Georgia Gilmans

My Dear Amaris is 2 today so I wanted to capture some things for her that I will never forget! Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Your name means Beloved Joy! What a perfect name for you because you are truly beloved by Derek, Kaley, our extended family and me and you bring much joy into our lives.

You are my little natural baby and I feel a special bond because I remmber your birth so vividly. You have been cute, aware, and loud since the day you were born

You are smart and funny and vivacious. You have been talking since you were 1 and you put together the best, funniest, and sometimes most obvious sentences. You are a good climber and are pretty much fearless. You love to sing an dance. Your favorite food is pasta, especially fettucine alfredo, and you love chocolate too.

You want to be like Kaley in so many ways.She teaches you things and you learn them quickly. You anxiously wait to pick her up from school and greet her with a squeal and big hug daily. You gave up your pacifier relatively easily by reciting "no paci Kaley, no paci Amaris, big girl, no cry either". I love to hear you sing songs with Kaley or try to pray like her.

You are my child that looks like me.

At Uncle Josh's wedding (July 2009, 2 months)

You love to sing and dance and giggle. You play well alone and amaze people when you do (particularly at soccer when you play in your playpen while we coach). You've changed a lot since this picture from a year ago. You were great while your Daddy was deployed and warmed his heart with a hug greeting and patting the couch and saying "sit here Daddy" like he had not been gone. He was amazed (and still is) at how much you talk!

You really love Care Bears: stuffed care bears, books, movies, and more. You like to name them and organize them in sets. You also love machines, especially large construction machines. Now we count them as we go around town and you name them. So for your birthday we got you Care Bears and we got you machines. So now you play with them together and the Care Bears drive the machines.

I've had a month to spend more time with you since I stopped my job. You are great company! I love the blessing of having fun with you: on bike rides, playing with toys, eating lunch, running errands, and even picking strawberries.

You melt our heart with your smile and we love you so much! Happy Birthday!

This month we took our much-anticipated vacation trip back to California to see our friends that we lived with for 4 years. Kaley has been talking about it for months! We had a wonderful time! Amaris did as expected for a 14-month old on the long flight - she was wiggly and didn't sleep much, but overall did pretty well.

We first stayed at the Wilder's house. Kaley and Amaris both warmed up quickly to Charles and Debbie. One of my favorite moments was when Amaris walked up to Debbie and held her arms up in a "pick me up" motion.

One of the favorite indoor games is "chase" where one of the kids chases/pushes the police car with the tricycle. Kaley and Blake spent hours doing this, and sometimes Amaris joined in

Saturday night we had a BBQ at the Baldizon's house and saw LOTS of wonderful church friends. It pains me to say "BBQ" instead of "Cookout" since i believe no barbeque sauce was used on anything.  This picture is my friend Amaris and her daughter Kaitlyn (who was born the day after my Amaris). We've enjoyed sharing pregnancy, sharing baby stories and pictures, and we really appreciate her sharing her name with us too!

This is Kaley's best buddy Brayden as they say goodbye at his preschool. This picture is out of order, but what can you do?

Kaley requested a trip to Avila Barn to feed the animals. We met up with Noelle and some other friends there before heading to a YUMMY dinner at Old Village Grill in AG. Check out Noelle's girlly princess leg kick.

On Sunday we proceeded up the mountain to Big Bear Lake where we spent 3 nights with the Scott family and Baldizon family. Mealtimes in the nice warm weather out on the porch were a definite highlight. Derek did time at the kids table for this particular meal.

Josiah and Kaley and Eli were best buds the whole trip. They loved playing in the kiddie pool together.

There were lots of preschool video games played, between Kaley's vtech and Chris's Ipad that he shared with the kids

Derek and Kaley at the pool. Her swimming is continuing to improve. She gets the worst pool hair - always looks a bit like Cousin IT in pictures

The guys and kids chilin' in the kidde pool on the hot day

A goodbye with Annie and Finn. We shared pregnancy together and now we got to spend time with our cute 1-yr olds together

Back in Santa Maria we finished up by staying at the Burks' house. Kaley and Brayden gave me cute smiles during their breakfast together.

