Christmas 2008

Well Christmas was good. We were not overscheduled and we had a great time. Christmas morning the girls woke us up early. The first thing they see a Sport and Play Slide. Luckily we decided to have it inside because it was extremely cold that morning. After playing on this for a while we moved to the other presents. They opened a bunch of neat things including a Hanna Montana outfit for Chenoa, an Idog for her Ipod shuffle, and pink hairclips. Kylee opened a bunch of little gifts but the slide was the biggy for her. Also the other gift they seemed to love so much. Their very own packs of gum from their stockings!

 

During nap time I had time to dye my hair. Then we headed to my parents house for our big family party. We had a blast hanging out and enjoying everyone's company. The girls were thrilled to find more Christmas presents from Auntie Foof, Ba Ba Pat, Ba Ba Sheryl and Pa Pa Gary. Chenoa got a new bike and Kylee got her first tricycle. We had so much fun and lots of yummy Mexican food. It has become a tradition!

 

Next year I plan to start Christmas planning extra early. That way everything is prepared and I will enjoy every minute. Plus every year I have problems with things being delivered via the post office. Apparently a month is not long enough during the holidays. Happy Holiday everyone!

Big Girl Panties

Well the time has come for the transition to being a big girl. Kylee picked out her potty it's a froggy one, but it's still cute. She picked it over the pretty pink potty I preferred. Chenoa may have been a big influence in this decision. With the addition of the new potty was time to transition to big girl panties. She was very happy to see them and excited to try them on. I am happy to see Kylee is excited about potty training and I am confidant she will be soon potty trainedJ

Hard Core Biker

Last week Marc decided to head out for a ride in the mud. I asked why he wanted to ride in the cold and wet mud. He simply answered that it would be really fun. Well he seemed pretty happy when he made it back to our home. But wow he sure was muddy and so was his bike!


As you can imagine we had to scrub pretty hard to get that mud out of the bike. Kylee and I helped by watching and we also had a photo sessionJ we are so helpful. It's so nice to see Marc enjoying himself with this fun activity.

New Tradition

Chenoa, Kylee, and I started a new Holiday Tradition this year. We made a gingerbread house. I went the easy route and bought the supplies all in one box. All we had to do was make the frosting and put the pieces together then decorate with the supplied decoration. Chenoa had the great idea to add our own lollipops to the house. This worked out perfectly because then they were able to eat lollipops when we finished. This tradition is going to be a fun one. Maybe next year I will make it all from scratch!

My Wish List

Christmas is coming and I have recently realized I need a list. If I don't have things I want or goals to work for I won't get it. Duhh, it took me 28 years to figure this outJ

1. I phone
   
2. Running shoes, Nike
   
3. Running stroller
   
4. Clothes
   
5. Gift cards to: Macy's, H&M, Lucy, Gap
   
6. Gym Clothes
   
7. Shoes
   
8. Makeup, Sephora or Bare Minerals
   
9. Perfume
   
10. Ihome, for my Ipod
    
11. Wii fit
    
12. Spa Certificate
    
13. Vacation
    
14. House
    
15. Car
    
16. Win the Lottery
    
17. $500,000,000.00
    

For those of you who have known me for a long time. You had to have known for sure I would put # 17 on. I had to put it all out there if I plan on getting everything.

My Hair

Well I did it I dyed my own hair. I went all out with really blonde. When moving almost two years ago. I decided to go more natural with my hair. I wanted to blend in with the other mom's I told my friend and hair stylist. I decided I can go all out now as I am not working and I am a college student. Good times for me. Lately I am doing whatever I want!
click here

Fun Day, All Day

On Sunday my sister Vanessa and her daughter Alex came to visit. We started out with shopping and lunch, of course. We headed home for a break Kylee took a nap, Alex and Chenoa got to play, and my sister and I had girl talk time. After Kylee woke up we headed for snack at our favorite frozen yogurt shop followed by playing at the park. We brought Kylee at home and took the girls out for Madagascar 2 in the Imax theater. Wow that was my first time watching Imax what an experience. I am pretty sure I laughed through the whole movie, it was hilarious!

A Good Cause

Last week I researched a persuasion speech on spanking. I was shocked with my findings. I assumed this was something of the past an old school method. There are so many new ways of discipline in the world I assumed parents ran right out and bought a book to figure out what to do. No I found it's not in the decline. I also was sad to see mostly 1-3 year old children were spanked. My oldest is 6 and she is known to be very well behaved. I've never needed to hit her for any reason. Please break the cycle and support any laws coming your way. We have saved many lives from shaken baby syndrome. 1000's of children die every year from corporal punishment along with many seriously injured for life. Is the right to hit children really worth all the lives we can save?

Please educate yourself before you decide to use spanking:
http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org/pages/frame.html
http://stophitting.com/

Date Day

One of Marc's birthday presents was a whole day with me. We had a lot of fun in the city. The International Auto Show was a blast. We spent spent so much time looking at the cars we lost track of time. It flew by!! We then headed to a nice restaurant to use our 100 dollar gift certificate that Marc won in a car show. We enjoyed every course because we had to spend all of our money. It was great:) Because we had to have a whole day experience we finished it off with James Bond. I had a great day. Although by the end I felt a little anxious to see my girls. That's a long day without my princesses! That was a great birthday present for Marc. It was also pretty great for me!!

Shopping Trip

Saturday the girls and I headed to San Jose. Shelley is taking care of Keiko the puppy. My original plan was to have Kylee take her nap and I could give Shelley her massage I have been promising her. Then we could go to Santana Row to hang out. Of course most parents understand children don't always go according to plans. I didn't know it at the time but Kylee was teething more than usual she couldn't sleep. Kylee skipped nap. So we headed off to Santana Row. Our most successful trip here since Kylee has been born. The girls were happy to be able to run around the christmas tree. Pictures will be coming soon... my sister has my camera:)

Marc's Lucky 28th!

Today we had a a birthday party for Marc. I decided to make it a surprise. Then Marc wouldn't have to plan anything! Believe it or not this picture is him being surprised. Chenoa and I made a fun cake. Which was a homemade banana chocolate chip cake. Chenoa and I put lot's of love into that cake. It was rewarding to finally serve it to everyone. After having cake. We then went out to dinner. I chose a Mexican food restaurant because Marc loves Mexican food. We had fun.. And most important Marc loved it:)

Chenoa is Awarded For Being A Caring Person

Today was the day of Chenoa's award ceremony at school. Chenoa's school presented her with an award for caring. The classes met in the lunchroom for an assembely. All of the proud parents sat in the back. I had no idea schools did these award ceremony's. What a great idea for positive reinforcement. I am so happy that people recognize Chenoa as the nice, sweet, and caring girl she is. She was so excited to receive this award!

Veterans Day

The happiest place on earth. Okay not really Disneland but it sure is a lot of fun. We headed out to our local play place for fun pizza and arcade time. It seemed as if everyone else had the same idea. We were so busy having fun we didn't even make it upstairs for tot town. Chenoa is a happy camper and Kylee is sleeping a hopefully extra long nap! Now I am set to study my massive amounts of flashcard for Anatomy. Wish me luck:)

Car Show

Sunday was the car show. The girls and I met Marc and his buddy there. So we got to sleep until 7. The car show was incredibly quiet because of the rain the afternoon before. We always enjoy going to the car show. It was nice having Marc's friend because he got to have car talk. Wich is not the same as my car conversation. Chenoa especially loves driving her own little race car. She did incredibly well at driving. We were all impressed!! The girls also enjoyed balloons from a clown and Chenoa had her face painted.

Mommy and Student (No Work)

The full effect of no longer being employed has kicked in this week. Now that I have spare time on my hands. I was able to head out to the mall this morning. Of course I had been needing to go there for weeks. My makeup had run out. However, I hadn't been to the mall in months and it sure does feel like I did whatever I wanted today. I wasn't so backed up with errands to run that after Kylee woke up from her nap we hung out at the house. I did study but it wasn't trying to rush to fit it in. This was much more relaxing study time. Tomorrow we are off to Old Navy to get Kylee a jacket.. 50% of outerwear. After that maybe I will take the girls to the park. Kylee will even get a nap tomorrow and I will study. Because I don't even have to go to work on Saturdays anymore. I am not feeling like a crazy busy lady anymore. This is going to be good. Although I am thinking of money saving since I am not working anymore. One thought... dying my own hair. Do I dare to try?

I Voted

I voted:) But the girls got all the stickers. Last time I voted for President it was so dissapointing. It was so much more exciting this time to have my vote go to the winning side.

1st Birthday

Nov. 1st was the day of the big party. Preston turned 1!! Chenoa was sick in the middle of the night after trick or treating. Even though we were pooped we had important things to do. We all packed into the car. Kylee napped in the car while Chenoa and I held some of the many presents on our laps.



Preston is getting so big. It's so fun to watch him grow and his personality come out. I was also looking forward to seeing Jarom and Danielle. They have so much excitment and happy times happening in there lives. I love being able to share these times. The party turned out so well. The decorations were so cute. They had a monkey theme. The decorations were a classic retro monkey with polka dots. Blue and yellow ballons surounded the room. They even had fun cupcakes with a monkey decoration on top. Preston had his very own cake to enjoy. It didn't take long for Preston to be covered in frosting. There house was full of family and friends celebrating Preston.



It turned out so well. I only wished I hadn't been so exhausted. My three hours of sleep didn't take me as far as I had hoped. I wasn't quite as happy and peppy as I had wished to be. Little did I know I was on my way to being sick just as Chenoa had been. Oh man those chills were so painful. In the morning I was a lot better and we were able to hop on the plane with the girls.

I hope I will be able to get back soon. Hopefully when no one is sick. Oregon was beautiful the trees at this time are so colorful. When it wasn't sprinkling the sun was out. The temperature only dropped low at night. I am looking forward to heading back soon:)

Trick or Treat

Halloween in Portland worked out so well. We picked up my nephew Jayden for some trick or treating. He had already been out so he lucked out with double the trick or treating fun:) Chenoa and Jayden are like two peas in a pod. They play for hours and hours at a time. They enjoyed running around and munching on candy. My mom and I stayed on the side walk with the cameras ready to go. While my dad brought Kylee and the other kiddos up to the houses. I hung on to Keiko, my parents full standard sized poodle. It was fun to see some of the gorgeous houses. Kylee was a trooper she had fun the whole time. Even though we stayed out until 9pm. Kylee really got into the going up to peoples houses, saying hi, and getting candy. Trick or Treating is definitely for her. Her favorite thing to do when we go out is walk up to people and say hi!

Kylee's First Flight

It all started with a lollipop. Kylee's very first lollipop. A women walked by and asked may I give your girls a lollipop. Why of course it's Halloween.

Then we took off in the air. Chenoa and I told Kylee we are flying! Kylee's very first flight!

I was a little bit nervous flying with the girls on my own. But Kylee's very first flight. It was pretty cool. To watch her look out the window and say wow!

Swim Goggles

Well I have been quite busy as you can tell by my lack of posting. While I wasn't studying or running around like a mad woman. I was playing with my girls.

I am not exactly sure what we were doing here. But, it's somewhere along the lines of. Chenoa and I decided to try leg warmers on Kylee. Some how the swim goggle became the big accesory.. it always does!

Halloween, The Parade

Today was Chenoa's parade for Halloween. After dropping Chenoa off, Kylee hopped in the stroller to watch.


Marc, Kylee and I waited to see Chenoa. Kylee had to make a call. Busy baby, I know ;)


Yah, we see our cute Kitty walking by!


They past by so fast:) Good thing we have more picture time in front of the class.

We love our little Kitty and our Princess too!

Playtime

After a long weekend with a very unhappy baby it was nice to be simple with our playtime. The girls and I didn't go anywhere. We brought out the dress up clothes turned on some music and danced around. The girls were princesses. Today we were very girly;)

Today Went So Well

Wednesday was tough everything seemed difficult. Today, Thursday, went well after a wonderful lab where I seemed to have everything down. I was off to shop around a bit at the local stores. All by myself, it was wonderful. After cleaning up for a while the sitter came over. Marc and I were off to shop, eat, drink, and head to the movies. It was relaxing and enjoyable. On the way home I started receiving calls about my brother getting engaged. I wish the best for both of them(and I am looking forward to the wedding). When we made it home the sitter told us all about the evening her and the girls had. She helped Chenoa finish her homework, fed the girls dinner, and she said the girls went to sleep well. Wow today went so well. I wouldn't have even imagined this yesterday.
Marc and I officially decided I am going to resign from my position at work. I just need that extra time for school, the girls, and myself. I am looking forward to relieving myself of some of the extra work.

Letter To Mom From, Chenoa

Chenoa wrote her first real letter to me today. I am not sure why. I am pretty sure I didn't do any thing extra special. Chenoa is really happy with me today:)
Letter:
I love you mom
from, Chenoa
I love you because you love me
and you have me do lots of activities
I want to do. and you let me do lots
of fun things to.

I had to write down activities for you her but she did a great job. It's amazing what she can do after being back at school for a short time. I had no idea what she was writing. I was not allowed to look. I am impressed with her impromptu writing skills. Isn't that just so cute and nice of her.

Ready for the Week?

Things went so well today I don't want tomorrow to come. The laundry is folded, the lunches are packed, Kylee is back to her happy self. The girls are happy they had playgroup today. We even got Chenoa's Halloween costume today. I am very much looking forward to next weekend. The girls get to wear their costumes at the mommy group pumpkin party. Things are looking good. All I have to do is make it through the school week. I think I can I think I can!!

Closet Cleaner

I was lucky enough to stay home for an extra couple of hours with Kylee. She was exhausted this morning after having another rough night. I didn't have a massage until 2. Now they just called me with a 1. So I am happy to report she is napping. Thank goodness I got that ibuprofen.

