Illnesses and the beach!

Ava and I have been sick this week. Thankfully mine was only about 24 hours long. Today we all felt better and headed to the beach to meet Karen and Pete for probably the last time before their little bundle of love enters the world! We went to Balboa for lunch and Ava had her first ride on the carousel! She wasn't so sure about it!

Zachism of the day: Ava goes to the new baby's room, Zach asks what it is and Karen says "it's the baby's room" Zach: "where is the baby?" Karen: "in my belly." Zach: "He's stuck?!" Karen: "well, I guess she is."

If You Give a Mom a Cookie!

If you Give a Mom a Cookie

If you give a mom a cookie, she's going to want a latte to go with it. But before she gets a latte she has to find her toddler's pink ladybug boots, to find the ladybug boots, she has to go venture into the playroom, when she tries to straighten up the playroom, she finds Daddy's left shoe, the salad bowl, and a open box of graham crackers. She also finds her cell phone.

So she'll yell at her toddler about the cell phone and wake up the baby from his morning nap, but if she goes to pick up the baby the cell phone will ring. When she answers it will be the doctor's office reminding her that she had an appointment this morning and would she like to reschedule, say sometime in November?

While she is trying to mentally recreate her calendar the baby will start to cry, then her toddler will run to see what is the matter and find the graham crackers, and there will be crumbs all over the playroom, so the mom will get the broom from the hall closet and notice that Daddy forgot to buy diapers last night as she had asked, BUT she will find her toddlers pink ladybug boots, and when she finds the pink ladybug boots she will remember her emergency stash of diapers in the car.

So she will wrestle her toddler and her baby into their car seats and drive to the store to buy more diapers and more milk, while she is buying the milk she will remember she wanted a latte, and if she manages to order her latte without a temper tantrum or poop episode from either one of her kids ..........

Then she is going to need another cookie...

Written by Julie Tilsner.

Our Anniversary!

Going out to dinner!

The classic self taken shot!

Today is our fourth anniversary! Four years ago we were celebrating with friends and family in Laguna Beach and I was drinking far too much champagne for a girl that had not eaten all day! I can't believe it has been four years, yet I feel like we have been together forever at the same time. I am so blessed by life. I have an amazing husband whom is helping me raise two amazing children! We have stable jobs in a time when that is not always the case and we have a very stable and secure relationship! Besides a personal shopper and the large clothing/accessory allowance, what more could a girl ask for?!

Duck Family!

Andy took the kids to watch the duck game today. They were all decked out in their Oregon gear. Too cute!

Go Ducks!

Days old!


One year old!


Two years old!


Three years old!

3 years of Oregon Jersey's!

Zach's 3rd Birthday Party/Playdate!

We did our big family celebration at DisneyLand this year and we had a playdate birthday party on Zach's actual birthday! We celebrated with a Cars cupcake cake, balloons, lollipops and bubbles! We woke Zach up to the birthday song and once he was dressed he was finally able to have his "popsicle lollipop" that he had been waiting for months for! At school they also helped him celebrate by singing and having cupcakes :) It was a day full of sugar! Every 3 year olds dream!

3 years ago today!

This is a picture from 3 years ago today! My big man is three today and I keep wondering where the time went!

Zach's Disneyland Birthday Celebration!

We celebrated Zach's 3rd birthday by buying annual passes to Disneyland! We were so excited for our first family trip that we decided to stay in Anaheim for a couple of nights and make a weekend out of it. We arrived on Saturday and headed to the park! The kids were able to go on just about everything. We went back on Sunday morning to see and experience even more! In the afternoon we headed back to the hotel for naps so that we could go back in the evening for the fireworks. Ava wasn't so sure about the show, but the rest of us thought it was fantastic! What a great way to celebrate a birthday!

Our Disney Montage!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My Baby is 3!

Three years ago I was waiting in anticipation for this little guy to arrive! I had no idea how much I would love him and how much I would change because of him. I also had no idea how much he would try me! He is my love, my life. My sunshine and, at times, my rain. He has made me a better person and he has taught me to appreciate life in a whole new way. He has helped me to re-see things that I may have missed in the past. I view the world with new eyes, his eyes. For him I will be forever grateful!

Always Remember, Never Forget

9/11 will always be etched in my brain. It was a day of sadness, grief and pain. But from the ashes, rises the Phoenix. We will continue to remember and gain strength from those memories.

I Love These Kids!

These two children light up my life more than I ever knew was possible! I can't even imagine life before them. It's weird that they have only been here for almost 3 years and for 17 months, but my past memories also include them. I will always be mommy and I will always love you guys more than words can say. These are just a few of the precious pictures of the two of you.

(photos by Allison Hays Photography)

Ava is 17 months old!

Little Diva is 17 months old today and totally acting like she is 17 years! Her favorite thing to say continues to be no, but now she is at least waiting for the question to end and occasionally says "yeah" instead. She is walking up a storm, climbing everything under the sun and trying to repeat just about anything we say to her, as long as it's not too long. She is totally obsessed with her daddy! She will scream at the top of her lungs when she sees him enter a room. It could have just been 2 minutes and she still gets so enthusiastic. She even fights Zach for his attention now and will walk up to Andy, throw up her arms and say "dada" just as Zach is trying to get close to him. She does love her brother too though. She asks for him first thing in the morning and wants to help daddy wake him up. He's not a morning person, but she doesn't seem to take it personally, yet!

(Photos care of Allison Hays Photography)

Funnies from Zach!

Yesterday Andy hugged and kissed me. This is what Zach said, "Don't hug my mom! I sessed (obsessed) with playing with her hair!" Mom and Dad laugh and say, "Yes, yes you are!" The boy has to play with my hair every night and sometimes during the day. I thought about cutting it off and he said, "no mommy, your hair is beautiful." I guess I will be keeping it :)
Today we are driving and Zach says "Let's get a mickey mouse bouncy ball. We should go to costco." Hahaha! I think we may go to Costco too much!
I just can't believe he will be 3 in just one short week. We did pix with Allie so those will be up soon and I must say that they are way too cute, as usual!

Good Times!

These are some of my favorite pictures from Hermosa on Saturday. I hope to scrap these, but I am so behind with that! Summer has been so fun and busy. It's over for most of our friends, but just getting going weather wise here!












This picture was taken at Glen Ivy on Monday. One of my new favorite hangouts :)

Fits and Fun!

This has been a busy week! We had Ava's surgery on Monday, I went back to work on Wednesday, we did pictures with Allie on Thursday night and Zach had the meltdown of all meltdowns just afterwards! I guess all of that being good for a lollipop stuff came back to bite us. I posted the video on Facebook and have scared quite a few parents and parents to be. Here he is in all his glory!



Yesterday we went to a playdate birthday party! The kids weren't very into the water play, but they sure enjoyed the cupcakes! Happy 1st Birthday, Carson!





Today we headed to Hermosa Beach. I haven't uploaded the pix yet, but we had a really nice time. We got our standard 3 hours out of Ava then headed home. I have to wonder how I can manage to keep them sunburn free, but end up with a sunburn myself? I managed to miss my whole back with sunblock!