Happy Birthday...

Trenton Michael

Born: Tuesday, October 27, 2015

At: 11:00am

Weight: 7lbs 15oz

Length: 22.5 inches

Status: Our adorable little man is finally here, eight days after his due date! Mama was in pre-labor for five LONG days before his arrival. He is a precious boy with adorable little dimples and loved immensely by his parents and two adoring sisters. He spent three days in the NICU after birth due to breathing issues, but is doing well now and came home today, October 30th, 2015. We are all so in love, our family is complete.

Maternity Photo Session - Baby Boy's First Photos

Maternity photoshoot - Baby boy is due in October!

These two are going to make the best big sisters

Baby brother's big debut is just over a month away, and we are all so excited for his arrival in mid October. I was happy to get a chance to do my first maternity photoshoot, as I never did any when I was pregnant with the girls. I was so tiny with the girls, and even though we took some photos I really wish that I did a maternity session like this. I'm grateful to have a wonderful and talented best friend, Christy, who took these beautiful photos. We will cherish these memories for years to come and I especially love seeing the genuine smiles and excitement on the girls faces. They are on pins and needles waiting for the arrival of their sweet little brother and my belly has received plenty of love and kisses over these past several months. He moves like crazy now and loves when his big sisters talk to him and give hugs (well actually, that's a maybe...he usually kicks when they smother my stomach). We are so eager to meet this little man and see his sweet personality unfold. The countdown to October 19th is on!

Obligatory belly shot, he's a squirmy fella

The little man's first photo

Alina showering baby brother with love

Happy 6th Birthday Elise!

Celebrating with our big 6-year-old birthday girl, Elise!

Six years ago our oldest child, Elise, was born and she’s turned our world into something new ever since. We’ve experienced all the first big milestones with her and have watched her grow from a tiny newborn into a very intelligent, driven and fun-loving young girl. Although she’s only 6 years old, I feel like she’s matured so much that she’s 6 going on pre-teen. She loves school, reading, swimming (just about every day she can), riding her bike, golf, gymnastics, legos and play dates with her little friends; and I feel like the friends part will start taking over pretty soon, so we certainly plan to cherish these last few years that we still have with her as mommy and daddy’s best friend. 

Elise is such a little character with a very independent spirit when it comes to what she likes and wants. We are rarely able to influence her or change her mind/opinion; the girl is steadfast as far as her determination goes. I used to think it was more of a challenging quality, but over these past years I've learned to embrace the fact that she is so decisive and driven. She is naturally a bit shy, but she never refuses to participate or embrace a new experience, which makes me very proud. It's her high level of determination that drives her to be brave and speak up rather than retreating when faced with uncomfortable situations. She is one tough girl. She celebrated her birthday party earlier this month and truly adored sharing the day with all her wonderful friends and family! Our girl is growing up so fast. We love you Elise, Happy 6th Birthday!

Enjoying her Wacky Tacky party with great little friends

Elise is Almost Five!

Little beauty Elise at almost five-years-old

Having fun on the swing

Sisters bonding...and smiles

Sister hugs are the absolute best

Elise will be turning five-years-old in just a few days! I still can't believe how much she's learned and matured in these five short years. I took some photos this past weekend and stopped in my tracks when looking back through them on the computer. I no longer see a little girl and instead a sweet young lady, who is yearning to grow up and dress her prettiest at all times. I have to admit, that I got teary eyed seeing how beautiful she looked in these photos. She is still very much a child and has those adorable childlike qualities, but we are also slowly seeing aspects of her maturity and growth. Aside from being very tall for her age, she now has what I like to call the "grown-up voice", she talks in complex sentences and now tells stories dispersing the occasional colloquialisms throughout (for some reason this makes me feel as if she is five going on fifteen). She also makes very intelligent inferences from the things we say, and spelling things out won't always get past her anymore.

Our girl can read all by herself now and she only needs help with big words. I hope Kindergarten will be challenging enough, because she has aced every single one of those simple 1-4 letter site words. She is so inquisitive about the world and how things work; she's a definite thinker. She is still a little ball of emotion though! I will say that she has come a very long way from the tantrum laden days of past, but she is still quite emotionally driven and strives for perfection and order (according to her interpretation). All this said, I see a very sweet and very determined young lady at the core of it all. I am so proud of her for all the things she has accomplished in these last five years. She is setting a great example for little Alina to follow, and she is even helping teach her how to read small words. I am so grateful for both of our sweet girls, and for the very special bond that they share.

