Camping

The backyard adventurers are setting up camp... It's a welcome distraction for all of us during potty training weekend

Birthday Two!

In March, Max turned "birthday two" as he likes to say.  We celebrated on his birthday with monkey pancakes in the morning, special glow-in-the dark necklaces and then cake and balloons at night.  However, the real fun happened a few weeks later at his Robot Birthday Party when his family and friends came over to celebrate the milestone with him.

I have never seen Max so excited. He loved the bouncy house...

Papa pulled out the silly string

There was tons of junk food to eat like Robot Fuel Cells (tiny jello), Nuts & Bolts (chex mix), and Memory Cells (mini-candy bars).   

 Several times throughout the day, I saw Max helping himself to the candy and he strutted around the back yard like he owned it with a bag of cheez-its in one hand and his brand new birthday sunglasses perched on his head.

Max's big birthday present from Mama and Papa was his swing set.  Papa spent 3 weekends assembling it before the party and had some help from grandpa too.  Almost every day, Max goes out to swing and slide... he just LOVES it.

After partying hard all afternoon, people started leaving with smiles on their faces.  We started packing up the food and let the air out of the bouncy house.  Max looked around in distress, came up to me and asked "more birthday?"  Yes Max, you will have LOTS more birthday, we just have to wait until next year.  

  
It was heart warming to a mama to see my kiddo have so much fun on his special day.  It obviously made an impression because when anyone has a birthday now, Max assumes it is another "Birthday Two" for him.  He doesn't mind too much when it turns out to be grandfather's birthday because at least there is still birthday cake.

Hanalie at three months

Last week our little Hana turned three months old. 

She is actively grabbing toys and loves to put soft things by her face. She LOVES her brother and always smiles when he entertains her (which is often).  We are loving how complete our little family feels with the addition of our little Hanalei. 

She continues to be a great sleeper, sleeping about 11 hours at night.  Her naps are not very predictable, at best she'll do three 1-hour naps sprinkled throughout the day.  She'll sleep in her crib, but loves napping right in the middle of it all on our couch (kind of like her mama). 

Hana nurses about 6 times a day.  Though she had no problems with the bottle during her first month, she went through a decidedly stubborn "no bottle" phase.  That has limited mommy's time away, but we're making progress.  Mom has to go back to work next week, so Hana has been visiting daycare this week.  They are wonderful and have gotten her to take a bottle each time she's visited.  She'll be a bottle-pro in no time.

Happy three months Hana!

Potty training

We're potty training this weekend! Max is super excited about it and has used the potty successfully twice three times today already! We'll keep you posted with our progress.

Locked out

I learned an important lesson this morning. When loading the kids in the car, always have the keys in your pocket, not on the front seat.

Max locked himself and Hana in the car while I was walking around. It took me about three minutes to get him to unlock the door.

Hitting toys

My first foray into posting from my phone and using instagram for my pics!

Fun On the Farm

About an hour east of San Diego is a little farm with more animals than produce, but a great experience for a brood of young’uns.  Along with a few friends, we took the kiddos to meet chickens, milk a goat and experience farm life. 

Max jumped right into the middle of the flock during feeding time while Hana slept in her stroller for most of the visit.

Fun, Fun, Fun

A few weeks ago, we went on a fun bender.  That's right in one week we went to Sea World, the beach, a real farm and the most amazing children's park at the botanical gardens. 



Papa and Max on the Elmo ride at Sea World



The boys take on the spinning tea cups

Our trip to La Jolla beach was on a beautiful Monday.  It was sunny, crisp and clear and completley relaxing.  We are so lucky to get to live here in San Diego.  

When I first heard about the San Diego botanical gardens, I have to say I mentally rolled my eyes.  Generally botanical gardens make me yawn, but not this one!  There is an amazing children's play area with a huge tree house, and a stream and heaps of kid activities. 

"Avery-Griffin"  is what Max says multiple times each day, often repeating it 10-15 times to make sure I really got the point.  He loves playing with these two friends and since I'm on leave we get to spend lots of time with my best friend Becca and her kiddos.   





Hana enjoys many of our outings right here in the Bjorn carrier



Hanalei at Two Months

In April, Hana turned two months

Our sweet girl is such a good baby.  I know every one believes this about their kids, but I really think we are getting lucky with this one.  For starters, Hana is an amazing sleeper.  From 6 weeks on, Hana has been sleeping about 11 hours a night, from 7pm to 6 am.  Wow are we lucky!  She's got such a sunny personality with a smile for everyone and two for Mommy ;-)  Hana is so sweet with her brother, holding onto his arm and giving him the biggest grins of all. 

Sisters in San Fran

Cousins Hana and Julian overlooking Goldengate bridge

I love being on maternity leave.  It has been a wonderful time to spend with both of my kids.  We've been doing lots of fun activities and also lots of simply playing in the back yard.  A few weeks ago, I took advantage of my break from work and went to San Francisco to visit my sister Jessy and Chris and Julian, my super-cute nephew.  

Jess and I spent a few days walking the streets of San Francisco with the kids.  We discovered that we have LOTS in common when it comes to choosing our baby gear.  For example: we have the same stroller, the same diaper bag, even the same stay-at-home-mom sweatshirt.

This was Hana's first plane trip and she did great (it helps that it was only an hour in the air).  Max and Papa stayed in San Diego this time, so we were missing our men.

It was Chris's 30 birthday while we were visiting. Jessy masterminded a birthday brunch after he came home from a long overnight shif at the hospital.  

 Hana and Julian got into the birthday spirit too.

It was a wonderful trip spending time with my sister and her beautiful family.  Love you guys!