Quality Time

We have had the pleasure of having some nice quality time with family and friends before the little one arrives.

Bailey and I went and had lunch with Brandon and my dad in Signal Hill at Hill Top Park. The park is on top of Signal Hill and overlooks the ocean, LA, and the mountains. There are also oil wells all over- surprise surprise.

We had a double-date with the Johnson's Part II at the Pancake House in Anaheim where we enjoyed some fancy pancakes, eggs, sausage and bacon. It was nice to have some adult time and relax with good friends and a good meal. Eric and Natalie continue to be such dear friends of ours as we have had the joy of sharing now two pregnancies together, daughters 3 days apart, and now boys that will be about 5 months apart. It has been fun sharing in our similar adventures and supporting and learning from each other.

While we were at breakfast, the girls and Evan played at my parent's house. My parent's recently finished making a play house that is incredibly cute and so the girl's got to play in there while Evan relaxed in the swing. My parent's loved having a house full of little ones.

Brandon and I have been a part of one of Rockharbor's Life Groups this past year and have enjoyed getting to know a great group of people. Brandon and I however are leaving the Life Group since having two little ones will demand more of our time for now. They were kind enough to take us out of BJ's Pizza and celebrate with pizza, pizookie, games, and baby presents galore! We will definitely miss seeing all of them each week! We have been blessed to have their friendship and prayers.

Poopie diaper game

My Mom, Tawnia, and Jenni took me out for a nice afternoon of tea at the 'Tea House on Los Rios' to celebrate the soon arrival of our little guy. We missed out on having Brie there but we had a nice afternoon of conversation, tea, and yummy food. The tea house is in down town San Juan Capistrano and is amongst quant shops and homes that has a really sweet atmosphere.

Our lack of having a person to take a group shot.

What the...?

On our way to the Pancake House for a double-date with the Johnson's part II we saw this cruising through Tustin.

There are two full grown men in there- not midgets like we first thought.

Three wheels. European license plate.

A Month of Mania

"Please no more projects" Brandon begs as we finished all "our" nesting goals today! Bailey is napping, and for the first time this last month I can relax knowing there is nothing pressing that needs to be done for me to feel settled when the little guy arrives.

Some of the big projects conquered included organizing the last 3 years worth of home videos. I have grown into a more mature Mac user and have learned to reformat my videos from my PC and convert them to be used in imovie. I then organized and burned all our videos to DVD so I have them saved and accessible. I then reformatted my back-up hard drive to be compatible with my Mac. I now can back-up all my computer info! This seriously took me a year to figure out... and a very dedicated 9 months to organize.

We also have organized all the closets, re-organized and re-decorated Bailey's room for her brother, organized Bailey's baby album, pre-pared all my Jr. high studies for the rest of the year and gave my sub everything she needs in-case I go into labor, moved and cleaned under all our furniture, we rented a carpet/upholstery cleaner and cleaned our rug and couch, cleaned all windows and screens, made our backyard more open and toddler proof, built a shed with a concrete foundation, planted an herb garden, ALMOST bought Bailey a sweet floppy-eared bunny and am really glad I didn't, and our biggest project - the Garage!

Our garage was a nightmare! It is so beautuful and organized! We organized our attic and rafters too. Brandon and I wanted to sleep in there when we finished we were so excited. We worked 4 non-stop days on it!

Brandon had nasal surgery! He had a deviated septum fixed and some other weird stuff done with a lazer in his nasal path-way making it so he can finally breathe through his nose! It was successful but it was a tough and painful weekend for him. Bailey was very gentle and sweet to her uncomfortable daddy. She especially liked helping him drink his smoothies!

But we have also had a lot of fun! Bailey has been doing a gym/music class this month and we have a blast each week! She is fantastic at the trampoline, balance beam, and bar. She also participates very well with all the songs and games we play. I am very proud of her!

Great times with friends.

Emily and Bailey (BFF)

Bailey and Ethan

Mother's Day was amazing. Brandon spoiled me with doing everything for me, Bailey, and himself and I got to relax in my parent's huge Jacuzzi bath tub!! We walked around the Orange Circle, ate at Rutabegorz, and got a frozen yogurt. It was a perfect day for me!

Brandon and I have been going on as many dates as we can! Going to the movies, reading at coffee shops, bike rides, and recently home-made fondue! Yum-yum

Brandon is working in the office now at work! No more 12 hour days, no more oil-stained husband, no more near-death experiences (I hope!), and many other perks. Brandon comes home earlier, cleaner, and a lot less tired these days! He just started as an Engineering Technician. He is basically an assistant to the engineers and does what is called "digitizing." Here is a picture of him on his first day of work in the office- so cute.

