Christmas

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. We were very blessed to be surrounded by family. I want to thank everyone who came to visit us this year- we had a very fun time! Here's a quick summary of our lives since November: the girls were sick for about 2 months. Maddie had a never ending cold and Brianna had a double ear infection/ cold for the entire month of December and is still having her constant battle with her eczema. Both girls were completely miserable and all of us were exhausted. I'm still trying to catch up on sleep. For the last 2 1/2 weeks, the girls have been sick-free but Bree's eczema is still in the picture. She's been referred to a dermatologist who now has her on antibiotics and 2 ointments. Brianna spends a lot of time visiting her pediatrician and now her dermatologist. I'll spare all our holiday details and I hope you enjoy my plethora of pictures that are not in order.

Maddie and Bree decorating our Christmas tree. Bree felt that she had to re-decorate our tree everyday and even tried to climb it because she wanted our angel tree topper. She didn't fuss with the presents and she loved the lights. Every night she would stand in front of the tree and say: "Mommy on- peeeease". Once the lights would go on she would take a deep breath and say: "Wow!" She's so darn cute.

Maddie getting ready to put on the beads.

Oh Brianna! Luckily, my storage case was able to protect my ornaments from my 27 lb. baby. When we tell her to stop doing something, she'll freeze dead in her tracks and hold her arms up.

My sister Victoria and brother Michael. My brother Matthew came to visit us a few weeks ago but I didn't get a picture of him.They came to visit and helped take care of the girls.

Grandpa Calvin came to visit us all the way from Michigan.

We got to hang out with Angela and Joe, too. They always stay with us a few days when visiting and we all have such a good time. I have to say that uncle Joe is the "kid" magnet. Maddie and Bree were stuck to him like glue.
We got our usual visit from Santa. Madison was super excited and Brianna was okay, just as long as he didn't get too close. Above are the girls with great-grandpa and Maga.
Maddie giving Santa a hug because he just told her that he left a 4-legged friend at her grandma's house. Yes, she got a dog! I was having trouble downloading the video of her jumping up and down, doing flips all over the living room and confirming that it's a real dog and not a stuffed animal. She is too funny. What a cutie! I'll post pictures of the dog soon.




Christmas morning. Brianna was sick and refused to stand by the tree. As usual, the girls made out like bandits. They got clothes, a couple of pairs of shoes, books, movies, toys, toys and more toys.

Brianna and her new car. Cute!

Madison and her cool dollhouse. She's so funny because a dollhouse and a WWE wrestling ring were on her Christmas list. She's such a girly girl but likes to play with some boy toys. She has no interest in watching wrestling (thank goodness) but likes the ring. I'm not quite sure why though. Brianna got her a pink scooter that comes with a bell. I have trouble keeping up with her on her big girl bike so I'm surely going to have to get into better shape to keep up now. Ha,ha.

Shawn Michaels wrestling princess Ariel.

Brianna opening her one and only present she showed interest in. When she realized that it was doll, she squealed (a typical girl) and began kissing the box. Her expression/ reaction was priceless.
Maddie attempted to pick up the doll but my little bug was not allowing that. She quickly grabbed her doll and yelled every parents favorite word: Mine.
About 2 weeks ago, we celebrated Christmas with Auntie and Oscar. We had a yummy lunch and opened presents. We had a great time relaxing and hanging out.

Thank you Auntie for the pillow pets and other fun gifts.

The girls and their Nana (my mom). She came to visit us for a week. I just want to say Thank you to all our family who help me out. We're a busy little family and it's nice to have a second set of hands every now and again. I truly APPRECIATE every single one of you and we are very blessed to have our families in our lives. I hope everyone has a great year!

Glasses

A few weeks ago, I took Madison to her first eye appointment. I took her because she started school, our families have horrible eye sight and she had been stressing her eyes to see things. Sure enough, I was told that she has very bad astigmatism in her eyes and has trouble seeing both near and far. Horrible parent- right? I can't believe I waited so long to take her to an eye appointment given our history. We were told that she would have to wear glasses the rest of her life. I was then advised to get a second opinion. So we got a second opinion last week and was told the same thing. She had asked her optometrist how long throughout the day she has to wear glasses and he told her all day except when she takes a shower and sleeps. Her response was: " Oh man, that sounds like I have to wear them all the time- what am I suppose to do?". He replied: "Look at your mommy, she wears her glasses all the time". Maddie then says: " But my mommy is old, I'm only 4 years old!" I couldn't help but to laugh but it kind of hurt my 20-nothing ego. Ha,ha,ha!!!! She picked out her Juicy Couture designer glasses all by herself and looks absolutely ADORABLE!!!!! She had the entire office 'Awwwwing' over her. I have to admit that I was pretty bummed when I was told she needs glasses. In today's world, kids are so cruel and get teased for simple things like wearing glasses,...etc. But I am just grateful that she is not permanently blind and can have to opportunity to wear glasses to have her vision.
Maddie, Carson and Emma. This is what the girls do when they're taking a break during the soccer game. Carson does not mess around when it comes to her pink bag. She usually pulls out her brush, mirror and detangler and dishes herself up. Oh yea, she's the coaches daughter, too!

