Sigh....

I think that few things are more touching than when a child does something without being prompted. Stella has yet to reach that stage where she'll say something just because we asked her to. In fact, while she will mimic what Glenn and I say, she will never, ever say something when I ask her to (please, thank you). Never. She just won't do it. She isn't defiant about it, she just sweetly ignores my request. Plus, she speaks about herself in the third person (very cute).
Like all of you parents out there, we tell our kiddo we love her all the time. Every day. Several times a day. Yesterday, Stella and I were sitting on the floor, reading some books, I think, and she looks up at me with those beautiful blue eyes and says oh-so-sweetly, "I love you." Aawww... A half hour later, "I love you." Aaaawwwww... I must have heard that four or five times yesterday.
Yes, I'm in love.

Raleigh, Raleigh Doodle All The Day

There are certain smells I associate with airports: Damp dirt, a wide variety of perfumes & colognes, stale pizza, the oh so faint scent of feet (this one seems to serve as a backdrop to all other smells), plane fuel, and the smell of old carpet, to name just a few. I shall explain later on, why this happens to be the first thing that comes to mind, when blogging about my latest little adventure.
A couple of months ago, I got off the phone with Rachel, and immediately told Glenn that I thought it might be fun to just take off and visit this friend of mine. As the time got nearer, it was easy to find excuses to put it off (Stella, stuff at home, etc...). Glenn was very insistent that I needed to get away and visit a girlfriend who didn't have any kids, so I could really get a break. I am so glad he practically kicked me out of our place for a long weekend.
Rachel and Jonas were so great about having me stay with them. It was fun to catch up with one of my favorite mission companions, and reminisce about our mission experience. As I have stated before, we were together for about six months, so we had some crazy times. As it turned out, I also had the opportunity to get to know Jonas a bit better, as well. What a darling little family these two are. Rachel is expecting a baby in September, so there will soon be three of them.

Also that weekend, my brother, Rob, got married. He married a beautiful girl named Sommer. Since their wedding was only about an hour away, I was able to make it out to visit with them, as well as my adorable, sweet little nephew, Josh. I hadn't seen this kid, since he was about nine months old. Now he is about nine, I think. As the ring bearer, he looked quite dapper in his tails.

Speaking of dapper, my Brother Scott flew out as Best Man. Words cannot express how much I love this brother of mine. We have been through a lot together, and, being only a year apart, we were always pretty close growing up. We only have time to catch up with each other about once a month, but I truly appreciate the great man, husband, and father my brother Scott has become. He has always had my back, and I know that he always will. I hope he knows that about me as well.

My brother Robert is in the army, stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC. He has been to Iraq, and Afghanistan, and has seen a lot. He, too, is such a great daddy to Little Man Josh. It is fun to see the cute relationship they have with one another. Rob found a great girl in Sommer, and I am so excited to have her as a part of our family. She is such a great mom to Josh, already.

So, here it is, right before the ceremony is supposed to start, and the three of us are catching up (we haven't been together in one room in a few years), when all of a sudden is seems a little too quiet in the halls. I didn't think much about it, until the Maid of Honor (she was pretty fun to have around, by the way) comes running in telling us to get our behinds into the chapel, as Sommer is already half way down the aisle. Yikes! How embarrassing! Everything went well despite that, and I so enjoyed catching up with these brothers of mine.


Coming home, I was delayed by about a day, as all flights from JFK to CA were cancelled. Lucky me, got to find this out after spending about six hours at the airport. Rachel and Jonas were kind enough to fetch me from the airport, so I could spend one more day with them. Thanks guys!!

PS - Thanks to my Amazing brother Zack (and of course my super-duper hubby), Stella had so much fun this past weekend that she didn't have much time to miss me. Thanks for taking such

great care of our girl!

I'm Leaving On A Jet (Blue) Plane...

