Family Time

We have been so blessed to live in beautiful san diego and we love spending time getting out as a family and just relaxing; visiting the various (free) outdoor locations in our area. The weather for the most part has been amazing (just one of the many joys of living in sunny SoCal!)
So I decided to post it, mainly for my long distance family to see but I don’t mind remembering these sweet family days!!!

Last week we took the kids to La Jolla cove for the afternoon. Josiah LOVES the beach. Although I’m not sure which he likes more chasing the seagulls or the actual beach itself!!!

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We also surprised daddy at work and took him to dinner at the food court. Josiah was SO excited to see his daddy at work!

Growing Up!

My little bug is growing up so fast lately! Josiah has been going through so much transition. It’s hard to keep up! One of the majors have been his crib being converted into a toddler bed!

He is SO excited about his “new big boy bed” and especially the big boy Cars bedding that he got from Grandma for Christmas!
He’s also mostly sitting at the table instead of a booster or high chair! Such a big boy!

Josiah is such a smart boy. He has had his numbers 1-10 down pat for awhile and is working on 11-20. He is refining his alphabet and working on colors and shapes!
Pretty soon he will be put in big boy underwear. I have a plan for potty training and it will be going naked/underwear and home bound for about a week. Wish us luck on that one!!!
I couldn’t be more proud of my bug. He is such a sweet natured fun loving little man. And growing up so fast!!!!

Viva Las Vegas: Christmas Bound!

Phew! After a full week of celebrating Christmas we celebrated a little more! We went out to visit my dad and his wife Melissa. It was a short yet sweet visit. My sister And her fam went as well. So my dad was ecstatic about seeing ALL his grand babies!!!!
Cuddling in bed!!!

Josiah loved the swans at the hotel we were staying at!

Spending time with my nephew, Elliot!

Cousin time!!!!

Christmas at grandma and grandpas! Dinner, and more presents! As if they didn’t get enough!!! Ha! Time to clean out the toys at home to make lots of room!

Later in the evening we went to a place called “the magical forest” it was awesome. There were millions of christmas lights everywhere you looked! The babes were all completely mesmerized!!!

Lovin on the grandpa!

And a fair well lunch at the rainforest cafe!!!!

Love you both, hopefully we will see you soon, when Leah turns 1 in just a few short months!!!!!! Waaaaah!

Christmas 2011

Wow, what an awesome yet full Christmas we have had! We had a Christmas dinner at our church. There was appetizers, dinner, desserts, and we played the dirty Santa gift exchange! It was fun

We spent Christmas eve with some of my family. There was food and presents!

On Christmas morning it was so fun! It was Leah’s first Christmas and Josiah was old enough to be excited about it and knew what was going on! Josiah’s face was lit up opening his gifts and Leah’s was just by watching him! It was great!!!! After presents we had breakfast with my “adopted family” and then we all headed to church. Leah was happy in these pics with the exception of the headlock her brother gave her in between! Haha!!!

After that…we cooked during the afternoon, I made the prime rib again, which was fun. And we had a feast for dinner! We relaxed, opened presents, played games, and did I mention we ate?! Too much!!! It was so nice

The next day we were able to spend some time with some of Kenny’s family and met our new niece Leah! It only took 4 adorable boys till they landed this princess, what a little angel!!!! And it was also nice to see Kenny’s sister, LeAnne who was visiting with her whole family! Talk about a houseful of cousins, it was great!!!

And then the NEXT day we went to Vegas to visit my dad and his wife! Henceforth all the time in the world right now to blog, blog, blog!!!!!
Oh and I’m the midst of the hustle and bustle, we took the kids to see Santa. Josiah and Santa really hit off, don’t ya think????

Overall we had an amazing Christmas with our two little nuggets. God is so awesome and gives us so much. We have some amazing family and friends in our lives. What more could you ask for?

Leah Rose 9 Months!

