Melissa’s Blog

The kids were eating breakfast and all of a sudden I heard Nicole say “Melissa” and I looked at her and was told “I am talking to pancakes”. While eating breakfast they were sitting at their little table doing circle time from the gym and doing high fives and knuckles. The kids wanted to go outside and play early this morning. They pretended to make cakes with the sand. They bring plates out from their kitchen and put sand on it which equals a cake. They played with their new bubbles, Justin spilled them everywhere, oh well. We painted for a bit too outside with water. It was a great morning, Nicole wanted to stay home this morning. But I did have to go to the grocery store. So happily the kids pushed the carts for me. They love it. They also love putting fruit in the bags. Nicole helped me pick out peaches. We came home and played some more. I read a ton of books. No nap today, figures. They seemed kind of tired so I tried to put them down a little earlier. No shocker that it didn’t work. I had suspicions that Nicole may have a bladder infection. She has been peeing a little in her pants and her pee was a little smelly. Luckily no pain though. So I made an app’t at the doctor. Do you know what it is like trying to get a 2 1/2 yr old to pee in a cup. Well first of all we had to get her to pee. So we drank some water. When she was sick of water we walked to a store to get chocolate milk. It felt like it took an hour but I got some pee. She does have a bladder infection, poor kiddo. So we had the prescription called in, only to find out when we got there the store didn’t have it in stock. Luckily a couple doors down there was another pharmacy that had it. Not an easy task with two toddlers going from store to store. I am tired after trying to amuse them in the waiting room of the doctor’s office while waiting for her to pee. We did ring around the rosie, circle time, read books, using the drawing things, etc. Anyway we finally got the prescription then while we were over there I just got a pizza for dinner, but that meant more waiting. We came home and had dinner. Then I met Vena (Cole and Grant) at the park. I came prepared with extra pants and underwear. The kids had a great time, so nice to go in the early evening. Justin liked watching the baseball game. But Nicole had some pee pee accidents, so we decided to just come home. Poor little girl she doesn’t know why she feels she needs to pee all the time. But the way she says I have a bladder infection is the cutest thing ever. We gave the kiddos a shower tonight. I wish we weren’t rush so they could have played in their a little while longer. They loved squirting the water with the sprayer, it was really cute. Kiddos fell asleep pretty quickly and so will I.

Well daddy was up half the night dealing with his on call. There was a big disaster recovery over the weekend, so he expected it but it still stinks. So I tried to let him sleep in this morning. The kiddos and I snuck downstairs to play and eat breakfast. The kids like to be fed these days so I fed them breakfast. Then we went into the living room and we woke up daddy. The kids had a blast playing in the yard this morning. It was so nice out. They both played with the rescue pack, squirting everything the windows, the bbq. We did bubbles and I spilled them everywhere. I hated to stop the play but I saw a pair of shoes I wanted in one of the ads this morning. So off to the Laguna Hills Mall. Remind us never go to that mall again…there are way too many distractions for the kids, cars, lights, more cars, tractors, fire truck carts, etc….We had fun taking the kids on the escalators. We shopped a little bit. The kids got to ride on the motorcycle thing. It took us forever to get from one store to the next due to all the exciting things at the mall. It was getting late so we had lunch at the food court and more distractions up there. They loved the photo booth thing and dad took pics in it too. I think they liked to hide in it. We came home and the kiddos didn’t nap-ugh. But Bret did. Since Bret was so tired, I left for Nathaniel’s (Jacole) birthday party with a note for daddy to meet us. We had a great time at the birthday party. It was at the lagoon in Woodbridge. The kids love that place. They both were so excited to go in the water and they were so happy when daddy showed up. They were jumping up and down in the water, spinning, and we made them jump like Shamu. The party was really cute. It is amazing when cake and ice-cream are involved how polite our kids can be. They really like chocolate ice-cream, what a shocker! After we played in the sand for a while. Below are some pics of the kids in the sand. It is getting so difficult taking pics of the kids these days, Nicole just wants to stick out of her tongue and Justin is too distracted to look up. We came home and made dinner, kids favorite meal spaghetti! After the kiddos got in the Bob stroller and we took a walk around the neigborhood. Then we came home and the kids drove their cars. Nicole helped me garden a bit while Justin still drove. Nicole was bringing everything from inside out, 3 babies, her camera, blankets, shovels, balls, etc. We had fun outside. Then it was time to come in and go upstairs. The kiddos are sound asleep now and we are going to follow soon.

