Tuesday, August 18, 2009

I got out of the house today to venture down to Tucson to visit my new niece, Coral Amelia! She is a week old and such a cutie. Typical first week behavior, eat, sleep, and poop! It was so nice visiting Ali, she looks great and is in great spirits. Why would she be any other way?!

I took Ivan with me, since Elle was still pretty sick, however Ivan started coughing today while we were there. It was a great change from our chaotic house filled with two munchins and four dogs barking! They have three dogs, but the house was so quite. I know its not always like that, especially with two teenagers.

Logan was sick and stayed home from school, so we got to hang out with him for a while. Ivan also got to meet Brigette when she got home from school. Ivan really enjoyed playing with Brigette! Right before we were about to leave Brandon got home, so we visited with him for a little bit. They are such an awesome family! I can't wait for Coral and Ivan to get a little older, they will have lots of fun playing!! Here are the photos from the day, enjoy!

Saturday, August 8, 2009

San Diego!

We are planning on heading to San Diego every year, we love it there. So this year, I was watching Jon and Kate plus 8. They were in San Diego staying at a really cool resort that their 2 year olds loved; Paradise Point! I looked into the resort and knew we were to go there. We got a great deal through Travelocity for flight, resort and car. The best part was, we did not have to drag our car seats and a pack 'n' play through the airport. We only took our luggage and a stroller! The rental car company provided us with the car seats at no charge and the resort had a pack 'n' play for us!!

So we get to San Diego after a morning of missing our flight with US Airways, telling them to forget getting us on another flight that left at 4pm. We bought one way tickets with Southwest for an hour later than our original flight. It was all working out. A little stressful, but whatever we got over it pretty fast. We were off to the San Diego Zoo, which Elle had been wanting to go to for about a month now. Every day at least 4 times a day she would say to me "I go Zoo!" We had a great time there, we missed a lot of great exhibits, but will go back another time. Right when we were getting ready to leave we noticed a band and a bunch of kids hula hooping. Elle just woke up from a nap, she said she wanted to join them, but just watched. She would not even touch a hula hoop. Oh, well it was fun watching all the kids do there thing.

We headed to Paradise Point to check in and grab a bite to eat. Our room was on the corner of a four unit building, right on a little canal, with ducks. We went down to the Barefoot Bar and Grill for dinner right on the marina. While we waited for our table, Patrick and Elle went down to see the boats. Patrick told me she had to touch everyone of them. She was having so much fun, it was great! Dinner was okay, but we decided not to eat there again. We were tuckered out so off to bed we went.


Tuesday morning we went down to the lagoon, Elle and I climbed up the lookout tower which was really high. I was very surprised she climbed up all the way with me, not even a scared bone in her little body. We then went back to the marina to feed the gigantic fish. There are even sharks in the little pond by the restaurant. Elle started getting fussy, so it was nap time. After nap time we went down to the beach, or what they call Paradise Cove. It was fun, there were not many people there, so it was nice and quite. Patrick swam from the shore we were on to the opposite shore to catch crabs. Sure enough he came back with one, Elle was not shy at all and wanted to hold it. At this point we were getting hungry and so we cleaned up and went to Gringos. I had been to Gringos in the past with friends for their bloody Mary bar, which was EXCELLENT!! I had to take Patrick there, our food was just okay.

The night was still young and we wanted to do something else. We went down to Belmont Park at Mission beach. Its a little amusement park, with rides, games, shopping and food. Elle wanted to ride the carousel, so okay! Now she has ridden carousels in the past now four times and cried the entire time. However this time she was laughing and having a great time. It was very enjoyable! Elle saw these blow up monkeys and wanted one, so Patrick played a game while I rode a wild ride. I get off the ride and she has a new stuffed dog. It was Patrick's turn now to ride this ride, which was pretty scary. I love roller coasters, flipping upside down and stuff, but when you have not ridden rides in a long time; it was pretty frightening. There was another ride Elle could go on, which was a submarine that went up and down in a circle. She loved it, she rode it twice, once with me and the other time with Patrick. So fun! Right next to the submarine ride is a rubber ducky game, Elle wanted to play because of the blow up monkeys! So we let her play, she won and of course she picked the monkey!! She was the happiest kid on the planet, screaming, laughing and running with her monkey. So cute! Patrick and I rode one more ride and we headed back to the resort to end the evening.


Wednesday we played in the pool till nap time, then rented a pontoon boat; thanks to my mom! It was Patrick's birthday present to do something at the resort and this is what he picked! So we took the kids out and drove by Sea World, Campland, homes and resorts/hotels. It was a lot of fun, Ivan fell asleep. I was surprised, he did not mind the life jacket at all. Elle laid down too and took a rest, she did not like the wind blowing her hair in her face. After the boat ride we were in the mood for seafood. We went to Mission beach and found a great local restaurant called Saska's. Patrick had a Po Boy and I had fish and chips, both very good. After dinner it was time to try to have Elle rest up for movie night. At the pool every Wednesday and Saturday they have a kids movie. We got to watch Wall-E. Elle was so excited to watch it. We got to the pool, Elle fully clothed, hops into the pool. She was having fun, it was getting dark out and there were so many kids swimming. I had her swimsuit, but oh well. I let her be.


