Monday, December 17, 2007

So...

...I am not very good at keeping my blog updated! I just really haven't been motivated to write anything. My life just isn't that interesting right now. The usual stuff has been going on, getting ready for Christmas, decorated, put up the tree, almost done shopping, etc. Last night we went over to my parents and made Christmas cookies, so that was fun. (And messy!) We made a special batch for Kaylin that were dairy and egg free, but she doesn't want to touch them--she has such a strange aversion to sweets. Maybe that's good. And I was bummed because I brought my camera, but it died right as I was trying to take pictures of the three of us in our aprons. I got some with my dad's camera though. Tonight we're going to take some of the cookies over to our neighbors, which will be good because I've already eaten way too many!

On a seperate note, my sister is coming into town tomorrow and I am very excited! Kaylin loves seeing her auntie and Karen does a great job of playing with her and keeping her occupied so that I can get stuff done. It never feels like fully like Christmas until my sister is here and we can watch Home Alone, go shopping, and make even more cookies. It's been interesting now that I'm married and have a new family, with new traditions. I don't have my sister waking me up early so that we can open our stockings before our parents get up. And then eat pancakes while listening to Christmas music after opening all the gifts and then spending most of the day hanging out in our pajamas. I miss it, but am excited to see what kinds of traditions Tim and I will make with Kaylin.

What kinds of traditions do you guys have/had that you will be carrying on with your families?

Monday, December 10, 2007

Jumped on the bandwagon...


I jumped on the bandwagon in the trend for short hair. (But I've wanted to do it for awhile now, and finally got up the courage.) I haven't had it short in a long time, so it's going to take a little time to get used to. And it's going to force me to actually style my hair instead of throwing it back in a clip or ponytail, so we'll see how that goes. I've had it for two days now and am really starting to like it; it's fun to finally have a "hair style." And I think I finally look older than 21!

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Bedhead!

Hey Dad--you woke me up!

But it's okay, I still love you!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Billy Joel

Went to see Billy Joel on Saturday with my mom and sister. It was a lot of fun! He is such a great performer and I'd been waiting a long time to see him in concert. He doesn't tour often, and only had two stops in California, so when I saw that he was coming to Oakland, which isn't that far away from Davis, I knew I had to go. My sister and mom are also big fans, so the three of us drove over while Tim watched Kaylin. It was so fun to get dressed up and not be in "mom mode" for a night. We had great seats (we decided the $$ was worth it--plus my mom chipped in for most of it), but I was so bummed because I didn't bring my camera in (they said they weren't permitted, but of course everyone else had them) and I couldn't find my cell phone, so I couldn't even get a picture on that. Oh well, I guess i'll always have the memory. Such fun!

Portrait shot after coming home.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Happy birthday Tim!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband! Wish we could be together today and that you didn't have to work. I know it's been a bit crazy lately and that we won't be able to celebrate til maybe Friday. I hope that you know how special you are and how much I love you. You are such a wonderful, caring husband and father, who always puts his family first and himself last. I am continually amazed and blessed by that. I hope that we can spoil you a little bit and that you can relax and take it easy for a change. Thanks for being my perfect soul mate and partner. I love you!


Sunday, November 4, 2007

Toys

So I've started thinking about toy ideas for Christmas and I wanted to get some feedback from other parents on what they recommend. I want to get some things she can use outdoors, that will keep her busy, like a play structure, sand/water table, or a sandbox. She loves water and slides and is finally liking sand, so I thought once the weather warms up a bit she can play in our backyard more. I think I will get two of the above mentioned items, but where I am stuck is (1)whether to get just a slide or a small play structure with a slide, and (2) whether to get a sandbox or a sand and water table. Does anyone have any experience with their kids really liking one over another, or one that they love playing with? Does that make sense? Also, any tips on specific brands and what works (is safe or not) would be great to know too. Thanks!

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Shark Attack!

Here are a few pics from tonight. We took Kaylin around to just a few houses to get some use out of her adorable costume. She had fun ringing the doorbell and gawking at some of the kids in costume. (She kept signing "more" when they left.) I'm glad she wasn't scared of any of them. And she surprisingly left her shark "hat" on until we took it off later on in the evening. Hope everyone had a fun Halloween! And don't feel too guilty about eating too much candy!

Our little shark


She was upset because I kept trying to pose her on the doorstep and wouldn't let her get up to run around.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Random

I know I haven't blogged in awhile, (haven't been motivated), so here are some random pictures of what we've been up to these past few weeks.

Kaylin playing peek-a-boo at the zoo


Kaylin and me showing off our 3-D glasses (Tim and I went and saw Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D at the movies last week.)

The group of moms that I hang out with. (We're at the pumpkin patch/petting zoo.) All of our kids are only a month or so apart. And Kaylin's the only girl--watch out! ;)

Aidan, Ethan, and Kaylin

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Trevor and Jen's wedding

Just returned from a weekend down in SLO to attend a good friend's wedding. It was a quick trip but always good to be back on the central coast. We saw lots of old and dear friends at the wedding (it felt like a reunion) and had fun catching up and celebrating Trevor's marriage to Jen. We took lots of pictures so I put them on Flickr instead of uploading them all individually. A short blog because it's late, but just wanted to post the pictures. Enjoy!