I noticed tonight Nicole’s 2 year molars are breaking through. The one on the bottom left. WOW!

The kids were so happy to find out daddy was going to be them today. We went with the multiples group to donuts in the park with dad. It was at the Irvine Regional Park. We love this park. The kids played in the Thomas tent thing when we first got there. Daddy gave them a bite of his donut and surprisingly they weren’t too into it. We went over to feed the ducks. The ducks weren’t too hungry though. Then we went to ride the train. The train was loaded with multiples, we all definitely stuck out. The kids rode in their own seat together on the train. This is the first time one of us didn’t sit next to them. They were so happy to be holding onto their train ticket too. We had a great little train ride. Then we decided to separate from the multiples group and go to the little zoo within that park. We had a blast. We saw lots of animals, donkey, llama, coyote, etc. Then we went to feed the goats. Today Nicole actually fed the goats and she loved it. Every time the goat took the food she would laugh and just smile. They had so much fun and we got some cute pics too. We couldn’t stay out long as daddy is on call. We came home and played outside and had lunch. The kids actually took a nap today, but I was mean and only let them sleep about an hour. I was afraid if they slept too long they would never go to bed tonight. After nap I wanted to run to the mall for a few things. So the kids and I went. Dad stayed here just in case work called, plus he had some stuff to get done around here that we never have time to do. We had a great time at the mall. We went to Gymboree and the kids were just loving the TV there. They would happy scream and jump over to it. Then we walked over to JC Penny. Of course we did the usual mall stuff, escalators, toy stores, sit in chairs, etc. After we got home, we went to the next door neighbors as they were having a little party. We had fun. The kids did great too. Nicole loved standing on the treadmill. We were sitting outside and the kids loved running in and getting a chip and running back out, they thought it was the funniest thing ever. The kids got juice boxes and ice-cream there, so they were happy kids. One kid there (almost 2) was obsessed with Nicole’s tattoos-it was pretty funny. We didn’t stay too long as Bret got paged for work plus it was bath night. We came home and the kids took a bath. They were pretty crazy tonight. Got all their blankets and put them in our shower and sat in there for a bit. Every time I opened the shower door, Justin would laugh, so funny. We did our usual night things, brush teeth, read books, etc. Not too bad 9:25 and all is quiet up there.

9 years ago, I married the man of my dreams. I can’t believe 9 years have passed. Marrying Bret was one of the happiest days of my life. We have just built a great life together. Everyday I think it can’t get better then it does. We met at the University of Redlands. We just became great friends after college and who ever thought we would end up getting married. I even got my dream proposal when Bret asked me to marry him in Hawaii. Of course I didn’t believe him 🙂 For a job, we moved to Foster City (Northern CA) and bought our first home together (town house). I made a job change into computers from retail up there too. We rode the Silicon Valley wave for a while. We got married at Dove Canyon Country Club in Southern CA. It was a dream wedding! We added a very special addition to our family, our doggie Tracey. She was definitely my first baby and I miss her and think of her everyday. In March of 2002 we bought our family house in Irvine. In November 2005 we welcomed two of additions to our family, our twins Justin and Nicole. It has been amazing sharing all the joys and building a lifetime of memories with Bret, Happy 9 year anniversary honey! It has been an amazing 9 years and I can’t wait to see what the next 100 have to offer.

On our way to Ashley and Jordan’s (Candice) 2nd birthday, we stopped at Target for a few things. Then we headed to the birthday party at Pioneer Park. It is a water park. Justin was interested in the water but didn’t get too wet. He decided to catch water in his Diego hat. He liked shooting the horse thing around that spit out water. Nicole didn’t want to get wet at all. The party was amazing. The kids played with the big bubble wands and had so much fun. They played with the Mickey and Minnie balls. They both got tattoos. Justin wanted two Donald Ducks. Nicole got Minnie and Pluto. We had a great time at the party and hanging out with our friends. The kiddos were looking a little tired so we left. I wanted to stop at this $1.00 bookstore on the way home. We got some books. So I thought they would fall asleep but no. I guess being in the sun and playing at the park isn’t enough to tire these guys out. I tried to get them to nap but gave up when it was clear they weren’t going to nap. So they had quiet time in their beds. After the non-nap we decided to head to Blue Gum Park. Neyha, Krish, and Isha met us there. It was nice and relaxing. I got to hold Isha for a while and the kids played really well. They were into all the trucks, tractors, and trains we brought. Of course they were playing by the drinking fountain. No biggie though as they were having fun. They played really well at the park and it wasn’t very crowded. Neyha gave the kids carrots and zucchin and Nicole kept on calling the zucchinin pickles, silly girl. After the park we picked up daddy. I ran in the house for a minute and walked into some beautiful flowers for me. I felt so special! We decided to get some KFC and have a picnic. We took the food over to the park by the trains. The kids loved watching the trains go by and we had a great picnic. It was so fun just hanging out as a family. The kids ran around on the grass and decided to walk on me while I was laying down. They found pine cones and pretended it was cake and founf some pretend candles too. We walked over the veggie garden over there and saw some kind of squash thing growing. We waved to all the trains going by and we just enjoyed being outside as a family. On the way home we stopped at Golden Spoon, special treat for our anniversary. The kids got strawberry yogurt and loved it. We came home and read books. The kids didn’t like many of the new books, so we just read all the old favorites. They went right to bed tonight, they were pretty tired. What a great anniversary spending time with my family.

