Melissa’s Blog

Felt like a busy day. We went to the Spectrum so I could work out. The kids love the workout place. After we ran some errands at the Spectrum, at Target and Carters. Then all of a sudden it was getting close to lunch time. We ran to the grocery store and the kids had so much fun with the little carts. Came home had lunch then made the kids rest a bit. For rest I let the kids watch Elmo’s World. All of a sudden I hear Justin laughing at the TV, so cute. It was about Mr. Noodle sharing a swing. Then we headed off to My Gym for the drop off. The kids were so excited to go. When I left them there Justin was getting on the stairs and swinging from a rope with a big smile on his face. I tried to go clothes shopping for me while the kids were at My Gym. I came home for a bit and walked Cindy. Time alone flew by and I went to get the kiddos. I try to get there early so I can watch the kids play. They had a blast at My Gym. They were doing the space swing-the kids were hanging and going really fast. They also went backwards. Then the bubble storm, it was great. We came home and got ready for New Years Eve. We spent it at friend’s house. It was so nice, we had a great dinner and adult conversation. The kids all played really well. Happy New Years Eve 🙂

I am so sad Bret is working this week, I wish he was off. But he is getting caught up on things. This morning we went to Mission Viejo mall to story time at Pottery Barn Kids. Something we can never do due to pre school. It was cute. My kiddos did so well sitting there listening. We played in the play area for a bit and just walked aroun the mall. It was fun; I even tried to shop a bit for me but too hard with the kiddos. We had lunch together then came home. It was so nice out we played outside for a while. The kids “mowed” the lawn and pushed the truck around in the back yard. Then the kiddos watched some TV and rested a bit. I finished packing up Christmas and cleaned up the living room a bit. We ran to Kohl’s as the kids needed a few more clothes. Then we did the usual driving of cars. The kiddos grabbed their scooters and scooted while taking CIndy the dog for a walk. The kids also rode their bikes, Justin fell though 🙁 After dinner dad and the kids played games while I watched. We went upstairs and I had the kiddos laughing so hard. It took forever to dress them as I was doing it in such silly ways. Then we couldn’t find Justin’s teddy. He decided he would sleep with a Thomas train but then we found teddy. The kids are pretty wired, dad just went upstairs to get them to sleep. Nicole was trying to talk to daddy about Thomas and she couldn’t get out what she wanted to say and finally said I don’t know what I am talking about. So funny!

This morning I needed to get a blood test. The kids were such good kids while they were there with me. We had about a 40 minute wait too. We read books and played with the drawing toy then had a snack. I loved that people commented how well behaved my kiddos were. We came home and I ate, I was so hungry. Then the kiddos rode their bikes to castle park. We met some friends there from pre school. It is always hard for me to talk to people at castle park and keep an eye on my kiddos. We came home and had lunch. I caught up on laundry. Nicole was on the potty and I didn’t get in there fast enough to read her books so Justin did. So cute, she kept on screaming read my another one. I love when they interact. They watched TV for a bit, Thomas and Barney. Justin was pretty sleepy and took a nap on our new shaggy rug in the family room. Nicole and I put away laundry and she was playing with the Zoe puppet and Cindy.

Luckily Cindy is a very patient dog. After Justin woke up I ave the kiddos a bath. They just love bath time and so cute to watch them. We took Cindy for a walk. Nicole was so cute wanting to walk Cindy. Justin just loved walking and looking at the Christmas decorations. He just wanted to drive his car, he saw no reason to walk the dog. They drove their cars and had a blast. Finally dark and cold out we came in. We had dinner, Justin ate a lot and with the nap today maybe a big growth spurt is coming. The kids played trains after dinner then we headed upstairs. The kiddos were kind of awake. We brought Nicole’s new doll crib upstairs so her baby could sleep up there. Both kids have been playing with the mobile. They are up a little late-I hope they go to sleep soon.

This morning we decided to go to the OC Marketplace. It was so empty there, it was nice. We got lots of fruits and veggies and a new area rug for our family room. We were there much longer than we thought we would be. So we headed over to Grammy’s and had lunch. The kids played and rode trikes. I was surprised they rode the trikes since getting the two wheelers. Sharon met us over there as well. She wanted to see the kids and give them Chanukkah presents. She gave them really cute pillowcases, pink kitty and blue dog. The kids were as entertaining as ever. We got home and I am dog sitting for Cindy again. Our house still feels chaotic from the holidays. I tried to get it under control since our friend from college, Tom came over. Dad took down the Christmas tree 🙁 The kids liked Tom. We decided to go to Dave and Busters so the kids could have fun too. Of course, Justin finishes dinner first and says lets play games over and over again. We drove cars, ski ball, and circus games, etc. He has the cutest smile while playing the driving video games. I always think we have enough time there then we always end up rushing out of there. Nicole wanted to hold Tom’s hand. The kids went to bed really easily. Then we just hung out with our good friend Tom. It is nice to catch up with him. Wish we could see each other more often.

