"sprinkles" for Jordyn

Our family has felt so fortunate over the past month with all of the sweet "sprinkles" for little miss Jordyn. We are so lucky to have so many thoughtful family members and friends. My sister threw the first sprinkle up in Fortuna for family and friends at the end of February. We enjoyed a delicious brunch and were so excited to receive a new video monitor (a group gift). It's a color monitor with night vision (like our other monitor), however it also has the ability to zoom, pan the room in all directions and allows us to speak through the monitor into the room. I know people survive without video monitors and have for ages, however once you have one you can't imagine being without. They are so awesome on so many levels!! We also received some adorable new clothes, hats, hair accessories and many baby necessities. :)

Part of the invite from the "sprinkle"Nicole threw for me

Letters Nicole painted/decorated for Jordyn's room

beautiful quilt my cousin made for me

"Little Sis" Hat and sleep sack from my mom...so sweet

Our new video monitor

Hannah admiring Jordyn's adorable hats

diaper cake from Amy and Angela 

From my sis and Shaun, so cute! (their daughter Lilly has a matching one)

finally a pregnant picture of us together

close up picture of the letters

The second weekend of March held two sprinkles for Jordyn. The first was held on Friday thrown by my amazing coworkers. It was held in the private patio area at Mary's Pizza Shack. We enjoyed some of Mary's yummy appetizers, drinks and many laughs. (perfect way to kick off the weekend) My coworkers were kind enough to chip in for a new glider that we really wanted. We borrowed the glider we had with Hannah and decided we really wanted to purchase our second one. We wanted to get something nice that would later on be a quality piece of furniture for our living room. I absolutely love the people I work with. Over the past 8 years I've taught at two schools (both amazing) 6 of those 8 years have been at Evergreen. Working with some of my closest friends makes going to work that much better. It's really fun because many of us have kiddos that are around the same age (& some even go to daycare together). I was so occupied with visiting with everyone that I didn't take any pictures.  :(

On Saturday one of my college roommates and close friends Karina held a sprinkle for Jordyn at her home.  Family and close Rohnert Park friends were there. Hannah was very excited to once again celebrate her sister. She loved helping me open gifts and made sure to hold up each item to show to the guests. She also commented on every item with an "awe!" or "soooo cute!" Karina put together a beautiful lunch. I enjoyed chatting with good company, ate more than my fill :) and was fortunate enough to receive many thoughtful gifts (including a group gift that went toward the glider & purchased more much needed items). I can't wait for Karina to have kids someday so I can return the favor. :) 

Again I was so preoccupied at Karina's that I only took two pictures on my phone. I'm finding more often that I'm not so good about taking pictures these days.

 Hannah ready to help me open gifts at Karina's

home made shortbread

February Fun

The first weekend of February began with a trip with friends to the Sacramento Zoo on Saturday and our annual Superbowl Sunday party at Ian & Kara's with over 30 kids/adults.

We'd never been to the Sacramento Zoo before, so it was fun to plan a trip there to meet up with some of friends who lived in the area & others that this was a half way meeting point for. Overall there 10 kids and 11 adults for our sunny day at the zoo. That particular day was 1/2 price (a good thing and a bad thing). We made sure to arrive right when they opened and enjoyed the first two hours with minimal crowds, after lunch the crowds got bigger so we decided to end our day around 1:30 (which was perfect because it was nap time). Hannah was very excited to see the flamingos (or "mingos" as she has nicknamed them). We of course started out there. :)

The kids enjoyed a small play area while waiting for the rest of our group to arrive. It was fun to see Hannah play with Gavin (my friend Amber's son), who is 4 months older than her. Listening to their little conversations was quite entertaining.