This morning we started a new class, Messy, Muddy, Hands, and Toes. We are taking the class with lots of friends (Vena, Candice, Stacie, and a mom from pre school) which makes it more fun. The kiddos had a blast in the class. The first project was to decorate a bird house. I think the birds will be afraid to eat out of ours-ha ha ha. It was cute. Justin and Nicole loved squeezing out the glue, glue everywhere. Then they added sparkles, puffy paint, etc. The next project was painting. Justin and Nicole really like painting with these special brushes. The last project was gluing feathers to paper. Again with the glue. The kids were so excited about the feathers. Their projects were very cute and the kiddos had a lot of fun. They didn’t like their hands all gluey and sparkly, so they kept wanting to wipe them which I anticipated. After class we went to the park for a bit. Justin is getting so independent. I had to run to the car so Justin wanted to go to the park with his friends where Nicole wanted to come with me. It makes me sad to see him getting so independent but it is what kids do. The kiddos found water to play with in the park, walking in it and getting all sandy, dirty, and wet. That kept them occupied for a while. Heritage is an older park but the kiddos all had fun. We came home and had lunch and play time. The kids played in the back yard. Well the kiddos didn’t take a nap, no surprise there. I can’t believe they are not exhausted as I am so tired by the end of the day. Nicole got out of her bed a few times. Every time I caught her she was over at Justin’s bed having a conversation with him. I love when she calls him buddy, like I call him. I love yelling to the kids that they can get out of their beds, they came running downstairs as fast as they can. We watched TV for a little while. Then play time. We played in the futon room for a while. I read some books, we played with Lincoln Logs, the fire engine, the kitchen, etc. That room gets pretty crowded when all the toys are on the floor. Daddy came home a little early as he had to work this evening. The kiddos and I heard the garage so we waited in the laundry room and yelled boo at daddy. We continued to play in the futon room, then we were all starting to get bored. So we grabbed the doll strollers and went for a walk around the neighborhood. It was a nice relaxing walk. The kiddos played with mail boxes, rocks, etc. We came home and the kiddos helped me make dinner. They wanted to color with markers. After dinner, we cleaned up with the kiddos. Then daddy had to work. The kids took a bath. Justin was drinking in the tub and got water in his nose, so he took a pretty short bath. I think Nicole liked bath to herself. And Justin and I had fun playing outside of the tub. Justin gave me a haircut, got me Starbucks out of the closet, etc. Justin is doing ok with potty training. We put underwear on him again. The minute he starts to pee he notices and runs over to the potty. So he is getting there. After bath the kids took all the socks and underwear out of the drawer and put them in their beds. Luckily they enjoy cleaning it up as much as making the mess. Then we just read books. I think I read the Mickey Mouse book 5 times. They were pretty tired and all is quiet upstairs.