The game of the week was "let's play family" (Kaley's idea). It was hilarious to hear them running through the house saying "Oh Husband where are you" or "Oh wife, what do you want me to do with this baby, she won't stop crying". Cosette and Amaris got to play roles too, but of course Brayden and Kaley were Daddy and Mommy.

Saying goobdye to the girls!

A group guys picture

Well, 4 months without writing a blog is probably grounds for many of you to stop checking. Maybe I'll go back and throw in some pictures from those 4 months on my next entry. But, the focus of this one is a very special person - Derek aka Daddy. 5 years ago on Father's Day we learned that we were pregnant (with the baby that would become Kaley) and he has been a super Daddy and the favorite of his Daddy's girls all along.

Derek has been working overtime as Dad this month because he's had to pick up a ton of the housework and kidwork while my back has been injured. Poor guy even cheerfully did dishes today on Father's Day. I'm going to share a few pictures of him in super Dad mode from this past month.

He sat through the longest ever preschool graduation, while fully entertaining the baby and was still smiling (here) afterwards

Got the pool set up on the first day of summer and played polar bear swim with Kaley. This mom was not getting near that cold pool

Sold the Yellow Car for an awesome price and helped Kaley (and me) say goodbye to it

Has moved and fixed the trampoline twice now after a storm has upended it and blown it across the yard

Loves pool time with his girls after work

Loves all 3 of us so much. This is the picture we put on his new coffee mug to take to Cuba

Daddy and his girls on Father's Day

Has made story time with Amaris a special event. She even says "The End" after every book because he reads to her so much and she got it from him. Can you tell I'm proud of him?

Well, this has been a week and a half of "firsts" for our girls. Amaris hit 8 months and has since had 1) first haircut, 2) first waving hello, 3) first saying Mama (or making the sound, 4) first crawling!, 5) first getting back into sitting position after crawling, and 6) first self-fed crumbs of bread. To add to that, Kaley had her first bowling experience. They are getting ready for another first: first time away from Mom and Dad more than a few hours because they will be with their Mimi and G while Derek and I go on vacation

A cute Saturday morning shot with Dad

Very shaggy BEFORE the haircut

Very content DURING the haircut

Very cute AFTER the haircut

This is Brit, our wonderful sweet babysitter. She loves to fix Amaris' hair and here both girls have top ponytails. Cute!

We bought new furniture for our bedroom. The 15 drawer dresser is HUGE and very square. It cannot turn the corner on the steps or physically make it in the hall to our bedroom. What do we do? How do we return one piece and keep the bed that came in the set? Never fear - I am married to super Mr. Fixit. He disassembled the entire thing and reassembled it upstairs. We will sell it with the house that's for sure!

The finished piece!

Such a cute sister shot. Kaley likes to try to pick her up or hold her standing

And we can stand alone for long long times at the coffee table. No cruising or moving feet yet though.

We all passed a virus through the family and had a number of days at home. Once we felt better we finally started getting pictures on the walls

Our favorite Thomas Kinkade one in the living room

Kaley's first bowling birthday party

Kaley and her friend Don making super hero poses

Silly! This cracks me up everytime!

Crawling video

Bowling video

...use texting as a primary means of communication (about a year now)

...join Facebook (April 2009)

...get up at 5:30 am to exercise (September 2009)

...Own a MiniVan (Jan 2, 2010)

Well, considering I haven't updated the blog since eary November, this is going to be a long one!

In mid December we took the girls to see Santa. It went great except for two miscues. First, they asked if Amaris would cry and I said "oh no, definitely not". Then I handed her off and WAHHHH! loud cries, making her Mommy a liar. This is the best picture we got. Then when we got in the car Kaley started crying because Santa did not just hand her the gift she requested...apparently we had not explained Santa very clearly!

