The Visitors!

So my brother, Jeff just moved in with us from Idaho to work with Tyler and go to school down here, and when he moved down he brought my sister, Candice, back with him so she could take a couple weeks off from beauty school and visit the family. She came down with my mom and we have been shopping--what else do we do??? Unfortunately Makena has NOT been in the mood to do anything. She's been super crazy no matter where we go. We have been extra busy going out and doing lots of stuff in the last week or so and she won't have anything to do with it! Whiny butt! On Monday we went to the Irvine Spectrum to do some shopping and the only thing that made Makena happy was riding the carousel. But boy she sure liked it. One of the times no one else was on it, so I asked the guy if he could just keep it going and he was so sweet and let her and my mom go again!! Lifesaver until he had to stop it and then...back to crankyville!! Well enough ranting!! I love visits, but we just seem to overwhelm Makena and then I feel like I'm going to lose my mind. The other great thing is that my sister is almost halfway through beauty school so that means for someone like me who can't seem to squeeze in a visit to get my hair done EVER I get hooked up :) I have been needing some coloring done because I'm not going to lie to you---I am a 26 year old with gray hair (wahhh! I know) Not a lot, but enough to drive me crazy! So she cut and highlighted my hair and I even jumped on the bang wagon! I LOVE it! It turned out better than I thought and realized even more that just doing a little something for yourself as a mom is SUPER important! Everyone needs a little ME time and I'm grateful for everyone involved for helping that happen for me this week!

Before

After

Huntington!!!

Tyler's family was going to be down at Huntington Beach on Saturday so we met up with them for a few hours of fun! Makena loved watching all of her older cousins play and once again loved playing in the sand and being in the COLD water. She passed out as soon as we got her in the car and then we started seeing the spots of burn on her poor little pale face! Today it looks like a raccoon and I feel terrible! Guess that's what I get for being so white myself. I did put sunscreen on her, but that didn't stop and I must still be new at putting on lots of sunscreen on a little kid! SAD! So that's what the last picture is of if you can see her burnt little face! We had a good time visiting with his family and showing off our new place. Hooray for summer and beach days! We love it!

Just say NO!!!

So our darling little girl's favorite new thing is NO! I knew it would catch up with us someday, but I never realized how frustrating it really is. We'll ask her a question that we know she would have at least shook her head to before and now..."Makena do you want a snack?" "NOOO!!" "Do you mean yes?" "YES!" You've got to be kidding me. Every time I ask her anything this is how it goes! I hope this phase is over quickly because as much as it bothers me, my husband thinks she has completely forgotten the word yes and gets really frustrated with it all. Aren't kids GREAT? If anyone has suggestions for getting over the No's we are open for suggestions!! And I thought these pictures were cute from my parents house this past weekend!

Memories!!!

Here is a fun little game...Leave a comment on my blog of a memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you've known me for a short time, or a long time, anything you remember! Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.On your mark...get set...blog your memories!!

Tagged!

3 JOYS:
* Makena
* The Beach
* My Husband

3 FEARS:
*Failure
* Icy Roads
* Causing an accident

3 GOALS:
*Lose a little more weight before I decide to have another baby
* Buy a House in the next 2-3 years
* Set a good example for my kids and hope they follow or are better than me!

3 CURRENT OBSESSIONS/COLLECTIONS:
* Twilight Book Series
* Taking Pictures- I really want a NEW expensive camera...
* Teaching Makena animal noises & lots of other fun things

3 RANDOM SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT ME:
* I don't like ketchup, but will eat tomatoes
* My right foot is like 1/2 size bigger than the left, and they both got bigger
when I was pregnant! Stupid, right?
* I love musicals, and can still sing songs from the OLD musical movies that I
used watch with my grandma.

SO THERE YOU GO...I TAG JULIE, SHIRLEE, & NATALIE!!

Where Does The Time Go?

