What we've been doing lately

Washing the car with Daddy

She was really excited to help.

Bathtime

Josiah loves the bath and splashes the entire time. He also likes to keep this fish in his mouth the whole time. Tori likes to squirt him with the fish.

Learning how to eat
What a mess but he was having fun.

Teething- ouch!

He got 5 in the past couple weeks. Not an easy time. Another one is on the way.

Tea time with Teddy Bear

Holding baby Chase

Tori sat and held my friend Bonnie's week old baby for near to an hour. She was such a little mommy wanting to wrap him in a blanket and keeping the paci in his mouth. She even reminded us to keep quiet so we didn't wake him.

Learning to Drive

Hakone Japanese Garden

We went to the Hakone garden in Saratoga this pass Saturday. It was pretty and Tori loved feeding the fish. Josiah loved the bamboo and didn't want to let go.

Little Panda Bear

Playing with Fuzzy Wuzzy the catapillar

Tori was excited to play with a fuzzy wuzzy catapillar. These were always my favorite find in the yard so it was fun to see her excited about them too. (That black spot on her arm is the left over Thomas tattoo that she wouldn't let us wash off.)

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Playing at the Park
Tori taught Josiah how to climb up the slide and then slide back down. He actually did make it to the top. Pretty good for a 10 month old.

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Summer Fun

We love summer time. There are so many fun events to take advantage of...

Thomas Train Days

Tori loved seeing Thomas but didn't want to ride which was fine by us since it's not cheap. She was just as happy getting her picture taken. Baby Siah didn't know what to think. Tori loved the bounce house and got in immediately with all the other kids.
We even got baby Siah's face painted... just a little bit since he wasn't too happy about it.

Boardwalk .75 cent night

Shhhh...we were suppose to be at a church meeting but we decided to played hookey at the last minute and met our friends for a fun night of rides. Look at that amazing sunset.

Tori and Selva had soooo much fun together. They rode all of the kiddie rides.
Again, he doesn't know what to think about everything he's seeing.

I got to ride the dragon with Tori. It was actually really fun because you can go up high and see the ocean.

While Daddy's away, we play...and cry.

While Jeff was backpacking this past week my friend Alica stayed with us so we stayed busy and went to the beach, the pool, the aquarium, tried to see the movie Wall-E (sat down and Tori started to cry so we left), we went to a friends house for dinner and out to Cambodian food, we also bake Friendship Bread (thanks Michelle). It was a full week! I even managed to watch a few chick flicks (Sisterhood..., Bella, & 27 Dresses) and eat lots of ice cream. The only thing I didn't do was get SLEEP. Josiah was really tough! He was awake every 3 hours and would cry non-stop for an hour. During the day he'd whine but didn't want to be cuddled. I was worried about him. He does have 6 teeth coming in but it seemed to be more than that. Last night I finally realized what was really wrong- he missed his Daddy. I don't know why I didn't realize it sooner. He was so cute when Jeff came home and played with him. Over night he only woke up once. Jeff got up with him and was able to sooth him relatively quick. I'm so glad Jeff is home for many reasons. He had a great backpacking trip and is feeling tired but refreshed.

Oh, so here's the latest on potty training. Tori wants to wear panties so I let her and she's doing ok...ish except for #2. So, last night I took my friends advice and told her that she had to clean her own poopy panties thinking this would deter her (I sent her outside with a plastic bag and wipes). Instead she thanked me and said, "this is so fun. Thank you for letting me clean myself." Ummm...what am I suppose to do about that????

New Family Member

Here he is- Samson our new 18 month old yellow lab. We got him on Friday night from a family in Gilroy that didn't feel had enough room for him. We think he's going to be a really good doggie. He's great with the kids and pretty mellow for a lab. The reason I say THINK he's going to be great is that he's got separation anxiety right now- understandable since he's had a major life change. For him that means that he whines and yelps and follows Jeff around constantly. He's also shedding a ton. We're learning how to deal with these issues and it should improve soon. The other big issue is the Kitty Boo relationship. Their introduction went poorly. Kitty ran out pass him when we getting him out of the truck and Samson got really excited. Of course that scared kitty and in the next controlled introduction kitty hissed and tried to scratch. So...kitty comes home less and when he does he sleeps in our room with the door closed. We're hoping that eventually they'll be friends or at least ignore each other. As I write this, Tori is outside with Samson. She's been trying to train him and get him to play ball with her. She is very excited to have a dog. However, on the first night she started crying and said she wanted to take him back to his owner. We assumed she didn't like him. After talking with her we found out that instead she was very upset that her puppy was sad and she thought if we took him back he would be happy again. Complete empathy for her new friend. What a sweetheart.
Samson likes to lick baby Siah and that is fine by him. He thinks Samson is great.
A man and his Dog

So the deal with getting a dog is that he is Jeff's dog. I've got enough to take care of, feed, clean, deal with poop... so here's Jeff giving his woof woof a bath. He also built a great fenced in backyard and he's been getting up with him at night when he barks and whines. Jeff has wanted a dog for years but until we had our own home it wasn't a good fit for us and then with a newborn I wasn't into it. We're excited for him to be apart of our family. Jeff can't wait for him to play fetch and go on hikes... Oh, you can see our new hot tub in the background (Craig's List special). We've still got to get it hooked up.

Hugs

Tori wanted to name him Clifford but since he already had a good name we decided to keep it.