So, tonight I leave for a long weekend. I get to see an old mission companion (and great friend), who lives in the Raleigh area. I am just so excited to see this girl. Rachel has been out to the Bay Area to see me, but I haven't seen her in probably about a year and a half. We spent 6 or 7 months together as companions, and had such a great time. Some of my fondest Portugal memories are with this girl. She also has this great, quirky sense of humor - we tend to find the same things extremely funny - that keeps me with tears in my eyes. I can't wait to see this friend.

Also to note is that this is my first time away from Stella. Little Miss will be two next month, and not only am I leaving her overnight, I am leaving for three nights, and all the way to the other coast. Hopefully Rachel can help to keep me distracted enough so that I won't be tempted to call every hour. Of course I will miss Glenn like crazy, as well. But, this will be a much needed little vacation for me, and I intend to enjoy it as much as possible.



Thanks to my wonderful (and favorite) brother-in-law Scotty (Glenn and I both have a brother named Scotty) for helping to make this trip possible. I love you!

This is me getting ready to head to the airport and off on my weekend getaway! (Pic to follow)

Giggle Fits

Earlier tonight, during my first attempt to rock and sing with Stella, she kept saying "Happa Tay Tay". I asked, "Do you want to sing Happy Birthday?" "Okay!" she responds. I have to confess that upon hearing "Happa Tay Tay", I immediately thought of Eddie Murphy doing his Buckwheat impression. If any of you recall the movie 'Dumbo' you will remember that the stork who delivers Dumbo embellishes the ending. Stella has picked this up and so now sings "Happa Tay Tay" inserting about a dozen extra notes at the end (Happa Tay Tay to you-oooooooo).

My 17 year old brother is out for the summer, and Stella is just in love. She and Zack have such a good time together. Stella has a great sense of humor, and Zack is great at 'playing along'. We play many games at our place. By 'games' I mean that we find many things funny. One of which is to steal one anothers seat when it becomes momentarily vacant. Stella has picked up on this, and just loves to steal anyones seat, who gets up from the couch. She is especially into stealing Zack's seat. Stella has some ninja skills, where this is concerned. She will take something that Zack is holding, run into the kitchen and throw it, so that Zack will get up out of his seat, giving Stella just enough time to run back to the couch and declare "That's MY seat!". This is followed by some of the loudest (and cutest) laughter that I have heard from the girl. Stella should be in bed right now, but we are currently using her for entertainment. This seat stealing game, had the four of us laughing our heads off a few moments ago. Perhaps you had to be here, but it was just so funny! I am still wiping tears from my eyes, right now.

Back to the Beach!

So, my family is in town for three, count them, three weeks. I have received some humorous reactions to this news. The majority of people think we are crazy for housing seven people in our little two bedroom apartment for 21 days. However, we just love sharing our space with my family. They are so fun to have around, and so easy going and laid back that we hardly notice the cramped space. Stella is just loving having her crazy Auntie Kim (my 13 year old sister) around. Kim is a pretty good source of entertainment as far as toddlers are concerned. It has been fun seeing Stella's relationship grow with each family member every time they come for a visit.
This last weekend, I took all the kids to the Beach. My seventeen year old brother, Zack, his girlfriend, Bailee, and Kim all jumped in the car for a day at the coast. Of course the water was freezing, but it didn't stop everyone from getting wet. Stella ate her fair share of sand, and we all spent the next 36 hours digging sand out of...um... various places.

Kim, Bailee, Zack - assisting one another with the sunscreen.

Stella motioning for me to put down the camera and take her to the water.

Heading down to the water.

Aawww... Look at that face...

7 Facts About Me

OK, so I was tagged for this:

1. Since the age of fourteen, I have been in love with Will Smith.
2. I hate my legs, which is why I almost never wear shorts.
3. I was married before Glenn.
4. My dream career would be that of a pediatrician, and I would do some painting on the side.
5. I have a scar the size of a fingerprint on my head, and I have no idea how it got there - I have more scars than most people have freckles.
6. I have had roughly a dozen surgeries (hence the scar info above)
7. Cooking is one of my passions.

And now I have to come up with number eight, as I was just fooling around with no. 3. Glenn is the only one with whom I have ever been truly, madly, and deeply in love enough to marry.

