This was our second year spending the holidays in our home here in LA. Last year Iya and Papa came to visit just before the holiday and we had a couple of Christmas celebrations! This year, we kept it simple and it was again, wonderful!

All December long we have been reading the book “The Elf on The Shelf” and the kid shave LOVED it! Every morning Ella would wake up and run around the house trying to find what that silly little elf had gotten himself into. Luckily for us he usually did nice things (like help me with the dishes or play the guitar). On Christmas eve Bruce sat down with Ella to read her the book one last time – as the elf needed to get back to Santa and help him with all the work he had ahead!

I love to watch these two together! <3 Though, they really can push each others buttons from time to time! haha Ella adores her father, and I know that feeling is mutual.

On Christmas morning the kids woke up to a bunch of fun new toys from us, family and Santa. It was really great to watch their excitement and see how they enjoyed opening and discovering what each gift was. Santa got the kids a new play house this year and I must say, while I thought the kids would like it, I am blown away by how much Bastion LOVES it!!

He spends loads of time ringing the doorbell, shouting his trademark “EL-O” and opening and closing the little door. <3 The elves forgot to send any screws along with the playhouse, so I had an interesting time trying to make it safe for the kids haha. Luckily, the kids are not annoyed with this in the least!

I loved spending the day as a family, it was light and comfortable... we could stay in our jammies all day (and maybe we did!) Another big hit present wise for the kids is a digital art studio. Ella has REALLY started taking to this and wants to use it all the time. She "builds" her name over and over. This has also now lead to her discovering that she can text her name We may need to get an unlimited texting plan!

A very special part of the morning happened when Ella actually caught Santa in the act! Since Santa is magic, we couldn't get a clear picture of him while he was in our house, but she woke up to him finishing off his cookies!

I feel so very lucky to have this family. We got to Skype with Oma and Opa and Iya and Papa as well as our siblings <3 I feel like even though we are hundreds and thousands of miles from each other we are all so lucky to be able to pop into each others livingrooms (or offices) and share these special times.

In order to stay home with the kids, I started watching other kids 2 to 3 days a week. I am SO glad that I made this decision as it has allowed me to experience every day with my kids. For the last 8+ months I have had the same 2 kids, but now they are transitioning into full time daycare and I am introducing new babies to start watching. I am BLOWN away by what a little mommy Ella is. She is AMAZING with the babies.

We were interviewing a new family, and I had explained to Ella that a “new baby was coming to visit”. Ella got very excited, if not a little confused. She started to say over and over, “My brother is broken, we need a new baby!” lol Rest assured, Bastion is not broken!

The new baby started with us 2 weeks ago and Ella is in LOVE! She cries when his mom comes to get him saying “MY BABY! BRING BACK MY BABY!!” I have to keep reminding her that it is n fact not our baby, we just watch him. In the mornings Ella will go to her little kitchen and make the baby coffee and breakfast. She also feeds him this yummy meal. lol She will be a great mommy and wife one day! Bastion was surprisingly jealous of this new baby. Now that he has been here a little longer, Bastion seems to be adjusting well. I think it will be really nice for Bastion to have a little boy around to play with since 90% of all of our friends have girls.

The kids are both growing by leaps and bound right now. Ella has become SO expressive and often reminds me of a 14 year old girl…. all sass! She has very specific ways she wants things done and when they are not done that way, oh man, she gets upset! Bastion has decided that he is going to become a professional climber. He stacks up anything he can find at the edge of our kid gates and tries to climb over. It wont be long before he figures it out… which scares me!

Here is a pic of Ella, putting on her sweet face.

For the 4th of July we went over to our friend Jaime’s house. He has 2 daughters around Ella’s age. Here I am with the kids as they are watching the backyard fireworks display. Ella LOVED it!

Another first that just happened was Ella’s first ice cream cone from the ice cream truck!

I think she was pleased!

Bastion, well, he is just the happiest little kid!

WOW! Another holiday season has come and gone!! I was so excited for this holiday season! I couldn’t wait for it to get here. It was going to be weird to spend the holiday in LA rather than with family in either the South of up in Seattle, but it was the first year we were going to do Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year as a family here in LA. I was SO looking forward to all of it… and its gone by SO FAST! How did that happen? How? OH, cause we were having SUCH A FUN TIME!

First, Bruce and Karen came down the week before Christmas and did an awesome early celebration. They stayed with us for the first time and I must say, it went SO GREAT! The kids really loved it, especially Ella. She loved having her Iya and Papa right there to play with every morning and to tuck her in at night. Iya even got into tucking her in at nap time! They cuddled and got extra grandparent love times, which is SO important! I think Ella milked it a bit so that Iya would stay longer and cuddle longer with her… how can I blame her, that is some good loving!!

Before Iya and Papa got here we tried to visit Santa again, hoping this year we would have better luck. Well, no such luck! haha Instead of one kid screaming, we had two kids screaming and a Santa who couldn’t even pretend to smile. Here are the shots we ended up with:

Luckily, we did get some good family photos in:

While Bruce look happy and healthy in this shot… the poor daddy was BEYOND sick. He was puking all that morning, puking while at the festival to meet santa, and had to shut his eyes and sleep the entire ride home Poor poor guy! But I was blown away by his determination to be there. He kept saying that he wasn’t going to miss this time with his kids, that he wasn’t going to miss then seeing Santa. <3 What a trooper!

Well, we did an early Christmas with Iya and Papa. It was SUPER fun! Ella really enjoyed it all and finally understood opening gifts! (last year she mainly used the gift packaging rather than the gift itself.

Ella got a new Bitty Baby American Doll from her Iya and Papa and took to that little baby like glue!

Iya also knitted hats! Oh they are SO RAD!!

Bruce and Papa Bruce got the same book:

After their early Christmas, we had another Christmas on the 25th. Ella blew me away. Rather than throw open every gift and run to get the next, she opened up each one and wanted to investigate it. She would ask to take whatever it was out of the packaging, then play with that toy for a long while. I think we were done opening gifts around 6 pm that night! What a fun day!!

When Santa came he left snowflakes from the North Pole:

Santa even used fancy cards…

Looking back at this time that I was so looking forward to, I have to say that I am so blessed and happy to have gotten a chance to experience this! I love the holidays, but I love them more now that I have little ones to share them with. I love the excitement, the anticipation and the togetherness I feel. I am so appreciative of these moment and memories. I am so grateful for my family!

We have two more rounds of visitors coming now too!! Soon, Bruce’s brother Will gets here with his wife Ashley and then my momma comes down! WOOHOO!!

What an exciting time! I love the new year.  I love the promises it brings with it, the new beginning, the hope, the determination people seem to have to change things that they dont necessarily love about themselves.

This New Years Eve Bruce had to work late, and didnt make it home till after 11pm.   Poor guy.  Not that he missed much excitement at the house.  Ella was asleep by 9pm, and I followed shortly after by 10:30. lol I am a far cry from the late night owl I used to be in my younger years! (I say with a typical old lady voice). lol

Here is Ella and I at our friend Holly’s house for a little impromptu New Years Party.  She has a 2 1/2 year old, as does my friend Jen, so our girls are all finally getting to have fun playing together.

and here is Ella with the girls:

So, now, onto the things that we want to do in this new year….

I am wanting to be nicer to strangers. This might seem like a silly new years resolution, but for anyone who has ever tried to watch TV with me, you know just how brutal I can be. lol. I am not doing well so far (hey I am just being honest here!). I told Bruce that at least I know its a worthwhile goal if its this tough! lol
Another thing that we are doing is starting, “Your Baby Can Read!” lol I am actually super excited about it! Nothing like watching TV to learn to read! Now that is my kind of reading!! In fact, Ella is taking to it really well. She already mimics what the kids on the TV are doing. She loves “arms up” and when they say “mouth” she opens her mouth and sticks out her tongue! What a smart little button I have!

Another thing that Ella is super into right now is kissing. She wants to give you a kiss hello, a kiss goodbye, a kiss after a kiss after a kiss! Oh it melts my heart. The other day I asked Ella to kiss Ella, and she walked up to the mirror:

She will also kiss the baby now. I am not sure if she gets that there is a difference between my bellybutton and her new little brother growing in there, but I dont care! Its the cutest thing when she lifts my shirt and kisses my tummy! She is going to be one great big sister! (as soon as I get a pic of her kissing her brother/my tummy, I will post it!)

All in all, I am really looking forward to this year. There are a lot of changes that our family will go through. I think that is what we are all meant to do. We were born to grow and change and evolve and become the best versions of ourselves that we possibly can. I love watching my family grow. I love knowing that THIS is MY family! This is what Bruce and I created, the amazing little girl that is standing next to me as I type, the incredible little boy I am growing in my tummy. I am very grateful for the life that we have. <3 Happy new year!!

