Happy 5th!

My sweet little girl turned 5 this past Thursday! I did the typical "mom" thing and got sentimental at 12 noon (the exact time she was born), thinking how crazy it is that 5 years ago at that very moment I was welcoming her into this world. She has changed every aspect of our lives, from the constant thought of how we're going to pay for her college tuition, which I'm sure will be up to $250,000 when she's ready to go; to the slight obsession of checking her windows every night, making sure they are locked tight. It's amazing how something so small can occupy so much of our daily thoughts. She definitely has her moments when we're pretty sure she's a full blow teenager, but her sweetness always shines through and when she flashes a smile like the one in the picture, she melts every bit of my heart.

I love you sweet little girl, I pray we can always keep you safe and happy.

Thanks to Uncle Ben for this great moment (and smile) captured on film

I love this quilt

This my most favorite quilt to date! I just wish I had made it on a larger scale, a baby sized quilt doesn't go so great on the back of one's couch.

No wonder they were so quiet

(2nd) First day of kindergarten

Yup, that's right, my little girl is now a big kindergartner! I can't believe it. The poor thing had to have 2 first days of school because she didn't get accepted into our school of choice until 2 days after school had started. She had to leave her sweet teacher and few Friends behind that she made at her first school, but she did remarkably well considering the uprooting. And as luck would have it, a little girl from her dance camp was in her class. We are so excited about her new school and she seams to be pretty excited too.

Oh, and this is what little brother was caught doing while sister was at school. He can now open up the freezer and get out all the goodies. little stinker!

Dance camp

Our sweet girl has really taken a liking to dance and ballet so we decided to put her in a 2 week dance camp from 8:30-3:00 this summer (a big reason I did it is to see if she would take to all day kindergarten ok). She did great! They did jazz, ballet, tap, yoga, belly dancing (??), art, cooking.. and just about every day she came home with cool new moves. At the end of the week she had a preformance that allowed her to show off her stuff to cool songs like "Beat It" and "It's A Hard Knock Life". I thought she was adorable and dad got emotional (sorry, I outed you!), but it's just so fun to see our little girl start to do big girl things.

We took a lot of videos and not many pictures so these are the only ones that turned out decent. But at least they will remind us how small she once was (and how darn cute).

BEST-HUSBAND-EVER! (really)

Last week my gloriously wonderful husband gave me the best gift a mom could ever ask for... 5.5 days all to herself!! He voluntarily took the kids to St Louis and left me at home. I cant begin to explain how amazing it is to wake up 5 days in a row to a quiet and peaceful home and then to have the freedom to do whatever I wanted all day long. I had breakfast with my friend Kimber, lunch with Jennie, dinner and a movie with Natalie and Yuka, I went to the temple and spent the day in Santa Monica, I spent hours in the fabric district in downtown LA, watched movies in the evening stretched out on my own couch, walked around IKEA, cleaned out many closets, ate out by myself... it was truly the most relaxing time I've had in awhile. But the best part of it all was knowing my family was having a great time in St Louis and would be coming home to me at the end of their vacation.

While I was having a relaxing time here at home, they were out on a mission to conquer MO.

Here at the Magic House

at the best museum EVER, the City Museum with aunts, uncles and cousins

at Grandma and Grandpa's house
at the train museum having a BLAST with cousins

They were officially wiped out and mom was officially rejuvenated!

Thanks dad, you are no doubt the best!

Tired

I have been very lucky with this little girl, she LOVES to sleep. She was a great sleeper (pretty much) from the beginning. I remember putting her in her crib when she was little and she would giggle because she was happy to be lying there with a few animals and a blanket. She would never complain about being put to bed so bedtime was never torture. And just until very recently (a few months ago) she took a nap every single day. Unfortunately this little girl isn't so little anymore and she is getting ready to go to kindergarten in a few weeks so I've had to start the "no nap" transition. She loves the idea of being a big girl and not taking a nap but I also think her little body just gets tuckered out sometimes.

Today I put little brother down for his nap and got her going on an art project then started my "chores". After going about my business for a little while I realized she was really quiet. This is the sweet little face I discovered when going in to check on her.

Sans training wheels

I can now declare sister as a free wheeling bike rider. She can start (uphill and down), stop and ring her bell. The only thing that needs refining is her turning ability (and at times her attitude).

Welcome to the wonderful world of childhood freedom! Well, at least the freedom to ride up the street... with mom watching.

4th of July 2011

Our 4th of July was pretty jam packed with excitement!

First and foremost we started off at the day at Corner Bakery with friends.

Played with those friends at a cute little parade in a nearby town.

The unintentional red, white and blue pairing of my cute family. I'm sure if dad knew he was the perfect patriotic match he would have changed before we left.