8. Three places I have always wanted to visit are: Australia, India, and Hungary.

Disneyland - It's Not a Small World

The first time I visited Disneyland, I was 25. I went with my roommate, Lindsay. We stayed with her sweet grandma. I think the first ride I went on was Space Mountain. It was my favorite ride (still is, I think). If I recall correctly, I dragged Lindsay on this ride three times. She was such a great sport.

Almost two weeks ago, Glenn and I took Stella. We also took Glenn's parents, who had never been. Two days in the park was all we wanted to try, with a toddler, and a couple of seniors, for their first time. Stella is the champion of the world, when it comes to road trips. She is unbelievably great in the car, for long stretches. Of course, now that I have thrown that out to the cosmos, she will forever be horrible in the car (he, he). Stella didn't sleep all that well, as there was no rocking chair, there wasn't a bookcase full of her favorite books to read before bedtime, and she didn't have a hallway to flee into, when bedtime was announced. However, she loved jumping on the beds, she loved having Grandma and Grandpa in the adjoining room, and she loved playing in the big shower. The word 'Disneyland' had no significant meaning, until we actually entered the park, and Mickey's head was everywhere. Up to that point we always referred to the place as 'Cinderella's House'. Stella knows the names of many of the princesses (Ariel is her favorite), she knows who Winnie the Pooh (she pronounces his name 'Poop' with great fondness), and she knows who Mickey and Minnie are. So, needless to say, I don't think she blinked the entire first day in the park. She seemed to be just taking everything in. Stella was scared of all of the rides that took place in the dark. Of course we took her through all of them, before we discovered this. She loved the carousel, and the Dumbo ride. We got to see the parade, and every time Stella saw Ursula the Sea Witch, from The Little Mermaid, she would point at her and say, "Issat Ursla? She's naughty." Stella loved swimming in the hotel pool, and her favorite part was the little sprinkler park in the California Adventure park. What kid doesn't LOVE being shot in the face with water? Day two was much the same, though Stella's eyes weren't quite as big, and she seemed to know a little more what to expect. We had no sooner walked through the door, than Glenn began planning a week long stay for next year. Hmmm.... We'll see, I guess.

PS The Small World ride wasn't open. Darn it!

Swimming with Dad

Grandma, Stella, Dad, & Grandpa

Stella loves Minnie, she's just a bit shy.

Waiting for the parade to start

Pooh snuck in the picture of Stella eating

Last ride of the first day - we were pooped!

Sprinklers + Sucker = Fun (& Hyper Stella)

Patiently waiting for the ride to start

Catch-Up

OK, so not a whole lot has happened. It has been busy with Glenn finishing up with his finals. Woo! Hoo! Glenn has his first year of school behind him! He got a 3.7 GPA this last semester. I am so proud of him, and how hard he is working to make sure that I get to stay home with Stella, when this is all over. We are gearing up to head down to Disneyland this next week, so not a whole lot to report just yet. Here are some pics from the last few weeks:





Reading with Dad


Apparently I am interrupting reading time by taking photos (note the stern look on Stella's face).


'Blowing' bubbles


Taking a little stroll


This little monkey came up with this one all on her own.

By Jove, We've Found It!

We have discovered Stella’s absolute favorite place (besides home) in the entire world – the beach. This past weekend found us escaping the East Bay heat, to Pacifica. We had planned on playing in the sand, and wading ankle deep in the frigid water. Stella spent the entire time in the water. Once she got her feet wet, she had no desire to do anything else, but stand in the water, and let the waves drench her little body from the legs down. We had to actively hold her back from walking further out into the water. We all had fun, and Stella sealed the deal on what our weekends will be like, over the summer.

Out!

Of course we all know that these little ones are just the sweetest when they are sleeping. I just thought the t-shirt was so appropriate, that I had to get a shot of it. She was actually sprawled across our bed – arms and legs spread out. She couldn’t have looked more comfortable…

So cute (or 'coot', as Stella would say)!