Happy New Year!

Happy 2009! We hope that this year brings good health and prosperity to all of you special people that have entered our lives! We will be spending the evening in with out lovely little rugrats all comfy in our PJ's.
Quick update on us, Ava has been sick since Saturday with no signs of getting better. Andy spent the night in San Diego last night and attended the Holiday Bowl. Go Ducks! Of course that was the night that both kids went nuts! Ava was up every 20-30 minutes and Zach woke up once again with night terrors. He really freaks me out when he tells the man in the corner no! I wish I knew what was going on in his little mind. My friends with older kids tell me this is normal at this age. I think it is just because they are becoming increasingly more aware of their surroundings and feelings at this age. We really have to be careful what we expose him to and what we say! He is a little sponge right now and can repeat just about any word/phrase. Lately he has been telling me to shut up! I am sooooooooooo sorry that I said that and wish I could take it back. He actually says it in multiple ways depending on his mood. Sometimes it is said very firmly and directly and other times it is said with love while giving me a hug! He is so funny and crazy!
I hope you are all enjoying your evening and if you are doing something fun, please leave me a comment and tell me all about it! I can live vicariously through you!

Keep forgetting!

In each of my layouts below I used the Cookie Swap Collection from Scrapgirls.com and/or Holly McCaig's Jinglebells (a freebie collection at http://shutterfly.typepad.com/digiscrap/ )

Ava's First Christmas!

Christmas Eve Digital Layout

Christmas Morning!

We had a wonderful morning! Ava had a great first Christmas complete with her big brother opening all of her presents for her! Santa was very good to both of them. They are just a little spoiled. We opened the ton of presents we got, had breakfast and watched Kung Fu Panda (super cute movie!) now we are making our Christmas Dinner :) We've been snacking all day so I hope I have room!

Cookies for Santa!

I am trying to scrap as much of the holidays as I can! I have this new found digital hobby and it just brings so much to my pictures. It makes my blogging go a bit slower as I want to scrap all of the pictures before posting them though :)

Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve was wonderful! We went to church with some friends and the kids loved it! Both of them were almost perfect little angels! Ava loved the music and would dance right along. When every one would clap at the end she thought they were clapping for her so she would start to wave to everyone and then clap right along! It was so comical that I almost peed! We had dinner with Joe, Jessica and Jessica's mom. They made a wonderful carne asada (only in So. Cal do you eat that for Christmas!) and we all ate too many cookies! These are some pictures from the night.

3 nights!

Well, it lasted 3 whole nights. She slept until 4 or 5 straight through the night, but that ended last night. She was up at 1 am again, then 4:30. Someday it will stick! Now I am off to a voluntary day of work. Zave (the dog) is very sick and they wanted to keep him overnight at the vet to the tune of $450 dollars. I convinced them to let me take care of him at home and they sent him home with fluids and antibiotic shots. He is still not eating, but he didn't throw up last night. I am working today just in case he has to go back for more tests and treatment. Poor guy!

Zach's Dentist Visit!

Zach had his first dentist visit this week! He was such a good boy and the hygienist was very impressed with his good behavior. He let her clean his teeth and now he loves to floss! His dentist is also one of my best friends so he knows her very well and opened up wide for her. She said his teeth look great so fingers are crossed that he won't be a dental nightmare like I was as a child. I always had a ton of cavities.

Story Peeps!

Christmas Lights Scrapbook Page

Thursday Night Lights!

We went to see the lights at Mission Inn last night with Sophia and her family. The babies all enjoyed the lights, but were super scared of the crazy little "carolers" that were displayed everywhere. Us adults were a little spooked by their creepiness too. Sophia is at the age where she is totally scared of Santa so we spent much of the night blocking him from her sight, LOL! Zach is doing OK with Santa this year, but I'm sure next year will be Ava's turn to freak out! Oh, the joys of the holiday season!

Christmas Movers!

My friend told me about how her parents used to ask Santa to move Christmas for their family when they were young. They would write to Santa and ask him to please move it to another day just for their special family. He would write back and say that he could do that just for them! This year we didn't have to ask formally, but we decided to move Christmas to when the grandparents would be here. The kids got their big gifts from Nannie and Papa and were able to open a few little things before the big "official" day! We sure plan to use the Christmas movers in the future though! I was wondering how we would be able to travel for the holidays.

Christmas Cookies with Nannie!

Waving and Pat-a-Cake!

Ava is 8 months old today! We had a wonderful time with Nannie and Papa over the last week and Ava seems to have mastered some new skills. She has been waving and clapping a little for a few weeks now, but now she does it on her own and when requested! I think I would consider it mastered now :)

Santa Pix, hahahahaha!

Well, at least they didn't cry!!!!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays 2008

Sea World Take Two!

