June 2017

June was a definite whirlwind and it seemed like it just flew by (although that seems to be most months nowadays).

We've had a couple of months with Nellie in her own bed now, which has given us an insight into the fact that we think she is a sleepwalker.  She wakes up and comes into our room 2-10 times a night and half the time we can't tel if she's sleeping or awake; she just climbs up in our bed, although one time Robert found her in the living room around 230am when he was getting ready for work.

I still keep in touch with a number of the moms in our mom's group and a bunch of us went bowling, which was so fun but was a definite reminder that I haven't been bowling in like 4 years!

Kira spent the night with us before they went up to see her grandparents in Northern California. I can't believe how big Siena (Kira's little sister) is getting!

They are still the bestest of friends, it's so sweet. I think they think of each other more as sisters than even friends.

Mila's other good friend at preschool, Juliet, invited Mila over for a playdate. with princess dress up, painted nails and a fashion show to end the day with.  It's always awkward on the first playdate, especially because the moms have to hang out since the girls are still too little to drop off, but it went really good and I got along great with Juliet's mom.  Nellie had to come too because Robert was out of town so she was in heaven just doing everything the big girls did.

Robert had to go out of town to Arizona for five days for a work party trip conference and I was able to sneak away for dinner with Nora and Jenn.

It was a lonely five days without Robert around and we all definitely missed him (and the help!).  He got home on Thursday night and I kept the girls up to take with me to pick him up at the airport.  We never park and go inside when we are picking them up, rather we just pick them up at the curb, so he was surprised to see us waiting for him, homemade signs and all, by baggage claim.

We left the next morning for a trip to Palm Springs with Nana and Papa to celebrate Papa's 70th birthday.  It was such a nice, relaxing trip and so great to all be under the same roof.  We didn't do much but lay by the pool, which is always a great vacation.

We were talking to Mila about Papa turning 70 and Mila asked Nana how old she was and Nana said 68. And Mila said and then what? You die?  It was SO funny.  She also thought Papa was turning 17, not 70 :)

Mila: Nana, will you turn on my channel?
Nana: But I'm watching the Royals game.
Mila:  But I'm your granddaughter. Pleeeeease?
Nana: Of course I will.

They LOVED the pool and Mila was SO excited to go on a night swim when it was dark but it was actually pretty chilly while we were there (80s and 90s, when it's normally 110!) so it didn't last long but she thought it was so fun swimming under the moon.

The weekend after Palm Springs we went in a Royals game, which was Mila's second baseball game and Nellie's first.  They were WAY more excited in the snacks than they were in the game but they did pretty good sitting still for the whole game.  There were fireworks after the game and they even showed a movie on the big screen after the game and let everyone come down and watch from the field (we didn't stay for the movie but definitely will in the future!).

The girls both had swim lessons the last two weeks of June, Mila in a preschool class and Nellie in a parent and me.  Mila is doing fantastic and was even moved up to a more advanced class after the first week.  Nellie hates being in the water, cries the hole time and won't go under but she had a couple of good days and always says she wants to go so that's nice.  They have the week of 4th of July off and then have four more weeks; Nellie will be moving up to a class without me so wish us luck that works out!

We had planned to get away with Grandma and Grandpa at the end of June but couldn't think of anywhere to go so, last minute, we ended up booking a night at the Huntington Beach Hyatt for a staycation. Grandma and Grandpa came down on Saturday and spent two nights with us and it was a GREAT vacation. It's so nice to "be away" but still be so close that you don't have to travel as far.

The girls had a blast in the pool with the Charland girls and were completely exhausted.  We all shared a king bed that night (well, just our family of four, not Grandma and Grandpa!), which was a terrible idea since the girls are like fish out of water, flopping around and kicking their legs every where.  Next time we will bring their sleeping bags and they can sleep on the floor!

We ended the month going to Lexi's 5th birthday party, which was also sort of like a going away party as well since she left for Pennsylvania three days later.  I loved Mila's card to her; she told me what to write and I loved her little sentiments.

May 2017

Mila started off the month with a field trip to Tanaka Farms with her preschool. She has gone every year and always has a blast.  They go on a tractor ride, pick (and eat) vegetables from the farm and end the day picking strawberries (which they bring home in a red, squishy mess!).

