Inspiration

Inspiration is a funny thing. I can feel so inspired one minute and then it's completely gone the next. I got inspired by a woman who writes a blog, that I actually got through my sister and mom. She seems to enjoy life to the absolute fullest and appears to enjoy every second with her children. I read one of her stories and felt so inspired to be the very best mom I can possibly be and to really enjoy my time off with my girls. This lasted about 2 days. And most everyday after that I try really hard to think about those couple of days and try to relive them. I honestly want to be the best mom I can be, have as much fun with my girls as I can because I know there will become a time when the won't want to hang onto mommy's leg anymore. Below (and above because I can't figure out how to write above the picture) are some of my inspired times. I hope to continue to do fun things with my girls and to stay motivated and inspired because they truly are my everything and I want nothing but for them to know how much I love them and how much they mean to me.

This picture (and the one on top) is from a family hike we took with the girls' Tee-tee, Uncle Rob and cousin Charlie.




The picture below is from a scavenger hunt we went on near my sister's house. The girls had a great time looking for their "treasures" and putting them into their cute purses. And yes, Gracie decided she wanted to wear her Sleeping Beauty dress while looking for her things!

This is Gracie having fun hair-do day. She says she's Dorothy from Wizard of Oz!


Where there's inspiration there's got to be paint!


Another scavenger hunt picture.


We picked this rose to put into one of Gracie's princess vases to have a tea party.

Here we are at Community Park feeding the ducks. Which, by the way they are NOT shy at all! The ducks that is!

Gracie in her dance class :) She's always looking at herself in the mirror while dancing by. Hmmm.. wonder where she got that??


That concludes my inspiration moments for now... hopefully I'll be posting some more good times!

Another Day on the Farm

Now that we're back in Morgan Hill, we can once again enjoy the finer things... like farms! The girls and I visited Pony Up in Gilroy with a couple of girlfriends and their kids. It's a regular running farm that opens up their home on Wednesdays during the summer for the public. They have a large backyard with motorized toy cars, swing set, sand, petting zoo and of course pony rides. The girls had a great time playing and taking in all the country. We certainly wouldn't be doing this in Long Beach! Yee-haw everyone!

Gracie getting ready for the "real deal"

Here we go! And yes, that is a tu-tu that Gracie decided to wear to a farm!

"Ride'm cowgirl!"

Is that Gracie driving already??

A little help here...

Gracie holding onto a little chick, which lasted about 2 seconds before the chick wanted to go somewhere else!

Emily's turn to drive!

That's all folks!

Gracie's 3rd Birthday Bash!

I'm almost a month late on this, but for those of you who know what we've been up to, you'd understand! Gracie turned the big 3 on June 18th. I can't believe my baby is already 3! Gracie had a wonderful year! She is speaking much better (in more complete sentences), about 85% potty trained and really becoming her own person. We had a nice birthday party for our little princess. Below are some pictures from this wonderful event!

We had Fancy Nancy join us!

Gracie and her buddy Finn

Our beautiful butterfly!

The Happiest Place on Earth

Yes, we finally made it to Disneyland! With us moving to Northern California, I feel like I need to squeeze as much of So Cal in as I can. So Gracie and I made the journey to Anaheim and faced Disneyland head on! We really had a great time (although we did miss daddy and Emily!) Gracie did a fantastic job and held up great. We went on a few rides and most important met some characters. I haven't been here in about 13 or so years and things have changed. They have an area where they have princesses that you can meet and take pictures with. I thought this might be a 15, maybe 20 minute line. Oh no! It was the slowest moving line ever! It took us at least an hour and 15 minutes to get through. But oh my, it was so worth it! Gracie is so into princesses right now and she absolutely LOVED meeting some of them! We got to meet Cinderella, Jazmine and Belle. Belle was really sweet and talked to Gracie for a few minutes before taking pictures. It was really great! Below are some pictures from our fun filled day!

The Next Betty Crocker

Ever since Gracie has gotten a little older I try to cook or bake something together every so often. I really enjoy it and I think she does too. Although, her interpretation of "cooking" is licking the spoon and bowl! Which is fine because that means it's less for me! I hope to some day get matching aprons for me and my girls (hint hint to anyone reading this! haha!) Here are a couple more pictures from our apple turnovers!




And what was Emily doing during this time???

The Next Big Step!

About one month ago we started the next big thing in parenthood.... POTTY TRAINING! Gracie began by potty training her dolly (Charlie, named after her cousin!). When Charlie had mastered this skill we moved onto Gracie. We are so very proud of Gracie! She did such a good job! Her first accident wasn't until 4 days after the original training. At this point she hasn't had an accident in almost 3 weeks! We're still having issues going poo-poo in the potty, but that will come soon enough! Way to go Gracie, we're so proud of you!!

The Joys of Being One!

Our sweet little Emily has hit the big milestone of being one year old! With turning one there are many advantages. Take for example she can finally big in a "big girl" carseat and face forward!

She can also ride in the bike trailer with her big sister!

Say "Hi" Gracie

Now what's in her mouth??

Ahhhh... sister time!

And of course, I'm sure her favorite, eating a cupcake!

Lastly, Gracie with her friends!

We love you Emily!!