Thursday we checked out of our resort and headed to Coronado to hang out at the beach. It was not all that fun, the kids were tired, Patrick and I were hungry but we made the best of it. We stayed for a couple hours, playing in the sand. The water was 62 degrees, too cold to swim in. I took Ivan down and put his feet in and he did not seem to mind, he loved playing in the sand though! When beach time was over time we headed to the airport. We were all exhausted and ready to get home to our beds. We had a fabulous time and will definitely go back to Paradise Point! We really did not want to leave the resort, there is so much to do there!

Saturday, August 1, 2009

We love to walk up to the entrance of our neighborhood. At the entrance there is a pond with a lot of ducks, turtles and fish, a playground and lots of grass to run in. Elle loves it there, Patrick and her like to hike onto the golf course too. So Patrick and Elle went before Ivan and I, so they could hike for a while. When Ivan and arrived, they were not done. Ivan and I just laid in the grass and watched the ducks and turtles come around us. When they were finally done hiking, Elle ran straight for the playground. She is still trying to get brave enough to go down the slide herself, she is not quite there yet. I did get some photos of us playing, enjoy!
We surprised Patrick! So Patricks birthday was on the 22nd and on the 25th, I had a surprise party for him. It went great, I did not imagine it going so well. I had the guests arrive at 5:30pm, Patrick leaves work at 6pm.

Patrick arrived home as he usually does, into the garage, into the house, then "SURPRISE!" He stopped dead in his tracks, just staring in awe. He told me he had many emotions going on; from annoyed, scared, excited, angry, etc. He was really happy though, he kept thanking me all night! He asked me why I did not tell him about this, well huh?! He even asked my dad, brother, Bob and Jodi the same thing. They were all over on his actual birthday to celebrate then too.

I had another surprise in store for Patrick, around 8pm it started. Father Time walked through the door, rounded up the guests, found Patrick and the show began. Patrick was a trooper, he played along with the skit. It was really funny. I am so mad at myself though. I went to video tape the whole thing, well I thought I was. Turns out, I did not get anything:( Same thing happened to my brother whom I put in charge of when Patrick first arrived home. He got nothing too. My dad got it all on video though, thank god! I will get that from him soon and share with you if possible.

Oh, it really was a fun night, there were kids running around, playing upstairs and in the playroom. The party really could not have been any better. Thank you to all our family and friends that helped him celebrate his "Over the Hill" birthday. He really had a great time! Here are some photos from the party, enjoy!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

I just realized I never shared with you Elles 2 year old photos. I had these done Mothers Day weekend, so we had just had Ivan not to long ago. We decided to have them done at the entrance to our neighborhood. Elle is very comfortable there and I knew she would be herself. Paula got some great shots, enjoy!
Ivan is 3 months old already!! Wow did these months fly by. Literally it seems like yesterday I was giving birth, how sad. Anyways, he is such a bundle of joy, he is the best baby I have had so far, sleeping and eating wise.

Ivan has always been a kicker, okay a mover in general. Wow does he ever like to move now! He loves being on his tummy and the other day I asked Patrick if he moved him. Patrick told me no, I knew I had not laid him in the current position he was in. So I spied on Ivan, every once in a while I would look in his crib and he was moving on his own! Awesome! Ivan loves to play, whether he is in his excersaucer, his bouncer or in his car seat; he is always playing with something.

I can't wait to see his next milestone, hopefully for us it will be a bottle! He still will not take a bottle or a pacifier. I have caught him sucking his thumb, which I really don't want him doing. I would much rather be able to take away a pacifier, kinda hard to take away his thumb! Patrick and I have been working on both the bottle and pacifier with him, he will get it eventually. We are hoping!

My friend Paula took Ivan's 3 month photos and of course I have to share them with you! Enjoy!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Patricks another year older!

I can't believe we both have big birthdays this year:) Its exciting and fun! Patrick turned 40 and I got him a gag gift, a blowup walker. Its pretty funny, Elle enjoyed playing with it. Patrick had his annual review at work this morning and got a raise!! That was a great bday gift from work. He then went to workout, came home opened his presents from us. The kids and I just got him some clothes, cds and a movie. I invited over my brother, dad, Lee, Bob and Jodi for dinner. Patrick wanted Skyline Chili, originally from Cincinnati, Ohio. You put it over spaghetti or hot dogs, its really good! Dad and Lee order it online, so they had plenty and brought it over. Here are some photos from the day, enjoy!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Ivan turned 3 months today! Wow, what a difference three short months can be. Ivan is my little chunky monkey right now. At his two month visit he weighed a whopping 12.8lbs. He wears 6 mth clothes, which are a little big still, but I am sure not for long! He is such a little talker, baby talk that is. He loves to follow Elle with his eyes and just lights up around her. I think they are going to be great together! She really takes care of him, always concerned when he is crying. She loves to tickle him too. Its really sweet seeing them interact. Here are photos of Ivan at three months. The ones I took, I had my friend Paula Stiller do his three month photos on Sunday. I can't wait to see those, she is so talented. Well, enjoy!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

We got new floors! When we got our newest puppy in February the destruction of the house began. Art completely ruined our carpets. I had been covering the tears with large area rugs. This did not cut it for me, it drove me nuts. Patrick and I were trying to figure out what we wanted, carpet, wood or laminate. We decided carpet just stays gross, no matter how much I steam clean it. Wood can be scratched and is more maintenance. Laminate is very durable, and great for kids and pets. Since we own a zoo, this was definitely the best choice. Here are photos of the work that was done, we could not be happier with the end result! Enjoy!
The damaged carpet~

The new floors!~