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.

San Diego Pictures

Here are a couple pictures from our wonderful weekend in San Diego. My parents are so generous and let us stay at their place once again: we are so blessed. I did fail on the picture taking a bit and only took a few pictures at the park. I was just too busy relaxing, napping, and having fun with family and great friends.

Sydney spinning.

Sydney playing kickball with the boys.

Vacation...

We are heading to San Diego today for the weekend. It is one of my favorite places to go. We will be enjoying lots of relaxing, card games, playing at the park, and most importantly eating good food from these two talented friends. This will most likely be the last hurray before baby comes, for me at least. A few things before I go:

- I promise to share pictures when I return.

- My sewing machine is finally repaired and back in my possession so more sewing to come soon. Well that's the plan anyways.

- After this week's doctor appointment, I realized that this baby is coming soon. I feel emotionally and mentally ready but there is not one thing about this home that is ready for her arrival.

- Shane only has THREE MORE WEEKS OF SCHOOL!! I can't tell you how excited and proud I feel when I think about this.

Ok, now I must go get ready. The to do list includes packing all the clothes, toys, and food, cleaning this apartment up, and getting the car washed and loaded. Hope everybody has a wonderful weekend with family and friends.

Shane's Birthday Recap

Shane's birthday wasn't a huge party or shindig but it did stretch over the course of a few days. On Thursday he was able to see the new Star Trek movie at work. He had the day off on Friday (his actual birthday) so we started with breakfast and a couple gifts. Sydney and I woke up early to make him breakfast including these amazing muffins.


Then Shane went out for some DVD and Blu Ray shopping. In the evening we went to a Dodger game with a bunch of friends from church.


It was so much fun to be back there for a game after more than a decade. Sydney had her first Dodger dog and they even had fireworks in honor of Shane. heehee


Then on Saturday I toke Shane out for a date night. We had a little hiccup in the plans but ended up eating great sushi and watching The Soloist at the Arclight in Hollywood.

Happy Birthday Shane!

Feeling Blessed on Mama's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day thanks to my amazing husband and daughter. Thank you!


"Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him" - Psalm 127:3 (NLT)