We're movin' on up...or, I guess down...

(picture taken at the park near our building, right after we moved to NYC)

So here's some sad, exciting and crazy news all in one...we are moving a week from today to a new, well, I wouldn't say new, but different apartment! I'm a bit bummed. I LOVE our area, ward and friends that we've met. We are really going to miss this place. But, this summer I will be around doin' all the fun things in this area. We have some of our favorite memories here on Haven Ave. and we've only lived here for 8months! Scott and I were just talking before bed last night and decided that this apartment just feels like home to us.
We are REALLY going to miss the other people that live in this building. We know we got lucky to have such an awesome "Super" and such honest people that would always tell us when we left our keys in the door, OVERNIGHT! (we had to get used to a few things when we moved here...no opening your garage and then closing it, we have to actually use a key to get in!)...Cosette sending down a bag on a rope to her sister that lives on the 1st floor...Cosette singing to her sister down the banister on Sundays (prettiest voice)...Dominique greeting us as we walked in the building...Mario (89 yrs. old) singing and dancing and talking our ear off. (he can't leave the building b/c there is no elevator and he can't walk far) He gives the girls little toys and invites us in to talk about his past and look at his pictures. And of course, I want to cry when I think about Ella and Benjamin not seeing each other as often anymore!


(morning after our first night in our apartment...Paisley used Grandma Thelma's side table as a breakfast table)

We are certain that our new apartment will eventually have the same homey feel as we transition in. I'm not too worried about Ella, she was like, "WOOHOO. I wanna live here!" when we went to show it to the girls. It's 2 blocks away from her school, the subway and most importantly, her cousin Elise's apartment! Much more convenient than the 5 flights, 6 block walk to the subway, 90 block ride down and 5 block walk to school. Not that I've counted. The girls have been SO good to go through that during the week for this long!

We will live in a Brownstone building, near 88th street and Broadway, so we are way excited about living in the upper west side. It is like "moms with huge strollers heaven"...lots of families and EVERYTHING to do with kids. It's known for it's unique mixture of everything that Manhattan has to offer, in one area.

We just signed the lease yesterday. So figured it was time to tell people about it, since it's coming up so soon!

Visitors are always welcome. Our new place will be a bit larger than our last, so bring it on! :)

Scott was on Good Morning America!!

It's National Nurse Anesthetist Week! So he and a few other classmates went down to hold up signs and be there for the recording of Good Morning America! (In the snow and rain...now that's dedication.) He had a great time. The girls and I didn't get to see it, b/c we have horrible TV reception and for some reason they don't play it live on the Internet...I'll have to look into that more though.

Here is a picture of the sign he made really late last night...

Get it? We DREAM of being CRNAs? He couldn't possibly hold up a sign that said something like...Pregnant Women LOVE me during labor, or I'm practicing on my kids when they won't go to bed at night. So, that was the safe way to go. ;) He always comes up with the funnest little phrases for everything! So, when you read a cute phrase on a card or whatever, it's usually his!

I will send a link if indeed we do find it on the Internet with he and his classmates in the video.

They wore their SCRUBS down there...It's been almost 9 months since I've seen him in SCRUBS...CUTIE!

Got to go, Paisley's making a mess with her "brown soda"

I just can't help but give a shout out to my little girls.

They have been such dolls. I have been waking up to the sweet sounds of quite playing around the apartment, I don't hear a word. Just the sound of Polly Pockets playing, the pages of books turning or little scribble sounds on paper. I LOVE that they don't wake me up! (this is what is nice about living in a tiny apartment) We are finally reaching that point of having self-sufficient, little people around here! It is such a relief when I think about how much time was and is spent taking care of newborns and toddlers(especially my colicky ones), it really does pay off people!:) Now, I need advice on the next phase in my cuties lives(kindergarten)...anyone, anyone?

I love you girls! And Scotty you get a shout out too, cause you're so good at getting them breakfast and still letting me get my rest! MWA times a million!

New Year's...reposted for pix...

 

Ranas in the Rainforest...

