Goodbye Running!

I am a little sad to know that I am no longer allowed to run during my pregnancy. (Well, until my next ultra sound, according to the doctor). I went in for my 20 week ultra sound and the following day I had a missed phone call from my doctor. I was thinking the worst, of course (Wouldn't we all!?!). I called my doctor back and he said that everything with the baby is looking wonderful! Growing normal and looks as healthy as can be. The only concern was with my placenta because it's "low-lying". (Which is a worry to him because I have had a previous complication earlier last month). Anyways, he told me I can continue to work out and I asked him about my running, and he told me that I need to keep it to walking for now, or until my next ultra sound appointment to make sure that the placenta moves upward. So, we will see what happens. But the good thing is that I really don't mind turning my runs into walks. I'll do anything just to make sure that I have a healthy little baby and a safe pregnancy!

So, with all of that being said....meet our little son, Jake!

(These were taken at 16 weeks)

I know the 3-D images look a little scary, but the tech wanted to show us what a baby really looks like at this stage! How awesome!

Precious

It's gonna be a long one....

Another long post....it seems like when ever I feel like I am finally able to stay on top of my blogging, life its super busy and I fall behind! But I'm trying my best to get caught up on it!

We celebrated Hailee's 2nd birthday on December 5th 2009 with an "Under the Sea" birthday party! It was so much fun! She had around 18 kids (yes...all in my house...plus parents!) come, and we all had such a great time! Thank you to everyone who was able to come! It really made her day so special!
At her party we had a mermaid come and take pictures with the kids (Amanda Lake). She did such a wonderful job and the kids all loved her! We had many games...."Go fishing" , "Treasure Chest Hunt", parachutes, play do, coloring and a bunch of toys to play with! It was definitely a great night and I am so happy that Hailee had such a great time! And thanks so much for my Mom, who helped me out soooo much with this party! And also a big thanks to Amanda, the mermaid and Cathy for the wonderful cupcakes!

Hailee and the mermaid

My Mom and Amanda. My mom made the amazing mermaid costume! She is so talented!Starting to play the gamesOpening presentsHailee and her cousin Brooke....they had so much fun playing in there!The darling cupcakes!

We decided to wait until after her party to set up our Christmas decorations. So, Sunday afternoon, we took down all of the birthday decorations and set up our Christmas decor! We had so much fun! Hailee absolutely LOVED helping hang ornaments on the tree and loved watching Daddy put the lights on it too! She was a very lucky girl that night because Daddy even put special Christmas lights on her play house! It is so cute because every morning she runs down stairs and turns on the lights to the Christmas tree, her play house and our house plant that has lights on it! It is so enjoyable seeing the joy of Christmas through her eyes. It really makes the holiday season seem so amazing!Notice Hailee doing a summer sault out of the window. She loves doing that!

(Dec. 7th) Hailee LOVES yard work. Actually, she loves to help clean everything! She will wash all my dishes for me before I put them in the dishwasher (And let me tell you, there isn't any food or spots on them after she is done washing them!) but she also loves to help rake leaves, pull weeds and sweep! She has her own rake and broom, and both of them have special hooks on the wall in the garage right next to Daddy's tools! She is such a great helper!

On December 12th, we went up to my parents house to decorate Christmas cookies and hang out for the evening. Hailee had so much fun! She would have sprinkle shakers in both hands and completely cover the entire cookies with them! She also LOVED my parents Christmas animals. For those of you who are wondering what Christmas animals are...well, I'll explain.

When we were just little kids, my Dad brought home 6 or 7 mechanical animals that were from a Christmas Santa Mall display. They look like they all belong in the forest, one is chopping a tree down, some are picking up sticks, but they are all amazing and when they are plugged in they all move! My parents would set up a whole "Christmas scene" in the house each Christmas when we were growing up....with the tree, fake snow and the animals scattered all through out!
Now that us kids are all grown, we still won't let my parents have a Christmas without them. I know every year they would love to keep them in storage, but to us kids, Christmas at Mom and Dad's wouldn't be the same! And since there are grand-kids now....I guess Grandma and Grandpa will have to continue on the tradition with these animals forever! Woo hoo!

(This is not one of the original animals, but one that my parents have added to the collection. It is by far Hailee's favorite!)

December 13th, I took my 20 week belly shots. It was so cute because Hailee wanted to be a part of the pictures too! We didn't tell her to show off her belly, but because "Mommy" was...she wanted to also!

And lastly, last night, December 16th, we made the transition of putting Hailee into her new big girl bed! I was honestly nervous about how it would go, but I have to say it has gone amazing! Last night I read her a story in her bed and then she told me "Bye Momma" and wanted me to leave! I couldn't believe it! She closed her eyes and with in ten minutes she was sleeping peacefully! So today comes around and I was thinking, "Okay, nap time will for sure be hard" but nope....just as easy! And same as tonight's bed time! She really LOVES her new bed! We really tried making it extra special for her and I guess she knows it really is a special thing to be sleeping in her big girl bed now!

This last picture is just cute and I don't ever want to forget this....Hailee has a love for her baby dolls, especially this one...she takes it everywhere, along with its diaper bag. She also has to have it right be her at every meal! She is such a good mommy to her baby and is going to be such an amazing big sister in April!

A night to remember...

(Something I don't want to forget)

Tonight Hailee and I had a Mommy/Daughter night out. We started the night with a little Christmas shopping. I was hesitant on how long I wanted to stay out because it seems like when ever I have Hailee with me, it just becomes more work than success, but tonight was completely different! She was the easiest girl! Usually she is always pulling clothes off the racks and hanging them back up and re organizing everything, but tonight she held my hand and helped me look at the stuff I needed to look at.

After about an hour of shopping, we were both getting hungry, and since we were a ways away from home, I decided we would hit CPK . It was so much fun! We talked and laughed the entire time we ate! There was an older couple sitting across the isle from us and they commented on how darling she was and that it looked like we were having such a great time! We definitely were!
After dinner, we held hands and went outside and looked at the huge Christmas tree in front of the mall! She absolutely LOVES Christmas lights and everything that has to do with the holiday! I decided to continue on with our shopping since we were having so much fun!
We skipped, ran and laughed all through out the mall. By this point I actually was over the whole shopping thing, but I wasn't over having so much fun with my little girl! We stayed at the mall until close, and then continued out to the car laughing and having so much fun.

Hailee is such an amazing daughter and I am truly blessed to have her. She brings so much joy and love into our family, and times like these, I never want to forget. She is amazing.

The Big TWO and Thanksgiving!

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving. This year was extra special though, because it happened to be Hailee's 2nd birthday too! We are so thankful for what a wonderful, amazing, precious, sweet and loving daughter that she is.We are so proud of her, for her accomplishments, for the love that she brings into our lives and everything about her. She truly is a blessing in our lives and we are so thankful for her.

We spent Thanksgiving at my parents house this year. It was wonderful! We started the day off with our traditional fun hike!
It was alot of fun too because Rick was in town! (We missed Gregg on the hike...he worked a graveyard the previous night, so he was home sleeping)We weren't able to push the stroller the entire way of the hike, which was fine because Hailee wanted out so she could hike too! She had so much fun! She would climb on every single rock that she passed and was just so happy to be such a "big" girl hiking with all of us.Once we made it back to the stroller, she was so tired! She hiked almost a full mile (That's alot for a 2 year old!) As soon as she got in her stroller, she closed her eyes and fell asleep until we got back to the car!Once we got home, we showered and then had our wonderful Thanksgiving dinner! We had all of our favorite foods! One funny thing is that the turkey was a little over cooked. Our hike ended up being alot longer then planned. Gregg said that if you dip it in water before each bite then it's not so dry! haha. But we would much rather have a dry turkey and go on an extra long hike then to have a moist turkey with a short hike. However, I still thought the turkey tasted great!
Thanks to Mom and Dad for such a wonderful Thanksgiving! We truly do love them!

Before our hike, Hailee saw all of her birthday presents! She was so excited! Especially for the wagon!She climbed into the wagon and threw all of the presents onto the floor!Then she had Uncle Ricky take her for a ride outside! She was one happy little girl! After our dinner, we sang Happy Birthday to Hailee. She blew both candles out by herself! She was so excited! And she was so excited to have her own cake. The night before when we bought the cake, she kept showing us all where "Her" cake was! It's so fun now that she understands what birthday's and holidays are! Happy Birthday Hailee! Mommy and Daddy love you!

She finally opened the rest of her presents! She loved them so much!

Grandma and Grandpa got Hailee this neat fort tube thing! Her and Daddy played in it all night! The next morning we played in it forever, and she even convinced Bailey (The dog) to come play in it with us!

We had such a wonderful day and are truly thankful for all of our blessings; our beautiful daughter, our baby Jake who is his way, for one another, parents, siblings, loved ones and friends!

Hailee's 2 year stats:

Height: 36 inches (95%)

Weight: 28 lbs (60%)

Utah Vacation

Warning: Picture Overload

Last week (Nov. 18-24th '09) we were able to go up to Utah! It was a very busy but fun filled trip! With all of us here in CA going and everyone's work schedules being different, we all flew up in separate groups! Us girls left first and then the boys trickled in the next couple of days.

All of our luggage! 3 Moms, 2 little girls, 5 suitcases, 3 carry-ons and 2 car seats! And yes....we made it to Utah with ALL of our luggage!

The first part of our trip was spent with my Grandma and Grandpa Ginos. We went to celebrate his 80th birthday! My Mom and my aunt Sheri threw a beautiful party for my Grandpa!
Hailee loved being at "Great Grandma and Grandpa's house!" There were so many new things to play with....like my Grandma's walker! She would crawl up onto it and have us race her around the house! They also have those elevator seats that go up the stairs and Hailee would ride up and down the stairs! She definitely knows how to make things fun!
We also went over to my Aunt Sheri's house to play. They have a huge built in play house in their basement! Hailee loved it! (And aren't her boots just the cutest?? I LOVE them!)

The play house!
My Grandpas party was Sat. Nov. 21st. So many people showed up! I think there was around 45 people that came. Every chair was taken...
My mom and cousin Shannon

Janae, Shannon and I Shannon and I

Grandma, Dad, Brooke and Hailee

Janae and Rick. They have been good friends for going on 5 1/2 years now!

The party was a sit down dinner and us girls served the food. We all wore black and white aprons! We all looked so cute!!

My whole family! Wow! We are getting big!

Grandma, Grandpa and my Grandpa's sister

Ricky and Hailee playing the piano

Shannon with the girls. She is so great with them!

My family all flew home on Sunday and Gregg and I then continued on with our vacation. We went and stayed with his parents in Salt Lake. That night a bunch of Gregg's family came over so we could see everyone while we were in town! That night is also snowed!

We also visited Gregg's Grandma Jean

We went bowling one of the nights and had so much fun!

Even Hailee had a blast! We would let her roll the balls off the stand thing and she would get so excited when she would knock pins down! Guess we need to go bowling more often now!

We had a great trip and were so happy to be able to see so much of the family on both sides! We are so thankful for our times with family and for the love and relationships that we have with them!