Derek is building a workbench in our garage. It is coming along nicely. He paused the project long enough to make sure both cars fit in the garage during the cold.

The weekend before Christmas the Batchelor clan came down to celebrate. I love this picture of "G' and Amaris together while we were making breakfast

We love our big dining room. It was fun to have a relaxing breakfast of my favorite Breakfast Casserole and coffee too of course

On Saturday the family joined Derek for a few hours of bell ringing at Kroger. I mostly stayed inside with the kids where it was warm. The best part was when they were all singing.

Merry Christmas Gilmans

Kaley shows off her new Cd/Karoake player with Mimi

Me and Kaley under the stockings

Derek gave me gorgeous roses before Christmas and I'm wearing my new warm fleece

Kaley's first glimpse of the trampoline

Trying it out with Mimi and Daddy

And with G...

I've decided the trampoline is a great cure for a bad mood. I've enjoyed it at night in the cold under the stars with Kaley and in the afternoons in the sun after school too

On the 23rd we headed to Orlando for Christmas at the Gilmans. Here are Derek and Amaris cuddling on Christmas Eve

Me and my girls on Christmas Eve

Kaley enjoys a new shirt and new chairs on Christmas morning

For Amaris, Christmas was mostly about eating wrapping paper and sneaking more when we weren't looking

This is my favorite holiday pictures of Kaley with the babies

josh and Lorra are excited about their new WII

The kids with the presents and the tree

Comparing heights of the tall babies

Kaley got a new kitchen for Christmas and loved pretending to bake with Grandpa

Grandpa and Josh taught Kaley how to help them lose at pool.

Kaley wished with Grandma on the wishbone. Her wish: a baby brother. Not for quite a long time, sweet girl!

Uncle Josh plays with his niece and nephew on the floor

Kaley also got Twister and we've had a lot of laughs playing it together with her. She's a little short for it

Kaley and Elias eat tangerines off Kirsty's tree

Two Gilman kids and two Ortega kids. When we met and were friends, these guys did not exist and it was all about the dogs!

Me and Kirsty with our baby girls

Derek, Juan, and Elias

Kaley is starting to feed Amaris! Here it's a bottle, sometimes it baby food by spoon. Yipee!

The weekend after Derek's birthday, we met my parents and brother at a cabin in North Georgia for mountain adventuring.

Cori and Amaris enjoying a hike

The family gathered around birthday dinner and chocolate cake

A cool picture of Kaley and Mimi hiking together

Family shot by Lake Blue Ridge

Derek, his girls, and his cake

Balancing on a log with "G"

Hiking by the waterfall and trying not to get too wet

Georgia Tech family

It was quite a pretty waterfall

Amaris and Mommy at the waterfall

A fun shot of Kaley in the back of the car with the dogs

Here's how you open your mouth to eat, Amaris. Yum, yum!

Well, looks like me last blog was in mid-October and lots has happened since then.

Mid October: Amaris learns to sit alone, she begins eating baby cereal, and Georgia Tech beat VT at homecoming (we did not go to the game))

Late October: Mimi and G come to visit and spend Halloween with us

Early November: Derek turns 31!

Mid November: We take a weekend to a cabin in Blue Ridge, GA to celebrate Derek's birthday complete with: hiking to a waterfall, mountain biking, steak dinner and chocolate cake, time in the hottub, and mornings drinking coffee on the porch overlooking Ga, TN, and NC. No pictures from this event because they are all on Mimi's camera.

Now: Can't wait for Thanksgiving vacation and time in Rome with my family! I'm sitting here typing watching Amaris do all kinds of acrobatics on the floor including multiple rolls to get to the other side of the room where AJ is. This is new - using rolling as movement.Derek is outside using lots of new tools to build a workbench...a wonderful birthday gift from his parents

Here are the pictures!

A gorgeous sunset over our backyard

Kaley and G help Derek put our numbers on the mailbox

G and Kaley watching a movie. Yep, I get my sleeping genes directly from him!

Kaley, the fairy princess, shows off her wings

Derek and yellow jacket Amaris

The whole family at the church's harvest party

Trick or treating. G is Gandalf the Gray

If I had a daughter sir I'd dress her in white and gold. My Georgia Tech girls!

Daddy and Amaris on his birthday morning

Daddt and Kaley on his birthday

Derek teaches Kaley about catching and throwing a football

Yeah for fall and football

We found some hiking trails on church property where we can go hiking with the dogs

Me and Derek on his birthday. Kaley took this picture for us, her first

Cute sisters! Irresitiable!

Kaley showing off her pigtails

Amaris loves to cuddle and play with AJ

He laid there and spooned her for 10 to 15 minutes. It was adorable

Our car with all Derek's workbench supplies

This is where Amaris started. Now she is clear across the room stuck against the couch and ready to be picked up. bye until next time!

This weekend we went down to Orlando to celebrate Uncle Denis' birthday!

Amaris gets some good cuddles with Uncle Josh

My friend, former roomate, and co-worker Jackie had a baby girl three weeks before Amaris was born. We had a chance to get the two grils, Claire and Amaris, together to play

This is my favorite shot of Claire and Amaris

Baby switch: I got to hold Claire a little bit

And, Jackie got to hold Amaris

Amaris is quite smiley while playing in Jax' toys

Jax and Amaris playing together (kind of)

Lasagna dinner and birthday cake for Denis!

Grandma, Kaley, Uncle Josh and Aunt Lorra at American Adventure in Epcot taking a nice break

Conked out baby while holding her pacifier

Funny shot of me enjoying Mexican food from the Food and Wine festival over Amaris' head

Reunion of Swishers and Gilmans...now with two more babies than last time we saw each other

Kaley meets Mulan

Kaley introduces Mulan to Amaris and Mommy

Aunt Lorra, Mommy, and Kaley with Princess Aurora

We got to hear a Sister Hazel concert. It's called "eat to the Beat" and Amaris truly was eating to the beat!

Big smiles after the concert

Amaris "eating to the beat"

Big hugs from Kaley to Mom after dancing and singing "all for you" at the SIster Hazel concert

Our whole family at Epcot

On Monday, we got to see some of our CA friends who have also moved to Georgia. I was happy to re-introduce Amaris to Jess

Mike and Derek hanging out with the dogs in the shade

The three kids: Katie, Kaley and Jack

The three kids at Chick FIl A

Cori and Jess saying goodbye...for a short while till we see them again

Last weekend we made a quick trip to Orlando to see Derek's family and to pick up a riding lawn mower than Derek's dad is giving to us for our new big yard. We had a great trip! Here are some pictures! It has been hard to get blogs written and posted these days!

16 week old Amaris is getting big and loving tummy time, using her hands, and testing her voice by squealing at the top of her lungs

Grandma gets some cuddle time with Amaris at the Contemporary for lunch

Kaley's huge smile and dance when she saw Mickey and the princesses in the show by the castle

Together on the tea cups

3 generations of Carousel riders

Kaley chose Uncle Denis as her partner for the Barnstormer

Brooke and Denis get cozy on the Astro Orbiter

Brooke and Denis on Big Thunder Mtn Railroad

I loved it! My super tall 3 year old is tall enough for Big Thunder and she loved it! What a treat! Here's our family shot at the end of the ride

Jax and Amaris enjoy playing and kicking their legs after a long day at the park

Grandma with her two granddaughters

Grandpa loves his 3 grandkids

Brooke and Derek with all their kids

Aunt Lorra with Amaris

Bedtime for Kaley at Uncle Josh's house

Kaley with Uncle Josh (picture by her request) in front of his new house