Summer

We had a great summer even if we weren't in our own home. We stayed with grandmother and papo this summer and also decided not to move to Castle Rock. It's a decision that we are happy about. We decided to stay in town and choice enroll the kids in where we would be sending them.

Louie - Louie is a very charming baby. Everywhere we go he gets praise from strangers. He has this charm that always pulls people in. I guess I would be included in this. He moves around quickly and is not walking but running. He is very hard to keep up with. Louie's favorite thing about summer was going bye bye. He would get his shoes and wait for you by the door.

Avabelle - Ava is becoming quite the little girl. She is very friendly and loving. She loves people and is always encouraging her big and little brother. The only thing she is not a big fan of is going poop in the potty. She fights it and refuses to give in. I hope this will soon come to an end and she will start using the bathroom.

Anthony - Anthony had a great summer and loves the fact that he can ride on two wheels. I have to keep calling him back to wait for us. He always asks if it's time to go to another party. He enjoys everybodys birthday. He is a fantastic big brother to Louie. When we go anywhere he always tells everyone to watch our for his brother. He is very excited about moving to "Hyland Greens" He doesn't seemed bothered at all about the transition of moving.

Tony and I - I had a hard time not having our own house. I try to accomodate everyone, which can make it really tricky. Tony is adjusting but is really excited about being in our own home again.

MAY

What another amazing month. We had to move out of Grammer's and move into Grandmother and Papo's house. The kids have been great through it all they really enjoy their time with the grandparents.

Louie - Louie is starting to balance himself standing up. He is now 10 months old and I think he'll be walking by the time he's 11 months. He is still very attached to me. Ava took a car away from him and he bit her leg. I can't believe how emotional he is for being so young.

Avabelle - We went to Anthony and Avabelle's end of the year picnic for preschool. Her teacher just adored Avabelle. She kept going on about how great Ava was and how much she was going to miss her. I thought she probably does that will all the kids but I didn't notice her give the extra attention she gave Ava to anyone else. Everyone loves Ava! Grandmother and Papo also adore Ava. Ava loved her birthday party she was so excited about this year. This is the first year she really knew it was her birthday. Her theme was cupcakes and we had her party at grandmother and papos. They were so helpful with the preperation for her party. A lot of people turned out even though they had to travel south. We broke a pinata, played hot potato and pin the cupcake on the cherry. It was a great day and Ava loved her party.

Anthony - Anthony has really become a lot more social. He's even starting to make jokes. I love to listen to him talk when I pick him up from preschool. He tells me about what center he was at and what Jordan did that day. His really cute girlfriend. I went on his field trip to Majestic View. He was more excited about riding the bus then he was about the place. It was great to share that experience with him. He is a great kid who I always tell how much I love him everyday. I can't believe he's almost 5!!!!! He still thinks that the school zone lights flash because HE gets out of school. I tried to explain that it's for all the kids but he likes to tell me that it's because they say "Anthony's out of school."

Tony and I - Tony and I have been under a crazy amount of stress moving from our old house to Grammer and Papa's house to Grandmother and Papos. WOW!!! We are trying to keep our sense of humor about it and not let it affect the kids at all. No matter what we still spend a lot of time with them. We both agreed that they would feel love and support from us no matter where we are at. They have been adjusting well.

Birthday

I had a wonderful birthday this year. I turned 33 this year and while I still feel good I get sad sometimes thinking about how quickly time goes. I always want to stay in shape to keep up with the kids and life. Tony and I eat pretty healthy we just have to workout more. I know we'll be a lot more active this summer, especially living in Castle Rock with all the amenities it offers. Anthony and Avabelle are getting at great ages for bike riding and we have a trailer for Louie. Plus the kids will probably be swimming every day and I will join in.

This year for my birthday Grammer brought a cake and pizza over the night before my birthday. Jez and Diazon also joined the festivites. We had a fire, pizza, cake and a movie. But the best part was all the kids slept in our room for the big slumber party, there was laughing, crying, story telling, and finally a few hours later sleeping. We all had fun.

