Wyatt's early birthday

We decided to give Wyatt his birthday present a week early, since Josh's schedule won't allow for present opening on the actual day. I can't recall another time when I've seen Wyatt so thrilled about a gift (well maybe at Christmas, but we got a pretty great reaction this time). I am no longer referring to this gift as a "tricycle"...I will now call it "Wyatt's pride and joy". Here are a few pictures of the blessed event...and one of Reagan thrown in for good measure.

A few new pictures of "i bambini"

Well...it's my birthday.

Where did all the years go? I mean, where was 22...or 26? It's like I just woke up and realized that I'm going to be 28 on Thursday. I'm guessing it's because I spent my first couple of years as a twenty-something trying to pretend that I was still a teenager and thus allowed to make all of the ridiculous life-mistakes that I was making. Perhaps I just got into the habit of "being a teenager" and continued this silly practice until I woke up this morning and thought "Crap! I'm going to be 28 in three days...I'm an adult. (gulp)". You would have thought that the two rather short people who also live in my house would've clued me in to the adult part...but I suppose that there are plenty of "children" who have babies too.

Upon further reflection of my twenties so far, I realized that the greatest days of my life and my most important lessons have occurred in the past 8 years. I met and married my best friend. My best friend and I bought the best dog in the universe and managed to survive his puppyhood. We moved three times...one of those was across this amazing country that we live in. I gave birth to the two most beautiful children on the planet and thus learned what true, unconditional love is. I learned to actually cook and really clean (clean the way my mother always prayed I would). I learned how be responsible and how to be a landlord. I have been completely schooled on the mechanics and workings of an F-18C. A "good day" has changed from sunbathing and bar hopping to getting a good night's sleep and a family trip to Costco. My reading materials have gone from "Cosmopolitan" magazine to "Good Night Moon". I have traded a desk and computer for a kitchen and a laundry room. I have learned how to depend fully on the Lord for strength, companionship, patience, security and energy. In the process of learning how to be a mommy, I've learned how to be a better daughter.

It should be said that I'm still processing a lot of these lessons...so stayed tuned for my official grade one day.

I think when I get up on Thursday morning (at 6:30am, no doubt) and I am 28, it will be like a fresh start. It will be the first day of my new-found adult life and the happy march towards 30. "Happy march", you ask? I just figure that if so many wonderful things happened in my twenties...then my thirties are going to be amazing and I will happily march through life excitedly awaiting the big 3-0.

Sweet Lullaby

I have decided that I will no longer sing the creepiest lullaby ever, "Rock A Bye Baby", anymore. I know you're wondering why I think it's creepy and weird...so take your time, and really read and ingest the words:

Rock a bye baby, in the tree top

When the wind blows, the cradle will rock

When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall

And down will come baby, cradle and all.

Totally disturbs me. On what level should it be soothing for your mommy to tell you a story about a child being placed in a tree and then left there to fall during a wind storm? Thankfully my children are so young, they have no idea what I've been singing to them all this time.

Excuse the cliche housewife moment...but I was folding laundry and watching "Days of Our Lives" (yes I watch it sometimes), when the character of Sami was singing to her baby girl. She sang a new version of this horrible song and I love it. So I'm keeping it...and thought you might like to exchange the disturbing for the sweet too!

Rock a bye baby, sent from above

Mom's little angel, God's little love

Now that you're with me, life is so sweet

Since God's dearest angel made it complete.

Not entirely Biblically accurate, but still better than the song about child neglect. Now I can sing my children to sleep without getting the "heebie-jeebies".

An update on Reagan

Miss Rea is growing like a little weed. It's hard for me to believe that she's six months old already! She had her well-baby doctor's visit this past week and she's doing fabulous. She's weighing in at 15 pounds, 9.9 ounces and is 25.1 inches long. She's hitting most of her milestones right on time and a few of them early. Her favorite things right now are rattles, Daddy holding her, eating, and her big brother. She could sit and watch Wyatt for hours at a time...if he would just sit by her to play. Too bad Wyatt doesn't really sit still. She has also discovered some new things about how her body works and it is so cute to watch her discover more...Anyway, I took some videos of her over the last few weeks and thought I would share them. (Wyatt is in some of the videos too--we call him the "scene stealer" because he can't manage to stand on the sidelines)

A Picture

San Diego

Yes, we are nuts. Yes, we went on a long weekend trip to San Diego two days after returning from the East Coast. And I am so glad that we lost our minds for a bit. We had so much fun! We are in love with San Diego and look for every opportunity to visit it. We stayed at the Loews Coronado Bay, and would highly recommend it to anyone venturing that way. They allowed us to bring Buck and even left him his own welcome gift. The hotel sits right on a large marina and it was so wonderful to wake up to the water and gorgeous yachts every morning. We spent some time with Josh's Aunt Loretta and our good friends Ian and Sara, and Shaun and Kim (who we miss so much). We managed to squeeze in a Padres game while we were there too. Wyatt loved it...and I'm pretty sure his new best friend is Ian, who taught him to paint while we were there. I can't wait until we get back there. I missed it the moment we left.











some pictures courtesy of ian espich