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

TOUGH MUDDER!!  Thanks to the entire McNatMan crew we had an amazing start to this previous month with a plane flight to Sacramento, followed by an overnight in Roseville, a lovely visit with Abbey and the Wagner twins, then road trip to our Tahoe destination.  First visit was with Sean, Jamie and Cole for a necessary nap time, then to the main McNatMan cabin to let the festivities begin.  We began celebrating Grandpa Kim's Birthday with Mommy and Daddy joined by Uncle RJ, Uncle Sean, and Auntie Carrie working together to get through a 11 mile obstacle course!  It was an amazing experience and a beautiful day at the North Star resort.  Thanks to the rest of the crew who made it possible by feeding us, making arrangements, and watching the girls.  We spent the rest of the long weekend enjoying the company, relaxing and playing, then made the long trip home.

The following weekend was another big one as Mommy and Daddy flew to Oregon for Jenna and Kelly's wedding in Cannon Beach (where they filmed The Goonies : ).  It was a quick but fantastic time with great friends.  Leaving first thing on Sat. morning and coming back first thing on Sun. morning, after a long night, we survived our first night leaving the girls together.  Oh and the girls survived just fine too staying with our daycare provider and her family after getting ready in the morning with our neighbor Auntie Kimmie.

We laid back a bit after a busy couple weeks, by enjoying a get together at the Chavez's, a trip to the Nature Center, plenty treks to the park, giving Haiden her late Birthday gift, and starting swim lessons back up for the girls.  Mommy has just about finished making the girls costumes, we set out our decorations, and made pumpkin bread in the spirit of Halloween.

Cienna is becoming much more comfortable in the water and loves her lessons.  She is quite proud of her new ability to do the monkey bars all by herself and continues to thrive off of learning.  Her reading is coming along and she is very proud to have finished a first grade workbook in one sitting.

Kaylee got to enjoy her first airplane flight (she was great), was digging Auntie Carrie's motorcycle, and slept without a crib or porta-crib for the first time (during vacation).  She has become quite motherly to many of her dolls and stuffed animals which is endearing to watch.  And swimming seems to be quite natural to her.  Not all by herself just yet, but she is pretty strong and willing. 

The girls play so well together, lots of pretend play, and the more we work on being polite the more sharing and caring goes on!

Porter wants to be sure and give special thanks to Auntie Kimmie and Uncle Keith for all their help and keeping him company while his family was away!

Check 'em out!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/YEK5s9nWR9iWPj7A8 

Cienna - 4 Years, 8 Months... Kaylee - 2 Years, 3 Months!

Only one planned trip still turned into a fun filled month.  We started with an amazing extended weekend camping trip with an outstanding group of people at Leo Carrillo.  The water, activities, down and up time was quite refreshing.  We have another Angel's game under our belt thanks to the neighbors, a trip to the zoo, bowling, and many park trips.  We were lucky to feel like part of the Bakx/Ferrario family with a family and friend birthday celebration BBQ.  The dreaded overhaul of the garage finally happened, and we got to make beer with our very own hops that we grew in our garden.....fresh hopping! (it's an IPA!  not quite ready yet but we'll let you know next month how it turns out.)  We of course had trips to the park, and the girls thoroughly enjoyed there first frozen yogurt experience.  Cienna's pre-school had a beginning of the year meet and greet at a local park.  Lastly we all had a memorable family time at a local Lobster Festival.  The girls were a little beat after a long day but after taking a couple lobsters to go, they did enjoy dinner.

Cienna's pre-school started up again with a third teacher this year, Ms. Jocelyn, and she has really been enjoying spending time with her previous and new friends at school.  Her love of coloring with Mommy's old (15+ years old) coloring pens has been apparent and the colors she chooses and staying in the lines has shown how she is growing up (Although she really deserves some new pens.... we'll be sure to get her some).

Kaylee took a nice fall jumping out of the play-yard while camping and scraped her nose (not a shocker), just as active and independent as can be.  Only night time potty training left to tackle, however we're having a hard time justifying a big girl bed since she sleeps so well now and.... Christmas seems like a good time for that.  Kaylee has also gotten a kick out of showing how she can draw circles or lines, whichever you would like!

Our family is so lucky to have a strong and loving upbringing, contributing along the way was Mommy's Grandma Ginnie who past this last month after living quite a full life and helping to raise some amazing people along the way, we love you Grandma Ginnie!

Enjoy the pictures, there's a couple extra from last months Bluesapalooza.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/F9UbSouguLtiTPJKA

Cienna - 4 Years, 7 Months... Kaylee - 2 Years, 2 Months!

It was definitely a summer month which included homemade watermelon Popsicles, water days at home, with the neighbors, at the Geithmans, and at the beach with the Harpers.  There was even a day at the Reptile Zoo.

