Spring Break

Now that we have one kid in school (part time) we get a spring break!  We took a family day and went to Sea World with Jordan's family, my mom & niece Ella, Jordan's Aunt Jacki and cousins Nina and Cami, and Jeannine and Elora met us there for a couple hours as well!  It was such a fun day, and our first time getting to see Jordan's brother Jesse in his show, he is Biff in the Sea Lion & Otter Show, and it was definitely the highlight of the day.  We let the kids play in the "Bay of Play" area, saw the Polar Bears, Beluga Whales, Penguins, the Pet's Rule Show, and the Shamu Show.  I am so glad we have season passes, and can't wait to go back, the kids love it!

 

 

Easter was just around the corner, and Clara was so excited, she kept calling it "Easter time day."  We went to church, which happened to be Coleton's first time showing separation anxiety...screamed until I went and got him :( He did the same thing this last Sunday, hopefully it is just a phase.  Then we go to my Aunt and Uncle's house for a big Easter party with my dad's side of the family, and extended family and friends are always welcome.  They had a barbecue potluck and an Easter egg hunt, and everyone brought treats for the kid's baskets.  After the party, the Abeel's came to our house for the rest of the evening, the kids played with their Easter baskets from Grammy and Pappy, had another Easter egg hunt...can you say spoiled! Had a light dinner, and hung out.  It was a fun week, I always love family time, and now back to the usual routine!

Mini Vacay...Newport Beach & Disneyland!

We really needed a little getaway and Jordan's sister and family coming to visit was the perfect excuse.  They stayed in Newport Beach, so we got a hotel right next to them, and stayed for 2 nights and 3 days.  Karl, Jennifer and their 5 adorable kids live in Colorado, and we definitely don't get to see them enough.  The first day was a bit stormy, so we went out to lunch, and hung out in our hotel room with them.  Luckily I had brought toys and play-do and books, so all seven of the kids didn't go too stir crazy for the afternoon.  The next day we got up bright and early, and headed to Disneyland!  Their kids had never been, and it was so fun to see the excitement on their faces.  As we all know, I am a huge Disneyland fan, and the whole family decided to let me do the coordinating, and we packed a TON in.  It was nice having lots of able bodied uncles and aunts to help with kid control, and to dash off as needed.  There where many times throughout the day that we sent Uncle Taylor off running ahead to get a fast pass, as Uncle Jesse ran and switched stuff out of lockers.  It just made things so much easier, and we ended up riding lots of rides.  We even got to see the parade, which sitting down and saving the curb ended up being a nice little break/nap time.  The Wolffs decided it had been a long enough day, so after grabbing dinner together at the Pizza Port, they made their way back to the hotel.  We stayed a bit longer to see the fireworks, which are amazing, and then left after that.  It was definitely one of my all time favorite times at Disneyland, and both kids did amazingly well.  Coleton napped twice in the stroller, and Clara took almost a 2 hour nap, probably could have been longer except we couldn't wait any longer and woke her up.  They were both such troopers, Coleton loved all the new things to look at and was just as mellow as can be, not even minding that he couldn't get down and crawl.  What great memories!

Tea Cups...

Finding Nemo...

Jungle Cruise & waiting for the parade...

Toontown & Clara's special treat ;

Carousel...

After having a very relaxing and low key next morning, we all met up at the beach.

Love how daddy kept her dress out of the water ;)

Kate, Sophia, Clara, Alexandra, Coleton, Connor, Carson.

...had lunch at Ruby's which was a  cute yellow shack overlooking the water.
Then said goodbye to the Wolff's, we had such a fun visit, hopefully we can get together again soon!

Before heading home, we went for one last swim at our hotel and then stopped by to visit Jordan's grandparents in Orange.  It was a very busy and wonderful couple of days!

Wow...I have been really bad about blogging lately.  I am lacking motivation for some reason.  Not much has been going on around here.  Clara started preschool, she goes 2 half days, and we both love it.  She loves playing with her little friends, and learning new things, and I love having a little bit of one on one time with Coleton.  I actually took my camera out last week and snapped some pictures of a hike we went on, and to a little shooting outing with my brother and his girlfriend.
We tried out a new hiking trail called The Grasslands, and it was very pretty and fun.

 
Jordan got a new gun for his birthday and my brother loves hunting and shooting, so we went out to Jordan's parents property for some target and skeet shooting. 



 
I'm getting really excited because we have a little vacation coming up, Jordan's sister and family are coming to visit, and we are going to Disneyland with them, I have been looking forward to this for weeks!

V-Day.

