A-Team's Adventures

Thank you Jesus

2011-04-17T22:48:00.000-07:00

Tonight we were coming home from dinner and the moon was just stunning. It was a full moon tonight and as we drove toward our house, it was peeking over the mountain. I kept pointing it out to Austin (Kristen was with her daddy in another car and Logan was not sure where to look) and he got so excited about how big, and pretty it was. I was in such awe that I kept saying, "It's so beautiful, look at it Austin, it's just beautiful!". He would repeat me and say, "It is SO beautiful." After a few moments I heard him say, "Thank you Jesus".

I smiled ear to ear and thanked Jesus too.

What's happening...

2011-03-31T16:27:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Logan is 18 months old. It's just too fast. He really loves life which is so fun to watch. Here is what he is saying at 18 months:

Thank you (his first words)-tank you

love you- wuv you

Yo Gabba Gabba- gabba

bye bye

kristen- ti ti

mama

daddy

water

eat

please-peez

car

book (with the "K" really enforced)

truck

yuck

mickey-gickey

austin- ah e

uh oh

i got it

let's go

ready

chocolate- chocat

sorry

book

Batman (plus theme song)- baman

Spiderman- pierman

football- bopball

basketball- baketball

ball

bird- bee

dog

paci- boppy

He is really into cars and trucks and driving them around. He has started to have some interest in watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He loves to hit and throw things no matter what it is. If he hits you he will give you a hug when you cry. Logan likes superheroes, like Batman, Spiderman, and Superman. He loves to dance, especially to Journey. He eats lots of foods and just recently has started to enjoy salad. When he wants your attention he will come and hit your leg, walk away, look back to make sure you are following him. If you aren't, he comes back and gives you two hits/slaps in the leg. He loves sports..especially the ones with balls. He will watch sports on TV, mostly basketball and football. He is hilarious and loves to make others laugh, especially when we are eating dinner. Good times, all the time with Logan.

Austin is a curious little bug, who's mind just doesn't stop, ever. The questions flow from his mouth all day. I love this about him. Once he asked why bugs are smaller than birds. He's smart. We like that here. He loves learning about the human body and space stuff. He really enjoys TV, too much, and playing on the computer. He loves school and loves his sweet little friend Eden. He tells me he misses her often, especially when it's a non-school day. Austin likes to whine, we try and stop it. Some days we are successful, some days we are not. Austin likes to do gymnastics and is really getting better at swimming. We are super proud of him.

Kristen is enjoying Kindergarten. She loves math, and pink pages at school, which are reading comprehension and writing pages. She has become quite the journaler recently. She will write pages when given a good topic. I love this about her. She is reading and doing exceptionally well. Her comprehension impresses me also. She's a smart cookie too..we like that. She is also doing gymnastics which she lives for and tries to do more "tricks" at home. (always wants to show off an handstand or two) She is in Girl Scouts as a Daisy and enjoying making new friends. Her dedication to school work is incredible. She gets to school sits down and does her work without being asked multiple times. I love this. She also likes to roll her eyes at me and give me a little attitude here and there. When she goes to her room she stomps her feet and sometimes slams the door (this is not allowed). We are trying to work through being frustrated and how to deal with it properly. We love our K-girl.

Life is good. Just doing the normal daily doings. I would like to be doing other crazy things on some days, like sitting by the beach, or pool. Soon those things will happen. I am enjoying the day to day stuff, most days. I love the kids excitement about life...it's contagious, especially on days when I am beat. I also like coffee when I am beat or a diet pepsi. They seem to do the trick.

Kindergarten Crush

2010-10-25T09:53:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we were getting in the car after dinner and Kristen says to me, "Mommy I want to marry the boy in the orange group!!" I very calmly (aaaahhhh!!!!) tried to figure out what child she was talking about and what was the orange group. I finally realized she was talking about a boy in her group at the harvest party at her school. I asked her why she wanted to marry him and she said, "Because he is just so HANDSOME!!!!!". Oh no! Is what I thought she is five and already is catching on! Oh the innocence! I asked her what his name was and she wasn't sure, so I very gently told her to find out his name and let me know. Love that she told me this and love that it was completely random and out of no where!!

Homecoming 2010

2010-10-25T09:35:00.000-07:00

Well it's sad to see it has been a year since I wrote on here last. The craziest part is we have a 1 year old...so maybe it makes sense. Anyway.

I needed to write a few things down here! This past Friday night we went to the Homecoming game at Linfield. You see a few days before Kristen came home from school and said that a queen and king were coming to her school. She was so excited and I just couldn't figure out what queen and king she was talking about and then it hit me! The Homecoming queen and king were coming. Kristen was beyond excited to see the queen. So she drew her a beautiful picture to give to her after she was announced queen.

At the game we were just waiting for half-time so that we could see who the beautiful queen would be. We had already seen a few of the princesses and had taken pictures with them. So finally there we were at half-time and all the floats go by and then the princesses. Kristen was just in awe. The princesses made it out to the middle of the field and then they announced that the Homecoming queen was Karissa. As soon as it was announced who the queen was, Kristen ran as fast as she could to get her pictures and then took off like a bullet to the end of the field where the other princesses were coming off the field. She gave one picture to a princess and then I finally caught up to her and she looked at me worried and said, " Mommy I don't know which one she is!" I reassured her that the Queen was still on the field and it would be a few minutes before she came off the field. We waited patiently for the Queen and she finally made it off the field. Kristen went up to her with a huge smile on her face and handed her the envelope (which was a bill envelope with the see thru panel). Queen Karissa turned to her and was just as excited as Kristen. It was the sweetest thing. They hugged the Queen thanked Kristen so much and Kristen was just grinning ear to ear. It made Kristen's night! The best part was that Queen Karissa carried the envelope with Kristen' s beautiful picture in it around with her all night.

A broken heart

2009-10-14T19:45:00.000-07:00

Today when I dropped Kristen off at school her heart was terribly broken. Here's why. She went up to her friend, Finn and told him that she had brought her baby (Logan) today and she wanted him to come and see. Well Finn, being a boy, wasn't really interested and said something that deeply hurt little Kristen' s heart. I am not sure what he said, but it got her good enough to send her into an outburst of tears.

My heart was broken right along with hers. I comforted her, held her tight and let her know that Finn didn't mean to hurt her feelings, he was super busy playing a game and maybe he didn't even know what she was talking about. Who knows, maybe he thought it was a doll baby, not the real deal. I left her at school, and before I walked out I gave her a big hug and said, "Keep your head high, and smile a lot." (These words were spoken to me many, many times by my mom) Kristen smiled and sat down with some other friends.

I was so proud of Kristen and the way that she picked herself up and went on with her day. I was moved by her deep love for Logan and it was so apparent that she was proud to be his BIG sister. I was even more moved when tonight we were praying and Kristen prayed specifically for Finn and that he would be a little nicer to her. Obviously Finn is a special friend to Kristen.

1 CM

2009-09-13T21:36:00.000-07:00

As of last Thursday I was still 1cm and 30-50% effaced. Come on Logan..we are so excited to see you! Don't you wanna come out yet!!??

Preschool for my Baby

2009-09-12T21:24:00.000-07:00

Last Friday Paul and I went to enroll Austin in preschool. I am excited about this but also very edgy about it considering right now I feel like he is my baby. He is beyond excited to go to school on Monday. When we took him to see his school he said, before we were inside, "This is my school! This is my school!". It made my heart pump fast to think that he really wants to go to school and I kinda wanna keep him home a little more. I guess this is a part of letting go a little at a time. I can't wait to see how thrilled he is on Monday when we take him there for his first day. We drove by the school yesterday and Austin said, "There's my school Mommy, there it is!!!" He is so proud. I love that little guy so much.

WAP

2009-09-06T19:50:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the Wild Animal Park to have some good family time. The best thing was that we had an AWESOME day! Our kids got along, they didn't argue, fight with each other, cry, etc. It was truly blissful. We had a lot of fun at Dino Mountain seeing all the dinosaurs. They were super neat and Kristen and Austin really enjoyed watching them and collecting the stamps for each one. After that we went on to see the Condors, which was amazing. They were up close and spreading their wings (9ft. wingspan). Then we went on to the Elephants then the tram ride and off to lunch. It was such a wonderful day!

