Mommy's Little Helpers

Here are the kiddos helping with the laundry.

Now if I could only get them to sort, fold and put away, I'd be in good shape!

Kai Turns 3!

Kai turned 3 this week. He is a chatty and inquisitive boy who embraced his "whys" long before he was 3. What he engages us with in the next year is somewhat beyond my imagination, but I'm sure it will be a joy.

Here is Kai enjoying his birthday breakfast. Whipped Cream with a little pancakes. ;)

Our girl turns 1

It's hard to believe that this time last year, we were enjoying a sunny day, walking up and down the driveway, waiting for Fiona's arrival.

Here is a photo of her on that day.

And oh what a year it has been! This girl is funny, gleeful, assertive, and gentle.

To quote Mary Chapin Carpenter, "This is love, all that ever was and will be."

That's my boy.

Give a boy a chocolate and you get. . . to see it. It just makes me laugh how proud he is of himself!

Look Who is Walkin' Now

Well, it's official, our girl has taken her first brave steps. She is determined to get where she wants to go, now on her own two feet. Sounds like a good mantra for life.

My sweet kiddos

Rainbow Bars Thank You 3x5 folded card

You can also personalize your thank you cards with photos.

View the entire collection of cards.

Dunkin' our Darling

This past Sunday, we gave Fiona the holy dunk. ;) She was baptized at our church, St. Martin of Tours, with all her grandparents, aunts and uncles in attendence. It was a small but beautiful ceremony and as usual, Fiona was a star, smiling and taking in all the love an affection with grace. Welcome to the family little lady, you will no doubt make us all overjoyed with what you will bring to humankind.

Hot Tamales!

Kai fully embraced the holidays this year with wonder and delight. He even started to learn some of the family traditions. Here are a few photos of him learning to make beef tamales with his Nana.

Merry Christmas 2010!

Just a few photos from Christmas Eve. Hope you are enjoying this wonderful day.

Santa's Little Helpers

The Holidays (and no, I'm not being P.C., just referring to the many holidays between Thanksgiving to New Years) are so much fun with kids. The wonder in their eyes, the gasp, "wows" around every corner. The belief in all things joyful. Needless to say, I'm enjoying festive wear for the kids too. Here are our little Elves in Training.

Turkeys, hams, and various other family members

Last week we were able to spend a few consecutive days in Mesa, visiting my Mom's side of the family. The kids loved staying in one place and just hanging out. I think they left my mom's house a total of 2 times in 5 days. Kai was in heaven.

Here is my grandma and Fiona. Check out her 2 bottom teeth! She now has two more on top too.
Addison & my mom are enjoying a little time on the plasma cars. Way to be forever young mom!

Katie brought over a little tunnel and the kids clearly loved it. I call this photo "pure joy".

Fiona relaxes as Kai, Addison and my mom take turns wheeling her around the backyard. If you look closely you can see Katie's garden in the back. She's quite the farmer these days!

Wow! Here is Fiona with my cousin's son Evan. He's a month older than Fiona. I'd say they even look sorta related! Ha ha.

Here is Kai & Taisi playing at the Iwan's house. Kai, ever the rock star, loved the microphone.

Mom, again exhibiting her youth, playing with sweet Fiona.

Addison & Kai were grooving to my mom's funky disco album. Boy those kids have the moves!

It was a great trip. I only wish we could do it again soon. Hope you all had a great turkey day!

Cheers to you Sammy Cuba

We recently were in Tucson celebrating Brendt's Uncle Paul (a.k.a. Sammy Cuba) and his 60 glorious years on earth. Here are some photos from yet another fun and fabulous shindig at the breathtaking Wilson abode.

Just around the corner.

In a few more days, she'll be rounding the corner. She'll be getting those top two teeth. She'll be crawling so fast that Kai won't know what to do. She'll be expressing herself in words instead of just facial expressions and sounds. She'll be more than we could ever imagine.
But for now, she's all we ever hoped for.

Sorry for the sap, but it all moves so fast and I'm doing what I can to embrace every moment instead of thinking about when the kiddos will be something other than what they are right now.

Childproofing?

Kai got into the Aquafor and I'm not sure these photos show what a goopy mess it really was. AWESOME. He was so proud of himself.

Christmas Preview

Here is a link to a little preview of our holiday photos. They were taken at 3 different locations in Balboa Park. We love working with Arika. She's so incredibly talented and elevates the family photo to something so artistic.
http://www.arikareed.com/?page_id=9

She's on the move!

It's not really a normal crawl, but it's a low crawl. Either way, this girl is ON THE MOVE! Watch out world (esp. Mommy, Daddy & Kai), here comes Fiona.

Just because. . .

More photos of Fiona in cute clothes. . . no occasion necessary.

Sweet Dreams

Our two little angels fell asleep together, and oh what a beautiful sight.

Our little winter princess

This is a day that we put Fiona in this dress for just a few hours and then took a picture. Just another wonderful Sunday. And by 9am it was too warm for her to wear it anymore. But for those 2 hours, she looked ADORABLE! Sometimes you just have to put on the dress to get a photo!

Our little fishies

Here are a few photos of our kids during their swim class.