Sharing secrets

Serious look, but I love it as I see a glimpse of her baby face

All smiles, she brings so much joy to our lives

Summer Family Photos 2013 - UC Davis Arboretum

Family Photo Summer 2013

Beautiful light, adorable subjects...LOVE

My favorites of the girls

 

Family shot; all smiles



With the girls turning 4 and 2 this summer, I decided it was time for new family photos. They've both grown up so much over the past couple years, and I wanted to do something fun and celebratory to mark the occasion. A huge thank you to Michelle McDaid, of Memories by Michelle, for these beautiful photos. I went into the session with high expectations, and she by far exceeded my initial hopes. At her suggestion, we chose the UC Davis Arboretum for our photo location. I couldn't have been happier with the variety of shots we got there. I've viewed the photos countless times, and each time I find more inspiration and love staring back at me. I included just a few of my favorites here, but there are so many great ones. She really captured the essence of our family and the love that we share. I plan to post a few more up for Alina's birthday post, so stay tuned.

Mommy and her beautiful girls



Love this photo of us; perfect sunset light



Playful silliness, plenty of laughs and smiles

 

Family shot in the redwoods

 

In the beginning, it was just us. I love you more today
than ever before because of the life we've made together

Alina's First Birthday - Under the Sea Birthday Party!



Alina's first birthday - under the sea party!

Her under the sea dessert table and party food

Yummy pearly bite clam cookies

 

The girls loved the watermelon shark and pb&j sushi

Her adorable sandcastle birthday cake

Posing in her blue under the sea party paradise :)

Mommy and the happy little birthday girl!

Giggling and playing, she's so cute

  

Her under the sea chalk art party guests



Birthday doll Alina and some of the little partiers

 

We celebrated baby Alina's big first birthday, on August 11th, 2012, with a wonderfully fun under-the-sea themed party. I had the best time planning her party, and really enjoyed working with the ocean theme. Mommy and grandma handmade her a cute sand dollar birthday banner complete with adorable mermaids, and there were plenty of sea themed balloons and decorations to effectively transform our home into a serene blue oceanic paradise. There are so many clever ideas out there, many of which ended up gracing the birthday girl's food and dessert table. She had peanut butter and jelly sushi, bell pepper octopuses, pearly bites/clam cookies, turkey and cheese sushi wraps, a goldfish bar, shrimp cocktails, buried treasure, starfish sweets, a fearsome watermelon shark, and her own super cool sandcastle cake, which was delicious. 

As usual, little Alina was an absolute doll the entire day. She looked so cute dressed in her blue summer dress, walking around and playing with her party guests. Despite missing her afternoon nap, she was such a trooper and only put up a fuss when we tried to put her in her high chair to eat her smash cake (daddy's arms calmed the storm). It was so much fun to watch her reaction to everyone singing her "happy birthday", she beamed proudly and clapped along to the beat. She had no qualms about getting messy and dug right into her mini sandcastle smash cake. There were colorful chocolate starfish and seashells adorning her cake, and the chocolate starfish she ate turned her mouth a bright shade of pink. She was absolutely precious to watch.  

Alina was spoiled by all her friends and family. She got plenty of clothes, books, toys and her very own ball pit from mommy and daddy. She had a fantastic time. It's hard to believe that a year has already passed, and our once tiny baby girl has become a toddler. Haaaappy birthday to you little Alina; our beautiful one-year-old sweetheart!

 

  

Clapping along to "Happy Birthday"

Digging in to her 1st birthday sandcastle smash cake

Baby eating her cake, messy precious!