Snorgels

2009-09-04T20:07:00.000-07:00

Today Kristen, Austin and I were making balloon people. Kristen was drawing a nose for her balloon and she said, "Look mommy I even made snorgels." When I looked up at her drawing I realized that "snorgels" are nostrils!

Dilating!

2009-09-03T22:27:00.000-07:00

I just started having some contractions last night which was pretty exciting. I had my 38 week checkup today and I checked in being 1cm dilated and 25% effaced! Wahoo..so excited to have some dilation!

36 Weeks Pregnant

2009-09-02T22:52:00.000-07:00

So here I am 36 weeks pregnant. The belly just gets bigger! I don't think I posted that we are having a boy, Logan Scott. We are super, duper, excited to meet him!

Mr. Incredible

2009-09-02T22:42:00.000-07:00

This is Mr. Incredible. (Yes he is in a Power Rangers costume, but this IS Mr. Incredible) Austin loves this costume. He calls it his Incredible costume and will wear it even when it is 100 degrees outside. I have to hide it sometimes on really hot days so that he won't want to put it on and sweat to death. He loves how his chest muscles pop out and how strong he looks being Mr. Incredible.

Kristen's First Day of 4 Year Old Preschool

2009-09-02T22:32:00.000-07:00

Kristen started her second year of preschool and she is loving it! Her teacher, Ms. Lynda of the Busy Bees, is a perfect fit for Kristen. She makes Kristen feel very loved and welcome everyday. Kristen loves to bring things to Ms. Lynda, such as beautiful necklaces made from all white pipe cleaners, flowers that are picked straight from our flower beds, and very creative pictures that she has drawn. The best thing about it is that Ms. Lynda makes Kristen feel like these are the best gifts she has received in a long time! It just melts my heart to see how happy this makes Kristen.

I am really excited about this year and the growth that will be happening in my sweet girl. It's so fun to pick her up from school and hear her talk (when she wants to) about what she did at school that day.

The only bummer about Kristen going to school is that Austin really, really wants to be a Busy Bee too. He wants to go to school with Kristen so badly. Soon enough Buddy!

Cash

2009-06-10T22:49:00.000-07:00

Today I drove through the ATM to get a little cash for Bunco tonight. I was explaining to Kristen what I was doing and for some reason she thought I was mailing mail. Once I got the cash i showed it to her and said, "See I just took a twenty dollar bill out of my bank account and this is called cash. This twenty dollar bill means that I have twenty dollars". To that she replied, "Oh yeah, I see, can you put that in my wallet?"

Time flies...

2009-04-14T21:09:00.000-07:00

Well hello and a huge I am sorry for slacking on my blog. I feel like a whole lot hasn't gone on around here, but then again I feel really busy! What's with that? I guess it's all in raising two little ones and being pregnant at the same time! This baby inside me is sucking the life out of me..I hope he/she is growing real strong because I have been so, so tired! I literally could sleep all day! I am now about 18 weeks which blows my mind. The second trimester is going by quickly. We find out on May 7th what the sex of the baby will be! Super excited about that!

Well let's see Paul and my brother Joe, put in the flooring for the baby's room and it looks awesome! I am super excited about it. We did a bamboo wood flooring and I love it. I even asked Paul if we could do the whole house in bamboo...the answer was no. Sad.

Austin has been potty trained, which is exciting. It's nice to have a break from diapers for a few months. And PTL that I won't have two in diapers...been there! Austin is also a talking machine. I had a friend recently tell me that she feels like she could have a serious conversation and debate with him, which cracked me up. I love that he is so verbal because it sure makes life a bit easier not having to try and figure so many things out. He is very into Buzz Lightyear right now. He wants everything in Buzz, even a pillowcase. I am on the hunt for Buzz stuff, not the easiest to come by. His eating is getting a little bit better but not where I would like him to be. Working on that. One thing that has been awesome is that he and Kristen have been playing together so well. The love being together and making up games to play with each other. I love it when the play work. Austin puts on his work hat and goes to work while Kristen takes care of her babies, that's her work. Gotta love it!

Kristen is doing fabulous. I love that girl. She is so full of life. School is going super well for her and she is enjoying it a ton. I actually can't believe the school year is almost over. Oh summer I have to get ready for that and have some stuff planned so my poor girl isn't bored out of her mind! If you have any ideas let me know in the comments! She is very into her babies right now. It excites me to think about when I have the third baby how she will be. Both kids are super excited about the baby coming. Kristen is very eager to put the baby's bed together but what she doesn't understand is Austin still sleeps in it. It took a few conversations for her to understand why we weren't putting the baby's bed in when the flooring was done in the room..it was super cute. She is nesting a bit too, she just wants to get everything ready in the room. I pray she will be a super mommy one day! She also is into all kinds of bugs, worms, and creepy crawlers...I LOVE this about her! She makes me proud. The other day she came in with a slug on her hand and told me we needed to get a house for him. So we did, and then she covered him with rocks and learned that slugs don't do well covered by rocks. Sad. Knowing her she's on the hunt for another one.

Thanks for reading this long update. Writing is a nice outlet and let's you reflect on the great things going on in life. Thanks blogger.

Drag Queens

2009-02-14T18:27:00.000-08:00

So last weekend Kristen and I went flower girl shopping with Brianna. We were at Alfred Angelo's checking in and Kristen loudly says, "Mommy look at that BIG lady and her BIG, BIG BOOBIES!" Oh my....I turned around and there she was or he was a DRAG QUEEN with a bra stuffed to possibly a size F or bigger shaped like torpedos. It was unbelievably embarassing...but hilarious! I bent down to Kristen and told her, "Honey we don't talk about other people's boobies in public" because I had no idea what else to say! The best part was that the lady at the counter said, "Oh it's okay she's little and that 's just precious." What's precious my daughter pointing out boobies or pointing out a DRAG QUEENS boobies?

Prayer

2009-01-06T20:54:00.000-08:00

Tonight after I put Kristen to bed, she continued to talk to herself. Finally I said to her, "Kristen no more talking!". She responded, "I'm praying to God". To that I said, "Oh, you can do that".

She broke Santa

2008-12-04T21:45:00.001-08:00

So today we went to JoAnns and Kristen was just in one of those "touch it all" moods. I tried to calm the mood, but sometimes it's easier to have her touch stuff than to fight it the entire time I am trying to shop. Well today she was carrying some bags for me and was pretending to cover up Santa's eyes.

(Let me break there and tell you a little about Santa. He is large, decorative, gold with a long white beard, about 4 feet tall, made out of clay, most people think he's beautiful (not so much me). Hopefully you are getting somewhat of a good mental picture.)

Well as Kristen was playing peek-a-boo with Santa, I had had enough and said, "Come on Kristen I am leaving now." As Kristen turned around she kicked Santa (this I didn't see), on accident, and he came falling down to his breaking point. As I watched Santa fall, I also watched the lady that worked their wince and let out a mild screech of, "OH NO!". To that I replied, "Oh did she break him? (Handed her Santa's broken off hand) Sorry about that!" And then walked off as quickly as I could. Embarassed yes, but mostly I didn't want to pay for the $200.00 Santa!

Baseballs

2008-11-24T20:36:00.001-08:00

In our house we call our bicep muscles "baseballs". (Thanks to you Dad!)

Tonight Kristen asked her Daddy to see his baseballs. Paul said, "Oh I am not that strong." Kristen said, "You didn't eat all your food?"

To get big baseballs you have to eat your food!

"Good job MOM!"

2008-10-30T20:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to Disneyland and on our way there someone cut me off (pretty severely) on the freeway. Well I totally honked, like laid on the horn for a minute or two (JK only 30 seconds) because I felt that the person needed to understand that they almost killed my entire family. After I was done honking Kristen said, "Good job, MOM!!!!" Not so sure what to think about that....

