President's Day

Yesterday, we spent ALL DAY (9:30am-5:30pm) at the beach.

It was 80 degrees AND Jason had work off. (!!)

So we headed up to Laguna and had a glorious beach day at Three Arch with my parents, sister and her family, and some friends.

The weather was amazing, the water was beautiful, the kids had a blast, piper napped on the beach, and to finish off our day, we had our favorite - La Sirena. Fish tacos were calling our name.

We usually go up to Snowbird in Utah every President's day with the Kimball's to ski, but since I am pregnant and Piper can't really go yet, we opted out this year and I am not mad about it one bit.

Because yesterday was pretty perfect.

VALENTINE'S DAY

Since Valentine's Day was on a Sunday this year, we celebrated for a few days.

Thursday and Friday, Piper had a little party with friends. One they exchanged Valentine's and the other they decorated sugar cookies. She is so lucky to have so many little friends here! 

That is something we never take for granted.

Friday, Jason and I went on a little date and ate at Red O in Newport.

(We also went to get new phones, but that's a long story)

We had such a good conversation over dinner that you can really only have when it's just one on one. (no kids)

Jason isn't a huge Valentine's lover, but he knows I am so he's a good sport ;)

On Saturday we spent all day at the beach and then Jason took Piper out of a little date.

He went outside and knocked on the door and was waiting with candy and a flower for her.

It was one of the cutest thing I have ever seen. (may have cried)

They went and saw Kung Fu Panda and got Yogurtland.

When she came home she was on cloud 9. I have honestly never seen her so happy and giddy.

While they were on their date, I went and got a pedicure and came home and cleaned the house.

I kind of loved it.

Sunday we made breakfast together and that was about it!

I really love this man of mine and feel so lucky that he's mine FOREVER. 

There really is no one better for me than him.

Big Bear

Our friends Kelli + Kirk invited us to come to their family's place up in Big Bear for a little weekend getaway. There was surprisingly tons of snow and it snowed a little bit while we were there!

We took the kids sledding on a little hill by the condo, ate some good food, played some games, hot tubbed, and the boys went snowboarding half day on saturday, while we stayed home with the napping kids.

It was the perfect little getaway and just what I was craving.

I needed a little snow in my life, and I got it.

I'm good for another year now ;) 

 

 

Piper at age 2

let's get real.

TWO is so hard.

and it's so fun.

but a little bit harder than it is fun, most days.

If you've ever met Piper, you knew within the first few minutes (maybe even seconds) that she is a little spitfire. She is sassy and strong willed. She is so determined and when she sets her mind to something she doesn't let anything stop her.

Communication is getting better between us because she can talk more and she really understands it all..but that doesn't mean she always listens. She does what she wants most of the time, just until recently. She doesn't listen and then i usually give her a few seconds to think about it and then she says "Ok mommy" with a big smile. She gets so proud of herself when she follows directions so she is becoming better at this. She always says "good job piper!" when she does something good.

she always has been (and hopefully always will be) a great sleeper. she goes down easily and wakes up happy (usually). 

we are still working on her appetite. she's pretty picky, but is slowly showing interest in trying new things. i usually just make her a plate of what we are having for dinner and she knows that she has to eat it. maybe not all of it, but a good amount.

she is into all things princesses and anything pretty.

but she still loves her cars and trains.

she loves doggies and loves to pretend to play "mommy" to her little stuffed animals.

she'll walk around with a baby or small animal saying "you're so cute baby. want to eat some soup baby? here's your ba-ba" she loves it.

she is really funny and cracks us up everyday. she loves to make people laugh. she loves to dance and help me out with anything I'm doing. She always asks me "what you doing mama?" and wants to see and be in on the action.

she still doesn't love any attention on her (besides her parents) and she gets reaaaally embarrassed when she gets hurt in front of people. she doesn't cry because she's hurt, she screams and cries because she's embarrassed.

she loves to say hi to people everywhere we go, but the other day we were at target and this sweet lady walked past us and said hi to piper and she looked at her and said "go away!" yikes.

luckily the lady just laughed with me.

but I'm telling you. this girl is so hot and cold. i never know what I'm going to get.

she could be laughing her head off one minute and then freaking out the next.

oh and she's bosses me around all day long.

"stop singing mommy."

"sit down mommy."

