2011 Review

I guess the busier life gets, the less time we devote to documenting the events that make it so busy. This would be evidenced by the absence in posts here and the less than up to date baby books that each break I promise myself I will update. Oops, oh well, I wouldn't change being in the moment for sitting on the side line documenting it. So 2011 has come to and end and with that comes lots of firsts in 2012, the most important being that my first baby will head off to kindergarten and my younger one will hopefully start preschool as in just a few short days she will be two and in two short months he will be 5.

Some of the highlights of 2011 include the usual desert and river trips and as the year progressed, the achievements these kids made, made it much more enjoyable to go on these trips. Nathan got his first quad and took to it quickly


We made a couple to trips to the Sierras and the most recent included a trip to Mammoth where Nathan tried snowboarding for the first time. It was awesome to see him enjoying something that we also enjoy:


Summer brought many trips to the beach, zoo, Seaworld and now our new favorite Legoland. In the fall we did our standard San Elijo camping trip. In October we also did another trip to Legoland and trick or treated with the cousins as always.

We did our biannual central coast trip for the week of Thanksgiving. We stopped in Santa Barbara to visit Chris and Kristin and to meet Miles who is just a few weeks older than Kira:


We also hit Morro Bay, San Simeon and Nathan skated at skateparks in Santa Barbara, Cambria and Los Osos. Then we headed over to Fresno to celebrate with the family. It was the first Thanksgiving and Christmas since both of my grandparents passed away and I know that their presence was greatly missed.

Christmas was spent here in San Diego and both kids had a blast. They enjoyed all the goes along with the holidays; cookie making, parties, gingerbread houses, Christmas lights, boat parades and another trip to Legoland.


That brings us to New Years, which was once again spent in Mexico. This year it was a very mellow crowd and it was nice. So here is 2012!

Fall fun

We have been enjoying some fall fun around here. Between a trip to Legoland, camping at San Elijo, playdates, Halloween fun, pumpkin patch trips and much more, we pretty much don't have time to relax.

Here are some fun fotos of what we have been doing:

Our annual trip to San Elijo




Legoland with friends:





A trip to Bates Nut Farm pumpkin patch:




Nathan's Halloween Parade at school. He really likes his class this year. There is quite the group of boys in there. I really don't know how his teacher does it!!!



Of course trick or treating. Both kids really enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun to see them running house to house, but all of the fun from the previous weekend had them both exhausted and they drifted off in their carseats on the way home from Jared and Kaitlin's house:





We do need some time to unwind. I love watching the developing relationship between Nathan and Kira. They are so sweet together, though like any set of siblings they get on each others nerves at times. However, it is the times like this where your heart just melts:


and finally, last night we had a playdate with Natalie, Stella and Giuliana. Baby Alison was there too. The kids enjoyed playing together. Kira was taken with Natalie, following her around, playing babies and reading books. They also made pizza and looked so cute sitting together eating dinner:

Nathan Updates

Nathan had his 4-year appointment today (even though he is over 4.5 now), so I thought it was a good time to have a post all about Nathan. So he is my solid average little dude weighing in at 38lbs and 41.5inches tall, in the 46th percentile for his size. Watching him take a vision and hearing test was too funny. This was like first big boy visit. He was a little hesitant heading up to the shots, but once he did it, he realized it was no big deal. However tonight he is complaining of soreness in his arm. Considering how bad the last whooping cough vaccine I had was, I can understand.

Currently Nathan is all about skateboarding. He skates whenever he has a chance and when we are home he is playing with his miniature skateboard and ramps in our living room. He enjoys watching it too.

Nathan started his new class last month and really enjoys his new teacher. He has made some new friends, but still has his best buddies from last year too. He now gets homework and even though he complains about not wanting to do it, he finishes it in one sitting. I hope that continues into kindergarten and beyond (not holding my breath).

Nathan continues to do swimming once a week. He really took off this summer and is now all over the place when in the pool. He is also in gymnastics once a week. Although he isn't terribly flexible and hates the stretching part, he is making progress in his balance and skill.

I am finding it hard to wrap my head around the fact that he will be five in just a few short months and that this time next year, he will be a month into his kindergarten year.

Immersed in Being A Kid

September is all but over and the stress of this new school year has been taking quite a toll on me physically and emotionally. Since school has started, I have taken on a number of new job responsibilities that did not previously belong to me. That coupled with a new crop of behavioral issues with a lot less physical support, has left me completely drained of energy once I get home. Not to mention not even two weeks in to the new year I was plagued with a nagging cold. Not that they have been neglected per se, but it feels like there has been a lot more TV and a lot less creative play going on in our house. I hate that and so with Brian out of town this weekend, I was determined to make it all about the kids. We fully immersed ourselves in playing and being kids. We played with Nathan's beloved Tech Deck skate park, we painted mini pumpkins, we ate "kid" type meals and snuggled in bed in the morning. There were moments of frustration and tears (because they are 4 and 1, afterall), but the majority of our weekend was all about being a kid, pretending and having fun.





We read and re-read about a million books!



I took Nathan to burn off the excess kid energy at the OB Skate park and later we set up his ramp to skate some more.


We spent time building a fort and camping in Kira's crib. They "cooked" me lots of meals in the play kitchen and we just spent time being kids.

Making Some Serious Progress

Nathan learned a rock and roll and a proper fakie rock in the same day!

Nathan Playing With His New Ramp

Nathan has become obsessed with skateboarding lately and seems to learn something new everyday. Dad is stoked!

All About Kira: 18-mo update

Kira went in for her 18 month check-up yesterday, though she is really 19 months today. She continues to be in the 1% for weight (18.5 lbs) and is finally 30 inches (9%). She continues to have a large head, which is 59%. Despite her petiteness, she is larger than life. Her personality is really starting to emerge these days. She is picking up new words daily. Some of her favorites are: mommy, dada, Nana (Nathan), Mymy (Milo), dog-o (dog), side (slide), up please, more please, bong (which for some reason means cup), bee-sick-o (bicycle, which she calls her trike). She can name the people at daycare: Jean, Chris, Addie, GG and Eathan and a lot more. She is quite the mommy's girl and won't even share me with Nathan. She LOVES Nathan and wants to do everything he does. She follows him around and when I took her for a special day to Seaworld last week, she cried all the way home from dropping him off at school. She knows what her likes and dislikes are. She can make them known with a sweet little laugh or an ear piercing scream. She has entered the bossy phase and can throw a tantrum like no other. Although Nathan was much more verbal than she is at this age, she is coming a long just fine.