Cooking and Baking

My little helper!

Last week Sydney and I spent a day in the kitchen. We love cooking together but haven't been able to much since Violet was born. First on the list was cookies of course!


We were blessed with so many meals from friends when Violet was born so we wanted to pay it forward to other families with new ones. We made lasagnas to go with all the cookies. We also have been making Amish Friendship Bread lately so we made up a regular batch, a batch of the lemon blueberry, and another of chocolate pecan. Yummy! All this baking has really made me ready for fall. I just love baking and especially sharing it with others.


And on a final note, this past weekend we were in San Diego for Shane's last three day weekend. We just relaxed, ate good food, spent time with a good friend, and swam. Shane took Sydney to the Olympic training center while Violet and I napped one day. It was nice to be away from all the smoke. Now we are back home and it is so gross outside. It is raining ash all over and even though we are closed in tight, the apartment is starting to smell like smoke. My prayers and thoughts are with all those who are much more effected then us and with all those fighting the fires.

Great-Grandparents

For one of Shane's three day weekends we headed north to visit my grandparents. It was great to see them with the girls. One of my grandfather's passions is gardening and he took Sydney outside to pick tomatoes. She loved it and ate half of them before we even left. It was a great visit and just reminded me how much tradition and history I have through my family.


While we were in town we also spent time with the rest of my family (except Richard who was at training). Sydney had tons of fun going shopping with her aunties for baseball gear. She then called for a game with everybody so we played a girls vs. boys t-ball game. Although lots of rules were broken and we all had errors it was lots of fun.

Shane has two more Fridays off so we will have a couple more three day weekends to enjoy before getting back into the routine. This extra time with Shane has been great!

Big Sister

Above pictures by Amy Agadoni Photography

We were wondering how Sydney would react to a new baby in the house. Sydney has been an only child for four years. Plus, for most of that time none of our friends had children so she was the only child period in her little world. Everybody was telling us stories including some of when I was younger and my baby brother was brought home.

We should not have worried though. Sydney is great with Violet. She is still learning how to be gentle and to leave her alone when she is sleeping. But for the most part, Sydney just wants to help: help wash the baby's clothes, help feed her, help bathe her, help change her, etc. She is a wonderful big sister already.

Here's one of their first pictures together.

So what special things to big sisters get to do? Swimming of course.


And learning how to embroider too.

Shane has Fridays off as part of his paternity leave so we have been busy. I will share more as soon as I have another good day with the girls and have a little extra time. ;)

Violet Olivia

I would like to introduce Violet Olivia to this blog. She will undoubtedly make more appearances here in the future. She was born two weeks early on July 17 at 6:16am. She was 6 pounds 15 ounces and 19 3/4 inches long (same length as Sydney and exactly one pound lighter). Shane and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie with friends and as soon as it was over my water broke. She is such a good baby overall. She is sleeping fairly well and eats great. She mostly grunts and only cries when really hungry or when the grunting doesn't get her the attention she wants. She is such a joy and we are in love with her. She already seems like she will be stubborn and patient, even though those two things seem to contradict each other. The picture was taken by a good friend Amy Agadoni who is a great photographer. They were taken when Vi was two weeks old, which was the day she was due. More to come soon.

Turning Four

Sydney turns four today! She still manages to amaze me all the time.

She is so independent yet needs reassurance and lots of encouragement.

She is using words like persevere and intelligent.

She loves helping with EVERYTHING I am doing including laundry, dishes, dinner, and crafting.

She loves the park and devours every book we bring home from the library.

She is so excited for the baby and will be a wonderful big sister.

Here are a few pictures from her birthday celebrations which have taken place over the past week or so.

A minature cake and cupcakes to create a caterpillar. Inspired from this amazing cake.

Opening presents with friends at her party in the park.

We made a spontaneous trip to San Diego for the rest of the weekend to visit my parents. The trip included a Padres vs. Dodgers game where Sydney made friends with the girls sitting next to us.

After the game Sydney took her first ride on Opa's boat for a cruise around the harbor and then across to Coronado for dinner.

Today I took her to Chuck E Cheese to play and then to the local art supply store to pick out some new activities for her road trip this weekend to San Francisco for Shane's graduation. Tonight she gets the dinner of her choice. She decided she wanted 'build-your-own-salad' for dinner. Seriously that kid cracks me up sometimes. What four year old asks for a salad bar for their birthday dinner?

Sydney you are such a wonderful daughter. I feel so blessed and filled with love since you have been in my life. These past four years have been so amazing and it is neat to look back at all the ways God has blessed our family through you. I know after this month our family will grow and change but I am so excited to see you in your new role as big sister.

Many hugs and kisses on your birthday,
Mama

Preparing for a party

Sydney turns 4 in one week! I can't believe that my little babe will be 4, but it is true I checked her birth certificate to make sure. haha

We are having a party on Saturday for her. Of course, she is super excited. We made her a paper chain to keep track of when the party would be so each evening she runs around the house yelling about how many days are left. On the other hand, I am sort of wondering why I decided to throw her a themed party while 36 weeks pregnant. Call me crazy if you must. Since Sydney is an avid reader and artist I decided to throw her a birthday party all based around Eric Carle's books and artwork. I will try to share all the inspiration and pictures after the party but today we started preparing.


These will be cut up into shapes for the kids to use to create Carle inspired butterflies. More to come soon. I am going to try and post more in the next couple weeks because soon I will be distracted by a new bundle of joy.

Preparing for Baby #2

Things around here are beginning to look different. We store most of Sydney's outgrown clothes and toys at my parents' house and my mom brought down all the baby stuff yesterday. Sydney and I immediately starting washing and organizing everything.


Let me just say that there is ALOT of stuff! It is a bit overwhelming really. Now we have little outfits ready in the closet and tons of little blankets ready to wrap up precious little toes.

I still have a pretty sizable 'to do' list before she arrives but I am starting to feel closer to being ready.