4 Pauls

My Little Models

2012-02-19T10:11:00.001-08:00

I've been so bad about doing my monthly updates, but I just realized my little ones are 4&1/2 and 2&1/2 years old! I can't believe how fast they are growing up! I just registered Mackenna for kindergarten, she is doing great in tap & ballet classes, and learning so much in her last year of preschool. Karlee is now sleeping in a big girl bed, got rid of her paci, and is almost fully potty trained. She loves her My Gym and nursery classes and can't wait to start dance and preschool in the fall. Steven and I look at each other all the time and say "where did our little babies go?" We love them so much, they are so precious, love being sisters, have great friends, and try so hard to make good choices.

Bye Bye Ladera!

2012-02-14T16:58:00.000-08:00

My sister and her family have lived a convenient 45 minutes away from us in Ladera Ranch for the past (almost) 2 years. It has been so much fun having her so close and we've gotten together at least once a week the whole time she's lived there. Sadly, this chapter is coming to a close because they are moving to La Jolla tomorrow. We will desperately miss our weekly shopping trips, lunches and dinners at the best OC restaurants, Disneyland being our halfway point between each other, the great Ladera water parks, our weekly summer beach trips, and all the great friends she made who always made me feel so welcome. On the other hand, we are very much looking forward to many San Diego trips, Sea World Season passes, the beach being even closer to her house, and a brand new beautiful house and community to explore with the Spencers! Luckily their new house has a great guest room for me to stay in every time I visit!

We love the Hills!

2012-02-13T08:31:00.001-08:00

Our friends Sean, Ashley, Parker, and Preston came for one last visit to CA before they move far away to Iowa. We were lucky enough to have them stay the night with us and my girls loved playing with them! Sadly, this is the best picture I got of all the kids together, and of course my daughter had to pick her nose! We miss you guys already, come back to visit soon!

New Years 2012

2012-02-12T17:10:00.000-08:00

Mackenna is the best little helper and this year Steven let her get onto the roof with him to take down the Christmas lights on New Years Eve day. She was in heaven!! That night, we were luckily able to get a babysitter and go out to dinner at Javier's in Irvine with my sis and Weston. Such a fun night!On New Years Day, we were able to spend the day at the beach in Laguna in the perfect 80 degree weather. My kids love love love the beach and had so much fun playing with their cousins all day. This is by far one of my favorite pictures of all time:

My little beach baby:

Best of friends:

Nesting & Crafting...

2012-02-12T16:56:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine asked me to help with decorations for a baby shower last month. Hollie has 2 boys and was expecting a little girl so it was fun to go all out with pink! My new cricut came in very handy to make the name banner too. My sweet friend Jolisa gave me this darling Valentine banner and I love it! Mackenna is so into decorating for each holiday so I've been trying to add to my decor this past year. Thank goodness for crafty friends who like to share their talents!

Made this wreath while watching the Bachelor:

2011 Paul Family Photos

2012-01-14T15:13:00.000-08:00

Pictures by the wonderful Lauren Skousen (www.laurenskousen.com). Taken October 26, 2011. Steven, Mackenna (4), Karlee (2), and me...10 weeks pregnant with baby girl #3!

Our BIG news of 2011!

2012-01-10T13:48:00.000-08:00

In early September, we found out we're expecting our third baby! We were definitely ready to add to our family of four, but once it became a reality, I think both Steven and I were in a little bit of shock, especially since it happened so fast! Karlee wasn't even two years old when we found out, but we just had the overwhelming feeling that there was another little baby waiting to come to our family. Before I got pregnant with each of my kids, I always had the feeling that I was missing something or someone. I would be leaving someone's house or a restaurant and look around like I was missing something, when both of my kids were right in front of me...kinda weird, but kinda neat.
My friend Katie set up an early ultrasound for me with a friend of hers to find out the sex of the baby. We found out at 13 weeks with Karlee, so I knew we'd have a good chance finding out early with this one too. We had the ultrasound when I was 14 weeks and were able to have both girls in the room with us too.
Original due date: May 17, 2012-which also happens to be my mom and both of her siblings's birthdays!

The room got really quiet and we looked up on the screen as she typed...

I was honestly shocked and Steven got really really quiet. We were/are both SO excited though. I secretly wanted another girl since we were having another one so close in age to the other two, but I knew Steven might want a boy. After the appointment, he told me he knew it would be another girl and he is very happy about it. He loves the sweetness of little girls and the cute bond they all have with their daddy. Mackenna and Karlee started waving to the baby on the screen and saying "hi little sister." I think both of us went into the appointment not sure if we'd be able to tell this time and neither of us had any intuitions of what sex it would be. I still can't imagine what she's going to look like since my other girls look so vastly different!

At my 20 week ultrasound, it was confirmed that our baby is indeed a little girl and she looks so cute, I think she has Karlee's exact profile, so we might be having another little petite brunette!

I was exactly 12 weeks along on Halloween, so that was when we broke the news to our families . It was really fun to get to announce it at a family party and the news spread like wildfire:)

Right now I'm 22 weeks along, feeling great, still teaching two zumba classes a week and doing pilates 1-2 times a week. I was a little nauseous for the first couple of weeks, but after changing prenatal vitamins, the nausea went right away! I have the same round ligament pain as last time, but I know how to manage it, so it's not too bad. I just pulled out my maternity clothes and got a bunch of new outfits for Christmas, so I guess it's time to make the transition from regular clothes!

So far, we no names in mind and I'm thinking we'll probably wait until we see her to name her. I think she'll be here early May and I'm thrilled to have a spring baby and not have to go through the summer being pregnant like I did with the last two! Yeah!!

Christmas Eve 2011

2012-01-10T13:20:00.000-08:00

We had Christmas eve at my parents' this year with my mom, dad,brother Kirk, Ash & her family, and my grandparents. We were blessed to have my grandparents (mom's side) stay at our house for a week during Christmas. We had so much fun with them, the girls played with them non-stop, my papa and I went on walks together every morning, and it was so neat to have them share in our Christmas morning madness! I bet they were so worn out after the left!
My mom and Grandma made the best Christmas eve dinner and then it was present time.

Gifts from the Spencers:

Our sweet brother Kirk spent a lot of time and effort wrapping our gifts. Yes, he still thinks Ash & I are one person and therefore we should share one gift! Haha, actually the plastic bag and duct tape wrapping really threw us off. He bought Ash and I the most beautiful coats and we love them!

Opening all the gifts from Nana & Grandpa took forever, they just kept coming and coming!

Nana singing carols with the grandkids in their cute Christmas jammies:

The girls set out the cookies & milk for Santa and the carrots for the reindeer after we got home:

Sprinkling "reindeer food" on our front lawn:

Christmas Day 2011

2012-01-10T12:31:00.000-08:00

Santa Came! Guess we were good this year!

The girls ran straight to their new playhouse when we woke up and came downstairs!

Checking to see if Santa & his reindeer ate their treats:

Opening stockings:

Mackenna's #1 item she asked Santa for was, "a pig that gets fat when you feed it then pops and gets skinny again." Poor Santa had a hard time deciphering what exact toy that was, but luckily He got her the right one!

Karlee;s new Minnie Mouse and stroller:

Mackenna showing off her new roller skates:

Karlee took every one of her presents up onto the stairs so she could open them with Grams & Pops. Then she made my poor Grandma hold every one of them until she was all finished. She was almost buried in toys!

After we had our little family Christmas, the rest of my family and Steven's family all came over for breakfast. It's my favorite tradition and I love having everyone over! Karlee loved her dress-up clothes from Nana. Now she doesn't have to steal Mackenna's dresses and she has some that actually fit her perfectly:

Christmas exploded in every room of my house, but it was so nice to have so many people help put together all the toys that morning!

Kirk helping (or making a mess?) in the kitchen:

The best part of this Christmas was being able to talk to Kevin! He got to call home a lot that day and even got to skype later that night. My dad was in heaven talking to his little boy, I had to capture the moment!

Nana & Grandma:

During breakfast, we heard the loud sirens and ran outside to see Santa and the firemen!

Grandma & Karlee waving to Santa:

My mom got Mackenna this darling dollhouse and she plays with it non-stop!

After church with my family, we headed over to Steven's parents' house for Christmas dinner with his sister, brother & his wife, and grandma. Kathy got their girls their very first baby grand piano...hopefully we can upgrade to the full size in the next couple of years!

The girls helping Jason & Chrissi open their gift:

Trying on their darling Uggs:

The girls got their own luggage sets from Grandma & Papa:

Karlee LOVES "great pops!" The day after Christmas, we had one last family dinner with my grandparents and kirk before they all left. When I took my grandparents to the airport, Karlee started bawling and saying "no don't go," which made my grandma extremely emotional. It was a very hard goodbye, especially since they are leaving for Jerusalem next month to serve another mission for our church. We won't see them again for at least 15 months:(

December Fun!

2012-01-08T20:29:00.000-08:00

Christmas shopping at Victoria Gardens:Decorating the tree-Mackenna was a huge help this year and took it very seriously. She was so much fun to work with and we got it up in half the time!

Trader Joe's-always great fun at Christmas time:)

Disneyland with Grandma & Papa. We love the firework show because it "snows" at the end!

Snow Day in Glendora. It was perfect for my little city girls because it was 80 degrees outside and they still got to play with snow:

Mackenna got to go to lots of December birthday parties, her favorite was her friend Bella's party with this massive jumper. I had the hardest time getting her out of there when the party was over!

Decorating Christmas cookies with my family:

Steven's parents threw a huge Christmas party at Dave N' Busters for the entire Paul side of the family a few days before Christmas. It was so fun to see everyone and the girls loved playing games all nightL

Grandma Jane and her great grandbabiesL

Mackenna, Aunty Ashley, and Karlee playing pool:

Karlee and Grandpa had a lot of bonding time, they crack each other up:

Karlee was so cute and whenever she saw a Christmas tree, she would run up to it, turn around and say, "Mommy, take a cheese." (cheese=picture):

Pre-Christmas Dresses

2012-01-08T20:17:00.000-08:00

I fell in love with these outfits for the girls and bought them months ago. Then my sweet mom couldn't resist buying them even more darling Christmas dresses to wear to church, so I had to snap a picture of these outfits a couple weeks before Christmas.

Preschool Christmas Program

2012-01-08T19:57:00.000-08:00

Mackenna performed some darling songs with her preschool class on the last day before Christmas break. My mom, Grandma & Grandpa Squires, Karlee and I were all able to be there and she did a great job. She LOVES to perform!

Santa Photo 2011

2012-01-08T19:55:00.000-08:00

Tom's Farms

2012-01-04T15:04:00.000-08:00

Our annual Tom's Farms trip with the Sloans- December 16th. Always look forward to this time with great friends, great food, and great fun!The only picture I got of Me & Karlee...barely visible, but had to include it!

