Science Center

Today was our last Mommy & Me play date, and today's adventure led us to the Science Center.  There is a large area for small kids and Elena had a lot of fun playing with all the activities: xylophone, computers, magnets, balls being sucked through tubes...

 ...turning wheels to find out what they do.  Below the wheel moved the conveyor belt.  This is Elena's serious face, she's concentrating.

 After the kids' area, we checked out some museum exhibits.  The one below sent vibrations through the sand, moving the sand.  She like the exhibit and the small dinosaur trapped in there.

I'm glad we had such a nice outing.  It saddens me that this will be our last for awhile.  Elena starts day care on Monday (she gets excited when you talk about 'school') and I go back to work Wednesday.  Life will be more chaotic until we get in the groove, pictures and updates may not come as regularly.

Christmas At Home (#5)

We had a wonderful time with family and friends in Illinois and Indiana but it is nice to be home.  Our family Christmas was laid back and quiet.  We stretched out opening presents over a couple of days.  I'm sure Elena won't go along with that idea next year ;)

 Elena learned from her cousins how to grab presents from under the tree!

Snow!

Elena has seen snow flurries and maybe even a little accumulation but nothing like the snow we saw while visiting the Midwest.  Elena seemed to enjoy the snow but not the snow pants.  This Southern California girl likes her freedom of movement; remember she's not really used to wearing a bulky winter coat either.  Elena would only walk in the snow while holding my hand, though it was pretty deep for her.  All in all, our 15 minutes of outside play today was good but enough  cold and snow for me :p

Christmas Day (#3 & #4)

It's Christmas morning and just a little early for Elena.

 Whoa, this little girl was good this year!  Santa left her a few things in her stocking!!

 "What, it's a brush, right?"  

It is a brush, a vegetable scrub brush that Santa left me.

Switching gears now, celebrating Christmas with my mom's family.  

Elena is loving her new stacking train.

This is our best family picture this year.  We're all smiling, just not all looking at the camera.  Thanks, Uncle Rod for snapping this photo!

Despite the lack of smiles in photos lately, Elena is still a very smiley girl.  I'm just not good at capturing it.  This is a sweet picture because everyone paused during today's chaos so I could snap a picture.

Christmas #2

"What do you mean I can't open the presents?"

Everyone was bathed, it was the 22nd of December and we celebrated Christmas with my mom, dad, two sisters, nephew and niece.

Aren't the kids cute?  And look at all those stockings this year!  Santa is going to be busy!!

Looking at the picture below you might think Elena was helping distribute gifts but don't be fooled.  She took a present from piles already distributed.

Just a little bunny humor.

And there she goes again, swiping another gift.  She is holding the gift by the ribbon wrapped around the box.

 Ooooh, Auntie E. what did you get???

Couch Craziness

Grandma is quite a talented lady, reading two different books.  Elena isn't very patient yet.  I'm sure that will change with daycare, hopefully she becomes more patient not less.

Thanks to Daddy, Elena requests to be put on the couch back so she can fall backwards.  I must admit she had quite a bit of fun.  I just hope she doesn't try to do this with out us.

Auntie M. followed with lots and lots of tickles!

Christmas #1

I never thought of myself as having a large family, but based on the quantity of Christmas celebrations I'm starting to think differently.  This is what I'm calling Christmas #1, a gathering with my dad's family

 Elena thinks of herself as a big kid already and jumped into the legos.  Though she didn't stack them together, she tried putting them on her toes!

 Notice the missing sock...

 We still read everyday and Elena is absorbing everything.

 ...just dancing a little to her new toy...

 ...and being decorated by Great Grandma herself.

 Playing puzzle with Great Grandpa...

 ...and watching animals dance with Great Grandma.

 Merry Christmas!

Babies--Oops, Toddlers!

We met eons ago, the way life seems to bring people together in random ways.  And not too long ago this group of friends were all getting married.  Then we were all having babies....and now those babies are little people and intrigued about how one goes about eating a plastic chicken leg.  Thanks for being a good sport, Sam!

 A group shot of the kids is always a must.  Adrienne was a good sport, keeping the kids corralled so we could attempt some pictures.

 Elena being silly while the other kiddos are being cute with Adrienne.

 Elena intrigued that Mr. Potato Head's arm comes off.  Now she seems to think my lips come off too.  Ouch!

A Visit to Santa

Merry Christmas!

This year I didn't get cards out, this is as close as I'm going to get--a photo on our blog.

Elena was okay for our Santa visit.  She gave him "high five" but really did not want to sit on his lap.  She is definitely unsure of men and would prefer to be held out of reach.  I guess her "stranger anxiety" has finally come through.

Despite being made to sit on Santa's lap, she was quite excited with the candy he gave her as we left.  Maybe Santa should hand out the candy when the kids are on his lap, maybe he would hear less screaming.

Don't worry (or judge), this mama only allows a sugar on special occasion and even then it is a small amount.  Sugar is not Elena's friend--she is wild crazy and then turns seriously cranky.  We'll stick to our fruits and veggies :)

I was taking pictures of Elena with our tree, or at least trying to when she plopped down in my lap and wanted a picture of the two of us.  She is so adorable, just a big bundle of love!

Fall in Santee

 Despite living in So. Cal, we do have seasons in Santee just not to the extremes either of us grew up with.  We do have trees that turn colors and drop their leaves--just in December and January instead of October and November.  And the cold season is really only cold at night.  The past couple of mornings have been around 35 degrees (we don't get snow at our house but we do get frost).  And I say the cold season is really only at night because we have been in the upper 60s lower 70s as highs during the day.  Anyway, this post is not about our weather but taking a break from the kitchen remodel and child care hunt to enjoy the fall colors and leaves in the front yard.

 We raked up some leaves to give us a pile, albeit a small pile.  Then we threw leaves in the air, stomped threw the pile, and jumped into the pile.  It was great fun and just thing to relieve some stress and energy before embarking on the next day care interview.

 Elena had so much fun.  She laid down to look at the planes flying over...and I couldn't resist to snap one last picture of this cutie wrapped in leaves.

Counter Install

We are so excited to finally get countertops installed, wahoo!  The first shot is an "in progress" shot.  I took off as much wood off the bases as I possibly could to avoid any unnecessary/accidental damage.

Counters are in, sink mounted...now I need to put the drawers back in!

Ah, the sun is setting and the drawers are back in.  It is definitely starting to look like a working kitchen again!  I keep forgetting to use the counter, I'm so used to using the small prep space we rigged.  Now we have so much space, so much more than we had before....lovin' it!

The counters are a solid surface made of recycled glass.  Very pretty in person, difficult to capture on camera though I did try.  The base is more white than pictured below.  The glass pieces range in color from a sea glass color to completely clear--makes you think there is a hole in the counter :O but don't worry, there are no holes in my counter. 

 

Now I just need to get the plumber out to give us a working sink and dishwasher....