Elf on the Shelf

We got Sarah an Elf on the Shelf yesterday! We read her the story last night and after some serious thought, she decided to name him Belly Button! (After we talked her out of Santa Claus...).

She seemed to understand the concept but when it was time for bed, she didn't want him to go anywhere...

I thinks he figured if she held on to him while sleeping, he wouldn't be able to go tell Santa how she did that day?

Anyway, she awoke this morning to find Belly Button and Jessie watching TV together!

Our Christmas Tree

And me trying to be "artistic" with my new camera!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

What glorious 4 day weekend we've had!! We started off with our 2nd annual trip to Disneyland on Thanksgiving Day! It wasn't too crowded, hot or cold. It was just perfect...it didn't even rain! Yay!! Sarah got to meet all of the princesses (except Jasmine) at lunch (at Ariels' Grotto in California Adventure) and then she also got to meet Woody, Jessie and Buzz! Oh, and Santa!! I think she was most excited to meet Jessie! We stayed to watch the parade that night and left soon thereafter. It had been a long day and had gotten cold. Sarah feel asleep on the way home (and slept for 12 hours!! Woot!) so Chris and I took care of some Black Friday shopping that evening from comfort of our warm bed! No early morning shopping for us!! We spent the rest of the weekend doing some shopping (after all of the crowds), finishing up the Christmas tree and a lot of relaxing! A great weekend!!

Happy Halloween!!!

Miss Sarah...or I should say Princess Sarah dressed up as Belle for Halloween this year!! I think she looks pretty amazing!!! She and Daddy went trick or treating while I stayed home and passed out candy to the neighborhood kids.

Ready to go!!

After hitting the houses on the block...

Check out my haul!!

Bay Area Trip

A few weeks ago we went to the Bay Area to say good-bye to some really good friends who moved across country. While it was sad knowing that it would be the last time we'd see them for awhile, we loved the time we spent together and thoroughly enjoyed watching our girls play together!

There was some serious pumpkin decorating!

Some funny face painting!

Playing with friends!

Eating some yummy food!

Dressed in Halloween costumes with Amelia!

Aren't our princesses BEAUTIFUL?!?!

We'll miss you guys!! Can't wait until the next time we see you!!!

Visit to the Irvine Park Pumpkin Patch

We had a (rare) free weekend and decided to head to the pumpkin patch at Irvine Park. It was so much fun!! Sarah loved playing the ring toss game and even won a prize! Then we played hide-and-seek in the hay maze! After spending some time in the bounce house, we walked over to the OC Zoo to see the animals and play in the petting zoo. It was the first time Sarah would even go NEAR the animals and she loved it! Yay!!

First Day of Preschool!

Yup, today was Sarah's first day of preschool!! She has been going to an in-home daycare/preschool for the last year run by a wonderful woman who we all adored but we decided that it was time for Sarah to move on up to a "real" preschool. After some searching and researching we decided on Grace Lutheran in Corona. It's actually just around the corner from Tanya's Toddlers...a bit closer to the freeway (which is convenient for Chris and me!).

We got her all signed up and last Thursday we took her to their open house where she got to meet her teacher (Mrs. Valiente) and see her new class room! She LOVED everything about the place! They have a fantastic art room and a great playground just for the little kids! They even have a "little" potty, sink and mirror! Sarah loved the place so much we had to drag her home kicking and screaming!

I made cupcakes (Sarah helped in her own way) for her Good-Bye Party at Tanya's on Friday. She wanted, and received, pink cupcakes with pink frosting and sprinkles...Yummm!!! It was sad saying good bye to Tanya! She's been a great teacher!

All weekend long we talked about her new school. We made her lunch together for her first day and even read a couple of "first day of school" books at bedtime.

Chris and I dropped her off this morning together, just in case there was a problem. But NOPE, Sarah had it all under control and couldn't wait to continue her exploration of the school! Yes...I cried...quite a bit. My baby is growing up! She handled it all WAY better than her mommy did!

Chris picked her up after work and the teacher said she had a fantastic day! She spent a lot of time in arts and crafts and brought home quite a few pictures for us! She ate almost her entire lunch (everything but the goldfishies) and took a nap. And "no accidents" which she was very proud of! We decided to go out to celebrate so Chris picked up some Mickey D's after school and we went to the park (in 98 degree heat) to celebrate as a family.