A boy and his dog

Our new Turtle

Here's Squirt our new turtle. Tori wanted to name him Nemo but we agreed that since he's a turtle he needed a turtle name. You've got to hear her pronounce his name, it's sounds more like "Quirt". If you ask where the turtle came from she'll tell you that a nice man in a delivery truck brought him in a box. She thinks the delivery man is great.

Haircuts & Grandma

First Haircut

Here's the BEFORE picture of Baby Siah's beautiful copper hair. As you can see it was getting really long and in his eyes so we decided it was time to cut it. I knew I'd be sad and that he'd look different...he's not a baby anymore. It makes me sad. Since Tori has never had a haircut this is a first for me. He was born with a lot of hair and such a unique color. He did great while Jeff worked on him. He wanted to eat the cord though.
AFTER- Who is this little boy? He's got short blond hair. Don't worry we'll still spike it up- that his style. Yikes, he's growing up sooooo fast. He's a proficient crawler now and he can even pull himself up to standing.

Grandma's Visit

Grandma (Jeff's mom) is getting on the plane right now to fly home to Arizona. We're really sad to see her go. We had a great visit. I loved having the help and company she provided. I truly feel blessed to have a wonderful Mother-in-law.

In this picture Tori and Grandma are eating shave ice at the Farmer's Market. They spent a lot of special time together doing crafts, shopping, and going to lunch.
Cuddles with baby Siah. He's sticking his tongue out. It's a new trick of his. He also likes to make kissing sounds. What a charmer.
Come back soon Grandma. Grandpa too please.

Three- the drama year?

Tori turns 3!

To celebrate we went to Gilroy Gardens on her birthday. Jeff took the day off and Grandma came with us too. It was beautiful and a wonderful way to spend the day. There was drama though- Tori freaked out about most of the rides...and non-rides. The singing veggies sent her running in tears, so did the waterfalls.It's made me wonder...is three going to be filled with DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA. I've heard for some that it is. Yikes, am I ready for that? In the middle of our paddle on the lake she freaked out because I was paddling backwards. However, I was surprised that she even got on the swan in the first place. It turned out to be a nice short paddle. She LOVED the goldfish ride though and rode it at least 3 times. It's how we perked her back up after she was traumatized by the singing veggies and waterfalls.
Then on Sunday we had a pool party at the Mission Springs baby pool (same place for her one and two birthdays). Thanks for all of our friends and family making it extra special. Tori said that she had a fun birthday. You might have thought other wise if you saw her. She pretty much ignored everyone and wouldn't share her whale.
Then the real drama began...we had heard from several friends that the three year old birthday is a great time to discontinue the pacifier and it was suggested to make a presentation of it to a baby. That way she knew that she is now a big girl and she wraps up her pacis and gives them away. We talked about it for months and she was all for it. She was excited to wrap them pretty and talked about how excited baby Kylie would be to get them. So, we thought, let's give it a try. At the party we asked her if she wanted to give them to Kylie. Here she is with the Great Paci Handoff. She seemed really happy about it... until bedtime. Oh My Gosh! The sounds of anguish that came out of her mouth when she realized that the pacis were gone forever. True mourning. It was enough to break our hearts to hear her but we did not give in and give them back. Unfortunately, she ended up with a fever that night and slept in our bed. Jeff wondered if she made herself sick with stress. I don't think so. It was just really bad timing to get sick. Well, we've stuck with it and she's been sick off and on but we haven't given the pacis back. There have been a lot of tears but I think we're going to make it. I have to constantly ask why I'm doing this to her but I know it's important for her teeth. Does she have an addictive personality? When she was crying for her paci a couple nights ago I offered all sorts of toys she could sleep with and she said, "No, I want something I can put in my mouth." I suggested her duckie. That didn't help the situation.
It has definitely been a dramatic start to her third year.

Hume Lake

We were able to spend a week at Hume Lake with friends for the second year in a row. It was so much fun! We rented a cabin "beautiful home" with friends from college and their families. We had a great time together. Here are some of the highlights.

Chris & Alicia, Us, Katy & Wes. Not pictured- Jason, Bonnie & Brodie and Keri & Brent


Jeff's parents met us the first day we were there and we had fun exploring with them. They only stayed one night cause they were at the end of their trip and had stayed an extra day to see us.

Josiah with Grandpa

We enjoyed putting our feet in the creek. The water was cold but it didn't stop the kids from getting wet. They loved it. Especially after a 5 hour drive.

Here's a picture of the lake. It's so beautiful there. The weather was perfect and the lake was refreshing. Not too cold but definitly not warm. Often in the evenings we would take a walk and feed the ducks.

We also learned how to play disc golf. The guys played almost every day. It was fun. It's something we can do with the kids. We're planning to play around Santa Cruz sometime in the future.
We had a hotdog and smores roast the first night. It was a great way to start the vacation.




Most days were spent at the lake playing in the water. Tori's favorite memory is when I started to swim a fish jumped up and hit me in the head. I felt it and both Jeff and Tori were laughing and trying to explain to me what happened. Tori is still retelling the story.

VACATION

Daddy makes an excellent chair.

Milkshakes are a yummy treat at the snackbar. We tried to have one every night...you have to have goals.

Buck Rock- there is a fire lookout at the top of this huge rock that we were able to climb to the top of. The views were amazing. We even saw a couple fires going while we were up there. Tori actually climbed halfway before deciding that was high enough. While we were sitting there waiting for everyone else a hummingbird buzzed by and she started laughing and said, "I think the hummingbird just tootsed." She thought it was hilarious...I thought she was.

We're going to the top!

1/2 way up

We made it.

Can't wait for next year! Thanks friends for another fun year.