Mackenna, Grant, and Harrison:

Steven loves teaching the kids how to work the construction equipment:

Christmas Dance Recital

2012-01-04T14:34:00.000-08:00

Mackenna's holiday dance recital was the week before Christmas. I love this recital because it's much more laid back than the spring recital and there are no rules on hair or costumes, just a pink leotard. Easy! I had fun doing her hair and was so happy with how it turned out!All ready to go:

She did great, knew all the moves, and performed perfectly:

At the end, the girls all got to showcase their turns, so while Mackenna was waiting her turn (in front of the entire audience) she started doing her "High School Musical" dance moves to the Mariah Carey song that was playing. Everyone was cracking up and she just kept on going. A few moms jokingly asked me what other types of dance classes I put my daughter in because their daughters don't know those kinds of moves! Haha, she cracks me up. I guess we need to tone down the amount of Zumba that goes on in our house!Grandma Kathy came to watch and brought her a bouquet of beautiful roses:

My little 4-going-on-14 year old:

Oh Pinterest...

2012-01-03T16:33:00.000-08:00

...thank you for making my December crafting, decorating, and baking so much more fun this year!
Made candy cane-shaped wreaths for my staircase:
Mastered the art of toffee-making

Decorated the outside of my house also with some cute wreaths:

Added a few new things to my tree:

And, finally, made headband-holders out of empty oatmeal canisters:

I have SO SO SO much more to blog, but we are still on Christmas break this week, so after this week's festivities are finished, I'll be a better blogger. My goal is to always have my blog fully up to date by the beginning of January so I can print my blog book! Let's hope I can do it this year!

2011-12-16T18:02:00.001-08:00

My Uncle is the manager of Ontario Mills Mall and invited me to amazing fashion show & red carpet event his mall put on last month. I was able to bring two girlfriends along with me and we had a great time! Guiliana Rancic was the host and was just darling, she is so tiny! After the runway show, we got to go to the VIP meet & greet and talk to Guiliana and meet the models. My crazy mother had no idea who any of the celebs were, so she was googling them the whole time then acting like she knew everything about them once she met them. She's crazy, as you can tell by the last picture...but we had such a fun night! Thanks Uncle Fred for being so cool!

Thanksgiving

2011-12-14T10:11:00.001-08:00

I don't know why I didn't take any pictures during Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's house, but here are a few pictures of events leafing up to the day:
-the first two are of Mackenna and her class doing a little singing performance at Kiddie Academy's Thanksgiving program.
- the third is Mackenna and her friend Samantha playing around at the primary program
Practice. She did a great job during the program, had her part memorized perfectly, and sang her little heart out.
-the last picture is the only one I have from Thanksgiving...Colton & Karlee doing bath time in Nana's bath. They're favorite thing to do! We had a great Thanksgiving with my grandparents (smiths), Uncle Fred's family, and my sister's in-laws. My sweet grandma and I spent a lot of time bonding and cooking together and it was a wonderful holiday!

Karlee's first school picture

2011-11-22T14:56:00.001-08:00

I had no idea a photo shoot was happening when Karlee and I walked into Kiddie Academy to drop something off one morning. However, sometimes impromptu photo shoots are the best!

Halloween Costume Photo Shoot

2011-11-14T14:16:00.000-08:00

Halloween 2011

2011-11-08T14:46:00.000-08:00

Our Halloween activities started the first week of October. I signed the girls up for a fun afternoon at a new place called "Sweet & Sasse Princess Tea Parties." They got to decorate pumpkins, play dress-up, get glitter tattoos on their arms, and have snacks. We had so much fun! (unfortunately this is the only photo I took that day):The next week, Mackenna invited her friend Bella over to decorate a gingerbread haunted mansion with her. Most of the frosting and candy ended up being eaten before it made it to the house, but they were still proud of how it turned out:

That weekend, Kiddie Academy had a Halloween Festival and it was a blast. The girls got to decorate trick-or-treat bags, play games, do crafts, eat all kinds of yummy food, and play with all their friends. I love seeing Karlee play there because she is just so in her element there and loves all her teachers:

Mackenna spent the night at Grandma & Papa's the night before and showed up to the party with a beautiful hair do:

Grandma Kathy & her grandkids:

The following weekend, we went to our friend Samantha's Halloween-themed brithday party and got to ride ponies! Mackenna didn't want to leave, she had the best time and rode the poor pony 5 times!

The week before Halloween, my mom had us over for a Halloween-themed Family Home Evening lesson and the girls had so much fun helping her tell all the stories and decorating a ghost cake:

We went to my parent's wards' trunk-or-treat this year and my sister even came up for it. It was fun for the cousins to get to trick-or-treay together and hang out with scary Nana!

Scary Nana and Karlee:

Halloween morning! Mackenna all dressed up as Strawberry Shortcake for her preschool party:

Karlee all ready in her watermelon costume:

After preschool, My mom took the girls tot rick-or-treat downtown Glendora, then we rushed over to downtown La Verne so Mackenna could be on TV! Ok, it was just the local station, but it was darling. She had entered a coloring contest through the City of La Verne and had taken it very seriously. She worked on her coloring for 3 days straight and everyday she told me, "Mommy, I think I'm going to win!" Well, a few days before Halloween, I got a call that Mackenna had gotten 3rd place, her picture would be displayed in the yogurt store downtown for 2 weeks, and she will be awarded a prize on Halloween afternoon. I got teary-eyed when I heard this and was just so proud of her.

At the award ceremony, they announced her name , she got to go up and get her big prize bag, then she was interviewed for the local channel and the newspaper about the coloring contest. It was definitely a proud mommy moment!

Here she is next to her coloring page displayed in the yogurt store window:

Picking up her prizes:

Doing her interview for La Verne TV:

After some much-needed naps, we headed over to Steven's parents for their big Halloween party and trick-or-treating. My little watermelon LOVED trick-or-treating and looked so ridiculously cute in her costume! I couldn't get enough of her little bum wiggling as she walked up to each door to get candy.

Mackenna & Madison:

Trick-or-treat!

Kathy's darling party:

Karlee became way attached to Steven's uncle's girlfriend, Lisa, that night. They were so cute together and played all night long.

Such a fun Halloween this year!!

Photo Book

2011-11-05T08:08:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

You'll love Shutterfly's award-winning photo books. Try it today.

It's that time of year...

2011-10-18T15:40:00.000-07:00

...the time to visit as many pumpkin patch's as possible before Halloween!
Our first pumpkin patch was our annual trip to Underwood Farms with the Sloans. The girls were at such fun ages this year and enjoyed everything about it. We spent the whole afternoon going on hay rides, train rides, playing games, eating amazing kettle corn, picking out pumpkins, looking at the barnyard animals, and having fun with our friends.

This next one is the Heritage Park pumpkin patch near our house. It's very cute (and free!) so we plan on hitting this one up a lot in the next couple of weeks:

Most recently, we went with my sister and some friends to a cute pumpkin patch/carnival in Laguna Hills.

Sometimes my iphone impresses me and takes cool pictures like this one. I think it's neat how Mackenna is the only one in focus:

WooHoo...She's TWO!

2011-10-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

K, I promise this is the last post I do about Karlee's birthday. We just did so many fun things that I don't want to forget! First of all, the day before her birthday she brought some undies to me and said "no more diapers." So, I jumped right on the bandwagon, but unfortunately that bandwagon only lasted a couple hours until I had to go run errands. We're still working on it, though, and we do a few hours a day in undies so hopefully she'll get the hang of it soon.The last picture of my baby as a one-year-old:

Mackenna was so excited to sing to Karlee on her birthday (and to eat donuts with her). Karlee has become obsesed with donuts ever since Mackenna's Rapunzel donut-tower cake, so her "breakfast in bed" was super easy this year:

Right after she ate her donut, Karlee got a surprise knock at the door from Grandma who showed up with balloons, more donuts, and a present:

"Woohoo I'm 2!"

Her birthday outfit from Grandma:

Luckily, her birthday fell on a Thursday when she has her My Gym class, so she got to play, sing, and eat more birthday treats:

For lunch, my mom took us out to the Taco Factory and then See's Candy afterward. The sugar high lasted all day...thanks Nana! She also gave Karlee her two cute birthday outfits she wore at her party, so sweet.

Later that day, Steven and I took the girls to Disneyland to celebrate some more and go on all of Karlee's favorite rides. We had a blast!

Went on Dumbo twice!

They wouldn't look up...too busy buckling their belts:

Phew! And that was Karlee's birthday. Now that I look back on it, I can't believe we crammed all of that into one weekday, but I'm glad we did because Karlee's worth it! Happy birthday, sweet girl!

Karlee's 2-year check-up

2011-10-11T14:05:00.000-07:00

Karlee was so happy she got to stand on the big-kid scale at the doctor. She didn't stop smiling the whole time! She did great at her check-up and didn't even cry when she got her flu shot. She's still a little munchkin, so hopefully she'll hit a growth spurt soon because she still fits into 18-month clothes!

Here are the stats:

Height: 25.5" (25th %)

Weight: 31.5" (35th%)

*current on all vaccinations

*starting to potty train

*only has paci at bed-time

Karlee's "Double" Birthday Party

2011-10-04T14:29:00.000-07:00

That's right, my baby is two years old! Other than being in complete denial, I'm handling it pretty well:) Karlee turned 2 on September 22nd and her Aunt Ashley (Steven's little sis) turned 22 the day after, so in keeping with the "2" theme, we decided to throw them a double party. We invited a bunch of family and close friends and Steven's mom went all out with the decorations and food. Everyone went swimming, played, ate, chatted, opened presents, had cake, and got to enjoy my in-laws newly remodeled home and backyard (and I went home to a clean house that night-best part)!
The invitations:
The set-up:

The appetizers (individual carrots & celery with ranch on mini shot glasses):

The favors:

One of the food tables:

Karlee in birthday outfit #1:

Outfit #2 (post-swim):

The guests:

The kids swimming:

The cake:

The birthday girls:

Opening presents-she was SO into it this year and loved everything she opened. Everyone knew about her obsession with baby dolls and got her so many and they are constantly being scattered around every room in my hosue. She rocks them, cuddles with them, feeds them, bathes them, puts them to sleep, etc. It's all she does all day long and I get the biggest kick out of it.

Karlee had a super fun birthday party and I'm so thankful for a fabulous mother-in-law who let us have the party at her beautiful home and for my sister-in-law for sharing her birthday with my daughter.

Preschool!

2011-10-03T07:40:00.000-07:00

Mackenna LOVES her preschool and was so excited to go back for the second time. This year, she goes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and most of the class is made up of returning students from last year. They are all such great friends and are enjoying their last year until Kindergarten! Gosh, that's scary!!

Mackenna and her favorite friends: Reese and Emma (and little Kar Kar in the background).

Photo Book

2011-09-20T09:25:00.001-07:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

The Hills come to visit...

