First Kiss

Well, Mia had her first kiss the other day. Oh know! After school the other day Mia had a play group with Grace and Wyatt. Poor Wyatt is the odd man out, and apparantly got stuck playing the prince for both Mia and Grace. That night at dinner, Chip was asking Mia how her day was and she was telling him how she got to play at Grace's house.

Chip: What did you guys do?

Mia: We played Sleeping Beauty.

Chip: Did Wyatt like playing that game?

Mia: Ya, he was the prince, and he even kissed me. (Somewhat shy and embarrassed.)

Chip: (Rather surprised) He did?!?! On your cheek.

Mia: (Still shy, but proud!) No, right here (pointing to her lips)!!!

Me: Well, did he kiss Grace too?

Mia: No, just me.

Wyatt is a pretty tough kid and doesn't like to show a whole lot of lovey emotion, so I have no idea how she convinced him to do that. When we broke this news to Wyatt's parents, they asked him about it. He just blew it off and told his Dad it was only because they were pretending and then called his dad a name. Boys and girls are so different it is amazing. We often wonder if we should be worried about these two because they really love each other. I guess we should just let them take advantage of their friendship for as long as it lasts, because it won't be long before they both think the other one has "coodies"!

As for Jada...she washed her own mouth out with soap today. Mia and I were downstairs putting some toys away before bed and I could here Jada upstairs coughing. I went upstairs and she met me at the top of the stairs with a disgusted look on her face. I asked her if she ate something and she just said "tasty". That is what she says whenever she tastes something really gross (like when I wash her hands with Purell and then she trys to suck on them.) As soon as I went to pick her up I could smell the peach hand soap from the bathroom on her breath. I asked her if she ate soap and she said yes. I guess she learned her lesson!!!

Jada Had a Birthday!

Well, Jada is finally two. Her birthday was actually a month ago, but I am obviously a slacker blogger and am just now getting around to posting an update! We had a great party with family and Jada loved her lady bug cake. We definitely did not need any more toys in this house, but Jada's birthday could not go unnoticed. Her favorite toys were her toy fire engine and her pink tea set. I guess with a two year old we can now expect more and more words, more tantrums, more defiance and a lot more fun.
Jada is already following in her sister's footsteps. She already loves the color pink, loves and can name all the princessess, and is talking up a storm. Between these two girls there is never a silent or a dull moment.

Happy Birthday Jada!!!

Why We Love Summer!

Lazy Days of Summer

The Swimming Pool

Backyard BBQ's


Fun Holidays with Friends and Family

The Annual Family Trip to Sun Valley
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Lot's of Fun with Cousins

Latest and Greatest

Mia's Latest Accomplishments

graduation from 3 year preschool

danced in a fabulous dance recital

learned how to load the dish washer

learned how to work the DVD player all by herself

finished season 3 of soccer with 0 goals (but a lot of dancing!)

Jada's Latest Accomplishments

learned how to climb in and out of her crib--great!!

now has to sleep in a "crib tent"--wow!!

learned how to take her clothes off

got her first real hair cut

Latest Phrases and Words

"Oh my Gosh"

"Ewwe Gross"

"Back out" right before she spits food out she doesn't like

agigator=alligator

cocodile=crocodile

hacocopper=helicopter

Maama Noanne=Grandma Joanne

"shoes oss"=shoes on/off

Just Do It!!

I just bought my first guitar and I am pretty excited about it. I have wanted to learn how to play the guitar forever. I had mentioned to Chip that I wanted a guitar for my birthday and he totally surprised me on my birthday with a guitar and lessons. Of course we wasn't too sure of my commitment level so he just got me a rental guitar and the lessons so that I could try it and see if I really wanted to commit. It has been four months now and I am loving it. It is much harder than I thought it would be, but I like the challenge and it is really nice to do something for me every now and then. It is so nice to put the kids to bed and then pull out the guitar and do my practicing. Although I don't get to practice every day like I should--it is nice when I do. Since I earned some extra money last month I decided to spend it all in one place and buy my own guitar. I turned in my rental last week and am loving my new purchase. I am writing this to urge all of my friends and family to decide today and do something for yourself. It is really easy to get in bed at night and realize that you did not do one thing for yourself (maybe you didn't even get a shower in). I know that is life as a mother and a wife, but sometimes you need to find something that you really enjoy and just do it!

