Spring!

Sorry for the lack of posts. (I realize I say this every time. Whatever.)


What have we been up to? Mostly normal life, hanging out, soaking up family time before baby #3 arrives and life gets crazy and sleep-deprived again.


We did take a quick trip to NJ for my brother Brian's wedding. It was great to see everyone, a busy week, but a lot of fun. Josie was a flower girl - also a lot of fun.

She LOVED her princess dress. She may have cried a little when my aunt took it one night for altering. 

This is Uri in a tie.

I know, I can't stand it either. Possibly the cutest thing on planet earth. EVER.

This is Uri without his tie, hmmmm, or pants. We don't wear a lot of pants around here after naptime. Who needs them anyway?

One thing about Uri, he is a boy of few words (ball, bubbles, shoe, spoon) but he he makes up for that with expression. Just wait....

We went to a GREAT children's museum while we were in NJ. Not crowded at all, which was perfect. Lots of stuff appropriate for little guys like ours. This is Josie digging for dinosaur bones. 

This is Uri delivering the evening news. 

Back in CA (I am choosing not to blog about the plane trip back because I am hoping that memory fades with time...yikes). 


We recently went to The Discovery Science Center with a friend  and her 2 kids. Geared a bit more for older kids and with plenty of school groups where, it was still a lot of fun. 

Giant pin-board. 

And yes, I use a monkey leash. :)

There was a great Dora the Explorer exhibit, which the kids loved. Josie has never watched Dora, but there is enough marketing out there that she is in love. 

Since gymnastics has ended Josie and I have been trying to still get out on Saturday mornings for some girl time. One morning recently we went to the farmers market and got some flowers...

I told ya. 

My boys. I can't wait to add another one. Hopefully I won't have time to blog again before that happens. We are due in a week and a half. Yay!!

Grammie's Visit

Tom's mom was out for a week to hang out and soak up her grandbabies. Such a treat. 

 We went to a local zoo and saw some animal statues. (And some monkeys, an ant-eater and 2 birds. I am only partially joking - the zoo was lacking in the animal department.) But it was a fun little outing. 

They also had a carousel, one of Josie's favorite things. 

Grammie took this picture. I can't stand how cute this boy is. 

We went to the Beachcomber Cafe and then played in the sand for a while. So fun. 

We are always sad when Grammie has to leave. She is so fun (and helpful, holy cow the laundry was caught up) and we can't wait until we can see her again. We love you Grammie! 

Uri's Party!

We celebrated Uri's birthday with a few close friends a couple weeks ago...

Thank you so everyone who shared this day with us! 

A Josie Day

Tom has been dying to take Josie to Disneyland for a while, so after a few days (which seemed like 2 weeks) of potty-training troubles, he promised her Disneyland upon completing her latest sticker chart. And so, a few days later - to Disneyland we went! 

Sleeping Beauty's Castle - the sticker-chart motivation. 

We (meaning Tom) probably picked the most perfect day for our trip - lines were short, characters were everywhere and the weather was great. 

See? We even ran into the man himself. 

Thanks, Daddy for a wonderful day!! 

We saw the princesses, and everything. 

She did awesome, we all had a great time and about 2 seconds after the parade ended looked like this. 

And a special thanks to my friend, Lexie, for taking Uri for the day! :)

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Uriah Cole is a year old today!

I seriously cannot believe it has been a full year. Since the three hour labor and rush to the hospital trying not to push, since the first moment I held my wiggly (screaming) boy. Little did I know how much joy he would add to our family. He is so wonderful and I am so thankful I get to spend every day with him. 

On Sunday, "Mom, I know you think I look adorable in jeans and a polo, but I am cutting a tooth." 

Today, at 6:30am. 

Happy Birthday, Baby. 

A List.