 

These are the remainder of pictures from Vegas...so they are of...
-The MGM Lion Habitat and Rainforest Cafe- Ella tickled the lions paw!
(I worked at the Rainforest Cafe for several years...I actually worked for a birthday party company, where we dressed up and went to different events and parties to entertain...so at the rain forest I dressed up as a tree frog named CHA!CHA! Sorry, couldn't find any pictures. ;) I actually dressed as the frog until I was 4 months pregnant with Ella..it was the worst. I also did animal balloons there among other crazy things that I have crazy memories of!
-One of our favorite carousels in the outlet mall that we would ride every Wednesday for free after story time!
-Ella and Jensyn with Uncle Jason's dog! The girls were so funny balancing the dog on Scott's back. It was cute. We had so much fun playing APPLES to APPLES! Thanks for bringing it over Jen!

Leavitts'

We met up with friends in Vegas the night before we headed home. Travis and Scott have been friends since they were little boys! Emily and Travis' little Sadie Ladie just makes our whole family's hearts melt! We just love this little girl...and she LOVED her Uncle Scotty, if ya can't tell. Of course, Ella and Paisley loved their adorable poodle, Ollie too! It was nice to see you guys and catch up!

 

 

 

 

Temple Square and New Year's with Allred Cuties

Temple Square was beautiful. We went the last night of the holiday festivities...Jan. 31st. There were amazing nativities from around the world and decorations that seemed to have been sent by members all around the world as well. It was so cold that I forgot about taking pictures! I am so glad that we went. Thanks Mona and Spencer for meeting us there so we could spend more time together! We love you guys! We had a New Year's celebration with Caleb and Sage too! Papa Don sent the kit in the mail. ;)

 

 

 

 

New Year's 2009...

1. Ella and Paisley stayed up until after 1am. We were in Utah at Jana and Chris' place.
2. Ella popped her own poppers...I think I was a teenager before I had the courage to so this.
3. We had a New Year's party at Grammy Barbara's and Papa Don's. This is a tradition. I remember several New Year's Eve parties at their house...however, I was just told this year that we would always celebrate New Year's, New York time!! All those years I though I was staying up until midnight...when it was really only 9pm.
4. We went to the Hash House for breakfast one morning with all the Fabbi's in Vegas...Yum. Thanks Mom and Dad.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Ella's first "color by number"

And Sledding too!

 

Sledding outside in front of the cottage was too much fun...anything that makes me feel like a kid again is fun now-a-days. Plus, the girls had more fun giggling and pulling their sleds back up the street than actually sliding down...double SCORE for us. There was THAT much happiness involved! Thank you for taking pictures Mimi!

Artsy Kids.

We drove up to Utah to visit the Frary's, Allred's and the Cottage! Erin brought out her clay spinning wheel and she, Jordan and Ella started spinning and creating away! After their pots had dried over night, they spent New Year's Eve painting their pots. I'm so sad I didn't get a picture of the finished products. It was the perfect craft Erin, thank you. Ella and Paisley love time spent with you two big kids.

 

Jordan is amazing! He told me that he could make domino's out of anything. He brought out some change and I admit that I doubted it...he proved me wrong...look at those nickles all lined up perfectly! All of kids took turns pushing the spinning the button for the pottery wheel...Ella used her hands...Jordi got smart and rested his tired head on it! I love this boy! His mind just amazes me, the stuff he creates and comes up with!
I've just got New Year's and Temple Square left to post about of our 3 week long vacation! :)

Four Generations- December 25th, 2008

Grandma Thelma
Sue and Kent
Jennifer, Jason, Julianne and Scott, Joseph
Caden, Jensyn, Mariella, Paisley

Some Christmas Favorites...

Happiness...

Christmas Day Collage...

Here's the first batch of pictures from Christmas Day...So FUN this year. The whole season was just so exciting, I felt like a little girl again watching Ella and Paisley. We all scored...Ella and Paisley got their much anticipated scooters and they ride them everywhere! Even in the ice and slush and snow. Thank you Mom and Dad...I mean SANTA, it was the fix to my "double stroller dilemma"... these scooters are like 3 lbs a piece! Very easy going up and down the apartment and subway stairs. Then we can even collapse them! I carried Ella's around town in my PURSE while she was at school!