The morning of my birthday we had to go to Anthony's karate tournament. The rest of the day we picked up the house. That evening Grammer and Papa watched the kids while my mom and dad took Tony and I to my favorite restaurant, Turley's in Boulder. It was nice after dinner we headed back home. It was cute to hear the kids keep telling me Happy Birthday over and over again. Ava's voice was so sweet everytime she said Happy Birthday. But my favorite gift was the card Tony wrote for me. It is one of my favorite's. He sure has a way with words when he writes. This is what I opened...

You are such a good example
Of what a wife should be.
We always get along so well
Even when we disagree.
You are always so loving
Yet still so understanding
You are such a good person
That you deserve to wear a crown
You have the biggest heart
Yet so honest and true
You are the best wife
I'm so proud to have you in my life
I really really love you
One of life's special gifts
Is to have a wife like you

Happy Birthday Rita!

I love you with all my heart you are such a great mother and wife. I know you feel unappreciated but believe me we couldn't do it without you. You make everything I do worth while and make me want to be the best father and husband I can be. Thank you for being you.

I tear up every time I read it. It was very touching and I am soooooo lucky to have such a wonderful husband. He's the best husband in the whole world! I must be doing something right that makes him stick around(or maybe it's because I have all three of his kids :-). Either way I try to give him and the kids 110% everyday and make sure they are my #1 priority always. I love Tony's self disipline, self-control, honesty, and his huge heart.

Anthony - Anthony is starting to finish my sentences now. I'll stop mid sentence and he finishes my thought, he's super cute with his literal thinking lately. He offered me choices the other day. "Mom should we go to the play gym or should we go to the park." I guess he's learning that the choices we give him are a win win for us.

Avabelle - AHHH! I can't break Avabelle of saying this, "mom we don't say fucking shit we say oh my goodness." I thought it would go away but she brings it up once a week in the car. I try not to give a lot of attention to it but why does she keep bringing it up!!!!

Louie- He is pulling himself up on things now and crawling really fast. He is the quickest crawler of the bunch. I took him for his 8 month pictures at JCPennys, they asked me to sign the photo rights to his pictures so they could use them. I laughed because they had me do the same for Anthony when he was a baby. He is a super cute baby and get's the most attention out of all the babies. I think it's because he's a very smiley baby and of course mom thinks he's the most beautiful baby there is out there. I love his personality coming out it's funny to think how he'll be when he starts talking. I love that little guy.

March

We are officially in Grammer and Papa's house. They let us have their house and are staying with Aunt Mary so we didn't have to all share one bathroom. The kids love it over here and are very happy. Grammer stops by twice a day to drop off the dog and pick up the dog. The kids get excited to see her every morning and evening. I get excited too. We enjoy her company.

Anthony - Well there are three kids next door. One girl who is 8 and two twin boys that are 5. Anthony plays great with them and they love to throw the baseball and football over the fence when they are not in the same yard playing. Anthony is getting great at hitting baseball and throwing a football. I'm really impressed with his athletic abilities lately. I hope he gets his fathers athletic abilities and not his mothers.

Avabelle - Ava had her dance recital but when we got there I didn't see her name on the program so I immediately went to tell her teacher the dilemma. She simply told me that Avabelle's recital was last night!!!! I told her it's never been on a Thursday night and I must have just assumed the date was Friday. She told me not to panic that the song and the dance was different but that the moves were the same, and they just follow her lead anyway. I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THAT!!! Anyways she did great she followed along perfectly! There were about 7 girls and 4 of them followed along and Ava was one of them. Lucky thing she's had lots of practice.

Louie - AHHHHHHHHHHH! He's everywhere I can't keep up. He started crawling really fast and gets into everything. He's crawling really early, because he's only 7 months. He still loves me to hold him and when he's done playing he'll crawl at my feet until I hold him. He follows me back and forth through the kitchen. He loves to babble at his brother and sister and already pulls Ava's hair. When she screams he laughs!!! Could he already be the baby brother that loves to antagonize his sister? Ava still can't leave him alone and neither can Anthony. Anthony enjoys holding him on his lap.