CHRISTMAS!  What a great time!  I had worried about all the traveling, the planes, the cars, the lack of sleep… and you know what, I didnt need to!  It went SO well!!

Ella did great on the red-eyes!  I on the other hand couldnt sleep.  I dozed I am sure off and on for about a total of an hour, as did Bruce.  By the time we got to sleep on Dec. 24th, we had been awake for just about 37 hours! I thought we would be zombies, but in fact, we were just fine.  We were sillier on Dec. 25th! lol  Also, Bruce and his family was such a great help with Ella! It was SO wonderful to be able to eat a full meal with out having to get up and chase my little baby girl around! I cannot thank them enough for that! I think that is one thing I really miss, just being able to eat what I want, when I want, while it is HOT!  Oh hot food!

Christmas morning was SO special! Ella is finally figuring out how to open gifts, and that there is something special and fun under the wrapping! She really loved the gifts in bags, mainly b/c I think she liked taking the bags for walks! lol  One of the biggest hits of the morning for her was the box that out NAP’s (like the snuggie) came in! she took that box all over the place with her!  That was a hit up until her big gift came out… her new KITCHEN!!  Since I dont have a pic of the kitchen, I will post what it is, and later update when we have it here at the house.  (our camera battery died about 15 min into Christmas morning! Oh Murphy and your laws!)

Yeah, as you can imagine, she LOVED it!! She got a sushi set to go along with it, as well as some really cool cook wear from her Auntie and Uncle. <3 What a lucky girl!

I am so grateful and happy to have had such a wonderful time, and to watch my little one have such a great time with her family! <3 THANK YOU ALL!!

We tried, we tried!! I had been talking to Ella about Santa.  I wanted her to be at least a little prepared for what we were going to do. BWAHAHAHAHA, she sure taught me you cannot prepare a 15 month old! lol

Ella cried… Ella screamed, Ella kicked poor Santa a LOT.  Now, anyone who knows our kid, knows that she is not a quiet one by any means.  This little one is LOUD… like EARTH SHATTERINGLY LOUD! She screamed so loudly when I put her in Santa’s arms that the people on the second floor of the mall were laughing.  Her face turned bright red, you would have thought we had just given her another round of vaccines! Oh poor babe!

and a close up of that sweet face:

Now, to be honest… we laughed too. It was pretty much the cutest thing ever.  She is such a sweetie!!  And, that Santa, he was AWESOME! He held his composure the entire time, and was so understanding.  I wish I could send a thank you note to the North Pole.

Today is the start of another quarter for me teaching. I will be taking on three classes this quarter. I figured it was a good idea to get as much work done now, while I can, so that I can feel more secure taking time off after June Bug is born. Its hard though, cause I really dont want to be teaching more then two classes. Oh well, this is just taking one for the team I guess!

We have our appointment scheduled to find out the sex of June Bug! We will know if our little one is a boy or girl on January 15th! That seems SO close! I feel like it took forever to get to the point in my pregnancy with Ella that we found out she was a she. This time I feel like its just flying by! (That is kinda great, and also kinda sad, I want to cherish these days and moments, I LOVE being pregnant, I love this stage of life!)

I often try to wrap my mind around how much our lives are about to change, again! Honestly, Ella fit right into our family. It was as if she had always been a part of us. Life just seemed to flow and everything was and is SO great. While we didnt go out as much, it really wasnt that hard of a transition from couple, to couple with child. Now, going from couple with child to couple with children… I dont know! I wonder how it will change our lives (other then the room situation!). I look forward to seeing Ella interact with her little sibling. I look forward to knowing that we brought two amazing people into the world that we will shower with love and attention. I look forward to how this makes both Bruce and my family grow. More cousins!!

All in all, this has and is a great experience. What a fun ride! I think these next few months may be a little tough teaching and driving (the drive to work in the evenings is just ridiculously long). But I am keeping my eye on the prize!!

Oh, and Thanksgiving happened didnt it?!?
Well… lets just say, Ella had a bit of a break down. After traveling all day, getting up early, not napping, teething, having another infection and a cold, I cannot blame the girl for just breaking down. My sister was so amazing and just came into the room I was with Ella and sat with me while Ella cried. She cried for a good long time. Poor babe just was NOT herself. After a while, my sister and I put Ella in a bath, and it was a wonderful turn around! She just loved the bath, and came out a brand new little lady… in her comfy pj’s and all!