Serious Bed Head

2008-10-24T22:40:00.000-07:00

All you need is Band-Aids

2008-09-30T23:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight we were driving home from Life Group and Kristen kept asking me to turn around and look at her. I explained to her that if I turned around and looked at her that I would probably crash our car into the car in front of us and we would all be hurt very badly. She replied, "It's okay Mommy, we'd just use lots and lots of band-aids!"

Finally an Update....

2008-09-26T22:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry to all of you faithful blog readers (Stacy!) for not being more up to date on blogging. I just get so overwhelmed some days with all that has gone on that I just decide not to blog...that's not a good attitude to have now is it? So here it is a bit of an update....

Kristen has now started preschool 3 days a week. She absolutely loves it and has a blast everyday. She has some friends in the class that she is very fond of, and she loves her teacher Ms. Kelly and TA Ms. Jeanine! The past month we have been trying to get into a schedule that includes school and I think we are finally there...wow school gives so much to think about in terms of figuring out your tasks and time within the day to do the tasks! We are excited for Kristen and her new endeavor!

Austin has been talking up a storm. Here are some of his words:

Mmmmm Gickey-Mickey
Tool- Stool
Nilk-Milk
TiTi-Kristen
Aplane-Airplane
Cracker-Crackers or Cookies
Noonie-Smoothie
Hole Me-Hold Me
Mamu-Marmee
Eyes-Glasses (eye glasses)
A Bou- A Book (or Read me a Book)
Wuv Uuuuuu- I love you
So Soar- Dinosaur

So there you have it, an update! I promise to get better with the blog in October!

Kristen's Knees

2008-07-28T22:03:00.000-07:00

About a month ago I took Kristen to an orthopedic specialist for her knees. She has been having chronic pain in her knees that we just can't figure out the reason why. So all that to say that the last time we were at the Dr.'s office Kristen had X-rays taken of both knees. This time when we went into the Dr.'s office she said, "Mommy today they are going to take pictures of my knees and my knees are going to say 'CHEESE'!!!".

Ladybug Party Pictures

2008-07-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

These pictures are out of order..but you get the idea. Silly Blogger couldn't get them the way I wanted them. Dad, if you are reading this the picture of Kristen opening a present is the camera! She loves it!

Kristen's Ladybug Party

2008-07-25T23:55:00.001-07:00

Saturday, July 19th we had Kristen's Ladybug Party. She had been excited about this party for about three months. We talked about it almost everyday, thinking and planning what she wanted to do with her friends. So this was it. We had friends and family over and we celebrated ladybug style. We ate a little Rubio's Baja Fresh lunch, played "Find the bugs" game and each child potted a flower to take home. After we potted flowers we came inside and Kristen opened her presents, and boy was she thrilled! After presents we sang Happy Birthday (thanks to Amanda!) and ate Ladybug cupcakes. It was a fun party and most importantly Kristen had an blast. Each child took home a mason jar filled with live ladybugs to take home to their gardens!

Some sweet pictures

2008-07-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite pictures....

One of Paul's favorite pictures...

The new table where we have food available to ALL animals and babies...

Kristen's "mad girl" face...

Kristen's "happy girl" face...

Falling

2008-07-14T21:08:00.001-07:00

Today Austin fell off of our Radio Flyer horse and was stuck between the wall and the horse with his head down and feet straight up. He also fell off one of our kitchen chairs. He fell off of my back while we were playing "horsey". He fell off of a kiddie stool that he was sitting on. It was a falling kind of day I guess. He is fine, no serious injuries. Actually no injuries at all, just spooked a couple times and a few tears. He's so tough.

Inspired...

2008-07-12T00:08:00.000-07:00

One thing I forgot to mention in my post below was a very special moment at Chuck E. Cheese. Kristen was riding a ride while clutching her three, very dear, tokens in her hand. The ride stopped and she turned around to see a little girl sitting on the "Barney" ride. Kristen said, "I wanna give her a token, Mommy". She proceeded to put the token in the ride for the little girl and said, "There you go!". The ride started and the little girl had a smile on her face. Kristen was so happy for her, gave her a smile back and went on with her, now two, tokens.

She inspires me...I love her love for others.

Pictures from Kristen's Birthday

2008-07-11T23:39:00.000-07:00

Kristen's 3rd Birthday

2008-07-11T23:21:00.000-07:00

Today was Kristen's 3rd birthday..and I still can't believe my baby girl is 3! Where does the time go? I know I am going to blink and she will be 18...well let's not think about that. Anyway today was a very fun and relaxing day enjoying her.

It started off with Kristen waking up and yelling MOMMY at the top of her lungs! I went running into her room to see her with her hands on her face saying, "look at all this, balloons, hats," and I said, " HAPPY BIRTHDAY!". She was so excited..it was so sweet.

Later in the day, Daddy came home early from work and Uncle Joe (Paul's brother) came over. Kristen and her Daddy decorated her cake and then we headed to Chuck E. Cheese. After winning 400+ tickets we ate a little pizza played some more and then headed home for cake and presents!

Before we left, Paul put out the presents so that when we got home Kristen would see them right away...and she did while jumping up and down. It was so cute! She got some presents and a doll that she has been wanting for quite awhile...her name is Carrie. Kristen is the best little mommy. I love watching her interact with the doll....I pray she will be a great mommy one day. After playing with all the toys, we ate some cake, played outside, and went night night!

I kind of wanted the day to be longer..I think birthday's should be stretched out over a 3 day period...one day just doesn't have enough hours to reminisce about the good years that have passed. Ya know what I mean?

Still can't believe she's three...but so excited about this next year of life.

Fun things about:

2008-07-07T21:47:00.001-07:00

AUSTIN right now....
1. He says "animal" all the time, he is obsessed with animals right now
2. He loves to try and count and sing his ABC's
3. He climbs on EVERYTHING and thinks it is funny when he gets to the highest point. These places include the kitchen island, window sills, backs of chairs, tops of tables, counter tops, etc. (The other day he had climbed on top of the counter in the kitchen and was standing over the stove top...uh oh!)
4. He is a cuddler
5. He talks, a lot, and repeats almost everything you say
6. He loves Mickey Mouse
7. He likes to drink whatever Mommy or Daddy is drinking (coffee, tea, soda, water, milk, etc.)
8. He likes to walk on his tiptoes and pull at the front of his shorts in a crouched position
9. He climbs on Mommy's back anytime I get down on the floor
10. He doesn't really like to eat

Wave of Milk

2008-07-01T21:10:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I think that I am having a bad day and then I realize that someone else is probably having a day much worse than mine. So if you have had a bad day today mine might not be as bad or it might be worse, but hopefully it will make you laugh!

Well we had gotten home from Trader Joe's and I went to put a bag on the counter, the handle broke off (silly bags) and POP went the GALLON of whole MILK! All over my floor and underneath my fridge...right before dinner...so needless to say dinner was a bit later tonight.

A new song

2008-06-30T22:27:00.000-07:00

While driving to Orange County today Kristen and I made up a song about her horsey that is on a stick (you know the ones with a head on a stick that you put between your legs and ride around on?). Here is how it goes:

Kristen has a horse with no legs
Kristen has a horse with no legs
All Kristen's horse has is a stick and a head, a stick and a head.

(Repeat)

Kristen's horse has a stick with a head
Kristen's horse has a stick with a head, but poor horse has no legs!

Noses

2008-06-28T23:05:00.000-07:00

Kristen has stuck a few things up her nose in the past month. The first thing was play dough. She did this at a restaurant, then began to cry because her nose was stinging..we couldn't figure it out until I tilted her head back and all I could see was orange goo in her nostrils. Paul tried to pinch it out which didn't work too well so I had her blow her nose and you should have seen the amount of play dough up there...let's just say she has big nostrils.

