So true...

I heard/read two great quotes about parenting this weekend:

"Having kids is [hard] and the more you love them, the harder it is." - Parents Mag.

"...the only little girl who can make me so euphorically happy, and so unbelievably angry, usually within the span of a few seconds." - author's dedication (to his daughter) in the book John's reading

The reason naps are necessary (& pacis are my best friend)...

This was the scene tonight by 6:15 pm after a day with no nap for Kate and two small ones for Luke. I only wish you could hear the audio. I know it seems mean to take pictures of them in such a state but it was so pathetic I couldn't help myself. Don't worry, immediately after I got my shots I passed out the pacis and put them to bed. So here I sit, 7:20 pm and both kids have been asleep for over a 1/2 hour! What shall I do with all this free time?!

Oh, that's right...laundry.

Free fun...

We've had a couple of fun outings so far this week. And even better...they were free. Yippee! We joined the Ireland and Durnin girls for the Naples concert in the park on Tuesday night while the daddies had a guys night out. The girls loved dancing to the music and spending some much needed time together. See the Irelands blog for some cute video.

Luke enjoyed rockin' to the music, too, and was so adorably dressed accordingly.

Today, we met Sarah, Reagan, Paige, and Nani-Shirley at the Cerritos library. Unlike any library I've ever seen, this place looked more like a museum. I had heard that it was a pretty amazing place but oh my! We figured we'd head over and maybe catch a story time...ha, little did we know that you have to register with the Cerritos class system to be admitted into the "theater" for storytime and that to register you must bring along a birth certificate to verify age. And even then, there's a waiting list. Story time was not necessary, though, as the kids found plenty to keep them interested and after a hour the hungry mommies had to practically drag them out with the promise to return soon.

If you can't make it out in the picture below, there is a gigantic T-Rex replica in the middle of the children's library, as well as, a lighthouse, a "reading" tree, art studio, space shuttle, and beautiful sky mural on the ceiling that changes every 15 minutes.

And let's not forget the 15,000 gallon aquarium.

As we exited the children's library, the girls were delighted to find themselves on T.V. They sat in front of a green screen and watched the backgrounds change behind them on the T.V. Kate has found her calling. =) For lunch, we headed over to Heritage Park and had a picnic of Chipotle burritos. Then we spent a little time on the island section of the park playing in the little colonial town. The park and the town has been re-vamped since the last time I was there- probably over 15 years ago. The girls had fun climbing and sliding.
All in all, it's been a good couple of days and you sure can't beat the price.

Luke's birthday party...

Since Luke's birthday fell on Father's Day this year, we decided to wait a week to do his party. So this past Sunday we had his first birthday party. Of course this weekend was miserably hot but aside from the heat, I think everyone had fun. The kids enjoyed themselves in the mini blow-up pool while the adults looked on with envy.

Luke was dressed accordingly for his football themed party- in Redskins attire, of course. =)

I didn't intend for his party to look like a Brethren pep rally but the plates & napkins I found had the green & white so that became our color scheme. Takes you back, huh, B.C.H.S.ers?

My poor cupcakes were quite melted by dessert but I thought they looked cute.

Of course, Luke got his own cake to dig into but by then he was pretty tired and not really in the mood. John "helped" him stick his hand in the frosting but that only proved to make him mad. We ended up with frosting in the hair which makes for a good picture but not a very happy boy.

Happy 1st Birthday, Lukey!

We're exhausted...

After a lovely week at the beach on the "other side", we are home and trying to adjust to the time change and the mess that follows unpacking. The Outer Banks (OBX), North Carolina was the destination this past week for our first vacation of the summer and Luke's first plane ride. We prepared for the trip with anxiety over how he would do on the airplane without the freedom to climb and crawl but it turned out to be much worse in our mind than it actually was. In fact, our one-year-old was better behaved than United Airlines, who is now on my list. But before I get into that, let me make a recommendation for the best $20 you'll ever spend when packing for a trip. "Space Bags" are my new best friend! Not only was I able to pack all 4 of us in one suitcase but when that suitcase was 3 pounds over weight at the check in, I was able to remove 3 pounds worth of clothes and simply place them in our carseat bag- which by the way is also a great tool for traveling parents http://www.onestepahead.com/.

Now for the uglies...our flight from Orange County left at 6:45 am, meaning we were up and out of the house by 4:30 am. Yuck! Almost 4 hours to Chicago, with a scheduled 1 hour layover. The perfect amount of time to stretch our legs and get something to eat. Ha! That 1 hour layover turned into a 5 hour delay, 2 of those hours spent sitting on the runway in a tiny little plane! We were scheduled to arrive at the beach around 6 pm ET and finally pulled up with 2 screaming kids at midnight. The kids actually did great not melting down until we were 5 minutes from the house.

Our nightmarish trip out there was soon forgotten when we saw the house we were staying in. It was a beautiful 4 bedroom/3 bath house right on the sand with a jacuzzi and amazing views.

Views from our bedroom balcony...Our bedroom, shared by all 4 of us, was as big as a hotel room and complete with a private bathroom, walk in closet, and private balcony.

This was everyone's favorite room in the house, dubbed "the reading room", it was peaceful & beautifully decorated.

This was our 3rd trip to the OBX since we've been married. John's grandma lives there but most of the houses are seasonal rentals. Craig & Sharon rented "Fragile Magic" (most of the houses have names) for the week for themselves, us, Jeff, and Jeff's girlfriend, Stephanie. The weather was perfect and we spent everyday out on the sand and in the waves. We thought it was pretty pathetic that a bunch of Southern Californians had to fly across the country to enjoy beach time but it's like the old saying goes "the grass is always greener on the other side." Needless to say, we had a great time swimming, tanning, building sand castles, playing games, visiting with the east coast family, eating, eating, and eating.

