Happy October Birthday Mama!

Beautiful birthday flowers from dad & the girls

Happy Birthday Mama!

The best birthday view; cake and our sweet girls

Mama enjoyed a very fun birthday this year doing all her favorite October activities surrounded by the best people she knows; the fam! Being 38 weeks pregnant with baby boy somewhat limited the amount of walking I was able to do, but we still managed to fulfill my birthday request of visiting a pumpkin patch and decorating for Halloween. October is my favorite time of year, although the weather is still very warm here in the Sacramento Valley and we were sweating at the pumpkin patch. Despite the heat, we all had a fantastic time and took lots of photos (stay tuned for another post to come). Dad and the girls spoiled mama with beautiful flowers, a special birthday cake and helped deck out the house for Halloween. After the house was Halloween ready, the girls enjoyed creating a haunted gingerbread house and lighting candles to get into the spooky October spirit. We sat and told stories by candlelight and discussed how excited we all are for baby brother to arrive. We sure hope he gets here before Halloween, so we can dress him up and he can enjoy his very first holiday!

Early Halloween fun creating a haunted gingerbread house

Basking in candlelight after decorating for Halloween

LOVE these October flowers

Alina's 4th Birthday - Sleeping Beauty Party!

Alina's 4th birthday - Sleeping Beauty party fun!

The very happy birthday girl

Sleeping Beauty party food and dessert table

Bounce house/water slide fun with little friends

Alina and Annie, best little pals

The little beauty

Food fit for a princess

She loved her Sleeping Beauty birthday cake

Making a wish

Party guests and sweet treats

Bright flowers and Sleeping Beauty figurines

Big smiles from the birthday girl

Littlest party guest, baby Cousin Brett

Opening her presents

Sweet birthday girl after a very fun day!

Happy Mother's Day X 3!

It's a BOY!!!

We have some exciting news to share, we are expecting a new baby due to arrive in October. We had a fun little reveal party with our family recently and are very excited to announce that: It's a BOY! The girls are thrilled to welcome their new little brother later this year, and I can't express how much joy we feel to be blessed with this sweet little baby; our son. 

Celebrating Mother's Day as a mom, not only to our two beautiful and sweet girls, but also to this new special little life has me feeling very honored and grateful. The journey to get here has not been the easiest, but I am thankful every single day that we made it. I also have to admit that I was so surprised to see blue on top of that cake. Being a mom to two girls has made me practically color blind to anything but pink (haha). Dad is also very happy to have a new boy on the way to help balance out all the female energy in the house. The girls, I know, will make great big sisters and mini-moms in training. They are already wanting to help decorate his room, pick out baby clothes and debate over who gets to hold him first. I look forward to seeing how the household dynamic shifts when he arrives. I know the girls will be very interested in taking care of him and always be there to protect him. We are very eager to meet you little man, and experience all the joys that you will bring to our family!

Beautiful flowers

LA Trip Part IV: Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History

Last stop - The LA County Museum of Natural History

T-Rex and Triceratops fossil display

Silly Elise posing by the dinosaurs

The girls loved the extensive dinosaur displays

Elise enjoyed the mineral display

Minerals & gems at LA County Natural History Museum

Animal exhibits and the preserved mega mouth shark

Our very last destination during our LA trip was the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History. We got the double entry pass for both La Brea Tar Pits and the Natural History Museum and while we thought it would be a quick trip, it turned out that the girls did not want to leave and made sure to explore every corner and exhibit. They really loved this place and I would highly recommend making it a top go-to spot while visiting LA. The highlights were the dinosaur exhibit the extensive mineral and gem exhibit. The girls were in awe over the colossal dinosaur bones and Elise especially loved the colorful mineral displays. She declared that she planned to start collecting "beautiful and colorful rocks" once she gets back home. We also paid a little extra to visit the butterfly pavilion and they loved getting to locate and identify the different butterfly species on their guides. 

What a great end to a very fun trip. We had plenty of relaxation, family and beach time early on, so it was nice to spend the last day doing a bit of sightseeing. Elise was thrilled to see the Hollywood sign on our drive back since she recognized it from the movie "Hop". The kids did surprisingly well on the drive back home. We only stopped a couple times and there were no are we there yet's uttered, so all-in-all success. We are looking forward to visiting LA again soon. We want to see our family more often and visit a few more Southern CA beaches. I really want to take the kids to Laguna Beach as I have some great memories there visiting the tide pools with my grandparents. We also still have the California Science Center (home of the Endeavor Space Shuttle) on our future to-do-list. 

Cute Alina posing with the polar bear

South American art exhibit

The Nature Lab was another highlight for the girls

Elise identifying butterfly species; she had it down!

Fun in the butterfly pavilion

Alina found this beautiful monarch butterfly

View of the Hollywood sign on our drive home

LA Trip Part II: A Morning of Amusement at Pacific Park & Santa Monica Pier

View of the beach and Santa Monica Pier / Boardwalk

Riding the Pacific Wheel at Santa Monica Pier; great views!

Our birds eye view of Pacific Park & Santa Monica Beach

Santa Monica pier souvenirs

Fun on the rides, Elise wasn't too sure about the roller coaster

Beautiful flowers on the pier

Pacific Park amusement fun

Our next stop during our LA trip was beautiful Santa Monica Pier & Beach. Pacific Amusement Park had just the right amount of rides to entertain the kids for a couple of hours then we had the rest of the morning to relax. We all loved riding the Pacific Wheel as the views of the sprawling Santa Monica coastline were stunning. They really enjoyed the other rides too, however Elise was NOT happy with Daddy for convincing her that the roller coaster would be fun haha. Although we visited on a Sunday morning, we arrived early enough to beat the crowds so there were little to no wait times on any of the rides, which made for a productive day. 

We had lunch on the pier and then headed to the beach for some relaxation time. The beach was very windy on this April day, so Mom stayed warm by wrapping herself up like a burrito in beach towels while Dad and the girls braved the cold ocean water. They had fun building sand castles and dad helped to build a giant sand pit to shield the girls from the wind! They also enjoyed feeding the hungry seagulls who were skilled enough to catch the food midair. Santa Monica was a great place to spend the morning, and I'm glad we finally got a chance to visit during this trip. We definitely plan to visit again someday.

Cute smiles and laughter all morning long

Voldemort & Barbie are neighbors here in Santa Monica

Lovely Santa Monica Beach

Daddy helped the girls build this awesome sand pit

Sandy toes and beach play fun

Feeding the seagulls; they caught the food in the air!

End of Route 66 in Santa Monica & the end of a fun day!