SHARKS- 2010!

Last weekend was Madison's last soccer game. She played almost the entire game and played pretty hard out there. She made 4 goals- 2 for us and 2 for the other team. Her coaches call her "Firecracker" and "Speedy". I posted a video of her below scoring a goal for the other team. None of us knew that we had switched direction. LOL! She had an awesome coach and teammates. All of us parents are going to try and get the same team for t-ball, which will be a lot of fun. I truly think soccer is going to be her sport.

Halloween & Preschool

We hope everyone had a happy and safe Halloween. I'm know I'm late, which is nothing out of the ordinary for me. Madison was Little Bo Peep and Brianna was her sheep. Thanks Grandma Ruthann for making their adorable costumes. Auntie Maxine came to visit us for the weekend which is always very fun. We went to the trunk-o-treat on Saturday at my mother in-law's church and the girls had a good time. Maddie stayed for the dance and got lots of candy. On Halloween day, I intended to take Maddie and Brianna out for a little while but when the time came, Maddie wanted to stay home and give out candy. I think she was tired from the night before. She really enjoyed looking at the other kids costumes.

The cutest Little Bo Peep and Sheep ever!!!

Maddie and Auntie cleaning out the pumpkin so mommy can carve out Ariel.

I'm actually proud of my pumpkin. I'm not a very good carver (Jon's the carver) but she didn't turn out too bad.

On these next 2 guys, I totally cheated and took the easy way of decorating.

Silly girl. Brianna loves to bounce on all the balls. I was wondering why they were getting kind of flat.

Maddie started preschool last week. She attends 3 times a week for 3 hours each day. She's a little nervous when she first arrives to class but then a few minutes later, she's happy and content. But she did wake me up twice last week to say she didn't want to go to school because there are too many rules! She then said that I give her too many rules at home, which she doesn't follow and that's why she's always in trouble and proceeded to ask what she's suppose to do at school. Being that it was 1 o'clock in the morning both times, I told her that she needs to follow all the rules at school and grumpily asked her to go back to sleep. But so far, she's been behaving and has been getting good reports from her teacher. Brianna and I bought her the new Hannah Montana CD and baked her an over sized cupcake. She loved them both!

What a Rough Week

Brianna had it pretty rough last week. Although she was acting like nothing happened, I, on the other hand, was experiencing her pain. I received a call at work and was told that she fell at great-grandma's house and got a bump on her head. So when I got to her, she had a bump alright- along with a nice little gash. OUCH!!!!!!!! Her pediatrician was already waiting for her and sent us directly to the E.R. I'm not going into any details about that place because this post will turn into a negative post. But after spending a few hours there, Bree walked out with 2 lovely staples. I'm stilled bummed about it and it's been a week already. She's not in any pain and doesn't make any attempt to touch them. You can barely see them unless you shuffle through her hair. On Thursday, these bad boys are being taken out. I always knew that I would end up in the E.R. with one of my very active daughters but I never expected it to be my baby. But as I sat back and thought about it, I came to realize that Madison is more of a bruiser and gets scrapes. On the other hand, Brianna is quite daring and it doesn't phase her if she falls and gets a huge bulging bump or falls directly on her face while trying to walk off the couch or my bed- she's just going to get right back up and do it again. I'm constantly following her around but the second I take my eyes off her, she's riding her power wheel quad while standing on the seat or doing something outrageous. She gets me so nervous and all she does is laugh and have a cute smirk on her face.