So yesterday she was rubbing her nose telling me that it hurt. I asked her why her nose was hurting and she said that the button was doing it. WHAT??? A button?? I couldn't believe it...I got tweezers and went in for the kill...no luck. The button was totally out of site. I had no idea what to do, then it came to me, have her blow her nose. There it came the pink, gooey, button. Thank goodness we didn't have to go to the ER for a button up the nose.

Cinderella's Legs

2008-06-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Kristen was playing with her "polly pocket like" Cinderella, Ariel and Sleeping Beauty. She walked away for a minute and before I knew it Austin was dipping Cinderella's legs into his yogurt, like a spoon, and sucking it off. I reacted to quickly so I didn't get a picture...so bummed.

Viva Las Vegas!!!

2008-06-05T22:39:00.000-07:00

That sounds so cliche but I really wanted to write it (the title that is!). :) Our trip here was great we made one lunch stop and one pee stop and the rest of the way we were riding smooth! Both children did great! It was awesome, and enjoyable, surprisingly!

For dinner we met up with Donna (so great to see her!) and went to the Rainforest Cafe...Kristen and Austin couldn't get enough of all the animals..they loved it! Then we went and looked at the male lion at MGM Grand for awhile, good times although he was napping.

So pretty much all day Kristen has been asking to go in the pool. Even on the drive here, she kept pointing out in the distance and saying, "Look there's the pool! Marmer and Joe are swimming!". It was super funny. Anyway, we told her that after dinner we could go in the pool. Well by the time dinner was over and we got back to the hotel it was a bit late to jump in so I thought it would be a good idea to go and put our feet in! The feet were in for about two minutes and then they both sat in the water pretty much simultaneously! It was hilarious and so darn cute! They were so happy..we will go back tomorrow and truly enjoy it with our swimsuits on.

Austin's moves

2008-06-01T18:47:00.000-07:00

We have a serious dancer in the family...his name is Austin. He dances at every type of music..especially if they have a good beat. Tonight we were eating dinner and he couldn't stop dancing. He was eating, standing on his chair, and dancing to the music we had playing in the background. We wonder where he gets it...if you ever have seen Paul or me dance you will know why I wonder. I tried to get a few pics of him dancing but it didn't really work...so I will try and catch some video of it!

Floods and a black eye...

2008-05-30T15:28:00.000-07:00

Midday Wednesday, Kristen told me that she needed to go pee-pee. So I told her to go ahead and go in her bathroom. She was gone for a few minutes and came back in and then left again. Next thing I know she is flying into my bathroom telling me that something is leaking! I thought oh no biggie just the sink or something! Oh NO...her entire bathroom floor, toilet and sink space, was covered with water half way up the baseboards...my carpet in the hallway was beginning to get soaked...aaaaahhhh! I couldn't believe it, the toilet was overflowing like a waterfall, no joke, around the entire rim! I looked into the toilet and saw that 2/3rds of a new toilet paper roll was blocking the water from going down. My girl is known for this, we call it toilet paper stuffing! I finally got the toilet to stop running. In a panic I tried to throw every towel down to sop up the water...it wasn't working. There was so much water that the towels were just sinking to the bottom of the bathroom pool...it was pathetic. So i called Paul because I had no idea what to do to get all the water up..he's so SMART...he said SHOP VAC..and I hung up the phone. I don't think I even said goodbye. I got the shop vac and started vacuuming up the water...genius..pure genuis, my Paul is.

While I was vacuuming up the water, Austin somehow fell onto the vacuum and got his 1st black eye! Through lots of tears, tons of water we got through the craziness of the flood.

"Jesus, Help me!"

2008-04-24T22:22:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was trying to get Kristen to eat a part of her dinner before i gave her an artichoke (one of her favorite's) and it turned into a bit of a fit. She was throwing a bit of a fit, and I told her to go into the hallway and finish her fit there. She ran to the hallway threw herself on the floor and cried some more. After a few minutes she starts crying out, "Jesus, help me, Jesus, help me!" My heart sank instantly. I felt horrible and joy all in the same moment, horrible because I had pushed her a bit too far for unexplained reasons, and joy because she was crying out to Jesus..I love that she is calling on the One that will always be there to help her! God is good!

Getting blood drawn

2008-04-09T22:35:00.000-07:00

Today I took Kristen to the doctor to get her leg checked out. She has been having chronic pain in her knee for about six months. So, Dr. Jim recommended that we have an x-ray, and blood work done. The x-ray went really well. Kristen thought it was very cool that mommy was wearing a green costume (lead jacket) and that we were taking pictures of her bones. Next we went to the second floor to get her blood drawn. I tried to tell Kristen what they were going to do when they drew her blood, but you can only do so much telling. Kristen's name was called and we went back to endure the needle. She got the first poke in her right arm, but no blood. She was such a trooper, the tech moved the needle around a bit but still missed the vein. I couldn't believe Kristen didn't cry. Of course, all I could think was now we have to poke the other arm. I was right, and thankfully the blood came quick! Kristen felt the pinch of the needle this time and cried! She was such a trooper! The technicians gave her bandaids and tons of stickers. Afterwards, Kristen continued to tell me, "Mommy it hurt when they take mud (blood) from me". I was so proud of Kristen, so I told her we could get something special. Her first request was M&M's, and then it was a doll. We went to Toy's R Us and she picked the baby she wanted..I love my girl.

Last day in SF

2008-04-05T22:27:00.000-07:00

We had decided that on Wednesday we were going to go to some museum in SF. We thought that both Kristen and Austin would totally enjoy the Aquarium of the Bay. So, down we went on a Cable Car to Pier 39. We first ate lunch at La Salsa, and man did we eat. Kristen and Austin ate so well. It was wonderful that they had full bellies! After eating we were off to ride the double decker carousel. Wahoo! Paul took the kids up to the second story and put them each on a horse. They loved it! It was so fun. Austin was so happy that he kept clapping the entire time.

After the carousel, we were off to the Aquarium of the Bay. Kristen had an absolute blast running from fish tank to fish tank showing us each of the fish, crabs, seaweed, sea anemone, etc. Austin enjoyed sitting in front of one fish tank and saying, Loo, loo (look)" while pointing at all the fish. The best part of the aquarium was the archway aquariums with huge sharks and enormous fish in them. We went through these aquariums about three times. Kristen could not get enough of it! Austin fell asleep on round one, which was a bummer because he wasn't able to see the sharks. After the archway aquariums we went upstairs to the tide pool tanks where Kristen was able to touch leopard sharks, bat rays, skates, many starfish, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins. She throughly enjoyed this touching everything! We had the best time at the aquarium!

After the aquarium we went to Ben and Jerry's and had some yummy ice cream. We sat around the pier and watched people. Really we watched Kristen eat chocolate ice cream and get it all over the place...total entertainment!

We then went back to the hotel for our rest time. After rest time we went to dinner and Puchinni and Pinetti's. It was italian food and it was absolutely delicious! Then we walked up to Walgreens and bought Austin a cable car, and then to the Disney Store because Kristen saw it and really wanted to go there. We left there with a Beast and Lucy. We then hopped on the cable car and went back to the hotel, packed up and fell asleep!

Thursday we took a shuttle to the airport (much better than our adventure in getting there). Got on the plane and came home! It was so nice to get home, but we all miss SF a little bit.

Two days in and we are having a blast!

2008-04-01T21:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we set out for a boat ride. All Kristen could talk about before we left was going on the airplane and riding on a boat. So, we thought doing a boat ride in the bay would be perfect. Well we were in for a new adventure and that was figuring out the MUNI system in SF. The concierge gave us a map that had all the bus lines, trolley lines, street cars, etc., little did we know that this map was over a year old and some of the bus lines and their routes were changed. AAAAHHHH, is all I have to say. We walked around for I don't even know, probably an hour trying to find line 15 and it didn't exist. It was changed into 9x. Go figure..so once we figured this out we were doing pretty well, but could of course still improve our MUNI skills. We got to Pier 39 and ate at Boudin, which was delicious. Then we waited to get on the boat. We got on the boat and we were off. At one time, Kristen was crawling over the side of the boat to "get in the water Mommy". Whoa! Overall, we all really enjoyed the ride, especially going under the Golden Gate Bridge.