2011-09-14T15:06:00.000-07:00

...and we put them to work! Actually, we just put Ashley to work and she did the most beautiful haircuts on both of my girls. Every year we look forward to Sean, Ashley, Parker, and Preston staying in Newport so we can get together with them. This year, after playing basketball, running around, and making s'mores at the fire pit, Ashley offered to trim my girls hair and of course I took her up on it:) It was Karlee's first professional haircut and she did so great! Thanks to Ashley, she no longer has a baby-mullett, but a darling little bob. Mackenna got all of her chlorine-green ends trimmed and her hair looks so thick and pretty. Thanks, Ashley, you are amazingly talented!!

Our four crazy kids

Great photos to use in future wedding videos, right?

Thanks for playing, Hill family! We love you guys!

Mackenna's 4 year stats

2011-09-14T15:01:00.000-07:00

Mackenna had her 4 year old check-up last week and the doctor said she's growing perectly and she's actually the size of a 5 year old! She loved every second of being at the doctor, even getting her flu shot. Seriously, my child is my complete opposite. I had anxiety about her getting that shot all day long and she didn't even flinch when they gave it to her. She thought it was super cool! Good thing I have her in my life to keep me calm.

Height: 42.5 Inches

Weight: 41.5 Pounds

Percentiles: 95th for both height and weight

Palm Springs with the Pauls

2011-09-13T15:31:00.000-07:00

Steven's family rented a great house and took us all to Palm Springs for 4 days over Labor Day weekend. We basically lived in this pool all day everyday since it was bit warm that weekend:)

Mackenna, Ashley and Madison had sleepovers on the couch every night and stayed up til 1am most nights!

Papa, Grandma, Ash, and Uncle Jason played in the pool with the girls so much and they loved every second of it.

Karlee and Steven taking a power nap:

The best Ruth's Chris!

Karlee, Mackenna, and Madison:

I brought a bunch of crafts and projects to keep the kids busy and their favorite was cake decorating. Mandy and I even got into it, cake decorating is very therapeutic.

Karlee's little cake is at the top, Madison's on the left, and Mackenna's on the right:

Photo shoot with Aunty Ashley:

The ladies (minus Karlee who was not in the picture-taking mood):

Thank you to my fabulous in-laws for a fabulous vacation!!

8th Anniversary Trip

2011-09-12T14:44:00.000-07:00

On our anniversary, we went to Villa Blanca in Beverly Hills for dinner. Steven definitely wasn't as star-struck as I was the first time I saw Ken & Lisa Vanderpump, but I think he enjoyed seeing them during dinner. He surprised me with a new I-touch (I burned out my old Ipod because I use it every time I teach) and he also took my promise ring he gave me when he went on his mission to get fixed (one of the diamonds came loose months ago) and cleaned and gave me that at dinner also. So sweet!A couple weeks later, my mom watched the girls so we could get away for the weekend. We stayed at the Estancia in La Jolla, went to see hang-gliders and the most beautiful view from the cliffs near the hotel, went to the races in Del Mar, had the best massage I've ever had, layed out at the pool, slept in, went out to dinner, saw a movie, and relaxed.

Mackenna's New Room

2011-09-12T10:22:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's actually the same room she's had since birth, just with a few new pieces of furniture/decor. She had outgrown her toddler bed a while ago, but specifically asked for a big bed for her 4th birthday, so we surprised her the week of her birthday. I searched for bedding for months because I wanted to keep the curtains, but didn't have any leftover fabric to make it match. I finally chose this Pottery Barn bedding and I love how it looks in the room (and I'm always a sucker for embroidery):

My mom made Mackenna this little quilt with the leftover fabric from her crib bedding:
And I found some pretty Anthropology drawer knobs for the dresser:

Now it's Karlee's turn...the toddler bed is all ready for my almost 2-year-old! (although I'm not quite ready for my little 2-year-old to be able to get out of her bed all night)...I think I'll try and make her crib days last as long as possible:)

Del Mar & La Jolla witth Spencers

2011-09-10T16:09:00.000-07:00

Our annual trip with my sis and her family begins with the Del Mar races:

Followed by dinner at The Brigantine (best fish tacos on earth)...then on to downtown La Jolla to see Weston's new dental office and his view, which is basically this:From now on, I will only get my teeth cleaned and cavities filled while looking out onto the ocean! After seeing the new office, we walked a few steps down to Children's Beach and the sea bridge where we got to see a bunch of seals.

BFF's:

and more BFF's...haha:

The hubby's and kids in the middle of the ocean. It scared me and I thought Karlee was going to fall over the edge, but the view from the bridge was awesome:

The cute cousins:

A 'Tangled' Birthday

2011-08-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

The invitation:The favors-not sure why this is upside down- but we gave out rock candy pollipops with princess crown rings attached and the Tangled soundtrack:

Mackenna's birthday outfit:

Our fuzzy family photo:

Another fuzzy one...with Grandma and Papa:

The cake that Kathy and I made (donut tower). It was a hit! I think I'll make donut cakes every year from now on, there wasn't anything left over!

Hailey, Nana, and Mackenna:

The little one coming down the slide is Karlee-she was a party animal! She went on all the slides and bounce houses and had the best time:

A bunch of the party guests getting ready to go eat pizza and donuts:

Queen for a day:

The three muketeers (Mackenna, Isabella, and Reese). They were in the same dance class and preschool class last year and became such cute friends:A couple more cake pictures before it got gobbled up:

Present time:

Sisters relaxing after the party:

We had such a fun day and we are so thankful for so many great friends and family members who came to celebrate with us. I'm looking forward to see what kind of party Mackenna comes up with next year!

Fourth Birthday Fun!

2011-08-17T15:22:00.000-07:00

A couple days before my sweet girl turned four, Steven's parents took us out to dinner and Mackenna got to have all the waiters sing to her and bring her a dessert. I've never seen her so excited in her life...honestly! She loved every minute of the song, the clapping, the attention...she loved it all!On Monday, August 15th, she woke up to her favorite breakfast in bed: Jamba juice Strawberry Wild and sweet waffle:

Then we got dressed, picked up Nana, and met my sister and her kids at Irvine Spectrum. Mackenna went with Hailey to get her ears pierced here on her 4th birthday back in August and has been dying to get hers pierced ever since. It was so nice to have everyone there for moral support (for me) especially my sister who leaned over to me as they were about to start and said, "they're putting holes in your baby's head!" Thanks, Ash! . Mackenna had absolutely no problem, jumped right up in the chair and didn't even flinch when they did it. She said it didn't hurt at all!She chose pink (white gold) daisies:

After Nana treated us to lunch and Ash and I treated ourselves to some shopping, we took the kids to Sweet Spot to let them decorate their own cupcakes:

Later that day, we picked up Steven and headed to Disneyland for the rest of the evening. We got to go on all of Mackenna's favorite rides, eat her favorite dinner and dessert, and even see World of Color.

Happy 4th Birthday, Mackenna!! (party pictures to follow...check back soon)

An Anniversary Re-cap

2011-08-02T13:56:00.000-07:00

Exactly one year ago today....I had a nursing baby and an almost 3-year-old and was lucky to get away for a few hours to go to Gold Class for my anniversary date with Steven.
Exactly two years ago today...I was 8 &1/2 months pregnant with Karlee and had an almost 2-year old and had my baby shower and anniversary date the same night.
Exactly three years ago today...I had an almost one-year old little girl and left her with Nana and Grandpa while Steven and I went back to the Ritz in Pasadena (now the Langham and also where we stayed on our wedding night) for the weekend to celebrate our 5th anniversary.
Exactly four years ago today...it was my original due date with Mackenna. I was massive, 9-months pregnant, and having regular contractions every 6 minutes during our date at Ruth's Chris in Irvine. We told the waiter to rush our order since we were sure we'd be heading straight to the hospital from dinner. Sadly, my contractions subsided once I had a full belly and didn't start again until almost 2 weeks later!
Exactly five years ago today...I was keeping up with Steven in the work-a-holic arena. I owned my own real estate company (still do), was about to complete my master's degree, taught ballroom dance on the side, and we had started construction on our home.
Exactly six years ago today...we were renting a small one-bedroom guest home in Glendora, I was working for a chiropractor, and we thought we'd be heading back to Utah after Steven's CA internship was over at the end of August...little did we know we'd soon accept an offer to stay in CA and our lives would be quickly uprooted.
Exactly seven years ago today...we still felt like newlyweds. We were living in our darling Orem apartment, both working and going to school, and just enjoying being married. We were so happy about finally being together after 5 years of a long-distance relationship.
Exactly eight years ago today...I married my best friend! It was the best day of my life, everything went perfectly, we were surrounded by so many loving family members and friends, and it was an absolutely beautiful day. I'll always look back on my wedding day with the very best of memories.
Today...We have 2 beautiful, energetic, funny, sweet little girls who are the best of friends. I'm having an absolute blast being a stay-at-home mom and part-time Zumba instructor. I couldn't ask for a better family or better friends, and Steven is loving everything he has going on with work (but don't ask me what exactly that is because I still don't know what he does). Tonight we'll be heading to Beverly Hills for our anniversary date while Nana babysits. I'm excited!

3 Years Old...

2011-07-26T14:41:00.000-07:00

...for 3 more weeks. Although most people think she's already 5 years old, my sweet Mackenna will be turning 4 in a few weeks.

Some of my favorite things about Mackenna at this age:

1. She's a little swimmer now! I had her in lessons at the Claremont Club at they worked like a charm. After 1 week of everyday lessons, she can swim all over the place and has amazing form. I'm so impressed with her and how fast she learned.

2. She will only wear dresses and told me we should throw away all her pants and shorts.

3. Her best friend is my mom. They looooove each other and have the cutest relationship.

4. She likes to be the "big girl babysitter" with Karlee or any other babies we are with. I can trust her to keep an eye on Karlee and she does a great job.

5. She is an amazing organizer. Last week I let her help me clean out her clothes and reorganize her closet and she took the job very seriously. Every article of clothing was organized by color and size and she learned how to fold. I also let vacuum her play room last week and she did perfectly! I always tell Steven that she is the best oldest child to have in our family. Such a great helper and babysitter!

6. She loves to read and do story time with Karlee and me. She has memorized quite a few books and can tell some great stories!

7. Her summer preschool class ended last week and she was pretty bummed. She had a wonderful time with Miss Jacki and all her cute friends that were in her class. Now that it's over, she pretends she's Miss Jacki and has Karlee be her student. It's pretty adorable.

8. I think she might be more obsessed with shopping than me! It doesn't matter if we're at Nordstrom, Target, or the local pharmacy, the girl is constantly finding things she wants and asking me to buy them for her. My mother and sister-in-law took her to the mall last week and couldn't believe how many things she picked out for them to buy her...and of course everything she likes is bright pink and sparkly!

9. One of her favorite things to do is play dress-up. It doesn't matter if her girl freinds or boy friends come over to play, she immediately takes them up to her room and dresses them up!

10. Her favorite thing to eat right now is...nope, not cookies, but carrots! Yes, I'm finally succeeding at getting her to eat healthy! All it took was for me to tell her if she wanted hair like Rapunzel, then she needs to eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Hopefully she'll believe me for the rest of her life, haha!

