I've got a swimmer girl!

Today was the last day of Jayne's 2 week swim lessons. It's been so great! The only thing we'd done before this was a mommy & me swim class last summer. I would always put her under the water but she wasn't "swimming" at all. Within 2 weeks she's now swimming across the pool! We still need to practice a lot with her but she's got the basics now. It's going to be such a FUN summer! I just feel so good that at least she's water safe. If she fell in, she could get to the edge and climb out. She can float too if needed. We were very happy with the results of the class! The teacher called them "swimmer girls and boys" and they always said, "I did it!" after they completed their swims. She very excited about swimming with all of her friends and cousins this summer!

All-Star

As part of our Memorial Day weekend, we spent Saturday in our old, and maybe returning, stomping grounds! We went down really early to Orange County to see our nephew/cousin Josh play in an All-Star Baseball Tournament. Jayne loved getting to see her cousins, especially getting to see Josh play in the baseball games. I could see a glimpse into our future, seeing Jayne running around at Ryan's games someday! Josh did a fantastic job. He played catcher and did great and is a really good hitter. After the games we spent the day with Mark, Jen and the kids visiting several of our favorite Orange County hang-outs and getting to play at their house with the kids. Jayne was thoroughly exhausted from having so much fun the entire day. The rest of the weekend we just enjoyed hanging out, spending time together and relaxing- something we haven't done a lot of since Jason graduated so it was nice. Jayne also got to play with her cousins Tyler and Kacie on Monday most of the day, which was another special treat. Happy Memorial Day!



Jake, Josh & Jayne


Jayne & Josh After the Game


Jayne & Jake at the Game

Season Finales

So I'm probably the last person still watching Desperate Housewives, but did anyone else catch the finale and is anyone else confused??? It was going along as usual, some good parts, but some goofy somewhat boring parts, and then they end with a five year preview (a glimpse of the housewives, 5 years from now). So it made it seem like the show was ending. So I've searched abc.com and they currently say the show is coming back. So are they picking up from the 5 year jump? How lame.

I was pretty happy with the Grey's Anatomy finale, other than the lesbian kiss. I cheered that Meridith is back with McDreamy, and so happy that Alex realized Ava is a psycho, glad Dr. Bailey is going to try and fix her marriage, that George gets to retake his exam, and that Christina is moving on. Overall a pretty good episode. ER had a pretty good finale. I'm so happy with who won American Idol and Dancing with the Stars (which rarely happens), and I still have the CSI NY finale in my DVR to watch tonight. And I have the last few episodes of Dexter to watch as well. I really hate the summer time TV reruns. Everyone says So You Think you Can Dance is good, but I've never gotten into it. We'll see. And I'm still debating watching the new Bachelorette. I like it that she gets a 2nd chance after begin dumped and the girls always pick better (not being swayed by looks alone), but we'll see. Happy Viewing!

Baby of Mine!

I've always knows, but realize once again that I just love babies! I love the way they smell, their soft cheeks, their first smiles and coo's. I love the way they wrap their whole hand around your finger, how they grab fists full of your shirt while their nursing and that peaceful smile they have as they drift off to sleep in your arms. I love holding them, rocking them, and taking care of them. I end up holding Ryan almost all day everyday, mainly because that's what he wants (and will cry if left sitting for too long, which for him is a few minutes), but mainly because I love it. Jayne was the same way, but it was much easier with only 1. All the books and baby advice tell you not to hold your baby all the time and not to spoil them, but I decided I don't really care. They are only small for such a short time that soon, he'll be crawling, then running and I'll be lucky if I can catch him (a la Jayne). I really am enjoying every minute of him being so tiny (and not so tiny anymore). I will be sad when it's my last baby. So I sit here, only getting half of my "to do" lists done each day and moving at a much slower pace, but getting to really enjoy my journey, which currently means getting to hold my little baby. (with a special thank you to Jason for making all of this possible!) My 'to do' list really isn't that important anyway.


Ryan is getting so big! He will be 3 months on Sunday and he's already wearing 6 month clothes! He has such a sweet disposition and is a very happy baby (as long as he's being held :-) He loves to cuddle and get kisses. He always has a smile for everyone. He particularly loves Jayne. He just lights up when she's around, which is almost 24/7. She sings to him and takes care of him and he just loves it. I've tried so hard to capture his smile on camera but have only managed a few. My camera takes too long so I always just miss it. Here are a few cute pictures from the last day or 2.

Happy 3rd Birthday!

Ballerina Jayne

I kind of think of today as my mother's day because it was today, 3 years ago, around 12:15am that I became a mother. I can't believe 3 years have gone by! Since I really don't feel a day over 20, I sometimes wonder just where did the time go! And sometimes I really can't believe I have a 3 year old! (If you've met her you know she's really 3 going on 13. She tried to tell me today that she wanted to be 4 and just skip 3. I told her we didn't get to skip ages, or believe me I would have way back when!) It seems so quick but at the same time it feels like we've always had Jayne with us. Jayne is truly a joy in our lives and I feel lucky to be her mom. She brightens everyone's day, has such a sweet spirit, and is one of the most friendly and talkative people you will ever meet. I not only love being her mom, but I think she's one of my most favorite people to be around. She says funny and insightful things all the time, knows how to cheer you up when you're feeling down, loves to make us laugh, and overall is very good and strives to do what's right.

