Happy Halloween

Lyssa as a Priness...hannah still not in any clothes. Tyler being the best big brother around, walking Alyssa around AND holding Kiki..
Everyone at the Halloween Party
and all of the kids... aren't they so cute?
It was just the three of us as Daddy had to work late.. :(
and Kiki, the one eyed Pirate.

A wonderful present for the girls and I

Amelia's gift to Alyssa....a wagon built for two!

but if you look closely, you will see that she has her baby Hannah!

We enjoy taking wagon rides around the block a few times a day and walking to Starbucks on the weekends with the entire family...even Kiki joins the fun!

taking some time from presents to pose for the camera

My new bike!

Jim flew all the way to Germany to bring home Buddy Joe's birthday gift for Alyssa. A brand new bike!

a kiss for her first cabbage patch doll

thank you Grams and Gramps!

and a bed to put her in...

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa

A beautiful day.

She discovered rainbows....

Finally, her birthday party

We spent the day at Lemos Farm in Half Moon Bay and it turned out to be a gorgeous day. We had all of our special friends with us (no family members :( ) but they were with us in spirit.

Her party consisted all of her favorite things: A choo choo ride...

birthday cake...
yum!
okay, so the neigh neighs were one of her favorite things. She was all excited while waiting in line and then the man put her on the horse, looked at us and said 'Neigh neighs ewww!" Apparently horses tend to stink if they are in a small corral and she was not happy about the smell. I don't think she smiled the entire time and at one point she started to cry because her pony stopped and shook and she shook right along with it...wonder if there will be any more neigh neighs in her future.

and last but not least, mounds of presents! Yee haw!

A pedi and a party

If Rob and I were into arranging a marriage, this would be the boy that we would choose for our daughter. Nathan Marino. He is such a cutie and a ham.
Lyssa's cousin Sarah who is older than her by 3 days. Big height difference, huh? They used to spend a lot of time together and I think they know it because even though they don't see each other as often as they used to they still have a special place in each other's hearts...like if one of them sees a picture of the other one they wil carry it around with them. awwwww.... And Alyssa wearing Sarah's high heels. I told myself that I would not let her have these darn things....but after walking around the house in them, wearing them up and down the stairs, and running all over the house chasing the other kids she definitely earned them. (I bought them a few hours after leaving the party) Teenage years are going to be rough...on Daddy. :)

Our first of many Mommy and Me pedicures

We aren't going to have her party until next weekend due to Daddy working all weekend. Every year on her birthday we will do something special. This year was her first pedicure and it was love at first sight (feel). Not only did they give her so much attention at the salon but they also gave her a pretty pink crown to wear. She took it off because when she looked down at her toes it would fall off. I reached over and turned her chair vibrations on and she looked at me with wide eyes and asked "what's that?" After I told her what it was and what it was for I then told her to sit back and let her back feel it. She did and I asked her how it felt and she replied "good!". We ended the morning off with a Starbucks milk and madelines..yum!

She walked in the door and greeted her dad with not a "Hi Dad!" but a "Daddy, pretty toes me!". Got to love it!

and hello to the two year old!

So she does take after me! totally not a morning person but we did come in with a video camera, the digital camera, Tyler, Daddy, Kiki, me and the light on while singing 'Happy Birthday' to her. She looked around the room and was completely surprised by the balloons and streamers shouting "boon!" She was very happy yet very sleepy. Apparently she too, needs her coffee before fully waking..
The birthday fairy decorated her rooms with streamers, balloons, and left her a little present. One two three make a wish! Now Mom, do I get any of this cinnamon roll??
We have a special day planned for her. We are so proud of her! Now, with the ones behind us we are on to bigger and better things...

Say goodbye to the one year old...

Alyssa will be two tomorrow and we are so excited and yet a little sad. She has grown and changed so much in the past 23 months. We love every phase that she grows into. She is still saying 5 word sentences and starting to know her colors. With the help of a very special gift from Sadie and Oliva, she will know her colors soon. She knows all the animals and sounds, starting on shapes and is definitely brilliant. She has so much personality that we can't help but to laugh at almost every thing she does. Hope the Birthday Fairy comes tomorrow....

Just messing around...

