In the cookies of life...

...sisters are the chocolate chips!

Happy Birthday Shannon!

Since I write a whole lot better than I speak, this is the best you're gonna get from me! In spite of how I treated you growing up, and even sometimes still today, I think you turned out okay.
Here are 27 things I love and cherish about my sister:

1. She's very talented and creative
2. She's a lot of fun to play games with
3. She's strong and athletic
4. We like the same kind of clothes, usually
5. We can laugh at childhood memories
6. Camping
7. If you want the ultimate Disney experience, you better bring her along
8. Paper Dolls
9. She makes friends wherever she goes
10. Winnie-the-Pooh
11. Watching movies together
12. Laughing at (no WITH) Chad
13. Quints
14. San Clemente
15. She actually asks ME for advice. I know...
16. Giggling with Kaley and Pam (back in the day, of course)
17. Shaver Lake
18. Aaron, Roxy, Donovan, Baby #3
19. She's cute
20. Soccer
21. Laughing at (no WITH) Dad
22. Matching dresses
23. She's a great mother
24. Motorcycle riding
25. Mustard on white rice
26. She won't back down to a challenge
27. I could list 100 more

Hope you have a great day! Wish you were closer and look forward to all the good times ahead!

U Tawh

So after a relaxing Valentine's weekend, we received the sad news that Chris' grandmother had passed away. Ever since I've known her, her health has been poor, but she was quite the sassy and spunky lady. She gave Dillan a wooden train whistle when he was 2 that he still adores today.

Anyway, we raced home from San Diego, picked up the kids and set to work getting everything ready. The plan was to leave the next morning and stay as long as was needed. Dillan was thrilled to be going on a trip to Grandma's house. Of course Leah, as only Leah can, tried to sabotage the entire trip that very night. She did the same thing Christmas Eve. Puking and diarrhea all night. Perfect.

So after much debating whether or not the kids should make the trip, we decided to just do it. I considered leaving the kids, but can't ever bring myself to burden others, especially with sickies. The trip up was relatively peaceful in spite of watching Leah like a hawk with the barf bucket and towel at hand. Thankfully, no incidents to report.

We tried our best to stay out of the way of the craziness and allow Daddy to help out where he was needed. We visited the ducks down the street, played at the park, played pool, went shopping, played games with cousins, ate at Cafe Rio (everyone else went to In N Out, go figure) and Frozen Custard. The highlight of our trip happened when Chris and I were washing cars and he found his old bowling ball from his glory days of childhood bowling leagues. So we took Dillan bowling for the first time. He LOVED it. He loved having an orange ball all to himself, he loved Daddy helping him throw the ball, but his favorite was watching the ball return back to him. Every morning since he's asked to take him back to the B-O-W-L. I guess we'll have to do that.

Stay little Valentine stay

One of my fondest desires has come true. For Valentine's Day weekend all Chris told me was that he was taking me away. That's ALL he told me. A surprise? Really?!? My heart was leaping as the day approached. It would just be for one night, and he had taken care of everything. He had made a reservation, called my mother to take the kids, had found where he'd be taking me to dinner and breakfast the next morning. I was in heaven just anticipating this one night excursion. After dropping off the kids, he never told me where we were going. South. That's all I could tell once we hit the freeway. And yes, south we did go.

It was pouring rain when we left home, and by the time we reached San Diego, the clouds were moving inland and we had blue sky and sunshine! We ended up at Shelter Island, in Point Loma. A quaint little marina neighborhood that was peaceful and calm as the ocean breezes. We drove onto a peninsula and had ocean on one side and marina on the other. It was beautiful. You couldn't find a better place. The hotel was amazing, a regular hawaiian escape in the middle of winter. When he turned into the parking lot, the first thing in my mind was, "No way." I was of course wondering how much this night was costing, but never did find out.

We walked by the water. I'm a sucker for any kind of path near water. I could have walked for days. We had dinner at a local mexican restaurant and not once did I worry about my kids. It was the most relaxation I have had in a long time. I loved being surprised like that and I loved not having to worry or do anything. It was a great escape just a few miles away! Thank you Thank you mon amour! Je t'aimerai a tout jamais! Bisous!


Leah's progress in her big-girl bed? She sleeps like a championette!

4 for 4 nights and NO midnight rendez-vous! It's like she was begging us all this time to put her there.

Here goes nothin...

For the past 2 weeks, Leah has been waking up in the middle of the night refusing to go back to sleep unless it is in our bed. Plus, she wakes Dillan from endless crying and screaming. Problem: Mommy gets ZERO sleep with someone sleeping in close proximity. It took awhile to get used to Chris being there, but separate beds was out of the question, apparently. Anyway, we haven't been able to figure out what the issue is, so we've been experimenting. We tried placing one of my pillows in her crib. We removed the guard rail from the crib. We tried laying her next to Dillan in his bed. Nothing was working.