you know the feeling of being "at the end of your rope," well, with a husband that has been working over 90 hours a week since the beginning of the year, I have been feeling that way for weeks.  You know the feeling of just needing a break?  But you can't take one because your poor children would starve?  I have been feeling that way since around the middle of January.  72 hour shift upon 72 hour shift has left me feeling more than a little burnt out.  So when this valentines day rolled around, a very little thing pushed me over the edge.  I was supposed to be somewhere by 10 am on Tuesday morning, Jordan hadn't been home since Friday, and he got a late call, and I was for the millionth time left running around frantically, with my head cut off, trying to get out of the house with no help.  It did not start for a very good day, we were going to the valentines day party at grammy's preschool, which Clara will be starting beginning of March.  Want to make a good impression, don't know many of the mom's yet...do get there sometime around 10, but neither of us were showered or very presentable, which irks me to no end.  Get home and Jordan is off running an errand with Coleton, but sitting on our nice clean countertop (which I had not left that way) was a beautiful valentines display, flowers, cards, candy, balloon, chocolate covered strawberries, both for me and Clara.  I appreciated it.  Put Clara down for her nap, and crashed for a nap myself.  Jordan got home, and got Clara up, closed the door to our room, and entertained the kids for a while.  I needed the rest.  Went downstairs, he said he had arranged for a babysitter so we could go on a date, said I don't feel like going on a date, too tired to get presentable enough, and haven't even taken a shower.  He said go take a shower and see how you feel, I was in a stubborn mood, too frustrated, going to stew and feel sorry for myself, I will not give in!  Took a shower and then sat in bed and read my new library book for another couple of hours.  He came up a couple times, can I get you some tea? No thanks.  Do you want to go out tonight? No, not tonight.  Want me to order the family dinner special from Mama Rosa's (my favorite thing by the way)? I guess, don't have anything planned for dinner (did not want to spoil actually eating out on a bad mood).  He took the kids to town, got dinner, ran to the store to get some things we needed.  My mood improved, I suddenly felt rested and was missing my family.  Went downstairs, wanting to see them, still not home yet, they are taking longer than they should, rainy wet night on the roads, are they okay?  A little panicking, Lord please don't let this be my punishment for taking a couple hours to myself, I will never do this again, just let them come home okay.  They walk through the door, with yummy dinner in hand, and I scoop up my kids and hug them forever, I love my family more than words can say.  I am so blessed.  We ate dinner, put the kids to bed, rented Twilight: Breaking Dawn part 1, good movie, but can never take them too seriously and usually laugh at the serious parts.  What I was convinced was going to be the worst valentines day ever...I was convinced to not enjoy the day one bit, turned out to be my all time favorite unexpected Valentines day ever.  I have the most amazing husband and children, and I love love love them. The end.

Baby Shower & 9 Months

I was so excited to help host a baby shower for my friend Jeannine last Saturday.  Everything turned out great and it was very well attended.  I provided my house and decorations, and her mother and sister's in law did the rest.  They got lots of adorable baby girl items and much needed necessities.  She is due the beginning of March, which seems to be coming up real fast,  I can't wait!

Coleton turned 9 months old on the 20th, wow...really, where is the time going?  He weighs 20.4 lbs and is 28.9'' long, both 75% for height and weight.  He is all over the place and loves to crawl, stand up, and is starting to walk along furniture.  His two top teeth are just cutting through, and the two on either side of those will be in soon.  His tricks include clapping, soooo big, clicking his tongue, copying sounds, saying mama and dada, eating really really good, and self feeding.  His favorite thing to play with are doors, he opens and closes them continually until he bonks his head or gets his fingers smashed, and then he gets really really mad.  It is like a championship wrestling match to change his diaper and get him dressed, he will not be pinned!  My excitement over him putting his pacifier back in his mouth was short lived, because now he throws it out of his crib in defiance of taking a nap...grrrr.  Above all, he is too cute for words and happy happy happy!

Winter in SoCal

 We are pretty spoiled around here, some of the best weather at the beach is in winter.  My friend Shauna was in town on a layover, she is a flight attendant, and Jeannine and I went and picked her up and spent the afternoon at the beach.  It was gorgeous and we had so much fun! Shauna and I have been friends since we became neighbors at the age of 4, her and Jeannine where roommates in Utah for a while before Jeannine and Matt got married.  It was so nice to spend the day together and catch up.  The kids had a blast, Coleton kept trying to chase Seagulls, Clara always loves playing in the sand, and they both love getting outside.

Happy New Year!

Our New Years Eve extravaganza was so much fun!  While we were planning all these events, we had decided to not go to Big Bear and focus our attention on throwing a huge New Years/Taylor's 30th birthday party.  Then somehow last minute we found a deal for Big Bear that we couldn't pass up, which meant that we were going to be having the craziest week of our lives.  We left for Big Bear two days after Christmas, then returned on the 30th, and of course New Years is the 31st.  It was all a bit crazy, but definitely worth it in the end.  Our party had live music, bonfires, s'mores, games, chili, cornbread, cake, watching Indiana Jones on a giant outdoor screen, kettle corn, sparkling cider while watching the ball drop from 1981 into 1982 (30 years ago), a fireworks show to rival the 4th of July, and camping overnight with a pancake, sausage and egg breakfast in the morning!  We had a great crowd and total overall we had about 75 people come, there were about 30-40 die hards who made it to midnight, and about 15-20 people who camped in tents, a motor home, or on hay bales around the fire.  I think it was probably the best New Years I have ever had.

It was a family friendly event with lots of little kiddos running around!

Colteton getting spoiled rotten by cousins Nina & Cami...and Clara and her friend Lauren!

Making Smores...and sneaking marshmallows!

Ringing in the New Year!!

The morning after, including a yummy breakfast!

We have been having fun filled holidays, however, three words sum them up for me...death by chocolate! I have such a sweet tooth, and sweets are in abundance this time of year.  I feel like the new year is a time to start fresh with eating better and exercising more.  I am so over the flab, and I'm pretty sure 8 months is way past the mark where you can blame your belly on a baby!  I remember having these grand plans of losing the baby weight immediately this time.  I just overlooked one simple detail, that I was going to have two kids under two!  Especially a newborn who doesn't sleep through the night, and still doesn't for that matter.  And that it takes ALL your energy to keep them fed, napped, entertained, the house clean, laundry done, etc, etc. While 2011 was an amazing year, I feel like I ended it personally feeling a little blah.  It's time to be renewed, and so my new years resolutions are to read the Bible every day and exercise more (definitely not going to say every day because that would be broken real quick!) I am excited for the new year and looking forward to what 2012 has in store for us!