 

There are a few pictures from the day after Christmas...including when we went to Karisa's yummy smelling house...we decided to choose her to perform our ONLY Christmas Caroling of the Season...she interrupted us during the second song and told us to come in b/c it was too cold!!! LOL. It was so Karisa. I love you by the way, Karisa.

Princess Anne

I like to call Paisley "Princess Anne" b/c Anne is her middle name...it changes from that to Stinkin' Anne or Baby Anne or beautiful Anne depending on our moods.
Today my independent 3 year old told me she was going to get dressed, went in her bedroom, put on an ALL matching outfit (later to find out matching underwear and socks as well, put on shoes and a matching headband, by herself. I am ALL about self sufficency. Hooray! I Love you my little Mommy Anne!

 

I like to MOVE IT, MOVE IT.

 
 
Can you even BELIEVE THIS?! HELLO!? Just a random house in Springville, Utah. We had to stop and stare everytime we drove by.

Nohing Like Christmas Eve With The Fabbi Family

So I love Family Traditions. I can remember as a child going to MY great-grandparents house for a very traditional Christmas Eve Dinner and Grandma Potter's popcorn balls...visit from Santa every year... Mcdonald's gift certificates for all the kids. It was the best, I can only imagine that my children feel the exact same at their Great-Grandparent's house!
One of my favorites that we do now is Christmas Eve at Papa Don's and Grandma Barbara's. We eat pizza, sing carols, open gifts and have pie for dessert. We really missed everyone that couldn't make it! Melissa made really good homemade bread, my dad passed out everyone's jerky and the kids were nuts as always.

 

Classic Grandma Thelma. She's going to be 90 this year! She, Joe and Caden were looking at a digital picture frame my mom had given my grandparents.

Ella and Jensyn's Christmas Duet, in matching jammies. Thanks for the Christmas jammies Grandma Sue...and for Santa Mouse. Paisley has been carrying him around town the past couple of days.

Baby Mason and his Mama Lacey. That little cutie, I'm fallin' for the babies again....I thought I would never want another of my own again...I was wrong. Every chance I get, I want to hold a baby.

Paisley with the look of satisfaction on her face! "It's just what I wanted." she said after opening her sweet ballerina. My grandparents are the bomb Christmas gift finder's. I love Joe in the background holding her "Santa Baby" puppy.

Paisley thinkin' she's a thug with her signs.

Little girls, Little Girls...

 

Love being with family!

 
We had a great evening out with my family! First, we got the girls (Ella, Pais and Our sweet little niece Jensyn) ALL dolled up, then we took them to get their pictures taken like we do every year around this time. Caden was there too! It's gotten MUCH easier than in years past...they were lovin' the camera.
Then Mom, Dad and Joe met us and we all ate at Red Robin. Thanks for that awesome night, it was so nice to be together. It was so much fun and like getting pictures taken, it's much easier to eat out all together without crazy toddlers!! Then Grandma and Grandpa, Joe and Scotty took the girls to Builld-a -Bear while Jen and I picked out the pictures...they turned out pretty darn cute. I will scan them and post them soon...maybe.
Paisley showing her sniffing obsession...my mom got her a cherry sniffable pencil, which she loves.
Scott trying to get a swig of Paisley's rootbeer.
Pre-photoshoot while waiting to get the real pix taken of the three beauties and Cade.

Arriving and getting in that Christmas Spirit kind of mood...

Getting way excited to soon land in the snowy Las Vegas Valley on December 18th.

 

 

 

Part of Paisley's Version of Deck the Halls...with the cutest rhythm and voice you've ever heard..."Look at the balls in Christmas holly. Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la" Oh my goodness, this cutie was scootering down Broadway today after she put on a sample of "Ursela Red" lipstick from Sephora singing, "Poor infortunate souls, in pain, in need!"

 

While decorating the Christmas Tree at Paka and Mimi's, Paisley comes in and says, "Daddy, what small little fing could I put on the tree?"
Scott-"I know a small little fing we could put on the tree!"