Bret was off to work early this morning, he left before the kiddos were even awake. The kiddos stayed in our bed for a while, slowly waking up. We had fun playing at home for a while. We made a huge mess playing but we had a lot of fun. We went to park day this morning for the mom’s club at Hick’s Canyon. I felt like I hadn’t been to a park day in a while. There weren’t a lot of people which was nice as I got to catch up with mom’s I haven’t seen in a while. The kids had a blast, swinging, climbing, walking on the wall and jumping down, etc. They weren’t really into the play structure. After the park we went to the grocery store. Wow it sure takes a while with two kids but they sure have fun pushing their carts. Everyone was looking at us, smiling and probably thinking they were glad they weren’t me 🙂 The kids love emptying their carts on the conveyer belt. If I even think about helping boy do they get mad. We came home and had lunch and played some more. It was all about changing babies diapers and trains. They played really well together for a short bit. So nap time came. I tried sitting on the stairs on telling them to lay down and be quiet. I think I am just way too fun. Every time I said shh they laughed hysterically. Then they would just jump up and down too. I gave up, so no nap. We watched TV for a little bit then went to My Gym. We made it for a little bit of the open gym. It was so nice hardly anyone was there, we basically had the place to ourselves. The kids had a blast playing there. They love going in this tube thing and having me roll them. They were into everything today. Then class began. The kiddos were so happy to see Neil, the instructor. They love circle time. I think today was the first time I didn’t have one of them sitting in my lap. I just love watching Nicole and Justin and following all the instructions. dancing, etc. The swings were the best today. Justin was sitting in a big kid swing (low to the ground) and I pushed him and showed him he could push off with his feet from this red pole thing and he loved it. Him and I were laughing hysterically. It was great. He kept on doing it then would laugh so hard. He loved it too when Neil or I would sit in front of him in the swing and he would kick us and we would fall down. Nicole liked it to but not as much as Justin. The kids just had a great time. Just when it couldn’t get much better as we were leaving the gym, Justin spotted a train. So we went over and watched it go again. We came home and had dinner. The kids were so happy to see daddy. After dinner the kids wanted to feel the breeze from the vent by the middle of the stairs. Then they just headed upstairs.Nicole brought me two shirts from my closet and asked me which one I wanted to wear tomorrow (thats what I do to her). It was funny. Justin started to do it with daddy’s pants-we were afraid what our closet was going to look like. We played in the play room up there for a while. Went in the tent. Then played ring around the rosie around the tent. The kids just loved it, so happy. We did our normal routine, brush teeth, pj’s on, books, etc and everyone is sound asleep.

This morning we met Vena, Candice, Stacie, and Victoria at Lowers Peter Canyon. The kids had a great time. Nicole wanted to swing then she was pushing Nikki’s (Stacie) baby doll stroller. Justin was really into the trucks pushing them and filling them up with the sand. They had a great time this morning. I just wanted to get them out of the house before everyone came over for play group. We hosted play group this morning. It was nice to catch up with the my friends and watch all the kids play. Nicole and Justin were outside almost the entire time. They were painting with water, and Justin used his Diego rescue pack. I heard my kids go upstairs and they were playing in the empty bedroom, just talking and hanging out. So cute Justin was carrying around big floppy dog and laying on him. All the moms and kids had lunch together here. It was a little crazy but nice. The kids helped me clean up a bit then upstairs for quiet time. Nap is killing me; I went up there a zillion times to try and quiet them down. I caught Justin standing on his bed rail-ugh. He was so upset he was in trouble but I didn’t want him to get hurt. We came down and watched TV. Justin fell asleep. We need to rethink nap. We may have to stay upstairs and help them quiet down or separate them. The thought of separating them breaks my heart; I love knowing they are together. Nicole and I had a great time playing while Justin slept. We read books, played dress up-more like Nicole dressed me up. After Justin woke up I got lots of great Justin time. We sat together, talked, and fished. After playing for a while, we went to open gym at My Gym. The kids had a great time. They were making baskets, running around, playing with puppets, playing in the play structure. I was shocked today they did not go in the ball pit or the trampoline. They ventured out. Grammy came over for dinner after the gym. The kids came home and played outside while we finished making dinner. We all had dinner together. Grammy made a fruit salad and all the kids wanted to eat was bananas. You would think they would be sick of bananas by now. After dinner, Grammy made truffles with the kids. It was pretty funny listening to Grammy try to give directions to the kids and they did the total opposite. Chocolate and sprinkles everywhere. Didn’t matter the kids had a great time. We didn’t even attempt to wash them up we just put them in the bath. They had a great time in bath, washing their hair, drawing, playing with the little slide and ferris wheel toy, etc. After bath they showed Grammy their big kid beds. The kiddos discovered to throw all their socks and underwear on the floor and make a mess. Luckily they did clean it back up without a problem. Nicole even said “don’t mess up my mess”. The kids went to bed pretty easily tonight, thank goodness as I am exhausted.

