Christmas break

We had a wonderful Christmas in Valencia. It was a MUCH needed break for all of us! Terry and Janelle made sure to make us feel at home, as always. And we loved visitting with them. This time we decided to stay on Valencia for a whole week, and it was the best decision ever! We had plenty of time to visit and enjoy delicious meals. There were a few people we also wanted to visit with, but we knew we had to get back to reality. There's always next trip though!

Here's a recap of what we did in Valencia. The pictures are in ramdon order (Blogger and I are not getting along at the moment).

Terry and Janelle on Christmas morning

Camilla sporting her new plasma car from Grandpa

"Santa came!!!"

We went to see the Los Angeles Temple Christmas lights. It was so beautiful!

Finally, a somewhat decent family picture!

One morning we went to Hart Park. We got to see cows, chickens, pigs... and Camilla even fed a deer.

Fun at the park!

Logan and cousin Melanie (6 months old): Yes, a spoon can be THAT exciting.

The babies loved being held by Aunt Leanne!

The best part about our break? Spending time with family! Camilla loved playing with her cousins (she keeps asking if they're coming to our house any time soon) and I loved seeing her sooo happy. Something else we loved? Going out on dates! Grandma Young was always more than willing to watch the kiddos for us, so we got to go on little outings, ALONE :) We also went to Pasadena for a few hours, and even went to the movie theater one afternoon! Like I said, a much needed break!

A wonderful time in Valencia! Looking forward to our next visit!

Who gets excited about Cheerios???

Enough said.

Habitot Children's Museum - Berkeley, CA

Yep, I can now say I've been to Berkeley! On Saturday we took our kids to the Habitot Children's Museum, and it was a fun family outing. They had a small spaceship the kids could get into, a kitchen area, a car wash, a crawler / baby area, and many more things. They even had a gingerbread house area, and Camilla loved contributing to the house :) The best part? It was free! Thank Wells Fargo for sponsoring Free Admision Day! And since it was raining... staying indoors was great!

Pictures Galore

Okay, so once again, a few weeks have gone by without an update on us. Shame on me, I know. So here's the latest on the four of us... from the youngest to the oldest:

Logan: My sweet little boy will be 8 months old next week. EIGHT MONTHS OLD. How the heck did that happen? I can't wait for him to be able to run after his big sister. You can tell by the look on his face that's all he wants to do. We'll have to wait a couple of months for that though. At the same time, I DO NOT want him to grow up! He's just so perfect the way he is right now. He's still a very meallow baby, who sleeps like a champ. He LOVES food, not baby food though. He'd rather have some pizza and lasagna. And between "real" food and milk, he'd go for food. Can't say I blame him. Anyhow, he's now sitting up, and he is so stinking close to rolling over from his back to his tummy. Maybe he'll suprise us soon. He has two bottom teeth, and I'm sure the top ones will come soon enough. He's just heavenly. I mean, how could you NOT adore this angel face?



A little angel who LOVES saltine crackers.


Camilla: She is a doll in her own way. I can tell you that the saying "terrible two's, horrible three's" is very true. But we take each day one at a time. It is such a challenge to "keep it cool" day after day. But I try to remember the positive things, like the fact that she tells me "good job, mommy" after I say a prayer over food; or the fact that she adores her brother and gives him lots of love; or how much she loves her daddy. She's not potty trained yet (little stinker, no pun intended), but I'm trying to stay cool about that too. I think I decided to change my attitude once I told her Santa wouldn't come if she didn't get her act together. The look on her face was sooo sad (she's very into Santa). It was then that I decided to "let it go." She'll be ready soon enough. We'll keep you posted on when it happens!

Snuggling with daddy.

Having a princess ball in our kitchen with her BFF Rebecca.

Raking leaves with daddy.

Picture with mommy.

Wearing mommy's shoes (I got married wearing those shoes...)

Dipping EVERYTHING in ketchup. Here she finished her chicken nuggets only to eat raw carrots with ketchup. Nasty!

Tea party with Manny (her favorite doll).

Rosa: Let's see... I guess the newest thing is that I'm wearing conact lenses a few hours each day. I must say, it takes a bit of getting used to! But I like the fact that when it's raining, I don't have to "cover" my eyes so my glasses don't get wet. I also got a hair cut, so now my hair is short, just the way I like it. I keep busy with the kiddos, and my coupon deals. I love getting a good deal. I recently got a sweater (retails for $36) for 87 cents... yeah, can't beat that. Some days are hard, others are a breeze. But life is great.

