Love the Luskos

We had the joy of spending an evening with the Luskos this week. We hit up some of their favorite Orange County spots like Bear Flag Fish Co. and Pinkberry- yum yum.

Bailey had a blast with Olivia and Lenya.

Jaemus was infatuated with Daisy's flower in her hair and was reaching for it much of the night. Daisy is only 1 month younger than Jaemus. So, we went ahead and arranged their marriage too. Levi was the officiant for our wedding- it's kind of sweet in a weird way.

Always love seeing you guys! Can't wait to plan a trip to Montana one of these day.

Congrats Jenny and Ali!

One of my best friend's Jenny got married Saturday. It was a beautiful wedding held at the Nixon library with warm sunny whether, great staff, good food, and great people.

The only awkward thing was the old ladies waiting for the house tour gawking at us with their mouths hung open saying that we are "defiling Nixon," and "why don't we just go take pictures on his grave." Since when are weddings offensive?

Anyhow, Brandon, Jaemus and I had a fun day and really enjoyed dancing at the reception. Jaemus joined us because he doesn't let his food too far out of his sight. He isn't ready for me to depart for more than one feeding. He was perfect though. He enjoyed the museum tour twice; once with Brandon and then again with my parent's.

A memorable guestbook picture.

Two of my besties. I have known Jenny and LeeAnne since we were 13 years old and it is surreal that we are all married now. LeeAnne was married 7 months ago and it has been a fun year of weddings with the two of them. Jenny sadly moved to North Carolina with her new hubby and LeeAnne and I were both a bit sad at her wedding knowing we had to say good-bye to her for a while. We will miss you Jenny! oh...and you too Ali. =)

The Girls

The Boys

The Drums

Exciting day in the Bridgman household because Brandon finally has his drums set up!

Here is Bailey's first jamming session.

7 months

Jaemus was 7 months old on the 11th and he has reached some milestones. He is sitting up! He loves his new found freedom of sitting in the middle of a room and watching Bailey and us move about. He seems to feel more apart of the activity and is laughing more and interacting with us.

Jaemus also got his third tooth and this one came with some middle of the night discomfort but it has broken through. Along with the tooth he got his first hair cut. 6 months old will a full on mullet in his eyes- time for a good boy hair cut. Aunt Jenni cut his hair in her salon and he did great!

Meal time has become easier since Jaemus has become more involved. He loves being in his high chair and loves his food. He eats 3 meals a day and will eat as much as I give him. Bailey and Jaemus often give us lots of meal time entertainment as they make funny noises at each other and laugh.

The last month has been a great one with celebrating Jaemus' first Christmas, moving into his own room, and sleeping until 6 am!! Ok, mostly has been so great because I am getting so much more sleep now that we are all on our own rooms!

I am beginning to see the early signs of sibling conflict. Jaemus wants everything Bailey is playing with. It surprised me to see this happen so young. She has these two stuffed animals that she is inseparable with. Her baby (a bear) and her puppy that she calls Fletcher after Uncle Ryan and Aunt Brie's new puppy. Jaemus will do everything he can to get ahold of these and squeals with delight when she allows him to nuzzle them. Jaemus loves toys but he definitely enjoys Bailey's favorites the most.

I have been told that the second one gets a lot easier after the first 6 months. We can see the light! It has been fun but there definitely is more excitement for the second one to have more independence than your first born. We can do more things and I get more rest. I am ready for the crawling!

First hike- Jaemus was all smiles.

Way Behind

I went to do Jaemus's 7 month blog and realized I have not done any blogging in a month! Well, lets catch up first.

Holidays were wonderful, busy, and memorable. We really took advantage of the season and experienced a lot of holiday activities.

We went to the Riverside Mission which is decorated beautifully and rode in a Cinderella carriage pulled by a horse (Bailey loved that). We ate at the Old Spaghetti Factory and enjoyed a crowded but lovely night with my parents and the kids.

We visited Santa Clause at Irvine Park. The train takes you through a path of Christmas lights and ends at Santa who sits up on a decorated stage. It was super fun.

We also walked around many local neighborhoods that are known for their extravagant Christmas decor.

Bailey and Jaemus loved bundling up and enjoying the Christmas festivities. Bailey learned practically every Christmas song, the story of Kris Kringle, and the story of Jesus' birth. I was so surprised at how quickly she memorized so much! The best however was what she told Santa she wanted for Christmas. Every time she was asked she either said a Christmas tree (which she picked out again this year) or Apple Cider. Easy to please!

New Years. The eve was spent with the kids at the Spectrum having some carsaul and train ride fun. Then we put the kids to bed and Brandon and I enjoyed our tradition of steamed crab legs and baked brie. We watched Inception which was a great choice because it kept us awake until midnight. It was a relaxing and fun weekend spent together as a family.

Mountain Boys

Bailey and Auntie

We have been working a lot on our house the past few weeks. We moved around all of our rooms and now everyone has their own room! Brandon and I are sleeping much sounder now at night without being woken by Jaemus' wiggly, noisy, sleeping.

Bailey got a big girl bed! She loves it and the new independence is great.

6 Months!

By how late I am in doing Jaemus' 6 month blog gives you an idea of how busy we have been. December has gone by too fast and I want a longer Christmas season! We have been having fun enjoying the festivities and loving this rain!

On the 11th our little "guy-guy" (what Bailey calls him) turned 6 months old and I cannot believe how fast he is growing up. The second child definitely grows up faster and I can hardly believe that he is already through half his first year of life.

He is eating baby food now and it has made meal times a lot more fun. He is usually pretty fussy when we eat but now that he sits with us and participates in meal times he is full of joy. He laughs at Bailey and loves when she feeds him too. So far he surprisingly prefers the veggies and actually will spit the fruity foods back, spraying the table and myself.

Jaemus' new favorite activities are his bouncer that he has gained some pretty good hops in. He also loves his feet! He will play with his feet by trying to eat them or taking off his socks and eating those or just holding them and rocking back and forth. If you do Yoga- you will be familiar with the "Happy Baby" pose- definitely know where that came from.

His favorite toys are his lady bug, Sophie the giraffe, and a soft ball that has tags on it.

Jaemus is a lot of fun and has a really sweet personality. He loves to cuddle and he laughs and smiles most of the day. He has been easy peazie with naps and eating and rarely gives us a hard time. He likes to be moved around a lot and have changes of activity and scenery so when he has the freedom to crawl, I think he will be feeling pretty good.

Thanksgiving at Apple Farm

Our Thanksgiving morning began at 4:30am as we carried our sleepy kids into our heated minivan to begin our four hour drive to San Luis Obispo. Bailey actually stayed awake most of the drive full of excitement about our sneaky adventure in the break of dawn. We enjoyed the smooth and scenic drive up the 101 with our coffee's, quality conversation, and the sun rise over the ocean. A great time to reflect on all we have to be thankful for. The one thing we weren't thankful for was Brandon's first speeding ticket that he got on this same drive. The trick is to stay in the pack, because even as we were getting pulled over at 8:00am thanksgiving morning, other cars were passing us faster than 65 - it was a sass that kind of bummed out the morning for a bit - but things quickly got better as we arrived at Apple Farm.

Apple Farm Inn is an adorable country styled place which was fully decorated on every corner with Christmas decorations. Their shops are filled with endless amounts of items to look at that inspired me to want to host lots and lots of Christmas parties. We enjoyed a delicious traditional Thanksgiving meal and I was thankful that I actually was able to sit through the whole meal! Jaemus slept and Bailey didn't have to pee once!

Coffee, tea, and cider are served all day in the lobby and at night they put out hot chocolate and freshly made cookies. Just what we needed after some apple pie right? yum yum. They also had a fun activity of hunting for Dash their Christmas elf. He was hidden in the gift shop and if you find him you win a pie and t-shirt. We hunted down this elf for over and hour! This shop is huge and so full of decor that it really seemed hopeless. It probably would have been too if the nice lady who worked there had not been giving us clues and finally actually showed Bailey in a way that made Bailey believe she found him. We took home the t-shirt and boysenberry pie due to Bailey's cuteness.

Over the weekend we enjoyed Bikes rides

Gopher Glen Apple Farm- brought home yummy treats and baking apples.

Avila Valley Barn- they had the cutest cow. Yes, I said cow. It looked like a stroy book cow or like Clarabell the cow from Disney.

We went to Solvang for half the day on Friday and visited this adorable cute old fashion school that is still in use today.

Went on a hike to a waterfall that was tucked away in the back of the hills.

Thanksgiving was lovely and it was great to spend time with my parent's and have a refreshing weekend away.