Family of 5......

Wow....I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've posted. It's gone by quick! We've been busy playing with puppies and friends and just hangin' out. We've been to the beach, the pool and got to visit with one of my college roommates that I haven't seen in years! Her mom was there along with her 2 kids. So good to hang out with you Marcy!

For the 4th, we went with a bunch of people to the Rose Bowl. We don't go into the Bowl, but camp right outside @ the golf course and hang out all day eatin, talkin' and playin'. Then we enjoy the best show around and get home late. It's so fun! The fireworks are huge and loud and they're right by where we are. I think it's better than inside the Rose Bowl!

Emma turned 10 months yesterday, the 5th. She's pulling herself up on everything and doing the wabbling stand for a few seconds before she crashes. She's also getting her top 2 teeth for a total of soon-to-be 4 teeth.

John decided to have the ol' snip, snip surgery and so now we're stayin' a party of 5 in this house. Kinda sad and happy at the same time. No more surprises for us.....I think! Right? Right? Riiiggghhhtt????



Beach Day!
Renelle


Rose Bowl!

9 Months & Park Days

Emma turned 9 months on the 5th and we celebrated by taking her in for a doctor appointment! :) It was her lucky day and she didn't get any shots....only a finger prick, in which she gave the nurse a dirty look. LOL...


We've also gone to the park with Becky, Renelle and the kids a couple times. On one of the days, our special friend Kristal was in town and we had the pleasure of hanging out with her and her 2 adorable kids for a bit. Debra was there too but unfortunately she had already left when we took a picture. So good to see your Kristal!

When going through my pictures, I found some old ones of all of us and the kids. Lots have changed since then!



Collin:Cole:
Davis pushin' his best buddy...


Samantha:
Renelle, Kristal holding Natalie, Me and Becky:
The Old Pics....at this time: Debra didn't have any kiddos (now has Annabelle & Ava), Kristal had just had Natalie (now also has a baby boy Landon!), I had Maddy & Davis, and Becky had Collin but was prego with Samantha (and now has another one...Lauren! Geez Becky, slow down! haha)!
Maddy holding Natalie:
Davis, Collin, Cole:

Myles of Style

So did anyone catch tonights episode of HGTV's "Myles of Style?" I didn't post in time, but our friends Sean & Kathy were on the show! I've been so excited to see it because I've been thinking about applying for her to come re-do our Master bedroom but just am not sure I can handle the TV cameras in my face and am nervous they would do something wacky. We have a couple other friends applying for different shows, so maybe I'll see how their stuff comes out first! =)

Anyhow, I recorded the show and waited until 11:30pm to watch it, only---OF COURSE----there was an error in the recording and it didn't get the last 10 minutes. AUGHH!!! But thank goodness for re-runs because it's on at 12:30 and again on Sunday, I think. Check it out! They re-did their Master Bedroom and it looks pretty cool!

What happens when you fall on one of these.......


Ok...so I just realized that these pictures don't look like much, but yesterday Davis was playing on daddy's spin bike and I kept telling him to get off. Of course, he slipped and fell and nailed his head right on the pedal. It was so sad! When he stood up, there was the perfect indent of the pedal right on this forehead. When you realize what it is, it's kinda funny!

The Lake

So someone asked me a while back if I had anything to post about besides my kids. Umm....let me think about that for a sec...NOPE! LOL... I don't know if they were annoyed or just inquisitive, but none-the-less, this stay-at-home mom to 3 energy suckers 4 yrs and under doesn't have another wild life on the side, nor the energy/time to actually have one! I remember thinking I would NEVER, ever, ever be able to stay home more than 2 days in a row....and that was pushing it! Well I'll be dog-gone......I've turned a new leaf! I can do 3 days no problemo! (that's "no problem" for those of you who live in a city where English isn't the 2nd language). haha Plus, I don't remember how to have an adult conversation anymore, so I may be a bit of a bore anyway. I might start asking repetitive questions that begin and end with "Why?" Why?" "Why?" I could possibly jazz it up with a "What's that?" But then I'd follow it up with a "Why?" =)

Anyway, so this weekend our Sunday School class had a day at the Lake and we had a quick worship service, bbq'd, had lots of yummy junk food, good conversation and skiing/tubing! It was a perfectly beautiful day and there was a good turnout of families. There just happens to be quite a few sweet young girls in our class that were all fighting over holding Emma. It's pretty cute. I'm gonna have them all come over to my house and then they can fight over her all they want. All day long. No, really...I am. I don't think they'll notice if I slip out for a few hours or take a quick nap either! =) Now if could only get them to fight over the other 2, I may have a whole day to myself! Whoo Hoo!