Enjoying the company of her party guests



Opening her presents

More gifts, but she was interested in the cards :)

Just a few of her many birthday gifts, lucky little one :)

Birthday banner, first year in photos, balloons, & gift bags

Having fun in her new ball pit

 

More under the sea birthday party decorations

Pretty party remnants

Alina's 12-Month Update

Our active little Leo at 12-months-old

 

Little Alina turned one-year-old on August 12, 2012. She has accomplished so much in her first year; from learning to walk at a mere 10-months-old; to climbing and scaling every piece of furniture in our house; to baby talking and repeating back words; to expressing her first few feisty toddler moments (she hardly ever does, but when it happens the girl can squeal loud enough to stop traffic). It is truly difficult to believe that she has completed her very first rotation around the sun ;) in what feels like record time. Where did our baby go!?!? While we will miss her being so little, the excitement of watching her grow supersedes any feelings of baby nostalgia. She has been an absolute joy to raise this first year.

 

 

Eating breakfast...completely unphased by the wild bedhead

 



She is getting so tall, 93rd % baby!



 

Alina's 12-month growth stats:

 

Height: 31.5 in (93rd percentile)

Weight: 20 3.5 oz (52nd percentile)

 

At our most recent checkup, we discovered that Alina's weight has now shot up into the 52nd percentile! This was good news to hear, as I was somewhat concerned at how underweight she was at all her prior checkups. I transitioned her from formula to whole milk early, at 11-months-old, to help bulk her up a bit. In addition to her whole milk bottles, she eats like crazy. Her favorite foods are: chicken, pasta, rice, eggs, cheese, bananas, broccoli, cauliflower and squash. She eats most everything we put on her plate; but believe it or not, Elise is our most adventurous eater, she will try anything. Alina just started turning her nose up to tomatoes and a few other foods. I know the routine with kids appetites, they are cyclical and you'd better be prepared to give them second and third helpings during growth spurts. Alina had her most recent growth spurt right around 11.5 to 12 months. We are so happy to see her weight in the 50th percentile, and it looks as if we may have another tall girl on our hands because Alina is in the 93rd percentile for her height.

 

 

Big smile and look at all her teeth!

Laughing fit - she's happy and loved

 

In teething related news, at 12-months-old little Alina had a total of eight teeth, four on top and four on the bottom. She got her first molars in, top and bottom, at 12-months and three weeks old. In all honestly, I had no idea they were coming through until they had started to crown, she was that good. In fact, we barely heard a peep out of her due to teething. She was slightly fussier than normal, but nothing bad. Elise was extra cranky for a month straight when she got her molars in.

Dancing with her shoes...yeah it's a baby thing!

 

Alina had added a couple more words to her baby repertoire. She learned to say "baby" right around 12-months-old, and this is her favorite word. She loves pointing to photos, of her and Elise, on the fridge and saying "baby" to each one. She can almost say "sissy", but it comes out more like "sissa". She is also in the early stages of working on her ABCs, so far she can say "aaaa, bbbb"...we're still working on the rest, but it is super cute hearing her shout "aaaa, bbbb" for 10 minutes at a time. Overall, Alina is still a baby of few words, she is more interested in singing and music; I think she may be able to sing an entire song even before she learns how to string a sentence together :) Although she can't say all the words yet, she can perfectly hum the tunes to, "Twinkle, twinkle little star" and "Frere Jacques". It is so cute to hear her hum along when we sing these lullabies to her before bed. She also loves to dance! Any time there is music on, she slowly starts nodding and bobbing her head and then she puts one hand out and waves it back and forth to the beat. One thing is for sure, she is taking after mommy and becoming a little music lover. 

At 12-months-old little Alina is virtually fearless. As I said before, she loves to climb and stand on everything she possibly can, no matter how precarious. She has since progressed to riding Elise's push cars and mini battery powered quad runner. She also gets a big thrill from attempting to ride her sister's bicycle. Alina is such a mini daredevil, and when she falls she rarely cries, she just picks herself up and climbs again. She is one tough toddler!



Already trying to ride big sissy's bike

 

Alina is such a loving little girl. She has always been incredibly sweet, but at 12-months-old we are really starting to see the depth of her affection toward all of us. She gives the best full body hugs! She will come up to us, throw out her arms, lay her head down on our chest, and proceed to cuddle for over a minute at a time. It is the sweetest thing ever, and I fully enjoy every moment of it. Alina also loves to give kisses to all of us before bed each night. She is always in a good mood, and it has been the biggest joy to care for her over this first year. We look forward to countless more cuddly moments with her!





Love her :)