Each weekend consisted of an exciting event.  We want to say thanks again to the Dunbar's for including us in their Disney Adventure to start off this last month.  The next weekend Mommy got to play in a soccer tournament and we all routed her on, at least until nap time.  Following that, Uncle B came to visit and hung around for a BBQ and Quad party.  We headed on the road to Mammoth in the middle of last month for Bluesapalooza!  The Bakx/Ferrario's hosted our family at their fantastic cabin and we all got to enjoy a weekend of Blues and Brews!  Our neighbors Mark and Patty offered us a great opportunity to join them at an Angels game the Sunday after, which Uncle Joe and Dana were also able to come.  Considering the game started at noon, the girls did pretty well to survive the long day (a little spaced out but having fun).  The last weekend was huge for the whole family since Mommy took a trip alone to Northern California to celebrate Jenna's bachelorette and shower.  It was a great time hanging out with an amazing group of friends and got to see Grammy, Grandpa, and even Poppa and Nana thanks to all the help getting from place to place.  Daddy and the girls had a great time together enjoying a get together at the Harper's and fun in the sun.  We were happy to be back together as a family to close out the month!

Since watching some Olympics, Cienna has been determined to perfect her handstands and learn a cartwheel.  She gave a go at riding her bike without training wheels, and got to hold a couple of snakes.

Kaylee has been moving along with potty training!  Her attention span for art has noticeably increased this month with much more coloring, painting, and memorizing books (Has been helpful to have a good big sister influence in this department).

There, as always, has been plenty of family dance parties and sing alongs.  The girls still love to help out around the house and in the kitchen.  Making parfaits has become a favorite, partially because they get to clean up the mess by putting it in their bellies.

Unfortunately their was a camera recall and ours was in the shop for a few weeks, so some quality may have been compromised, but you can't hide the cuteness!

Click the picture below to see...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4vVhbarHhRTGKy3P9

Cienna - 4 Years, 6 Months... Kaylee - 2 Years, 1 Month!

After an end of the year field trip for Cienna's school at the Marine Aquarium, we headed off for a fun filled road trip to Northern California.  We all got to finally meet our new Niece/Cousin (Grace) and Nephew/Cousin (Cole), they were every bit as cute as we imagined.  We got to celebrate with family (including Granpa Sam and Marlies all the way from Florida!) becoming god parents again at Grace's baptism after spending our first day of vacation with the Natals.  Cienna, Kaylee, and June had a grand ole' time getting to spend the night together in June's bedroom. After the baptism we headed to the Rydmans.  The Marty's joined us for a packed play day in the water and beautiful weather!

We headed towards the McFarlands starting with checking out Sean's latest additions to the remodel and then to Grammy and Grandpa's which had even more dress-up clothes than last time.

While we were in town we got to visit with Grandma Judes and watch the girls open and check out the boxes of clothes that Judes had saved for them!  Later that night the Payne's had us over for dinner and the girls got to play with Charley too.  The next day, we met up with Auntie Carrie for lunch then Grammy took Mommy to the Gymnastics Center like old times to get a chance to visit with Darcie and see some familiar faces.

On our way back to the Rydmans for more good times including the Marty's (missing Ashley who was at her first camping trip without family) we spent a little more time with Uncle Sean and Auntie Jamie.  That night Mommy and Daddy went to dinner alone after the girls were in bed for their Anniversary.  Heading back toward home the following day we had an extended drive to Lake Casitias where we set up camp for the weekend with good friends.

Throughout the rest of the month the girls have been enjoying swimming lessons, we've done a lot of dancing and took a couple trips to the park.  We enjoyed good times with friends for the 4th of July at Dave and JoJo's then to the Douglas's BBQ.  We also took shorter road trip to San Diego to visit with Uncle Joe and Dana for some party time and swimming.

Cienna has really become more comfortable in the water and was even trying to touch the bottom of Joe's pool by jumping in (with a noodle tied around her).  She is currently on summer vacation from school but voluntarily loves to take out and work on some of her workbooks.  Her reading is coming along and her imagination booming.  Dressing up is still a frequent occurrence.

This has been Kaylee's first time at swimming lessons although she seems to already know how to swim.  She also got to turn around and face forward in her car seat for the first time to start off our big road trip.  She had a successful visit to the dentist for her first cleaning and a check up at the doctors all in the same week.  And very recently started potty training.

Porter enjoyed vacation (minus the car rides) getting to play with 5 different dogs.  He also impressed us quite a bit while camping, staying near us on our site while off leash and listening pretty darn well.  We took our first trip to the Long Beach Dog Beach and, as expected, Porter was excited and loved his first time in the water.