Tony and I - Well we made it through his trip it was a short one this time(not short enough). We missed him! Although I had to pull Anthony out of school an hour early to go get dad from the airport, and he told me next time if Dad could come in after school was over because he was in blocks and having a lot of fun. I said I would see what I could do. He came home and I was so happy to see him. He's such a handsome guy!!!! He always looks so nice when he leaves out of town. I'm sure he's eye candy for a lot of women. I'm so lucky to have him! He's the whole package looks, loyalty and the best father in the whole world.

February

Well we sold our house! I can't believe it's happening all so quick. We had to be out by March 5th and Tony leaves for Oreagan on the 8th. Well it's time to pack but wait we had a few heardles Ava got sick, the baby got sick and I had the stomach flu. We made it through it and finished, it was down to the deadline. Thanks to my grandpa, dad, grammer and Jennifer we made it. It's always the same people to the rescue. We are very lucky to have all of them.

Anthony - Anthony is still doing great in Karate and I love to see him come out of his shell. He is starting to get more frustrated when he can't do something correctly the first time. I keep reminding him that he needs to keep practicing at whatever he does so he'll become better. But he's 4 and mom doesn't know what she's talking about. He has a bestfriend Kayan at school who he just adores. It's really cute I think that's his first true school bestfriend.

Avabelle - Ava is always busy. I can hardley keep up with her. My favorite thing about her lately is her singing. She sings by herself it reminds me of when I was younger I used to love to sing to myself. She is so happy and charming. She also loves to be dramatic over little things. If she trips she'll run over and get a hug and then the crying instantly stops. She just wants to be acknowledged. She's been in the same dance class for 9 months and is really getting good. I think I might put her in soccer this summer. AS SOON AS SHE'S POTTY TRAINED!!! She goes in spurts. Sometimes she wants to go all the time and other times she doesn't. I can't wait until she's consistent.

Louie - Louie is crawling in a circle. He has the arm thing down but working on the legs. He is still very close to me and loves to be held. His personality is really coming out and he really smiles and laughs quite a bit. As long as his basic needs are met(mom holding him) he's usually a pretty happy guy. I love to kiss his cheeks and rub his head. During the move I had him in the baby backpack and he loved it. I got to move super quick with him and that kept him stimulated.

Tony and I - Wow talk about stress this time with moving. One person watches the kids the other packs. I remember back in the day when we were both packing and moving was so much quicker. I always think Tony couldn't possibly impress me anymore because I think he's the greatest, but the amount of work he did packing was amazing. He always gives a 110% and we are very lucky to have him. I wish I could get over getting so down about him leaving out of town. I freeze up before he goes.I feel like we are so close that it's like a part of me is missing when he's gone. We have officially been together 17 years this month. I know I'm a much stronger person because of him.

January

I'm a little behind so it is 5 a.m. and I am going to try and catch up. This was a great month. We had a lot of showings because our house is still on the market, we have to get a contract on our house by February 20th, to still obtain the new house. Tony and I go back and forth all the time about the whole moving situation. We have a very happy life now where we are but know in the future it will not suite our family's needs. I know we will be happy wherever we go and that sometimes you have to risk to get better. Leaving comfort is always hard.

Anthony - Anthony loves loves loves school. It makes me so happy to hear him say how excited he is for school or that he can't wait until he gets to school. I told his teachers that they are doing a wonderful job and how happy I am to hear his excitement about school. He is really happy and takes time often to help sister and kiss his brother on his head. I am amazed at how much he's came out of his shell. I don't know if it's school or if it's because I'm home with him now. He thinks he's good at everything now. I told him that grandpa Rudy sounds like Elvis because we were listening to a Elvis song on the radio. He said "Mom am I good singer?" I said I don't know I don't hear you sing a lot. Well he started singing and it was really cute he said I'm a good singer like grandpa Rudy huh. He's became very inquisitive, the questions go on and on about everything it really reminds me of me when I was little, actually it still reminds me of me now.

Avabelle - Ava loves going to school for an hour and a half on Mondays. She is so happy and I love to be around her. She loves entertaining Louie and can't help herself to always touch him when she walks by him. She sings and combines the words of a song with her thoughts. It's always very interesting to hear what will come out of her mouth. She was singing a country song while we were walking in Target. She's behind me and I hear "I want to kiss a girl I want to hold her tight" I kept laughing as that kept coming out of her mouth over and over.

