Bathin' Beauties!!!

Bath time is the most favorite time of day!! Now that Finn can sit in the tub with Olivia it is even more fun... Olivia loves to wash his back and Finn's new favorite thing to do is splash as much as he can and then laugh and laugh... :-)

xoxoxo

What I like about you.

I'm not typically a sappy person.. but since it is V-day, I thought I would write a few reasons why I love my husband and why he is my best friend.

1. He always comes home with a smile on his face.

2. He doesn't watch a lot of TV and is not obsessed with video games.

3. He has a brilliant mind and is consistently challenging me intellectually.

4. He is serious when he needs to be and silly when he needs to be.

5. He is hot.

6. After 17 years he still makes my heart thump when he walks into a room.

7. Some of my best memories with him are just us sitting around in our pajamas talking and laughing.

8. He is NOT sports obsessed.

9. He LOVES his children and will drop anything to play with them or read them a book.

10. He always asks how my day was...

11. He loves his mother.

12. He has manners.. not your run-of-the-mill manners, but true gentleman-like manners.

13. He is VERY handy and is not afraid to get dirty.

14. He does the laundry and dishes without asking.

15. He shares his white tube socks with me.

16. He holds my hand in public.

17. He makes the best scrambled eggs EVER!!

and

18. He choose me to be his partner. xoxoxoxo

Happy Valentine's Day baby!!

First Haircut!

Well, the time finally came for Olivia to have a little trim on her hair. This last weekend I was giving Chad his monthly trim and we both decided ( while watching olivia bound around the backyard) that her curls were looking a little snaggly. So , we bribed her with a cookie and had her sit for her first haircut/trim. I decided to layer it a little bit so that her curls would bounce a little more.. it worked great! Deep down I was VERY afraid that I would cut her hair and the curls would disappear but that DEFINITELY did not happen. She sat very still and was very patient with me.. (even when I came at her later with the scissors cuz I saw some spots I had missed).

Enjoy!

xoxo

A song in her heart...

Olivia's new favorite pastime in entertaining us with a song or two, or three, or as many as she feels like. Here she is singing her current favorites " Jingle Bells", and "Rudolph the red-nosed Reindeer". ( She is still stuck on Christmas..I think it will be a while before she forgets... :-)

xoxo

Finn 7 months!

Finn is 7 months old! We can hardly believe it.. the time is going by twice as fast as it has with Olivia...He is a delightful baby in every way EXCEPT ... night time sleeping!! Ahhh!G!! But, we are working on that and I suspect soon we may have a breakthru..:-) At 7 months Finn can:

1. Sit up by himelf

2. Eat cereal, pureed peas, sweet potatoes, avocado, applesauce, and he LOVES his teething biscuits. And by eat I mean, I distract him with a toy and shovel in the food when he isn't looking. Otherwise, he just purses his little lips and gives me the stink-eye.

3. He is "just" starting to try and army crawl.

4. He can laugh, and laugh, and laugh when tickled.

5. He can take a bath in the big tub with his sister.

6. He can pet and laugh at the dog.

Everyday and I mean every-day he is doing something new. It is so fun to watch him learn and grow.

Enjoy the pics!

xoxo

Playtime with Daddy

This and That...

Ok, ok... I've been HORRIBLE about posting lately but I've truly never been busier in my whole life up until this point!! By the time the end of the day arrives and I actually have time to post..I just want to drink a beer and play Guitar Hero III with my hubby.. Can you blame me? Anyway, here are some recent pics of life around the house... Christmas day, smoothie-making with dad, Finn at six months old, our day visiting the Rose Parade floats , and some more pics for free! Enjoy!!

xoxoxoxoxo

Quote of the day

Ok...folks, here is the latest from Olivia's lips!

Olivia: "Mom, my arm is hurting"

Me: " Oh, why is your arm hurting"

Olivia: " I did color this picture too fast....I'm so tired"

I look up to see her frantically coloring Big Bird an interesting shade of blue...

*sigh*

xoxoxoxo

Life 'round here...