My cute little Karlee

2011-07-24T13:25:00.000-07:00

2 more months until 2 years old!

I think the best thing about this age is the new words and phrases they say. Karlee blows me away everyday with the words that come out of her mouth. Mackenna and I have more fun telling Karlee to say funny things and her little voice is just the cutest thing ever! Some of our favorite "Karlee-isms" are:

1. "gubgetti= spaghetti

2. "sis-sis"= Mackenna

3. "corlor"= color

4. "warlor"= water

5. "luff ooooh"= I love you

6. "seepah"= pizza

Some of her cutest phrases are:

1. "I do, I do, I do, I do I do"

2. "I got it"

3. "I drop it"

4. "Baby night night"

5. "reach please"-when she wants someone to pick her up

Songs she loves to perform & sing:

1. "You are my sunshine"-Mackenna learned this song with choreography at preschool and they get up on my fireplace and sing/perform it together and it's so darling!

2. "Do Re Mi" (from Sound of Music)-she knows every word from watching the movie in the car on road trips.

3. "I Am A Child of God"- one thing her mommy actually taught her, haha, proud mommy moment!

* and my last bragging point: she can count to 12!! She probably learned it from Sesame Street, so I can't really take credit for that one, but it's pretty impressive!

Besides vacationing, this summer we've been...

2011-07-10T15:39:00.000-07:00

Swimming with Samantha & Audree:Making the occasional pit-stop for some cotton-candy ice cream:

Having fun with friends at Kiddie Academy:

Going to the library:

Trying to stay cool at our local splash pad with friends:

Getting together with out-of-town friends (thanks for visiting, Brackens!)

Celebrating cousin Colton's 2nd birthday with a cute family party at Nana's:

Enjoying the Ladera Ranch water park with cousins & friends:

Going to Disneyland:

Playing at Nana's

Shopping (and playing in every fountain they see):

Enjoying story time with Rapunzel:

Playing at gymnastics with friends, Audree and Alina:

Going to Vacation Playschool for 6 weeks (Mackenna, Maive, and Meghan):

Riding the carousel with cousins at Irvine Spectrum:

Going to the petting zoo and getting our faces painted at the Farmer's Market:

Dallas, Texas

2011-07-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

Steven and I flew out to Dallas last weekend for my friend Megan's wedding. Megan and I worked together at BYU for more than 2 years and she has come out and visited me twice a year every year since we graduated. She's an amazing friend and is so good at keeping in touch. I always promised her that I would for sure visit her in Texas when she got married, so we booked our tickets as soon as she told us the good news!
After checking in at our hotel, we headed to a local favorite, Diego's, for lunch. It was great Mexican food!
That night we went to the rehearsal dinner where we got to met Megan's fiance Coby in person for the first time and also see my other BYU co-workers that I haven't seen in 6 years.This is the view from our table at the rehearsal dinner-it was awesome! Megan's in-laws live on a farm and made the best barbeque dinner Steven and I have ever had.The day of the wedding, my brother Kirk drove down from the base where he lives (he's in the Air Force) and went to breakfast with us and then met us for shopping, lunch, and the wedding reception that night. He brought me homemade brownies and ended up getting his own room (on the private concierge level with lots of free stuff...it pays to be in the military) and staying the night and hanging with us the next morning also. We had a lot of fun with him!

Megan and Coby right after they were sealed in the Dallas temple, it was a beautiful ceremony. I couldn't be happier for them, it was so great to see one of my best friends so happy and marrying such a great guy.

The bridal party:

The lovely bride and me:

The next day we were able to tour around Dallas, so we started off by going to the "Sixth Floor Museum" where JFK was shot. It was so informative, but just so so sad!

There are 2 "x's" on the street that mark where JFK was shot as he rode along in the motorcade:

The "grassy knoll"

We toured Cowboy stadium and got to go on the field, into the players' and cheerleaders' locker rooms, VIP clubs, etc. It was amazing!

Steven's favorite picture...kidding!

I'm a tad obsessed with the CMT show "Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Squad"

Before heading to the airport, we spent a couple hours at the Stockyards in Fort Worth. They had an old western shoot out re-enactment that was hilarious, then we got to watch the cattle drive along the main road. Pretty cool!! It was a very fun trip, it's always nice to get away and enjoy time without the kids (they also had a fun time with their Aunty Ashley's, Grandma and Nana all weekend). Thanks for getting married, Megan!! We had a blast in Dallas!!

Lake Trip

2011-06-29T13:59:00.000-07:00

For Father's Day weekend, we went with Steven's whole family (minus Chrissi- we missed you!) out to Laughlin. His brother has a boat and all the fun toys that go with it, so he was nice enough to take us out and we had blast. The girls loved "driving" the boat, playing in the water all day long, and being spoiled by Grandma, Papa, and Aunt Ashley.
The girls all decked out in their new gear while packing for the trip: The pictures are pretty self-explanatory (just hanging out at Lake Mohave) but I have to record a few of the memorable moments from the weekend:

My first time wakeboarding-got up on the first try, but couldn't quite grasp the concept of turing my body sideways while going forward...when I fell, I fell hard and face-planted into the water everytime, which was 6 total. I thought I had broken my back/neck the next day, I could barely move (I went to hot yoga the day we got back and it loosened me right up, thank goodness). I guess I'm officially getting old!

Steven's first time wakeboarding- He also got up on the first try no problem, but after about 3 tries and staying up for a really long time, he ate it hard and when we went back to pick him up, he was flailing his arms around and yelling that he couldn't breathe. At first, we thought he was joking, but then realized he was serious and his brother was getting ready to jump in and save him. He finally caught his breath and calmed down enough to tell us he had the wind knocked out of him when he fell.

Mackenna scolded Ashley and I for "swimming way too far away." She got so nervous when we went for a swim and told us we weren't allowed to do that ever again!

It was a very fun weekend and I'm so lucky to have such great in-laws!

Elder Kevin Squires Smith

2011-06-22T15:29:00.000-07:00

My wonderful little brother, Kevin, left 2 weeks ago to go on his mission for 2 years for our church. He will be serving in the Four Corners mission, which means he will be in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah and he will be speaking Spanish. We've already received a couple letters and email from him and he is loving being a missionary and learning the language.

As the time drew closer for him to leave, it became more and more difficult for me to think about not having Kevin around for 2 years. He's been my little side-kick for the past 6 years since we've been living in California. He was my best babysitter too and my girls are obsessed with him! The night we said goodbye to him and he was set apart as a missionary, Mackenna laid on our couch and cried for over an hour because she was so sad he was leaving. However, we are sooooo happy for him and just after reading his last couple of letters, we know he is doing great! Mackenna loves to pray for him at night and talk about how much fun she has with him and reminds me almost daily that we need to mail Kevin another package.

The weekend of Kevin's farewell was super fun because a bunch of my Smith relatives came into town. We had a great time with everyone, it was so sweet of them to travel so far to say goodbye to Kevin and hear him speak in church. On Memorial day, we all got together to go bowling and to Five Guys for dinner.
Mackenna and Great Grandma Smith
Karlee and a barely-visible Mackenna in the background-it was their first time bowling and they loved it!

Aunt Ann & Karlee, Kevin, Reed, and Kirk:

Grandpa Smith always does his magic tricks for Mackenna and she gets the biggest kick out them:

The Smith boys with Kar:Our last pictures with Uncle Kevin for 2 years!

She didn't want to let go, it broke my heart!

Graduations

2011-06-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

Mackenna "graduated" from her first year of preschool! She's not starting kindergarten for one more year, but her cute preschool held a graduation for all of the students since her class has 3 and 4 year olds. It was so darling and they even sang 3 songs for us at the end. Mackenna with Miss Sally, who is an absolutely amazing preschool teacher. She made Mackenna's first preschool experience a wonderful one!

Grandma Kathy even came to the graduation and brought Mackenna (and Karlee, of course) some great presents:

Mackenna with one of her best friends, Jaylin:

Steven's sister, Ashley, also graduated this year...from college at University of La Verne. Her parents threw her an amazing grad party comeplete with a DJ and dance floor. My girls didn't leave the dance floor all night, it was awesome!

This was one of the very few pictures I took that evening, but Uncle Jason is so cute with Mackenna and Karlee. They just love him!

Dancing with Daddy:

Chrissi, Jason, and Mackenna:

Excuse the blurry picture of Karlee with Grandma and Papa-but I thought it was so cute that danced with her:

Karlee helping clean up (or making a bigger mess) after the party was over:

Congrats to all the 2011 graduates!!

Mackenna's Dance Recital

2011-06-20T09:10:00.000-07:00

Mackenna loved her dance class this year at Le Petit with Miss Cori. It was half ballet and half tumbling and she became best friends with every girl in the class. After every class, us moms had to find out that one of our daughters invited the rest of the class over for dinner that night!Karlee became the class mascot because she was the only (mobile) sibling that came to every class, so all the little girls just loved her.
The best photos I got were taken on picture day-this is their first ballet costume:

And the second half of the recital was a "spring" theme, so she was a little chicky:

Reese and Mackenna:

This was at the actual recital (photography was not allowed, but I snuck one anyways). She's smack dab in the middle:

This picture pretty much sums up their second performance...it was kind of a mess. They did their performance just fine, but then they made them sit on the stage for the rest of the performances. There were probably about 15 routines they had to sit through and they got really restless. Of course my Mackenna was the one who gave into peer pressure and started to play with parts of her costume, put her bracelets on her ears, took off her shoes, etc. We were all dying laughing! I'm soooooo glad I bought the dvd of the recital, it's going to be great to show her when she's older!

She was so excited to get flowers and gifts after she was all done:

Grandpa, & Nana:

Papa, Grandma, Ash, and Karlee:

Hopefully Mackenna will be as a good of a dancer as her Aunty Ashley was!

Beverly Hills...

2011-06-19T21:19:00.000-07:00

The second weekend of May, my sister, mom, and I took our (now annual) girls trip to Beverly Hills. We stayed at the Beverly Hilton and had a great time! We started the trip off with Yoga downtown Hollywood then went and checked into the hotel so we could exchange gift bags with each other. This year, we just left the theme of the bags open to whatever we might need for the weekend. The weirdest part was that all 3 of us bought each other earrings...along with other stuff like candy, hats, magazines, matching shirts, etc. Where's Waldo, I mean Shauna in the picture?Ashley and my mom practicing their yoga poses...

One of our main events of the weekend was our dinner at Villa Blanca (owned by Lisa Vanderpump from Real Housewives). My mom is obsessed with her, so Ash and I thought it would be perfect to take her there as her birthday present. We also arranged for my dad and little brother to meet us there and surprise my mom. She was so surprised when my dad walked in with a bouquet of flowers, it was so cute!

Lisa, Ken, and Jiggy came into the restaurant while we were there and she was nice enough to take pictures and come over to our table to chat with us. Love her!There's a blurry Ken & Jiggy:

And we couldn't lave without a trip to Sprinkles!

We did a lot of sight-seeing, but our favorite thing was to drive around and look at the crazy mansions-we even found an open house going on that was Mauricio's (from Real Housewives again...yeah, we're kinda into that show if you couldn't guess) listing. Pretty cool!

After our facials, I rushed back home, picked up Steve, and we drove out to Temecula for his cousin's wedding. Congrats Davis & Sommerlyn! It was a gorgeous event and the perfect ending to a fabulous weekend.

Spring Photo Shoot

2011-06-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

Arizona Vacay

2011-06-12T16:56:00.000-07:00

The last week of April we took our annual "spring break trip with the Spencer's" to Pheonix, AZ. It was perfect weather and the perfect vacation with little kids. We stayed at the Arizona Grand Resort which has its own water park inside the resort, so all we had to do was open our hotel room door and we were steps away from the water park!
Our car ride to and from Arizona went very smooth thanks to my sister who gave me the idea of bringing wrapped presents for the kids to open every hour. Here's Mackenna's first gift all finished and on her head:
...and my funny baby laughing at Mackenna's hat:

The wave pool at the water park:

Steve gave the kids a pep talk every morning before leaving:

The beautiful resort:

The best of friends:

Daddy & his girls:

Me & Mackenna:

Playing in the hot tub the second night-I bought karlee one of those obnoxious bathing suits with floaties built into it thinking she would probably hate it, but she loved the thing and wore it all day long both days we were at the water park:

Family photo out to dinner:

Karlee's hair is finally gorwing:

One of my favorite parts of our vacation was getting to see our friends Sean & Ashley and their boys and their beautiful new house. Karlee and Preston wrestled....

...and Mackenna and Parker sat and played nicely with each other...kinda!

Mackenna & Karlee opening presents on the trip home:The car ride home will always be a memorable one because the kids were fast asleep and Steven and I were listening to the radio when a news alert came on saying Osama Bin Laden had been killed! It was a very fun vacation and we had a wonderful time with my sis and her family and also visiting the Hills! Thanks for a fun vacation, guys!

Winning!

2011-06-08T16:15:00.000-07:00

I'm one of those people who always complain about never winning anything. Well, that was until this year! I've won a bunch of random things and just had to document it.

Things I've won this year:

10 boxes of Post Cereal from a fellow blogger's giveaway

Cheescake Factory gift card from California Utah Women's Conference raffle

A new Three Designing women stamp also from a blogger's giveaway

$50 Tai Pan gift card from a raffle during "ladies' night out" at Tai Pan.

VIP tickets to the new Zumba DVD launch party, Zumba duffel bags, dvd sets, bracelets, necklaces, and 2 tank tops.

Chosen from other So Cal Zumba instructor's to be involved in the Zella event at Nordstrom.

Easter 2011

2011-06-08T15:39:00.000-07:00

We started off the weekend with the annual Easter Egg hunt at the park near my house-both girls loved it. Mackenna had to fill up her basket as much as possible and Karlee was content with picking up one egg, opening it, and eating the candy inside immediately.On Sunday morning, the we woke up to an Easter mess all over the house. That darn Easter bunny scattered candy all over my entire downstairs floors then hid the kids' baskets for them to find.

It literally took the girls 1/2 hour to pick up all the candy and Steven would not let me help. It kinda drove me nuts at the time, but now that I look back on it, it's pretty cute.

All ready to go to church in their Easter dresses from Nana:

We had both of our families over to our house for Easter dinner. The girls were absolutely spoiled with tons of presents. I think Easter has turned into "second Christmas" in terms of presents.

The table:

Kids' table: my sister typed up a cute poem and attached a treat for the favors.

Hailey and Mackenna waiting inside the house while the adults hid the eggs:

Karlee waiting for the all the eggs to be hid:

She was a pro by this time:

The fam-helping the kids look for eggs:

After the kids' found all their eggs, we made our way into the front yard for the adult Easter egg hunt. It was our second year doing this and it was hilarious! My mom and Steve's mom got together and filled eggs with money and hid them in ridiculously hard-to-find places. I pretty much just stood like this and watched my sister and Steven go crazy looking for eggs. They got SO competetive! My sister made out with the most money and I made out with the least...I guess next year I should get more involved!

My growing girls...

2011-06-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

Mackenna will be 3 years and 10 months old in a couple weeks. She is my little sidekick and loves doing everything that I love to do- we watch musicals together, dance together, go to the gym together (she loves the kids' play place there), read together, bake together, etc. I call her my dream child, she's just so easy to have around and is really easy going (most of the time).Some things I want to remember about Mackenna at this age:

She is SO independent. She has to dress herself, go potty all by herself, orders food at restaurants by herself and the list goes on and on.

She continues to love preschool and her Sunbeam class at church. She thrives in classroom settings and I'm so proud of her!

Her favorite movie right now is Sound of Music, she knows every song and watches it at least once a day.

She wears size 4 or 5 clothes & size 9 or 10 shoes.

Her favorite foods/drinks are chicken nuggets, string cheese, chocolate chip cookies, Pirates Booty, chocolate milk, carrots, trail mix, and apple juice....in that order! haha

She LOVES to shop and never wants to miss a party. She is so outgoing and makes friends wherever she goes.

She asked me if she could start doing gymnastics, so I signed her up for a class this summer. It starts this Friday and she is SO excited.

She still takes a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoons and sleeps 12 hours at night.

Her bed-time ritual is a good 30-60 minute process and drives Steven and I crazy at times. She cannot miss a step or she won't go to bed.

She has been planning her 4th birthday party for about a year now and it changes constantly. Right now she's set on having the exact same party as last year...ya that's not happening!

Sisters...I swear these two could not look or act anymore different. I love that they are so different, but still love each other and get to excited to see each other every morning:

Here's my little Kar Kar. She will be 21 months old this month and is definitely entering the "terrible two's." She as sweet as can be, but is a pro at throwing tantrums. Some days I just can't believe what a good baby she is and other days I want to pull my hair out. But she and I have a lot of fun together while Mackenna's at preschool and it's nice having that alone time where I can focus just on her. (And she always has a snack in her hands):

Some things I want to remember about Karlee at this age:

She's starting to show interest in potty training and will tell me before she goes and likes to sit on the potty before she takes a bath at night.

She is still my little munchkin and barely fits into 18-24 month clothes. She wears size 4 shoes.

Her poor skin is still extremely sensitive and her eczema is pretty bad now that it's getting drier outside.

She loves to read books, especially when Mackenna will read them to her.

Thanks to Kindermusik, she knows a lot of baby sign language and loves to sing songs.

She talks a ton and loves to repeat words that people say. She started putting two words together recently. She says "up please," and "sissy night night." So cute!

Mackenna's dance teacher let Karlee join the last half of the class for the past few weeks and she was in heaven! She always stood in the back and danced along with them, so she loved being included.

She's definitely still learning to listen to teachers and sit quietly in classroom settings, but loves her nursery class at church and goes for 2 hours every Sunday no problem.

Her favorite foods are...anything! She's my bottomless pit. From grapes to applesauce to cheese to sandwiches...I don't think there's anything she won't eat!

She is very good at telling people yes or no and will nod or shake her head multiple times along with saying the words.

Preschool Easter Party

2011-06-01T14:17:00.000-07:00

Mackenna has had such a fun first year of preschool. Her teacher, Miss Sally & Miss Heidi always go above and beyond, especially when it comes to holidays. For Easter, they had an Easter egg hunt, then the Easter Bunny came to take pictures with the whole class (I had to bribe Mackenna to go stand by the bunny so I could snap a picture...guess she has some lingering fears from years past):...and of course little Karlee was scared to death, so the only way I could get a picture of both girls with the bunny was to be in the picture myself (I had just finished my morning Zumba class and look so gross!)

Mackenna's class As usual, the festivities ended with a singing performance which was absolutely darling and both grandmas surprised Mackenna by coming to watch her.

Disneyland With Pietro

2011-06-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

Waiting for the parade:

Meeting Peter Pan:

One More...

2011-05-31T16:32:00.000-07:00

...birthday celebration to blog about: Steven's family took me to my favorite restaurant, Mastro's. Love them...and I love Mastro's warm butter cake...Me & Ash:

The Paul ladies:

Spring Primary Activity

2011-05-31T16:19:00.000-07:00

I love the ladies I work with in the primary presidency, they always have the cutest ideas! For the past two years, we have hosted a ward Easter activity in APril at a park in Claremont and everyone just loves it. We meet in the morning and do a short walk on a trail that runs through the park and play bingo while we walk-finding different nature items, sounds, smells. etc. Then we meet up for breakfast and have 3 different stations the kids rotate through to discuss various aspects of the atonement and what Easter is all about. At the end we have a huge Easter egg hunt, which is always the kids' favorite part!
Mackenna came early with me to help set up:
Ward members meeting up after the "hike"

Steven, Karlee, and Karlee's little babysitter Baylee:

Mackenna and her Sunbeam friend, Kate:

Magic Castle

2011-05-24T16:04:00.000-07:00

I have the best friends in the whole world, I really do! They know how much I love to celebrate birthdays, so they planned a night to the Magic Castle in Hollywood on my birthday! It was one of the coolest places I've ever been to! The food was fantastic, the atmosphere was awesome, and the shows were greatNo cameras are allowed into the club, since it's private membership (and I'm lucky enough to be friends with cool people who are members), so I only got a couple photos. First is the lobby-it has a hidden entrance and a secret password that takes you into the club behind the bookcase on the left:

My wonderful friends: Elizabeth, Jolisa, and Katy:

All the couples: James & Elizabeth, Steven & Jolisa, and Mike & Katy. Thanks, you guys. We had a blast!!

Birthday Vacay

2011-05-24T15:42:00.000-07:00

It seems like for the past 6 months, Steven and I just can't get enough of Vegas! When he asked what I wanted for my birthday (which was over a month ago, I'm a blog slacker lately), I immediately thought of The Palazzo, lounging by the pool, nice dinners, and of course...Celine Dion! Thanks to my awesome hubby, I got everything I wanted for my birthday!

Grand Luxe at the Venetian:

Our friends Mike & Katy came with us, so just the girls got to go to the show while the boys hung out on the strip (Steven considered it a late birthday present from me that I didn't make him to go another Celine concert with me):

The show was amazing and Katy and I laughed, cried, and danced through the entire thing:
Katy introduced me to the most amazing dueling piano bar with identical twins who are probably some of the most talented people I've ever seen. The best part of the night, though, was when a midget got on top of the piano and danced to "I like big butts."
When we were laying out by the pool on Saturday, we looked over and saw a bunch of paparazzi gathering in front of a step-and-repeat, so we got all excited thinking it was a big movie star who was coming to our pool...

...nope, not a movie star, but an olympic swimmer!
We had such a fun time, got a lot of shopping and sleeping in, and enjoyed every minute of the 5 hour drive (crazy traffic), but Mike & Katy entertained us the whole way.

Conversation with Mackenna...

