It's always fun when Gigi comes

This was a very long time ago but I came across the pictures today and remembered that I never wrote this down.  Back in December my mom came down for a quick visit.  She arrived in the early afternoon so we decided the next day we would spend the whole day at, drum roll please...Disneyland (I know its so shocking).  Although we go to Disneyland all the time, its always fun to go with different people and my mom has been talking about how badly she wanted to go with the girls since we moved here.  We had the absolute best day!  We mapped out our "schedule" before we went to optimize our time (yes we are a little insane) and it payed off! We rode pretty much every single ride and some we rode twice and it was a pretty crowded day too.  Andrew got off work around 4 and met us at the park and it started raining pretty hard which was nice because it thinned the crowds.  Once Andrew got there we took turns watching the kids and going on the big rides which we did for another couple of hours.  By the time we left we were so exhausted and a little cold, which is the sign of a good day at Disneyland.  It was a blast.

Joie is going through an interesting little phase right now where she cannot smile normal for pictures.  It normally comes out looking like this.

Yes my daughter pretty much always wears a costume to Disneyland

Isn't my mom a total babe??  Sorry this is not the most interesting post ever but it was such a fun day and I wanted to make sure I wrote it down while it was still (relatively) fresh in my mind.

Coming soon.  Berkeley's first birthday post

New years

On New years eve we were really excited to go up to the roof and watch the fireworks from Disneyland. Unfortunately, about an hour before the fireworks, it got really overcast so you couldn't see the fireworks very well. So we went home and just enjoyed each others company and watched a bunch of super hero movies and ate milk duds and popcorn! Since the holiday was on a Saturday and Sunday every one got Monday off work too which worked out perfectly because it was a BEAUTIFUL day. It was 82 degrees so we decided to spend the whole day at the beach. It was a perfect day. We just all played together and ate snacks and enjoyed each others company.

While we were at the beach I just had one of those mommy moments. I was sitting up a little ways on the beach and watching Joie play in the water by herself. She was just splashing and laughing and every once in a while she would bring up a seashell to show me. I began to cry(just a little)watching my not so little baby. I wanted so badly to freeze time and just watch my babies play for forever. I love every day I spend with them and I love watching them grow but it's all gone by so fast that I know the next 17 years will be gone before I know it. I love watching my girls grow up I just wish they would do it a litte slower.

Christmas 2011

This year for Christmas we had planned to stay home because Andrew wasn't really getting anytime off work.  On Thursday Andrew suggested we leaved Friday afternoon for Vegas.  We also decided it would be a good idea to surprise my mom.  My parents were out when we got to their house so we had bought a huge gift bag and made Joie hide inside with a bow on her head and pop out to surprise Gigi when she walked in the door ( I have a video perhaps I will post it later).  It was hilarious and, according to my mother, a wonderful surprise.

We had a fun Christmas Eve where we rode a Carousel close to my parents house and did all of our other Christmas Eve traditions.  We ate DELICIOUS pizza at a place called Grimaldi's, opened our Christmas Eve jammies, made reindeer food (oatmeal mixed with glitter so the reindeer can find it), and Pop Pops read The Night Before Christmas.

I thought the picture of Joie torturing Berkeley was hilarious.  Sometimes she just loves her a little too much.

Santa came and apparently Joie and Berkeley had been very good girls this year because they pretty much hit the jackpot.  Joie got a scooter, tons of toys from Toy Story (Woody, Jessie, Bullseye, and Slink), tons of My Little Pony toys from pretty much everyone in the family, and tons of other fun things. Berkeley got the Elefun busy ball popper, Leapfrog Fridge Farm, and a ton of other fun toys.  The kids are pretty much spoiled rotten.

One of my favorite people on earth, my aunt Marrietta was their for Christmas with her husband and sweet baby boy and it was amazing to see them.  My dads parents came by a little later Christmas day with my cousin Hayley (one of my other favorite people) who just got back from her mission 5 days before Christmas.  It was amazing to see everyone.  We had our traditional Tamale dinner and put the kids to bed and started to settle in.  Then disaster struck.  At 10:00 I got super sick.  Like vomiting every 30 minutes and super high fever sick.  I wasn't surprised because Berkeley seemed to have the same bug 2 days earlier so I knew it would probably pass in a few hours like hers did.  But no.  Around 3 AM while I was still awake vomiting, I heard my dad, my brother Ben, and Andrew all start throwing up at the same time.  It was disgusting.  The next day we all spend the entire day writhing in pain on the couch.  My mom called my Aunt and her husband at the hotel and she got sick at exactly 3 AM as well and went to the hospital to get fluids because shes 8 months pregnant.  Around 4 in the afternoon  Joie started vomiting and got a really high fever as well.  Thank goodness my mom was around to help with the kids because Andrew and I were completely out of commission.  Andrew had to go home that night because he had work the next morning but Joie and I were way too sick to travel so we stayed.  We woke up feeling so much better but my poor mom was sick then.  It was basically the stomach bug from hell and needless to say we probably wont be feeling up to Tamales for a very long time.
Besides this, Christmas was absolutely lovely.  This time of year went by WAY too fast. I had such a wonderful time this year helping Joie really understand the true meaning of Christmas.  She fell in love with The Little Drummer Boy and loved going outside at night to see my parents light up nativity.  She would pick up baby Jesus from one of our nativities every day and she would say softly, "Look Mommy, baby Christ".  It was very very sweet.  I hope I helped her understand the true meaning of Christmas this year and hopefully every year she wont just be excited for the presents and Santa but she will be excited to put out the Nativities and remember our Lord Jesus Christ.