Afterwards, we went and checked out the Sea Lions. Kristen and Austin loved them! They just watched, and Kristen tried to find all the Mommies, Daddys, and babies. Then we were back to the hotel for a rest. We rested, Kristen took a nap and Austin played with his trains. After rest time we went to a restraunt called Umbria. It was an Italian restraunt and it was delicious! So yummy..we enjoyed every bite! We walked back to the hotel and hit the bed. (Pictures to come)

Today, Tuesday, we were in route to go and fly kites. This is one of Paul and Kristen's favorite things to do together. First we went to find a good MUNI map. None were to be found. Then we went to get on a Cablecar and talked to a local man who helped us tremendously. We got on the Cablecar which was so fun, and were off to the Ferry Building for a little lunch. We cruised down the building looking at all the vendors, and settled on a little Mexican food place called Mijitas. It was very yummy. Before that we walked past a vendor who had PB&J sandwiches for sale, and approaced us by saying it was National PB&J sandwich day. We couldn't pass this up, especially because it was an easy lunch that we knew the kids would eat..and boy did they. After the ferry building we went to the Marina greens, which was a long strip of grass with nothing to interfere with the kites. (this area was recommended to us by the local guy that helped us earlier) We spent a couple hours picking flowers and flying kites..what fun. It was nice and relaxing, all we were missing was Raleigh to play fetch with. After kite flying we got back onto the bus and came back to the hotel for a rest. We tried to rest but our energy was high. After trying to rest we took the bus down to Mel's Diner for dinner. It was yummy as always (a place Paul and I have frequented before). Kristen had a great time eating a pancake for dinner (it's amazing what you do on vacation that is you wouldn't normally do at home, but that's what makes it fun right??) and Austin slept throught most of it. We then had some dessert (banana split and a Black and White shake) and were back on the bus to go back to the hotel and sleep. So everyone else is asleep now, and I am off to join them. (pictures will hopefully be up tomorrow)

San Francisco, here we are!!

2008-03-30T21:44:00.001-07:00

Oh my what a journey today has been. We left out of John Wayne airport and thought we were in for an uneventful plane ride. Boy were we wrong. Austin didn't stop moving the entire hour and twenty minutes. He wanted up, down, to lay sideways, see who was behind him, crawl under the seats, spit pretzels at the people behind him (or maybe he was sharing :) ), and of course sing Old MacDonald, over and over. It was super cute, all of it, but extremely exhausting. So, we thought we were good when we touched the ground, but who knew the fun had really just begun.

We flew into Oakland, which is a bit of a ride to the city of San Francisco, and decided to take the BART into the city. Well from the airport we took the AirBART, which was basically a big bus that shuttled us to the actual BART station. Picture this, Paul and I each pushing a stroller with a child in it, Paul carrying the pack n play, and our largest suitcase, and I was carrying the medium suitcase. (Don't forget we were both pushing an individual stroller..with child in tow..funny picture!) So, we tried to get onto the AirBART..and that entailed getting up in the bus with all our stuff, putting the suitcases away, folding up both strollers, and putting the children on our laps. Needless to say, people were waiting...patiently. Finally the AirBART is on its way to the BART station. We get off the AirBART...last ones off of course and go to buy our tickets for the BART. A few homeless people were at the ticket stands to kindly help us figure out where we wanted to go and also, of course, to make sure we got the right tickets...all in exchange for a ticket for themselves! What a deal!! What is crazy about this, is that the homeless man that helped Paul buy his ticket was the most helpful person at this station, everyone who worked there just stood and watched us...probably laughing inside..we were a funny sight! Then Paul tried to go through the exit of the entrance into the BART. (If you have every been in a subway this will make sense) After a few minutes of trying our tickets in the exit we soon realized we needed to move over to the gates that actual were for the entrance. We got through the gates to find that no one was there to help us figure out what line we needed to take to get to the address of our hotel. So, we resorted to college students...they are so helpful! We got on the right line and were on our journey, very quickly. We didn't even have time to get situated and sit down before the BART driver was off! Paul and I nearly fell over! Once seated we thought..sweet we are good for at least 30 minutes. A sweet lady sitting in front of me waved and talked to us the entire way..which was nice...We got to Montgomery Street where we needed to get off, and got off, amazingly. The BART driver had a tendency to shut the doors before people were completely off the BART. So we found our elevator, and were on our way up to the street. We got up to the top and in front of us were more gates to put our tickets in. Paul put his ticket in, took it out, and the gate didn't open. So, after a few tries the BART worker came over and asked us where we were trying to go. Paul told him we wanted to get to the street and go to Kearny St. The BART worker then told us that we were trying to re-enter into the station..who knew..now we were trying to go in, instead of going through the exit...we were so confused! He helped us to the exit of the BART station (rocket science I swear!) and we were blessed with escalators and no elevators in sight (remember what all we are carrying, luggage, two strollers, kids). So, up the escalators we go, and a nice man asked Paul if he needed help..Paul of course said YES please! This man, from El Salvador, helped us up the escalator and then up to more long flights of stairs with all our valuables!!!! Lord bless him! We then got to the light, had no idea which way was Kearny St. so we pulled out old faithful, the AAA map! A kind lady with a full mustache (even trimmed, no joke) told us we looked like we needed help. I told her we did and asked her to help us find the way to Kearny St. Kindly, she pointed us in the right direction...7 blocks later in downtown SF (again pushing and pulling everything) we made it to 750 Kearny St., the beautiful Hilton Hotel! We stuck out like sore thumbs and got a lot of funny looks, but who cares right? It was a time of building a serious memory we won't forget. What a day...I have never been so happy to see a hotel..let alone a bed. Goodnight!

1st Haircuts

2008-03-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

Today Paul and I took Kristen and Austin to get their first haircut. We went to Sharkey's over by Costco...and it was a great experience. Austin sat in a jet while getting his lovely locks trimmed, and Kristen sat in a Barbie jeep and got a about two inches cut off! We were so proud of both of them. They both did great, sat there, tried not to move, and came out with great style! It's amazing to me how much older Kristen looks now that we have had her hair cut. Austin actually looks a little bit younger to me. Overall it was a great experience..and if you are looking for a place to get your child's hair cut, try Sharkey's.

The Movies

2008-03-15T20:36:00.001-07:00

Today we took Kristen and Austin to see, "Horton Hears a Who". It was so fun to watch them be totally engrossed in something while stuffing their faces with popcorn! They shared a seat, so through part of the show Austin put his head on Kristen's shoulder...it was adorable..I wish i would have had my camera, but people probably would have been annoyed with the flash going off in their eyes. They both had a blast, and literally ate as much popcorn as they possibly could! It was a super fun afternoon....and also Austin's first time to the movie theaters.

American Idol

2008-03-09T19:35:00.000-07:00

Paul and I went to the American Idol (AI) dress rehearsal last Tuesday. It was so much fun, especially to spend the day with Paul and be able to just hang out. It was also very neat to see the boys sing. The craziest part of it all was how tiny the stage was! They can fit only about 75 people into the first studio that they use. The only bummer about going to the AI dress rehearsal and not the actual taping was that we didn't get to see the judges. We saw Ryan Seacrest, and all the contestants but no Randy, Paula or Simon...sad. They actually had fake judges, real people that were suppose to represent each judge and the fake judges somewhat resembled the real judges...funny! Anyway, to sum it all up, it was super fun and very surreal. Can't wait to see who's gonna win it this season..who do you think??

Singing and Humming

2008-02-29T23:17:00.000-08:00

Austin's favorite song is Old McDonald. He loves to sing the EIEIO (more like OEIOIEO) part, and snort like a pig. He gets the biggest laugh out of it.

A couple of nights ago I was putting Austin to bed and as I hummed a tune, he hummed right along with me. It was so cute, and totally warmed my heart.