Here's to a great school year baby girl!!



Holding the sign I made for!


Daddy holding the sign I made for her!


All ready to go!


She's so darn cute!


A little eager to get to class!


No reservations whatsoever...


The pretty courtyard in front of her classroom


Walking into class with daddy!


Bye Mommy and Daddy!! I Love You!!!

Toy Organization

I think we finally found an answer to our toy storage/organization and have managed to get back our media room! Thanks to today's Target ad and Chris for putting it all together!! Yay!! Not only did we organize the toys we are finally getting rid of the last "baby" toys by giving them to her current daycare. They're in a bag ready to be delivered tomorrow!!!

P.S. Normally I would NEVER post my messy house but...it was really the only way to show how well we "clean up"!!

Before - yes, that's Sarah laying on top of the box one of the shelving units came in.

Another before shot from the other side of the room.

Sarah "helping" Daddy.

Ta-Da!!! After!!! Yes, that's Darth Vader on the wall...

Beach Day

Yesterday we spent the day at the beach!! We went to Reef Point at Crystal Cove - it was beautiful, warm but not hot, not crowded and so much fun! There were lots of fun waves to play in, some tide pools that had these little crabs that would run all over that we tried to catch and lots of sea gulls to chase! Of course all of this happened after we convinced Sarah that we were NOT going to leave after only being there for 10 minutes!! And the BEST part is Mommy saw 2 dolphins swimming right off shore, right behind the body surfers!! So cool!!!


Cheese!


Chasing some birds!


Rocks with the tide pools!


Daddy and Sarah walking to the water!


Our little beach girl!!

Sarah Loves to Swim!

Since Sarah started swim lessons a couple months she's learned quite a bit and has become quite comfortable in the water. She know what to do if she accidentally falls in, can swim to the side and pull herself out.

We decided to get a pool membership at The Retreat (gated community right next to us) for the summer. To give Sarah more experience in the water, on a more consistent basis (more than just 30 minutes a week) plus it's a nice place for us to spend the afternoon together as a family when the weather gets too hot. We've gone every weekend and even some nights after work! While Chris and I were on vacation, Grandma and Pop-Pop watched Sarah for us. They went to the pool everyday! Sarah LOVED it!!

She loves to jump in off the side, especially while holding her giant floating alligator! She swims underwater, even opening her eyes! She loves to stand on the steps, countdown from 10 and Blast Off!! She loves to watch the "big" kids do their tricks in the water...of course she then doesn't understand why she can't do them! We have to sometimes remind her that she's too little for some of that stuff. Today she tried to do the cannonball jumps like the big kids...she was standing on the edge of the pool trying to figure out how to hold her legs and jump in! So cute!!!

Meet Alice!

For the last couple of weeks Sarah has been talking about her friend Alice. She would talk about how they played together everyday. I would ask where is Alice and she would say at home. I'd ask where is she from and she'd say her house (ok...Sarah's 3...what was I expecting her to say?). I kept meaning to ask Miss Tanya (Sarah's awesome daycare teacher) about her but we're usually so rushed in the morning that I just drop her of with a quick "hug hug kiss kiss". Finally, I remembered to ask Miss Tanya the other day about her. Well...she does not have an "Alice" at daycare!! She was wondering who Alice was herself! She said she talks about her all day!!

Guess Miss Sarah has a new imaginary friend!!

Sarah has an extremely vivid imagination (which we LOVE!!) This we have known for awhile but I have no experience with kids and their imaginary friends. So, we're just rolling with it. Following her lead and are sure to in include Alice in all of our family activities...she even met us at the beach yesterday (with her daddy)!

As a side note, when I mentioned Alice to my mom she paused for a few seconds and reminded me of her Aunt Alice. A lovely women who even I remember spending time with as a child. Aunt Alice was a playful, fun woman who loved kids. She also told my mom that if she ever found away to communicate with her after she was gone, she would. Hmmmmm...could this be Aunt Alice?? I guess only Sarah knows for sure!!

