppy home...this child is for sure going to bring home all the stray dogs in the neighborhood here in the near future! She loves the pups.

It was a beautiful day, with just the right amount of rain. Paisley's birthday was a success, she fell asleep at 7:15 pm. She was pooped.


We LOVE our families and friends!!
Thank you, thank, you, thank you for the birthday cards, emails, gifts, birthday cash and everything else that you do for us! Paisley picked out a toy of her choice today at Toys R Us with some of the money that she received....what else, Polly Pockets. Mom, thanks for the Old Navy shopping spree while we were in Vegas and for all of the winter gear...the girls love their jackets. I honestly don't know what in the heck I would do without our families supporting us with fun letters and packages in the mail for the girls to be so excited about and get to open! It makes climbing up the stairs a little easier when they are holding a card from their grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles... that love them so much! And they love you very much right back b/c of your loving attention and memories that they recall to us everyday...

 

Just a few pics of Paisley's past birthday festivities
First Birthday: Rhodes Ranch Craft Room- Celebrate Kids came for fun with the kids.
Second Birthday: Family get-together at Paka and Mimi's...Chili and lots of presents and cake. (I need to find the real pictures of this occasion!)

And of course, every year Grandma Sue makes a special birthday dinner...we get to pick our favorite meal! There are a few pictures from those occasions too!

Paisley Anne

Today Paisley woke up and at 9:39 am she was a 3 year old! Here is a short story of her birth...

Around 12 or 1 in the morning on November 15th, 2005, Scott and I still hadn't gone to sleep b/c I was having cont actions, but nothing too serious. We were living with Scott's parents at the time so if I remember correctly, we worked everything around Scott's school schedule, hoping we would have her the day he was off and then not miss his clinical the following day. Anyways, we decided to head to the hospital, b/c Ella was asleep obviously and we were bored. I had several small contractions on the way to St. Rose Sienna...in Las Vegas. We got there, I was dilated to a three and they decided to admit me b/c there was no one else there and b/c they were a little nervous that Pailsey's heart rate sounded a little distressed. By this time it was around 4am, I think! We got to the birthing room, a "special" phlebotomist continually tried to take my blood, they broke my water to move things along, then the contractions became a bit more pressurized and I got an epidural, things weren't moving along very fast by itself and If I'm remembering correctly again, my blood pressure was VERY LOW, I thought that I was going in and out of consciousness. Next they started the Pitocin at around 8am and an hour and a half later I was fully dilated. Now, I am not trying to make this sound like labor and delivery are not hard work, but comparatively speaking, giving birth to Paisley was the easiest thing I have ever done. I was laughing as I pushed b/c it was so easy compared to giving birth to Ella. Oh, and let's not forget the two EMT's (both male and could have been no older that 23, mind you) that were there on their OB rotation and got to hold up the body mirror that I requested...yea, a bit embarrassing. Grandma Sue and Mimi were there too so it was a great experience. Jen and Jason came right as she was born and Jason took loads of pictures, picked Ella up from school and brought Panera. Paisley also shares her birthday with her uncle Jason and her cousin Addison who is 6 today! Happy birthday both of you...if you never noticed, Novemeber 15th is exactly 9 months after Valentine's day...no wonder there are so many people with this birthday! ;)
So, that night was my first night away from Ella and she did fabulous...I actually got some rest. The next morning was Scott's OB rotation at the same hospital on the same floor and I was assigned as his patient! Crazy huh? His professor brought me flowers and all of his nursing buddies came to meet our new baby. I also got beautiful flowers from Karisa, my sister Jen and my parents. Tara and Richard came to visit, so Paisley had a warm welcome into the world with several of my very favorite people! And duh! How could I forget Mona-Kay coming to visit?! She had just had Sage 2 1/2 months earlier and I was so impressed that she drove all of the way to meet Paisley. She also brought "Cubby Cuddles", a soft bear that is precious to us b/c Ella first called her son Caleb by the name of..."Cubby".
When Ella met Paisley, I almost lost it, it was probably one of the most precious experiences of my life. She just laughed and smiled and pointed to all of her body parts and named them..."eyes, nose, mouth, toes..." so darn cute. She squeezed her in her arms and didn't want her put back in her little cart bed.