Screaming and Ssshhing

2008-02-29T23:07:00.000-08:00

Today Kristen was screaming (throwing a fit) in the back of the car. Don't ask me why because quite frankly I don't remember. Anyway, Austin began to SSSSHHHH her, and it made me laugh. Trying to laugh inside is not easy, but I succeeded and laughed out loud later.

Backtalk

2008-02-28T22:16:00.000-08:00

Today at gymnastics Kristen was jumping on her side of the trampoline while another girl was jumping on the other side. Well Kristen decided that she wanted to jump on the other side so she just moved on over. Miss Elaine asked her to go back to her side and Kristen replied, " No I want to jump on this side!". Then mommy stepped in and used her stern voice and Kristen got back on her side, needless to say, quickly!! Wow, I have got some hard days ahead..she's only 2!

Preschool

2008-02-28T22:14:00.000-08:00

Today I registered Kristen for preschool for the fall of 2008!!!! YAY!!!! I can't tell you what an exciting feeling it was to walk out of the building and know my little girl will be starting her school journey this year! YAY Kristen!! Can't wait for you to begin your school year at Hope Children's Center Preschool!

Sleepyhead

2008-02-26T23:03:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when you try and get your child to eat his dinner when it's past his bedtime.

Gran and Grandfather

2008-02-26T22:49:00.000-08:00

The past three weeks we have had the pleasure of having Gran and Grandfather in town! Kristen and Austin loved having them here. Of course they are missed! Gran and Grandfather would come and play all sorts of crazy things with the kids. They got pretty good at knowing the kids schedule and would take over so that I could errands run. It's amazing what you can get done without having to carry your children with you. We also got to go swimming at the resort they were staying at. It was a blast! Kristen remembered a lot from last summers swim lessons, which was of course a moment to be proud! Austin loved the water and anytime we would take him out he would get upset and try and walk back in the pool. It was hysterical. We dry him off and he would try and walk right back in, he had no fear. He also wanted to jump off the side like Kristen, but he soon realized it was much harder for him to get his feet off the ground! It was too cute. Pictures to come....

Why

2008-02-17T22:18:00.000-08:00

The past few days Kristen has been asking "WHY" after everything I say!!!! AAAHHH!!! I wasn't expecting this to happen until she was about 3 or 3.5...? WHY now?

Biting

2008-02-17T21:59:00.000-08:00

Today Austin got frustrated with Kristen while they were sharing toys. They started to push and shove with the toy, and I sat back and thought, "Let's just see where this goes." Bad idea. It ended up that Austin eventually bit her, and she screamed like I have never heard her scream. I tried to run over before he bit her but of course I was too late. He didn't break the skin but she has 4 nice teeth marks in her little wrist!

Beach Party

2008-02-16T23:29:00.000-08:00

Tonight we went over to Orange County for a beach bonfire with family. It was very fun to just relax..watch the sun set and hang out. The best part of the night was watching Paul and Kristen roast her marshmallows to make her first ever S'mores. She loved eating her S'more and when asked if it was good she gave us a thumbs up!

Austin enjoyed a little roasted marshmallow, but most of all he was fascinated with the sand. At first, he wasn't so sure how to get his bearings on the sand. But after a few times of not getting to where he wanted to go, he just started going for it and was walking just fine looking for sticks and other treasures! It's so neat to watch them be fascinated with simple but pleasurable things in life..like the sandy beach and yummy S'mores.

New hair = New Mommy

2008-02-15T19:05:00.001-08:00

Funnies

2008-02-09T20:08:00.000-08:00

Today Kristen randomly said, "Mommy, I need chocolate." I said, "What for?". She responded, "My mouth."

Nights

2008-02-07T21:55:00.000-08:00

Night time in our household is not the easiest. Sometimes it takes Kristen 2-3 hours to fall asleep after she has been put to bed. It's weird because it's not like she wants to play she just is fidgity, can't keep still, and just pretty much can't get herself to relax. Actually it's sad to watch and frustrating to go through night after night. So, yesterday night I had come downstairs after a few hours of trying to soothe and relax her and before I knew it she was up again wiggling around. I went upstairs and she said to me, "Mommy, I am just really sad, I just can't fall asleep." I have to say that this made my heart pretty much sad because I just don't know what to do for her. It also was kind of an answer that I have been hunting for. Is she just not wanting to miss the action, or is she not really able to fall asleep? So, all that to say I am trying to have more patience at night time, but it's tough.

BLEACH..great cleaning chemical

2008-02-01T13:34:00.000-08:00

Well today I was putting Austin down for a nap, while Kristen was busy playing downstairs. Before I took Austin upstairs Kristen was pretend dusting with a basting brush! I thought, "How cute, she is cleaning!" Well I came down from putting Austin down for his nap and saw Kristen taking her cleaning to the next level. She was holding the BLEACH bottle! At first I couldn't figure out what she was spraying until she said, "Look Mommy I clean dis reawl good!" It was our new leather ottoman/coffee table thingy!!! AAaahh! "Stay calm" I told myself. So I ended up telling her that the cleaning bottle was off limits, and I thanked her for her cleaning. Needless to say the ottoman has a new shine and her shirt is no longer purple but white..with a bit of a bleach scent.

My lounger and my beauty queen

2008-01-30T23:17:00.000-08:00

Aaaccckkk, Yuck!

2008-01-30T23:07:00.000-08:00

Tonight I gave Kristen some milk. I hear her making this noise, "Aaaaccccckkkk, aaaaccckk!" I asked her what was wrong and she said, "This is not good, yuck. Mommy this milk is gross!" I wasn't sure what was wrong with it until I smelled it. It was definitely rotten. I felt bad..but it sure was funny.

Fire, call 911..nah, just throw it in the sink...

2008-01-30T22:50:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I was making egg sandwiches for dinner. So, I was cooking up some bacon and had a second pan ready to put an egg in for Kristen. Meanwhile a paper plate (for the bacon) with paper towels was sitting behind the pan that was for the eggs. I turned on the flame for the egg and "whoosh" went my paper towel plate with bacon. Of course I am frantic and start to blow on the fire (already knowing this really doesn't work), and it of course spreads quickly. As the fire continued to burn all I could think was that I needed to call 911 because my house was going to burn down. For the life of me I could not think of what to do. Kristen was frantically running back and forth saying, "Mommy is that fire? Hot Mommy!" My next attempt to put the fire out was to throw my wet dish rag on top of it...stupid..the fire just cinged the dish rag and went up around it. Now the fire is from my stovetop to the bottom of my microwave...almost to my cabinets..and again all I could think was to call 911..nevermind the fire extinguisher that is sitting two feet away. Well finally I got this grand idea to pick it up and throw it in the sink and turn the water on. Wow, what a miracle that it put my paper towel plate bacon grease fire out! I no longer needed to call 911, but I did need to rescue my very burnt bacon that was drowning in water.

Shake your booty!

2008-01-23T22:34:00.000-08:00

Tonight before dinner we had a family dance party! We do this pretty often, but tonight I was teaching Kristen some new moves. I taught her the "Shake your booty" move! It is so cute, she doesn't really get her booty shaking, just her arms (kind of like the chicken dance). I also taught her a few more moves....get down and boogie!!

The Verdict is.....

2008-01-22T21:00:00.000-08:00

STOMACH FLU. Isn't that just great! So far today, Kristen has been doing so, so much better. We are still praying that Austin doesn't get it...hopefully Kristen won't be contagious too much longer! I have decided that I am going to carry around a spray bottle with rubbing alcohol in it! So, when we use public potties, we will all get a spritz of alcohol..! I have to say i am happy to have my girl semi- back to normal!

Waiting for sicky bugs to pass

2008-01-19T21:32:00.000-08:00

Well we thought last night we were over this sickness with Kristen, but unfortunately it continues. Coming from both ends now...but able to keep a bit of water down. So, I am hoping tomorrow will be the last day of this crazy stuff. 72 hours is the longest stomach flu, right? Can you really hurl for more than 72 hours? Might be a record for the Guiness Book of World Records!

