1st Carnival Ride

Pure Joy! Love this face so much.

Miss Independent!

Dinner time with Reese starts out with a great BIG smile...after all she is now feeding herself  and therefore is super independent!

She is so independent that she thinks she can also excuse herself from her high chair!

 Keep on the straps we have a climber!

So Bella!

Addison is very lucky to have such a wonderful art teacher. Bella is sweet, patient, and helps the kids make the most beautiful artwork! 

Happy Painting my little Picasso - can't wait to see your finished masterpiece!

Park it Up!

Love this weather. 

Love working part-time!

Love the park!

and of course..Love my girls!

Now I am keeping up with two fast, independent, happy-go- lucky gals on our adventures! Everyone says life with two is double the work, Now I get it.

Love these smiles and all the laughs we have together. However this seemed like such a good idea at first with the swings....

But ohh how things change so quickly!! Sorry Reese...

Safe to say they are both much happier with their own swing!

Addison really does love her baby sister. She tells me all the time after she is done with Time-Out for hitting, pushing, or taking away her toy. BUT we are learning to be gentle and how to be helpful. Addie already got the hang of it and helped push Reese!

and boy did she love it! 

I will leave you with these final pictures. Not quite sure how to explain it. But this is how a real party animal goes down the slide - in her Elmo undies! Yes folks she did this all by herself and I am to blame. We had a emergency bathroom situation at the park earlier that week and there were no bathrooms or people around so I had her go on the grass. Bad idea - now she thinks that is ok!

But she really did enjoy her slide! (notice her hands up!) 

I never thought going to a neighborhood park could be so fun! Happy soon to be Friday! xoxoxo

Mommy Jones

Wahoo!!! First post baby race :)

On Sunday I ran the Long Beach Half-Marathon! I worked my way from running 2 miles and wanting to die (literally) to comfortably running 10 miles at a steady pace. Each Saturday for the last 3 months I met a group of fun-loving moms for our long runs. During the week I would push the girls through parks, up hills, and on the river trail. Working part time has given me the opportunity to have time to run and do something I love. It was exciting to reach my goal of not stopping and running under a 10 minute mile. I finished in 2:07 with a 9:40 pace. I am ready for the next race and am aiming for closer to 2 hours! Thanks to my family for their great support! xoxox

The Magic Kingdom!!

This is a face of a two year old who just stepped into "The Happiest Place on Earth"for the first time and doesn't know what to do with herself! She was literally squealing with delight at everything her little eyes could see! Taking the kids to Disneyland for the first time was incredible! Our game plan was simple - have fun (and patience), ride what we can, and stay as long as possible.

We were off to a great start bright and early!

Our first stop was the castle and I snapped this "gem "of Daddy and his Princess. If Addison could she would move in and live there. No questions asked and she probably wouldn't miss us! 

We made our way to our first ride Its a Small World and again the reaction of Addison didn't disappoint. I have to admit we were those parents with the video camera on the ride following her every move. You may be wondering where Reese was. She did join us later in the day but spent her "birthday morning" with Mama Nor and all her friends! It was a perfect way to get in a couple of hours with two parents and just one kid!

Making our way through the park took a bizllion times longer because we literally stopped at everything.  With so many new things to look at and do Addison sure took her time. When we told her we were going to Toontown and that is where Mickey and Minnie lived she was excited. 

She is a loyal fan to Mickey's Clubhouse on the Disney Channel so she knows most of the characters. Minnie is definitely one of her favorites!

and so was playing on Donald's boat!

The day was filled with so much joy and laughter for Kevin and I that it was even better than we could have predicted. We saw a ton of characters, ate lunch overlooking Tom Sawyer's island, and rode a bunch of rides. 

At about 3:00 Addison was desperate for a nap so we hopped in the car and went and got Reese. I can't believe she let me put these ears on her but she did! 

Sneeking away for a half hour was perfect because Addison got in a quick nap and was ready to party with Reese when she woke up. At California Adventure park we all went on the Giant Ferris wheel, played games, and saw a live show.

 I would say the highlight of the day with the parade on Main Street. Every character was there and the music and dancing was amazing. I have to admit that when all the Princess' waved at Addison I think I waved back with more eagerness than she did. Hahha that probably isn't a big surprise. We have the entire parade on video so we will see! We ended the day with Addison getting "Minnie Mouse Ears" This is special and something Kevin wanted to keep as a family tradition because when he was little he had "ears" with his name on it. Such a cute keepsake!

and of course I wanted a similar pair too!

Today we walked away with three important buttons. Two that said "First Visit" and one that wished our birthday girl a very Happy Birthday! We will definitely be back in the near future! Happy 1st Visit Girls!

Mommy Nor!

Words could not express how much I love this woman! Mommy Nor has been in our life for two years now and she and her husband Carlos are like family. She loves on our two little girls as if they were her own GrandKids. 

It is the best feeling knowing that she snuggles, cuddles, kisses, reads, teaches, and loves on them every minute they are with her. A true gift from God. This passage always reminds me of her and all the beautiful gifts she has and shares with all who know her! xoxoxo

GranDad!

With the Doctor commuting to Palm Springs this past month life has been busy! Luckily for me I have two parents that live less than 15 minutes away from my house. So when the flowers are dying and its time to plant more I know who to call - GranDad to the rescue!

With two great helpers in hand we were ready for the big job! One helper liked to eat the dirt...

and the other liked to play and pose for pictures with the shovel! I don't think this was the type of help he was seeking but he took what he could!

In the end we had beautiful flowers in the front and backyard, two extremely dirty girls,  a very happy Mommy because of the great outcome, and an exhausted GranDad who lets face it did all the hard work. This was his water but someone got to it first and helped themselves! 

Thank you Dad for all your help! Now if I could only remember to water the flowers then things would be perfect! xoxoxo