Cienna - 4 Years, 3 Months... Kaylee - 1 Year, 10 Months!

For Mommy's birthday Daddy and the girls made cupcakes and we even brought out the quad for a couple of spins around the back yard.  The Bakx's also helped celebrate by having us over for a delicious barbecue.  We took some new day adventures including some bowling, extended neighborhood parks, tour of the nearby Japanese Garden at UCLB, and a random day to Chuck-E-Cheese.  We visited some old stomping ground, of course our park, and the zoo with the Harper Family.

A couple of rainy days let us enjoy the puddles and a misty picnic in the park, but canceled a couple of Mommy's first outdoor Spring league soccer games.  That was soon over and we got to get some great Sunday games in with the whole family.  Toward the end of the month we visited the Ordonez's farm including animal feeds, egg collecting, and holding brand new baby chickens.  And of course a wonderful time with great friends.

Easter was a huge success thanks to the Snow's.  We had an Easter egg decorating party the Friday before and then a fabulous Brunch followed by a Cienna dominated egg hunt (although she was pretty good at sharing once she found the eggs!)  We didn't finish all the leftovers until Wed. of that week... Thanks Kim!
The girls also had an egg hunt when playing Lil' Kickers while Mommy and Daddy played their game as well.

Daddy got to enjoy full credentials at the Grand Prix here in Long Beach again thanks to hook ups from some good friends.

We got all the goods for starting and completing the front landscape (almost 2 years later after the remodel, sorry neighbors)  which will be starting next Wed.  And the garden has yet again has amazing potential now that we all have a little time and can learn together about how the garden grows.  We began to make this years stepping stone as well which is taking a little longer to dry since we self molded it.

Cienna got her 4yr old shots and handled them better than we could have imagined thanks to the numerous talks and preparation over the last few months (she was ready, she told us so).  Her favorite new thing about school is being able to do her "worksheets" (reading and writing lessons) all by herself.  We had our bi-annual parent/teacher conference which was perfect as expected.  She continues to love dress-up and princesses/fairies.  Her dancing has expanded to include pointed toes and straight legs and drawings are now coming from her imagination rather than those she's seen others draw before.  Another achievement is her "pizza garden" which she grew Roma tomatoes, bell peppers, basil, and oregano, from seed which now all reside in our garden!

Our active stunt girl continues to impress with her well deserved bumps and bruises.  Kaylee is a go getter and all we know is that we are glad that she is somewhat of a good listener and at least lets us know when she is about to try something that she's probably not ready for but will do it anyway!  We don't stop her but can at least be near by just in case most of the time.  She has increased her singing abilities to include facial expressions and holding notes with a shake of her head to let us know when she hit the long ones.  Over this month she has gotten teeth numbers 13 thru16 which handles just fine minus some diaper rash.  She can jump pretty darn high and loves to do so, and will copy all of Cienna's new/old dance moves.

They couldn't complement each other better by learning each others differences.  But sometimes ways that they are similar, help them bond as well.  Of course we still have the sing alongs and dance parties but, they also love discovery and the garden has helped with that.  They love to see and learn about the different bugs/worms/insects that live in and about the garden.  They will spends lots of time enjoying Rolly Pollies together and any other moving things (Porter included) that they can find or dig up.

Pictures and videos don't get much cuter!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/g8Aiuo9oBwugpRPW6

Cienna - 4 Years, 2 Months... Kaylee - 1 Year, 9 Months!

Birthday season continued.... A BEAUTIFUL beginning with the birth of our newest niece Grace!  Then celebrations for Kai turning four and a 4-40 party for Cameron (4) and his dad Dougal (40).  Next was Stone and then Jake turning 5.  Auntie Kimmy's Birthday was the last for this month.
More good times were had this month with a very windy day trip to the beach, story time at a local library to celebrate Dr. Seuss's 108th Birthday, and a day trip to the park and mammal reserve where we saw seals and sea lions.
We spent some time outside enjoying the sun while working on preparing the garden and cleaning up the front yard for an overhaul.
We had a strong finish celebrating St. Patricks Day complete with Corned Beef, and of course Car Bombs!

"Miss Style" with her over sized sparkly shoes continues to be simply amazing.  Cienna has such a sweet and helpful way about her and just wants everyone to be happy and have a good time.  She is very proud of being able to have straight legs and pointed toes when practicing her dance moves.  Her drawings keep advancing to new characters and shapes.  She writes with ease (much practice with all the Birthday Cards) and is reading pretty darn good.  She loves books and using her imagination.  She strives to learn and loves any activity that involves instruction and practice!

