Some exciting news...

This post is long over due, but we have been crazy busy all summer long.

We are very excited to announce we are pregnant with baby #2 which means Jared will be a big brother! We decided to share this news early on with family and friends, so at my Grandma's birthday party, I gave her a very special gift which I am pretty sure she loved.

Her reaction....priceless. I had my sister capture the moment for me since she was the only one other than Jerry who knew our little secret.

I purchased a frame for her that fits two 5x7 photos. Once my mom saw her reaction she instantly wanted to know what all the excitement was about. Here is her reaction.

So our second bundle of joy who I will call our "love child" is due on Valentine's Day (hence the name)--which means two kids with February birthdays. I guess you never know-- he or she could come early since Jared did, but I doubt 14 days early! We will see!

Stay tuned to to find out soon if Jared will be having a brother or a sister!

Our First Family Vacation

Last month, our family got to go on our first big vacation on a Caribbean cruise. Last year when Jared was about 18 months old, we were supposed to go to Hawaii with my mom and sister but Jared got sick with an ear infection and we were told not to fly.

So with the airline credit we had, we decided to fly to Tampa and our ship left from the Port of Tampa. Carnival cruise lines has a kids club starting at age 2 which is nice so mom and dad can get a little vacation time as well. Too bad he didn't like going there very much or we would have taken him more often!

Jared did so great on the airplane and loved watching them take off at the airport while we were waiting to board the plane. He is such a good little traveler. He only slept for 45 minutes on the way to Tampa and a little over an hour on our way back to OC. We brought our MacBook and his favorite move--Disney's Cars--to entertain him when he got antsy toward the end of the flights but we never had any tears which was great!

Jared loved sleeping in a hotel room (our first night in Tampa before boarding the cruise ship).

My boys relaxing by the pool waiting to leave Tampa!

Our cruise had four stops--The Grand Cayman Islands, Rotan in Honduras, Cozumel in Mexico and Belize City in Belize. Our first stop in the Grand Cayman Islands we went to Turtles, Turtles and more Turtles. It was a fun excursion where you got to pick up the turtles and you could even go swim with them (and all their poop so we opted not to with the baby).

The largest turtle was over 600 lbs!

After the turtle tour, they had a lagoon you could swim in or lounge at which was great because it was so hot and humid there!

Our next port was Cozumel. We went to this awesome beach called Paradise Beach and as you can see it truly was! All the fun slides and climbing walls you see in the background could be rented for the day, they had food and bar service, massages, jet skis and much more all right there. We all had a great time in Cozumel.

Our next port of call was Rotan, Honduras which was just beautiful. It is a new destination for cruise ships and I loved it there. We went to another beach called Mahogany Bay and it was also beautiful.

Doesn't the picture below look like a postcard? They had ski lifts they called the flying chair lifts that took you from the port down to the beach but if was a very quick walk.

After the beach, we had lunch at the only restaurant. Do you think Jared is tired? I love this picture...

On the ship, Jared liked to play miniature golf with his dad, eat ice cream cones and run around like a crazy man! I think he knew his way around the ship better than we did. :-)

Our final port was to Belize. Our original plan was to leave Jared at the kids club so we could go do an adventurous excursion but Daddy decided he didn't want to do that last minute so we all went to Belize. We ended up just looking at all the shops but not doing anything there which I was pretty upset about. I mean, how often do you get to go to Belize? Oh well, next time when we go without children some day.

The rest of our trip was spent swimming and relaxing at the pool. As you can see, Jared loved this part!

Our little "swimmy fish" as we call him now. You would never know that two weeks prior, he was scared to death of the water! Thank God for those swimming lessons I enrolled him in prior to our trip!

Our first family vacation was a lot of fun and adventure! I am glad we were able to go and spend the time with our adorable son. We will always have these memories to cherish.

So would I do a cruise with a toddler again? Absolutely! Next time, I think it would be fun to go with a larger group of friends and family. Maybe a Disney cruise next? Who's coming?