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Ahhh

Just sitting here listening to the rain outside, watching Martha Stewart make cute Halloween crafts, and typing on the computer while Kaylin naps. She is finally sleeping in her crib after a week of only napping on my lap. (She was sick.) Hopefully she'll stay in there the whole time now that she's feeling a bit better.

On a seperate note, I'm so glad it's Friday! It's been a long week stuck in the house while Kaylin was sick; she was fussy a lot and I was just having a rough time with it. Some days it's really hard to be a mommy! Tommorow I'm getting my hair cut--it's getting scraggily so it'll be nice to get a trim. Nothing drastic yet, but in the near future I think I want to cut it shorter. Also on Saturday, Tim and I are going to a UC Davis football game. A college football game isn't something we would normally go to, but they're playing Poly and a bunch of young couples from our church are going and about half of the group went to Poly, so it'll be fun to root for the old alma mater.

Any of you have any fun weekend plans?

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Impossible Acres

Checking out the baby chicks


Cute baby pigs




She liked petting the baby goats




Running!


Peek-a-boo! (She loves getting caught hiding!)




Around we go!


Had to do a self-portrait





Which one's not a pumpkin?

Today Kaylin and I took a trip over to Impossible Acres, a farm in Davis that has a petting zoo, hay maze and pumpkin patch. We had lots of fun and although Kaylin was a little timid of the animals at first, she enjoyed looking, and sometimes gently petting, all of the animals. It was nice to get outside (the weather's great right now) and let Kaylin explore and run around. I think her favorite part of the trip was the hay maze. She ran around and we played peek-a-boo behind the bales of hay, which she got a kick out of. She also loved sitting on the bales, which I thought was funny--she even got mad when I tried to take her off!
On a side note, there was a lady working that asked if Kaylin was my daughter. She said she thought I was the babysitter because I look so young. It's not like she was rude at all, but there's something about that that kind of offended me. Not sure why? (And I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often because I know I do look young.) I think people are getting used to older women having babies in their 30's and 40's and for some reason don't expect women in their younger twenties to have kids. I think it shows a shift in our society where more women are waiting until after they've started their careers and experienced life (traveling and such) to have kids. There's nothing wrong with either approach; it's just interesting to see the change. (What would people in the 50's think of women waiting so long?) I've definitely noticed it in Davis--it's been hard to find younger moms to hang out with. All of the playgroups and parenting groups I've gone to have older moms attending with their babies. I always felt like the youngest one. And for some reason it's a little harder for me to feel connected to these older women. (Really, they're not that much older, maybe 5 to 10 years.) But for me, it's enough to feel a difference. Anybody else with similar experiences?

Monday, October 1, 2007

Nut Tree

Naked shot!

We had a fun close to our weekend by making a trip out to Vacaville--first we went shopping at the outlets (okay, so I knew they were there, but didn't know it was so big! I'm excited to go back!). We tried not to spend too much time there so we could go to Nut Tree, but I must admit, I got caught up shopping for new clothes for Kaylin! After that we headed over to Nut Tree, where Kaylin had fun going on the train, the carousel, and the car ride. We didn't stay too long because it was close to dinner-time. We went over to the ice-cream parlor next door and had my favorite--grilled cheese! Well, only I had the grilled cheese, but we all enjoyed our dinners. To top the night off, we had the sundae of the month, a huge serving of chocolate chip cookie dough and cookies and cream ice creams over a chocolate chip cookie, topped with marshmallow creme, hot fudge, whipped creme, chocolate chips, a oreo cookie, and a cherry! Needless to say, we didn't come close to finishing it, but it was good! A great way to finish the night!









Little monkey!



Yum!

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Okay, I give up! No more surveys!

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Fall!

So here are two pictures of Kaylin just because she's cute!



I have been looking for a fall wreath for awhile, but never found one I liked, so when I read Kristen's blog, I was inspired to make my own. Fun! And I'm so excited for fall! There's something about the changes in the seasons, with the leaves changing colors and the temperature dropping...love it! I guess God knows we like variety.

Another survey

Okay, so since none of you participated in my survey, except Michelle (way to go!), I have nothing left to do but conduct another one. This time, my question for all of you is: how often during the week do you take your little ones out? By out, I don't mean errands, but like to the park, the zoo--activities just for them. I feel that I don't take Kaylin out as much as I should; I get caught up running errands or going places for me. Oh, and feel free to answer the other post too! :)

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

A little survey

Wanted to ask those of you who are parents, what is your child's favorite activity/toy? What occupies them for most of the day, that they like to do over and over? (It's okay to have several answers.) For example, Kaylin's really into books right now and we spend about 70% of our day reading. Of course, for her, the "reading" part only lasts for a very short time before she's up off my lap running to pick out a new book to read. And a lot of time she brings the same one. She also would spend all day outside and/or playing with water if I let her.

The reason I'm conducting this "survey" is to give me some ideas of things to do with Kaylin that she may really like, things that I haven't thought of before. Thanks for participating! :)

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Pics

Haven't had pictures on here for awhile, so I thought I'd add some. Been busy traveling around almost every weekend, and here are a few pictures from all of our trips. At the Japanese Tea Gardens in SF

Chasing the pidgeons in Eureka

My birthday
How I feel about having another birthday...

Playing peek-a-boo at a friend's wedding reception in Taft


almost picking her nose...

Our family