If I had my child to raise all over again

If I had my child to raise all over again,

I'd build self esteem first, and the house later.

I'd fingerpaint more, and point the finger less.

I would do less correcting and more connecting.

I'd take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.

I would care to know less and know to care more.

I'd take more hikes and fly more kites.

I'd stop playing serious, and seriously play.

I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.

I'd do more hugging and less tugging.

I'd see the oak tree in the acorn more often.

I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.

I'd model less about the love of power,

And more about the power of love.

by Diane Loomans

When I read this poem on my friend Erin's blog I began to tear up.  This is a subject that had already been weighing heavy on my mind.  I just want to cherish every single second that I have with my kids because I know that before I know it they will be grown.  I want to spend more time recording their childhood so I can look back and remember every day.  I regret so much not keeping a better journal when Joie was younger and I've already forgotten some of the adorable things she use to say that melted my heart.  I know its not New Years yet but I figure anytime is a good time for new goals and resolutions.  I want to spend every day playing and loving my kids and hopefully find time at night to record our experiences. I want to be able to print off my blog books and have it read as a journal and the story of my kids lives.

These are some totally random pictures that are not related to each other or this post but I thought they were all pretty cute.

A few little Joie-isms

Well little 3 year old Joie may be more like her momma than I previously thought.  She basically never stops talking.  If she is awake, she is talking.  There are days where I bribe her with treats and toys if she will be quite for 30 minutes.  However, most of the time I adore her little voice and I adore most of the things that come out of it.  I want to write down a few things that Joie has been saying lately to make sure I remember them. 

We went and visited my parents for Thanksgiving.  Andrew and I took advantage of the free babysitting and went on a couple of dates.  While we were gone my mom discovered that not only does Joie love having books read to her, she also likes hearing stories about people she knows.  I guess my mom told her some stories about a "little girl" that Joie knows very well.  Joie thought this story was so funny that she has been telling me the readers digest version for days.  

"Once upon a time there was a little girl named Courtney.  She got the chicken pox.  It itched so she used pink lotion (Caladryl).  The End."

She really loved playing with her gigi.  First she wanted to "sleep" on Gigi's back then she thought it would be funny for Gigi to "sleep" on her back.

A couple of Sundays ago Andrew and I laid the kids down for their afternoon naps and continued with our Star Wars marathon.  We were only about 5 minutes into the empire strikes back when Joie sneaked out of her room and informed us she had a good nap and was awake now. I told her she could stay awake as long as she just sat on the couch and watched our movie with us.  Joie actually loves "big girl" movies, as she calls them, so she got really into it.  When it was over she spent about 2 weeks saying "Mommy, I'm Darth Vader ' I AM YOUR FATHER'".  She also said this to everyone she encountered at the playground, the grocery store, and anywhere else she could find people to listen to her.  We had a similar experience with Harry Potter as well.  We were at Chick Fil A and she was playing in the play place with some other kids and I heard her yelling something.  I went in to see what was going on and saw that she was using her straw as a wand and pointing it at kids and yelling "peliamus".  What she meant was Expelliarmus and I don't know why she was trying to disarm all the other kids at chick fil a.  


She loves talking to her baby sister.  Joie always wakes up before Berkeley and when she hears Berkeley babbling in her room she always says "(Gasp) That kind of sounds like Berkeley" and she runs into her room and turns the light on and says "MY BERKEY BOO" and then baby talks and over and over compliments her chubby cheeks and says "Your my sweetheart!".  This is my favorite time of day because as soon as Joie opens that door Berkeley's face lights up and she just smiles and giggles and laughs.  This morning Joie was sick and she was in the bath when Berkeley woke up so I went to get Berkeley and when I walked in Berkeley stood up at the edge of her crib just staring out the door and I knew she was looking for Joie.  So I shouted to Joie to tell Berkeley good morning and Joie yelled from the bath "GOOD MORNING BERKEY BOO" and Berkeley lit up just like she always does.  Watching the two of them play and interact is so much fun.


I love these little girls so much.  I just wanted to make sure I wrote down a few of these things so I dont forget them :)

Apple Pie

While we were in Vegas my mom decided to make a couple Cranberry Apple pies and she asked Joie if she wanted to help.  I remember so vividly when I was younger that any time my mom was using apples for cooking she would always get out the apple peeler and let me peel the apples for her.  I thought it was so much fun and I would eat all the long strands of apple peel.  Joie obviously loved it as much as I did!

Halloween 2011

The weekend before Halloween Andrew had to work on Saturday and Sunday. I decided it was a perfect time to go visit my parents with the girls.  Since Andrew had already seen them all dressed up when we went to Mickey's Halloween Party I decided it would be fun to stay in Vegas for Halloween so Gi Gi could go trick or treating with us.  We had a total blast!  Even though Joie had fun trick or treating last year she liked it even more this year.  After she would get her treat at the door she would say "thank you" and run down the drive way screaming "LETS GO TO THE NEXT HOUSE!"

Joie decided months ago that she wanted to be Cinderella for Halloween.  She also decided Berkeley needed to be Belle so they could "all be princesses"

Trick of Treating at my parents house where "Uncle Ben" was handing out candy.  She saw his mask and said "Ben take it off.  It's a little bit scary".

We had so much fun and got way too much candy!  By the last 5 houses or so Joie asked me to carry her bucket for her because it was too heavy.  That thing was over flowing with candy.  Joie is already planning all of our costumes for next year!