We finally made it to the pumpkin patch this past weekend. This picture is so funny because she was done with the pumpkin patch the second we got there. But she had every reason to because she wasn't feeling very well. Maddie's been sick for almost a week and it's a given that Brianna inherited her cold and on top of that, I think she's getting her canines or second set of molars. Not to mention, it was really hot. It was probably selfish of me to take her when she's not feeling good but I didn't want to leave her behind. So we made the best of it and as always, Maddie had a fun time.
Bree didn't care for the hay touching her skin and is the same way towards grass and sand. She's definitely like her mommy.
The girls and grandma getting ready for the hay ride. I never did get a smile but I did get a good- bye wave.


I think the height measurement was a little off because I took Maddie to the M.D. yesterday and she's 44 inches but according to that, she's 36 inches. No biggie.
Maddie really enjoyed the train ride. It took her all around and through the pumpkin patch.
While Maddie and grandma were hunting for some pumpkins (below), I was off searching for my own, which happened to be so adorable!!!


Finally, the pumpkin hunt was over. We did a lot of fun things, including the petting zoo and a maze. I'm glad Maddie showed no interest in the corn box because there were a ton of kids in there and it's like putting them in a ball pit at Chuck E Cheese. We had a really good time and hope to do it again next year. Hopefully it will be a little cooler. Below are the lucky ones that came home with us. Consider this the 'before picture'.

Well, when we eventually catch up to ourselves, I'll post more cute pictures of my cutie pies and give you an update of all the fun things Brianna and Maddie are up to. Also, Brianna has been talking a lot, which is always fun to hear and not to mention exciting!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart and Love Bug!!!

Madison and Brianna celebrated their birthdays in July! Back in December, Maddie said she didn't want a birthday party and wanted a vacation instead. So I planned a surprise trip to Disneyland for a few days. I presented her with a print out of her ticket on her actual birthday and a few days later we were off to the happiest place on earth. She was beyond excited. At the very last minute, I decided to leave Bree with my mom, sister and brothers. I felt like such a horrible mommy for even thinking about it and Maddie was missing her too. But as the day went on and it was about 95 degrees and I seen screaming, unhappy, red-faced babies drenched in sweat, I knew I made the right decision. She would've been so unhappy and not to mention, exhausted. I felt relieved knowing that she was cool and comfortable. I think she had a better time swimming, being spoiled and going on 2 play dates. We met every princess and a huge majority of characters. Maddie's all-time favorite princess is Ariel and when she met her, she was beyond words. Then, she was asked to participate in a dance at the princess program and to her surprise, my baby girl got to dance next to Ariel. I will NEVER forget Maddie's expression on her face. I thought her eyes were going to bulge out of their sockets or she was going to need a brown paper bag. Ha,ha,ha! I really liked how the characters are very friendly to the kids and take the time to speak to them. The princesses and Mad Hatter kept complimenting her on her clothes and bows, which she thought was funny. When I was a kid, we barely had a chance to wave hi without them running away. She was definitely treated like a true princess on her very special day.

Madison got on every ride except Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain. I was more afraid of her going on Splash Mountain because of the huge drop but she rode it like a champ. Her favorite ride was the Haunted Mansion and we went on it about 6 times. Throughout the day, she kept thanking me for an "AWESOME" birthday trip. I'm glad she had a very memorable time and we are definitely going again.

A True Princess

The tea cups were a hit. We rode them about 4 times.

Maddie received a phone call from Goofy and he sang her Happy Birthday. Cute!

My All-Time favorite princess- Cinderella. Maddie made sure to mention that to her as she was signing her autograph book.

One of my favorite pictures.

The above pictures were taken at California Adventure. We really didn't spend too much time there. We rode a few rides and Maddie was ready to head back to Disneyland. I was with her on that one.

Pixie Hollow is a really cute area. We also met Tinker Bell's fairy friend, Silvermist.

I love this picture. Just knowing she went to sleep after having a wonderful time made my day.
I can't believe my little bug is a year old. She is such a doll and a smarty too! Brianna had a lady bug themed birthday party. Although she didn't want to open all her presents, she really did enjoy them all. Thank you to everyone who celebrated this special day. She didn't even terrorize her cake. She just ran her finger in the corner of it.
She really didn't know what to make of her pinata. But every time she touched it, she laughed.

Bree and her godmother/ my BFF, Jeanette. I really miss her! My friend Karly, gave her this ladybug tutu and made her that cute bow for her birthday. Karly makes her and Maddie the cutest bows ever- she's the greatest!

Auntie Maxine took the girls to ride the horses. We had a super fun time. Overall, we had such an awesome summer. It's nice to be able to spend time with my little girls and our families.