Disneyland

Glenn and I had decided we needed something really fun to do with Stella before the arrival of Baby Sister in January. After that, we will be so busy with school stuff, and adjusting to two kiddos, and just everyday life. The day after Halloween, we picked Stella up from school and headed right down to Anaheim. The unsuspecting cutie knew we were headed to a hotel, but thought we were just going to swim in the pool. She was such a good sport through a long drive. The next morning, as we were getting ready to head over to the park to surprise Little Miss, she became fixated on the swimming pool down below (she spotted the pool the night before while standing on the balcony). She was only willing to put on a bathing suit, until Glenn finally broke down and told her where we were actually headed. Of course she changed her tune real quick, getting ready in record time.

We went on most every ride in both parks.

Stella's favorite ride was the Haunted Mansion. She is a bit obsessed with 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' right now. We must have gone on the ride about a dozen times. Later on, she got to meet Jack and Sally. She was so starstruck.

The only ride Stella did not like was Splash Mountain. I think the slides were a bit much for her. You can only see the top of her head, but she was screaming on the way down.

Stella also got to meet Minnie Mouse, though she wouldn't stand next to her for the photo.

Here are a few other pictures from our days in the park:

We had so much fun. Stella has talked about our trip every day since we got back. She can't wait to go back with her sister and show her all the cool stuff.

The Gaming Bug..

Has bit this little one...

Halloween and Other Things

Let's See if I can get caught up... Halloween was fun this year, with our entire little family dressing up. Glenn was the Hulk, I was a lumpy, bumpy Mrs. Potato Head (forgot to get pics, sorry), and Stella was the cutest little witch you ever did see.. October was full of trips to the pumpkin patch, a Halloween celebration at school, decorating our little place, carving pumpkins with fun friends, and visiting the Halloween store enough times to decide that Stella is finally scared of the 'scary stuff' this year.

Another big thing that happened a few weeks before Halloween: Stella loves to write her name.

Lots of days find Stella out front decorating our sidewalk.

What's New With Us

To catch everyone up on our happenings: I was laid off a couple months ago (the economy affects everyone), and, while looking for another job, have been enjoying a lot more time with Glenn and Stella. I have also been working on my tan ;>). We spent the summer enjoying our passes to Water World as often as we could, hitting the beach and drive-in theater a few times, as well. Girls Camp, family in town, celebrating Stellas' birthday in Capitola, and many, many play dates. It's been a fun past couple of months for our family, despite Glenn being in school over the summer.
Stella starts her 'Pre-K' class next week. MWF. Glenn is back at DVC, finishing up his last semester there, and I am training to walk a half marathon in October (the same one I ran last year), while continuing to seek out employment. We found out a couple of weeks ago that we are having another girl. I am currently five and a half months pregnant, and I cannot tell you how excited we all are for Stella to have a sister. Stella asks me every day how the baby is doing and to remind her why the baby can't come out of my tummy yet. My response is usually, "The baby will be cuter when it has grown all of its' parts. Trust me." We show her photos of what the baby looks like at every stage, so she can see its' progress. She told me once, several weeks back, that it looked "kinda like an alien". Stella tells me everything she wants to learn to do with the baby, including changing diapers. We'll see how that goes. Oh, and Stella says she wants to name the baby Violet. We'll keep you posted on that one. That pretty much sums it up for us.

Stella-isms

Stella is in the shower, as I write this, singing, "I'm gonna wash that man right outta my head, and he's gonna pee his pants on the way hoooome!"

Yesterday, I introduced Stella to the movie, 'E.T.' I, of course, got a bit misty-eyed at the end of the movie. Stella looked up at me with watery eyes and asked if I was OK. I assumed her eyes had teared up due to allergies. Tonight, however, I got the true explanation. When she reminded me, "Mom, my eyes got watery during E.T." I asked, "Was it sad? Is that why your eyes were watery?" "No, my eyes got watery because the movie was so long!"

I often wonder where some of these things come from. But, I love them.

Going Private Pt. 2

So I am still trying to figure out a couple of things with regards to taking the blog private. In the meantime, enjoy some more recent posts...

Stella turns 4!

