Preschool Grandparents Day

We are thrilled with Elena's new preschool.  She loves going, her teacher is lovely and they have cute parties.  Today, her class celebrated Grandparents Day.  The kids prepared for weeks with artwork, songs and they even made gluten/dairy/nut free brownies to share :)  Elena even dressed up (thanks for the dress Maggie!)

 Elena's teacher, Ms. Amanda, took this photo after Elena and Pop finished decorating a foam picture frame.  Yay for a cute photo!!

Potty, Potty

 These naked pictures were taken March 8th.  We started some extra naked time because it has been warm, Charlie has been suffering from diaper rash and the cloth diapers we are using (from Elena) are starting to disintegrate.

Garden: Week 4

 Strawberry fruits are forming.  Elena is super excited! (okay, so am I!)

Hello Again!

Hello!  I'm not sure you remember me, my name is Rachel ;)

Well, it's been sometime since I've written.  I'm sure you thought I have given up and maybe even still pregnant but I only needed time to focus on our family.  In the past 7+ months, we have been quite busy as you will see.  I am working to update the blog by backdating posts so keep eyes open for new posts.  This has proven quite time intensive...we really have been busy.  The updates will start in August and post until we are current.

A quick catch up:

Toward the end of January, I resigned my job as a grant administrator with San Diego State University.  I'm now a stay at home mom, homemaker...eh, not really sure what title I would give myself.  We've had a bit of a transition but are finally getting in the swing of things.  Elena started preschool three days a week for three hours a day.  She loves it and her teacher, Ms. Amanda, is awesome.  Charlie is doing great, growing big and independent fast.  Carl is also doing good.  I've taken over gardening and enjoy spending an hour or so out there daily checking on my seedlings, weeding and smelling the flowers.  Life feels in balance right now, its a good feeling.

Thanks for sticking around!

Garden: Week 3

 The seeds were planted nearly 3 weeks ago and doing great.

Plank Baby, Plank!

 Charlie is trying to learn how to crawl.  He can body swim across the floor and now he can plank!

Ants Came Marching In

Elena has these magnetic triangles and squares, she loves playing with them.  Everyday she has something to build and share.

 Today a family of ants descended into our living room.

Elena's Photo Request

Elena requested photos be taken today.  Such a rare moment, one must jump at the chance :)

 One of the many ways Elena and Charlie play together.  Lots of giggling!

Strawberry Flowers and more

 Our first strawberry flowers, so exciting!

Garden: Week 1

Well, it has been 1 week since I planted the seeds.  Look at all the growth we have already!  Exciting!

Rain...Finally, Rain!!

The weather has been extreme everywhere.  Back in Illinois/Indiana, the area has been continually pelted with Arctic Blasts.  It has been one of the snowiest and coldest winters on record.  Here, we have had one of the driest winters.  The weather has been wonderful until you realize how short we are on rainfall.  A major storm came through and over the last four days we received over 2" of rain with a lot of wind.  We are thrilled for the rain and hope we get at least one more of these winter storms in the next month or so.

 After a certain amount of rain in a short period of time, our yard always floods here.  It doesn't stay long though.

Charlie is Almost Crawling

I'm learning that just before Charlie masters a new skill, he sleeps poorly the night before it happens.  Last night he was up every 2 hours like clockwork for 12 hours.  I'm exhausted.  And today...well...he is getting ready to crawl.

Charlie's 1st Food: Avocado

Charlie and I have had a great breastfeeding relationship.  No issues like I had with Elena, though I'm sure taking off additional time from work really helps.  Now Charlie is 6-1/2 months, I suppose it is time to start introducing solid food.

Garden Installation Phase 2

We have slowly been working on our yard and garden space over the past 6-1/2 years (wow, can you believe that we have been here nearly 7 years?).  We took some time to figure out what we wanted and researched how to implement our ideas.  Last year 10 fruit trees were planted (phase 1); 9 in the back, 1 in the front.  This is in addition to the 5 we already have.  (I think I am addicted to fruit trees; I want more--can you ever have enough?)

Visit with Pop and Lorraine

We took a break from building the garden and met Pop and Lorraine for breakfast.  We worked hard on the garden all last weekend and this weekend.  It feels great to see such great progress.  Even better was taking a break to catch up with Pop and Lorraine and eat a yummy breakfast!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 Sending lots of love and hugs to you...

Visit from Grandma Rae and Papa Rick, Charlie 6 months

Over this last weekend, my parents were here visiting.  After picking them up at the airport, we drove over to Sea Port Village for lunch and a carousel ride.

 Elena was so sad when she missed the carousel ride at Disneyland.  So nice to have one right here in San Diego.  This is her first carousel ride :)

Garden Update: Spring is Here!

This has been a mild winter and spring is upon us.

 The Dorset Golden apple tree is in full bloom.  This is one of our three apple trees we planted last January.