"no no mommy."

"go over there mommy."

you get the point. 

two year olds, man. 

New Year, New Goals - & an UPDATE

One of my goals this year is to be better at documenting and recording our little life.

I have never been a good journal keeper and when i was like 14 i made my scrapbook in about 2 days and never touched it after that.

so obviously i struggle.

but i really want to be better at keeping a record on this blog.

i feel like i can do that.

at least once a week, with pictures too.

so that i can remember little details and events that took place that i'd otherwise forget if i didn't write them down. so here it goes...

First of all - I'M PREGNANT!

17 weeks now.

due date: June 20th

So I had originally wanted to have this one be exactly 2.5 years younger than piper. i never really thought it'd take time because my body already did it and i knew it could do it again. and i knew i was so ready...but it took a little longer than we thought. we started trying in april and i got pregnant in september. really it wasn't that long, but when i was wanting it so bad it seemed like foreverrrr. and there was a little miscarriage in between. I was sooo sad when i miscarried, but to be honest it strengthened my testimony in a weird way. I wasn't even that far along, but i was just so bummed that i really had to turn to the Lord for comfort and peace. and i was confused..but I had to learn that He has a plan for us and His plan isn't always what we had in mind. Luckily, i got pregnant the next month. anyways, it was a trial, but we got through it and we feel so blessed to have this little miracle growing inside my body. Aren't women's bodies so amazing? 

we grow human beings! 

it blows my mind every time i think about it.

so this might be TMI, but i always tell it like it is and this is my personal space so here it is:

i had been going to a fertility acupuncturist that so many friends of mine swear by.

he had me on some herbs morning and night, i had to wear socks at all times (even when it was 100 degrees), i could only eat and drink warm food (had to microwave my water all the time) and was on a special diet of little dairy, lots of raw fruits and veggies and low sugar.

well it only took 3 weeks!

im a believer.

it was mid October.

i knew i was pregnant before i took the test.

my boobs grew overnight and they started to hurt.

and i just had that motherly instinct.

i waited to take the test because i didn't want to get discouraged but i woke up one morning and grabbed a test and took it. jason was in the shower and when he walked out i just held up the pregnancy test with a big fat positive. we both freaked out and got so excited but we were both on guard a little bit just because this had happened a month and a half earlier and we didn't want to get our hopes up. but this one felt different. i knew this one stuck and i knew it was happening.

i was so excited that i pretty much told some of my friends that i see on a daily basis as soon as i peed on the stick because i was so dang excited. and i wanted them to know why i was always so tired and lazy...and they knew we had been trying so the question came up frequently and i cannot lie! 

we told both our families at six weeks and then waited until we were in the clear at 13 weeks to announce publicly.

so far this pregnancy has been so similar, yet so different than my first. 

first of all I'm showing a lot earlier.

my sinuses haven't stopped since the moment this whole thing started

(which is SO annoying - i wake up multiple times a night to blow my nose..ive taken everything the doctor has said i could take and nothing works..it's really only bad when I'm sleeping and early in the morning)

i take about 2-3 showers a day. my body craves a hot relaxing shower. even if i just stand there for 10 minutes.

i couldn't cook for the first 14 weeks of my pregnancy.

my own kitchen grossed me out so we ate out a lot.

im so glad to have my cooking appetite back.

i've thrown up once, which i never did with piper.

I have been so much more tired than i was with piper - but that might be because I'm chasing around a 2 year old every day? either way, I'm tired. and i nap almost everyday which is glorious.

i have little patience.

even though i still get tired, my energy came back full force and i am loving it.

i am feeling more like myself again.

my two food cravings: tacos and pineapple.

i had no cravings with P.

i got an at home doppler ultrasound on amazon for like $40 and it's my favorite thing.

whenever I'm feeling a little bit worried i just take a listen and i can hear that little heartbeat working so hard in there. and recently i've been able to hear movement! which is so exciting.

last friday i started to feel little nudges. they aren't consistent but i get a couple every day and it's getting me so excited for all those kicks and punches to come.

piper already loves baby and loves to hug and kiss my belly.

she always lifts up my shirt and says, "good morning baby."

i'm excited to see her be a big sister.

we find out the gender in 2 weeks (at our 20 week ultrasound appt.) and we cannot wait!!

i have an inkling of what this baby might be, but ill have to wait to see if I'm right.