What a Weekend!

Whew!! What a great long holiday weekend! We kept ourselves VERY busy!! Friday night we were at the Lake Elsinore outlets to do some shopping. They had bounce houses, clowns and face painters! Too bad it was so dang hot! We got some good summer shopping in though!!

Saturday morning we were up bright and early to get to Disneyland right when they opened!! We wanted to get there before the crowds and before it got too hot! We rode Small World (Sarah's favorite), the Tea Cups (another Sarah fave) then Pirates of the Caribbean - I don't think she's ever going to forgive us for bringing her on that ride! She's still mad about it!! After Pirates we went to California Adventure to check out the new Ariel ride! I think Sarah was a bit skeptical after the horrors of Pirates but she seemed to enjoy it! There are lots of brigt colors and the music is great! Sarah then wanted to go on the ferris wheel...yes, the GIANT ferris wheel at CA...Luckily she's too small to go on the swinging cars but she LOVED the stationary ones! Poor Chris was a bit nervous due to his fear of heights. Afterwards we had lunch at the Bakery Cafe (or something like that) where we had the BEST bread bowl salad and chili! Why hadn't we eaten there before?? It was then getting REALLY hot and REALLY crowded so it was time to head home.

Sunday was spent with Auntie Tiff, Uncle David, Kaylin and Cami at their house in Cherry Valley!! What a fun afternoon and evening!! Lots of different toys and best of all a HUGE cat condo (for their kitties)!!! Sarah was on the top "floor" of that thing within minutes of arriving at the house and spent a good part of the rest of her time there. She LOVED it!! Too bad we don't have any cats...Yummy BBQ and good friends...a great way to spend the day!!

For the 4th of July we decided to take Sarah to her first Independence Day parade in downtown Corona. We went out to breakfast first then drove on over to watch the festivities. You can tell how excited Sarah was watching it (while sitting on Chris' shoulders). I think we lasted about 20 minutes which was fine with Chris and me...it was SO HOT!!! Later that day, Auntie Darcy, Jordan and Andrew came over for some bounce house and water fun!! We also BBQ'd and tried to stay cool indoors! I think the kids had a good time...what do you think? And thank you to Auntie Darcy for cutting Sarah's bangs!! She can now see!!

Sarah was EXHAUSTED Monday night and crashed not long after our guests left. She/we missed the fireworks...which was OK with us. We'd had a great weekend though!! Now we need another one to rest up...

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!!

Sarah's Drawings - of Mommy and Daddy

Sarah drew mommy and daddy the other day. She drew Daddy first then when she did my portrait she said I needed shoes! Isn't she an amazing artist? :::LOVE:::

Sarah's 3 Year Pictures

A few weeks ago we spent a couple hours out at Redondo Beach with an amazing photographer (Meredith from Zoom Theory). Sarah took to her right away which made the picture taking a bit easier!

I can't believe my baby is growing up so fast...she's a beautiful little girl!!!

Enjoy the pictures!!

Hoppy Easter!!

We had a nice quiet Easter at home this year. Sarah and I painted eggs the day before with her Princess Egg Decorating kit that she picked out all by herself! She knew exactly what to do Sunday morning...search for eggs!! The first one she found and immediately opened it up and ate the candy inside!! She's no dummy! The rest of the day was spent relaxing and watching movies. Couldn't have asked for anything more!!

Silly Sarah!

Playing dress-up in her new heels, purse, tiara, 1 glove (couldn't find the other) and jewels!!


Loving her big brother Riley!

Helpin mommy with laundry!!

Got milk?

"I love spagadetti!!"

All dressed up at a Fancy Nancy party!!

Disneyland!

We decided it was time to hit Disneyland again...it has been a few months and we want to get the most out of our Annual Passes before they expire this summer. We spent a longer time there than usual...such a long day!! But we all had a great time!

Swim Lessons!

Last month we decided it was time to enroll Sarah in swim lessons!! The first lesson was tough...she did NOT want to be there!! But about 10 minutes into lesson 2 she was LOVING it! Yay, Sarah!!

All ready for our 1st lesson!

Waiting her turn!

Here we go!!

Kick! Kick!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Sarah Turns THREE!!