YP and the chatter box

YP--you may be asking what YP is. YP stands for Young Preschool at the OCC Harry and Grace Steele child care center. Jared has graduated from the toddler program and is now in the YP class (ages 2 - 3). In mid April, most of the toddler program got moved into the YP class due to a new classroom being added for an after school program. This has allowed for more room in the other classrooms. This transition has not been an easy one. He is now in a completely new room with all new teachers and has has a tough two weeks. Friday was the first day in two weeks that he didn't scream when I left. It just breaks my heart to hear him like that, but the teachers say he stops crying as soon as he can't see me anymore. He hasn't been napping well at school either (but has been taking 3 hour naps at home). Jacob, his best friend at school, is also in the YP program now, so he does better when he is there with him. I am hoping this week we have no more tears.

Jared has finally started talking--a lot! He has been saying words for a long time, but now he puts three or more words together and says new words every day! Some of my favorites are "cool truck dude," "see ya OD" (or OJ as Jerry calls him), "ah man", "no, no fireworks" (He loves going to the Angel games but doesn't like the loud fireworks), and "I go in dada cuck" (or truck). There are many more phrases but these he says so cute.

One of my favorite things to do lately is listen to Jared and Jerry ready together before bed. They just sit in the rocking chair and read books together. Jared knows a lot of the words from his favorite books (Engine, Cars and Trucks) so most nights, Jared reads (some of the words) to Jerry. They also sing songs together--my personal favorite is "Sweet Caroline". Jerry says, "Sweet Caroline," and Jared goes, "ba ba ba". Jerry: "Good times never seem so good" Jared: "So good, so good." It is soooo cute!

Jared has also become a huge fan of building things with blocks. He loves when Jerry or I make it really talk and then he gets to knock it down.

I am just loving this age (most of the time). Don't get me wrong, he has his fair share of temper tantrums, but he has so much personality, is such a happy boy and gives us so much love and joy every day.

Jared's turns 2 part 2

My Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Jeff were nice enough to host Jared's second birthday party for the family. He had such a great time as you can see by his expression. She made yummy lasagna, salad and homemade bread sticks--yum!

My Grandma got him an ice cream cake with trucks on it (his favorites--trucks and ice cream). This time, he did better when we all sang happy birthday to him (no surprised look on his face like from party number one). Now he starts singing the happy birthday song when he wants ice cream.

Jared is a very lucky (and spoiled) little boy. He got so many great gifts that he just loves. Anything that is a mode of transportation (car, truck, airplane, train) or Elmo are perfect gifts for him. I think his favorite that night was the Elmo--what do you think?


Jerry's dad, Grandpa Chip, got Jared a petal car for his birthday which he absolutely loves! He thinks it is so cool to drive his car around the neighborhood and refers to it as a "cool car." I think it is a cool car too--thanks Grandpa Chip!
Happy Birthday baby boy! I can't believe you are two--I love you!

Jared turned 2...

On February 29, 2008, our amazing son Jared was born. Yep he is a leap day baby--a very special boy who will be forever young.

So each year when his birthday comes close, everyone asks us which day we celebrate it on. I think Jerry has the best theory on the subject. He says if you are an English person, you will say to celebrate it on Feb. 28 because technically, he was born in February; if you are a math person, you would celebrate it on March 1 because he was born the day after Feb. 28. I say it is a great excuse to celebrate it on both days. What do you think?

The day of his birthday party (Feb. 27) was pouring rain! My grandparents bought him a train table for his birthday so Jerry and our friend AJ put it together while Jared was napping. These pictures are his reaction to seeing the train table for the first time. (I think he liked it).

Jared LOVES Elmo so we decided on an Elmo theme. This is the awesome cake my friend Sarah made. Her company is called Brady Cakes and she makes every kind of cakes, cupcakes and cookies you can come up with. Thanks again Sarah for this FANTASTIC cake! Check out the video below for his funny expression when we sang Happy Birthday to him.