2011-05-23T15:23:00.000-07:00

Mackenna:"Mommy, why does your friend have 3 boys and 1 girl?"
Me: "Because that is what Heavenly Father wanted her to have."
Mackenna: "Why did Heavenly Father give you me and Karlee?"
Me: "Because he knew how much I loved you and wanted you to be my daughters."
Mackenna: "Where did I live before Heavenly Father gave me to you?"
Me: "You lived with Heavenly Father."
Mackenna: "I don't remember that at all. I don't remember being in your tummy either."

I got a little choked up while having this conversation with my 3 & a-half-year-old today while driving around running errands. I can't believe how inquisitive and insightful children are at this age!

You're Invited!

2011-05-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, Nordstrom is having a big fitness event to promote their new amazing sportswear line called Zella. There will be fitness instructors modeling their clothing and leading fitness classes throughout the mall and...I was chosen to be the Zumba instructor at the Montclair Nordstrom!! It's going to be a very fun event and I'm excited a lot of my friends have already signed up to go, but if you haven't yet, here's the link to reserve your spot: http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/zella-movementI hope to see you all there on Saturday morning ready to dance and burn some calories....and shop of course! Feel free to email me if you have any questions: britts833@aol.com

Kailey's Bridal Shower

2011-05-11T08:12:00.000-07:00

Kailey was one of my favorite Sunday school students when I used to teach a few years ago. A few months ago when her mom told me she was engaged, I jumped on the chance to throw her a bridal shower. It was so fun to throw a bridal shower again, since I'm definitely in the baby shower stage of life!
Karlee helping me set up:
For the food, I served all of her favorites. The cake was lemon with cream cheese frosting:

Her favorite candy bars:

More favorites: chocolate chip cookies, chips & salsa, taquitos & guacamole, and strawberries:

We ate, played games, ate some more, opened presents, and then Kailey's mom read a sweet letter her fiance Jeff wrote about how excited he was to marry her. It was a very fun night with a very fun group of ladies! Congratulations, Jeff & Kailey! I feel so old, to me you'll always be 16!

Uncle Wes D.D.S

2011-05-10T15:28:00.000-07:00

Last month, Mackenna had her first dentist appointment with Weston. She was in awe of seeing her uncle dressed up as a doctor and she held so still and did everything he asked her to do.Open big!

She didn't have any cavities, but unfortunately he did confirm my mom's suspicions of her having a pretty bad cross-bite that will need orthodentic intervention in about 5 years...good thing we have a dentist in the family!!

Go University of La Verne!!

2011-05-04T13:52:00.000-07:00

My girls all decked out in University of La Verne colors (thanks to grandma) to go watch their Aunty Ashley play softball.
Ash, it has been so fun going to your softball and basketball games for the past 4 years. You are an amazing athlete and we are so proud of all of the awards you've been given, you sure deserve it!

St. Patrick's Day

2011-05-04T13:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry, Mom, that I'm just now blogging about our fun day (nearly 2 months later). To start off the day, we were able to go to Mackenna's preschool singing program where my girls got to wear their adorable outfits from Nana.

...then we met my sister and her kids for lunch at the Gardenwalk in Anaheim for lunch at McCormick & Schmidt's. Very festive, they even had a bagpiper playing at the front door.

Thanks for a fun day, Mom!

Nordstrom Fashion Show

2011-05-04T13:31:00.001-07:00

Every year, I say this is the last time I'm gonna do this fashion show, but every year, it just gets cuter and cuter!!

Mackenna picked out her and Karlee's outfits and headbands. They walked all by themselves, holding hands the entire time and stood at the end of the runway for a good 5 minutes (literally, a couple other kids did their walks and my girls were still just standing there). Once I got them backstage, Karlee again ran out onto the runway! I think my little ones like the limelight!

Spending Fast Re-Cap

2011-05-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

I just realized I never blogged about the end of my spending fast. The biggest accomplishment for me was that I actually did it and followed through with it! It wasn't easy!! Below, you'll find a couple pictures I took during my "fast." The first one was in Old Navy, we had time to kill before an appt. so we walked around the store, and left without buying anything. I think that was a first for me. I usually feel like I'm wasting my time if I leave a store without buying something, but after doing this, I realized it's o.k. to leave empty-handed.This was just another sunny day playing with my girls in our backyard. I love that they love each other...most of the time.

The only downside of my spending fast was having it end the week before I threw a bridal shower at my house and before 2 back-to-back vacations. I think I spent more money the week after my fast ended than I had spent all year! It was kind of like going off of a diet where you feel like you can eat whatever you want now...not good! I need to do it again...or for a lot longer. But I'm glad I did it and I learned a LOT about my personal spending habits, how to go without, how to make items last longer, and how to have fun and cook on a budget.

Sorry...

2011-05-02T14:28:00.000-07:00

As a child writing in my journal or diary, I would frequently apoplogize for going months or sometimes years between entries. I've tried to be better as an adult, but sometimes the "busy-ness" of life gets in the way, as it has this past month. I have SO many fun things to blog about, but finding the time to sit down and do it is the hard part! April was full of birthdays, dance recital rehearsals, Zumba, Vegas vacation, flooding my laundry room which lead to a massive spring cleaning of my entire house, more Zumba, bridal showers, swim lessons, Arizona vacation, and a wonderful Easter. I promise I'll get around to posting about it soon, but until then, here are the details of my new Zumba class that starts this Friday!
What: Zumba ( no experience required, men and women welcome)
When: Fridays from 9am-10am
May 6th & 27th
June 10th, 17th, & 24th
July 15th & 22nd
Starting in August the class will be every Friday
Where: Le Petit Dance at La Verne Church of the Brethren (2425 E Street in La Verne)
Cost: $8.00 per class. Starting in August it will be $30 per month or you can still have the option of paying per class.
*Please wear comfortable workout clothes and shoes. Bring a towel and water and be prepared to sweat! Feel free to invite friends and family and we'll have a giant dance party! I promise you won't even realize you're working out!!
**For more information about Zumba, visit Zumba.com (click on "search for an instructor" and type in my name to find out more about my classes offered throughout the week).
***I will also be bringing Zumba clothes and accessories that you can try on and purchase before & after class!!

Zumba Launch Party

2011-04-04T09:37:00.000-07:00

Last week I was lucky enough to go to the launch party in Hollywood for the new set of Zumba dvd's called "Exhilarate." It was like a dream come true for me! My friend Lisa (pictured below) got VIP tickets from her neice, Kass Martin, who is one of the main dancers in all the dvd's and informercials and travels around with Zumba's creator (Beto) as his back-up dancer. Lisa and I were treated like royalty and had an amazing time!It was so fun networking with all the Zumba people-anyone notice the guy below from QVC?

We got to go to the celebrity meet & greet. Here's Stacy Keebler with Zumba's Gina & Tanya.

Lisa's niece Kass with Zumba creator Beto:

Me with Kass and Beto!! Made my night!

Nicky Hilton...love her shoes?...

...here's a close-up! I'm on the search, I have to have them!

Stacy Keebler and Lisa:

Me with Zumba P.R. Rep who became our buddy for the night:

The greatest part of the night was when we actually got to go on the dance floor and dance with Beto and his dancers! They previewed the dvd and all of the dances were amazing!

We left with VIP gift bags full of bracelets, a few sets of the new dvd's, and a few sets of the new toning sticks! It was an amazing night and totally got me amped up to teach all the new Zumba material!

Uncle Kevin...

2011-03-29T15:19:00.000-07:00

...got his mission call! He'll be going to Farmington, New Mexico and speaking Spanish for 2 years starting June 8th, 2011. We couldn't be more excited for him, although we are going to miss him sooooooooooo much. The area he will be in is really neat since it's a newer mission and is called "the four corners" because he will be in 4 different states: New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. Since we knew he was going to be leaving on his mission soon, we made sure Kevin flew home for his spring break so we could spend some time with him. He was so cute and wanted to go to Disneyland with all his neices and nephew while he was here. We had a really fun day and Hailey and Mackenna just loved having Kevin's undivided attention at the happiest place on earth. It's so weird to think that Karlee and Colton will be Hailey & Mackenna's age when Kevin gets home! Nana also took the day off to come to Disneyland with us and absolutely spoiled the kids rotten. I think she bought them something from every store: A princess hat for Karlee: A sword for Colton:

Face painting for the girls:

Kevin even talked Mackenna into going on the Toon Town roller coaster...the next couple of pictures will explain her reaction to it:

See her little face looking back at me??

Poor thing kept her hand on her face and over her eyes the entire time, which my mom thought was hilarious. Of course after she got off, she wanted to go on it again!

Bonding time with Uncle Kev:

Kar Kar finally got a cat nap in later in the afternoon:

And of course Nana couldn't resist the girls begging for cotton candy:

I'm so glad Nana and Kevin were able to go to Disneyland with us, we couldn't have asked for a better day!

Mackenna's three and a half!

2011-03-28T13:33:00.000-07:00

(Actually she turned 3 & 1/2 back in February, but I'm a little behind)

We celebrated by taking her to get a mani/pedi at our favorite day spa downtown La Verne followed by lunch with Daddy, Karlee, and friend Mary at Chick-Fil-A.

Spending Update...

2011-03-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

Last night I got together with my hilarious college roomies for a little reunion (at Cheescake Factory, which did cost me $30, but I'd saved for it), and was updating them on my "spending fast." I got a lot of laughs about it for the following reasons:
1.I've become obsessed with returning things so I can use that credit to buy things. Which technically is spending money, but I figure that that money has already been spent, so it's not costing me any extra money out of my pocket.
2. Steven and I have a drawer in our kitchen that we call "the gift card drawer" and it constantly has at least 25-30 gift cards in it from birthday presents, to client gifts, to Christmas presents, etc. It just piles up and we always forget to use them. Well, since I've started this "fast" that drawer has been opened more than ever and our gift card number is now down to about 10...good thing my birthday's coming up soon! haha
3. I use my paycheck (from teaching Zumba) as my fun money usually, but for the past couple of weeks it's been going toward things like dry cleaning, laundry detergent, and diapers. Boo! Being a responsible adult and using what I deem "my Lulu Lemon money" on boring everyday items is so not fun nowadays!
4. My husband couldn't be prouder of me right now. He looked at my credit card statement the other day and almost fell out of his chair! His only comment was, "Wow, you really are only buying gas?!" I think he's so used to me always needing money for this or that, so every morning he'll try to give me money before he leaves for work and I have to tell him specifically not to.
5. I've become a little bit of a "moocher." I got so excited last week when my mom showed up unexpectedly and offered to take me and the girls to Jamba Juice and Michaels for some Easter crafts. I could totally tell Mackenna had missed shopping too because she filled my mom's basket so full of crafts and candy it was almost overflowing.
I'm on day number 16 and going strong!! Here's to week #3 and hopefully sticking to my budget:)

18 Months of Karlee Craziness

2011-03-22T13:40:00.000-07:00

1 day old:6 months old:

1 year old:

18 months old:

Happy 18-month birthday to my baby girl. I can't believe how fast you are growing up! For some reason I thought you would stay a newborn forever, but it's just not happening:( You are a silly, funny, energetic, smart, sweet, and beautiful little toddler and I love you SO much!!

