Lauren Amelia

Our beautiful niece Lauren Amelia was born at 12:22 am on January 31st. She is such a perfect little princess. I could not wait to get my hands on her and see how the family was doing, so I went down to the hospital before work to get a sneak peek. And she was just as I expected.
After work, and much anticipation, we brought the kids down to meet their new cousin. Andy could not wait. He was asking all day, "can I hold the baby??" Can't you just see the love??

Julie was a little more shy. I think Lauren was smaller than she expected, and she was a little intimidated.
Not Andy. He slapped my hand away and said, "Mommy, let go, she's mine!!"
Luckily Memere still had her and Andy didn't notice.
Julie, not to be outdone by her little brother, took a brief turn.
And came around. She was loving on her, and talking to her.
Andy pouted the whole time anyone else was holding her. He was pretty ridiculous.
The Sprung grandparents got there just as we were leaving. The room was filled with love and aww for the beautiful bundle. Obviously there were some key players left out of the photo shoot today (new momma, Memere, Auntie.....) but there will be so many more opportunities. Can't wait!
And the stats, just because I am sure you all want to know:
7 pounds 2 ounces
20 1/2 inches long
Born 1/31/11 at 12:22 am.

Bess and Matt...The Baby Shower Edition

Bess and Matt have been out visiting this week. Since this is probably the only time they will be here before their little girl arrives, we decided it would be fun to throw them a baby shower.

I was having so much fun, that I neglected my normal picture taking. But we got a couple.

The stack of gifts.
The always wonderful Grandma Hazel.
Both kids were so excited about the peppermints! Their breath is still fresh!!!
Ham.
Julie loves to help open presents, and she was right in the middle of most of my pictures. Bess and Matt got quite a few things to help them prepare for their little bundle!
The Parents-to-be. And the sweetest bump.
After the party died down, the kids got a few stories read to them by Auntie Bess. Cousin Valerie got in on the action. You can't really tell, but Andy was in heaven surrounded by his blond beauties.
We are so excited for Matt and Bess! We can't wait to see her sweet little face!

Best Part

The best part of the snow trip for me was on the way up there. We stopped on the way up for lunch at Carl's Jr. Julie had to use the potty, so she and I went to the bathroom. We had this conversation:

Julie: Mom, how come my feet don't touch the ground? (like when she is going potty)
Me: They will when you grow up and get taller
Julie: Like when I am a Mommy?
Me: Yes, if you decide to be a Mommy when you grow up.
Julie: I want to be a Mommy........Does Heaven know I want to be a Mommy when I grow up?
Me: (melt at the sweetness) I am sure Heaven knows.
Julie: (SCREAMS) Heaven!!! I want to be a Mommy!!!!!

Snow Trip

Yesterday we took the kids on a surprise adventure. We begged all our friends for snow clothes and sleds, snuck them into the car, and headed north. I am sure my family on the east coast will laugh when I say we drove 3 hours to find snow. When Julie spotted the first blotch on the ground, she was so excited!

The day play area was closed, so we went into Yosemite to play. The kids were so ready, and a little annoyed Mom and Dad were holding them up! And it was pretty warm out, so it was a good way to start our first snow outing.
Julie could not wait to sled! She thought it was great, wanted to go head first, backwards, faster and farther! Where we went in Yosemite was actually just a closed road, no set sled runs or anything. We made do.

Andy thought sledding was pretty awesome too, but instead of walking back up, he would crawl. Goofy.

This is how warm it was! Or how unprepared we were. At least the kids were warm! Poor Daddy.

They thought it would be a good idea to roll down the hill.

When John saw this picture, he said, "Looks like Andy just leveled her..." I said, "He is helping her up...." Either way, its a cute shot.

After playing for about an hour and a half, we headed back to the hotel, where it was 65 degrees, no snow and beautiful. They had a park that we visited for a bit, then we went in the indoor heated pool. It was fun to play in the snow, then go put our bathing suits on!

The next morning we got an early (so early!!) start, and got to the day play area before the crowds. Both kids were excited to sled again.

Unfortunately, since we got there so early, it was still really cold! So it was a full jacket morning.

This green sled was so much fun. I wish I was able to get more pictures but the kids were seriously flying down the hill, so there was no opportunity to. When Andy first went down, he put one knee on the sled, then it took off down the hill! He was just able got his other knee on, but didn't even have time to hold on! He flew down the hill with his arms up in the air, on his knees! He is so studly.

The kids enjoyed a few minutes of quiet, then the ran to us saying they were freezing. Andy was yelling, "Me in the truck please!!!"

So we got home with plenty of time to get everything in the wash, truck unpacked and chores done. We are definitely going to be visiting the snow more often. We all had a blast....and we are all going to sleep good tonight!

Happy Birthday Mimi!

Yesterday we went out to the ranch to celebrate Mimi's birthday! We are all so lucky to have this special, amazing, inspirational person in our lives

Her birthday was on 1-11-11 this year! How cool is that?!?!

The kids waited anxiously to help blow out the candles.
Mimi is such a good sport!
Happy Birthday Mimi! We love you!

Butterfly Adventure

On Sunday we went down to Pismo to look at the butterflies. When we got there, we discovered that we were either too late, or there just aren't as many butterflies as there used to be.

The kids did find one close enough for them to really look at.
Then they practiced being butterflies.

We walked all along the path, looking at the ducks, until we got to the beach area.

Andy loved running down the dunes.
John told me to jump....so I did.
Then Julie did.
Then Andy thought about it.....but didn't.
Sweet girl singing and having fun.
And this is what I did the whole time.......
Not really, only for enough time to John to take a picture. It was such a beautiful day. Even though the butterflies were MIA, we had a great time.

And it was so crazy because when we got there, Julie said, "We have been here before with Memere, but no Daddy."

She is correct, Mom and I took her there once.

She then said. "We didn't go in this gate, we went in the gate with the bushes."

Again, she was correct, there is another gate at the other end that has shrubs on either side of it. And she remembered this from when we were there last time....almost exactly 2 years ago.

Big Boy's Big Day

Andy started preschool on Tuesday! My big man was so excited, talked about it for days before hand. Ever since his second birthday he has been asking to go to school, but we hadn't felt like he was quite ready.

Well, he's ready now!

So Tuesday morning, he got up, had a big breakfast and was ready to roll. Look how grown up (and annoyed) he looks in this picture!!
He was also so excited to carry his lunch box. When I took him to the store to pick one out, they didn't have any Toy Story, or "Woodiebuzz" ones, so he looked at me and said, "Lets go to another store Mommy."

When we got there he was confident and happy. He made himself at home and didn't even bother to look up for pictures.
We kissed him goodbye and when John picked him up after his 9 hours of school, he was happy and still playing. The teachers said he did awesome. And he ate all of his lunch.

Today was his second day at school. When I picked him up, they said he was happy all day, smart, talkative and very fun. I asked him if he ate all of his lunch and he said, "No, I didn't eat the spoon in there." I had given him applesauce and a spoon to eat it with. Smartie pants.