Other than that, my belly is huge and Bailey is cuter and funnier everyday.

Bailey talks all the time now! I am daily surpised with what comes out of her mouth and what she thinks about. She was such a quiet little thing and now that she figured out language, she talks constanstly and it cracks us up. She has a major crush on Peter Pan and usually talks about him and acts like he lives with us. She will even go as far as carry around the video case that has his picture on it and talk to him. She has a rich imagination which we love and have lots of fun with! She may even yell at you "watch out! the cannonballs are coming!" The scene in Peter Pan where Hook shoots cannon balls at Peter. Bailey likes to pretend that cannonballs are coming at us and we hide and make sounds like they are whizzing past us. I love reliving childhood.

One last picture just for fun. Bailey was "helping" me put away laundry the other day. She put on every pair of clean underwear I had. Two year olds are the best!

Bring on the boy!

Night Night Mama

While enjoying some play time with Bailey today before her nap time, she suddenly stood up, grabbed her baby doll and blanket and said "night night mama." I asked "are you putting your baby to bed?" and she replied "yup." This is a normal occurrence of her placing her baby in my and Brandon's bed then coming back to me. Well, she didn't come back and it was very quiet so I went to find out what Bailey was up to. I found Bailey in our bed with her baby doll, head on Brandon's pillow with the blankets pulled up to her chest sucking her thumb. When I saw her I smiled and said "oh, are you ready for a nap too?" She said yup and pointed to the window saying "dark, dark." I shut the curtains for her and sat on the bed next to her. However, she said "no mama, night night." I was really entertained now so I asked her if she wanted me to leave so she can sleep and she said "yes." I kissed her head and left the room expecting her to get bored and come back in the living room. However, after about 5 minutes in went in to check on her because I never heard a peep and Bailey was sound asleep just as I left her. I barricaded her with pillows so she couldn't roll off and left very surprised at my little girl's independence.

Normally, before naps and bed time we rock Bailey for at least 5 minutes and she protests if we ever try and skip the rocking. However, today she did not need me or her own bed- my little girl is growing up too fast, but very responsibly.

Easter Weekend

We had a wonderful Easter weekend of enjoying the blessings the Lord has given us. We enjoyed His creation on a hike, church at Rockharbor for Good Friday and Easter Sunday, and a nice time with family while coloring eggs and doing and egg hunt.

Caden and Bailey- quite a messy experience but fun. Bailey loved having her hands dyed for the day.

Bailey's Easter dress; she's packed to go to Nanna and Papa's with all her new toy items from her Easter basket. Oh, and of course the pearl necklace. Bailey has been wearing this pearl necklace every day for about a week now.

The Easter egg hunt was super fun! Bailey and Caden loved it. Caden looked for green and blue eggs which were hidden more difficultly while Bailey searched for yellow and orange eggs.
The highlight of the day was releasing Bailey's butterflies. We have had them since they were tiny caterpillars and watched them grow and make cocoons and eventually turn into Monarch butterflies. We had five butterflies to release and Easter was the perfect day to do it. They were so calm that we got to hold them in our hands for at least 30 seconds. Bailey was so excited and did great at holding still and watching the butterfly sit in her hand while opening and closing its wings. I want to make this a yearly tradition.

The Lord is good and Easter is a necessary time to reflect on His promises and His mercy.

The Death of Owl

Bailey's pet Beta Fish 'Owl' died this week. Bailey picked him out about 8 months ago and named him, gave him 'fishy-kisses', and fed him regularly. We felt like we were good to the little guy but this was his third attempt at suicide and was successful this last time.

The first attempt was a jump out of the bowl but we were all in the kitchen to witness it and Brandon quickly swept him back into the bowl to safety. Bailey retold that story for about a week.

The second time, Brandon was cleaning out his bowl over the sink and Owl again made a flying leap out but managed to land in the garbage disposal. Brandon thought he was a goner but reached in and pulled him out by his tail. Owl was a bit disoriented and his tail was shredded but he bounced back.

Then this week I went to get some water before bed and saw a still Owl on the table. I gasped and told Brandon to come get him. His gills were moving very slightly so Brandon put him back in his bowl. Owl swam around a bit but kept floating to the top and then swimming a little more; it was a sad scene. Brandon even tried playing the guitar for him to motivate life but Owl was not looking good. So, we decided to give him through the night to see if he made a miraculous recovery.

However, in the morning when I woke up I came across this:

Although, I was deeply sad for our fish, I got at good laugh out of this. So, here is to Owl and the memories he gave us, and for us to explain to Bailey when she notices that Owl is in heaven now with all his fishy friends and Jesus.

Birthday Video