Snow Day!

2011-03-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, the girls and I went with our friends to the play in the snow at Mt. Baldy for the afternoon. I was so excited to take my kids to the snow for their first time and it was even better that we were going with our best friends! The drive up was so quick and my friends had every snow toy possible, but the fun only lasted about 15 minutes for me...until my little city-slicker girls got "too cold and too slippery" and cried for me to take them home! Yep, we ended up sitting in the car for 15 minutes until the rest of the group was done sledding and having fun in the "cold and slippery" snow! (From L to R: Jaylinn, Karlee, Mackenna, Pietro, and Ellah-little Audree was there too, but in the car getting dressed when I took this picture).

This was Mackenna's final attempt at sledding. Katy, Jolisa, and Elizabeth were so nice to take care of Mackenna while I held Karlee, who wouldn't let me put her down on the snow for longer than a second! I'm hoping next year when I get my girls real snow clothes, they'll learn to like it better, but until then we'll stay closer to the shore and out of the mountains:)

Date Night

2011-03-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

Steven and I made a new year's resolution to go on more creative dates this year and so far we've been having a lot of fun! A few weeks ago, we went out to Hollywood and went to my new favorite sushi restaurant: Koji's Suhsi & Shabu Shabu. Loved it!Hollywood & Highland, the view from the restaurant:

Grauman's Chinese Theater:

See...Michael Jackson's still alive and dancing...on his star on on the Walk of Fame!
Real or wax??

My favorite star. I'll admit I was half-tempted to scrape the gum off. So disrespectful to my Celine!

Spending Update

2011-03-14T14:45:00.000-07:00

I've definitely improved my spending over the last week and although I've gone a bit over, I think I'll be able to make it up this week by spending a little less on groceries. (I forgot to mention in my initial post that if you spend more or less than the allotted $50.00, you can roll over the balance to the next week). Here's my spending breakdown for last week:
Groceries: $67.00
Gas: $65.00
Target: I returned a broken toy I've been meaning to take back and used the $18.00 credit towards cleaning supplies and diapers.

This week, I will have only $33.00 for groceries, but I'm optimistic that it will be enough because, thanks to this "spending fast" I've been much more mindful of the items I already have in my panrty and freezers. I'm tailoring my weekly menu around what I already have, so I don't need as many groceries this week.

What I've learned so far:

There are lots of fun things to do with my kids other than shop...ok I knew this before, but having two little girls has definitely made me a shop-a-holic! Last week we played at home a lot, went to 4 different parks, played at lots of friends' houses, went to Disneyland, and went to Victoria Gardens (packed a lunch and brought it with us). It was refreshing to eat at home more and I felt like I was able to spend more quality time with my kids rather than rushing them from place to place so I could buy things.
Another fact that I already knew...leftovers go a long way! My husband hates leftovers, so the girls and I have been having leftovers for lunch almost everyday. Instead of stopping at Subway or El Pollo Loco while we're out, I make sure we come home and have a nice meal together.
I don't absolutely NEED everything that I'm so used to buying and I usually have another one stashed somewhere! For example, I broke my favorite sunglasses last week but instead of running out and buying a new pair, I went through all my purses and diaper bags and found 4 more pairs of sunglasses. They aren't my favorite, but they work and they are free!

On to week number 2!!

"Spending Fast"

2011-03-07T07:40:00.000-08:00

I saw this on my friend Lauren's blog and was immediately drawn to the idea. Basically, for one month you do not spend money on anything except:

$50 per week on groceries
Gas
Diapers, wipes, household cleaning supplies (I added this one because I am almost out of all of these and have to make a Target run today).

If you know me well enough, you know that I really have a problem with over-spending and need to do this for myself, for my husband, and for my family. I'm excited about doing this because I know it will help me become more creative about activities to do with my children and meals that I make for my family. If I run out of an ingredient, or need plastic baggies, etc I just have to get creative this month! As my blog readers, I'm also responsible to reporting the outcome to you, so I know this will help me stay on track. So, here's to my first month of being on a "spending fast" and hopefully staying on budget! I'll be reporting my budget in a weekly blog and by Thursday, April 7th, I will let you know how it all turned out. Aaahhh!! Wish me luck!

*If any of you would like to join me on my spending fast from March 7th-April 7th, I would love to have your company!

Karlee's 17 months old!

2011-03-01T14:49:00.000-08:00

It's nearly impossible for me to get my little Kar Kar to stop running around long enough to snap a picture these days, unless she's eating, which is why this is one of the few pictures of her alone that I have from this month. She's the funniest thing and we just get a kick out of her-especially with "bedhead" and spaghetti all over her face!

This was taken at my sister-in-law Ashley's last college basketball game. I think Karlee definitely has the Paul genes. She looks so much like her Papa!

Some things I want to remember about Karlee at this age:

I was 2 months late taking her to her 15-month check-up, so here are her current stats: weight: 23 lbs. 1/2 oz. (30th percentile), height: 30 & 1/4 inches (20th percentile), head: 50th percentile.
She likes to sing and will hum along when I sing "I Am A Child of God" to her before I lay her down at night. She tries to sing along to the radio in the car like Mackenna does and I'm pretty sure she knows the tune to Katy Perry "Firework."
Huge milestone this month...we are now able to do a pony tail on the top of her head!! She looks like Pebbles.
Her poor eczema is still bad, we are seeing an allergist who has just basically told us she has extremely sensitive skin and she'll likely grow out of it by age 2. Here's to hoping that's the case!
We started taking her to nursery 3 weeks ago because since I'm in the primary presidency and Steven's the young men president, we are both usually busy during the third hour of church. She absolutely loved it and didn't miss us a bit! She now goes the full 2 hours and especially loves snack time.
I also started taking her to the Kids Club at the gym when I teach in the mornings. I was so nervous about taking her there for the first time because the babysitters there wouldn't be able to come get me if she was crying uncontrollably, so she would just have to cry for an hour until my class is over. Luckily, none of that happened and she didn't even realize I was gone! She loves going now and plays with all the other kids so well.
She loves trash, but not in a gross way! She loves to throw things away and will find any little piece of trash no matter where we are and say "trash" over and over again until she can throw it away.
No more step 2 formula for her, she is drinking whole milk all day long and loving it ( and no allergic reactions-yay)!
Some new words she's learned this month: blanky, Ash (sounds like "sash"), dog, please (sounds like"peesh"), bubble, cheese, cracker, and grass.
She's slowly transitioning into taking one big nap in the afternoon, although she will still take 2 shorter naps if she needs to.

We love you, Miss Karlee, and we can't believe you will be 18 months in 3 weeks!!

Valentine's

2011-02-22T07:52:00.000-08:00

Mackenna had a fun Valentine's party at preschool followed by a singing performance for all the parents. She was so excited to wear her "heart dress" to school!!

Karlee was so funny, as soon as we sat down to watch Mackenna's class perform, she ran over to the teacher, Miss Sally, and sat on her lap the entire time. She has become an independent little girl all of a sudden and it's making me kinda sad!
On Friday, Feb. 11th, Mackenna, Karlee, and I threw a Valentine's party and invited all of our friends. We had fun planning the food, crafts, and activities and it turned out great. The weather was even beautiful so we could play outside on the backyard!

The girls taste-testing the sugar cookies and waiting for their friends to arrive:
The food included fruit with cream cheese cherry dip:

Sliced red peppers and red tomatoes with ranch in hollowed-out red bell peppers:

Red tortilla chips and salsa:

Homemade bread with red raspberry jam:

The Candy Bar:

And the kids (and parents) were able to frost and decorate over 60 giant heart-shaped sugar cookies (I'm now on a sugar-cookie-making strike until Christmas):

Some of the kids:

After everyone left, a couple of my friends stayed to help clean up and at one point we looked over and all the kids were being perfectly still and silent just sitting on the fireplace. They were as exhausted as we were!

On Valentine's day, we went to dance class then had a couple friends over for lunch, then had dinner and presents with the kids at home. After the kids went to bed, we got a sitter and got to go see "Just Go With It." Steven and I loved the movie, it was hilarious and so romantic; the perfect Valentine's Day movie! Happy Valentine's Day!

Three and a Half

2011-02-21T19:27:00.000-08:00

Mackenna turned 3 & 1/2 years old on February 15th. She celebrated by going to preschool and a playdate at the park with church friends. Things I want to remember about Mackenna at this age:

She's getting even taller and most of her 4t jeans are "high waters" on her now. She's also getting very skinny. We've had fun shopping for a new wardbrobe for her the past couple of weeks.

Her hair is also getting long and is staying bright blonde, but has a few natural lowlights in it now.

She is very much a creature of habit and has a very specific bed time routine: bath or shower, braid or blow-dry her hair, brush her teeth, do her "sticker behavior" chart, say prayers, read books, sing a primary song (or "jingle bells" if Steven is putting her to bed), and say good night. Missing one of these crucial steps is NOT tolerated well by her.

She can sing along to almost any song on the radio and can point out any Taio Cruz song. She loves doing my Zumba routines too. She and Karlee will even do some of my dance moves if one of my songs comes on the radio in the car. It's so stinking cute!

Her "High School Musical "obsession is still going strong. She can say/sing all 3 movies word-for-word.

She's doing great in Sunbeams at church and looks forward to going to primary every Sunday. I substituted for the primary chorister a couple weeks ago and introduced a few new songs to the kids and was so surpirsed when we came home after church and Mackenna knew all the sings perfectly already.

She loves to be in charge and take care of babies. I can tell she will be a great babysitter one day.

She continues to love her dance class and is becoming a good little gymnast.

She made brownies from a box all by herself last week! All I did was get everything out for her and pour the batter into the pan. Nana taught her how to crack eggs and now she's a pro!

She loves her Daddy-Daughter dates that she gets to go on when her sticker chart gets full of "good behavior" stickers, but she's also becoming more of a mommy's girl as she gets older. I know I say this about every stage, but I really really do love this age, it's so much fun!!

The Big 3-0 (part 3)

2011-02-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

Steven's (seeminlgy never-ending) birthday celebrations ended with a super fun night out with my mom, dad, Ash, Wes, Hays and Colton. We went to Ferrels in Mission Viejo and it was awesome! My sister had taken me there once before and I knew that I wanted to celebrate Steven's 30th there. They make a HUGE deal out of birthdays and a HUGE deal out of ordering their ridiculous-sized ice cream concoctions. It started off calm with dinner, cards, and gifts......then my mom had a balloon bouquet delivered to the table...
...took a few pictures to document the occasion...

...got some balloon animals, swords, and princess crowns made...

...then all of a sudden we hear a large gong ringing, horns blaring, and whistles blowing....a few waiters get up and announce that someone's ordered the biggest ice cream sundae on the menu...they put the ice cream on a carrier and run around the restaurant with it...

...and it ends up right in front of this (super embarrassed) guy:
Look how happy he is!