Ai, yi, yi. What a month it has been !! I haven't been posting but that certainly doesn't mean that nothing is going on...it seems like every other day we had something going on the in month of December. By the time I put the kids to bed I am so tired I just collapse on the couch or run off to finish laundry, clean a bathroom, or do some dishes. I am REALLY hoping that I can post more in the next few months but here is a little teaser as to what has been going on 'round here:

1. Finn turned 6 months old today!! He is just a dumpling and a doll and is FINALLY starting to sleep a teeny, weeny, bit better. He sits up on his own pretty well and loves to be cuddled and held. He thinks his big sister is just the coolest girl ever... :-)

2. After 8 years we finally got rid of the ol' Pontiac Aztek ( Papa James bought it!) and purchased a used 2007 Nissan Quest ... yes, a minivan. It is quite possibly the best the thing that has every happened to me...if you can love a car that is... :-)

3. Olivia can put on her own shoes. ( You may think this is a small thing, but every little bit helps..)

4. Chad finished his first quarter teaching at UCLA and has had a nice week off before the next quarter starts...

So there ya go...

More to come... I PROMISE!!!

xoxoxo

Quotes of the week

Here are some good ones....


Olivia walks into the living room carrying her stuffed Eyeore toy...( she is usually always carrying it..) Out of the corner of my eye I see the Christmas tree shaking ever so slightly ... she has been told more than once not to touch the ornaments ...

me: "Olivia, are you touching the tree?"

no answer

me: "Olivia, did you touch the tree?"

Olivia: " No momma, Eyeore did kick the tree".

me: (trying desperately not to laugh) " Please tell Eyeore to stop kicking the tree or HE will get a time-out!"

Olivia: " Oh,...ok.... he no likes time-outs. "



I worked this morning so when I came home Chad decided he needed a little nap in the afternoon. Olivia was eating a yogurt at the kitchen table and watched him walk into the bedroom and close the door...

Olivia: "Where dada going?"

me: "Daddy is a little tired so he's going to take a nap"

Olivia: "Yeah, you talked and talked and now he tired"

me: "What?!"

Olivia: "you talked and talked and now he need a nap"

( stunned silence)

Olivia: " he was tired and mad so he take nap".

Apparently I talk too much... *sigh*



Oh, and just a side note... Olivia has taken a new turn with her fashion sense. I WISH I had taken a picture of the outfit she had on today. I took her with me to a quick trip to Trader Joe's and here is what she had on:

1. Orange shirt
2. Brown pants
3. purple socks
4. white shoes
5. Pink Sweatshirt

... and to top it all off

6. Her white frilly wide brimmed Easter hat.

She DID get a lot of compliments. :-)

xoxoxo

Singin' my ABC'S!!

She can finally make it through the whole song! Enjoy!

I don't have the heart to tell her....

It's 95 degrees outside!!!!




xoxoxo

"I sat on a really nice badger".

Clearly this was spoken on a day she had spent with her father.

Hmmmmmm...after some investigation I found out that Olivia had been to the play-place at the mall and one of the animals that she could climb on was indeed a badger.

Phew! I'm really glad to know we don't have a "badger" problem at home in the backyard.

xoxo

You know you're the mom of a 2 year old when......

1. One of your requests for peace at dinnertime is " Please no roaring..".

2. You say "Feet on the floor please" more than once a day..

3. You find a blob of applesauce on the bathroom mirror ( which I might add is about 7 feet away from the dining room... hmmmm..

4. Your c.d player in the living room has Raffi, The best of Disney, and ABC melodies in it.

5. You realize at 2 pm you never ate breakfast...

6. You get hysterical with joy when she pee-pee's in the potty.

xoxoxo

Quote of the day ( well, the other day..)

One of Olivia's new favorite things to do is to sing the "Abc's" while sitting in her carseat. So the other day she was singing and this is what happened...

Olivia: (singing) "a,b,c,d,e,shef,g,h,i,j,k,lemlo,p,q,r,s,t,u,v, xy and z! Now i know my abc's , net time won't you sing wich me.

Me : Very good Olivia!

Olivia:(pausing) Yeah, I no need "W".



Apparently the letter "w" didn't make the cut.

xoxoxo

Halloween 2008!

