More birthday fun

Andy and Ashlyn had the option of a big party or to take a few friends to Downtown Disney to the Ride Maker store and Build A Bear. They choose Downtown Disney.

We divided up and the boys went to build their own race car. Andy choose the cool Lightening McQueen car.

The girls had fun at Build A Bear

Introducing Ashlyn's new bear Heidi but is sometimes called Hearty.

Grandma helped Ashlyn get her bear all decked out in style.

We took a quick group picture and rushed off to try and beat traffic back to Corona for dinner at their favorite restaurant.

Chick Fil A!

It was all about American Girl stuff and Rapunzel this year.

Andy was happy with his DS.

They picked out their own cakes.

Such a fun party!

The twins are 4!

In January we celebrated a special birthday: Andy and Ashlyn turned 4 years old!They sure love each other.

They spend almost every waking moment together and get along so well. Andy always has to make sure Ash has heard what we say. In the car he will repeat everything to her. They entertain each other so well. Almost everyday Tyler comments about how our kids are "big kids" now. It is so crazy and so fun as we watch them grow and learn and become their own person.

It seems doughnuts have become the traditional birthday breakfast in our home.

McDonalds was the choice for their special birthday lunch.

And they were happy to have 2 of their favorite friends to join us.

Andy has grown so much lately. He is tall enough for most of the big rides at Disneyland. He loves video games. He gives lots of hugs and is getting almost too heavy for me to carry. He is my big brown eyed boy!

Ashlyn continues to make us smile with her fun fashion sense, awesome laugh, and cute voice. She will come up to you at random times and say she loves you infinity plus 100 or 100 weeks. She is such a fun cute girl!

Day 2 of birthday fun was a little party at preschool.

Andy brought doughnuts to share and Ash brought little cupcakes.

Day 3 and 4 of birthday activities are coming up next.....

Chase at 10 and 11 months old!

At 10 months he was attempting to walk a little more. He LOVES balls and I believe the Major Leagues are already calling....the kid can throw!!! With both arms! He lOVES to play catch and if you don't throw it back right away he does the throwing motion with his arms trying to tell you that you need to throw the ball back. He loves to tackle and has traumatized about every baby/non nursery age child at church.

He blows us away with how smart he is. You only have to show him something a few times and he has it down. Turns out at 11 months old, he loves the beach. We took him to Balboa for a little photo shoot for his bday invitations, gave him his own little bucket and shovel and he was IN heaven! He kept wanting to go into the water even though it was freezing!

Now at 11 1/2 months old he is a full walker. He blows kisses. Can dribble a soccer ball. Play the piano (baby style), dance and sing. He loves story time before bed. He has enjoyed trying milk this week, and goes crazy when I pour the kids some....he wants some too.

He has 1 little tooth now on the bottom.

He is eating lots of big people food and is FINALLY sleeping through the night! I had to just close my ears and let him cry it out and it only took 2 nights...silly me, I should have done it sooner but he is MY baby and I had such a hard time letting him cry. I can't even express how much joy this little man brings into our family. Each child does and each child has their own special and unique qualities that make a family complete. I think because he has 3 older siblings that ADORE him it makes his presence in our family so much stronger and so much more fun. The kids are having fun teaching him new words like Tay Tay and poop (agh! I'm not happy with that one but they think its so funny)

In 2 weeks we will be celebrating his 1st birthday. It has been such a fast and fun year. I can't believe he is already so big. (sigh)

Sunshine!

In December we had a lot of rain. The kids were thrilled to have the sun return.

Today it was 80 degrees and it felt awesome!

Sometimes I wish we experienced the seasons a little more but then I watch the weather reports for other parts of the country right now with their freezing temps and ongoing snow all the while my kids are playing outside with shorts on and no shoes and I think....I'm happy where I am.Blue skies...sunshine...light breeze...in February....loving Southern California.

A Day of Firsts.

A recent trip to Disneyland involved a few first time experiences for our kids:

First picture with this statue.Chase's first time on Dumbo.
Meeting Rapunzel and Flynn (he was creepy).
And the biggest FIRST of all:
Taylor going on an upside down ride!Interestingly enough, she was only tall enough because of the shoes she wore. On our most recent trip she wore tennis shoes and they would not let her on. Oh...the...tears! I bet she won't forget to wear her boots the next time. And I will try not to be so freaked out thinking she was going to fall out of her seat. In my defense, she technically was not tall enough and on the first hill, she lifted out of her seat!!! She had a blast though and I love that she is daring and adventurous unlike her mother who did not go on her 1st upside down ride until she was 19....

I hope your week is as exciting and fun as this picture.
Nothing better than a good dose of spinning.

Chase at 9 months

I need to get this post written before my baby is 10 months old. 10 months!!!! Why has the last year gone by so fast?

Here is my cute man at 9 months. Trying to get a picture of him with a paper nearby is next to impossible so the girls attempted to help out.He has become quite the silly little character. He makes funny faces, growls, and will have full jibber jabber conversations with you and then throw his head back and laugh. I wish I knew what he says that is so funny.

He is quick on his crawling legs. He loves to climb the stairs and finds any little thing to put in his mouth. Luckily he is like a little chipmunk and just stores the foreign object in his cheeks until I pry his mouth open to get it out. AGH!

Between 7 and 8 months, he started waving and clapping. He is super smart, he can put round or square toys into the right holes. He can start his ball machine and hit the ball as it comes out. He opens and closes the window on his toy door and will point to your nose when you say nose. You only have to show him something once or twice and he will copy you. He blows me away!

He plays peek a boo with anything that will cover his face and he says "Dah" when he brings the object down. He can stand and loves to use whatever he can as a "walker." He gets really upset when he gets stuck against the wall.

He is still not the best sleeper and will not just "cry it out"...I have tried. Tyler thinks he has figured out how to get cuddles from Mom at night. He is definitely a Momma's boy (even though when he sees Daddy he says Dada) and I have no complaint about that.

He sure loves his older siblings especially Ashlyn even though that girl is crazy with him. He loves to be outside, playing with them.

He sings, dances, and leads the music in church.

He is our precious sweet boy that brings smiles and laughter into our home and even though I am already planning his 1st birthday and have the perfect theme for it, I am NOT ready nor do I WANT him to grow up.

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i know you are on the edge of your seat wondering what i will say next.....