Alll in a Day's Work

When Jada was a baby I knew it could only get worse. She was literally the best baby ever--she never cried, she slept through the night at 5 weeks, she wanted to eat when I wanted to feed her, and she was always happy. I thought, I was in for it with my next kid, but I had no idea that Jada was going to pull a switch move on me. Don't get me wrong she is still the sweetest thing, but she definitely has a mischievous side. If there is some way to cause trouble, she will find it.

Well, the last couple of days have been full of those moments... Yesterday I had put Jada down for her nap. She had been in there about a half hour and was still making noise so I decided to go check on her and see what sort of mischief she was up to. When I first walked in everything seemed normal. She was standing up in her bed sucking on her fingers. Typical!! As I walked over to her she pulled her fingers out of her mouth and pointed at her hand and said "Guck (yuck)." As I looked a little closer, there, smeared all over both of her hands and all over her face and tummy was poo. Sick! And remember when I walked in the room she was sucking on her fingers. I know that many of you have experienced similar experiences and have children smear poo on things in your house, not fun. That is gross, but what is even grosser is that Jada put it in her mouth. I wouldn't even be surprised if she actually ate a piece. She has been known in the past to eat dog and cat food without batting an eye, so I wouldn't put it past her to have tasted what she pulled out of her diaper. Sorry, I know this is gross, but I am still recovering.

At KFC that night while I was filling up our drinks, the worker was complaining about how people make such a mess and don't clean up after themselves. I was agreeing with him 100%. I take my drinks over to our table and Mia goes to pick hers up and spills the whole thing along with half of her nuggets all over Jada and the floor. That guy was probably looking at me thinking, "now you". Of course I didn't want him to clean up after us, so there I was mopping the floor of KFC on my hands and knees. Why do I try to take my kids out to eat by myself anyway?

Later that night Mia fell of a horse. Then she fell and scraped her knee. Luckily she was more worried about her scrape on her knee than falling off the horse! I finally got my kids in bed at 10:30 and collapsed on the couch knowing that it would start all over again today!!!!

When I got Jada out of her bed this morning I literally asked her "What do you have in store for me today?" She of course just smiled her mischievous smile that I love. Well it was barely 10:30 am and I had already caught her in the act of sticking a key in the electrical outlet. I thought I was safe because I put outlet covers on all the outlets that are not being used, but Jada is smart enough to just unplug the lamp and then plug in her keys. Ten minutes later she found and Advil in my sister's purse and put that in her mouth. Luckily my sister saw her with something in her mouth and fished it out or I would have been in trouble.

Oh the joys of taking care of these girls. I am just glad they add so much excitement into my life. I am not complaining, just sharing with all the rest of the moms out there who experience these same types of things daily. Kids will be kids and I try to not let it get to me. I am just glad that I get to share in these experiences with them everyday and I don't have to just hear about them later. However, I would have gladly let someone else clean up the poo mess!!!

Princess Heaven

Yes, we did it! We finally took the girls to Disneyland. After much debate about where to go for our family trip this year we decided to bite the bullet and go to Disneyland. We had such a fun time and you could say that Mia was in heaven. After two days in the parks we headed over to the beach for a couple of days. It was the perfect trip, but a little exhausting.

Highlights

Meeting every single princess and getting thier autograph and picture.
Seeing Jada run to Mickey Mouse and give him a hug. She has slept with "Mouse" every night since.
Hearing Mia ask Belle if she found "true love's kiss." Belle' was practically speachless and Mia was so excited to find out the Belle knew Giselle. We could not stop laughing.
The princess dinner!! Worth every penny.
Spending hours in the giant Disney store and only spending $30!
Spending the day at the beach and seeing the kids have a blast.
Dad not having to work or study! Some nights he didn't even turn on his computer.
Pina Coladas at the pool.

What We Couldn't Have Lived Without
Fishy Crackers and Chex Mix
The jogger. We love it and it made the perfect bed for Jada during the day!
The princess dinner.
Spending two days at the beach AFTER Disneyland.
Park Hopper passes.
A fridge in our hotel room.
Frozen bananas at the beach.

Overall we had a great time. I think Mia was the perfect age for this trip. She still believes everything and was amazed at everything. The parades were fun and so were all the shows. I would highly recommend the Alladin and Playhouse Disney shows in the CA Adventure. The girls both loved them. Jada was a pretty good travel companion most of the time and she was a good sport. As long as she was strapped in the jogger she was fine, but if you let her out she would have taken off running and not stopped. We had a great trip and made lots of memories.

Here are some of our pictures. I am warning you there are a lot!