Random Acts of Cuteness

While the Fish Are Away...

The dogs will play. Apparently while we were out of town last weekend, Blue Fish and his brother (who belongs to my mother) attended a dance party in the mountains.

Little Monkey

Red Fish has been a little monkey lately. She practically climbs up the walls. No barricade is too big for her to scale. She can't walk yet but that doesn't stop her from getting where she wants to go. I keep teasing her that we are going to have to find her a cage because she is such a little monkey. I guess she must have taken me seriously because she dumped all the toys out of her mesh toy bin, climbed inside, and sat down.

Campout

Last weekend we went to a local Reservoir with some friends for a really fun campout. The trip started off badly when we took off late and had to listen to Red Fish cry most of the way there. But luckily she just hates her carseat (I think she is too big for it and needs a new one) and she was happy as a clam as soon as we were out of the car. We cooked smores and sat around the campfire while the babies went to sleep. The next morning we had a wonderful pancake breakfast and then went down to the beach. I always forget how much fun the reservoir is. It has this fabulous beach. It's the kind of beach you can walk into the water without worrying about stepping on something creepy. Red Fish loved digging in the sand with her bucket and riding around in her little inflatable rocketship.
Red Fish's first camping trip.
Red Fish slept like a log. I think next year we are going to need a bigger tent! There really wasn't room for all three of us.
Having some yummy breakfast.

Fun With Friends.Red Fish, Two Fish, One Fish, A and Sparky, Lovely N, Baby A, and L

Red Fish was a big fan of the reservoir. She couldn't get enough of the water and sand.

The babies had a blast floating around in this little rocket ship.
Red Fish decided to poke her little co-piolet in the eye.
Then she was forced to ride in the rocket alone. She loved this thing so much we had to fill it with water and set it on the beach so that we wouldn't have to push her around all day.

Two Fish's Olympic Spirit

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Chatty Cathy

At Red Fish's last Dr. appointment, the pediatrician and I discussed how the next few months will be the most important months in Red Fish's language development. He said that most of her language skills will be developed in the next three months. This has definitely inspired me to talk more Red Fish. I've always tried to have conversations with her throughout the day but sometimes when I get busy I forget to talk to her about what I am doing. The last couple days I have made more of an effort to discuss our daily activities with Red Fish. I've already noticed she is talking more to me in return. She happily babbles away at me and she has been laughing more than usual too. She has started tapping herself with both hands on her tummy to indicate that she wants us to watch her or hug her. I think she taps herself to say ME! I can't wait to start understanding everything that goes on inside her little head.

Tonight we played a new game. After Two Fish got home from work we both got down on the ground with Red Fish. We crawled in slow motion across the floor encouraging her to catch us. She laughed so hard she fell over a couple times and every time she "caught us" (touched our ankles) we would fall over and cheer for her. It was hilarious. She is getting to be so much fun to play with. Just dumping toys out of a measuring cup can become a funny game.

The Working Mama

I've been taking advantage of my brother being home this summer. It's been so nice to actually have one of my partners home from the mission field (in other words someone to work besides me) that I almost stopped working all together. Also Red Fish's new found mobility has kind of thrown me for a loop. No more quiet baby in a swing - she is right in the middle of things all the time. It's very fun but it's not very conducive to getting a lot of work done. I've been trying to get back into a work routine for the last couple weeks. So far it has been very frustrating for both Red Fish and for me. Trying to balance things is really difficult and it suddenly makes a lot of sense why women everywhere don't tote their small children to the office. I'm determined that we can make an arrangement that will work for both Red Fish and for me- the working mama. I need to relax and try to work around Red Fish rather than trying to cram her into my schedule. I need to soak up the fleeting time I have with this sweet little person and still try and not allow my business to come to a stand still. I haven't found the secret yet but I'm working on it.

After trying to work around her all day (only semi-successfully) we spent a very lovely evening together making up for the distractions of the day. First we sat in the swing for a long time. Then we blew bubbles and laughed at Blue Fish's attempts to eat them. Then I took both Red Fish and Blue Fish on a nice long walk. Afterwards, we watched daddy mow the lawn for awhile, we played ball, and I gave Red Fish a looooooong bath. She LOVES to splash. She has now discovered that if she stands up and sits down really fast it makes a huge splash. I try to hold on to her so she won't slip. After the bath we started our bedtime ritual. Things are going extremely well with the new bedtime and routine. I can't believe how fast she has adjusted to it. It's really helping her sleep better (and therefor I sleep better.) I guess this stage is just about enjoying the sweet little moments and trying to keep my head above water. It's a learning process for both of us. I've gotta say all in all I'm loving every up and down. Even on the days I'm stressed I get the little rewards of seeing her humongous smile when I come to get her from a nap. The smile that says: "There you are mommy! I knew you would come!" There are are special things like that she saves just for me and I love it!

SnL Wedding

We spent today at a wedding, luncheon and reception. My cousin S married his longtime girlfriend L today in a beautiful wedding. Red Fish had a rough day because of all the excitement and a new tooth that popped through today. She handled it pretty well, all things considered, but it was a long day for her.