I was only going to stay for about a hour and ended up staying the whole day. Emma gets an award for the best baby ever without a nap. She was a trooper! She did sneak in about 20 minutes right at the end of the day in Daddy's arms. Nothing like a nap in Daddy's arms, that's for sure. I won't ever forget falling asleep on my dad's arms riding in his truck..they were the best!

Here's a few pictures I took. I didn't take many, but the one's of Davis are pretty funny. And that's pretty much what he did all day. Remember how I told you he was sneaky, sneaky? I was a bad mommy and didn't really monitor (well, I sorta monitored but just didn't battle it out) all the junk he and Maddy ate. And did they ever. Cookies, cake, rice krispies, chips, chips and more chips. Oh..and a bite of hot dog for some protein. And soda. Mmmm......I'm a bit scared of taking them to the dentist! But, uh...next time I think I'll be a bit on top of things more since Maddy threw up in the evening after going to bed. Lots and lots of junk food + lots of sun on a 4 yr old=barfing in mommy and daddy's bed. Ahhhh...the joys of mommyhood! LOL.... Oh...and I didn't monitor too strickly (is that a word? why?) how much she drank before going nighty nighty in our bed and John & I both rolled over onto something very, very wet..... EEWWW!


Nice "background" ey? lol..
Handsome hubby holding sweet baby girl...

And here it is.... he was very quiet...a bit off to himself, while we were all listening to the service...
Oh..and notice his shirt? It says AWESOME with an arrow pointing up. LOL...love it! I'm surprised his daddy doesn't have one of those!

You Can Take the Girl Out of the Country.....

So I grew up in a small town where agricultural things were the norm. Being surrounded by fields, farms, groves and such was just the way things were. I didn't give it a second thought about having horses, cows, sheep, pigs, rabbits, dogs, cats.... Or a garden of all sorts of flowers, every imaginable vegetable and trees that grew pecans, walnuts, lemons, oranges, cherries (hated picking them!), avocados (oh how I wish I would have liked them as a kid!), persimmons, kumquats, pistachios, and more! Most of my friends didn't have that, but it wasn't unusual to them that I did. The chores that came along with it kinda stunk (literally and figuratively....hahaha!), but I guess my sister and I were cheap labor....

I did think it was a bit different, and very cool, that my dad was a large animal vet who's clinic was on the same property as our house. It was a family business and I was exposed to so many awesome experiences. I loved it as a kid, but now I appreciate it so much and ache for my kids to know the life that I had and for them to see their Grandpa in action. It makes me sad that the experiences I had on a daily basis will only be stories that their crazy mama tells them. And that they will get tired of hearing. I hope to somehow let them experience a tiny bit of what is close to my heart.

So I now I live in a bigger town...not a city like LA is a city (YUCK!) but close enough to LA that life here is much different than the town I grew up in. In some ways it's so much better, but there is a part of me that will always be a "country" girl at heart.

All this to say that recently I stumbled upon a web site originally for photography tips, but I found a lady who I can relate to in a way that takes me back to the life I once knew and makes me miss it so much. I spent 2 days doing not much more than reading her web site and cracking up at all the funny things she says and totally just "getting it." I love her! I sorta turned "stockerish" for those 2 days because I could swear we'd be instant, good friends.... sipping coffee and talking non-stop swapping stories.... and I wanted to send her an e-mail to let her know, knowing that she'd be so excited to have found a new friend over the internet.....but then I realized that would probably be kinda creepy of me, so I've backed off a bit. But don't think I don't check out her site once a day! =)

Anyway, it's an awesome site and you should check it out to..... Her name is Ree and she's "The Pioneer Woman."

Did I mention that I love her site?!

Puppies

Puppies are on the way!

Pictures

From our crazy Canadian family......

Maddy wanted me to post these:

The Many Faces Of......

The Jumperoo

In the nursery at church, they have this "Jumperoo" thing (sorta like the Johnny Jumpers that fit over a doorway but it's stationary) that Davis used to LOVE and now Emma does too. At home, we have an exersaucer that she likes to play in, but she often gets confused and thinks it's suppose to bounce too. But it doesn't. But she tries. She tries really hard to make it bounce. !! (LOL...It's super funny in person and probably doesn't look that funny in this video, but neither are you.....Oops....did that slip out? I mean, but I know the grandparents will appreciate it). =)

Oops...

Oops....accidentially posted this on my 366 blog instead of this one....

Maddy woke up today and the first thing she said to me was......"MOM....do you know what day it is today!!!?" =) She said it like it was Christmas or something....

