Some Pics

Nothing too noteworthy going on 'round here, but thought I would post a few pics! Mia is 4 months now and doing great. She's found her hands and feet, and is starting to "play" with toys. She LOVES her big brother, which is so adorable. And he continues to be sweet with her.....he's the official "binkie getter" if she is crying. She officially moved into her crib over the weekend......of course, she is fine.....and I'm coping with the fact that she's no longer a newbie that needs to be next to the bed (sniffle, sniffle). Jake continues to entertain us with his daily "Jake-isms".....his language is amazing and the phrases he comes up with are just too funny. Here's one for you......we were going in the hot tub so Brian asked Jake to go and get one towel for Mommy, one for Daddy, and one for himself.....then asked him "how many towels does that make".....Jake's reply "hmmmm.....(finger tapping lip with a deep in thought expression)....thank makes sense!". Funnier in person I'm sure, but still cute.

3...2..1... BLAST OFF!

One of Jake's favorite sayings.....and he got to put it to good use today when we had an official rocket launch! Brian spent nearly the entire weekend shopping for rockets, assembling them, and then finally shooting them off......I'm fairly certain that he had more fun than Jake, but watching them do it together was fun for me! Grammie and Gramps joined us for the big event and Mia got a front row view from her carseat. The first rocket landed in someone's yard.....retrieving it did involve a bit of trespassing and I was shocked (and entertained) that Brian was the one to get it back. We lost the big rocket after a few more launches and despite a fairly thorough neighborhood search, we did not locate it. However, Jake was on the hunt for the rest of the day.....we went to an open house in Pleasanton after we launched the rocket and Jake looked up at the real estate agent and said "I'm lookin' for my rocket.....can't find it anywhere". He searched the whole house and yard....shocking that we didn't find it there, but it sure kept him busy while we looked at the house! I'm sure that this will end up being the first of MANY rocket launches in the years to come!

Rice Cereal for Mia

Mia is 4 months old now, so we decided to introduce rice cereal....I'll let the picture speak for itself. We'll try again soon and eventually, I'm sure she'll like it! Jake watched the whole thing play out and was clear to tell us that Mia does NOT like the cereal :)

Mia's first swim

Well, it was getting to be the end of summer and we realized that Mia had not actually used her bikini (thanks, Kathy!).....soooo, we decided it was time for a swim! She was initiated into Julie and Tim's pool, just like Jake was two summers ago :) She didn't seem to love it, but didn't cry either....and the water was chilly! Jake did his version of cannonballs into the pool (jumping into the pool yelling "CANNON (submerge in water) BALL"! He can "swim" on his own now with a life jacket on....jumps in, swims to the end, climbs out, and repeat! Great bbq and swim day with Auntie Julie and Uncle Tim!

Weekend in Monterey

Brian decided to take a couple of days off from work, so we headed down to Monterey/Carmel and had the BEST weekend!! We went to the aquarium, which was a big hit with Jake (and us). On Saturday we went to Point Lobos to go tidepooling....turns out that there wasn't much to see, but Jake had plenty of fun anyhow....as far as he is concerned, seaweed is exciting sea life! We also went to the beach in Carmel and could not have asked for better weather! Jake loved the guys surfing in the ocean and he of course "surfed" as well....this consisted of him jumping in and out of a sand hole for about 30 minutes yelling "woohoo" each time. We realized that almost ALL of the pics from our weekend are of Jake...poor Mia.....but she was literally in her carseat or the stroller the entire weekend....or living it up in the Baby Bjorn :) She was a trooper! Such a fun family weekend!!

Jake's first day of preschool

Jake started off his day with a good breakfast and his "you are special today" red plate. He was excited for school and marched right into the classroom with his backpack on, handed our forms to the teacher, and headed off to play. Ahh, just when I thought I was in the clear, I heard the cry of one two year old in the room.....and then they ALL started! The teachers were blocking the door and "catching" kids who were trying to escape, as the mothers (who are also crying), try to squeeze through the door while prying their child's hands from their legs. I'm fairly certain that Jake stopped crying by the time I reached the car.....of course I still had a few sobs left in me, but I know it's good for him and he'll do great in the end. Mia and I enjoyed our morning together and I arrived back at preschool 15 minutes early, to make sure I was there RIGHT when the door opened (shocking, I know). Only 7 out of 16 kids actually made it through the class....the others didn't stop crying after awhile and had to be picked up. So, I guess the day was a success.....I'm proud of Jake....such a big boy!

3 months old!

Already?!! Bear with me as I wipe a tear away.....where does the time go?! Mia is 3 months old and I truly can't believe it.....I feel like I'm going to wake up one day soon and she'll be getting her drivers license! She is getting more smiley each day and is a great sleeper....she's been sleeping through the night for a few weeks now....I know it sounds crazy, but I miss our middle of the night time together a little bit. She's starting to giggle and continues to get cuter and chubbier each day! I truly am enjoying every minute with her. And Jake is at such a fun age too.....almost 2 1/2 and seeming like such a little boy! She is still so sweet with Mia....though "gentle" is still a term he's becoming acquainted with! He holds her hand in her carseat in the backseat and gets her binkie for her if she is crying. Brian and I are feeling awfully lucky these days with our sweet family!

Cute Kiddos!

Took some pics the other day and thought these few were pretty cute!

Lake Tulloch 2009

We had a great time with Grammie, Gramps, Auntie Julie and Uncle Tim up at Lake Tulloch this week! Jake wasn't sure what to make of watching us all innertube, waterski, and "surf" behind the boat...when I was tossed off of the innertube (err...I mean THROWN off so hard that my bathing suit came off....thanks Uncle Tim), Jake said "is Mommy okay?". So sweet. Mia was bundled in her life vest and you could just see her little head poking out of it. Luckily, the boat was like on giant bouncy/vibrating chair for her and she was lulled to sleep both days we were out on the water. I bet many of you didn't know that Sunday was National Smores Day.....Gramps discovered this and you know you can always count on our crew to celebrate all things food, so we had fun making smores too. Uncle Tim improvised with adding Oreo cookies and peanut butter to his. I think I'll stick with the original "recipe". Brian was thrilled to finally witness a trick that I've only ever seen performed by my Mom.....waterskiing without getting your hair wet (see proof in the picture below). Oh, and the girls DOMINATED in Cranium.....as usual! THANKS Grammie and Gramps for another great family mini-vacation :)

Cabin visit

We had a great time visiting Papa and Tutu up at the cabin. Brian and Papa took Jake on his first fishing trip.....we didn't know if it would hold his attention for 10 minutes or all day, but he did really well! They caught a "big one fish" and Jake proudly showed it off. I was really sad to miss the photo opportunity, but Brian did a GREAT job....see the adorable pic below :) We enjoyed some pool time, where we had to bribe Jake out of the water with an ice cream....he would stay in there ALL day! Thank goodness Tutu likes the water and didn't mind getting splashed while he jumped to her! Mia was just sitting around looking cute while we were all playing....she's good at that :)

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