Cat Ranch

Bryan had a friend from work invite us to their Ranch in Southern Utah one weekend and we had a Blast! As always I took a WHOLE lot of pictures. So brace yourselves!! My camera ended up dying so I ended up using my phone at the end.

Our first ride that weekend on the ATVs. Getting a tour of the beautiful scenery.

Alyssa's first ride! Don't worry Bryan was really careful and going slow.
Here's John teaching his daughter Elise.

We weren't actually riding it right here. I was just letting Alyssa play.

We walked around the Ranch looking for horny toads. Check out Alyssa's grip on Bryan's hair...lol.

Alyssa loved this little stream they had running through the Ranch.

Alyssa really enjoyed sitting in this car. Here she is eating her fruit in it. I think Kiera was about to run off.

Bryan, Alyssa and Elise swinging.

She wasn't too sure about having me away from her because she doesn't really sit on the big kid swing yet.

There was this black bird that kept flying into the garage and here's Alyssa chasing it.

I needed glasses to ride the ATV so I used these that were at the Ranch and Alyssa thought it was so funny to wear them.

The kids loved these animal pillows that they keep upstairs. Kiera and Alyssa watching "Beauty and the Beast" after dinner.

The cattle that were around the Ranch. We walked all the way up to them so Alyssa could get closer but then they took off.

Scenery pictures, hope you enjoy them cause it was so beautiful.

This is Christine in the picture. I love this picture because you can see the land and the trail we were on really well.

Alyssa exploring while eating a cracker.

She found this particular pile off dirt that she just loved. She threw herself down and started digging into it. She even got mad when I lifted her so we could get back onto the ATV.

More exploring pictures

Like the big sunglasses??? haha...they aren't mine!

A toad John found as we were riding along. Skyler's holding it.

We wanted to see if Alyssa would hold it. Elise is trying to hand it to her, but that didn't go too well. Alyssa didn't really know how to hold onto it and it jumped off.

It was a great weekend get away! We loved their Ranch and all the exploring we did around it! One night Bryan and everyone else except for Alyssa and I and Elise went searching for frogs in the water when it was pitch black outside, how fun! I didn't go cause it was late and Alyssa was tired. During the entire weekend Alyssa just ran all over the place. It was great cause there was so much room outside for her to just go. John's family was great! The kids were awesome with Alyssa! Did I mention that the food they cooked was AMAZING!!

GREAT TIMES!!

THANKS GUYS!!

2 Yr Doctor Appointment

On October 7th I took Alyssa to her 2 yr Doctor's appointment. I have never taken pictures of Alyssa at any of her previous appointments and afterward I always wonder why I don't, cause I usually take my camera everywhere and take pictures of us doing everything. This time unfortunately I forgot my camera again, but luckily I have my phone which works great too. So I FINALLY got pictures of her at the Dr's. Most visits usually go about the same. Here are Alyssa's Stats:

Weight: 23.8 lbs- 10%

Height: 34.5"- 75%

OFC: 47 cm

So basically she's a skinny long girl, but really she looks tiny to me all around =-)

I do have to say that I think its so funny that every time I take Alyssa to the Dr and they see that she's in the 75 % for height they have to make a comment about it because they look at me and think, wow that's weird...hahaha. Two comments, (nurse speaking to Alyssa) "Oh sweetie, I bet your genes will catch up to you", (nurse speaking to me) "Does she have a tall dad?" They usually say them joking around so its never rude...

Alyssa always gets a little nervous when I first lay her down to get her height measured. Notice the tear? She'll kind of whine and want to cry but it goes so fast that it doesn't give her time to really get scared.

This was a reality shock...my little girl's first time on the big kid scale =-(
Just waiting for the Dr to come in. We read some books and explored the room.

Now waiting for the nurse to come back in and give Alyssa her shots. Alyssa could not stay in one spot anymore. She was all over this room!

The bribe before the shots.

Ouch!! Aww :..-( right after her 3 shots!

All better, enjoying her bribe!

I can't believe how cool the band aids are now and they stay on so well! Where were these when I was little?

Looking at her cool band aids.