Our little LeeLee turned 9 months (almost a MONTH ago! LOL). She has officially started crawling (on thanksgiving day at her aunties house) and boy is she as Josiah would say FAST, FAST, FAST!!!!! She follows her brother and mommy all around the house. She also likes to get into anything and everything she can! She is already pulling up to stand up while holding onto furniture and scooting around that way a little bit. I feel like she will be walking very soon! Some days I feel like I can barley keep up with her! Thanks to her new found freedom we had to lower her crib mattress all the way!
She also currently has 2 bottom teeth which are too cute for words! She loves playing with brothers toys and loves books. She also loves to watch Mickey mouse clubhouse and baby Einstein movies. When I took her to her 9 month checkup she has been growing in some in height but not weight. Her pediatrician wants me to take her back in a few weeks to check her weight. So like any other mother it worries me a little that she has not gained. Feeding has been a struggle. I am so against giving her formula and really want to nurse her but she is too busy to sit still and nurse I don’t think she wants to anymore! which saddens me. So I may either keep trying for another month and switch to milk a little early or……? And food wise she hasn’t been wanting to eat as much lately she was doing good for awhile but just seems to have given up all that much interest. I have been buying and making her food. She really likes yogurt, and oatmeal is probably her favorite. Since she has such hard stools and always has a hard time going #2 her pediatrician told me to buy some benefiber and put it in her food once a day. Kenny and I have to laugh at our little old lady!!! Hehe
Anyway time has been flying lately and much has been going on. I wish time would stop for a day or two to let me catch up but alas…..
Here are some random pics as of late, enjoy! Lots of wet sweet kisses from LeeLee!!!!

Peppermint Pretzel Rods

So I saw this idea for these chocolate covered pretzel Ross rolled in crushed peppermint candy canes. I love how easy they were to make, and they look so festive!

These would be fun to make with the kiddos too….I made these for our Christmas dinner at church to use as center pieces, which of course double as tasty treats. I layered rice, and pasta in the bottom of a few large vases and loaded in the pretzel rods. I really like the way they turned out. It looks like a bouquet of candy canes and pretzel rods!

All you need are a few ingredients:

-approx 20 pretzel rods
-1 cup chocolate chips
-1 tablespoon of vegetable shortening
- package of peppermint candy canes (crushed)
-wax paper

In a microwaveable bowl add shortening and chips. Microwave on high for 1 minute, stir microwave in 30 second intervals until chips are completely melted.

And the fun part! Dip pretzels into chocolate covering 1/2 of pretzel rod. Immediately sprinkle with crushed candy can. Place on wax paper and refrigerate to set.

Family Photo 2011

Here is a free collage I recieved from Walgreens during the crazy cyber sales that have been going on. These are the pictures my brother in law, Isaac took for us on Thanksgiving. The train tacks were the perfect place to take them, they turned out rustic and I love it. I am putting a mini collage on our Christmas cards….

Gingerbread House Making!

We had some of our friends over for a playdate. We attempted to make gingerbread houses with the kids. It was fun, but a little challenging. Just try explaining that the snacks are for decorating not eating…. Yeah not so much mom!!!!! I made the gingerbread and frosting from this recipe found here. I also printed the template and used it when cutting out the gingerbread house pieces, you can find it here.

 

 

 

 

 

The assembly of the houses was what turned out to be the most challenging. I think the next time we try this I will make the houses ahead of time. That way the walls stay up and the frame of the house can support all the decorating. But overall the kids had a good time, especially snacking on all that candy!

 

Elliot’s Baby Dedication

This past Sunday my nephew, Elliot was dedicated at Sandals Church in Riverside. I am so excited about the decision his parents made to dedicate him to raising him the way Christ would have them.

I love this little inquisitive face with bright blue eyes! I know now what it is like to be truly attached to another child other than my own. Since he was born God has placed inside my heart a natural, “auntie” love for him. I can’t wait to see what God will do in and through his life!

After the dedication we went to Pat & Oscars where Leah decided that she liked breadsticks, before choking on it!

“Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Pr22:6)

Women’s Christmas Dinner

On Friday I enjoyed dinner with some wonderful ladies. I attended MVCC’s annual Christmas dinner with some beautiful women. Kim Amy and Nikki did such an amazing job singing. And the speaker was amazing. Overall I am so blessed to be a part of an amazing group of women.