This morning we played at home for a while. The usual stuff I read a zillion books, the kids wanted me to feed them breakfast, we played with baby, and we spent most of the time in the living room waiting to see the trash truck. The kids just love watching it out the window. We went to story time at Hush Baby. It was a little crowded but the kids had a great time. I am hoping the kids will participate if I go there enough. Right now they just sit there and watch. Of course, they love the bunny. The bunny bopped them on the head and kissed them. They have the biggest smiles on their faces when the bunny comes over to them. The kids got lady bugs painted on their arms. After we ran into TJ Maxx. Justin found a basketball outfit he wanted. He will look so cute in it. After we went to Coscto. We got some hot dogs for lunch and then I shopped. The District Costco has a ton of snacks, so the kids ate there way through. We looked at all the books. I didn’t realize we were there for so long. We got home and the kids had quiet time in their beds. I caught Nicole out of her bed putting puppets (socks) on her hands. So she didn’t earn a special stamp. Justin was a good little boy and stayed in his bed, so he will get his stamps. Justin is such a good little boy. We are just amazed at how polite he is always saying please and thank you, helping clean up, etc. Nicole demands our attention more, I hope I always give Justin all the attention he needs. Well the kiddos fell asleep watching TV; a short nap. I love watching them sleep-it is so cute. We went to Orchard Park this afternoon. It was fun. We met some friends there (Jacole, Kristen, and some other mom’s from the mom’s club). The kids played in the sand, on the swing, the usual park activities. We came home and we made dinner. We have been having long family dinners lately. The kids move onto our laps and sit there forever. I think Justin ate an entire watermelon at dinner. After dinner, I decided to clean the couch, vacuum etc. The kids had a blast playing on all the cushions, jumping and falling on the cushions. They were amused which was nice. They have a love/hate relationship with the vacuum. At least I found Nicole’s princess spoon in the couch 🙂 We went upstairs and played a little. Read books and off to bed.

Bret had to work for a while today-ugh. He has a really busy month, so this is just the beginning. The kiddos and I played at home for a while. We made tracks and played trains, we read books, Justin used the sit and spin, dress up…we made a mess. Then we ran to Kohl’s to look for new tennis shoes for the kiddos. Nicole found Dora shoes that she had to have and Justin found Car tennis shoes. Then we dropped off my car at Danny’s so it could get washed. You wouldn’t believe how many toys I cleaned out of the car. We walked over to Toys R Us while the car was being washed. The kids were in the stroller so I ran into Linen N Things real quick, with a snack in the stroller the kids were happy. I haven’t used the stroller in so long so they were ok with it. At Toys R Us, the kids were great about helping me pick out gifts for a couple of their friends. Then I let the kids play. Justin went straight for the train table. He loves all the fancy things on that table. Then we went into a couple of the aisles and played. They both had fun playing with pretend electric guitars. Nicole found a Barney doll she loved. It sang the I love you , you love me song. I thought I would have to buy it but she gave him a hug goodbye and left it for someone else to play with. Of course we had to play on all the cars. Then we walked back to get my car. The kids recognized Home Depot as we walked by and for some silly reason wanted to go in. We came home and shortly after that daddy came home. So we were all able to have lunch together. Then we just played with the kiddos then off to have quiet time. We hope for a nap but don’t expect it any more. Nicole got out of her bed a few times. She was in the rocking chair and we can hear it banging on the wall so she got caught every time. She was so upset that she was in trouble, guess that is good. We got the kiddos out of their beds, and Justin got special stamps for staying in his bed. Nicole was upset she didn’t get stamps so now she knows if she stays in she may get something special. The kids watched Barney and Elmo’s World. After TV time, we decided to go to the Spectrum. It was crazy there, lots of people. We went straight for the fountains. There were lots of big kids there so Nicole was a little intimated. Justin went right in, he sure loves the water. He kept on coming over to us with a big smile on his face. Nicole finally went in and liked the spitting turtles. They had a great time. Then we walked around for a while and of course road the carousal. Nicole was so excited to ride the bunny and Justin went right for the ostrich. We played in the toy store as well with trains, balls, looked at the baby dolls, etc. After dinner, it was time for a bath. The kiddos just love their bath. They love soaping themselves up and putting bubbles in their hair. I let them wash my arms and they love it. Daddy was making the kids laugh so hard, etc. Nicole wanted him to eat her belly and he would say I am not hungry. He said wait I found room then he would get her belly. Justin was busy laughing at everything too. They were probably just over tired. Books and off to sleep, everyone sleeping by 8:45.