We love you Paisley Anne! It has gone way too fast, but I will always keep you my baby no matter how old you get (she refuses to be the 2nd child and hasn't accepted the possibility that someday she may be a middle child...that's okay, my mom raised us all like we were only children, so we may have to do the same.

 

 

 

 

 

We had a great time getting crafty at Jensyn's 6th birthday party! She's Crafty... I mean she's 6! Holy Cow.! There was pudding painting, design your own door hanger, cupcake decorating, there was even artsy storytelling! We had quite the time...little crazy, crafty cousins running everywhere!! They don't get to see eachother much, so they get way excited when they are together. Love to you all!

My favorite pix is of Jensyn, holding Ella down as the balloons lifted Ella into the air! :)

Conversation Scott had with Ella:

Ella was in the bathtub lastnight playing with a shoelace and a Polly Pocket. She tied the Polly Pocket up and began to lower her head in the water. She very calmly says...

Ella: "You'll never breath again."

Scott: "Ella, that's not nice to say, how about you save her from the giant instead."
Scott had said this only becase he briefly overheard her mentioning the doll being held captive by a giant.

Ella: "I AM the giant."

Picture Tag...

Alright, this is the fourth picture in my fourth folder. It is from just last month while we were in Vegas. The girls were in my parents backyard and Ella was feeding ICE CREAM to my mom's poor little chihuahua (sp? too lazy to look it up), Sadie. Oh yes, Ella is known for doing these types of things...I'm sure you're all aware. Hey, Paisley wasn't doing anything to stop her, so she's just as guilty. I do remember stories about my dad feeding his dog, his dinner, so it could just run in the family. ;) J/K! Any excuse right?! Ah, gotta love these children.

 

Tag Dawn-Marie!

Fun with Paka and Mimi...and cousins and Aunt Lara and Uncle Jeremy! We're so lucky!

Something we miss about the west coast is seeing cousins and grandparents so often! (of course, who out here doesn't?) These 5 little princesses have got to spend lots of fun cousin time together at Paka and Mimi's house these past few years and we ain't gonna let moving to the east coast change anything about that! There is nothing better than 5 little girls ages almost 7 to 2, singing Barbie songs together, in unison. We keep trying to not remind ourselves that they will all be teenagers at the same time also!! Yikes, daddy's are gonna have to get out the guns.

Thank you for the fun....Lara and Jeremy for driving out to Vegas and Halle's Birthday Party...and Richard and Janice... Watching T.V. together like the good old days, going to the park and to the movies and just being with eachother is the best! We had such a fun vacation! Love You Guys!

 

Paisley's Past Pumpkin Days...

 

2006: Baby Calf...current update: still milking the Mama Heffer for all she's worth...literally.
2007: Princessy, Witchlike Baby Jaguar..."Meow, Meow, Meow!"
2008: Paisley the Pink Poodle

Ella's Halloween Flashback

 

Crabby Little Fabbi Girl!
2004

 

Our Little Marsh-Mella
2005

 

Nurse Ella
2006

 

Ruby The Rabbit
2007

One of my hopes for this trip back to Las Vegas was getting right back to nature, playing in the backyard naked and of course picking these apples from Papa Kent's and Grandma Sue's apple tree...Uncle Jason brought it on! The whole Little Red Wagon was just about full of Apples!



They had quite the system going...she took the full bags, put em in the wagon and then brought back the bag to fill up again! The girls ate them up. They would take 6 bites and then put it down....then 15 minutes later go and get a "new" one...hey, as long as they get their fiber is what I say.



I'm in love with this photo. So much happiness.



Tippy-Toe with Uncle Joe



How do you like dem apples? (Did I just type that? Oh well. Cheesy.

Ella's first cotton picking in Papa Don's garden...


A very confused Ella walks over to me and whispers,
"Mom, cotton candy is a growing food?"
She knew that couldn't be right...


...so she tested it out herself. Oh well...but seriously, who wouldn't plant cotton candy seeds?! Yummy.


Caleb + Mariella = A WHOLE LOT OF JOY whenever they're together.