The girls each had their first time in the shower, love dance parties, reading books to each other then pretending to go to nap time, and really have an incredible bond that keeps growing.

Click the picture below to see the rest of the Album!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/o2CYFDT9SPH1GkKc8

Cienna - 4 Years, 5 Months... Kaylee - 2 Years!

As this last month has come to an end, it's unbelievable that the most amazing 2 years of our lives with both the girls have already past.  We have had many great times and made plenty of amazing memories to share during the years to come!

Throughout the month we've put finishing touches on the front yard including final mulch and landscape lighting.  Enjoyed more of the garden veggies including our first experience with pulling carrots.  We have had visits, from Uncle Joe and Dana, and a play date with the Geithmans.  Our outings included a first trip to the OC zoo, a perfect day at the beach with the Harpers, family trip to the Livingston Park followed by a dinner out at Naples Rib Shack....mmmm..., and some library story times.  Good times were had with many visits with the Snow's including play dates with Haiden.  We got to sneak in a last visit with the whole local Chavez family for Memorial Day before the arrival of Dylan Jacob Chavez on June 8th!  JoJo and David still came to represent the Chavez Family on June 10th for Kaylee's big 2nd Birthday Party brunch.  The best thing about having these parties is the reminder of how lucky we are to have such amazing friends that surround our family.  Of course watching the girls run and enjoy the party is pretty awesome as well!

For Kaylee's Birthday dinner we had a first time at Joe's Crab Shack where we almost saw Kaylee sing Happy Birthday to the whole restaurant, but decided that was a little much and they all sang to her instead!  The love and appreciation of Daddy was celebrated on Father's day with all of us spending time together which is how we wish every day could be.  The whole family washed Daddy's truck and he finally got Chicken Fried Steak and Eggs followed by ribs for dinner and bottling/kegging our Trappist Ale.

Cienna had glowing reports for her last day of preschool and can't wait till next year.  She also was super excited for her dentist appointment and was a great patient!  She has improved her monkey bar skills and tried out skates for her first time.

So, our baby is 2!  There are no words to go with the number of emotions and amazement's that brings!.... sigh...... (sorry not good with words)... Kaylee now rides a scooter that is too big for her and does many other things that are too big for her but has a great role model in Cienna to follow.  She picked an ABC cake for her birthday and will pretty much do a seat drop on any surface when she feels the desire.

Cienna has done a great job showing Kaylee her love of books and ummm her love of dressing up!  I think even Porter has had a tutu on at one point.  Speaking of Porter also had a Birthday and is now 1 year old.  He has truly impressed us with his personality and obedience while we have worked on the front yard.  We don't have to worry about closing doors or gates and he can enjoy being out there with us while staying on the porch or nearby!

Hear are some pictures to bring the words to life.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/mbE8Q7nRg156tQJXA

Cienna - 4 Years, 4 Months... Kaylee - 1 Year, 11 Months!

More birthdays and parties rolled through last month.  Some pre-school friends Jude and Noah threw some good get togethers, then the littlest Shiroma (Brandon) celebrated turning one at the great railroad park.  We gave Nana a call for her Birthday and Daddy's followed.  We had a special family date night and the girls made a yummy strawberry cake.  Daddy then took the weekend away with friends to the annual Brewfest.  The girls got treated with a great time at Beachwood Brewery in honor of Brewfest with the Harpers!  The following weekend we continued our Mother's day tradition with a breakfast tailgate party in the Lowe's parking lot then got to work continuing to prepare the front yard for final planting.

We had great times spent with friends starting with a couple of opportunities to see the Ordonez's, a trip to the zoo with the Geithman's, and a Spring BBQ with the Snow's.

Our spare time was spent helping the garden grow and after almost two years of overgrown weeds we completed the front landscaping.... the neighbors seem to be pleased!

Cienna's love for books and unique fashion sense keeps shining through.  We are amazed each time we look at and watch her and she is all kid with no trace of baby left.  She checked out in perfect health at the doctors and was told she was given her final shots till she's 10, however when going back through the records she'll be needing 2 more by the time she is 6.  She also enjoyed her first pony ride this month.

Kaylee is in full blown toddler mode and will turn anything she can into a jungle gym!  She is using multi word sentences and her singing now incorporates most of the right words.  She loves to laugh and although she can be stubborn she moves on pretty quickly and never stays upset for very long, she'd rather be having fun.

The girls have been spending more and more time learning to play together.  They're pretty decent being polite and sharing some of the time!  We acquired a double jogging stroller, so Mommy doesn't have to wait till bed time to run, all three kids (Porter included via feet) really enjoy their stroller rides together.

Click the picture below to see more smiling faces.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/rMD1yXwwA8xNmru29

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