Memorial Day

We spent Memorial Day at Nana & Papa's house today with our best buddies Kristyn and Sophie. The girls had such a great time together, as always. They dressed up as princesses, played with Nana's toys, ate lunch together, swam at the pool & celebrated Sophie's 3rd birthday with cupcakes. The girls are at such a great age because they play well together now and give Kristyn and I time to talk and relax a bit more - especially at the pool.

Photo of the Week - Concentration

I thought I'd start posting a "Photo of the Week" each Thursday and use a quirky or artsy photo since I'm trying to be better about taking more photos. My favorite subject for the first one; fresh out of the bath last night. And one of my favorite photographic "styles" which was introduced to me by the awesome photographer I use to take pictures of Grace around her birthday each year.

Nichole, Olivia & Lauren

My friend Nichole, who lives in the bay area, is down in O.C. visiting her family this week so we had a chance to play with her sweet girls Olivia and Lauren this morning in San Clemente. Nichole was also watching her nephews (yea, she's a real super mom) so the 5 kids had a blast playing on the trampoline and enjoying all the toys. After lunch we hit the road and Grace passed-out on the way home from all the fun. Great seeing you Nichole, wish it was more often ;)

While Daddy's Away....

The Girls Will Play...

Daddy's out of town on a golf trip this weekend so we had a girly morning and made Sprinkles' strawberry cupcakes with Ashley. They turned out "delicioso" (as Grace would say thanks to Dora). Mmmm mmmmm!!! I also finally got a belly shot of the new bambina and it only took 20 weeks so I plan to be good now and try to get a shot every 2 weeks in order to have some type of a record of my/her growth.

Grace's Big Girl Room

We have a beautiful quilt to go with this bedding but unfortunately I can't use it yet with the long guardrail on Grace's bed. She is such a crazy sleeper (bouncing all over the place) that I will probably need to leave it on for about 3 more years :) Oh, and I got some good news this week from my doctor....I've only gained 11 pounds, not 17 like I thought. My scale is going in the trash!! We're half-way there as of today.

Book Recommendations

I'm reading these two books right now and highly recommend both if you are looking for a good book :)

Almost Half Way There

Today we had our anatomy ultrasound and everything looks great with the baby. She's right on track for growth and was sucking her little thumb which was cute. The only issue I have is that my placenta is very close to the cervix and the doctor said that there's a 95% chance that it will move as I continue to grow. If, for some reason it did not, the baby would have to be delivered via c-section. I am ok with either delivery method as long as the baby is healthy :) Speaking of healthy, my appetite has grown along with this little girl. I've gained about 17 pounds already so I'm thinking about re-visiting our dusty treadmill soon --- because giving-up food is never a good option :) Here's our first 3D picture of the little "jellybean" (as Papa likes to call her).

Oh and PS: Gracie is a potty-trained champ!!! I am SO proud of her and life seems a little simpler for the moment. I'm going to post some pics of her "big girl room" this weekend now that we've removed the changing table cover from her dresser; along with a pic of my growing belly.

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day 2010

I got the most beautiful Mother's Day card from Grace this morning. When I opened the card it had a recording by Grace that said "Happy Mother's Day Mommy" and it was so sweet and clear and fun. It seriously made my day and I've re-opened it 20x at least. Daddy was kind enough to help her pick-out this card and the little pregnancy massage GC that came tucked inside :) We had a nice brunch at our house and my "moms" (mom & mother in law) are most amazing because they cooked and prepared the whole fantastic brunch and brought it over so I could focus on Grace's potty training and relax. I seriously have the best mom and mother in law ever!!! Not to mention they brought me sweet gifts on top of it. Last week at Roger's Gardens I found our moms these adorable white vases with a single white rose on them. I think I'm going to go back and get one for myself and I'm happy because I think they were well liked. We hope you have a great Mother's Day too. Now I am off to continue to relax since Mike is on 'Grace duty' today. Can we have Mother's Day more often please?!

Nana brought Grace an "I'm so proud of you for using the potty" cupcake which is smooshed all over her little face here

2 1/2 Years

Grace turned 2 1/2 on May 1st while we were in Palm Springs and I've been thinking about how I just want to freeze this adorable, sweet, funny, adventurous and challenging age. At 2 1/2, Grace.....

• Your favorite color is pink


• Your favorite foods are cheese, chedder bunnies, apples, cupcakes and jelly sandwiches


• You love your "hot milk, not cold milk mommy"


• When you say no, you always say "no way" with attitude sometimes


• You love to put your hands on your hips and do little dances/shows for us


• You like to dance to Michael Jackson songs


• You still love play-doh soooooo much


• You only use your bits for sleeping and in the car...and you are finally ok with that :)


• You still love Bubby and always have him with you unless we are out of the house or car


• You love playdates, excursions to parks, museums, zoos, pools, malls....pretty much anywhere we go, you just love to be out and about


• We typically have acitivites in the mornings and are home by lunch or shortly thereafter so you can take your afternoon nap around 2:30. Occasionally you don't take one or fall asleep early in the car, which throws the whole schedule off.


• You still love to go to PetSmart to do our rounds of checking on all the animals


• You love arts & crafts


• You love to walk barefoot outside, get messy and dirty outside and to play with water


• You LOVE dogs and know the following breeds so far: Aussie Shepard, Chihuaha, Husky, Chocolate Lab, Yellow Lab, Puggle and Boxer


• Your favorite TV show is Clifford the Big Red Dog


• You are on day 3 of official potty training with NO accidents today and have easily transitioned to your big girl underwear


• You still like me to sing you to sleep every night


• You're the biggest sweetheart - you often say "l Iove my family", you love huggies, love to say "I love you"


• You have a strong will (a challenge for me at times) and know what you want / don't want and what you like / don't like. Apparently I was like this as a child so it's come back to bite me :)


• You like to test your boundries, but time-outs work well for us


• You love to play with your little friends in the neighborhood


• You have never had your hair cutbut you have your first dentist appointment in a couple weeks


• You already love your little sister and give her hugs and kisses a lot. You also think about her. For example, while you were swinging the other day, you said she can sit on the tray of your backyard swing and swing with you.


• You are finally starting to play with your dolls


• You like to play hide and seek and lots of pretend play (ie, cooking, ice cream store, playing different animals, etc.)


• You say all sorts of random funny things and are constantly cracking us up


• You have a memory that shocks us at times (got this from daddy)


• Most of all, you are so amazingly loved and make our lives so complete and happy!!!!!

La Quinta Trip