Kate showing off our "princess sand castle". Our house is over her left shoulder.

Family picture at one of our favorite restaurants, Bassnights Lone Cedar Grill.

Letter to Luke...

***This post has been backdated as Luke's first birthday fell on the first day back from vacation and father's day.***

My little Luke,

A year has never flown by so fast. I can't believe my baby is one-year-old. How can that be?! While it's hard to even remember a time you weren't here, it seems like only yesterday we were bringing you home for the first time. Over the course of this last year I have gone from being amazed at how mellow you are to being amazed at how active you are. I look back at blog postings from your first months and laugh at myself when I describe how lucky we were to have been blessed with such an easy-going baby. Little did I know then that in the very near future I was going to be running my tail off to keep up with you (and your not even really walking yet!).

I still feel extremely blessed, though. You have become such a boy- destructive, curious, daring, lovable, and passionate. You are passionate about how much you love us, smothering us with your kisses (literally smothering, sometimes I have to pull you off just to catch a breath), and you are passionate about getting your way. Yes, already and since you were about 10 months old, you have not been afraid to voice your objections when you feel you have been wronged. Your love for phones and remote controls has made these "objections" (aka temper tantrums) a daily thing. My darling son, you can throw a tantrum reminiscent of a veteran toddler, complete with kicking legs and rolling across the room. But aside from those moments, you are usually busy looking for something you can get into, crawl up or over, push across the room, or pound on. You nap a little, eat a lot, and go, go, go. Even the pediatrician frequently comments on your activity level. Just this week you started walking more than you have since your first couple of steps several weeks ago. As soon as you perfect that skill you are going to be blissfully happy! Not only are you active, you can be quite loud. You have learned well from your sister how to make your presence known but have not learned when it is or is not appropriate, often times drawing a lot of unwanted attention to us. It seems when the environment around you is too quiet, you like to mix it up a little so you'll give out an ear-piercing, albeit happy, shriek or start "talking" loud enough for, say, an entire restaurant to hear you. But you are so cute that when the volume attracts attention, those around you can't help but forget the interruption.

I think my favorite thing about you is your loving character. You adore us and we know it. You love your daddy and I can already tell you want to be just like him. You two have a special bond that is often communicated through wrestling around and practicing your tackling. No one has ever felt more loved than I do when you look at me. There are times when you grab my face and gaze into my eyes as if to say, "I just love you so much!" When I pick you up from the nursery at church or come home after leaving you your excitement to see me can turn into sheer panic as you frantically crawl toward me. Then there is your Kate. I love to watch your face light up when your sister walks in a room. When she gets up in the morning or comes in after nap you greet her as though you've missed her immensely. The two of you are great friends already which gives me more joy than you could ever know. You try your hardest to keep up with her and are thrilled when you can catch her.

I can hardly get enough of my Lukey-poo (I know you are just going to love that nickname forever). Even when you are clingy, anytime you are tired or overstimulated, all you have to do is smile at me and I don't ever want to put you down. With one little look you can melt me. I'm so excited for the experiences we have to look forward to with a boy in the house. But I look forward to these with mixed emotions because part of me wants to freeze time and keep you as my baby forever. Since I can't do that, though, I am trying my hardest to enjoy every bit of you. You still love to be rocked to sleep and I will do it as long as you'll let me knowing that too soon those moments will just be a memory. I love you, my little man. Happy first birthday!

love, Mommy

P.S. One year check-up report: 19 lbs. 2 oz. (6th percentile), 28 3/4 inches (25th percentile), 47 inch head circumference (62nd percentile), healthy & active =)

Book club...

I've never been in a book club so when Rachel asked me to join hers, I jumped at the chance. I love reading and am always up for a get together with the girls. Monday night was our first meeting at the completion of our first book The Red Leather Diary by Lily Koppell. We met at La Creperie on 2nd street- now one of my favorite restaurants- and had a delicious meal, a nice wine (1/2 off bottles every Monday night) called Fat Bastard, "plate-licking good" dessert, and wonderful conversation. I highly recommend the restaurant, not the book. I'm looking so forward to our future meetings. Thanks for inviting me and for letting me steal your picture, Rach.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, I'd left John at home with the kids to put them to bed by himself for the first time...dun, dun, dun. He did quite well getting them fed, bathed, and in jammies...success, right? Yeah, until...

Kate: "Daddy, I'm hungry. I need some chocolate milk."

John: "Okay. Let's go in the kitchen and make some."

Kate: "I want to help you."

John: "Okay, you can bring me the canister of powdered chocolate and put it
right here on the counter."

Kate: "Uh oh! Daddy help me!"

John turns to see Kate, the counter, and the floor all around her covered in chocolate powder! It's in her hair, on her jammies, and now flowing in chocolaty tears down her cheeks. Remaining calm, he takes her outside to brush her off as Luke proceeds to crawl through the powder on the floor. So, back into the tub with both of them. =) He finally got them both settled and in bed and then did what any normal dad would do and cleaned up the mess in the kitchen with the shop vac. I had to laugh when he relayed the story to me later and am sorry there are no pictures but the mental ones are pretty good. What a good daddy! Thanks for the few hours "off the clock", honey, you did great!

Brooklyn's birthday party...

On Sunday, we attended Brooklyn's first birthday party. She made her grand entrance smiling ear to ear. The kids had a great time playing in the blow up pool and eating the most delicious cupcakes. Unfortunately, my camera battery died before I could get a picture of Brenna's very crafty cupcakes but I'm sure she'll put some up soon.

Happy Birthday Brook-a-lyn!!