Ready to go home and away from this horrible place...lol =-)

"But at least I got a lollipop from it"

Turning 2 Already!!

HaPpY bIRtHdAy AlySsA!!

Our little Alyssa turned 2 on Oct. 3! She's officially a toddler!! CRAZY!! At 2, Alyssa continues to love books. She also loves Disney movies, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, balls, running, screaming (especially when she's excited), and climbing everything she can! She is still an adorable, cute, lovely little girl. She now loves to cuddle and gives the best hugs and kisses!

For her 2nd birthday we had a little party for her with some friends. Since she loves everything Disney we tried to give her party a little Mickey Mouse theme. When she first saw Goofy, Donald and Mickey hanging up she loved it. She laughed, pointed and danced around!

We got a Princess castle ball pit for her and she along with all her little guest had a blast crawling in and out and throwing the balls around!

Natalie and Alyssa in their Mickey ears =-) aren't they cute?!

Alyssa and Joey in their ears!

A few of the kids having fun in the ball pit. Ryan discovered a new way out...haha...so cute..he crawled over it!

Opening up gifts. Natalie was such a good helper to Alyssa.

Thanks everyone for the great gifts! Alyssa loves them and plays with them all the time!

Alyssa's birthday cake!

Mickey Mouse and Goofy!
Bryan carrying the cake over to Alyssa while everyone sang "Happy Birthday".

She was so excited and loved the cake theme!

My little girl is so big now that she can blow out her own candle!

We forgot to take a picture of the cake where it said "Happy Birthday Alyssa"

Alyssa kept sneaking over to the cake for a little bit more frosting...lol

We ended with an iphone party...lol =-)

It turned out to be a great little party for Alyssa! Thanks to everyone that was able to make it! Thanks Karen for taking all the pictures and Steve for the video... you're great!

Bye-bye loved friend!

On Monday August 31st Bryan and I finally decided to tackle a task that we just weren't looking forward to. Not that it was a hard task for us, but it was just a lot harder to find the time for it since we are both home at different times and we wanted to be on the same page. I know that this is probably not making any sense right now, but it will, I hope!
Since the moment Alyssa was born I instantly knew that she just had to have this item.

Can you point out what item is in every single one of these pictures?

If you weren't able to answer that question, here's a hint: What does the sign that Alyssa is making in the picture below, mean to Alyssa? What is she asking for?
GIVE UP? This should give it away!

The answer is the famous, most loved, greatest invention ever, the PACIFIER!

Alyssa was just born to suck on something (I know that sounds funny, but its true). For a little newborn she had a VERY strong suck. I'm not just saying that from my own personal nursing experience, OUCH, but right after she was born, that first day and night in the nursery the nursing staff didn't give Alyssa a pacifier because she was a nursing newborn and if they are nursing they don't give them a pacifier unless you tell them it's ok. My poor friend that works on the Mother/ Baby floor took care of Alyssa that first night while she was in the nursery and told me that she let Alyssa suck on a gloved finger and after just seconds her finger was aching. They usually do that for a lot of the newborns, but Alyssa's suck was so hard it started hurting my friend, :-( Then we told them that they can give her a pacifier, we didn't mind. An instant bond was formed. As she got older we even had a friend compare her to Maggie from "The Simpsons". It was amazing how she would suck her binky just like Maggie would and never dropped it. Eventually she stopped using it during the day and it was only allowed at night. But like everything, there were days that she cheated and would sneak it out of her crib. She would run away fast when she realized she was caught!! Seriously the funniest thing!! And at bed time I just loved how excited she would get when we put her in her crib and she knew she was allowed to have her binky; I will never forget those moments.

Well on August 31st we said bye-bye to the famous "Chupi"(choo-pee) (that's what we called it). It was actually a lot easier than we expected. We talked to her about not having her chupi anymore and then put her to bed. Bryan and I took turns checking on her every 15 mins, but by the 45 min mark she was out. But those 45 mins she cried :-( That was the hardest part. I would have to say that the first two nights were the hardest, but now its been over a month that we've been chupi-free. Bedtime is a little harder now just because she use to LOVE going to bed and now she's never happy for bedtime. We are still working on naps. Those have been the hardest by far. But overall its been GREAT!! SHE DID IT!