One tradition in my family is playing music after dinner. We have always done it at every major holiday. (well, as long as uncle Randy was there or since my brother learned how to play) Here, Ella danced a little jig to Tate and Betsy:

It was such a blessing to be with so much family over Thanksgiving. I feel so lucky to be able to travel easily to see my family. 2 hours and 20 min and I am in Seattle! It takes my brother about 8 hours to drive there, so I think we have it pretty good! lol I love that Ella is getting to know her cousins more and more every time we go up there, and that her cousins are getting to know her too.

Next trip is out to Florida for Christmas!

What a fun Easter!  I could not have planned it any better.  We had a nice Easter walk, and on our way back we decided to stop by our neighbors house to say hello.  They had lots of family over and invited us to stay for Easter dinner and their Easter egg hunt!  They even made a little Easter basket just for Ella!

I had woken up that morning and felt very homesick.  It is always hard on me to be away from family on the holidays.  I really miss all of our traditions.  But, as my mom said, I was with family, I was with MY family and we get to make up our new traditions to share with Ella.  It felt so wonderful to be around another family, they are so warm and not only great neighbors, they are growing to be great friends.

Here is Ella with their niece:

And Ella finding some eggs:

And the whole fam:

I feel very lucky to have gotten to know our neighbors so well. Everyone that lives around us is wonderful, and I am so grateful for them! While I miss our extended families on holidays, I am learning how to recreate what I loved here, with my amazing family and our amazing community. <3 Ella even found 1.50$ in her Easter eggs! WOOHOO COLLEGE FUND!

OHNOES!  I have not updated this in a while.  As you can imagine, I have been busy! lol

So, there is a lot to catch up on!

We went to Seattle for Christmas, and Ella’s first christmas was a white one!  How exciting!  The trip was a blast and we were lucky to fly between storms.  I had called the airline to see if we could change the flight to earlier, and it was SO expensive, so we left our flights the same.  Had I changed the flight, we would have ended up on a flight that was canceled!  Isn’t it wonderful how the universe just works itself out!

This was the view from my parents living/dining room.

We got to Seattle and it was BEAUTIFUL!  Covered in snow, just serene!  My parents had the house all decked out with all the christmas things I remember as a child, nut crackers, all our family Santa pics… it jsut felt wonderful to be home.  My mom even turned up the heat for us!  <3  We have gotten a little too used to this nice LA weather!

Ella went on her first hike. She was super duper bundled!

The entire trip was just wonderful! I am so grateful that we were able to get up there. I am also looking forward to next year’s christmas with the Cross family!!

Since then we got home and got the permits for our house addition! ABOUT TIME!! It took us over 6 months to get them!! Now we are steadily working away at our home addition. It will be amazing to have the space!

We have gone from this to

this:

And, as I type they are building the interior walls! Its so incredible to watch the house transform and grow with us. It has also been great to watch each step of the process.  Also, its been in the 80′s here… in Jan!  CRAZY!

LOVE LOVE LOVE!

WHAT FUN!  I love the holidays so much and I am loving them even more with Ella around to enjoy them.  We were not sure if we would get a tree due to the fact that we travel to visit family for Christmas, but we decided it was important to do.  I love our tree!  Bruce picked it out, and I must say he did a great job!  I am so excited to have the entire house smell like Christmas.  This is our first real Christmas tree we have ever had.  We did buy a rosemary bush cut to look like a Christmas tree a few years ago, the cat absolutely loved it and made it her own lol.

We even used these precious little shoes that Miss Karen made for Ella (that are sadly too small ’cause Ella is a mini-giant) as ornaments!

We have even moved some of our rope-lights outside to have some Christmas spirit out there!  Our neighbors house looks great this year!  I am so happy that the holidays are here and that we will get to show Ella all these pictures and tell her how much fun she was having!  We will be goign on a train ride to see Santa next week, and I am super excited and looking forward to that as well.  My parents have pictures of us kids every year with Santa.  While some of the Santas were drunk with black eyes (no really we have a pic with a drunk and black eyed Santa) the memories that these pictures hold is priceless.  I remember my mom getting them out every year to proudly display on the credenza or on a living room table.  I hope to give Ella the same kind of memories. <3