This Sunday, Stella turns 4. She is so excited about her birthday. She is convinced that this will be the day when she will be an official big girl. Stella also thinks that the day she becomes a big sister (around January 5th) will also make her a 'big girl'. It is very cute. Every day I have a new favorite from this girl. She is still just the sweetest little thing. She often tells me or Glenn how cute we look, or how wonderful we are (that is the word she uses). She can twirl like nobody's business given the right dress (most of her dresses are twirl-worthy). Stella has the best sense of humor! She can be such a little clown, and loves to play little pranks on us. She is still a snuggler. Stella has made it her mission to turn me into more of a girly-girl. We can't go into any store without her suggesting certain pieces of jewelry, or a dress, that would look great on me. She is the best shopping buddy. Her big thing lately is hopping or standing on one foot, and anything to do with ballet. She is fascinated with the flamingos at the zoo and aquarium. She loves to kick around a ball or play catch. And she adores her daddy. We sure love this girl!
Here are some pics of the last four years:

Last Call...Going Private

Shoot me an email with your address if you haven't already done so. I know it's a pain, but I will have the site notify you, via email, every time there is an update to the blog.
Thanks!

Whew!

OK. I think we are pretty much caught up, here. Sorry, grandmas and grandpas for the slacking...

Coloring Eggs

Stella colored her first eggs this year. For a couple of days afterwards, she had to keep going into the fridge to look at them and hold them.

Utah

Stella and I went to visit my family in Utah. We hadn't seen them since last summer, and a visit was long overdue. Thanks to my awesome bro-in-law, we got to fly out for free. Stella was so excited to ride on a plane. It had been a few years since the last time. She did great, and we brought along plenty of stuff to do, as well as some snacks to keep busy. What a champ!

Stella and her Ya-Ya:

The year that Stella was born, I had three other girlfriends who were also expecting. Unfortunately, one of them moved to Utah when Stella was just a couple of weeks old. We had to make sure we saw some of our favorite peeps while we were out there. Stella and Hattie had such a blast together. They took bubble baths, played all things princess, and even swapped nightgowns for the two nights we stayed. Very sweet.

This little monkey (Hattie's sister, Maizy) was my favorite. She reminded me of a bag lady - arms always FULL of toys and blankies. If she wasn't carrying them, she had a little stroller piled high with whatever she could find. I would have stuck her in my pocket and taken her home, if I thought she wouldn't have been missed. Such a cutie!

Auntie Carly

My sister came up to the Bay Area to hang with us for a weekend. Carly just graduated in Theater from Southern Oregon, and is now living in L.A. to start her acting career. In fact, she just got a big part in one of the local theaters down there. We are very excited for her. Stella LOVES my sister. And Carly loves being an auntie. She is so great at getting down on Stella's level and playing with her for hours. Also, Carly is the only sucker who will carry Stella around on her shoulders for an entire day, if Stella bats her eyelashes enough times.
Stella was in no mood for pictures:

She wouldn't look at the camera, no matter how many times we tried:

Eventually, we got Stella to look in the general direction of the camera:

Finally-a smile!

Gotta have the token family shot on the bridge (Stella has a couple of limbs in the shot, so it counts):

Stella with Carly:

Life...

We have just been plugging along, lately. Stella is very much enjoying her preschool - her teachers are wonderful. Stella's sense of humor continues to develop, and she has learned a couple of things that can get Glenn's goat (cheering for the Dodgers, for one - everytime she does it she immediately glances over at Glenn to gage his reaction. Usually he is stifling a laugh).

Glenn is finishing up his last few classes at DVC. He will have his associates in the fall, then off to a four year. Not sure where, yet.

And I continue at my job, and try to drink up as much time with my family as humanly possible.

Our most recent family pic:

Getting Healthy

One of our many New Year’s Resolutions has been to get back to our healthy lifestyle that has gone by the wayside recently. As a result of this new commitment that Glenn and I have made, there have been a lot of discussions about what it means to be healthy, and how important is it to take care of our bodies because they are a gift from Heavenly Father. The other night, we had some steamed broccoli with our dinner. As I was cleaning up dinner, Stella informed me that she wanted to take some of the leftover broccoli to school the next day with her snack. The next evening, I asked Stella if she ate some broccoli for her snack. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her enthusiastic response, “Yes, I ate broccoli today. I’m getting healthy for Heavenly Father!”

Lounging

Imagine Glenn with a focused face, watching the olympics, and Stella just looking normal, as if this is her usual position.

Of course, as soon as I bring out the camera, the smiles are on.

So I asked them to try and look natural. This is the result:

Hiking

Stella has really been into hiking, since we took her to the redwoods back around Thanksgiving. her favorite place to go right now is Briones. She loves it when the cows are out grazing. She also enjoys climbing up the HUGE hills. I am impressed at how adventurous this little one has become, over the last year or so.

This is the first hill that Stella wanted to climb - the picture really doesn't do it justice:

Another view of the hill. We actually climbed three of these bad boys in a row, per Stella's insistence:

Stella hamming it up for the camera: