Mommy and Daddy's Anniversary Trip to Disneyland!

John and I celebrated seven fulfilling years of marriage at one of our favorite places - California Adventure and Disneyland! We rode almost every single ride - ate great food - and ran into our good friends Amy and Cindy (trust me, Cindy would KILL me if I didn't give her a shout out) ;) haha!

Our Top 10 Memories of our Trip:

10. We loved the kids flying rides - The Zephyr at The California and the flying rocket ride at Disneyland
9. The view during lunch at The Hungry Bear restaurant - right on the water
8. The shrimp and grits are amazing at The House of Blues...so are the pumpin pancakes at The Original Pancake House on East Lincoln in Anaheim...
7. Our favorite ride at Disneyland - Splash Mountain - followed by the Big Thunder Mountain rollercoaster
6. A really great lunch at the Storyteller's Cafe in the Grand California resort - amazing ambiance
5. Our favorite ride at California Adventure - definitely California Screamin'
4. The Extreme tea at ESPN Zone - Downtown Disney - an energy drink with Jägermeister - it was awesome
3. The Abraham Lincoln and history of Disneyland museum is actually really cool
2. Shopping on Main Street for the kids
1. Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen beignets in Downtown Disney...crazy good
Splash Mountain take 1....
Splash Mountain Take 2!

Happy 1st Birthday Lauren!

Happy birthday baby girl. It's been an entire year since you've blessed our family. What a gem you are. We love your spirit, your smile and your attentive bright eyes. You are constantly on the go - you don't like to be in one place for too long - walking and running everywhere. You love to talk and sing - most of the time, the only reason we know you are awake in your crib is when we hear you sing. You have the most dramatic little smirk when you are unhappy with something - you scrunch up your nose. Daddy says his favorite thing is to walk in the door from work every day and you say "hi da-da"! Ben tells me all the time, "mommy, she's so cute!" He does like to reprimand you though - we often hear him telling you, "I'm serious Moren (he still can't say Lauren) - stop it!"

We absolutely adore you baby girl. I was a little nervous to have a little girl, but you have fulfilled our lives far beyond our expectations. Love you, mommy, daddy and big brother Ben.

1-year stats:
Weight - 22 lbs., 110z (85%)
Length - 31" (98%)
Head - 18 1/8

Grandma Sharon and Papa Joe made sure your big brother didn't go without... That's all folks...

So Proud...

John and I just couldn't be more proud of both babies. Ben is making amazing progress with soccer. Each week he's getting more and more confident. And Lauren started walking on 8/31!

Soccer last week...
3 of his biggest fans - Lauren, Grandma and Papa...
Soccer this week...standing next to his best buddy Sean.

I Hope I Always Remember This Amazing Day with My Little Guy...

Whenever I have a day where I'm working long hours and beating myself up with mommy guilt, I want to always remember this amazing day that I've had with Ben. I never want to forget all the hugs and kisses I got during breakfast at Denny's with him this morning. I want to never forget his bare feet and rolled up jeans running up and down the beach at Marina Park. I want to always remember him running from the waves and climbing rocks like the big boy he's become. Please God let me always be able to remember the conversation we had when I was pushing him on the swing and helping him on the monkey bars. And more than anything - I never want to forget tonight when he said to me - mommy, I have something to tell you - I love you. Thank you God for this day - and thank you God for this beautiful, sensitive, smart, funny son you gave us to raise.

A Week of Firsts! AYSO Soccer and Kindergarten!

It was a week of first's for Ben. On Saturday, he started playing AYSO soccer - his team is called The Incredible Hulks! He was very excited before we got to the field, but once we were there, it was all a bit overwhelming for our shy guy. We are gonna stick with it in hopes that he warms up to it. John was amazing with him - even though he loves sports and wants nothing more than to see his son tear it up on the field - he was so very patient - and just let Ben be Ben. It's what makes him the best daddy in the world.
Ben loves his school and especially has loved his Pre-K teachers Miss Angelica and Miss Jennifer. I cannot begin to express how absolutely amazing these two teachers have been. They love Ben so much - they understand his fears - they hold him when he needs to be held - they've gotten him to eat GREEN BEANS, bean burritos and meatballs - and they constantly challenge him. He has blossomed under their tutelage. Thank God for amazing teachers. We are all sad to leave them for the kindergarten classroom but are excited for what lies ahead...plus he still gets to see them during playtime! Kindergarten, here we come!

Weekend at Sam's House!

This weekend we visited our friends Bill, Donna and their sweet 4-year-old son Sam. Ben and Sam have been buds since they were babies. They have a beautiful home in Carlsbad - only a few miles from the beach. The boys had a blast and Lauren fell in love with Auntie Donna.

It was Lauren's 1st time at the beach! She loved the sand - and ate lots of it...yuck.Lauren really took to Auntie Donna and let her hold her all weekend...Such a sweet picture of Sam and his daddy!Ben LOVED the extreme roller coaster toy Sam had in his backyard.Thanks Donna, Bill and Sam! We had a blast!

Happy 9-Month Birthday Lauren!

Happy 9-month birthday baby girl. What a fun kid you are... Daddy and I love that you need to know what's going on at all times - who said it? - you have to always be in on the action. You have no problem expressing your needs - that is for certain.

These past two months you've started crawling, reaching out for us, babbling and waving hello and goodbye. You are still so enthralled with big brother Ben - when he walks in the room it's an automatic smile...and let me tell you, you don't hand out those smiles very often. You are my constant observer - you always look as though you are sizing people up. We love love love you so very much.You and your BFF Ella!