Blog Break and Fall Round-Up!

It's that time of year for me to take a little break from the blog.  Not that I post all that much anymore, but I have a lot on my plate right now so this is one little thing I can take off it.  I'll be MIA for the rest of the year and return in January, hopefully refreshed and renewed!   So I though I would leave you with some cute pictures of the kiddos.  And since winter and Christmas are upon us, I figured it was a good time to share photos of all the fun we had this fall.  I hope you all have a joyous and blessed holiday season!

We kicked off autumn with our annual trip to the pumpkin patch at Irvine Regional Park.  For a few hours once a year we fake like we're visiting a rustic farm on the east coast, except that we're wearing shorts and t-shirts instead of parkas....

 

 

 

 

Happy Family...

 

 

 

Jack had his first elementary school field trip to Tanaka Farms, an organic farm here in Irvine.  I was a chaperone and LOVED getting to watch Jack experience his very first field trip! I think he and his friends had more fun riding the bus, than picking vegetables and pumpkins.  But Jack made a new best friend, Ryan.  Such a sweet kid...

 

 

 

 

We ran in a family fun run to benefit Jack's school, Hick's Canyon.  The kids had a blast, especially Dylan.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Someone turned 40!  And aside from taking 2 great weekend trips with my favorite people, it totally sucked...

 



 

And while I was away with my girlfriends Christian let the kids get into some shenanigans...

And of course there was Halloween!  This year I had Minnie Mouse and 2 characters from How to Train Your Dragon...Toothless and Hiccup.  We have a really great neighborhood for trick-or-treating and Mimi and Papa got to join us this year...

 

 

 

I think someone missed the memo that Halloween was over!  I love this kid...

 

We celebrated Thanksgiving at both boys school.  Gav had a really great luncheon with the entire pre-school and Jack had a little performance with his class.  I also got to chaperone a Thanksgiving feast in Jack's classroom.  I love that I get to share these special times with the boys.  I hope they always remember all the fun time we've had...

 

 

And, finally, the season of wonder is upon us.  I have a feeling it's going to be a magical one...

 



 

Merry Christmas!

Jack's 1st Soccer Season!

 

Jack just finished his first season of league soccer so I thought I would post some of the great picture we took.  For his first go-around I think he did pretty darn amazing.  He scored 21 goals in 10 games which is really good!!  But most of all he was a great sport, super supportive of his team mates and he had a lot of fun....and I think at this age, that is what team sports are all about!  Jack loves comradery and making new friends so this sport was right up his alley.  And on a personal level, having played soccer for 10 years, I was thrilled to pass the torch.  Seeing my kid play soccer was a true full-circle moment for me so it was a pretty cool experience.  Not to mention that soccer for kids is so fun to watch and way more action-packed than t-ball!  I can't say that this will be his calling but I do hope he will play for a few more years and see how far he can go.  Here's my little stud in action...



Dylan update - 16 Months!

 

I can't believe this little ray of sunshine is already 16 months old!  She's now a full-fledged, active, hilariously crazy toddler who fills me with so much joy every day.  I'm still so obsessed with her.  I just read an article where Amy Poehler said her kids were so delicious that if she could eat them she would.  I can totally relate!  I just want to gobble Dylan up!  I can't resist those squishy cheeks, big blue eyes, chubby hands and curly blonde hair.  She's so darn cute!

 

Dylan has changed so much in the last few months.  The biggest and most impressive leap is her language explosion.  I think at her 12 month update she said about 20 words and 2 sentences.  Now she's up to at least 50-60 words and regularly speaks in 2 and 3 word sentences. She tries really hard to communicate with us so she attempts to say everything.  Her favorite phrases are "all done," bath time," and "I love you."  The other day she brought me my flip flops and said, "shoes on mama."  Not bad for a 16 month old.  And she loves to sing parts of her favorite songs - she can sing a lot of Itsy Bitsy Spider and Twinkle, Twinkle.  She blows me away how much she comprehends and communicates.  I thought the boys were early talkers but this girl takes the cake.

 

My little girl is still charting pretty big for her age.  At her 15 month well-check last month she was off the charts for her height at 33 1/2 inches.  And at 24 pounds she's 75th percentile for weight.  She's built a lot like Jack...long and lean but pretty solid.  I guess I have a little athlete on my hands.  The girl loves to be outside with the "BOYS" as she calls them.  She loves playing with cars, planes and superheroes.  But her absolute favorite toy is her new scooter.  She was obsessed with Gavin's blue one and fought him every day for it.  So we just had to buy her one of her own....pink, of course!  But much to my delight she also loves girly stuff...Minnie Mouse, baby dolls, glittery shoes and hair bows... so I'm ok to let her be a tomboy every once in a while.  She also adores her besties so I know she's going to be a girls-girl!

As far as her personality goes, she's still quite a firecracker!  We call her the little Diva now.  She's very passionate about everything and has a flare for dramatics.  She's also very bossy and knows exactly what she wants, exactly when she wants it.  And when she doesn't get her way, look out, the girl can throw a major tantrum!  I'm hoping that she gets it all out of her system now so that she will be the most pleasant teenager.  But when the girl is on, she's so much fun to be around!  She's hilariously funny, so silly and loves to joke, play and wrestle.  Her favorite game right now is hide-and-seek...she can play it with her brothers forever. They seriously crack her up and she has this wonderful laugh that reminds me so much of Jack's as a baby.  She loves her family and her sweet little girlfriends but she's still not so good with strangers...she tends to get really serious around them.  But otherwise she's just the happiest little love.  I am so lucky to have her!  I'm really looking forward to the upcoming holiday season with her and the boys.

Here are some recent pictures of my favorite girl...

We ran a 2k fun run with Jack's school last weekend and I think Dylan had the most fun out of anyone.  We thought she would sit in the stroller but the little athlete wanted to run with the kids...she ran about 75 percent of it!  She was quite a hit with the other runners...



 

We just finished a music class with all of her little friends.  Dylan LOVES music so she had a blast...

 



More music class...

Dylan loves hanging out with her friends Natalie and Audrey so we do a lot of activities with them.  I wanted something we could do with Gavin so we picked this art class....there's play dough, paint, crafts and coloring...but of course, the girls just want to play with the dried beans...

Me and my girl at a pumpkin patch...

I call her my sweetness and light...

Someone adores her brothers and just loves to be with them.  And they like to show her the ropes...

 

 

She's quite a little athlete and is pretty good at dribbling a soccer ball...

 

 

 

But she also loves pink and girly things.  Every time we go to Toys R Us she sits in the Barbie jeep...

 



 

 

The next two pictures depict Dylan perfectly....furry white coat, fluffy yellow shoes and a Ninja Turtle doll...

 



 

 

Perfect little Minnie Mouse, dressed in pink, riding a blue scooter...

 



 

 

Her most prized possession....her brand new pink scooter.  Every time we go outside she goes right for it and rides it until I drag her in the house.  She's pretty good at it too!

 



This is my favorite picture ever!  I don't think it needs much description.  I hope she always has this free spirit and unabashed confidence...