Best Friends

One of the things that has brought me the most joy over the past 3 years has been watching the relationship develop between M & K. What an incredible blessing it is, to have kids that truly have so much fun together. From day one, he adored his little sister, and the feeling was mutual. Don't get me wrong, they're kids - there are days I want to pull my hair out with all the "he touched me" "she took my toy" "he's being mean" "she's staring out my window" (seriously??!?) etc....they have their bad days. But overall, they are the best of friends. We're still not sure when or even if our family will grow, but if/when it does, I'm sure hoping and praying baby will be their 3rd musketeer :)

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Milestones

So you have a baby, and it's all about milestones....the first time they smile, first time they coo, first time they laugh, turn over, sit up, get teeth, pull up, take steps, talk, walk.....the whole first year to two years has such an exciting momentum of milestones. Then it kind of slows down. Don't get me wrong, they're still fun and exciting, but as far as milestones go, they are few and far in between. When you do get to another milestone, it seems all that more exciting - and it's not just for you any more, it's even more exciting for the kid!! 

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Last Sunday (July 7th, to be exact) Matthew brought up in conversation, ever so non-chalantly, the fact that he has a wiggly tooth. No big, it happens all the time. Wait, what? How did he even know what a wiggly tooth was? I hadn't really thought to talk to him much about it yet - I mean, he's only 5 - does it happen that young? Turns out the average is 6-7 years. Anyway, when he saw how excited I was, he quickly caught on and showed everyone he could his wiggly tooth. The week went on and not much happened, just a wiggle here, a wiggle there. By Friday, however, every meal was an ordeal - he would cry and complain and his little gums would be bleeding - poor guy :( Sure enough, just after breakfast on Sunday morning, Matthew came running to the kitchen with his tiny tooth in hand, so proud that he'd pulled it out so easily, and that it didn't hurt! Seems so silly, but I was bursting with pride. Or excitement for him. Not sure what emotion I was feeling. Maybe a tinge of sadness that my babies are quickly growing up? I properly documented this latest milestone (think paparazzi style photos, and lots of bribing) and preparation for the Tooth Fairy's arrival that evening....

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He wanted to write a letter to the Tooth Fairy, asking her to bring him a dinosaur. Of course. Who would have guessed, right? With a little spelling help he excitedly wrote his letter....and then went on with his day.

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That night he was asking to go to sleep, he just couldn't wait to place that tooth under his pillow and wake up to a Tooth Fairy surprise. So excited in fact, that he woke up at 3AM - yep 3am, turned the light on in his room and surveyed the gifts the Tooth Fairy had left him. Let me tell you, the Tooth Fairy is not so bright eyed and bushy tailed at 3 in the morning, ha! After some coaxing, we finally convinced (ahem, forced) him to go back to sleep right around 4am. And I'm tired today. But seeing the excitement on his face again this morning was worth it. He loves his new Angry Birds Dinosaur book (featuring some new dinosaurs to memorize) his dollar bill (to buy a treat at the dollar store, he says) and his little eyes lit up as he saw "fairy dust" fall from the letter when he opened it.

While the milestones are definitely fewer and further between, that just makes each milestone that much sweeter. Our "little" boy is more than half my size and has already lost his first tooth.....I just can't believe it. I'm so looking forward to each and every milestone in my kids' futures, God is so GOOD :)

Fun, Fun, Fun!

Have I told you yet how much I love summer? Like, maybe every post?!?!?! Well I do. I LOVE summer. Don't get me wrong, the fall with the changing colors (whatever minor changes we get in So Cal), holidays and hot chocolate, winter with the "cold" and rainy day fun, summer is my fave. Because it's my kid's fave. And anything that makes my kids happy, makes me happy :) What a weekend we had, it was just so much fun. It all started Friday with a trip to Chick-fil-a for lunch - not just any day, Cow Appreciation Day! What does that mean? It means mom's everywhere put together some sort of cow resembling attire, pile everyone in the car and head straight to Chick-fil-a for FREE FOOD! We haven't gone to Chick-fil-a much lately, so the kids were elated that not only were we eating the food, but we got to PLAY there too. Oh what simple things bring joy to these little faces :)

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The things we do to our kids. I mean FOR our kids. Scratch that --> the things we do for free food!! ;)

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After a brief rest period at home, we once again piled into the car, this time headed to the beach! We met up with our friends for a fun afternoon/evening at the beach, complete with a pizza delivery, thanks to our friends Josh & Ana Martinez and Lorenzo's Pizzeria - yum!! So blessed to know these ladies and that our kids have been able to grow up together - I stared out towards the water at one point just looking at all 8 of our kids(ok, 7, little Sophia is still a newbie), playing in the sand and splashing in the water together, having a blast (well, mostly) - so much fun!!!

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Melissa is a master beach hole digger (yes, that is the technical term) and sand bench making queen - the kids had so much fun setting around eating their slices :)

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So lovely to spend an afternoon/evening with such great friends :)

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Saturday morning we headed up to Menifee with our friends the Davidsons! We had such a blast at the splash park, swimming and riding the waterslides - what fun to share this place with friends - I can't believe we didn't get a single picture!?!?!?!?! Guess we just have to go again soon :)

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Once we got home from Menifee and Daddy headed off to work, the kiddos and i took a drive to the local El Pollo Loco (what can I say, I'm a sucker for a coupon) - I asked for 2 small dipped cones, and this is what we got....GINORMOUS!!!

And Sunday? Well, Sunday deserves a post of it's very own......

Let Freedom Ring!

While last week didn't start out the greatest (wisdom teeth extraction, yuuuuck) at least it included the 4th of July!! What a fun day, perfect to celebrate this beautiful country we live in :) We celebrated with a BBQ at my parent's house, including our "family" the Tiltons, and Norma :) 

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All decked out - love me some patriotic nail decor :)

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One of their fave things that day were the "poppers" Grandma & Grandpa bought for them - you remember, those little barrel loking things with strings that you pull and a little cap goes off and shoots out some streamers - shocking and fun, all at the same time. And K was obsessed with how they smelled, haha :)

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M & Grandpa, silly boys and their tattoos. And of course, Grandpa's tattoo is on his forehead - didn't surprise me at all, ha ha :)

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Lovin' the cake pops (always looking for an excuse to make a pop :)

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After a delicious meal, we ended the evening with fireworks in the Costco parking lot - you can see the Lego Land fireworks just perfectly from there. This was the first time we've taken them to see a real 4th of July fireworks show, and they loved it. Already looking forward to the next 4th of July!