2012 Catch Up

I feel like with Facebook and Instagram, our poor little blog gets neglected, but since it is in a sense a babybook for Nathan and Kira, I thought I'd better update it a bit. Now that 2012 is almost over, I figure I should catch up on what's been going on with us. Kira recently graduated to level one swimming, which means she is no longer required to be in a parent/tot class but is in a class with a 3:1 student to teacher ratio. The first week she did great, the second week she screamed through the lesson and so this week is the third week and we are hoping she is able to make it 30 minutes with no screams. When she is in the pool with us, she is swimming like a fish. Here is a short video of her swimming a few weeks ago at a friends house: Kira is also very into her scooter and bike these days. She loves singing and walks around the house singing everything. She enjoys coloring, drawing and playing on the ipad. Kira also loves blowing bubbles, putting on lipgloss and having her nails painted. Always the girlie girl. Here are a few pictures: Nathan's preschool just held its graduation ceremony. Now I know people get all up in arms about preschoolers graduating, but I have to say is was pretty damn cute to see them up there singing and performing. It has been a great two years and I am pretty happy with the social growth Nathan has made. He was standing up there so confident and proud. It's off to kindergarten in the fall. Despite the fact that our school district is in one of the worst economic years on record, I am so excited. He will be attending Longfellow Elementary, which is a Spanish immersion program. I can't wait to watch him learning in a completely foreign language. These days Nathan is taking gymnastics twice a week and getting stronger each week. He enjoys riding his bike and scooter and swimming. He is still super into his legos and will spend hours building. Here are the videos of his class performing:

Mother's Day Treasures

Today I celebrated my sixth Mother's Day. It started with these little treasures made for be by Nathan and Kira. More than any store bought gift, I look forward to these things each year.

Happy Fifth Birthday

Dear Nathan,

It is hard to believe that half a decade has already passed since we became parents. I can still clearly remember the the moments and days after your birth as though they were yesterday. I sometimes look at you now and wonder where did that chubby cheeked little baby go, but I am quickly snap back to the hear and now because in his place is a smart, funny, creative, imaginative, independent, stubborn and opinionated 5-year old who keeps me on my toes. Although it seems time flies, if I can be honest for a moment, those first few months seemed to drag on for an eternity. We hit a few bumps in the road the first few days due to jaundice and feeding issues. It seemed that the instant bliss they talk about really just happens in the movies. The first three months are a blur of round the clock feeding, diaper changes, figuring out cries and what they mean, sleepless nights and exhaustion. However, slowly we got to know you and you us and some of that exhaustion and frustration was replaced with a bunch of firsts...smile, rolling over, sleeping through the night, eating solids, crawling and so on. Finally around 6 months we seemed to find our groove as a family. In case you are wondering, the song in this years video is from about this time in your life. Every time I hear it, it takes me back to those first experiences. At any rate, each year since has been a wild ride of emotions. You, like both your mom and dad are a bundle of nerves who needs to be coaxed into new situations, but once you try something on and enjoy it, you take it to the next level. This year it has been skateboarding. You have really taken off and enjoy going with daddy to skate parks all around the city. This year you have also started snowboarding and riding your quad. You have made so many new friends at school this year and its fun to see the games you guys play when I pick you up. You have such great imaginations. One of the coolest things about you is that you are truly a great big brother. You love Kira and you sincerely care about her feelings. You guys have such a great relationship and it has been so cool to see it develop. She truly looks up to you and I can’t imagine a better role model. I can hardly believe that in September we will be sending you off to kindergarten. Looking forward to the next half decade and beyond.

We love you buddy,

Mommy and daddy

Happy Second Birthday Kira

It is hard to be believe that it has already been two years since you were born. In many ways I am happy that you are growing up and becoming your own person but because you have a role model that you follow you seem to be growing up quicker than I’d like. This year we have seen your personality develop. You started the year saying a few words and now daily you come up with phrases and questions and crack us up with your interpretations of words. One of my favorites (and sometimes not) right now is when I hear a little voice traveling up the stairs asking, “W’are you mommy?”.

You also started the year out following in your brother’s footsteps loving Thomas and Lightning McQueen and then slowly our living room began to transition from all boy, to a happy medium between Nathan's toys and yours, but now pink seems to have taken over most of our house (something you definitely didn't inherit from me). You absolutely love your babies (all 7 of them) and you carry them around and feed them and talk to them. I think it must be what you see at daycare because Nathan certainly doesn’t model that for you. You still love doing whatever your brother is doing and you like to play lego's and will sit and watch Star Wars a million times in a row if it means you can be with him.

Recently when you wake up in the morning, I no longer hear you calling for me, but instead I have been lucky enough to listen in on the conversations you and Nathan are beginning to have. You now look to him to be the first person you see in the mornings. That being said, you also get easily annoyed by him. You are much like me in that you like your space and he really knows how to push your buttons. You definitely let us know your likes and dislikes with a big smile or a very LOUD no!

I am looking forward to what your third year has in store (no more diapers please!). Happy Birthday Kira!

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.