It was so wonderful to see my friend Andrea, her husband Devin and their little guy Hudson. Andrea is one of my closest college friends (and former roommate) and I wish we lived closer. The zoo was a good half way point for us to be able to meet and cut down on drive time. I can't wait for our next "play date" together. :)

Hudson amused by Hannah's "funny face"

Hannah and Gavin intently looking for a lion

watching mom's favorite animals the monkeys

Hannah, Henry and Gavin

Best pic we could get of them (missing Tyler, Maddie and Mariah)

Hannah and Gavin loving the ferris wheel

with two of my bestest friends from high school (Lisa and Amber) and our little ones

Valentines day was a lot of fun this year because Hannah really got into making Valentines for her friends. She diligently worked for two nights in a row on water coloring, glittering and signing each and every Valentine. It was a lot of fun to watch her work. :)



water color background



adding some glitter



finished product

Below are a few pics I snapped throughout the month that make me smile. :)

She fell asleep with her book propped up on her while reading before her nap

exploring under her trundle bed with dad...gotta love the head lamp!

wearing one of her Valentines stickers



making monkey bread with mom

 Mid February I headed up to Fortuna for a "sprinkle" that Nicole threw for me, (pics and stories soon to come), to go to a friend's shower and to spend the three day weekend with my fam. Below are a couple pics of Nicole and I both finally looking pregnant. :)  Sometimes I still can't believe we're pregnant together. We always wished for this as young adults and now that it's coming true it's still unreal  at times. We're both soooo excited!!

The last week of Feb/first week of March was spent at Outdoor Ed with our three 6th grade classes. We went to Alliance Redwoods for our second year in a row and the kids had a blast! It was a little rough being 8 months pregnant while there because I couldn't do some of the intense hikes with the kids that I normally would be able to do and I wasn't able to zip line like last year, however all in all it was a great week. Hannah was able to come out and visit for an entire day and had a blast watching all the big kids participate in classes and challenge courses and of course enjoyed playing in the play area. This year because both Josh and myself had Iphone 4S's we were able to FaceTime with each other every day (for those of you who don't have Iphones, it's basically a video chat). Despite all the fun and great memories created with my teaching partners and the kids, by the end of the week I was ready to be home with my family and sleeping in my own bed with my honey.

She had lots of fun on this slide

Hannah and her best friend Kenzie (one of my teaching partner's daughters) with the big kids

Another fun thing for Hannah this past month was being able to watch her dad coach wrestling. Last year when I took her to a dual meet she was somewhat interested, this year however she was very into it and asked many questions. To my surprise she sat through over an hour of the meet. She loved cheering on her dad's team and was very excited to stand with him for a few minutes while he coached. Josh's team ended up being overall league champions this year! :)

January

Well here I am already into March with no posts about January or February. My attempt in this post is to summarize January the best I can considering it was two months ago...here we go! :)

January kicked off with ringing in the New Year in Fortuna at Sarah and Pat's wedding. The had a beautiful ceremony at the Catholic church in Ferndale, followed by a fun reception at the River Lodge.  Hannah was mesmerized by Sarah in her wedding dress. At the reception she loved being on the dance floor (no surprise!) and especially had fun dancing with daddy. We kept her up as much past her bed time as we could (10:00 pm) and then my parents took her for the rest of the night (thanks mom and dad!), so that we could stay and ring in the New Year with Nicole, Shaun and friends.

Hannah doing one of her silly smiles

I love watching the two of them together

watching the mother/son dance

So happy to ring in the New Year with two of our favorite people

staying warm by the fire outside

With the beautiful bride Sarah (friends since preschool!)

After returning home from Fortuna we still had a week of Christmas break left. We enjoyed relaxing at home, doing art projects, enjoying some beautiful weather outside and of course Hannah had a blast playing in her new room with all her Christmas gifts.

Loves her new light up Hello Kitty tooth brush

vacuuming her room like a big girl

playing disc golf with mom and dad

reading stories to dad

We headed back up to Fortuna  the second weekend of January for a baby shower that I threw for my sis. It was held at the Scotia Inn (where she and Shaun got married). I'm bummed I didn't take more pictures. Being the hostess I got a little distracted, however I made sure one of her friends got lots of shots. We enjoyed a delicious brunch, gave Nicole some helpful (and entertaining) mothering advice and enjoyed watching her open all her gifts (my favorite part!!) I am so excited for my niece (Lilly Claire) to arrive. I'm really hoping it will be before I travel up to see my family on the 17th. (fingers crossed!!!)

My sis as a baby (so cute!!) Even though the calla lilies didn't bloom in time for the shower, they still looked beautiful and bloomed the next day for Nicole and Shaun to enjoy at home

centerpieces were precious outfits for Lilly (this one from my mom)

party favors...Personalized suckers by Polly Lops