Us

It's not often Chris and I get our picture taken...let along taken while dressed somewhat nice. He put on a huge auction for Mission Prep (he did a great job as always) and I got to tag along for some good food and good wine. The event photographer was the one and only Kayla Van Patten. I have to admit, I wanted to hide some from the camera...now know how some of my clients might feel. :)

Santa Barbara Zoo

Shiloh is an amazing friend! I had to take Chris's car into the dealer in Santa Barbara so I decided to go to the Santa Barbara Zoo since I have a day to kill with 2 kids. Shi packed up her 3 kids and joined in on the fun. We had an amazing time just cruising around the zoo and enjoying the beautiful day on the coast. Addie and Jack play so well together when it's just them and their little imaginations. We road the train, ate ice cream, played Captain Hook, and looked at tons of animals. We got a membership so we will hopefully be back soon since it's a perfect size zoo for a few hour trip.

Cute Brody and a Date with Addie

Addie and I have been needing some quality time together. We are together a lot throughout the day but I feel I am constantly telling her what not to do and asking her if she is making the right decision. Parenting is tough. Needless to say, I took some of my sacred work time while Chloe was here to take Addie on a morning date. We enjoyed a latte (me), Hot chocolate (Addie), cupcake (both of us...at 9am) and princess Go Fish. It was great even though it was a short hour. She is such a fun, silly, lively little girl who is perfect. How I wish I had more moments to just soak her in and help foster her to grow instead of having to constantly tell her no, not now, wait, I am coming, etc.


Brody is getting sillier and sillier the more he learns to communicate. He is still a very hungry caterpillar and eats constantly but surprisingly he is slimming down. Are you surprised? Bath times are an instant squeal the moment they are mentioned. He can go from a crying mess to shear joy ...especially while splashing in the tub.

Disneyland for the birthday celebration

I totally see why they call this place the happiest place on earth! We had a great trip as a family of 4 and loved watching the kids. At one point Chris and I looked at each other during the parade and we both had tears in our eyes...Brody was waving his little heart out to every float that walked by and Addie was clutching her birthday badge after Rapunzel said Happy Birthday to her personally. Goodness, the things we do for our kids!

For Addie's birthday present, we took her to lunch with the princesses. We enjoyed a 4 course meal while chatting with 5 different princesses throughout. Addie got a picture with all of them and hugged them before they left. It was adorable.

Brody was a trooper at the park since he was bound to the stroller for the most part. He did have the time of his life on Nemo and It's A Small World. He will gladly wave at anything that walks by and is starting to say "HI!" too. He is a cute little guy.

Addie's 4th birthday

Pookie is officially 4! We didn't have an official birthday party for her since we headed to Disneyland as a family to celebrate but Addie still requested a Spiderman party. Soooo, being the creative one I am, I literally threw together some quick cupcakes and invited some neighborhood kids over for a bounce house cupcake party...for all Addie knew, we spent days planning when it was really hours. :) She was just excited to have a few of her close friends over and to each cupcakes.

We did invite her best friend Josie over for a 2 nights stay where they were surprised with the Party Tent in the living room. We put the camping tent up and had them watch princess movies in their princess dresses while eating more candy than I should admit too. Addie still asks for another Party Tent. :) Josie is a doll and I love watching her and Addie interact. They are so silly together and just giggle like school girls the whole time.

Bikes

Family biking has been a new hobby for the Blake household. We especially love riding to Subway down the road to get lunch on Saturdays. Addie has started making the ride on her own bike and Brody is happy as can be in his little trailer. It's AWESOME and we love going out together.

Ballet

Addie has started a little ballet class through the city with 3 other girls from our neighborhood. I think the parents melt the whole time/giggle while we watch the girls "leaping", "twirling" and "dancing". It's adorable. I have to admit it's fun to dress her in the little outfit and pull up her hair. Chris went with us to buy the ballet shoes in SLO and we both had these silly smiles on our faces the whole time since it melted our heart to see how excited Addie was to start ballet. We start the second month tomorrow and we will see what all we learn.

Spiderman...woman

Addie has this LOVE for Spiderman right now. She is constantly wanting to wear her costume (thanks Auntie Hippo) while her girl friends wear princess dresses. The first time she went out in public with it, she had it under her clothes and she thought she was so sneaky. Now she is loud and proud about her red and blue outfit. I have managed to get her to wear a red tutu with it to at least look a little "girlie" but in the neighborhood, she will bust out the spandex solo with the other boys. :)


And the glasses just made us laugh. :)

Mom = 31

Yep, another year older. Spent the day as a family at the beach and it couldn't have been more amazing. We picked up lunch at Guss's Deli and ate it on the beach while the kids rolled around in the sand. Brody LOVED the water and braved the cold water more than Chris and I could and of course Miss Addie was a beach babe. The kiddos love water and love being outside.

Buddies

Hello blog...long time no update. Sigh...some day I will get better...maybe.

Addie and Brody love each other one minutes and fuss at each other the next. It's funny at times and exhausting the others but for the most part they are buddies and like playing together. It's sweet to capture them in those moments...makes my heart smile.