So, we were looking forward all last week to our BIG 3 day weekend and now it's already Monday night and the weekend is long gone. We had a blast though as you can see from our pictures. It was Makena's first REAL trip to the beach--not hidden away under the beach tent like last year. We went to Salt Creek, near Dana Point with my parents and my brother and his little family. Makena LOVED it so much. She didn't even eat any sand on purpose, which I feared more than you know. She loved the freezing water and all the people and birds and everything. I don't think she even realized that I was about to DIE on the way back up to the car carrying her because she was still loving everything we went by! It was a blast, though! Then we went back to our place and showered, which is the best thing after a beach day! Got pizza and then made our way to the lake up the street from our house for some fireworks. The amount of people and the length of the actual show could rival an amusement park, and it was literally in our own backyard. It was GREAT! On Saturday the before mentioned golf outing for Tyler and my dad that's been planned for a couple months now at Torrey Pines happened! They both had great fun, and both broke 100 (Tyler almost 90) for those of you golfers who know what that means. What it means top anyone else is that the golf course didn't kick their butts as much as anticipated. I am so glad they got to go...but now they think they need to make a habit out of it, but it's REALLY expensive to play there! I got to hang out more with my family and it was a really fun time. Exhausting, but worth it. We love spending any time we can with our family and when they come to town it's even better for us!!!

Our 4th of July Weekend!

The Animal at our House

Makena is talking a lot and I figured I might as well try and put up this funny video I took of her the other night. She tells us what an animal is by its sound...except an owl, which she says! And we just bought a fish for her named Sky. She wakes up in the morning and points toward the kitchen where Sky lives so she can see her "Sh". She also was obsessed with pointing at the camera while I was taking this so it makes for a funny little video. Happy watching!

DADDIES!!

Let me just start this post with letting you know that my daughter has issues. We've known from day one that she was going to give us a run for our money. She is going to be a special teenager, I'll tell you that. She has NEVER wanted to sleep in her own bed, and must think that she is an adult or something because her perfect sleep is probably from 11:00 pm to about 10:00 am. I don't mind the late waking, but me and my husband do like a little wind down time together...ALONE. So, to the situation. I stayed up way too late last night messing with my blog...hence the beautiful new background :) I finally pulled myself away, climbed into bed and...Makena wakes up screaming. It wasn't her normal just let her cry it out cry either. We figure her mouth is hurting from her...I don't know 15th and 16th teeth coming in! So I pull her and myself out of bed so my husband can sleep and try to calm her down. Here's another little secret about our girl--she's SENSITIVE. If she's hurting you know it, and she turns her little fits into uncontrollable episodes. It's just lovely. This is why no one needs to ask if we're ready for another baby. We still have one, don't you know??? So I was just holding her, letting her cry when in walks the knight in shining armor. This was all well after midnight and my sweet husband is up before 6:00 to go to work. He came asked what he could do and then took her from me and in minutes she was calm and back to sleep. I stayed with him for a while until he told me to go to sleep. In our house it's rare that mommy is in bed alone, so I went and laid there thinking about the great man I married and all the thing daddies do that aren't recognized--at least at our house!

*He's a GREAT bath giver. I used to do it, but that was when I was doing everything and this is the perfect dad-child bonding time.

*For some reason she sits with him and will fall asleep...just like that. Not with mommy!

*He does great cartwheels-I have video to prove it-which means he still knows how to find that kid inside. That's very important in having kids!

*He leaves for work at 6:30 every morning. I don't even open my eyes before then and when I do it's just to say goodbye and roll over for 3 more hours of sleep...the 10:00 wake up don't you know!

*He loves miniature golf, playing catch, frisbee, surfing, bocce balls, watching barney (okay...that's a lie). He has played ice hockey, soccer, baseball, football, golf...which means ANY sport that our kids could learn to play he can teach them.

*He is patient, and helpful, and never complains when I ask him to do ONE MORE THING!

* Just by looking at him you can see that he loves his daughter, and would do anything for her.

The list goes on and on, but what more could I ask for. Dad's out there take note. It's like that saying: Anyone could have a child, but it takes someone really special to be a father. I

I am extremely grateful for the man that is the daddy to my little girl! I love you honey and know of all that you do! Thanks for being the best daddy around!!

Our New Favorite Family Outing

Our new favorite thing to do together is take walks together in the evening. I don't know if I have mentioned this in our other blogs...but I'm pretty much obsessed with it. I grew up on a dirt road, and our last apartment we were on the third floor and the only things down the street were the hospital one way and Ralph's the other. So when we moved into our new place and saw that like 10 blocks were all linked with a trail and parks and a lake that are all off of the main road I was excited to say the least. So last week I think we went 3 nights. We have played basketball, flown a kite, and just ran around the field. Makena LOVES the doggies that we see and she is excited every time we tell her to get her shoes for a walk! Hooray for planned communities...who knew what a dream that would be for us. Fresh air and family time. Who could ask for more??