Cute giveaway

I just entered to win one of these cute items from Bunny Chic Boutique. They are celebrating their 75th blog posting. Check out the rest of their beautiful items at Sew Gracious.

Sunday Night Bonfire

Last night we met some of our fabulous friends down at La Jolla Shores for a Sunday evening bonfire. Although all the firepits were already claimed (some not even used until we left), we still had a great time with the portable pit our friend Amber brought. Caityn had a blast running around with her friends getting sand EVERYWHERE. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and enjoyed the cool weather. Caityn was so worn out by the end of the night that she didn't put up a fuss when we put her to bed. We gotta do that again!

Sean hung out in the pack-n-play with his buddy Anika

The bonfire girls getting all sandy

Practicing Puff the Magic Dragon moves

Yes, that is sand in her mouth!

Wooohooo!

Last night, Sean finally (after 7 1/2 very loooong months) finally slept through the night! He went to bed a little after 9pm, and didn't wake up until 6:30am. I've been waiting for this night since the night he was born. Too bad Caityn randomly woke up around 1:30 and I had to go sleep with her.


Our little boy is growing up so fast. It seems he's been hitting one milestone after another. Not only is he crawling around on all fours, but he's recently learned to stand up and cruise around the living room. He also loves walking around with his little push car. He's got four teeth already in, two on bottom and two side ones on top, making him look like a jack-o-lantern just in time for Halloween! He has also started babbling quite a bit. His first babble...Mama! So sweet, since Caityn's first babble was Dada. The funny thing is that he is very much in love with our cat, Emma. He will look right at her now and shout "Emba!", so I guess we're going to have to call that his first real word.

And is it weird that my little boy is already pooping on the potty?? The other day when Abel was getting his bath started, I sat him on Caityn's potty just for fun, and the kid pooped! So I tried it again the next night and he did it again. He did it for several days in a row and again yesterday! Now if only his big sister would poop on the potty too :)

Another Fantastic Day

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then what is a video worth?

This was the scene yesterday afternoon right before naptime. It was one of those "what should I do?" moments. So, what did I do? I busted out the camera and recorded the moment, hoping that someday I'll look back on these times and laugh. I wasn't laughing yesterday. Luckily, it only lasted a short while, and the rest of the day was marvelous!

This was the scene only some 20 minutes after the initial cryfest.

First trip to the dentist

Today Caityn had her first appointment with the dentist. It went pretty much as expected. She cried hysterically while I held her down in my lap so the dentist could look in her mouth. Good news is that she has no cavities and healthy teeth and gums.


Big huge thanks to our fabulous friend Karie who took a hungry, cranky Sean off my hands so I could focus on Caityn.

Caityn was NOT going to sit in the exam chair for a picture. And this was AFTER the exam had taken place and she had already gotten her prizes! I wish I had remembered to take a picture while she was getting her teeth checked out.

Okay, why don't you just sit in this chair for your picture?

Nope

This was sent to me by my fabulous friend Felicitas.

There is a twist to receive this award .......There are rules in accepting this award. I have to answer the following questions with one word answers and one word only! Then I must pass it on to seven others!

1. Where is your cell phone? diaperbag

2. Where is your significant other? kitchen

3. Your hair color? blondish

4. Your mother? gray
5. Your father? balding
6. Your favorite thing? kidnuts
7. Your dream last night? dunno
8. Your dream/goal? rich

9. The room you're in? den

10. Your hobby? blogging :)

11. Your fear? heights

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? classroom
13. Where were you last night? bed

14. What you're not? fat
15. One of your wish-list items? car

16. Where you grew up? bonita
17. The last thing you did? bathe
18. What are you wearing? jammies

19. Your TV? on
20. Your pet? meowing
21. Your computer? annoying
22. Your mood? tired
23. Missing someone? sister
24. Your car? small
25. Something you're not wearing? bra
26. Favorite store? target
27. Your summer? fun
28. Love someone? yes

29. Your favorite color? pink
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? yesterday

Boy, that wasn't as easy to do with only 1 word!
I would love to send this to...well, I think everyone I know already received this award!

A totally normal day...

...but certainly not planned. So here's why I can never get anything done around the house anymore. Nothing ever goes according to plan anymore.

6:30 am - Sean wakes up screaming and won't calm down until he's walked around the house. Now he won't go back to sleep and he's awake for the day. I guess we're starting off this day an hour earlier than "normal".

8:15 am - Caityn finally wakes up nearly an hour later than usual. Time to get ready for preschool.

9:00 am - Out the door for preschool dropoff at 9:15

9:30 am - Back home and Sean goes down for an almost hour nap. Now I can clean the bathroom. I spend most of that time scrubbing the tub and washing the floor. You'll see later why this was a waste of time.

10:20 am - Sean wakes up. No more cleaning. Got to entertain and feed the baby until preschool pickup time.

11:30 am - Pick up Caityn from preschool. Teacher pulls me aside to tell me that Caityn has been pushing/hitting another kid. Lovely....that's another story all together.

12:00 pm - Back home for lunch. Ask Caityn if she has to go potty. She says no, so I start lunch. She pees on the clean bathroom floor. At least lunchtime is typical - chicken nuggets and apples slices for Caityn, banana/blueberry mix for Sean.

12:40 pm - Time to read some books and get ready for nap.

12:53 pm - Caityn to bed. Does she stay there? Nope. We play the get-out-of-bed game for 10 or 15 minutes.

1:10 pm - She's staying in her bed, but she's not asleep. Back to Sean, but he's put something in his mouth and is now gagging. I pat his back and he vomits all over the floor. Nice...now my pale green rug has purple stains all over it. Bring him to the bathroom and he vomits again all over my clean tub.