At a stand still

2008-01-18T20:16:00.000-08:00

Last night at about 8:30pm Kristen started violently vomiting. Afterwards she felt better and i thought something from dinner must not have settled right with her tummy. Well i was dead wrong. Who knew that she would continue to wretch for the next 13 hours. It was insane. It stopped this morning and then she spiked a fever. Tonight she was finally able to keep down some liquid and food. I hope tomorrow she wakes up and it will be totally gone!

If you read this, please pray that the rest of the family stays healthy and does not get any symptoms..especially Austin. Thanks in advance.

Few random favorite pictures

2008-01-15T22:29:00.000-08:00

Potty Training...Wow.

2008-01-15T22:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, January 14th we started potty training Kristen. My mom came out to help me with Austin, which was a huge blessing. Well it started by taking Kristen's diaper off and putting her on the potty. The first time she didn't go, so we went ahead and put the beautiful Cinderella panties on her. She got in the chair to eat a snack at the table and soon began to pee. While saying, "Uh oh, Mommy this is not good" I rushed her to the potty. I think I shocked the pee right out of her because no more went into the potty. So, then we put new panties on and explained a little bit more about pee peeing on the potty and she went on her way. Could not have been a few minutes later when I saw her poo poo face emerge. I knew that I missed the moment and we already had poopies in the panties. So we again went to the potty cleaned up and explained a bit more about poo poo and the potty, put new panties on and she was on her way. Well that was it and all that needed to happen, because the rest of the day she went on the potty EVERY time!

Today, January 15th Kristen went in the potty every time again!! Today she continued to tell me when she needed to go potty and proceeded to go. Poopies even happened all be herself on the potty today! It was an amazing day! We will see what happens tomorrow!

Dental Checkup

2007-12-01T22:37:00.001-08:00

Thursday Kristen had a dental checkup. After the dentist was done looking at her teeth, he looked up at me, paused, and said, "Her teeth are excellent!, absolutely excellent!" I was a super proud mama at that moment.

Kristen did really well and let Dr. Baker poke around in her mouth. I was a definite proud mommy! I couldn't stop smiling and telling her how proud I was of her.

Santa 2007

2007-12-01T22:32:00.000-08:00

This past Wednesday we went and visited Santa. Kristen was so excited, but when we asked her if she wanted to sit on Santa's lap she would say, "NO!". Well after seeing how jolly Santa is Kristen was very excited to give him a hug and sit on his lap for a picture. She did great, all smiles and no tears. Austin was very tired and pretty much looked at us like, "what are you doing to me and who the heck is this I am with?" It was pretty funny. The picture of the two of them with Santa is classic; Kristen is smiling big, and Austin could care less about smiling.

100% Walking

2007-11-25T21:37:00.000-08:00

Austin started totally walking, about 1 week ago! (11 months) It is so fun to see him toddle across the room and look up and smile at you because he knows you are so proud of him!

I think it's time...

2007-11-25T21:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning (11-24-07) Kristen went pee-pee on the potty for the first time ever!! We were so excited..we did the potty dance and all! I am thinking maybe next week we will tackle potty training........aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Not too excited about it!

A little caffeine doesn't hurt....right??

2007-11-16T20:46:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I took the children to Costco and before we went in Kristen asked for a hot dog, so I ordered the hot dog combo (hot dog and a drink). I also got her a water cup so that she wouldn't have any of my diet coke that I had been thirsting for. We got our combo and were on our way shopping! Well, I had been having sips of my oh so desired diet coke while Kristen munched on her hot dog. (Austin was eating the bun!) After awhile it got a little difficult to hold onto my soda so I put it in the cart next to Kristen, big mistake. When we were almost done shopping, I was parched and reached down to find my diet coke totally EMPTY!! Kristen had sipped away ALL of my diet coke, while her little body filled up with caffeine. And boy did it fill with caffeine, I think we finally got her to go to sleep at 10:15pm...she usually is asleep by 7:30. Amazing what caffeine can do to a little body...

Boo

2007-11-08T20:45:00.000-08:00

Kristen started this game, "Boo", right before Halloween. What it entails is that she says, "Boo", and then we act scared. She gets a big kick out of our reactions. Well in all this fun we have everyday, still even after Halloween, Austin has picked up on it. So every now and then he will say, "Boo" and we of course act scared and he laughs his pants off! It is so cute. He tries to "Boo" Kristen and when she hears him she says, "Oh, you scared me!". It's so fun to watch them interact in so many different ways.

Halloween 2007

2007-11-01T21:49:00.000-07:00

Haloween was so much fun this year! Kristen was a Bumble bee and Austin was the cutest turtle! Kristen totally understood what Trick or Treating was all about this year. After the first house she realized they were putting some good candy in her pumpkin and she wanted some. She did a good job waiting until we got home and then she got a few pieces to enjoy! Austin just loved being in his turtle costume and being pushed around in the stroller. Uncle Joe did take him up to a few doors and the people loved seeing him! We had a great time this year!

Disneyland's Mickey Mouse Trick or Treat

2007-10-30T22:57:00.001-07:00

Last night we packed up the car after dinner and were off to Disneyland for the Mickey's Trick or Treat night. Kristen was dressed up as a bumble bee and Austin was a turtle. They were adorable! Well the night started out by going through a few stands that were Trick or Treat stations. At these stations Disneyland workers would give you two huge handfuls of candy. The first time we went through one, Kristen opened her bag and said, "Trick or Treat" and to her suprise got a ton of candy. She looked into the bag to see what it was that they put in there, and she figured out it was candy. Well from there she was the happiest girl, holding her candy bag tight and eating it ALL night! She had so much fun..you should have seen her eating NERDS..it was too cute. I taught her how to tip the box up in her mouth to get more than one, she loved it! She was a candy eating pro by the end of the night. She had so much fun, hanging out, eating candy, going on rides, taking pictures with Mickey and Minnie, and just being with the family.

Austin had a good time as well, although he didn't get to enjoy any candy, he loved looking at all the lights and characters, and of course everybody dressed up in costumes. It was a super fun night, the children were totally in their element which is always so fun to see.

Some time away

2007-10-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

This weekend Paul and I went to Warner Springs to have some alone time..and left our children with my mom (Marmee) and Uncle Joe. Paul and I had a great time just hanging out and playing golf together (me for the first time). Who knew golf was such a hard game? I would have never put those together!

Kristen and Austin had a great time with Marmee and Uncle Joe. They played non-stop! Kristen couldn't stop talking about all the things that they did while Mommy and Daddy were away. We would talk to them both on the phone before they went to bed, and every time Kristen would rehearse what they did that day. The neatest thing was that while we were away she told Marmee and Uncle Joe that, "I miss my Mommy. And, I miss my Daddy." Can I just tell you how good that makes you feel as a parent. I know those days that she actually misses us will be few..so we just have to soak it all in for now!

Almost walking!

2007-10-14T20:44:00.000-07:00

Today Austin finally got behind his walker dealy/thingy and pushed and walked at the same time!!! (10 months) YAY!!! He is so close. I think if he knew he was able to walk without holding onto something, he totally would! He is so cute when he walks, because he doesn't really bend his knees at all..so he just walks like he has sticks for legs..so cute!! I am really excited for him to walk..crawling is good, but I could do without dirty hands and knees from dirty floors!

Yay and Bye Bye

2007-10-08T22:49:00.000-07:00

Austin claps now when he hears other clap or you say, "Yay" while clapping your hands. It's so cute. He also just started waving "bye, bye". He is 1o months. Amazing how fast this year of his life is going by...I would have to say that it is going to fast...actually. Another thing he is doing is eating more table food, such as cheese, meat, peas, black eyed peas, carrots...and a few other things. He is finally not gagging over everything and he seems to really be enjoying trying all these new foods and textures. It's so fun to watch him look and examine something new that I have put on his tray. He has to take a good look at it before he will put it in his mouth!

Funny Words

2007-10-08T22:46:00.000-07:00

I love the way Kristen says, elbow, BELBOW. It is just the best thing to hear when you wanna smile. She is speaking in full sentences which is just crazy to me. It's neat to watch her wheels spin as she tries to put together a sentence that makes sense. Sometimes she says the cutest things, like, "A sneeze my nose" for "I need to blow my nose". We love her...she makes us laugh everyday!