Alyssa being silly. She is definitely into having her picture taken. She runs and gets the camera and says 'camera picture me' and sometimes she adds the please on. Not sure where she gets the poses from but it works!

ready for ballet class AND halloween

I realized that after buying everything she needs for her ballet class that she has the entire outfit fit for a balerina soooo she is going to be a ballerina for Halloween!! This works really well because even though she is drawn to the princess dresses in magazines, she says "awww cute" both Rob and I want to hold off as long as possible before she is introduced to the world of Disney Princesses. At least till we go to Disneyland in November. Can't even imagine what that will be like. :)

pictures from Sunday school

pictures that I couldn't upload on the previous page.

She also had time for an art project! Her first one without Mommy.


Her new teacher.

First day of Sunday school

We have a little girl in our life, no longer a baby. She is turning two at the end of the week, playing more by herself, and now off to her first school. WAHHH!!!

Her vocab is impressive, mastering the colors and starting on shapes, she is also working on her alphabet. She is also using 5 words sentences now. The past three weeks she has developed so many new words and her understanding is amazing.

We go to Tyler's school every morning and pick him up every afternoon and as we crest the hill she will say, 'Pick Tyler up school' and we go through the same converstation morning and afternoon. Well, this morning we were talking about her going to Sunday school today and that she was going to be a big girl and she seemed to be pretty into it. As we went up the hill this morning she said her usual words and then they were followed by "school me?" She remembered!!! After signing her up and filling out the paperwork she was ushered in and there was no looking back. I have to say that it was pretty hectic as there were a lot of moms and children trying to do the same thing as me. We received an ID bracelet that has a number on it. There are two little monitors on the church walls that will read the number of the child who needs their parents. Both Rob and I thought we would be see our number on the screen but 90 minutes later we went to pick her up and we sat there so happy to see our little girl playing with the other kids. The lady said she was wonderful especially with having never been to a daycare. Phew! Rob asked her if she had fun at Sunday school and she said 'YES!" not just yes. LOL.

Now, the funny part will be tomorrow when we take our familiar drive and crest the hill and then I will probably hear "me school?" How sad will that be? I will most likely have to take her into the church to show her that there is no other child in there playing. Knowing her she will want to stay and play with the new toys anway....I will take a snack cooler just in case we have to stay.

Celebrating three years of marriage

Rob and I went to the Dave Matthews Concert last night to celebrate our anniversary. We also went with another couple who was celebrating their anniversary! Lots of fun!!

Dad stayed home and babysat the kids...Lyssa was in bed 20 minutes after she was supposed to and Tyler was asleep on the couch and the cartoon channel was on...it was almost 1 am. Hmmmm... got to love grandparents. :)~


ahhh, the happy couple.


Our view of the concert! The concert was pretty cool but the moon was pretty cool too!!



Our friends, Cailin and Bryan.

Pretend Play

Alyssa has taken over the kitchen table, under the table that is. She puts a blanket down and lines up all her dolls and even brings in her shpopping cart to put her things when she runs out of room. She even had her baby on the board the connects the table legs and was trying to put a diaper on her!

She has been playing in her room with her kitchen and fridge set a lot and even with her baby and crib. It seems that her mothering personality has really taken off and I love it. I can't wait to play tea set with her with a real tea set (made for kids) instead of make shift things. One time she had me drink out of broccoli. That was tricky!

Bear Valley Trip

Three days in the living amongst the trees, laying in the sun, frolicking in the water, and even catching some fish...sounds like camping! Well, it does but we definitely were not camping!! Our friends own a cabin in Bear Valley (about 3.5 hours from San Jose) and it was really nice. The kids had such a wonderful time and frankly so do we. With all of our busy lives it is hard to see one another as often as we once had (before kids and jobs) and it is nice to connect with them again.

Alyssa tried her hand at fishing for the first time and she seemed to like it just fine until CJ caught a fish and she went running! I think it was more the fact that the fish was flopping around and she had never seen a fish that close but she definitely had her eye on it at all times. The weather was gorgeous and so were our views.

Alyssa also enjoyed dressing up, can't wait till after Halloween so we can get some really cheap costumes for her!!

Our second night there would have to be the most horrible night that we have had since Alyssa was born. Honestly, she tossed and turned and said "hi mommy" and 'Hi Daddy' all night long. It was like everytime she moved and she felt us she would wake up. We did have the pack n play but she hasn't used that in awhile so I thought she would sleep by us like she does when we go camping. We did learn a lesson tho. She did very well considering she probably lost about 6 hours asleep a day (counting both night and day). Tyler enjoyed being up there with CJ a lot as it has been some time since they really spent any time together. Kiki??? well, all this dirt makes me wonder what possessed me to get a white dog...........