Happy Birthday to Caityn!

Last Friday, my baby girl turned four years old! I didn't think four was going to be such a big deal, but now that I look at her, I really don't see a baby anymore. She is such a big girl now! We asked her if she wanted a party with her friends or a trip to Disneyland. She chose Disneyland, of course! Big girl Caityn was tall enough now for the big rollercoasters, although she only went on Thunder Mountain Railroad. And Sean was finally tall enough for the smaller rollercoasters! The crowds were pretty thin so we were able to go on lots of rides without waiting too long, and we even got to see many characters, including the all important princesses.

Caityn receiving the royal treatment!

Chillin' at Mickey's house

Hey, Mickey has a birthday celebration planned in her honor!

What do you think of Disneyland, Caityn?

It's fun to celebrate with your best friend.

This weekend we also had a small party for her with the family. Thank you for all the gifts she received. She loves them all!

Sean, Presley, Shane, Caityn, Reese

Princess pals

How old are you now Caityn?

I love my American Girl! Her name is Lucy Lasa!

Thanks Grandpa!

Happy Birthday big girl! What a way to celebrate my 200th blog posting!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today we took the kids to the 30th Annual St. Patrick's Day parade in San Diego. We got all dressed up in our greenest clothes, slapped on a few a few shamrock tattoes, and the kids were feeling more than the 1/8 Irish that they truly are. I started Irish dancing again back in January, and I could have joined in the parade, but decided I would be put to better use herding toddlers along 5th Ave.

Caityn was more than a little disappointed that she wasn't going to be in the parade, so I promised her that next year she and I could join the Irish dance troup in the parade since she will be starting up lessons next month. Sean was just having a great time waving to all the people in the parade! Every year we seem to make the same mistake of sitting near the end of the parade route, and it takes about 45 min for the parade to reach us, so this year we planned to sit near the start of the route, and it was so much better! It wasn't nearly as crowded, and the kids were given all kinds of stickers, necklaces, and candy! Yay for being Irish!!

Happy Birthday to Sean!!!

Today my baby turns 2!!! A lot of people comment that they can't believe he is already two, but to be honest, I've thought of him as being "two" for some time now. Maybe it's because he is very tall, or maybe it's because he started the "terrible two" tantrums at 15 months, but I don't feel a sense of disbelief that he is no longer a baby. I have to say, that so far, two isn't as bad as I thought it might be. The mega trantrums have really died down now, and he is such a sweet and caring little boy. He still has his toddler moments, but mostly he is such a happy-go-lucky kid. He loves playing with his big sister, and he tries to copy everything she does. His vocabulary is really blossoming lately, so it's very cute to watch the two of them communicating. He learns a lot from Caityn!

This past Sunday we celebrated his birthday with family and a few friends.

Aunt Breean and Aunt Kerry showed up dressed as twins!

Caityn takes a turn at Pin the Tail on Eeyore

Not too bad!

Today we went to Seaworld. We hadn't been there since last May, and neither of them remembered the place. It was fun to re-discover all the fun things to see and do there. Poor Sean was so tired on the way home that he fell asleep while eating his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He saved a little bit for later...

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

Cousins

Today, my sister Kelly came to visit with her new baby Shane. This was the first time that Sean had seen his new cousin, and he was just in love with him. He was so gentle holding him. It was absolutely precious to watch him, no longer a baby himself, holding his cousin so lovingly.

Let's go fly a kite!

A couple weeks ago, when Caityn's and Sean's grandparents from Fremont were visiting, we had a kite flying day at the park. It was a beautiful day for taking photos, and once the wind kicked up, the kite was flying in no time!

Can you guess who this is playing peek-a-boo?

Caityn's butterfly kite

Caityn and Ye Ye trying to untangle the string.

Sean wants a turn!

Daddy helps Caityn fly the kite

Christmas Eve

This year Christmas Eve turned out to be something pretty special for the kids. Every year we spend Christmas Eve with my San Diego family, which is the majority of my side of the family. This year we had dinner at my grandmother's house at the beach, which we haven't done since I was a lot younger, so that in itself brought back many happy memories. But something totally unexpected also happened. Santa came to Mission Beach! We were all sitting around finishing dinner, when Santa pulled up next to the house and started getting out his sack full of toys. Apparently, he was scheduled to make an appearance as Santa to a house a few doors down before returning to the party as himself. Well, this man dressed up as Santa, who was a complete stranger to us, promised he would stop by my grandmother's house after delivering his sack full of gifts to the children at another party. And he kept his promise. He didn't just stop by to say hello. He came in and showed off all his bells and tricks in his bag. He was such a great Santa! And he didn't focus his attention too much on the kids, which was good, since Caityn is still a bit Santa shy.

Notice that Caityn is doing a pretty good job of hiding herself from Santa.

This is how she spent most of the time while he was there, until he started pulling stuff out of his bag.

He gave each lady in the house a rather large diamond.

Sean was given a nice little wooden toy car.

Santa shared some pieces of ice from the North Pole.

He showed us his official Naughty and Nice list. Tiger Woods made the naughty list this year.

But this was the moment that melted my heart. Caityn was hiding away the whole time until Aunt Laurie slipped Santa the gifts she was going to give the kids, and this is the smile I got when Santa handed her the gift!

Sean was not so easily convinced.

But he LOVED his little wooden car! He took it to bed with him that night.

I don't know who this man was, but I want to thank him for making Christmas super special for the kids. I think his kind spirit and thoughfulness has helped Caityn to not be so afraid anymore, and that is priceless to me. Santa, of course, didn't go off empty handed. He was given a great big bowl of Christmas goodies to take home to Mrs. Claus!

Merry Christmas!!