In this house

Belize is convinced that someday she will marry Rio and I can't say I try to convince her otherwise (of course, we will have that talk when she's 18-haha), but truly I love watching their sweet and deep friendship.

Belize is also convinced that this baby is a girl and she should be named ShyLAN (although she's changed her mind before) and IF it was a boy- Motercycleycle. Rio thinks the baby is in his tummy and he gets sad when I tell him its in mine.

Do you think he knows that someday he will be that tall?
Found little dude, sitting in the hallway in this folding chair, staring at the wall . . . for 10 minutes.

Belize's new thing is to make nests for the birds, well, then she just HAD to have one for herself!

Quailman!

Sharing their favorite strawberry lemonade from the market.
This is how Rio and I look probably 35% of our days right now, and MAN, he is getting way too heavy for me!
Michelle came to visit! The rain has followed her the last couple times and this week was no exception. Guess she'll just have to keep trying for that perfect California weather! Love you Michelle, can't wait to meet your Boo!!!

Miss Cora Mae and Aubrey came to soak up the sunshine and sun it did!

Brannon had a random day off and we went to the market and made the most wonderful roasted beet salad. I love it when Aubrey comes, we foodie-out (like geek-out) the whole time!!!


LOOK AT THESE TINY TOES!! I'm drooling!
Cora is the most DARLING of darling babies!! Her little smile lights up a room, the kids couldn't keep their hands off her and I understand why! ;)

Please come to play soon!!!!

I've been watching Toy Story 3 on repeat lately. I never fail to cry- those poor toys, what choice did they have other than to watch their boy grow up and accept their fate? Perhaps it is when Andy passes Woody on to the sweet little girl in the end that I realize how deep their friendship is. Woody loves Andy enough to let him go and Andy does the same in return.

Tara Evans, Rhonda Budge and Angie Nielsen- the birthday girls! Last week was a week of birthdays, fortunately 3 of them happen to be my wonderful friends! So there was nothing left to do but throw a party!
We started out at my place with potluck desserts and lots of talk about pregnancy, spiders, and ice moaning sounds and ended the evening in Peggy's hot tub! It was so fun, these woman are hilarious!

Oh what a name, a glorious name! That's right, my mom came to the rescue. I had been feeling terrible for quite some time, this 1st trimester really rocked my world. Not from puking but tiredness, feeling yucky and feeling like I was stuck in a deep dark bottomless hole with no one to pull me out. I've felt pretty helpless with this prenancy and even though I'm now past the initial depression and point where I lost the last baby, I am still experiencing a fair share of anxiety. But anyhoo, on to more uplifting topics . . .

(So you are 25 Mom? You are so clever!)

my MOM came and it was GLORIOUS!!!! The kids attached themselves on each of her legs and she went about organizing and housecleaning (jealous much?)the whole week, that woman is amazing! I feel obliged to record that someday I will return the favor by doing the same with my children, although I'm not sure that when I leave the kids will be SO happy, the cupboards SO tidy and the house SO spic and span!
Luckily, before she left we got a celebrate her birthday a couple days early by making her favorite dinner and lemon curd cupcakes! In true Nana fashion, she let the kids blow out her candles!
See you in a few weeks! ;)

Rio: Rio is talking up a storm. He likes to communicate his feelings with phrases like, "I'm mad at you." "Hooray! This will be fun." "I like you." "I feeling sad." He throws himself into being happy-go-lucky and goofy to crying and stomping around inconsolably, he IS 2 1/2 now and he's got to prove it. He can't pronounce his "S"s. and says, YET, BELITE, and JONUT. He has started to say his own prayers and they are darling. His favorite things to do are hide under the blankets from a monster, play with his trains, play with Belize, Jonas, or Chezie and run away from me in dangerous places like parking lots. He likes to "poop in the potty" which means he's taken off his poopy diaper and dumped the turd in the toilet, then I swear he smears his messy bum over everything in sight.

Belize: Belize's copious language skills are very entertaining. I need to make a running list of the crazy words she uses in daily conversation like- exquisite, camouflage, appreciation, white blood cells, perfectly . . . I can't remember anymore right now. She LOVES her new ballet and tap class and she does a great job of listening and following direction. She also has a goofy grin on her face the whole time. Last week her teacher asked her to look after a new girl and Belize made sure she always stood next to her and showed her what to do and on the way out told her to come back next time. Not gonna lie, I teared up a little in the car, I was so proud of the way that she showed kindness- kids are so genuine, it is beautiful. Belize's favorite things to do are bake with mom, be read to, preschool and bossing Rio around. She still wears skirts or dresses every day and can still be quite emotional.
These are my kids: Belize 4 yr 4 mo and Rio 2 yr 5 mo. They are delicious, I just want to eat them up, i may have to seek help. ;)

Some days run together, we have the same routine- throw in grocery shopping, laundry, preschool and dance to change it up a little but pretty much the same . . . . everyday. It can be mind numbing. But . . . . It can also produce the best days of your life! Those, "Find a happy place" place days! The place you want to be! One minute you can be drudging through your routine, dropping your kid off at preschool and the next sipping Oranginas at the beach with your dear friend watching your youngest giggle in the waves.



I wish it wasn't pouring buckets outside or Kristen- you know what tomorrow would be . . .

This was Belize's first year of handing out Valentines at preschool, she wrote her name on the back of each one and helped put the suckers in, she was very excited.Also, notice the difference in hair-length between the two pics? That's right folks, she dun did it again!! This time my friend Angie was out of town and I had to salvage it myself- a first for cutting Belize's hair and HOPEFULLY the last as she is now banished from all scissors except for at preschool. I also hope she was significantly traumatized as her mother wept as she hacked away at the disaster.
Didn't even need a card to make THIS Valentine!