Melissa’s Blog

We hate Mondays since Bret goes back to work. We ran some errands this morning. Then Paula and her kiddos came over. We played for a while. The kids had fun inside and out. We had lunch together. It was so cute watching the kids eat together. Nap was pretty non-existent. Justin napped for a little bit maybe 20 minutes. Nicole didn’t nap. I think I went upstairs a zillion times. She kept on saying she had to use the potty. After about 45 minutes of this she finally pee’d on the potty. Then she kept on saying poop coming, so I finally gave up and brought her downstairs. Shortly after Justin woke up. We got the bike out and the kids were all excited about going in the trailer. We biked to Lower’s Peter Canyon and the kids played for a while. They were into climbing and sliding. It was cute to watch them. Luckily Nicole isn’t too cranky yet. We got home and played outside for a bit. Daddy took Nicole to the store to get something real fast, so Justin and I played bubbles, etc. It was fun! The kiddos play and take their strollers to Starbucks (pretend). They get us lots of coffee. We had dinner, grandpa stopped by for a bit then it was bath night. The kiddos did a lot of drawing in the tub with crayons. They drew lines and Nicole drew a see saw and the park. It is amazing how much pretend the kiddos are doing these days. The kids are getting so big. All of a sudden they are almost 30 pounds! Since they didn’t nap the kiddos went to bed pretty fast, now I am exhausted.

We didn’t do anything exciting today but it was a fun day. We went grocery shopping and the kids got to push the little carts. They love it. Of course I can only get as much as their two little carts fit. They played outside the grocery store a bit, running around before we headed up. Then we decided to go for a bike ride (pic below of kids in trailer). We are trying to take advantage of the fact that the kids like the bike trailer. We just rode to the open space on Jeffrey. We let the kids out and run around. We had so much fun. The kids explored a bit, ran around, drank out of the water fountain, got introduced to rolly polly bugs, and walked through the tunnel. We stopped at the organic fruit stand and got the kiddos peaches to eat on the way home. They loved having a whole peach. Nap time was frustrating as Nicole didn’t want to nap-ugh. She did fall asleep while we ran an errand in the car. We played in the yard for a while. It was cold out but the kiddos were so happy outside. We did some dot painting and play doh before dinner. Nicole was really into her baby tonight. She brought her upstairs and even pretended to give her a bath and dry her. Her baby has been using the potty as well-too cute. Justin was into ring around the rosie, running around the tent upstairs and then he would fall boom on his butt. He was laughing so hard and so were we. Nicole joined in for a bit. They were pretty hyper and silly tonight but were cracking us up.

This morning Gary, Matthew, and Ellie (Krista away) came over for a pancake breakfast. My kiddos were still upstairs when they got here and they were so excited to hear people downstairs playing with their toys. The kiddos played really well together while we made breakfast. Of course Nicole wore Matthew and Ellie’s shoes and Justin and Matthew played trains together. We just played at home for the morning….we were all over the house playing, upstairs, downstairs, outside. Then we went for a walk. I had to bring something to Maggie’s house so we walked over there. Maggie was home so we played in her house for a bit. Her daughter, Aliya was out with her daddy. We came home and had lunch. After nap, we ran to Mission Viejo. There is a house there that is my dream home, so I wanted to show Bret the neighborhood. Her liked it too. Not sure what we will do but we are going to explore all our options. We played at a nearby park, Flo Jo Park. It was a cute park. The kids had a blast playing. Nicole wanted to swing for a while and Justin was into climbing and sliding. They both played with the sand for a while. Then we went to Claim Jumper for dinner. Overall the kiddos did well until they started happy screaming. HA. They took a long bath tonight. Justin is sound asleep and Nicole is still awake. She is using the potty as an excuse to get out of her crib a million times.

Can’t wait for Bret to come home. This morning we met Jacole (Nathaniel) and Neyha (Krish and Isha) at the Spectrum. Of course we rode the carousal. Justin was so excited to ride the ostrich and Nicole wanted to ride a purple horse. They love carousals-it was cute. We walked around a bit and then the kids saw the train. Justin was so excited to ride the train, we had never been on that train. Then we all went and had lunch. Nicole did so well telling me she had to use the potty. It was so nice being with friends and it was a beautiful day! When we got home grandpa was here. Grandpa pushed you guys in the swings and you guys loved it. After nap grandma came over. We played with toys inside but Justin wanted to go outside so badly. So outside we went. You guys went in the swings, did bubbles, made baskets, rode bikes…you had a great time. Then we went to Ruby’s for dinner. It was nice. Nicole is getting less and less scared of pooping in the potty. She gets to pick out a prize out of a bucket everytime she poops. They went to bed a little late and Nicole is still up babbling and counting.

Today was a day of my friends being really sweet and taking care of me and the kiddos while hubby is out of town. We walked to Maggie’s (Aliya) house and played this morning. My kids had a wonderful time. They loved the bounce house, it was so cute to watch all three kids bounce together. The kiddos all played well together. We were outside almost the entire time. We had lunch there and then it was time to come home. The kids had a great nap today-must have been all the jumping. After nap, we then went to Christy’s (Lexie and Sienna) to play and have dinner together. The kids had such a great time playing. We had fun playing out with Christy and Lexie. We had spaghetti for dinner. Usually at home we have the kids get naked for spaghetti since it is so messy, so of course they said “naked spaghetti night” and naked they were. It was so funny though. It was a great day hanging out with our friends and it was so thoughtful of them to think of me and the kids. Time for bed, I am exhausted.

I woke up to both kids saying “I want to go pee pee on the potty”. Nicole wanted to wear daddy’s shirt this morning, guess she misses her daddy. After breakfast, we ran to Target as we needed a ton of things. The kids were so well behaved for me at Target. I debated about what to do this morning but ended up going to Alice’s for a play group. The kids had such a great time at her house, playing outside most of the time. We stayed for lunch. And Nicole did so well with the potty. We came home and the kiddos took a short nap, but at least it was a nap. Paula and her kiddos came over to keep me company why Bret was out of town, so sweet. We walked over to Northwood Pizza for dinner and Vena (she was husbandless too) met us with her boys. It was fun. The kids played with all the video games. We walked home and played in the yard a bit then it was time to head upstairs for bed. Justin was a little whiny tonight for some reason. I have been up there three times already as Nicole keeps saying she has to go pee pee. Right now she is just stalling going to bed.

Last night Nicole woke me up to go pee pee in the middle of the night-kept her diaper dry. It sucked that I had to get up, but she is doing so well. We went to a new park early this morning. Met Vena’s group there (Victoria, Candice, Stacie, etc). We went to a new park at Portola Springs that had a cute train. The kiddos loved it and had fun. Nicole did so well using the potty again. We are so proud of her and are amazed at how well she is doing. We came home early as we were hosting play group. Play group was nice. My kids were outside the entire time, painting with water, sand, swinging, swinging their friends, etc. Sand everywhere but oh well! After nap Bret had to leave for his trip. I decided to meet grandma at Fashion Island. Nicole was pretty screamy for some reason. We saw the fishies which the kids liked then they ran around this circle that is on the ground made of bricks. We went on the carousal and just walked around and saw all the fountains. Had dinner there, the kids were really hungry and got some ice-cream. Then we headed home for a quick bath and reading time. Everyone is sound asleep. We miss daddy!