Croup

2007-09-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

Austin (9 months) has croup...so sad. I have to say that this is probably the scariest illness I have ever experienced...he is on steriods...which seem to be helping..hopefully this won't last for more than a few days..so I am praying anyway.

Kristen feeding Austin

2007-08-15T23:12:00.000-07:00

Kristen is very into what Austin is eating and also into feeding him pretty much anything. Usually she tries to feed him what is on his tray, like cheerios. Well today she thought it would be a good idea to feed him her dinner, which consisted of salmon, yogurt, and brocoli. Luckily only a few bites of yogurt made it into his mouth once I clued in and turned around to see what my two sweeties were up to!

Eyes of love

2007-08-08T22:27:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was feeding Austin while Kristen was eating her dinner at the table. Every few minutes Austin would look over at Kristen and just smile a little grin. It was absolutely adorable..and it was just so obvious how fond he is of her!

Play Wax...

2007-08-08T22:24:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I was waxing a few hairs off my chin and Kristen looked at me and said, "Mommy what's that?". I told her what I was doing and not two minutes later she was off playing. Later in the evening, the wax was sitting on the stairs to go up to my bathroom, Kristen was sitting on the stairs ready to go to bed and she looked at me and said, "Mommy, play wax?" I laughed and explained to her that wax was only for Mommy and we hope she never has to use it!

Pee pee and poo poo....

2007-07-27T08:36:00.001-07:00

This morning I was changing Austin's diaper and of course I wasn't fast enough and he decided to go pee pee...but the craziest thing was he peed in his own eye! I felt so bad..so I quickly undressed him and put him in the bathtub, and not two minutes later did he poo poo all in the tub!!! aaaaaaahhhhh! What a bodily function morning!

Eczema

2007-07-26T22:44:00.000-07:00

Both Kristen and Austin have Eczema..sad..Kristen's little hands are all red and itchy..no fun.

Army Crawl

2007-07-26T22:42:00.000-07:00

Austin has begun to do the Army Crawl!! 7 mo. He loves to stand and has two teeth now! He is getting so big...we are anxious to see how much he weighs at our next appointment.

Austin's new tooth!

2007-07-16T23:59:00.000-07:00

Austin cut a tooth...yay for the 7 month mark.

It's been awhile...Kristen's now 2

2007-07-15T20:18:00.000-07:00

Well a ton has gone on in the past month. We went to Ohio to visit my dad and Judy and had a great time. Kristen and Austin loved spending time with Grandfather and Gran. We went to water parks, the zoo, hung out with family, and swam in the pool until we were prunes! Kristen remembered a ton from her swimming lessons..we were so proud. Austin went into the pool for the first time and loved it! We really had a wonderful time!

Kristen turned 2 on July 11th. Auntie Stacy came out for a few days and both Kristen and Austin loved having her here (and me too of course!). For Kristen's birthday we went to the park and ate some packed dinners..and then Kristen played her heart out..she and her Daddy flew kites, and Auntie Stacy went down the slide with her many times. When we got home we opened some presents and ate cake..good times. Kristen really enjoyed opening presents..she gets it now!

We had her birthday party on July 14th and we celebrated Winnie the Pooh style. The tables were covered with red gingham table clothes and blue honey pots that Daddy painted. We had tons of balloons..that Kristen loved...a few streamers..and a big cling on thingy that had Pooh and friends that said "Happy Birthday!". We had hamburgers, salad, watermelon, baked beans, and good o'le cake. Kristen loved opening all her presents and has enjoyed playing with everything. She was so cute when we sang Happy Birthday, her face looked like, "Really, for me, my birthday, wow!"

Kristen also got her Big Girl Bed..which as of now is box springs and a mattress..with super cute bedding! She loves it...although she has had a hard time sleeping at night...tonight was the first night that she fell asleep within an hour..usually it has been a 2-3 hour battle...let's not talk about it..it gives me the shivers thinking about it!

Two is a good age! We are excited about this year to come!

Cereal then Pears

2007-06-10T19:01:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I gave Austin cereal for the first time and he loved it so much that he didn't want to stop eating. We started him on Oatmeal cereal and he just can't get enough...then we tried pears.

Tomorrow it will be a week since we started cereal..so I thought today would be a good day to try a new food, pears. Well I am not really sure how well it went..because at first it looked like Austin really liked the pears, but then he started shuddering every time I gave him a bite, and then he just started to cry..so as of now I am not sure if he had had enough food or if he just doesn't really care for pears...we will see.

Tomorrow we will try again.

Laughter

2007-05-28T20:50:00.001-07:00

Recently Kristen has been making Austin laugh with the silly things she does. (They are 22 months and 5 months) All I have to say is when this happens I usually stop, drop what I am doing and just watch and smile...it is the best thing to me right now...

Sprinklers

2007-05-28T20:47:00.001-07:00

Today we were suppose to have swim lessons for Kristen, but since it is Memorial day they were cancelled..so we had Kristen all ready to go swimming and needless to say, she was really bummed she wasn't going to get in the pool. So Paul and I thought fast and we thought of running through the sprinklers! Let's just say that Kristen had the best time running through the sprinklers with her Daddy..Austin and Mommy just watched and took pictures! It was pretty cold out, but Kristen just kept on running back and forth, back and forth. She really loves water.

SD Zoo

2007-05-17T22:30:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago we went to the zoo and Kristen, and Austin too, saw an elephant in real life. Kristen is very into elephants...I should say all animals and of course what sounds they make (22 months). It was so fun to see her reaction to the huge beast just walking around...she was pretty amazed.

2007-05-17T22:26:00.001-07:00

The love that Kristen shows to Austin is exactly the love that I want them to show to each other the rest of their lives. Austin always smiles at her with sweet adoration.

Tonight we were rocking in the rocking chair, reading a book, when Kristen just started to gently rub Austin's head just the way he likes it. His heavy eyes blinked slowly and began to shut, but of course Kristen moved on and was ready to go to bed herself.

This is the love I pray for daily. This sibling love. I want it so bad for them. I want them to be two peas in a pod, always looking out for each other, and always reaching out a hand when one is in need, hugging each other with a kiss on the cheek. Sibling love.

Tonight

2007-04-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

Before I lay Kristen in her bed I pray with her. Tonight I closed the door and as I was about to walk away I heard her start praying again..boy it made me proud.

Earth worms...

2007-04-29T21:17:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, Kristen and I were working in the front yard. We were pulling weeds and moving dirt around. All of a sudden I came across an earth worm and as I pulled it out of the dirt and I showed it to Kristen. At first she just stared at it, and I explained to her what it was. Then the worm started moving and she did a deep excited sound that goes something like this, "hunh, hunh, hunh, hunhhhh". She was so excited and couldn't believe that the worm was moving. After looking at the worm for a few minutes I explained to her that worms live in the dirt so we would have to throw him back in the flower bed. So we did..and she went over to where she thought the worm landed and said, "Where'd go?". About an hour later I found another worm. Kristen was filling her buckets with dirt when, "plop", I dropped a worm in her bucket. She couldn't believe there was another worm. She played with the worm for a little bit and then told me, "back, back", which means "We need to throw him back". So we did just that. I love that my girl is into earth worms...

Kristen's words

2007-04-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

The other day Kristen bonked Austin on his head with her head and said, "Sorry Austi, head ow". It was so great to see almost a total 5 word sentence!

Austin's cool moves..

2007-04-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

On April 17, 2007 Austin rolled over!! He also can get his pacie to his mouth with no help..hallelujah! (4 months) He is very interested in toys and loves to reach out and grab them when you hold them above him. We love him here in the A-Team house!

Gymnastics

2007-04-03T08:31:00.000-07:00

Kristen started gymnastics last Thursday, March 29, and had a blast. She jumped on the spring floor the entire time of her class. She loves to jump, and amazingly she can get both feet off the ground.