Visit from Ron and Dixie

On their way to Hawaii, Ron and Dixie had a stop over in LA.  They drove down to visit San Diego for a day and we met up at Sea Port Village.  We enjoyed a nice breakfast and then walked around the bay for a couple of hours.  We had spectacular weather.  It is always nice to spend time catching up with them.

Air and Space Museum

Some of the San Diego museums offer free admission on Tuesdays to residents.  Amazing I have been in San Diego so long and have never taken up this offer.  The museums rotate by the week.  Looking for something to do, Elena and I headed down to the Air and Space Museum.  It is a smallish museum but we had a great time.  A good place for a couple of hours.

 Space suits!

Nap Time, Or Is It?

Elena loves to stomp around the house and make a ton of noise but she can also be quite stealthy...

After lunch we all lay down and nap.

 That is until Elena creeps into Charlie's room and climbs into his crib while he is sleeping.  I wake up to the sound of both kids giggling.

Happy New Year!

New Year's Day ~ Ocean Beach

 Love the tree decorated with beach balls at the beach.

New Year's Eve

 It's been a busy few days.  We took a few hours just to hang out in the yard.

Holiday Bowl

Carl was excited ASU made it to a bowl game.

Disneyland: Our 1st trip

Today Carl and I woke up before dawn, shuffled both kids into the car and began driving to Disneyland at 5am.  It was one of the busiest days of the year and we wanted to take advantage of the few minutes of quiet just as the parks open.

Off to the Zoo, Stiehls!

Carl's brothers and their families are in town for a visit.  Yesterday we had a relaxing morning, afternoon of catching up and dinner at Pop and Lorraine's.  Today, we all headed down to the zoo for the day.  The animals were amazing today, probably the best I've ever experienced.

It is rare see the tiger come down from his high ground.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas 2014!

Our Christmas tree

Rolls, Rolls and more Rolls

Look at all these rolls!

Santa 2014

Our adventure today led us to Santa!

Charlie was indifferent to Santa and I was surprised Elena was excited to see Santa this year, a first. 

Sibling Love

Just another morning around the house!

When you have an older sister that loves to build forts...you get a fort built around you!

Thanksgiving in Arizona

 During the course of our visit to Arizona, we took a hike around the beautiful Lynx Lake.

Happy 90th Birthday, Grandma

 We are fortunate to celebrate Grandma Newman's 90th birthday with her.  Elena even offered to help blow out the candles ;)

Double Tubby

 Elena thought it would be fun to take a tubby with Charlie.

Trouble, Trouble

 "Mama, see what I made?"

A Little Yard Repair

 The gophers have and continue to cause destruction in our yard.  He dug under the patio causing the pavers to sink.  While Carl was pulling them up to fix the area, Elena found an earthworm.

Happy Haloween!

 Pretty pumpkins all carved up and ready for Halloween!

 I'm sure this is the first and last costume the kids will be able to share.  Aren't they cute?  Can you tell which two pictures are Elena and which two pictures are Charlie?

Photo Collage

We were in Illinois for almost three weeks with Carl joining us for the last week.  I haven't been good at taking photos but here are a few additional moments from our visit.

Pumpkin Carving

No Halloween is complete without candle lit pumpkins!

Snow!

 Elena's snow for the season.  October and snowing already...

Indiana Family Visit

Charlie's introduction to Rachel's extended family...or at least some of them :)

A Birthday with Cake!

Elena is always excited to see all of her grandparents; she is so lucky to have six!

And We're Off to Illinois!

10 weeks old and Charlie took his first airplane ride.

Zoo with Daddy

Elena had so much fun at the zoo yesterday but was disappointed we didn't make it to the Arctic so we went back today with Daddy!

 Tiger straight ahead!

Zoo with Friends

Today we met up with friends at the zoo!

Galapagos turtles can climb rocks, did you know that?

Trip to Julian

It felt like forever since we did a day trip up to Julian.  This is an old miner's town that has kept it's small town feel and is known for growing delicious apples.  Of course wherever delicious apples are grown, fresh pie is baked!

Birch Aquariam with Lulu

October is San Diego museum month, all kids get in free!  Today we met up with Elena's friend Lulu and her mom Rebecca at the Birch Aquarium.  The Aquarium is small compared to the aquariums Carl and I grew up with but it is geared toward younger kids.  The girls loved it.

The girls checking out the Leopard Sharks.  It was feeding time!

Garden: Roses, Apple Blossoms and Limes

The heat is cooling down just a bit.  Look what I found when I ventured outside my backyard:

Joshua Tree & A Wedding

Our first family road trip!  We are off to Joshua Tree to enjoy the desert, time with family and celebrate a wedding between Carl's cousin Lauren and Micah.

 Our first night, the moon was rising as the sun set.  This is one of the views we have from the house we rented.  So peaceful here.

Elena at the Gym

 Our YMCA offers an open gym hour a few times a week.  Today we headed out to meet up with friends and give Elena some Mommy time.

Charlie is 4 Weeks Old

4 weeks strong and Charlie is doing great!

He still has his blue/gray eyes.  Elena started out with brown and still has brown eyes.  Wonder if his will stay or change.