Kaylee is of course all over the place with running, jumping, climbing, and getting into anything that might get a reaction.  Luckily she also is a pretty good listener... although it might take us asking twice : )  She is getting quite good at taking off her own clothes for bath time, and sometimes not at bath time (At Lowe's, Daycare, etc.)  She is using multiple words in a sentence and loves to talk, as well as sing MANY different songs from beginning to end.  Even when she hasn't heard a song before she'll chime copying the words just behind whomever is singing.  Diapering her dolls has also become another pass time of hers.

Porter, although still a puppy, is learning fast.  He was even able to hang out with us off leash in the front yard where we spent the day doing yard work.  He keeps himself entertained throughout the day chancing butterfly's, bees : / and birds!.. and trying hard to not cause to big of tornado in the backyard when we're not around.

The growing sister relationship is quite incredible to watch!  They now enjoy playing together and understand how cool it is to have another playmate along for all the adventures.  They love to play simplistic pretend games with food and acting out everyday activities.  They even got a chance to hang out at little kickers when Mommy and Daddy didn't have anyone to watch them during their soccer game.  Dancing and just being silly together is still a big part of our family time.

Click below for more pictures.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/zM3CKNpYJqQiGxxZ9

Cienna - 4 Years, 1 Month... Kaylee - 1 Year, 8 Months!

Cienna had her much anticipated 4th birthday and party!  She picked her house to throw the party and loved every minute.  Even though it rained earlier in the day, the clouds parted when it was time to party!  She got to add another sheet of pictures to her celebration of life to share with her friends at school.  Cienna only begins the string of birthdays through this month, which will also continue to next month as well.  The girls loved singing Happy Birthday to Poppa, and Uncle Joe, and skype-ing our birthday wishes to June.  We got to enjoy a bonfire at the beach for Jocelyn's 2nd birthday, a mongo burrito night with Kristen for hers, and a Farm filled princess adventure to celebrate Georgia's 4th birthday as well.  Somewhere in there we also partied with good friends for Super Bowl at Dave and JoJo's!  As if the month wasn't busy enough we  enjoyed story times at the local library, walks to the nearby parks, a trip to Downtown Disney where the girls got to "Build-A-Bear" using a gift card from Cienna's last birthday (Thanks Kristine!),  took a couple of trips to the Santa Ana Zoo, and went to the aquarium as well!  Trying to not fully neglect our house we did manage to settle on a design and actually begin building our front porch!

Cienna was blessed being showered with love and thoughtfulness all month.  She has really excelled in reading by sounding out the letters and truly enjoys it.  She thrives for a sense of accomplishment.  After getting some shoes with laces for her birthday she is determined to learn how to tie them herself.  She is getting the steps, her fingers just aren't quite as versed.  That doesn't stop her from trying though!  She is still into her clothes and likes Mommy to french braid her hair.  She is writing her upper and lower case letters learning to stay in the lines.

Kaylee is now singing along with familiar songs, carrying on the theme for the month, Happy Birthday is of course one of them.  She got to sport pony tails for the first time and is done with her highchair.  She mastered how it all works and decided that she didn't feel like using the tray all the time.  She now eats at the table with the rest of us, strapped into a booster.  She enjoys scribbling, pointing to and naming pictures in books, but mostly wants to be on the go, learning new things, or just snuggle!

They now feed Porter together, Cienna gives the commands and Kaylee scoops the food.  Actually they do alot together now, including share (sometimes) and lots of laughs!  You can tell Cienna is thrilled to have Kaylee interact and play pretends with her but is sometimes frustrated when she can't use her like a doll or Kaylee wants to do her own thing.

Late Breaking news.. we welcome a healthy Greyson Scott Leedy born 2/21/2012!  Congratulations Jamaica and Val!

Fun and Smiley faces. Click the picture below to see even more!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Amf2NzYE9cCHMCYX7