So now we've placed her on the bottom bunk.


Yes, I realize I am partially forcing my baby girl to grow up too fast. I know that moving from a crib might be torturous for everyone, but we gotta try!
I told Dillan he could have a new comforter and was really trying to persuade him to those I liked to try and coordinate the two beds. Well, as I'm trying to give him more choices instead of just telling him how it's gonna be (oh wait, that's one of the perks of being Mommy, right?) he made his choice. Cars. OK fine.

New plan. He can use the Cars comforter till it's worn to shreds. Most likely it will be puked upon a number of times, then start to fade from endless washings. By then Dillan will hopefully have moved on from Lightning McQueen and hopefully have a room of his own. Obviously I won't find anything to coordinate with Leah's bed, except for a "Sally" comforter (cuz she's the girl!) like Dillan suggested. But, when and if we have child #3, and decide to keep the bunkbed for future use, it will either be made into an all boy or all girl bunk. And, since I'm the Mommy, I will choose the bedding for the beds and that will just be the way it is.

Now I just need to decide on bedding for Leah's bed. I kind of have an idea of what I want, but just haven't found it. Still searching. So much cute stuff out there, yet so many outlying factors to consider.

What the...

Out shopping. The cashier asked Dillan if he would like some Valentine's stickers. Uhhh.... yeah! He even remembered his manners and thanked her. (Tear). So we continued on with a few more errands with his strip of 8 stickers in tow. They were conversation heart stickers. He offered one to Leah, she admired it for 17 seconds and then pulled it off, crumbled it up and handed it to me. At one point I got preoccupied reading a few labels, calculating prices, and remembering recipes. When I finally came out of it, I looked over and found this:



I couldn't help myself but laugh out loud. His expression! He was so serious, I didn't want him to believe I was laughing at him, but he also wasn't behaving like he was trying to make me laugh. Camera came out, he posed like a pro, and we continued on. He was perfectly at ease, walking around and determined to be a good helper. I, on the other hand, not so calm. Maybe a little embarrassed. The sticker on the nose looked ridiculous and uncomfortable. I eyed the other customers closely to see what their reactions would be. He got a few laughs, some thumbs up, and one women christened him "Sticker Boy." I laughed as he strut his stuff around the store checking each sticker carefully to see that it was still in tact, including the one on his leg that he rolled up his pants for. Eventually my humiliation changed to pride. Yup, that's my boy!

One for Us

This weekend Daddy was gone to Michigan. He was there for David's birthday and the blessing of their baby girl, Nelina. Grandma and Stephen were able to go too. It was a great chance for Daddy to take some time away from work and school and have a good time with his brothers. While we knew we would be missing him everyday while he was gone, I had no idea how strange it would be once kids were in bed and it was just me. No one there to talk to. Boring. As a result, many thoughts were roller coaster-ing through my mind. Some good ones too, at least in my opinion.

This is what I came up with.
I was remembering back when I first met him and we had become friends as missionaries and then started dating. It was a fairly new thing for me, not so much for him. At some point in the relationship, I had to become...gulp, vulnerable. Not an easy task for me. I'd always tried staying strong and impenetrable to the influences others would put on me. Okay, sure there were times where I had been hurt or desensitized by others, but would I ever let them know it? Not a chance. With the exception of my parents (who were smarter than I ever gave them credit for) no one was ever allowed into the thoughts of my mind nor especially the feelings of my heart. So this was all relatively new to me. I had to let my guard down and allow him to see who I really was. All my shortcomings and insecurities. Like an ogre, I had layers. If I had been him, I'm not sure I would have wanted me around at all!

I know I did my best to drive him away. How much could he put up with? What would happen when he got to know me better? Not to say that I'm all that bad, but I'm pretty sure I was different than any other girl he had been around. May be a good thing. For example: belching. I was good at it. Eventually he told me that it bothered him and asked if I would stop. Sure, not like it's good manners anyway, and it's good that I stopped, because I would never want my kids to share that talent. Then there's makeup. Never used the stuff. Tried, hated it. Wedding day, I caved. I was vulnerable now, right? I gave in to the influences of a good friend, who saw me through the whole makeover ordeal. Chris was floored. Of course, can't do it again. He still gives me a hard time about not wearing any, though as sweet as he can, with encouragement.
Still can't do it. Still loves me.

Since having kids, there have been many more changes. We are more aware of things we say and do and have tried to better ourselves. As a result, our expectations of one another increase. It's a never-ending-growing battle. A few steps forward, a few back. I know I am a better person because of him, and no matter what happens, we're in this together.

Spread the Sunshine!

More and more I realize how blessed I am. I know I complain a lot. I know I am never satisfied with what I have, but rather dwell on what is lacking. Hopefully I will continue to grow and recognize the blessings I have and be grateful for them everyday. Every beautiful day.



"Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air..."