Up close...it was sooooo much ice cream! 10 of us couldn't even finish half of it!

And with that, Steven's 2011 birthday celebrations came to a close. Thanks for all the help celebrating and for all the birthday wishes, cards, and gifts he received!

The Big 3-0 (part 2)

2011-02-15T08:04:00.000-08:00

On Mondayl January 24th, the girls and I surprised Steven with his favorite breakfast : a chocolate bar from Donut Man-I stood in line in the freezing cold at midnight to get him a freshly made one. Thanks to The Food Network that place is SO popular now! And they also gave him a card they both colored:Kens and Kars had to eat their sprinkle donuts in bed with Daddy too:
Later that night, Steven's parents, sister, brother and sis-in-law, and family friends met us for dinner at Ruth's Chris. They all spoiled him with fabulous presents and we had a great time chatting with everyone...minus the kids (thanks, Mom, for babysitting)!

His favorite dessert: creme brulee:The Duff's made him this awesome frame with pictures they found from his childhood and gift cards to his favorite places. It was so cute and so creative!

Thank you, John and Kathy, for treating us to a fabulous birthday dinner and for bringing Steven into the world 30 years ago!!

The Big 3-0 (part 1)

2011-02-13T07:35:00.000-08:00

Steven turned 30 on January 24th. To celebrate, we planned a trip to Vegas with his 2 best friends and their wives for the weekend before his birthday. All 3 of the guys turn 30 within months of each other, and we had been planning a trip together for over a year. It was by far one of our favorite vacations of all times: great friends, great laughs, and great memories! We all stayed at the Vdara at City Center and our suite was amazing.
Living room:
Kitchen:
The suite had windows on 3 sides so we felt like we were flying, the bathroom was bigger than the bedroom!
We started the weekend off at Serendipity for dinner and frozen hot chocolate:

Then we went and explored the hotels-this is the Bellagio all decorated for Chinese New Year-beautiful!

The second day, after sleeping in until noon, we went to lunch and walked around the Wynn and went shopping at Fashion Show Mall. Later that night, we went to Maggiano's for the boys' birthday dinner. The views from our table were great:

This is the only picture I took of the group at dinner-the boys had just recieved their birthday cards and desserts:

After dinner, we went over to Panet Hollywood to see a show called "V." Steven, Sean, and Brad waited patiently near the "stripper bar."

Ash, me, and Kirstie waiting for the show:

The very best part of the show was when Brad was chosen out of the audience to come on stage and put a mask on and be a part of the show ( no, he did not volunteer!) I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my entire life...until the male acrobats with the long greasy hair and spandex pants started flying over my head...but that's a story for another time...there's Brad in the red shirt second from right:
...and there he is with the crazy woman with crazy hair mask on:

After the show, we went over to the Aria for dessert (or breakfast...it was 2am) and to exchange gag gifts. Each of the guys had brought something funny to give to the others instead of doing regular birthday presents. Steven got his friends "The Shaker" and it was hilarious watching Brad and Sean try it out.

Sean & Ash got the guys hair thickening shampoo (which Steve is actually using...no joke...thanks, Ash!)

Brad got both guys $15 in casino chips-but they had to go to the casino and play roulette and Steve had to put all his chips on red and Sean had to put all of his on black at the same time. Sean ended up losing all his chips and Steve doubled his! Such a creative gift!

The next morning...well ,afternoon since we woke up at noon again...we went to Mon Ami Gabi at Paris for lunch then walked around the new Cosmoplitan Hotel-the crystals were breathtaking!

We had such a fun time with the Hills and Corbetts! Happy 30th birthday Steve, Sean, and Brad!

Best Playdate Ever!

2011-02-09T13:57:00.000-08:00

My friend, Jolisa, who also has two little girls...and is also an identical twin...and is also married to a "Steven"...this list goes on and on...has been telling me about Ariel's Grotto at Disneyland for years, but I've never taken my girls. Last week, we decided to take Mackenna and her little Audree to Disneyland together and we were able to get reservations for lunch! It was AMAZING! Not only was the food incredible, but getting to meet every princess, take pictures, and even wear a crown just made Mackenna's (and my) day. My sweet mother-in-law was able to babysit Karlee and it was so great spending a fun day with my big girl and our wonderful friends.

Princess crown and chocolate milk...being a kid is sooooo fun!!

After we met all the princesses, we went over to Disneyland and got in line for "Tangled" where the girls were able to meet, talk with, and take pictures with Rapunzel. She was so cute with Mackenna and she thought it was so neat that Rapunzel told her they were twins.

After a beautiful day meeting every Disney princess!
Steven and Karlee met us later that day, where we discovered Karlee's love for the carousel-she went on it twice!

Mackenna with Chip and Dale (who she thinks are the chipmunks from "Alvin and the Chipmunks"):

This is what Karlee thought of Chip and Dale:

Snapped the picture a tad too late...Steven and Mackenna on Autopia:

Later that night, we took the Monorail over to Downtown Disney and went to Build-A-Bear while we waited for our friends, the Rose's, to meet us for dinner and more rides at California Adventure:

Mackenna built a Hello Kitty (which she thinks is called "How Little Kitty") and was able to find the same exact Rapunzel dress and twinkle toes shoes that she was wearing to dress her up in:

I didn't take anymore pictures that night, probaly because my fingers were frozen after the sun went down, but we had a wonderful night. We are so blessed to have such great friends and live so close to The Happiest Place On Earth!

I'll Love You Forever...

2011-01-31T16:11:00.000-08:00

...I'll Like You For Always...

...As Long As I'm Living My Baby You'll Be.

January....

2011-01-24T14:36:00.000-08:00

...has been so much fun for the following reasons:

I got hired at the beginning of the month to teach Zumba at L.A. Fitness and I now teach 2-3 classes a week. It's my dream job!!
January is packed full of friend & family birthdays and we've been celebrating one or two every week.
We just got back from Vegas where we met up with Steven's 2 best friends and their wives for the weekend to celebrate their 30th birthdays. We've been planning the boys' 30th birthday vacation for years and I can't believe it actually happened. I don't think we stopped laughing the entire 3 days! (pictures and details to come)
Steven's 30th birthday is today! We've already brought him breakfast in bed, taken him out to lunch, and tonight is the Paul family birthday dinner at Ruth's Chris. Obviously, our goal is to gain at least 10 pounds today! haha...good thing I'm teaching Zumba in the morning!! Happy birthday to my wonderful husband-I still can't believe he's 30, I think I'll always see him as the same 17 year old that he was when we first met, driving around in his Camaro, blasting rap music with a wife beater on ! Oh my, time really does fly!

New Year's Resolutions...Check!

2011-01-18T21:18:00.000-08:00

2011 Resolutions:

drop 5 pounds
do a liquid diet cleanse
read more
take more naps
spend more time playing at home with the kids
disinfect and sanitize my entire house, top to bottom

I accomplished all of these resolutions last week thanks to the most horrific stomach flu virus I've ever had! Thanks goodness it's over...don't forget to wash your hands...you do NOT want to catch that one!

Karlee Update

2011-01-06T15:23:00.000-08:00

At 1 year and 4 months old here are some fun things I want to remember about Karlee at this age:
Karlee's first piggy tails!!

She does not sit still...ever! I'm lucky if I can get her to sit in a high chair at a restaurant for 30 minutes, but after that, she has to get down and run around.
I've had to baby proof twice as much as I did with Mackenna. The girl can climb!
She had a cold last week so I took her to the doctor and she only weighed 20 lbs...so tiny!! The funny thing is she never stops eating and I feel like I can never get her full.
She still takes 2 (2 hour) naps...heaven!! And she sleeps 13 hours at night.
She has a milk allergy and breaks out in red rashes/hives and gets bad eczema when she drinks whole milk...guess we'll be doing the soy thing for a while longer.
She likes/wants everything Mackenna has. The fighting-over-toys/treats thing has officially begun! Woohoo! Can't wait for high school!!
She loves watching Signing Time and she can sign "more," "please," "bye," and "milk." She also blows kisses.
She talks a lot and can say many words including: mama, dada, ken-ken (for Mackenna), nana, Ash, sis, ball, baba, toy, shoes, teets (for treats), and buh bye. She also "whistles" for my mom's dog, Scooter, whenever we go to her house or whenever she sees another dog. It sounds like "ssssshhhhhhhhhhh."
She wears size 4 shoes and size 12-18 month clothes.
She immediately takes off her shoes and bow as soon as I put her in the car.
She's a busy little baby and keeps me on my toes, but I wouldn't want it any other way!

Mackenna Update

2011-01-06T15:04:00.000-08:00

At 3 years and 5 months old, here are some fun things I want to remember about Mackenna at this age:

She asks me to braid her hair every night after her shower so she will have curls in the morning. I actually only braid it about 3 times a week.
She is getting so tall and skinny and has lost all of her baby fat:(
She loves preschool and especially loves the fact that her teacher will sometimes play the "High School Musical" CD so she can sing along to every word.
She could watch the 3 "High School Musical" dvd's all day every day if I let her. She's obsessed!
A few weeks ago, out of the blue, she asked me, "Mommy, can Karlee and I have a brother to play with?" To which I quickly responded, "Not for a very long time, sweetheart." She then retorted, " Well, are you at least thinking about it?"
She sets up her own playdates now and will randomly invite friends from dance class or preschool class over for dinner or out to lunch.
She started going to primary last week and absolutely loves it! She loves her Sunbeam teachers and her class and I love that I'm in the primary presidency so I get to see her more on Sundays now.
She's started setting the table for me at dinner time and always offers to say the prayer before we eat.
She's very good at memorizing books and after having them read to her a couple times, she can recite the book almost verbatim.
She loves being a big sister and "babysitting" Karlee or any other baby Karlee's age.
We started doing a sticker/behavior chart with her a few months ago and it's become a lifesaver. She loves being able to put stickers on her chart before going to bed every night and if she misbehaves, all I have to say is, "do you want to lose a sticker?" and she'll start behaving right away.
She told me she only wants to be a grandma, never a mommy...hahaha!!
She's a very independent and self-sufficient little girl and I love that about her. She's the complete opposite of me when I was a child, so it's really fun to have a child with those admirable qualities.

New Year's Eve

2011-01-06T14:49:00.001-08:00

The day before New Year's Eve, Steven took Mackenna on a Daddy/ Daughter date to see Disney On Ice. She hasn't stopped talking about it since!

On New Year's Eve, we had our friends (the Sloans and the Andersons) over for dinner and games....although with 7 kids running around the house the games didn't really happen, but we had a good time relaxing and chatting!

Even though it was freezing cold, the kids insisted on riding in the Escalade for the majority of the night:

I took Mackenna with me to Costco to get some last-minute things for the party and I let her pick out dessert. Isn't it cute?!

The next morning, we watched the Rose Parade and the girls were both really into it this year. Little Karlee even sat on her car and watched the majority of it!

Happy New Year!!

Christmas Photos With the Cousins

2011-01-06T14:36:00.000-08:00