He Laughs...and laughs and laughs

How lucky am I that I get to see this everyday?! :)

A Day in the Life of Ella Rose...

I spend some quality time with my favorite person...

I do lunch and shopping with my besties, Olivia and Sydney...

And I get in a little exercise...

Yes, we caved and bought a bounce house...the ring of child neglect for toddlers!

4th of July 2012

 My Pinterest-inspired 4th of July Wreath

I love our neighborhood so much!!!!   Our 4th of July celebration this year had a bike parade, two bounce houses, a giant bouncy slip and slide, a bunch of carnival games with prizes, cotton candy, snow cones, kettle corn, a fire truck taking the kids on rides, a train and more!  I didn't take one photo so I have to thank my friends for sending me a bunch of cute pictures!

And some other summer photos I've meant to post...

I love summer...

Arizona Trip

We took a road trip for the first time with both kids this weekend...it was for a sad occasion (Uncle Denny's funeral), but it was a really fun trip and wonderful celebration of Denny's life.

I had court in Riverside in the morning, which is on the way, so it was take your kids and husband to work day!

The trip went a little down hill from there. First, a big rig caused a giant piece of tire to flip up in the road, Gary had to swerve but still ran over it causing his entire under bumper to fall off his BRAND NEW car. About two minutes later, Ella got sick in the car, and threw up all over herself and her carseat.  We had to pull off the road, change Ella's clothes, clean the carseat, and Gary found that the bumper thing was still half attached to the car.

On a positive note, with the exception of the about 15 minutes that Everett was screaming at the top of his lungs because he was so over-tired, the kids were angels throughout the entire 6 hour drive.

We went to the mall to get out of the 111 degree (yes, that's right 111- ridiculous) heat, and Ella suckered grandpa into renting her this even though we were only going to walk around for 15 minutes before dinner...

Best of all, Ella got to spend time with her cousins, whom she absolutely adores...

They are so good with her, and she got to swim all alone with them in the big pool...

Needless to say, I was not popular when I told her she had to get out so we could put Everett to bed!

The next day, Everett got to meet his great-grandma for the first time!

And on the way home, we stopped in Palm Desert to visit grammy and pop pop. :)

Everett 7 Months

My baby boy is 7 months old today!  I say the same thing every month, but it never changes- he is SUCH a good baby and so happy!  He is exactly what you need in a second child, and he is such a joy to be around.  By the way, I didn't photoshop the scratch on his face out of this photo so he can look back and see what his sister used to do to him (by accident) when he was a baby!! 

He's getting some meat on his bones, but he's still pretty skinny.  He can still wear a 0-3 month in pants/shorts, but at least a 9 month in sleepers because he's so long.  He wears a size 3 diaper.  He is sleeping through night (has been for about a month?) but still gets a dream feed at 11pm.  He eats solids twice a day- loves the orange stuff, likes fruit, dislikes green stuff.

He STILL isn't sitting up!  He rolls like a champ, and he can even do a few army crawls if there is a toy he really really wants too far in front of him, but he refuses to sit up on his own.
He weighs about 17 pounds- the exact same as Ella at 7 months...he's just taller and thinner!

My happy happy boy- I just want to eat him up!

Ella and Everett at 7 months...

The Haps

First of all, I'm creating a monster. Yesterday, Ella started crying because her sippy cup didn't match her outfit. What the heck?! She just continues to make me laugh...

The other day I did something for her, and she goes, "I'm SO proud of you mommy!"  Ha!

We often put down a big blanket with toys and let Everett roll around and play. Ella has always laid her babies face down and covered each one head to toe with a blanket to put them to sleep. Well today, she did this...

They are still laying face down (what's up with that?), but they are laying on top of the blankets, and you will note that each and every baby has a toy next to them...just like Everett when he lays on his blanket!

The Busy Weekends Continue

I think I say this every summer, but I love it because weekends are so busy and fun!  We had another birthday party this weekend...Olivia turned 3 and had a super fun art party!

Ella had dinner and played at the Spectrum with her buddy Jack, with whom she has a very love/hate relationship that always makes us laugh...we're sure they are going to date in the future!

We had a picnic and enjoyed a concert at the zoo where we are members- it was SO fun- I can't wait to do this again!!  They had tequila tasting too. ;)

Reese & Ella showing off their cool arm paintings

 

RIP Big Den

Me and Big Den, April 1979

My Uncle, "Big Den", passed away yesterday after a long battle with cancer.  He was such a GREAT guy.  He was the biggest sports fanatic I know...an ex-NBA player (he played for the Lakers- woot woot!), and an avid ASU fan.  I still remember standing under his legs and being in awe of Big Den.  I remember the many times he and my dad would watch a game, and scream at the tv with their booming voices...I'm pretty sure people in the next city knew when our family was watching a game!!

My dad misses his big brother, as do so many other people whose lives he touched, including my wonderful Aunt, my two amazing cousins, and his adorable four grandchildren.

We love you Uncle Denny!

Proud Mama- 1st Day of School

Today was Everett's first day of school (really daycare- the infant/toddler program at Ella's school).  I was (and am) a little worried about starting him so young, especially since all the babies just crawl around and put all the same toys in their mouth (gross!), and Ella didn't start until 18 or 19 months.

However, I called at lunch to see how it was going, and the teacher went on and on about what a good baby he is, how he is the most good-natured baby she's ever seen, he is so easy, they all adore him, and she actually THANKED me for enrolling him- how sweet is that?!

I know I didn't do much to make him this way except have a big sister around to beat him up a bit and suck all the attention away from him so that he has to be ridiculously good, but it still makes me a proud mama! :)

Oh, and also, Everett is kind of army crawling!  The kid won't sit up, but if you put toys he wants in front of him, he'll kind of do that one armed army crawl thing (just a few pushes/pulls) to get it.  I swear he probably won't sit up or walk until he's 5 and can support his giant head without tipping over! ;)

Father's Day Weekend

Ella and Everett had a buuuuuusy weekend!

We went to Benihana for grandma's birthday, where Ella ate almost all her food with chopsticks!

We went to the pool...

Ella had tons of fun at Holland's 1st birthday fiesta, and she took her very first pony ride!

She was very hesitant at first...she would beg to go over to the ponies, and then when they would get near her, she would BOLT as fast as could over to the bounce house.  But she came around!

Ella had fun making new friends...

And singing to the cute birthday girl, who was very happy about her smash cake! :)

Ella did GREAT at her swim lesson with Aviela on Sunday morning, and then we went to visit great-grandpa for Father's Day...

Ella has always been a little scared of great-grandpa so it absolutely made his day that not only did she sit on his lap for the first time since she was a baby, but she also gave him TWO hugs and said "happy father's day!"

Great-grandpa, grandpa and grandson :)