Our Halloween was a blast this year!! We started the celebration on Thursday night....we carved pumpkins and watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" on tv. Olivia was sooooo excited to carve pumpkins..she had no idea what to expect. The biggest suprise of the evening came when I opened up the first pumpkin and she gagged from the smell inside... hahahahaha! I don't think that she had any idea that pumpkins have such a strong odor once you open them. She was a little hesitant after that to help clean them out , but as soon as I started doing it she dove right in. We made a happy pumpkin, a scary pumpkin, and a ghost pumpkin ( out of a white pumpkin!). She really got a kick out of helping us light them and seeing them glow on the porch. It was a great start to our Halloween!

The next day we had some friends over to celebrate Halloween! Rachel, Jamie, Robyn, Bryce, Aunti Sarah, Grammy, and Papa were all on hand to help make and decorate some delicious and spooky spider cookies... it was great fun!!!




At last we got to Trick-or-Treat! Olivia was a cute little witch this year and Finn was a fat little spider! Chad came up with the idea to hang him in the sling on my front and have me be the web... it turned out so cute and Finn was pretty happy during most of the trick-or-treating! Olivia's friends Rachel and Bryce were a black cat and a monkey respectively. The kids did really well walking up the doors, knocking, and saying trick-or-treat. Most of the time we had to drag them away from each house cuz they wanted more candy! They lasted about 45 minutes and then we proceeded home for baths and jammies. It was a really fabulous day!!! Happy Halloween!!!

Finn Month 4

Finn is 4 months old!! He is such a sweetie and is growing like a weed! He now weighs 15 lbs. 7 ounces and is 25 inches long. He is almost rolling over ( he did it once but hasn't again)... but likes to spend a lot of time on his side ( especially while sleeping.) He loves to cuddle and laugh with his sister and has finally started to notice Cassie.. :-) Every day there is some new achievement and it is simply amazing to me that 4 months have already passed since his birth. xoxoxo

17 years...

17 years ago today I was getting my hair done to go to the Homecoming Dance with a guy I liked and had known since I was 13 years old. My dad dropped me off at his house around 6:00 pm .. where I met two of my girlfriends ( Bethie and Sabita) and their dates ( Jonah and Matt). The boys cooked us dinner ( I think my future mother-in-law may have helped with that), we took pictures and hung out for a little while, and then we all took off for the dance.

I remember being very nervous but I also remember the excitement of going to my first Homecoming Dance. My date was gracious and kind but I also sensed some nervousness in him as well. We didn't talk too much , just relaxed and danced with our friends. The funny thing is.. I don't recall the decorations, I don't remember the music, and I couldn't describe the theme of the dance... but I remember exactly where we were when he reached to hold my hand.

My parents were very strict about my curfew...so I know he was nervous about getting me home on time. We were carpooling with another couple , so after a few post-dance stops and some innocent ( don't laugh Sabita) kissing in their car...I was dropped off safe and sound on my doorstep. We were both nervous about saying good-night but we did so and I ran inside with a very pounding heart.

Did I know that we would end up staying together through high school? Nope. Did I even dream that he would one day get down on one knee to ask for my hand in marriage? Nope. Did I even project that we would , 17 years later, have two amazing children and live each day like our first date? Not in a million years..

I am beyond blessed to have Chad in my life. I tell him each day that I love him and my heart still skips a beat when he walks in from work each day. He is my best friend and my family. I hope that I always feel for him what I feel right now.

We have been together more than half our lives....

I love you baby. Happy Anniversary!

xoxoxoxoxo

Quote of the day

We were driving to our monthly Malibu Presbyterian MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group and here was the conversation that went down in the car:

Me: " Look at the hills Livvy , aren't they cool?" ( we were driving through Malibu Canyon , which as some of you know has very steep cliffs on both sides of the road).

Olivia: " I like those mountains mom, I could climb 'dem".

Me: " You can? Wow, I think that would be awesome!".

Olivia: "Yeah, I will climb 'dem and find rolly-polly's." ( otherwise known as "pill bugs")



There you have it. hahahaha!