Can you believe it!?!? I can't...I just can't believe that just yesterday I was holding our little miracle baby in my arms, meeting her for the first time. The baby we never thought we'd ever have who finally decided it was time to join our little family. That little baby is now a full-fledged little girl of THREE!!


We had quite the weekend!! Grandma and Pop-Pop came into town a few days before with Aunt Sheri and Uncle Kerry. On Friday, Auntie Bubbs, Uncle Brian, Amelia and Penny arrived for the weekend! The party weekend was set to begin!


On Friday, Aunt Sher-Bear and Uncle Kerry took Sarah to Disneyland! They had a fantastic time, especially at the Princess Lunch where Sarah got to meet all of the Disney princesses!! I think Cinderella was her favorite!





Saturday was the birthday party!! Sarah had about 14 of her friends to Build a Bear at the mall. They took such good care of the kids! They had a great time! Each child got to pick 2 hearts (instead of the usual 1) and during the heart ceremony, each friend gave their extra heart to Sarah for her bear! So cute!! After the bears were stuffed and sewn up, they got to pick out out-fits for them to wear. So much shopping fun!! After Build a Bear, most of the partiers came back to the house for cake and ice cream. Everyone sang Happy Birthday to Sarah and she blew out all of her candles! She and Grandma had been practicing all week!



The weekend came to an end when the Horwitz family, Uncle Kerry and Aunt Sher-Bear went home on Sunday. So sad to see everyone go but we had such a great time with all of them!!

These past 3 years have flown by! You have made our family complete, love bug! We can't imagine our life without you in it and we can't remember what life was like before you came along! We love you SO MUCH!! Happy Birthday, baby girl!!

I Hate the Stomach Flu!!!

Sarah's been sick with the stomach flu for 2 days now. She's doing so much better....just needed to get the little bug out of her system. When I picked her up at daycare, it looked like a warzone! The only thing missing were biohazard suits! ALL of the kids (and at least 1 teacher) had it. I'd laugh but Chris and I are praying we don't get it now!

At least the love bug is feeling better!! Back to the germ factory...er...school tomorrow!!!

Sarah Loves to Sing!

Aunt Sher-Bear's Birthday Weekend

Sarah and I just got back from a quickie overnight weekend trip to Reno to celebrate Aunt Sher-Bear's 40th birthday!! Sarah was such a good little traveller! She climbed right up into her window seat and even buckled the seat belt all by herself!! She was a big help to me - getting our suitcase through the airports! Grandma and Pop Pop picked us up and they had Sarah's carseat all set up in Pop Pop's big truck - she loved the view she had! Saturday afternoon we went bowling - Sarah almost won! Not bad for her first time bowling - and she loved it! She even spent some time in the giant indoor playground with Grandma! That night we all went to dinner at a great Italian restaurant then back to Grandma and Pop Pop's for yummy red velvet bundt cake. Sarah was a big helper for Sheri when it came time to open her presents! Sunday morning we had a big breakfast a favorite restaurant - Peg's. Sarah had the big Minnie Mouse pancake and she ate almost the entire thing! Soon thereafter we had to leave for our flights home. We had such a good time!! Can't wait to see everyone again!!

Christmas Show at School

Sarah's school (daycare) put on a Christmas show for the parents and their families a couple of days before Christmas!! It was absolutely precious watching the kids perform! Then, when it was all over, Santa arrived!! We thought that Sarah would be absolutely terrified but nope, she went right up to him when he called her name and even gave him a hug later on!!

Christmas!

Christmas with Sarah this year was just magical!! She totally got the whole Santa scene! On Christmas Eve, she and I tracked Santa's journey around the world - even his stop in Ireland to see Grandma and Pop Pop and his stop in Florida to see Grandma and Grandpa! That night, before going to bed, Sarah put out cookies and milk for Santa and tangerines for the reindeer!

Watching her reactions to the tree...the presents...the stuffed animals Santa left on the staircase...seeing that Santa ate some cookies were just priceless. Memories that will last a lifetime!

She loved opening her presents and mommy's and daddy's and Murphy's and Riley's...

I can't wait for next year!

First Haircut

As you can see...it went oh so well...