For her big 3rd birthday, we've been celebrating for 3 days. We had a cousin party on Saturday with slip and slide, pizza, and cake and ice cream. Then this morning we had a special family breakfast where she got to open her presents from us, then she had a friends party this afternoon. I probably wouldn't have done a real friends party yet but because Jayne is so friendly, she has so many wonderful friends and we are moving in just a few short weeks, so I thought it would be fun to invite her best girl friends over for a little party. They had so much fun. It was 90 degree's here today (which for me is hot!), so we put out the wading pools, and sprinkler ball, the bikes, the sand/water table, the playhouse and they had a blast. We played some princess games, ate, open presents, and most of all just had fun. What a day!

This was the year of the Ballerina. Out of no where, she asked for ballet shoes, a ballet outfit and bag for her birthday. So got that, plus the ballet barbie, ballet movies, even a home ballet bar with instructional DVD. She is in heaven. I can't wait to put her in real ballet classes when she's 4.

She also started semi-private swim lessons today. She was by far the best in the class and was posing for pictures while waiting her turn while the other kids where screaming. I'd been so nervous, afraid she's be one of the ones crying too, so I'd been prepping her for weeks about what was going to happen and telling her the teacher would teach her to swim like her cousins. I think that's all it took. She was great and I can't wait to see how much she's going to learn these next 2 weeks!


3 Years Old


Friend Party


Cousin Party


First Day of Swim Lessons

So Proud

This weekend we celebrated a huge accomplishment! Jason graduated from USC with his Masters in Business Administration (MBA)!! It was a 3 year program he completed at night and some weekends. It was a program for full-time working professionals and managers. His emphasis was strategic management and consulting with a secondary in entrepreneurship. Jason did such a wonderful job handling all the pressures of school, work, family, church, and everything else while he did this. I am so proud of him! He is a wonderful example of hard work, perseverance, and success. I am so lucky to have him for my husband!

This was a long haul for our little family. Jayne had just been born when he started the program, and we're celebrating her 3rd birthday tomorrow. It was quite a sacrifice of both time and money to realize this goal. It has been so amazing having Jason home in the evenings since he finished the program. We just love getting to see him more. Jayne is so crazy about her dad and always runs to him as he enters the door. Luckily she was small enough during most of the program to not totally realize the days that would go by between her getting to see him as she's be asleep when he left for work and asleep by the time he got home from school. But she now knows how to call her dad on the phone because of all the many times she's called him so they could at least talk. This was a wonderful experience but we sure are glad it's over! It was the perfect finishing touch when we heard the Trojan fight song start playing at the end of the ceremony as the graduates left the building. We'd truly made it! (scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page for full sound affects)

We had a wonderful time celebrating with our family this weekend. Thanks to everyone for their support, driving/flying the distance to come, and to Jeff and Judy for the wonderful celebration dinners! Fight On!

A Trojan Family


Jason's Parents, Jeff & Judy, and his brother Mike


My Parents, Sharyn & Brian, with the kids and us at the afternoon reception.

Ryan Loves His Mobile

So I mainly got Ryan's mobile because it went with my motif for his crib. I wanted a sports theme but mainly just classic boy. Well, Ryan loves his mobile. He doesn't sleep in his big crib yet (he's in a small cradle in our room) but whenever I put him in there while I'm helping Jayne and doing things with her, he just loves it. He can kind of cry that he's being set down but when I start the mobile, he stops and starts smiling and laughing. It is so cute. All it is is balls going around, not some cute animal, so I was so surprised he loved it so much. You can just tell he wants to grab them and throw them. I think this means he's going to be a sports stud like his dad :-)

Some Recent Projects

I've done a million projects lately, but here are 2 of my favorite! My friend is having her 3rd little girl so I made the older 2 these matching shirts (their age 3 and 1). I'm getting better at my embroidery machine and love it! There are so many things I can do with it. I'm really into monogramming stuff like pottery barn right now. I monogrammed napkins and table runner for my mom for Mother's Day- very fun.

And the second favorite project was a new baby blanket for my friend Leanna. It's her first boy after 2 girls so I wanted something really different, special, and totally boy. I found this amazing new minky fabric months ago and I think it came together really cute. I might have to make Ryan one just like it cause I love it so much. I did 1 matching burp cloth to go with it. I should have done a whole set but ran out of time. Too much stuff to cram into 1 week, especially with a 2 month old and 3 year old. They were very good and patient all week why I tried to finish everything! You can't tell from the picture but all of the fabric is that super soft minky fabric and it feels like butter. The babies (and mom's) love it.

Crazy Week

It has been a crazy week! We celebrated our 8 year anniversary, hosted a small baby shower at a nail salon (super fun!), and finished a million little projects for mother's day, birthday's and other special events happening this month. We capped it off with a Mother's Day Party in Jayne's preschool class, a Mom's Club Mother's Day Party (that I was responsible for helping organize), driving to San Diego to celebrate with my mom and grandma's and sister and aunts, and then back to Burbank to celebrate with Jason's mom and sister! We had a blast, but I'm tired. Most of all I just loved it when Jayne gave me my big hug and kiss and said, "Happy Mother's Day." It's fun to be saving these cute little flowers, pictures, and cards she makes me. I know I'll treasure them always.

Mother's Day Moment

Jayne Helping me Make Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake for the Baby Shower. She told me it's her favorite cake in the whole wide world.

8 Wonderful Years and Going Strong. Celebrating at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.

Caving In!

Well, I'm finally caving and starting our very simple family blog. I really want to write in an actual journal that can be saved, but for now I'll try to post some blogs. I send out enough pictures and little email updates, so this will replace that. Now our family that we don't see all the time will be able to keep up with our attempt to live life to the fullest! Here's to joining the blogging world!