JUNE can't come soon enough!! I'm so ready.

Simplify

Simplifying has been my goal for the last few months.

I recently found myself so caught up in my job as a nanny, having a business of my own, being a mom, wife, friend, sister...etc. 

I felt like I had to do it all. 

I thought I liked being busy and having so much to do.

I couldn't say No to anything..and I didn't want to miss out on anything. 

I didn't want to let anyone down.

I started to get stressed and snappy (poor jason)

I keep piling more on my load than i could handle.

It's a weird thing right now in the world of motherhood, where it seems like every single mom is doing it all (at least that's what they might want you to think?). and it makes you feel like you have to too. 

at least that's how i was feeling.

i also think my role as a mom was so new and i was trying to figure myself out in the midst of it.

i took a step back to revaluate my life and really focus on the reasons i was being stressed and felt so pulled in different directions.

i started to cut things out. 

my nannying job ended for the school year and i decided i was done. i loved the family so much, but needed to focus on my own family more.

i stopped my business. 

i went back and forth with this for months but finally decided that it wasn't a passion of mine

and it was making me more stressed than it was happy.

as soon as i did that i felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.

i learned to say no to things. it's ok if i miss out on events and activities.

i learned to prioritize better and do things that made me happy just for me and my family.

not for anyone else to see or show.

just for me. for us.

and you guys...I FEEL AMAZING.

i feel so free and so happy.

i love waking up every day planning out our day on our own schedule and no one else's.

i am doing video projects for people a bit more, but that's not busy work to me. 

that is a passion of mine.

and is more like a hobby than anything else.

i do still like to be busy, but not stressful busy. 

i like plans and we have to get out every day, but that's for us! for our happiness.

because in the end, that really is the end all, be all purpose in this lie.

our own progression, our family's happiness.

TWO!

On Monday, our favorite little one turned TWO!

She is so fun and so crazy at this age.

for her birthday we had a little family party on sunday night with just some cake & ice cream. on her actual birthday we woke her up with balloons that we threw in her bed and sang happy birthday to her. (she was TERRIFIED) side story: she is afraid of balloons. this is a new thing. last week we had two balloons at our house left over from a baby shower and they had deflated so much that they were basically just laying on the floor. all our windows were open so the breeze was blowing through and it made the balloons move all around the house on their own - piper thought they were alive and she freaked. i thought she was over it but when we threw the balloons in her bed on her birthday we was hysterical. #parentfail

the day of her bday we planned a little party with some friends but it was raining so we postponed it until the next day. so instead we just went and got donuts and then after her nap daddy met us at disneyland and she was in heaven! she loves going but it's always me taking her. having daddy there was a whole new world. it was the best.

then we had a little party at the park with her the next day combined with her friend Henley who's birthday is the day before.

success all around! (minus the balloon fiasco)

things she loves: disneyland, beach, yogurt, doggies from afar, tangled/frozen, chocolate, playing with friends, jumping in the pool, counting to 12 (with a little help), saying ABC's (with a little help), dancing, playing with her toys, copying everything mommy does, when daddy comes home, doing lion cubs with mommy, discovering new things, walks in the stroller, bike rides, swings, shopping, brushing my hair and more..but those are what come to mind right now.

Phrases she's into saying:

"mommy, I nice"

"No No mommy"

"yaaaa"

"truck!"

"that's cuuute"

"lets go"

(and she copies back anything we say)

currently in joy school and gymnastics. loves both.

honestly, she is so fun right now. she is like a real person. no more little baby.

she knows what things are and we can have a conversation.

she is my best little buddy. she loves walking next to me and does a really good job at just staying by me when we're out and about. (she loves to go shopping with me and walks and shops next to me like she's 13.."mommy thats cute")

she is a screamer whether she's happy, excited, or mad. either way, she HAS to scream about it.

she recently started to get really nervous and overwhelmed when the attention is on her or when there's a lot of people around that try to talk to her (exactly how i was when i was little)

although, if she's in a good mood, then she'll say hi and bye to every single person that walks by.

she loves to do different expressions and faces like her cool face, excited face, happy face, etc.

she tries to make us laugh ALL the time. it's so funny.

we love everything about her, the crazy and the sweet. 

happy 2nd birthday my pipeys!