Mondays are hard, the kids miss daddy. We headed off to the zoo this morning. We met Paula and her kiddos. It was fun, but for some reason my kiddos wanted to fight over who was going to push the stroller. They never want to ride in it but I take it as I have so much stuff in my bag. Nicole was a hungry little girl this morning. She ate so much. Anyway the kiddos didn’t get to see to many animals, as most were busy eating. We saw monkeys, cows, roosters, chickens, geese, etc. We rode on the train; Justin was very excited. Nicole did well using the potty at the zoo. Scary having her in underwear but she did great. We came home, ate, and took a nap. Justin woke up first and I had fun playing catch with him with a football.  After nap we went to Costco. I needed so much stuff. Then we played outside for a while. The kids are just loving playing with water, so we got the water table out. We played in the garage too so I could clean out my car a bit. Nicole is doing really well potty training and doesn’t want to pee in her diaper at night or at nap. So you put the kiddos in their cribs, come down stairs, then you hear “I need to go pee pee”. Then you go up there, take her out of her crib, undress her, diaper off, no pee-you dress her and 5 minutes later “I need to go pee pee”. She always goes on the 2nd time. Then we hung out on mommy and daddy’s bed and she went right to sleep.

We woke up and had breakfast then headed to Starbucks. The kids love Starbucks. They get milk in a coffee cup and pretend to drink coffee, so cute. Well we came home and Nicole went poop in the potty. She was a little scared and didn’t even want to flush it. But she did it and we are so proud; she is well on her way to being potty trained. Then it was time to take Easter photos. After we had an Easter egg hunt on the green belt. The kids had a blast. Justin was a little more into it then Nicole. Nicole noticed a cookie in an egg and wanted to open them all up outside. We came in and opened the eggs. They had fun seeing what was in them. I put some stickers, tattoos, toys, trains, a few m&m’s, and cookies in them. After we just played in the backyard all morning long. We did bubbles, painting the concrete with water, playing in the sand, swinging, etc. A good time was had by all. Then we met grandpa for lunch at Fuddruckers. The kids had fun playing with all the video games, driving cars. At the restaurant Nicole had to pee and was afraid of the toilets in the restroom, so we ran to the car and she went pee pee in her potty. We ran to Home Depot for a few things then home for a nap. After nap we needed to go back to Home Depot and decided to play at the fountain. We took the kids shoes off and they had a blast kicking the water in the fountain, they were laughing and smiling. Daddy shared his smoothie with them-we discovered they love smoothies. Then we came home and ate dinner outside and more play time in the backyard. And Nicole again went poop on the potty. She is still a little scared but we are so proud of her. We pulled out the water table and the kids had a blast. The water was cold and they could have cared less. It was fun to watch them. Then bath time and bed time. It is pretty quiet up there right now.

We are tired, these munch kins are killing us, but we had a fun day. Well since Cybersand was down we had to get that working, so we couldn’t go too far. Plus Bret had to install the new Tivo. So after a bit of a screamy morning the kids watched a little Sesame Street then we went out to play. We played out in the front yard for a while. Justin rode his scuttle bug and Nicole her tricycle. They love to go on our neighbors “bumpy” driveway (pavers and bricks). Then the kids ran in the house and got balls. So we played balls on the greenbelt. I found the lizard that got into our house yesterday and Bret got it out of the house (harmless but I don’t like lizards hanging out in the house). The kids liked him though. Then we ran to do an errand and go for lunch. The kids played at the fountain at lunch and got all wet. Nicole has been doing so well using the potty. Running in the house to go potty. Then nap time, it was a quick nap. We finally made it to the beach (what we wanted to do in the morning but there was too much to do). We went to Balboa. The kids had so much fun at the beach. Justin loved the water, he was soaked. Nicole near the end went down to the water with us holding her and Bret dunked her feet. She liked it for a short time. She had fun playing in the sand building sand castles and knocking them down. We got dinner down there and headed to the fun zone. The kids enjoyed watching everything that was going on. The kids even went on their first ferris wheel ride. They liked it but it was a long ride so they got a bit bored. We went into the arcade and the kids played some ball games. Then on the ferry again and home. They liked their little boat ride. We had a great time with the kids. As the kids would say “I do it again”. Got to go fill eggs for our little Easter egg hunt tomorrow.