1:11 pm - Back to the living room to try and clean up the purple stains. Caityn comes out of her room. "Mama, I pooped"...in her underpants. She goes to the bathroom to take off her underpants, and poop is now on the bathroom floor. Guess I'm cleaning the bathroom again.

1:15 pm - Caityn back in bed, Sean nurses to sleep. Are they actually going to nap at the same time? Look like it.

1:30 pm - Caityn still not asleep, but talking and playing quietly in bed. Sean sleeping away.

1:55 pm - I hear a loud "Peekaboo!" Please tell me it isn't so! It is. Caityn has woken up her brother from his 1/2 hour nap.

2:00 pm - Caityn continues the get-out-of-bed game.

2:15 pm - Put Sean in the swing. He looks like he may fall back asleep watching Sprout.

2:30 pm - Nope, he screams to be let out. Caityn still not sleeping.

2:45 pm - It's been quiet in Caityn's room for a while. I go to check on her, but she's not in her bed, not in her room, not in the bathroom, not in my room, not in the living room. Where the heck is she? I find her in her closet playing with baby wipes. Good lord!

3:10 pm - After getting out of bed many, many more times, she finally stays. I try the swing again with Sean. He seems really tired now. No luck with either one.

3:30 pm - Mom finally gives up :(. Both kids awake, no naps, and we still have another 5 hours to go before bedtime.

4:00 pm - Mom gets on the blogger.com to post her fun, fun day :). Oh...I need something chocolate! The fake oreos are half gone, but they just aren't cutting it. But they're organic, so I can eat as many as I want, right?

...to be continued

Our mini-vacation at the beach

Last weekend we stayed at the beach (just one night) at my grandmother's upstairs apartment, Mariner's Lookout, and the kids had a great time. Mom and Dad didn't get much sleep because Sean was pretty fussy all night, but the weather was great. Not too hot, not too cold. The water, however...brrrrr. Caityn swam anyway :)

Here's some photos I took of our fun weekend.

Since it was still pretty cool and cloudy when we first pulled in Sat morning, we decided to take a walk to the park at the end of the bay in hopes that the fresh air would help Sean sleep. It worked! He fell asleep in the stroller on the walk back.

After Sean's nap, we camped out on the beach for some fun in the sun. Sean enjoys his tasty carrot flavored wagon wheel, but later decided a rubber mallet was more fun.

Caityn braved the chilly water, and spent a lot of time perfecting her sand castle.

Here is the view from the apartment window. It turned out to be a beautiful weekend once the clouds burned off.

The kiddos took over the big bed, sending Abel to sleep on the floor. I had a small section of bed on the other side of Sean.
Abel still looks a little tired after a long night with Sean. Ummm....I think I was the one who was up walking him around!
Caityn can't resist walking along any wall that she sees, including the sea wall on the boardwalk.
Sean is just happy to ride in his stroller. No falling asleep in the stroller this morning. Oh well.

Off to the beach!

This weekend we will be staying at my Grandma's beach apartment for some relaxation and end of summer beach fun. Hopefully the weather turns around and we will have a bit more sunshine Sat and Sun, or else we'll be wearing jeans down by the water :)

A morning sunrise view from the apartment

Afternoon Playdate

Yesterday after naps, Caityn and Sean had a good time playing together on the floor with the Little People. Caityn has been pretty good about sharing her toys with her brother. There are a few special toys that she doesn't really want him slobbering on, but she has learned to give him a substitute toy to keep him happy.

Sean sneaks a sip of Princess water, while Caityn peers through the dollhouse door.

Playing nicely :)

Later Caityn was busy coloring her school bus from preschool, while Sean was busy doing whatever it was that he was doing.

Caityn's first day of preschool

Today was Caityn's first day of preschool. There were some tears, but we both survived the whole hour and 15 minutes. She cried just as we were leaving after dropping her off, but we didn't turn back. I arrived about 10 minutes early to pick her up and didn't hear any crying, but as they were cleaning up and singing the goodbye songs, I did hear her crying again. Then when she saw me come in the room, she burst into tears AGAIN and ran to hug me. But then she was fine, and talked about the snack they ate, and she was excited about the piece of paper that had her name written on it. I'm not sure if she realizes that she's going back, so we'll see how it goes on Wed.

Getting ready to go to school. Zoe hitches a ride in the backpack.

Walking towards the school.

Now running towards the gate. Maybe she IS excited!

Looking a little worried now.

The last of the smiles before the tears start.

Fall 2007 Photobook

I just figured out that I could post our photobooks from Shutterfly. This was the most recent one I finished. I'm a bit behind :)

Click here to view this photo book.

Kisses for Sean

Yesterday, after Sean woke up from his nap, Caityn climbed up the side of the crib to give her brother a big kiss. She is always so sweet and gentle with him, and Sean just adores her. I love these moments, because I know a time will come when the kicking, pinching, biting, hair pulling, toy stealing phase will be upon us. For now, I am enjoying watching these two loving siblings.

Aunt Abbey's Wedding

Saturday was Abbey's (Abel's sister) wedding. The wedding was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla. The view was beautiful. Here are some of the photos I was able to capture before the kids started going crazy and we had to leave.

Checking out the view before the wedding

Caityn and Mommy

The flower girl all dressed up

The only picture I took of Sean

Practicing her walk down the aisle with Ni-Ni

Abel and Sean waiting for the ceremony to start

She looks like she's about to run down the aisle, but she gets freaked out and runs inside the building instead. Ni-Ni has to carry her the rest of the way down the aisle.

Abbey and her father

The hard part's over. Now it's time to eat....or is it?