8 Months

Before Maddy walked into the room....

Emma is 8 months today and didn't feel like smiling very much for mommy.....and I didn't feel like taking too much time to get a good picture. She's been more serious lately than usual, but when her brother or sister walk in, she's all smiles! She has 2 bottom teeth, is crawling, although not too fast, and is pretty much sitting up. She doesn't have too much to say except a few funny noises and the occasional "mama." Maybe she'll be our quiet one!? I know she weighs about 17.5 lbs but her 8 month check up isn't until next month.

After Maddy walked into the room....

Another Blog

http://366longdays.blogspot.com/

My favorite pictures.....

My Little Ballerinas

So a bit over a week ago my little ballerina Emma came down with a teeny cough. Last Tues, in a matter of hours, her breathing began to change from normal to more labored. Of course, it was evening so I spoke to the on call pediatrician, who felt that since she had no other symptoms (she had no fever, was happy, eating okay, etc) she would be okay with a humidifier and some rest. The next morning, her breathing was even more labored and wheezy so I got her in to her doctor. I don't ever want to be one of those moms that over-reacts to every little thing and was hoping I wasn't wasting anyones time by taking her in. But the second her doctor walked in the room, she was alarmed at how bad she was, how low her oxygen levels were and started a little breathing treatment right away, gave her steroid shots, etc. Unfortunately the next day Emma was worse and, long story short, I spent 3 days in a row at my pediatricians office where the doctor spent 2 hours each day treating Emma before they would let her go home. On Thursday the doctor was going to admit Emma into the hospital but thankfully was able to stabilize her enough to be able to go home.

The doctor wanted me to continue the treatments every few hours at home and I was suppose to go to Oxnard for a Women's Retreat with my church. It was hard for me to leave, but thankfully John was with her and continued her treatments at home and when I returned she had improved SO much. I just returned from the doctor today for a re-check and am so excited to say that Emma's lungs are clear and sound 100% normal. YEAH! My pediatrician was awesome and told me that she really thought Emma was going to need to go to the hospital, but I'm praising the Lord that she didn't! It's so not fun to see someone so little struggle. Yeah for Emma!


So my other little ballerina Madelyn has been in Awana and just completed her first year. John teaches a group of jr. high boys and Maddy & Daddy go together on Monday nights. They just had a little "award ceremony" and are off for the summer.


Maddy also LOVES to dance and dress up and has been asking me to take her to a "Ballerina class." Her little ballet outfit is pretty much her daily uniform unless we are going out. A new dance studio opened up just down the street so I decided to take her in for a trial class to see how she did. (I had put her in a soccer class about a year ago and it didn't go so smoothly. I hated it!) She's been counting down the days and trying to be on her best behavior and today was the day. She LOVED it and smiled & giggled NON stop the whole time! It was adorable..... I don't know what part she loved the most (in addition to the huge mirrors so she could check herself out!), but it was a combo class that did ballet, tap and free dance. She won't stop asking me if she can go back tomorrow. =) Guess I have to take her back now.....

I'm also so so excited becuase I just found out that Maddy was accepted to our church's little co-op preschool program. Lately Maddy seems so much older to me and I've been thinking that I didn't want her to go to preschool 3 days a week. Huge shocker, I know!! I'm surprised at myself! I've been waiting for a little break from my strong-willed ballerina for a long time but as it was getting closer for her to go, it hit me just how short of a time she's at home with me before school starts. I was struggling with doing preschool vs not at all when I found out that Grace offers a co-op preschool 1 day a week. They accept only 25 students and the entire program is run by all the moms. We (the moms) each sign up for a job and do everything along with the students, except about 45 min during the lesson time, where we get to go off on our own and listen to a speaker or just talk. I'm in charge of the Welcome Table and don't really know what that involves, but will soon enough. Plus, once a month, they take the kids on a field trip. Should be fun... actually, I can't WAIT! It's at the church and they even offer nursery for the younger kids. And Maddy is so excited that it's something special for just the two of us without distractions from the other 2. She loves that attention! =)

My "other ballerina" Davis is doing well and becoming secure in his manhood by enjoying dressing up with his sister and trying to join her dance class, yet being SUCH a boy and getting plenty dirty outside & throwing rocks over to our neighbor's house. You'll have to check out the short video clip of him on my sisters blog in a petticoat skirt at the beach. When we were taking pictures, the photographer had brought the skirts (my favorite!) for the girls but Davis REALLY wanted to wear one and LOVED twirling around in it! LOL....it was so funny (although John wasn't too happy about that!!)!


Happy Day!