Entering the Rose Bowl for a very festive and exciting fireworks display. Little brother got pretty scared but all in all it was a WONDERFUL day.

Happy 235th birthday to the good ol' U S of A!!

Birthday boy

Happy 2nd birthday to our sweet and funny little boy! It's been said before and I'll say it again, I cant believe how quickly the time goes when little ones are growing up; 2 years have flown by with lightening speed. I'm so happy I get to see this little boy when he wakes up from bed time and nap time, kiss him all day (even when he's filthy) and put him to bed at night. He brings so much joy to our little family.

Some facts to remember this amazing and short period of time in his life...

This little boy is F-U-N to be around! He is the ultimate boy: he loves to play in anything that will get him dirty, he is a magnetic to rocks, LOVES dogs (even ones that are 2x his size), he loves: trains, trucks/cars, balls and sticks... really anything that a boy should love. He will also throw any of the said items above when he determines he has no more use for them. A few weeks ago I heard a loud banging coming from outside and ran out to see him hitting the car with a shovel (we are working on this!!). Every time you catch him doing one of these semi-destructive activities, he always has the biggest, sweetest smile on his face. Too bad he still gets in trouble.

But even considering the trouble he gets in occasionally he is by far the sweetest and loving little guy. We all get multiple kisses and hugs from him all day long. He is quick to give sister a love when he thinks she is hurt or sad. He is soft and gentle with any baby, always wanting to kiss their toes or pat their head. He wakes up earlier than sister and will always snuggle for a long time in bed with dad and I until he decides it's time to play under the covers.

All in all, this kid makes us happier than we ever thought possible and we can't imagine what our lives would be without him.

Happy birthday little Bubbie!!

Uncanny resemblance?

Before we welcomed our little brother into the world Grandma M bought sister a Bitty Baby Boy thinking that it would be fun for the both her and I to carry around little boys. Who would have thought that 2 years later the doll and the little boy would resemble each other so closely (sans clothes)??

Weekend hiking

Now that dad isn't constantly working on the house we've had some spare family time on the weekend, and it's been GREAT!! Many of the past few weekends we've hiked to a little spot about a 5 minute drive from our house. It's a short hike but we get away from all the houses and most of the people. Best of all we've found a simi private spot that we can play on the edge of a steam and let the kids get dirty.

Here is little brother doing what he does best, throwing rocks...

Sister finding a big one to contribute
And of course dad doing what he does best, keeping himself busy (building a rock dam)
I'm so grateful to live in a beautiful place where we are able to be in the city and so close to nature at the same time, and great weather that allows us to be outside year round . Pretty perfect if you ask me.

Little brother's first Dodger game

This is the only picture we got to remember the moment. He lasted longer than we thought he would but there definitely came a point where the seats were just too close together for a little boy.

A silly girl for a silly party

Big sister was invited to an April Fools party a few months back. They were asked to dress silly.

It doesn't get more silly than this

My new favorite pictures

A few more great pictures from Grandpa's camera

This might be my favorite picture of little brother of all time
Oh, the power of a good camera (and a good photographer)!!

Family

Sadly, the only time we get a picture of all of us together is when the Munson family comes into town or we go visit them.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for a fun visit and a fun picture! We should do this more often

First beach trip 2011

It was the PERFECT morning to spend at the beach with friends!

Thanks to good friends who are a joy be around

These little fellas are pretty much the exact same age and hilarious to watch

Right at the end our friend decided to body slam little brother. He just wanted to wrestle and thought he had found a good mate, but not so much. Little brother just laid there and whined.

He was having none of it.

We'll have to work on that one. I figured he might as well get his aggression out on willing participants and not big sister.

So organized

A few weeks back we took a little vacation down to San Diego to play at Lego Land. When we got to the hotel Big Sis decided she wanted to unpack a few of her things and get them ready for the morning.Apparently that means hanging up her shirts, socks and underwear.

Travel Town 2011

Travel town is pretty sleepy these days. You cant go on 90% of the trains and the ones you can go on are severely dilapidated. As big sister pointed out, "this place is boring". I guess that's what happens when something is funded by the city of Los Angeles. Maybe they have better places to invest their money. Oh, I love you L.A., even with all your flaws!! But I did hear a few days ago that the crime is down to the levels of the 1950's. Well done Mr Bratton.

Luckily the train ride is still up and running

Do you see the little guy's elbow in the air? Well, that's his own sign for train. Just about anytime we see one he does a little dance and throws up his elbow.

I'm telling you, this kids loves trains! I tried taking him away a dozen times and as soon as I set him down he calmly walked back to the window to watch the miniature trains going by.

I would say, "see you soon Travel Town", but I highly doubt it.