[red and green pancakes]

1. We had a wonderful 2 weeks in NJ with my family for Christmas. It was the first time we had been back for the holidays in 6 years...such a treat! Jill and Marty were able to join us for Christmas weekend and were able to meet my entire extended family, and THEY SURVIVED. (Although I think my family is pretty awesome, there are a lot of us. 45 people at Christmas dinner.)  During the rest of the two weeks we were able to hang out with my sister and her kids several times, my cousins and siblings all got together for a game night, dinners out, paint balling, and just general hanging out with various combinations of my family members. It was great. 

[playing outside at my parents' house]

2. While we were in NJ, Uri started walking. He would take a few steps between two cheering people, but now he is using it as a real mode of transportation. It is adorable to see him walking around the house with his arms in the air. My new favorite thing = seeing what large object the 1 year old will attempt to carry around the house. 

["I love crayons. I have no idea what to do with them, but they taste great."]

3. I am out of my first trimester and MUCH less tired now. I am trying to get back into the swing of things, cleaning my much-neglected house and getting caught up on put-off-projects. I think this first trimester was my hardest, perhaps because I was still juggling nursing and night wakings, but regardless, I am really happy to be clear of it and back to my as-normal-as-one-can-be-while-pregnant self. 

[the beach chair belongs in the trunk....okay fine, let's take a picture.]

4. Oh my gosh we are having another BOY! I am super excited (although I would be either way, but still). I am anticipating having 2 boys close in age will be a lot of fun. I was a little bummed that Josie won't have a sister (our plan is that this will be our last baby) and I was totally crying the other night as I sorted through her clothes, but I am really excited to see how our family dynamic forms with 2 boys and an older sister. Josie is such a good little mama already. :)

[this little boy has his Mama's heart completely...I'm a goner]

5. Josie and I are doing gymnastics on Saturday mornings! We just started 2 weeks ago and it was SO much fun. Its very hands on for the parents (which I expected) and I was actually sore afterwards (which I was not expecting). It runs for 14 weeks and should get interesting as I get bigger. Haha! 

[our mother does our hair...]

6. Uri and I are finished nursing. It was not nearly as bittersweet as when I finished with Josie, I think partly because I realize in 4 short months I will be nursing around the clock again. Also, he is a snugly little fellow, so we still have plenty of cuddle-time together. He is an EARLY riser most mornings, but recently has been willing to snuggle up next to me in bed while I catch a few more Zs. Then at almost 6:30 on the dot, he sits up and demands a banana...haha. 

 [needless to say, the chair is back in the trunk]

Ha! I got it!

Okay, so Uri came down with a cold a couple days ago and was SUPER-over-the-top-miserable. He took 3 naps on Sunday, then slept terrible, had to be nursed around 2am, and then took a horrible nap Monday morning. But when we ran Tom to the airport and then picked up some stuff at the grocery store, he seemed much better. At lunch that day I realized that while he still had a cold, I don't think it was as bad as we thought. After months of teething, Uri's first TWO bottom teeth came through. Yay!!


And I thought for sure that I would have trouble getting a picture. They are still just barely through and he has his tongue in the way a lot....but I got it: 

Don't worry, I am firing his barber. Wow. 

In other news, last week Josie sang in her very first performance. Also another challenging photo. It was at Nurture, our mom's group at church, and all the 2 year olds and older came out and sang Joy to the World and Oh Holy Night (I think?). During the week before, the gal in charge of the kids programming sent out an email asking us to practice with our kids so they wouldn't forget what they had learned. When I sang a little of each song and asked Josie if she knew them she insisted that, no, she had no idea what those songs were. 

Okay, I took this picture WHILE they were singing. Obviously, they all knew the song as well as Josie.

And where to look. 

25 two year olds singing in a choir: WOW.

When we are not teething through drool and snot and singing in harmony for captive audiences, we have been hanging out at home. When we don't have time (or lets be honest, energy) to get down to the park, I have taken the kids out to ride Josie's trike. I also brought Uri's cart outside to wear him out for naptime too. And check out the cuteness...

He absolutely loves this activity. We have done it a couple times for at least an hour each time. :)