Hunter: Hunter had his tonsils removed two days before Thanksgiving. Although recovery was painful, it could have been SO much worse. We feel very blessed for this. He went back to work this week after a two week vacation (recovery) period. At least we know we won't have to do THAT again! He's looking forward to actually eating real food around the holidays!

Hunter and Logan sporting some cool matching shirts from Grandpa Young.

Working on the car with his assistant mechanic, that was until she dropped some tool into the engine and Hunter had to fish it out somehow.

And there you have it! Now on to Christmas!

I've been tagged...

And since both kiddos are sleeping, and the hubby is watching a football game... I might as well take advantage of down time to do something fun!

4 Shows I watch:
Top Chef
Dr Phil
Curious George (need I say more??)
Whatever is on from 8 till 9 p.m. (You can tell I'm not a big TV person; I'd rather watch a chick flick :)

4 Things I am Passionate About:
Keeping our house clean
Having a cooked meal by the time hubby gets home
Making sure Camilla is nice to Logan
Sticking to our kid's nap / bed routine (kids who sleep enough=content children=happy and sane mommy)

4 Phrases I say a lot:
"Get off your brother"
"Be nice"
"Well..." (I didn't know I said "well" so much throughout the day... I finally noticed it once Camilla started saying "well..." a lot!)
"I need a day off"

4 Things I have learned from my past:
Arguements that start after 10 p.m. do not count - you're arguing from being tired... most likely.
Don't assume your husband knows what you're thinking... even after 7 years of marriage... :)
It's all about your attitude and positive thinking.
A baby DOES bring a couple together... just not during the sleepless nights.

4 Places I would like to go:
England
Hawaii
Uruguay
Somewhere back East-hopefully to do a Church history tour.

4 Things I did yesterday:
Drove the family to Livermore for Thanksgiving dinner.
Had AMAZING turkey for dinner
Played a card game with Camilla
Watched a bit of the Macy's Parade.

4 Things I am looking forward to:
Christmas!!!
Having Hunter all recovered from surgery... ASAP
Getting our Christmas tree out and decorate the house
New carpet in our house!!

4 Things I like about winter:
Christmas!
Bundling up
Hot cocoa
Sunny days when although cold, you can still take the kids to the park.

4 Things on my wish list:
Camilla being potty trained... with very few accidents
To save as much as possible every month
To have fewer meltdowns from my little girl
To win a shopping spree to Joann's... yeah, not gonna happen..

4 People I Tag: Kelli, Tara, Sara, and Melissa

Halloween 2010

We had a great Halloween this year. Here are the kids in their costumes:

My very chunky skeleton

Our beautiful Belle (who, by the way, would not smile!)

My two cute kids

On Saturday we went to the Oakland Zoo. Although a bit rainy, it was fun to get out and see so many kdis in their costumes. That's Camilla looking at the chimpanzees.

And of course we carved pumpkins. Here's Camilla "helping" daddy carve his. I did not get pictures of our jack-o-lanterns this year, but needles to say, it was a fun activity.

So... we had a great Halloween, full with tons of candy (and can I just say I'm glad it's over?? Moving on to Thanksgiving!)

Pumpkins, birthdays, and Fall

This month has sure flown by. I can't believe it'll be November next week... Amazing how 2010 is coming to an end. Here's a recap of our latest adventures:

1. Clayton Pumpkin Farm

We had a great time, and Camilla picked out two small pumpkins, one for Logan and one for herself. The weather was just gorgeous!

2. Our girl is THREE!

And we decided to celebrate by having a birthday dinner with some of Camilla's friends. It was so cute to hear her specifically call out the names of the friends she wanted to have over for her birthday dinner. Hunter barbequed yummy hamburgers for us, and although it was a bit cold, and wet, we had a great time. Look at those happy faces!

On a side note, Camilla is now 35 1/2 lbs, and 38 inches long. So she's still on the "sturdy" :) side. She's also very vocal these days, and her favorite two questions are "what are you doing?"and "who did that?"... all day long :) Her imagination has grown dramatically over the last few weeks, and very often I'll find her talking to her dolls and stuffed animals ("Come on guys, let's go to the castle"). She's just growing up!


3. Fall is here



I took this picture yesterday. That's our sandbox cover filled with water (it rained last weekend). All through the summer Camilla would not go outside to play if she was to be alone. Now that is cold, and wet, she wants to be outside and explore. So outside she goes! She loves playing with sticks and leaves... my little explorer.