Despite the rain, I think everyone had a good time crammed into our small house. I am glad most of our friends and my dad's family could all make it to celebrate his special day.

This year, Jared actually liked opening his gifts and I didn't have to do it for him. :-) He got so many great toys and new clothes for the summer. Thanks everyone!

Stay tuned for birthday celebration #2 with my mom's side of the family and Jerry's dad!

Four Christmases...well five in our case but with a twist

Well it is the middle of January already and I am just now posting all our holiday pictures. We celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas so the entire month of December is spent going from one family party to another kind of like the movie Four Christmases.

Party #1: Christmas at our house

Jared's favorite new toy!

Wow! Look at all those cars! Thanks Grandpa Dave!

Helping us decorate the Christmas tree.

Party #2: Hanukkah in Northridge

Me and my handsome little man!

I love my dada!

My favorite gift of the night....Elmo! Thanks Great Grandma Bev and Great Grandpa Herman!

Playing on the grand piano!

Me and papa Greg

Party #3-Hanukkah at our House

My favorite gift was the razor scooter from Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Jeff!

Not sure what they were all looking at but it must have been important!

#4: Christmas Eve at Great Grandma Marla's House

Thank you for hosting Christmas Eve Grandma Marla!

Jared and Uncle Justin

Party #5: Christmas Day

My Uncle Garrett gave me this cool car with a kayak on it!

My Grandpa Chip got me such a cool guitar! I love to play it with my dada!

Relaxing on the couch with my dad and new toys!

Last year Jared was only 10 months old during the holidays so we had to open his gifts for him and he just didn't really know what was going on. This year was so much fun to see him open all his gifts and get so excited with each one as well as interact with all our family. We really appreciate all the generous gifts and hospitality from everyone this past holiday season. We hope everyone has a happy 2010!

21 months & a lot to be thankful for

Jared is now 21 months old and officially in his "terrible twos". He throws temper tantrums daily when he doesn't get his way. Mommy has been going a little crazy trying to deal with him some days. Good thing he is SO cute!

Despite the temper tantrums, Jared is also our little lover boy. He is a very affectionate little boy and will give us kisses whenever we ask for one (well most of the time we ask for one) which is so great and makes up for all the hard times.

Jared is talking more and more every day too (some words more clear than others). I think any day now he will start putting more than two words together. We also recently put away his high chair and put him in a booster which he loves!

Thanksgiving 2009

This year, we went with my Dad's side to Thanksgiving. Jared is so lucky to have not only amazing grandparents, but many great grandparents as well. Below is my dad's parents on Thanksgiving.

We missed all our other family members this Thanksgiving (we have a lot of family, so we are on a rotation) but had a great time this year in LA with my dad and the whole gang! We ate amazing food and I got to hold the newest member of the family Nina (my step sister's baby girl). Jared wasn't a huge fan of me holding her, but was obsessed with the baby and acted very worried when she cried. It was very cute.

My Dada and I on Thanksgiving.

My Auntie Allison and I on Thanksgiving

This is another one of Jared's great Grandma's (we call her GG)! He is so lucky to have not one great grandma, but 4 of them!!

What can I say about my mom--I am so thankful for her in so many ways. She is our saving grace for many free nights of babysitting, she has given me some great mom advice, she is one of my best friends and most of all, she loves Jared so much (what a lucky boy...he is so blessed to have so much family who loves him).

We are also so thankful for our great friends. One of our best friends are the McCoy's. We switch off doing date nights every other Friday which is great for so many reasons. One--this gives us both FREE babysitting. Two--we get a night to relax with our husbands child free. And three-- the boys get to play together. We just discovered Noah loves cars just like Jared!

I am also so thankful for my wonderful husband. He is such a great dad, husband, brother and friend! He works so hard to provide us with what we need and want out of life. We have been together for over 12 years and I love him more each day! Jared looks up to him so much and they are two peas in a pod!