Louie - Louie is doing wonderful. He has been sitting up for a month now and does the army crawl in a circle. Now that he can sit up and play with things he loves it and can entertain himself for awhile. He still smiles all the time and waits for dad to look at him all the time and squeals with delight. He's still sleeping with us and is very attached to him mom. I love him so much my baby boy.

Tony and I - Tony and I have been dissecting the move all the time with are we making the right move. The biggest thing we have a hard time with is how small the yard is. Tony wants a garden and a play yard for the kids. We discuss it daily and still have not come to any conclusion. I just want Tony and the kids to be happy. If they are happy then I will be happy. I turned down a job share for next year. Tony said that the kids are still too little and daycare would be too pricy. The home budget will get tighter but I'll do whatever I have to do for our family. I am just very grateful that I have been able to stay home with them and watch how quickly they're growing, and not miss a thing. There will come a day when mom wont' be cool anymore.

New Years Eve!!

Well we decided to have an eastern standard time party for people with kids like us. We invited a few friends and had a great time. We did a Mexican food buffet and had a fun night. We set up the jumpy castle and Rock Band for the kids, and then had poker for the adults. Everyone really enjoyed themselves and the kids were super adorable with their hats and blow horns at 10 p.m. We always talk about how fun things are with kids because of their energy. The holidays have never been better now that we have the kids.

We had a wonderful 2009 and I'm very thankful we were all healthy and happy this year. There is nothing better in life than being healthy and happy. I love our little family, and I will continue working hard to raise great kids and keep dad happy.

Things I'm going to focus on for the next decade is to be an amazing wife, and mother. In life we always take for granted those closest to us and I am going to try my hardest to not let that ever happen. I always tell Tony how lucky I am to have someone who has stood by my side for 17 years and waited for me to mature. Now I want to show him daily by making sure my actions show him. Although I've been with him longer than I've been with my family. I always tease him how he's raised me more than my family. Next, I really want to live in the moment and not the past or the future. Finally, I want to focus less on the people that are negative, and mean. Life is too short to be drained by negative energy!

December

We had a great December!!!! I cooked and cooked and cooked. I am so in love with all of the Cobbs, especially Tony Cobb. He is such a great father and husband.

Anthony - This month Anthony completed three weeks of preschool and karate. He enjoyed both. His karate teacher gave him the kid of the class because he is new and shows a lot of self-control. He really wanted to the karate party so we let him go it was supposed to be for four hours but we picked him up after three hours because he hasn't been with out us around people he doesn't know. I picked him up and the teacher said, "wow, how funny he just came up two minutes ago and said you would be here any time now." I was so excited to see him because I was very curious about how he adjusted with all the kids for such a long period of time. He seemed fine when I went in he was watching the Polar Express with all the kids. I did miss him. He had a small little dance at his pre-school Christmas party. The teachers warned me that he hadn't practiced the dance at all, and that he would just observe. The music started and he did the dance to all three songs. They were amazed I told them it's because he is an observer and will do what he wants when he wants. He must get this from Dad and Grammer. He did a great job and I was so proud of him and sad at the same time because dad was in New Jersey and missed it.

Avabelle - She enjoyed going to preschool on Monday mornings for an hour and a half. She get's excited everytime she walks through the door and I can't wait until she can go more next year because she loves the socialization. She loves dropping Anthony off with me during the week, and we do so much together. She is always with her coat on ready to go with me. I love her dearly and love to take her every where I go because she's excited to go. I love her sparkly personality.

Louie - He is very spoiled and is next to me 22 hours a day. He sleeps in my arms at night and I walk him around constantly. My goal is to get him on a schedule so dad and I can have some alone time together, which hopefully doesn't consist of Louie having another brother or sister.

Tony and I - Grammer watched the kids for us while we went to a cocktail party in Castle Rock. It was a gathering of all the neighbors that already lived in the development that we plan on living in. We had such a great time, everyone was really nice and friendly. It was nice to be out together. I forget how much we have always enjoyed being together and joking around. He still can give me butterflys like he did in high school. I'm such a lucky girl!!!