My Aunt and Uncle with Red Fish

Waiting outside the temple. Red Fish's dress is from the Philippines.

All tuckered out. Don't you love her pillow?

Uncle J modeling the diaper bag

Our little family

Summertime

I can hardly believe it's already halfway through August. It's been a crazy summer of BBQs, walks to the park, swimming, and fun but I still feel like somehow I wanted to fit more in.
My little diva playing with her favorite toy- cups. She loves to sip them.

Another baby swim day. Ah the smell of sunscreen and pool water.

Wet Noodle

I heard that one of the things they are telling kids now to protect them from kidnapping is to act like a wet noodle. They are to go limp and put their arms straight in the air. Apparently it's very hard to hold onto a kid this way. They slip through your fingers and don't give you anyplace to hold onto. Well Red Fish has perfected this practice. Everytime I try to move her away from something, the arms go in the air and she slips right through my hands. It's fairly irritating but effective none the less. Now I just have to figure out how to act like a strainer and catch my little noodle baby.

The Night Night Routine

Trying to get more organized is a constant battle for me. Red Fish hasn't been sleeping very well and I think we need to start trying to persuade her to go to bed earlier so Two Fish and I have more time together and hopefully Red Fish will sleep better. We've had a pretty good nighttime routine for her in the past but we decided to really try and stick to it and start it earlier.
Here is the routine we have come up with-
1- Bottle
2- Say Goodnight to everyone
3- Change her diaper and clothes
4- Brush her two little teeth (trying to set good habbits early.)
5- Clean up her room and pick out clothes for the next day
6- Change the CD in her player if it's been a while.
7- Prayers
8- Read for awhile
9- Press Play on the CD and rock for a few minutes in the dark
10- Lay her down with her blankie.

8.8.08

Well our fifth anniversary was wonderful. Two Fish's Mom came to stay with Red Fish and Blue Fish for the night. Then Two Fish and I went to dinner in the mountains and stayed at this beautiful resort. We didn't really get any great pictures. My Camera kept making things kind of blurry for some reason.A lovely camera shadow.Blurry dinner pic. The Lodge we stayed in.

5 years with my love

Engaged

Our wedding day

1st anniversary

1st anniversary

2nd anniversary

3rd anniversary

4th anniversary

Two Fish and I met in college. We became part of a tight knit group of friends. We spent almost every day together and he is in most of my college memories. After a good year and a half of being friends he asked me on a date. We already knew everything about each other. It didn't take us long to fall in love. We got engaged after three months of dating and were married six months after that. It's hard to believe it has been five years since we got married. I love him more now than I could have even imagined five years ago.

Lovely L

My friend L and I have been friends since we were 10 and 11. We went to the same elementary school. We went to music camp together when we were in middle school. We also went on a really fun business trip with our fathers (they work together) to London when we were 13 and 14. We worked together at our Dads' office in highschool. We spent most of our weekends in college together. We've had numerous movie nights, sleepovers, shopping trips, sushi outtings, concerts and fun weekends together. We got married 5 weeks apart, planned our weddings together, and were eachother's maids of honor. I've gone to visit her (sadly she moved away right after she got married) a couple times and plan to again this fall. So basically we are the best of friends. A couple days ago she found out she is having a little girl. Now our girls will be exactly (down to the month) as far apart in age as Lovely L and I are. Only my daughter will be the older one this time. I look forward to our girls having adventures together and hopefully having as much fun as we have had in the last 16 years.

PS- L I think we need to plan something killer for our 20th anniversary - what do you think?

Oh too many pictures to pick from so I'll just post a few.London 1994

My 20th birthday eating my favorite sushi. 2001Tea in Beverly Hills 2006

Cabin Fever

Well our family weekend was a blast. On Friday afternoon, the girls (age 6 and above anyway) left to go shopping at the outlet mall while the Dads stayed back with the kids. It was a marathon event. We were gone for almost six hours. When we came home Uncle V had made some yummy dutch oven treats. After dinner we broke out the games and the kids played Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Go Fish, and Old Maid. Twister as mentioned below was a big hit. The kids read a few stories including the infamous "8 Silly Monkeys" book which is Red Fish's absolute favorite. Then the kids started a movie and the adults played Pounce. We didn't get alot of sleep but the kids had a great time having their giant sleepover in the loft. We spent the next day playing games, munching on snacks, and giving rides on the four-wheeler.Red Fish adoring her older cousins.

Story Time.Grandma and baby R- the newest addition to the family.

Uncle W giving four-wheeler rides.

D enjoying his dutch oven dessert.

S playing Chutes and Ladders

Movie Time

Little S wanted a 4-wheeler ride so bad! I took her on a little 2-mile an hour ride in this giant helmet. She kept yelling Wee! Helmut!Bed time in the loft.

Twist and Shout

We just got back from another weekend at the cabin. This time we went with Two Fish's family - 11 kids, and 9 adults. We had such a great time! Right before we left I found some games on sale and bought a few. Among them was Twister- the main event at the cabin. Just about everyone got in on the action. It was so funny to watch and we all got a really good laugh out of it. We will definitely be bringing this game to a few more family functions.

The couples challenge.

Brother against brother.