A fun visitor...

Gabe misses this girl SOOOO much!! We had a blast playing with Maty, Mrs. Jones' second cousin, all last week. She stayed at our house for a few days while visiting all of us here in CA from MO. We went to the pool and the beach and can I tell how great she was with Malia and Gabe!? He just fell in love with her and now he can't stop talking about how Maty is his FAVORITE. He cried all day after she left.
Thanks for visiting us Maty!! We will miss you and can't wait to see you in 3 years ;) Love you!

Father's Day

Gabe, Malia, and Mrs. Jones spent ALL day making Daddy a handmade father's day card and wrapping this present. Gabe did such a good job following instruction on how to wrap and where to place the tape and did such a great job! These kids really love their Daddy. And Daddy LOVED his 2 new pairs of rainbow sandals.

Tom Boy

Malia LOVES to put on Daddy's shoes and hats. The funny thing is that she will never really put on my shoes! I think it is because she misses her Daddy during the day while he is at work and it just makes her feel better.

We have a baby!

... no longer a sea monkey!! Mommy went to the doctor yesterday, and after a little coaxing (and unfortunately not ultra sound photo to share), got to see our little baby and hear the heart beat! I could not believe how much you could see. It actually looked just like a little baby, and boy was it moving around! Kicking like crazy and moving it's arms. Still could not see any "family jewels (or the lack there of)" but that should happen at my next ultra sound in two weeks.
Being able to see a real life little baby on the monitor really made this whole thing even more real to me. It was the most amazing thing to see the baby and think, "Wow, that is MINE, and it is inside of ME!" What a miracle. I am SO grateful and blessed to be able to go through a pregnancy at least once in my life. I have also been feeling the baby kicking a lot this week. That is such a comfort and really helps me to begin to feel really bonded to this little person. Looking for to updating you all in a few weeks with the sex! Can't wait!

Girls will be girls...

Typical girls! Hanging out at the beach on the towel, under the umbrella, eating! I love seeing the difference between girls and boys when you watch different kids interact. This is Malia's best girl friend, Kahili. They are the same age and are going to be heart breakers don't you think!? Our little beach bunnies.

and boys will be boys...

Gabe is taking "low riding" to a new level. The board shorts fit him fine dry... another story when they got wet. His whole bottom was popping out of his pants. Since he is only 3, we just laughed about it.

We had a fun beach day with friends Karla with a "k" and Jenelle and their kids. The boys are all the same age so it was SO fun to watch them play and get all sandy and just have pure child enjoyment playing in the shore break.
This is Gabe's friend Kai, such a cute little guy. He and Gabe are currently taking swim lessons together and are both loving it and doing so well. We will have two good swimmer boys soon... I can just feel it! (p.s.- Notice the Gabe booty in the back ground)

Gabe's Chore chart

Some of you requested a photo of the "responsibility chart" that I use with Gabe. No joke, this thing rocks. He still gets excited to put up his stars, pick out his reward, and switch up his chores every now and again. I think the variety keeps him into it. And that makes me happy! This little kid makes his bed, sorts his laundry, folds his shirts and pants, and puts away his clothes and toys. He also has gotten a lot better at sharing with his sister, knowing that he might just earn a star for doing so.
Things I love about this chart:
1. Durability
2. Flexibility, you can use the pre=made velcro ideas, or they have some blank ones you can fill out yourself.
3. You can even place a photo of the goal they are working toward.
4. You post how many stars they need to earn to get the reward, your choice.

Here is the link if you are interested in buying one. :

http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=534909

My beginner belly

Per Betsy's request... Some photos of the growing baby bump...

A Couple more portraits of Gabe and Malia

A few more photos

Here are some more portraits from the kids portrait session. These are Malia's one year portraits, thought I would share how cute this girl is! Her little personality really shows in the first photo... at least I think it does.

Malia and her rain boots

Malia's aunt Chelsea got her some cute rain boots for her baby shower when she was just born. She is just starting to fit in them and loves to wear them around the house. It is pretty funny because they go way up on her little legs and she has a hard time walking, check out the video.

Can I get some help around here!?

FINALLY!! I am getting some! And I am so proud of my little mister. Gabe is quite the bed maker. I have been so impressed with his skills, I had to take some photos and put them up on the blog. I SWEAR I did not touch this bed. He makes his bed every morning and I give him stars on his chore chart when he is all done. Is it just me, or do you agree that a boy, not even 3 1/2 should not be able to make a bed this well!? I am not complaining, just impressed! This is one detailed kid. He has to make most of it while standing up on the bed since he cannot reach from the floor. And the sheet underneath is perfectly pulled up under the comforter. He also now takes his own laundry hamper out to the garage and can sort it into our whites, lights and colors bags... all by himself! Next lesson... how to properly fold a shirt ;)