When I realized I had extra time at home. I thought I will get some homework done. But the house was a little messy. So I started to clean a bit. I was continuously trying to talk myself out of cleaning to much. I realized I do this often. This made me think of when my girlfriends came over for girls night. Everyone mentioned how really clean my house was. I hadn't expected this. All I could see was all the things I hadn't had time for. Such as wiping down the walls. I explained that Marc likes everything clean. And I did extra cleaning that day. This is what I always tell myself. But now I am starting to realize it's actually me. Marc tried to tell me not to clean the other day and it was to much to hear. And I always clean that much.

I am not sure when I became this closet cleaner. I can remember back when my parents seemed concern and would ask why my house was so clean. I always imagine everyones house like this all the time. So my house has to be this way too. So was I able to hold back from all the cleaning this morning. Well I didn't vacumme, I don't want to disturb Kylee.

Teething Toddler

Thank goodness Thursday was so pleasant and easy for me. Kylee has been teething all day. She practically cried most of the day. I should have know when she woke up at 2am. We had plans of running to the gym and heading to gymboree after taking Chenoa to school. Kylee cried about pretty much everything. Nothing I tried helped. She seemed so tired but she couldn't sleep. I knew she was teething badly. We tried tylenol but the pain was to much. I tried to leave the house but gave up after a tuff tantrum at the car. I even brought out the good old "What to Expect The Toddler Years." Just to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

Finally I told her "We are going to the store to get ibuprofen and we are going to be okay. I will hold you and help you." We got to Target and I gave it to her immediatley. I was able to distract her in Target enough for not to much crying. While in the car on the way to pick up Chenoa, Kylee finally crashed. I called the office and had them send Chenoa out to the loading area when school was out. After Kylee woke up a couple hours later. Kylee cried a lot again. I sat with her rubbed her back and we turned on Jack's Big Music Show. It was a last resort and it worked. She eventually perked up and calmed down enough to have a nice dinner. She even played with Chenoa for a while. Thank goodness I was feeling so bad for Kylee. I am so glad everyone helped me out on Thursday. I was extra patient and ready to take care of a crying baby!

Set's the tone for home

I walk into the house to find a new set of pictures on the wall. They are the first things you see when you open the door. So nice...Set's the tone for home. Playful & Peaceful. Great job Marc:)

I Heart Pictures

Thursday my sister came to visit. I haven't seen her since 4th of July. Though she only lives 45 minutes away she has been traveling non-stop. I would to if I could take the summer off from work. Shelley came with us to pick Chenoa up from school. Then we headed to the park. I love when Shelley visits because she really plays with the girls. There is no holding back. She not afraid to get her hands dirty. She literally got in the sand and dug to find the dinosaur bones at the park. Like a real archaeologist.
Shelley was kind enough to watch the girls and put them to bed while Marc and I headed to the movie's. A western of course. I am waiting for a mushy romantic movie to drag Marc to. I need a movie like the Titanic or the Notebook. I hope something like that will be out soon!
Marc made everyone dinner also. Way to go Marc. He is on a roll. Now that I think of it. I didn't have to do much on Thursday. I even took a nap! Woo Hoo...Thursday rocked.

The Calm

This morning Marc rode his bike, worked on his Camaro, and hung out. After I came home from school with Kylee in tow. Marc picked up Chenoa from school and I was able to study before heading out to my night class. Marc did a great job of taking care of the girls, cleaning up around the house, and helping Chenoa with her homework.
After studying hard it was nice to come home and sit for an hour and do nothing. Thanks Marc for all of your help;) My school week is over tomorrow morning. My sister will visit us midday. Then Marc and I have date night... Woo Hoo! What are we going to do? My guess is dinner and a movie. I know it sounds boring but lately boring is wonderful. It's nice to get out of the house, relax, and not have to worry about anything but hanging out with Marc.

Rocked the 1/2

Early Sunday morning I headed to San Jose to run the Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon. The half marathon went so well. I couldn't have imagined it going any better. I was thinking I wouldn't be able to run the last couple of miles because I had not trained enough. I did 2 long runs of 6 miles. I wasn't able to squeeze in the longer runs. My mother in law, Pat, and I ran together the whole time. We didn't even find the need to use our ipods. As we ran she told me of her fabulous idea about my speech. Pat thought I should do a speech on time management. I could speak of how I manage my hectic schedule and what tools I use to make it work. I kill to birds with one stone on my run. I planned my speech and I ran 13.1 miles. We might have improved on our time, but, I had to take 4 bathroom breaks. I guess I drank to much water. Last year I didn't have to stop at all. Although, maybe that's why the run did not feel difficult. I was well hydrated. We ran the whole way! When I got home I even rallied the family and we went to Toys R' Us. Truthfully Kylee and Marc seemed more tired than me. Go me, I am feeling good right now. I hope I am not to sore tomorrow.