Go Giants!

Monet Hills

We took a very quick trip to Disneyland prior to my birthday. We had a fun time, but our trip was cut even shorter due to the fact that we all got sick after our first day in the park. We woke up the next day and decided to go home instead of hitting the beach. Making the drive in daylight offered up a beautiful surprise along the grapevine. The spring flowers were blooming, and the hills looks like they had been colored with broad strokes of a paintbrush. Beautiful!

Baby Photo Shoot

Naomi is absolutely delicious so prepare yourself for the sweetness!






p.s. Did you notice her new trick??? She's grabbing her feet!

Oh how I love my instant hot water dispenser

Each member of the family has been sick at some point in the last two weeks. Unfortunately, I think Naomi has caught a combination of our various ailments. She's been sick for two weeks straight with no signs of getting better. I'm turning into that mom that's bringing her baby to the pediatrician every few days, only to be told "it's just a cold." I really can't help being overly neurotic about her health considering she has been hospitalized twice in her very short life.

Needless to say, we've been getting very little sleep, which is probably contributing to my endless nasty cold. Last night was rough and when we finally did roll out of bed, I spent the morning suctioning, wiping, and cuddling a silently crying baby. It's really sad to see your baby cry and only hear quiet squeaks come out because she's lost her voice. I came downstairs in time to make Ava's lunch and send her off to school, at which point I realized that neither Tyler or I made the girls any breakfast. I felt like a really neglectful mom until Ava informed me that Lilly made her oatmeal for breakfast!!! Ah the beauty of those little packets of oatmeal and an instant hot water dispenser.

Happy Birthday to Me, I Turned 33

What I didn't do:
*teach my RS lesson (thanks Jane!)
*blow out candles
*eat cake
*enjoy the beautiful summer-like weather

What I did do:
*sent Tyler & Ava to the ER in the middle of the night (Ava woke up with a raging ear infection & Tyler was sick as well)
*sent Tyler & Naomi to the after-hours pediatric clinic (yucky virus)
*stayed in bed all day trying not to cough up a lung

The day was a gigantic bust, but I'm grateful for another year of life and the blessings I received. I'm grateful for the love I share with my husband and daughters. I'm grateful for the birth of Naomi. It was exactly this time last year we found out she would be joining our family, right when we had given up hope. So even though today wasn't the best, it has been a really REALLY great year for me and I'm happy.

p.s. Tyler just ran to the store to get me a slice of cake. He's the best!

Insults

We are creating quite the list of "bad words" in our family. Some of them sound worse then they really are. For example, the S word is stupid and the B word is butt. Lilly decided to get creative with her insults this morning in order to tip toe around using a bad word and still make her sister mad. Are you ready for this? She called Ava an "old hag."

3 Piggy Opera

Our little piggy built her house out of sticks. Her class put on a show for us and she was quite a star.

Easter

Today is Easter Sunday and the last day of spring break. We traveled to Hawaii almost a whole week before spring break officially began at school, so we've had almost two weeks off. It's been wonderful having so much family time and the girls got along surprisingly well. Naomi has enjoyed having so much attention from her sisters and has really become so alert and engaged in what they are doing. I never thought I'd say it, but I can't wait for summer break.

Birthday Boy

We celebrated Tyler's 35th birthday this week. I sure love him, and I'm glad that he's dealing with his mid-30's by taking up running instead of buying a new car or something. Tyler, you will always be my stallion ;)

Happy Hallow

Near the end of spring break, we went to the newly refurbished Happy Hallow with the cousins. I'm a little sad that it was closed for so long when my kids were the perfect age for it, but it is so nice now, and they still enjoy it. Plus, they have a roller coaster now. After we got off, Ava told me that she was worried it was a "baby roller coaster" but it was actually really fun. Since when does my little girl dismiss a roller coaster as being too wimpy?

More proof that we are in for trouble...

On the flight to Hawaii, the airline played New Moon. It's obviously not a movie for little ones, so the girls weren't listening, but they would occasionally glance at the screen. As soon as Jacob made his "transformation" (not to a werewolf but to a hot guy) Lilly couldn't peel her eyes from the screen and wanted to know what his name was. On the flight home her first question was, "Do we get to watch the Jacob movie again?"

So she's only four, but she already has her favorite Jonas brother AND she's team Jacob.

Spring Break, Hawaiian Style

We took the girls to Hawaii for spring break along with Tyler's parents and brother & sister in-law. Whenever we come back from Hawaii, people ask how the trip was and what the weather was like. It is ALWAYS lovely. Even if it pours the entire time, I can't complain (it didn't rain by the way).

Here are some shots from the week: