Birthday Busy-ness

The last couple weeks have been fairly hectic with a number of birthdays.... the first of which was my darling daughter Courtney who turned 1. I can't believe it, my baby's growing up. (See her month-by-month pictorial.) She still doesn't have any teeth, but she toddling around and "talking" all the time. Since the girls' birthday are only a couple weeks apart though, we held off on celebrating Courtney's birthday so that we could host a combined party.

Next I turned the big 3-3...oh yeah. Thanks to all my wonderful friends and family that sent gifts, emails, cards. I didn't have a party, instead went to my friend Julie's birthday bash and had a great time. It was nice to meet some new people! David got me a new Blu-Ray player, but we haven't even had a chance to see the difference.

So yesterday we had the birthday party for the girls. Bridget's 3rd and Courtney's 1st. We hosted a nice 2-for-1 Mickey Mouse themed party, but of course it was still stressful for high-strung me. Everything went well though with all the kids enjoying the Dora bounce house, the pinata, cupcake cake, and even decorating balloons with stickers. I think the kids had a great time, but boy, it's amazing how exhausting it is hosting just 8 kids!

Now it's time to get ready for our trip to Southern California for my step-sister's wedding. My sister is coming all the way from Texas and I am so excited to see her and her family. It's been almost a year since we've seen them... since we flew to Houston last Thanksgiving.

Busy times...but good times to spend with family and friends!

First Wine Tasting Trip

David and I just returned from a weekend trip to the Central Coast where we went wine tasting for the first time. On our way over to Shell Beach, we drove through the Edna Valley region just south of San Luis Obispo and were surprised at the number of wineries there. We stopped at Telosa and Edna Valley, but were eager to get to the pool and beach and start relaxing so we kept the tasting to a minimum. We were so disappointed to drive over the coastal range and see how cloudy and overcast it was. So much for margaritas by the pool!

Since the bad weather persisted through Sunday, we ventured back to the wine region to enjoy some 84 degree sunshine and beautiful countryside. We visited Baileyana, Saucelito Canyon, Kynsi, and Claiborne and Churchill. These were all small informal wineries and we enjoyed learning a little more about the industry. Even Dave (who really doesn't like wine that much) got into the tasting experience. I think we'll add wine tasting to our trips...whenever we are vacationing sans kiddos!

And special thanks to mom who watched the girls, giving us some much-needed R & R! But poor mom....she had her hands full with Courtney who was throwing up the first night we were gone. I feel bad but am so grateful to have had some relaxation before mom heads back to Arizona for the winter.

Well, now it's back to the real world... Getting up 1-2 times in the night with Courtney. Up and off to work for a full day at the office. Come home to manage dinner, baths, and referee. Then a quick workout, off to bed and it starts all over!

Happy Labor Day

Oh boy, it's so nice to get a 3 day weekend. Will someone please tell my kids that it's a holiday and they need to sleep in! They both got up at 6:30 this morning :( Boy are the days of sleeping in gone!

Dave and I are so excited to have football season start. We're looking forward to the FSU -vs- Rutgers game on Monday....Go Fresno! Anybody that wants to come over for barbecue...come on over! It's nice to have some college ball to watch on the weekends....Dave was really getting tired of the constant HGTV weekends...really.

We're also looking foward to some cooling temperatures. Dave has been taking care of Bridget on Thursdays, so cooler weather means more trips to the zoo and parks. It's going to be in the 90's next week (woo-hoo) so that means lots more outdoor time. Tonight, we took the kids outside to play and Bridget rode her tricycle and Courtney mastered walking on different textures (concrete to grass and vice versa).

Bridget in Trouble

Today was so frustrating to pick the girls up for daycare and have a note in Bridget's folder explaining that Bridget hit her friend with a block - for the 3rd time in the last couple months. This time she did it for "no apparent reason" and told her friend, "Don't tell" and "You're not my friend anymore!" What a stinker. Lucky for us her friend's parents are understanding that we're working on the issue and don't think she is a horrible bully. Her friend has forgiven her and even still wants to marry her. Looks like a pretty volatile relationship...maybe they are headed towards marriage! Boy did she know she was in trouble though. She wouldn't look at me or talk to me the whole way home and went (crying) straight to time-out all by herself. Of course she has promised not to hit anymore (and I hope she doesn't), but if she does, we'll be getting even tougher on her.

Lake Tahoe Vacation

We just got back from our big weekend at our timeshare at Lake Tahoe, and what a wonderful time we had. Bridget was especially looking forward to the trip, telling all we were going to Taco and that she was going to eat it all up (followed by a crazy dance and chomping noises). When we finally arrived though, she said, "That not Taco, that the ocean!"

We went up with another family and had so much fun at the beach and the pools and just hanging around. The Hyatt is set up so nice with full food/bar service at the beach and pools, and has every amenity you could need. We especially enjoyed the kiddie pool which was only 1 1/2 feet deep, so the kids could splash around all they wanted. Hyatt even has a camp for the kids in case you want to sneak away to the casino for a bit. This time we took our trusty babysitter who helped out so much and even allowed all us adults a chance to go out to a nice dinner.

We really had a wonderful time. The only downside.... we weren't there long enough to do everything, but next time we're going to stay for much longer.

Look at all the photos from our trip at my online gallery... http://www.carinlane.com/tahoe/index.html

Courtney is walking

Our latest development is that baby Courtney is now starting to walk. At 10 1/2 months, she's determined to walk and despite falling on her face time and again, she just gets back up and tries again. She is so mellow and happy and only cries when tired or hungry. She loves her big sister, Bridget, who cracks her up in the car nearly everyday. What a pair those two are!

Bridget wanted "to go to Mommy's office and meet Mommy's friends", so I brought her into the hospital to have lunch on Tuesday. She was on her best behavior, shook hands, remembered everyone's names, ate all her lunch, and then insisted on going back to daycare for her nap. She was just perfect!

Courtney had an additional photo shoot with Jamie (of I See Beauty Photography) and she did so good. I know we got some wonderful images of her in an antique pram. I'm so excited to get these gorgeous photos in the house...Jamie has such a gift. I'm hoping to get a great black & white set of prints for a big wall collage. I am so excited! (Stay posted for a little peak!)

Pictures from the Beach

Last weekend the whole family had a wonderful holiday at Avila Beach. We stayed at the Avila Lighthouse Suites which is right on the beach and it worked out great. We were right across the street from a nice park an were right at the beach as well. We were able to walk everywhere and had a lot of fun.

Of course, with Bridget being 2 1/2, it's always a challenge everywhere we go, but she loved the beach and had so much fun. Courtney was perfect as usual.....how did I get so lucky to have such an easy-gong baby? Well, here are a couple pictures....