And here's my little angel. Logan turned six months old last week, and he's still the exact opposite of Camilla. Yes, they do look alike (a lot actually), but while Camilla is active and always on the go, Logan is meallow and rarely cries. While Camilla devoured her rice cereal and ate (still does) pretty much anything in front of her, Logan hates rice cereal, and peas. So far he's liked carrots, sweet potatoes, and watermelon. It is fun to see these two interact. Logan absolutely ADORES Camilla, and is always watching what she's doing. And although at times she's a bit too rough on him, he doesn't seem to mind.

And there you have it. An update. Stay tuned for our Halloween pictures: we'll have Belle and a little skeleton in our house :)

Spontaneous

Yeah, you're probably like, "The Youngs? Spontaneous?? Right." It's true. Hunter and I (though I am much worse than Hunter) like to plan things out, know what to expect, yadda-yadda-yadda :) This last Friday though, we decided to make an exception to the rule.

Not knowing what to do on Friday afternoon, we packed up the kids in the car and drove down to Dublin, all in order to get a delicious Papa John's large pizza. We love Papa John's, but usually end up getting cardboard-quality pizza, as my husband calls it :)

And since we were already down that way, we took Camilla to Emerald Glen Park in Dublin. She had blast, and we all enjoyed an outdoor dinner. To finish it off right, we got two milkshakes from In-n-Out. Delish!

In other news, Logan had his first bite of rice cereal last week. Sometimes he does well and everything stays in, and at other times he just spits it all out, but it's fun. And I love how he opens his mouth when the spoon is coming! So cute.

Off to tackle the laundry! Have a great day!

Is it just me...?

Exersaucer fun


I still love couponing... I thik I paid a couple of bucks for all of that :)


My soon-to-be 3 year old

My sweet boy

Or it happens to everyone with kid number two? Let me explain: When I go through Camilla's photo album, there are TONS of pictures. First time in the exersaucer, first time she rolled over, first time she smiled, first time... fill in the blank. And I know I have even MORE pictures that did no make it to the scrapbook.

And then number two came.

Poor kid is going to grow up thinking I didn't love him enough! I mean, I do have pictures of him (my goal is every two weeks at least one good shot... which ends up being once a month), but not nearly as many as with Camilla. I guess that's just what happens (or maybe it IS just me!)

A recap...

Logan is now five months old. He's still a happy baby, who is beginning to sit for a couple of seconds here and there. He rolled over once, and gave up on the whole thing. I know he can do it, and I know he's strong enough, so I'm not too concerned. His latest thing is to grab whatever comes close enough to his hands. This morning he tried to take a pretzel from my hand. And don't even get me started on my water bottle... He gets mad if I don't give it to him after I take a sip. Logan is just a sweetheart. He's teething so I assume we'll see a little tooth some time soon. And we now swear by the sleep bag... he used to wake up a couple of times at night because he was cold. Got the bag and he has been sleeping trhough ever since. Love it :)

Camilla, oh my sweet active child. She'll turn three next month. She's talking a whole lot now... it seems that the problem is keeping her quiet :) But I love it. She's as active as always, and loves having friends over for a playdate too. She enjoys reading the Froggy books ("Froggy goes to school," Froggy eats out," you get the picture). I am amazed at the fact that, if we read something that she like, we can read for like 30 minutes straight... 30 minutes of Camilla sitting down?? Amazing! Not potty trained yet, and I'm not pushing her either. I don't think she's ready yet. We'll eventually get there :)

Both Hunter and I were sick a couple of weeks ago, but I think we're finally leaving our colds behind. I still don't know what I got, but my stomach was all messed up. I am feeling better now, so slowly but surely I'm getting all back to normal.

And that's it for now. I started this post two weeks ago... so some of the things are a bit old, but to sum up, we're doing well. Keeping busy with life I guess. It seems like there's always a diaper to be changed, or a dinner to fix, or a home improvement project to work on... we're so blessed!

Enjoy the pictures!

We love Daddy

My kids adore their dad. This is Logan laughing while playing with Hunter. I love that sweet laugh. And you should see Camilla when Hunter gets home from work. That little girl jums up and down and inmediately asks Daddy to go "play on the bed," which means she wants to jump on the bed and be tickled by Daddy. It is so cute to see my kids get excited about their Daddy... I wonder if it's because they get sick of me during the day :)

I feel very blessed to have married such a great man. Camilla sure loves having a Daddy who is willing to get on the floor and wrestle with her... even after long days at work. I can't wait to see Logan join them.