Cienna - 4 Years... Kaylee - 1 Year, 7 Months

Mommy's amazing 3 week vacation started off the month including a trip to the mountains with Joe that happened to be the best snow day of the year so far!  Later that week we set off to Northern California for Christmas time with family and friends.  It started by getting a chance to spend time with GG, Auntie Sheryl, and Uncle Jerry.  Then later that day, finally getting friends along with families together at Courtney's, which was so astonishing to see all the kids playing together!  Christmas morning was spent at the Marty's, with food flowing all day and much fun and relaxing with everybody happy and healthy!  The next day we got to spend another Christmas with all the McFarlands and Natals!  We were able to help out preparing Nana's and Poppa's for their return and also find time to meet up with the Payne's.  After a smooth road trip home their was still more vacation time to be had.  First came New Year's spent in Big Bear with Uncle Joe and Dana, thanks again to Dana!  We brought Cienna's new Quad (Thanks Grandpa and Grammy!) to pass some of the time along with trips to the park and plenty of game play!  Later that week the girls got spoiled once again with more Christmas cheer at the Snow's.  Continuing to make the most of our time together we had plenty of trips to the park, went to the Pretend City, made Persimmon Bread (using Persimmons from Poppa and Nana's and aprons made specially by Grammy), Story time at the Library, play dates with friends, and moving forward with household projects, and Mommy got to attend Jamaica's Baby shower.  Eventually Mommy and Daddy had to go back to work and school started up again but even so the month ended with extreme joy when Cole Erick McFarland was born very healthy on January 17th!

The whole month was full of Christmas cheer (and continues to be) with Cienna perfecting the lyrics to all the Christmas Carols!  She is really starting to ride her new bike with confidence and is insisting that she is turning 4 against our better judgement.  We are overcome by her sense of style and clothing choices (which tend to be very coordinated most of the time).  We have to take a second breath quite often when we look and realize that she is no longer our baby!  She has really gotten the hang of knowing the date and counting the days down till her Birthday.  Amazing how math is everywhere!

Kaylee on the other hand is our baby and yet is breaking into being a toddler way to fast.  She is full on jumping, and running like she means it!  She is talking in multiple word sentences and listens pretty darn good as well.  She has started potty training herself and has gone poo poo in the potty about 50% of the time while she is home (saving some diapers with her MULTIPLE POOPS a day!)  She finally has 12 teeth and has had her 2nd appt. at the dentist to check on her chipped tooth.  She is great at throwing (sometimes not a good trait) and loves figuring out how things work.  Enjoy her multitude of facial expressions which shows her expressive personality!

Thanks to Nana and Poppa the girls now share their very own bounce house which we have already broken in quite a few times and will definitely be bringing out for Cienna's Birthday Party on Sat.  The relationship between the girls is amazing to watch as they grow.  Watching Cienna's emotions go from watching out for and helping her sister, and yet at the next minute just wanting to uses her as a play toy, then at all times needing to do/have everything that she does/have, is endearing.  At the same time we see Kaylee striving to be able to do things and have the same freedom that Cienna does, is just watching the admiration grow!  It's also awesome to see a similar sibling relationship grow with Porter who has been great through the holidays as he was moved from place to place and ending the month getting fixed and of course not skipping a beat with or without a cone on his head... he's a Labrador puppy!

We got new phones and finally (last week) a new camera so enjoy many photos from many sources by clicking the link below.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/w5CVjX95MPy9TJN28

Cienna - 3 Years, 11 Months... Kaylee - 1 1/2 Years!

A relaxing trip to Big Bear thanks to Dana started last month with this years first snow adventure!  Then a long and worth it road trip to visit family for Thanksgiving followed.  The night we returned from traveling Kaylee lost half of her front tooth on a night walk during a routine trip over her own feet.  We got the chance to visit the Ordonez's and see the great progress they've made on their farm.  Porter had a little too much fun with the chicken's but I think they liked the exercise.  We managed to get all the festive decorating done with plenty of time to enjoy them and the chance to enjoy each other, including walks in the rain and trips to the park.  We were joyed to hear the wonderful news of Aiden Christopher Whalen arriving on December 3rd with all the Whalen's healthy and enjoying there new adventures.  We even made a trip with the Geithmans so they could get a picture with Santa... no way Cienna was even going to get close to him but we all enjoyed the carousel and the Rain Forest Cafe afterwards.  Daddy got to visit Uncle B for his big holiday party at his home.  We ended the month with a Pirate Birthday for Carter and more family time getting ready for more holiday fun!

Unbelievably approaching 4 years old we see a kid more than a toddler everyday and are overly amazed!  Cienna is not only asking WHY to every question but is really interested in the answer.  She uses practical thinking vs. instinctual.  Her reading is coming along without even "working" on it.  She has the love for books and art.  She has really enjoyed the challenge of writing all the Christmas labels for the gifts we have bought this year since the limited space makes her think of the size of letters to write.  She is still as silly as ever and has a love for dancing, pretend play, and being her!

