Pictures

Camryn and Haley at Great America last weekend!





The little leprechaun.



On the phone with her Daddy.

College Days...

My school is two blocks from Santa Clara University. Yesterday I stopped by the Safeway by school to pick up a few things. I was laughing in line as the guy in front of me was checking out. He had his ipod earphones in and he placed a case of beer, protein shake powder and 2 packages of cookies on the belt. It was 3:30 and it looked like he had just finished a workout. This image threw me back to our college days. I could see Waago, Jena and I walking across the street to Vons, packing up the cart with the essentials (Captain Morgan, beer, mac and cheese) and rolling that cart all the way home. I had a smile on my face as I remembered times like having pina coladas and watching "Friends," driving down to San Diego for the night or weekend, our entertaining neighbors. Such a fun time!

Our Evening

I picked Haley up today and gave her two choices. We could go to the eyebrow place or get the car washed. She chose the eyebrow place (she's been once with me). We walked in and she told me that we go in the back. We got back there and she panicked a bit that she was going to have a turn. I assured her that only adults have a turn. When the woman walked in Haley said "hey teacher, I'm not gonna have a turn today?" It was funny. She asked questions the whole time. " Mommy, you like that?" "Mommy is she cutting your eyebrows?"
She then yelled to the salon "bye everyone! See ya later!" as we were walking out.
We then got in the car and went to drive home. I saw her playing with some paper. The next thing she says is "Mommy! I got it in my nose. OW!" I pulled over and sure enough she had wadded up a torn piece of paper and shoved it into her nose. I had to tilt her head all the way back to see it...it was FAR up there. I took my tweezers and went in for the kill. She let out a scream and thank heavens I got it on the first try.
Then at gymnastics they had a bubble machine and a bubble popped in her eye. Her eye turned red and she asked for a band aid. We flushed her eye out with water and it was fine.
Always some sort of adventure.
Happy Birthday Camryn!

Russell Likes and Dislikes

We are always saying that each phase gets better and better. Haley has us laughing on a daily basis. She asks at least once a day if the baby is coming out this time. She loves the baby. She will talk to the baby, sing to the baby, and kiss the baby. She actually felt the baby the other night and her face lit up! "Hey! He kicked me!" She talks about all of the things she will do once the baby is born (hold it, feed it, rock it to sleep). She is pretty even when she says boy or girl now. It used to be girl and sister only.
She loves playing pretend (kitchen, babies, monster) and LOVES to rough house with her dad. She is very into her Care Bears books that Joy and Trevor gave her for Christmas. She likes to wear the top half of her pajamas and not the bottom. She likes playing hide and seek. She loves her gymnastics class every Thursday night. She likes princesses.
She does not like getting her hair washed. She does not like vegetables. She does not like even talking about going to the doctor (coming up in a few weeks). She does not like being woken up (who does?) but recovers very quickly. She does not like to leave the park. She does not like getting her hair brushed or styled.
We are proud parents who watch in amazement. We love having full conversations with her. We love when she says "I love you" without being prompted. We love when she cuddles. We love when she is being silly. We are proud of how she is in public.
We do not like potty training. We do not like whining. We do not like having to be stern. And we do not like all of her "tricks" that get us to keep coming back into her room after she has gone to bed.
It goes without saying that we love being parents to such a special kid.

Princesses and Parties

This past weekend Josh was away for Andy's bachelor party. We had a full schedule.
First was Princesses on Ice. That was a HIT with all three girls. They sat and stared and oohed and aahed. Uncle Jake came with us as we joined the Barnes family and Garcia family. Very fun event!

Sunday we had Lindsay's birthday party followed by Tyler's birthday party. Haley got to play with animals and take a pony ride at Lindsay's house, and run around the park and pull a pinata string at Tyler's birthday party. I have to say that the pull string pinata is the best invention for toddlers. No fear of bloody noses or black eyes. Both parties were a blast. It was such a beautiful day to be outside.

6:30

For a little over a week, the little peanut has been consistent with rumbling and tumbling at 6:30am. S/he is almost my own personal snooze button. My alarm goes off at 6:15 and the baby will remind me it's time to get up! Movements have been getting bigger. Others can feel from the outside and we can also watch my belly move around. It's so cool and crazy! I was working with a small group this morning and the baby was moving so I put a sticky note on my shirt so the kids could see it move. They got a "kick" out of it.