This was also the same day that our sweet little Nell Bell got sent home from preschool (at two years old) got sent home from preschool for biting a(nother) little kid.  We got the call around 9am and the teacher said that she bit and broke the skin and it was bruising so she couldn't stay at school.  We were so unsure on how to handle the situation (because, in case you haven't been keeping track) this is the third time she has bit someone at school).  She stopped biting Mila at home after we made her bite soap after each bite (it only happened like twice and never again); of course, the preschool can't do that but Nellie doesn't know that (mwah hahaha).  I told her the next time she bites someone I would show up at school, take her to the bathroom and bring the bar of soap.  And, voila! There have been no other incidents (we will be write a parenting book, obviously).

Mila spent the night at Kira's for a sleepover:

For Mother's Day Mila brought this home, and it absolutely made my day.  I think it's safe to say that we go through a fair amount of wine and pho every week in this house!

Nellie's class also sent one home but I think the teachers either a) didn't understand a word Nellie was saying or b) made up the answers because they were like "What's your favorite food?" Answer: Kit Kat, which is absolutely ridiculous; I can't remember the last time I had one of those, definitely not since Nellie was born!

Robert's parents came down for a quick visit on Mother's Day weekend, which was nice, because we hadn't seen them for a while.  The girls had such a blast with them and were completely spoiled while they were here, of course.

I had the best Mother's Day and started the day off with a massage and then came home to Robert and the girls cooking breakfast for me. Then, I made the ultimate mom move: I used my Mother's Day to request Robert help me put IKEA bunk beds together for the girls new room.  It's all I wanted to get done and it was Mother's Day so he couldn't say no....WINNING!

The girls LOVE their new room and were both SO cute saying "thanks mommy and daddy for our new beds."  They must have told us that every night for a week.  It's the perfect size for their room and, bonus, Nellie's bed is on the floor, which is where she prefers to sleep anyways.

Mother's Day kicked off my birthday week and Robert and I were able to sneak away on my actual birthday for a quick date night out.

Friday night Robert had to work late, going to LAX, which is not unusual. The one thing that WAS unusual, though, was that when he got home he had Whitney with him!!! I was 100% shocked and had no idea.  It was the just best surprise ever to have her in town for the weekend. Best husband ever <3

We went to Sealegs at the Beach on Saturday morning, which is basically how I plan on going to the beach all summer since it's the only place on the beach where you can lay out, drink frose, listen to life bands and the kids can play in the sand for hours.   

That afternoon we had plans with Lexi's family to come over for a backyard pool day and BBQ so Whitney just folded right into that AND the Charlands came, which literally could not have made the day any better.

I had such an amazingly fun day and am so lucky to have such great best friends and people that love me so much.

Sunday afternoon we had our annual King Financial Group Family Day at the Long Beach State Game, which was a great, relaxing way to end the weekend.  No matter if she's here for 2 days or 12 days it's always hard to leave but we've found it's so much better to see each other for a little amount more often and always to have the next fun trip planned.

Every year in the fall and the spring the preschool (although not the 2yo/Nellie's room) does an assessment on the kids so you can see how they are progressing throughout the year.  It was so great to see how much Mila has grown academically and to read the great things that her teacher has to say about her.  Proud parents, for sure.

Grace Lutheran had their Open House near the end of the month and it was so great to see how hard the girls worked to show off for their parents.  The last big unit of the year was bugs and insects, which was definitely one of Mila's favorites.

Nellie didn't have as much stuff in her classroom, just this one seahorse, and I'm not sure why. Other kids had stuff all over the place but I didn't have a chance to ask the teacher if they just did all that work on Mondays (when Nellie doesn't got to school) or if Nellie just wasn't interested in doing any of the work!

All the kids have pictures in the classroom and this is Nellies:   ;)

We closed out the month with our annual family trip to the beach (Huntington Beach...3 miles from our house!) for Memorial Day weekend.

Saturday morning the girls were up early and they rode their scooters to the pier, which is actually pretty far, but they had a blast and they got so many smiles and cute looks on the way.

This year we were lucky to have the Fontanas and Steph and Austin comes down for the weekend. They spent a night doing Disneyland and then stayed at our house the rest of the weekend, which was so perfect since they had three adults and three kids and needed their space!

Sunday morning we did the same thing, but this time brought dad along, and walked/rode scooters down to the pier for breakfast.