A definite step in her mom's footsteps Kaylee broke half of her tooth this month.  Luckily it was still 0.1mm from the nerve and hasn't seem to bother her beside the first 30sec of the fat lip.  She has mastered saying Daddy but thinks it is funny when we ask her to say Mommy instead of Mama!  She has of course began to explode with mobility hence the tooth and is jumping on the trampoline and loves to swing on the bar!  She also throws quite well even though it is sometimes the wrong thing in the wrong direction.  Container with lids, books, puzzle and shape play toys have also began to take her interest as well! 

Watching the 2 girls and Porter develop a relationship over the last month has really been the highlight!  Especially with Kaylee beginning to appreciate playing with others, Cienna has taken notice and is working hard at playing along with her as apposed to with her (like she would a doll).  We have all really gotten to enjoy the holiday spirit which Daddy helps keep alive with all the traditions and excitement that they should have!

Enjoy the pics from last month in hopes they improve with our new camera soon to come as a gift to ourselves!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/YKm6t8PftE4TGS4H8

Cienna - 3 Years, 10 Months... Kaylee - 1 Year, 5 Months!

So much to say as the holiday season is here.  A huge first with daddy AND mommy leaving the girls for a night.  They were in the VERY capable hands with the Natal family!  After some fun with the Natals and a visit from Grammy and Grandpa, we helped celebrate an amazing wedding for Vera and Toby with a reunion of our amazing friends.  Auntie Megan even taught the girls a Justin Beiber song : \ .  Cienna and Kaylee both helped design and carve their pumpkins this year and enjoyed a first for Kaylee gutting the pumpkin.  Cienna and Mommy got to go to a gymnastics center for jumpy good time at Bella's birthday party.  A visit from Uncle B and Sandra followed including a BBQ and firepit night!  We also finally started our Peanut Butter Porter after months of draining the oil influenced by a visit from Uncle Joe and Dana bringing Joe back on the track of beer making with a Summer/Pale.  We ended the month with another trip to the zoo and one to the Nature Center with the Geithman's!

Cienna's new dance is the cha cha slide (which had to be purchased from iTunes for a family dance time), she is now reading words that include two letter sound rules.  She had another visit to the dentist which strangely wasn't as easy as the first with some anxiety showing through!  She continues to ask very logical questions that blows us away!  We need to do some serious studying to keep up with her.

Kaylee's vocabulary is exponentially expanding every day....our new favorite word is happy!  She had a Dr. apt., outcome that she is as amazing as we already knew.  Perfectly small 24lbs. 30.5 inches.  She is almost jumping with both feet and loves to try and catch up to her running sister.  Although hands come into play she is working hard with her spoon and fork eating everything we throw at her!

Although still a puppy Porter is quite the family dog, giving much wanted kisses at the right times!

Please take a look by clicking the photo below, we've also included pics from last months pumpkin patch!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/GQdeyCaFuX3TQLJf9

Cienna - 3 Years, 9 Months... Kaylee - 1 Year, 4 Months!

The last month started with a housewarming party at Tola's (Mark's Coworker), then a big weekend trip to San Diego where we were joined by Uncle Joe and Dana for a big day at Sea World!  The following week, the McIntosh's made some time to meet us for dinner during their big Disney trip.  We got to see Jamaica and Val's (soccer buddies) new home for their house warming as well.  We took advantage of the varying weather this month with walks in the rain and trips to the beach and backyard sprinklers for the sun.  It was also time for car seat upgrades as Kaylee was outgrowing the infant seat.  The whole family took part in Halloween prep by putting out our decorations (the sound sensored dropping spider is the current favorite) and we made the trip to the fabric store leading to Mommy finally starting on the costumes!  We ended up with a great trip to the pumpkin patch with the Bakx's and Ferarrio Grandparents.

Cienna has really started to enjoy reading simple words and learning how letters can be put together to make different sounds.  She also has been adding and subtracting with her fingers just for fun!  Drawing is still one of her favorites and has really improved on figuring out puzzles and mazes.  It's pretty remarkable to see her so proud of her accomplishments!

Kaylee is now a master painter (as long as you want it everywhere) and has grasped the concept of crayons (even stays on  the paper) but they don't make enough mess so she looses interest faster.  She will now choose her own books to look through and ponder for her own enjoyment.  We love listening to her practice her sounds and when she learns a new word she pronounces is with authority.. MALK (Milk) Peess (Please)!!  The Personality is shining bright!

Porter has become quite a good listener and has now been able to get out more since he has all his shots.  He is even learning to stay on the porch when told if we are hanging out in the front.

We are so lucky to look back upon such good times and look forward to next months events!

Enjoy the pictures by clicking the photo below!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WQzwTH2b98TzajmGA