My 25th Birthday- Part 3

On August 22, 1984 my mother gave birth to two beautiful little girls. Can you believe a quarter of a century ago my sister and I were born? Many of you don't know, but yes I'm a twin in case you were wondering. Time just seems to pass us by going a million mph. We are 25 yrs old now, and yes I know that that is really not old, but when you feel like you were just 10 yesterday, 25's a big deal. My sister and I shared everything growing up, well almost everything. We were always together. She's my only sister. I loved having her always around. Those of you who know both of us know that we are nothing alike. Considering that we are twins we are complete opposites, literally in everything you can think of. We could almost never agree, we fought over many things, we picked on each other like crazy (I did it more privately at home, but she picked on me anywhere we were, she did not care) and even though growing up with her drove me INSANE sometimes, I wouldn't change it for anything, I LOVE MY SISTER!! We learned so much from each other. I taught her how to ride a bike and roller blade and she taught me how to do my make-up and style my hair. She's my other half and I miss not being around her anymore! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANET!

We celebrated every single birthday together until our 20th birthday, the year I moved to Utah :( But that was also the year that it became my birthday :)

Through everything we always loved each other and hung out with each other throughout high school especially our senior year!! '02

We went through one pregnancy together! '03

And then another one! '07

My sister and I will always have at least one thing in common no matter what, that on August 22nd we become one year older.

So exactly a week after my birthday Bryan and Blake surprised my friend Venna and I with a birthday celebration! Venna's birthday is 4 days before mine. It was so sweet of them! I had really been wanting to have a BBQ for a while but just had been so busy, so it was perfect!

Here's Miss cute Ayda playing with the ice! I told her to smile and so she starts jumping and saying "I'm jumping", the cutest!

Katie was watching Brixston while his parents were playing volleyball with everyone else. I love his face here, "what are you guys doing?"

Blake made this great cake for us. Here's Venna holding Reese with me in front of our cake.

The two Birthday girls!

It was so cute, when Venna and I were taking the picture above Alyssa was backing up because she wanted to be in the picture as well. (can you see her head..lol) Afterwards I picked her up to get a shot with my little girl!

Blake's amazing decorating ability!

The girls ready for cake.

A game of bocce ball

At the end of our wonderful BBQ we got this shot. Boys will be boys!

It was a great day to celebrate two amazing women ;) I'm so thankful that we truly have amazing, fun loving friends that we can always count on. Thanks guys! And a THANKS to my wonderful husband for a great birthday!

My 25th Birthday Part 1- Part 3 coming soon

Since we had already decided to go to Disneyland for my birthday we decided to get a few extra bonuses in. One huge bonus was being able to visit Bryan's sister Kristee. Almost straight from the airport we drove to her place. We enjoyed a great afternoon with her. We ate at this amazing restaurant, where they serve you meatballs the size of your fist. Everything we had was so yummy!

Bryan and his sister Kristee!

The next day we enjoyed a beautiful perfect sunny day in San Diego. Here's Alyssa watching the water and the surfers below.

We seriously could not keep this little girl from running away. She loved the Pier and kept running up and down it. Bryan had to chase her almost all the way to the end. She was having so much fun and at one point started chasing the birds. Here she is on her way up and away from us.

Here she is on her way down and back to us...lol...I can't believe how much she can run.

Me and Alyssa enjoying a beautiful view!

Our Family!

Our little diva waiting patiently for us to get these really delicious fruit smoothies.

Time to hit the beach! I miss it so much. The water was so nice; I'm glad we were able to go!

After catching some waves! Even with a little bit of wind it was so nice!

Kids + Sand = Fun & Sand Everywhere!!

Even in the mouth...haha...yummy!

So good! Why do kids love to eat sand?

All rinsed off and ready to go hit the shower, well as soon as I'm done playing in the trunk!

On our night out in San Diego we visited Sea Port Village and the Gas lamp!

Cliff was so nice to take us every where... Thanks Cliff! We even drove by these amazing houses up on a hill in La Jolla after picking up Nellie from work in La Jolla. We were able to see some amazing views of the coast from there!