Dennis the Menace Park

Some of my best memories of my childhood take place in Monterey/Carmel, CA. My Grandma Eich lived there and we would go visit her, often going to Dennis the Menace Park, so I was thrilled at the opportunity to go back and see it as an adult, and let me children experience it as well. I've accidentally posted the pics on here backwards, but you'll get the idea...

Right before we left Nevaeh had to go on the train again, this time with Daddy; Mommy stood shivering with Taylor, trying to catch a few quick pics.
On top of the train! I vividly remember climbing all over this thing as a little girl, very special to see Nevaeh doing the same, and LOVING it.

Tay was such a good girl in her stroller. We're def. going back when she is able to play, too.

Nevaeh climbed to the top!

Here she is starting out...

The maze! Nevaeh laughed like crazy as she RAN through the maze. I was shocked that she'd allow me out of her sight, but impressed that she just went for it!

Crawling through tunnels.

Getting to be a good climber! All by herself!

Slides are her favorite!

On the big bridge with Daddy!

Daddy helping her with the rock wall.

Love at first sight! She couldn't wait to explore the train!

Daddy and his girls!

Forgive me for the limited number of pics of Baby Tay, she just slept and observed, too young to get the full experience, but don't worry, Kaleb and I had such a wonderful time this weekend with the girls that we've already determined to return!!!

Getting clean, and dirty...

I just love that Taylor is big enough now to take baths with Nevaeh. They play and splash together, and it is so adorable.

Nevaeh does a great job of sharing the toys with her little sis. We do have to carefully monitor them because sometimes Nevaeh tries to rinse Taylor off/drown her. :-)

This is what goes on right before bathtime. Taylor is too little to be allowed in the dirt, so she stays in her Exersaucer, but Nevaeh LOVES LOVES LOVES the dirt. Here she is laying on her "dirt bed" as she calls it. It is also referred to as her "mud hole" and the location of her "worm pile". Not very girlie, I know, but I love it!!!

Nevaeh's Owie

Here is a picture of cute Baby Taylor making her signature face, lips all tucked in and eyebrows raised high. She is looking at her strange big sister who...
...had Mommy put a band-aid on her "owie" on her forehead. A few minutes earlier she had bonked her head on the folding table that is now my thesis work station... She doesn't quite have the concept of the type of "owies" that warrant a band-aid, but I didn't care. I slapped that on her forehead and she had it on all day. She threw a fit when Kaleb tried to take it off at bathtime, so she got to sleep with in on, too. It was quite an ordeal taking it off, but totally worth it to get this picture.

I love my silly girls!

Funny Things

I'm constantly in a fit of laughter over something my girls have said or done. Here are a few...

1. You've already seen Taylor sticking her tongue out, but now she spits along with it.
2. Nevaeh made up her own song, with the same-ish tune every time she sings it. Here are the lyrics- "I want to, I want to, I want to build a house. I want to build a house, build a house, build a house!"
3. Whenever we say prayers Nevaeh thanks God for her pig, which is refering to one of her pig toys.
4. Nevaeh holds her hand out with her palm cupped and says that she is carrying one of many species. Her fav's are starfish, wolves, and turtles.
5. To avoid bedtime Nevaeh will ask to watch a singer, which refers to watching American Idol.
6. Nevaeh has an obsession with wolves. She loves them. Talks about them constantly. Recently we went to the dog park and a lady there had a husky. Neve still talks about petting the wolf and that the wolf played with Moka.
7. Taylor likes to rock back and forth, back and forth. Sometimes she leans so far forward her chin could probably touch the floor.
8. When Taylor goes down for her morning nap Nevaeh cries and says, "Don't take my baby!"
9. Taylor bangs on the piano toy we have and grins at the sounds she makes.
10. Nevaeh puts her t-ball under her shirt and says that it is eating her boob like Baby Tay.


These are just a few. Hopefully I'll remember to write a quick blog as these things come up. They are the memories I want to keep!

Taylor's Funny Face

Last night Taylor started making this face. I thought for sure it would be something I never catch on camera because of how hilarious it is. I think she's doing it as a way of teething, because she just started drooling a lot recently too. She is definitely going to be our little comedian, I think, because as I was taking these pictures and laughing as I was taking them, she just kept right on making faces. She enjoys all the laughs and attention.

What face, Mommy?!

Oh, you mean this one?

Sitting on the couch making faces at Mommy and Nevaeh. :-)

AMGEN Tour of California

I felt the need to post pictures after getting hateful phonecalls from MY aunt in Texas to update my blog because she checks it every day for new pics of the girls. So, here are some from our outing to the AMGEN finish line here. If you look closely, you may see Lance (not really).

Nevaeh gave people with really loud bells some dirty looks. They were sometimes so loud it made her cry. She prefered Mama's slightly smaller bell with a much more tolerable sound.

This is why we go: Corn dogs, Jamba Juice, chili cheese fries, BBQ sandwiches...YUMMY!!!

Happy Taylor, as usual

Such a pretty smile, Nevaeh. We call her "Hollywood" when she wears her sunglasses, she loves it. Even when we forget to say it, she reminds us.

There's Mr. Armstrong, right there! Look closely. I took pics of the peloton, just to make it look like I really follow bicycling. The only rides I really follow are the ones my dad does. I'm very proud of his bicycling accomplishments!

Taylor was just relaxing in the stroller, but enjoying the sunlight and nice, cool breeze.

They even had special street signs posted. Who would've thought our little city would've had so much attention?

Valentine's Day

This Valentine's Day was really fun. Usually the only way Kaleb and I celebrate this "holiday" is by going out to dinner, just because it gives us a credible excuse. We don't really want to get into the idea that Valentine's Day is the only time of the year you do special things for your loved ones, instead we tend to think that regular days of the year are even more special to surprise each other with gifts, cards, or whatever. However, Kaleb just had to go and get his girls a treat, so after he got done with his night shift, he went and bought donuts. As you can see, Nevaeh completely enjoyed that V-Day surprise! "It's nummy!" she repeated over and over. Taylor is missing in these pictures because, unfortunately for her, she can't enjoy the sweets yet!

Yummy donuts....can you guess which ones immediately caught Nevaeh's eye???

This year for Valentine's Day, my dad bought my mom one of those Edible Arrangements, a bouquet made out of chocolate-covered and regular fruit. On her lunch break, my mom brought over a chocolate-covered strawberry and apple for Nevie-girl. She enjoyed them both...

These got a "It's nummy!" too!

In other news, we've been pretty sick here at the Gibbs' house. Kaleb's been feeling a little under the weather, and Taylor has recovered from her cold, but poor Nevaeh has been sick for quite awhile. We've missed church three weeks in a row due to her cough and runny nose. Finally, last week I took her to the doctor, and since she still wasn't any better by the end of the week, the dr agreed to prescribe her some antibiotics. This is the first time she's taken anything like that, so I was kind of nervous. I just want her to feel better! And really, snot and persistent coughing really brings out the worst in me. It's disgusting, and if I don't check her face every few minutes, it's all over the place. Ew, so gross. Thankfully, she hasn't been super cranky or anything, just even more mellow than she usually is, and a lot more dramatic and emotional (which is saying a lot, because if you've spent any time with her you know how much of a drama queen she can be!). Pray that she gets better soon! We've been cooped up for too long!

My thesis is coming along pretty well now, I have about 30 pages, single-spaced....so I'm making noticable progress. It is a lot more difficult than I imagined, but I know the sense of accomplishment will be great once I have finished. I owe my family so much for their help with the girls, giving me some time here and there to work on it. Ally even comes over after school to play with them for awhile. Nevaeh just loves her boyfriend, Matt, who sometimes comes over with Ally and plays with her. Also, his family raises the pigeons that fly home, and he brought some over and took one out of the crate and let Nevaeh pet it....obviously that puts him high on her "Favorite People" list.

Taylor is sitting up by herself now, and goo-goo, gaa-gaa-ing a lot more. It is adorable! She has so much fun observing her big sis running around, playing with toys, and looking at books. I'm definitely raising some readers!

Love to you all!

Oh, and since I gave you an update on everyone but Kaleb, I will just say that he's about the same...work and being a great daddy.