Parents!

I love that I get excited to see my parents! They just flew in today from New Hampshire and we are all so happy to see them! We are going to Sea World again on Friday, woo hoo! Forgive me if I am not post happy this week, but I may be otherwise occupied :)

Go Ducks!

Other Weekly Happenings!

With so much big stuff this week, I neglected to post about the "little" things. By little, I mean Ava was at urgent care due to a severe sinus infection. There were about 3 nights that I thought we would never see the light of day (and I didn't want to for that matter!) She was just so sick and miserable. Zach has moved up the ABC ladder to K, however he was like a stuck record in this recording and only got to G! Andy and Zach also took a field trip to the March Air Museum. Zach loves airplanes and he had a blast looking at the "big aiwpanes!" Ava's two top teeth have burst on through too! That brings us to 4 chompers. She's been working on them for a couple of weeks but they are finally through the gums and I think she feels a bit better for it.

Putting up the Christmas Tree!

Zach really enjoyed helping us decorate the tree this year! If you come to our house you will see what a wonderful job he has done on the lower two feet of our tree.

Pictures from Turkey Day!

Our Thanksgiving was nice and relaxing! Ava enjoyed some sweet potatoes while the rest of us feasted on everything else! It was a nice day and we actually got a nice, non professional family pic for the first time ever. It was a good day!

Eating and Dancing, two of my favorite things!

Ava has taken a real liking to music and dancing. All I have to do is sing and she will bounce around. She has also started feeding herself with one of those mesh feeders and she is in Heaven! She feels so big when she does it :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! Today is a very special day in our house. It is Ava's first Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving Eve 5 years ago was the first night that Andy and I met. It it weren't for that night, most of what I have to be thankful for would not be. Today I am thankful for so many wonderful things. Above all else I am thankful for my wonderful family. I am thankful for my health and the health of those I love. I am thankful that my husband is absolutely amazing! I am thankful that my two year old still displays moments of complete cuteness. I am thankful that I have supportive and amazing friends. I am thankful that we have stable jobs in this time of economic hardship. I am thankful that we continue to have a roof over our head and food in our bellies. I am just plain and simple thankful for my life!

Another try!

I was trying to figure out the layering thing. Here is my second go at it!

My first digital layout!

It's just the beginning and very basic, but I am so proud that I have gotten this far!!!!!

Oozing ear infection and a new trick!

On Wednesday Zach had some weird stuff coming out of his ear. Turned out to be the tubes doing there job. It was drainage from an ear infection. Weird thing is, his other ear (in which the tube fell out!) was not infected. Weird! The video is of Zach's new trick. He is trying to wink ;)

My new phone....

ROCKS! I am such a dork and in no way need a blackberry, but the storm got me going from the day it was announced. I was one of the dorks waiting in line at 6:45 for the store to open at 7. There were about 30 something people ahead of me and the store was sold out by 8 am! But I love it and that's all that matters :) Merry Christmas to me!

Whoopie pies and playdates!

On Monday we met up with Evelyn and Nicole! We hadn't seen them since before Ava was born so it was great to catch up! We went to West Coast Whoopies with the kids for a playdate and I think the adults had more fun. I LOVE whoopie pies! They are totally an east coast thing though. Here are some pix of the kids.





As you can see, Ava can't eat whoopie pies or cupcakes so she was eating her carrier!

Out to play!

We welcome our niece!

We have a niece! Liva was born today at 2:57 and weighs a ginormous 9 lbs and 13 oz! She is 22 inches long. We are very happy to welcome her into our family!

New Friends!

We met Tyler Grace and Parker Lynn for the first time during our trip! They are such beautiful little girls and we enjoyed spending time with them :)

Back from Oregon!

We just got back from Oregon on Sunday. It was a nice, relaxing trip to visit family and friends. I know that Andy gets a little sad when we have to leave because he does have some truly amazing "people" in Oregon. By "people" I mean both family and friends. He views many of his friends as family too so I will lump them all together. The kids had a great time visiting with their grandparents, cousins and other lovely people. Zach was actually sad to leave this time. He is finally starting to understand what leaving means and that he will miss people. There were many good things that we have brought back from our trip, but a few bad ones too! The kids brought back colds, I brought back a messed up back, Zach brought back a 10 o'clock bedtime and Ava brought back a habit of sleeping with us! I can't say I mind too much though. This was the turning point with Zach too. We did so well the first few months and then it all went downhill after the first trip away and the first illness. It's nice to be home though!

Oregon!

We are in Oregon so there will be no wordless Wednesday today! The flight went off without a hitch, besides traveling with a two year old. No neice yet either. It would be nice to meet her before we leave, but she will come when she is ready!

7 Months Old!

Ava is 7 months old and still hates her belly!