This morning we decided to go to the Santa Ana Zoo. Get one more use out of our passes. Most of the animals were sleeping. Of course the kids liked the ostrich and monkeys. The monkeys were a little active. The kiddos were more excited about riding the train. We also rode the carousal. Then we went over to the farm area. The kiddos liked feeding the goats, they wanted more and more goat food. The whole time the kids kept on asking for a snack so we decided to head out for lunch. We also stopped at Target. Nicole’s laptop isn’t working so we want to find her a new one, but every store seems to be out of it. The kiddos fell asleep on the way home. What a nice change for the kiddos to take a nap. We just sat in the car while they napped, of course it killed me as I could have been getting stuff done. We let the kiddos wake up slowly by watching TV. Nicole was sleepy but Justin was ready to go drive his car. After TV and after taking all the Chrismakkah decorations down, we went to the park. The kids biked there while daddy used his trike and I walked just in case I was needed to help a kid. The kids biked all around the park and did so well on their new bikes. When we got home, they drove their cars. They are loving the fast speed on their cars, both going over the curbs with big silly grins on their faces. We had to stop though as the kiddos kept crashing. After dinner, we had play doh night. It was fun, we all did play doh at the kitchen table. The kids really enjoyed it! We keep forgetting to give the kids candy canes. Poor kids we told them they could have it. Against our better judgement we let them have them an hour before bed. We knew the kiddos would go to bed a little later anyhow since they napped. Justin was so cute telling me I love you so much, etc….he was probably stalling going to bed, but I loved every minute of it.

Last night was kind of rough, Justin was throwing up from coughing. Laying in bed he would cough and proably trying to get flem up and threw up, poor little guy. It is so sad as he was so tired and just wanted to sleep. With some cough medicine, he was much better. We let him sleep in our bed for a little while just so we wouldn’t wake up Nicole. This morning the kiddos played so well; I could hardly believe it. They went into the garage to ride their bikes. I was so proud they weren’t fighting I decided to take them to the park to ride bikes. They were having so much fun riding to the park. We got to the park and the kids collided and the only puddle that was there Nicole fell into. She does not like being wet. It was cold out too so I wanted to put some dry clothes on her. She was all smiles riding home and got to put on her favorite outfit. We came in and playe trains for a bit. We listened to some new Thomas music while the kiddos pushed their new bags around, Thomas and Hello Kitty. We cleaned out some toys then I gave the kiddos a bath. The kiddos just played with ducks in the bath. Apparently Justin had the mother duck and Nicole had the baby. It was so fun watching them interact and pretend. They had the ducks go around the tub and used the washclothes to  make rivers. After bath we went upstairs to the tent room. I needed to do some organization. The kids made a mess of clothes and stomped on them but they had fun. They were jumping from one piece of clothing to the next. Dad came home a little early and we all went outside. The kiddos drove their cars. After dinner we went over to our neighbors house, Art and Bernice. It was nice to hang out and chat. The kiddos watched TV and were really good. They gave the kiddos play doh sets for Christmas, really nice of them. The kiddos are sound asleep in their beds, a little later than usual but they are sleeping.

Bret got me a Coach purse and a digital picture frame-I love both! I gave Bret a Trikke, Starbucks gift card, and a sweatshirt. This morning we needed to keep Nicole upstairs as Justin decided to sleep in. We went downstairs and Justin said bikes first. It was so cute. Then we went to check if Santa and the reindeers ate the cookies and carrots the kids left. The kids dumped out their stockings all over the floor. They are loving their new princess and car flahlights. So after taking the time to shop for the gifts, wrap the gifts, the kiddos had them open in about 15 minutes. Justin flung the clothes, he wasn’t interested in those at all. The kiddos got so much, but their favorites are the bikes. It rained so we took the cars out of the garage so they could at least ride in the garage. Finally there was a break in the rain and here are some pics (Justin is still in his jammies).

The rain started again so the kiddos just rode their bikes in the garage. The kids have been so fighty an screamy today-it is driving Bret and I to drink! Nicole can’t seem to leave Justin alone. The kiddos watched the ABC DVD and Thomas. After it was just fighting again. We went from one toy to the next. We also moved things around in the house. I thought if we had their little play kitchen by the real kitchen they would play with it more. And it has seemed to work. Nicole loved cooking for me and her baby.

The kids aren’t really interested in going in the futon room and playing anymore. They just want to be where the action is. There was another break in the rain so we went outside again. I was tired of not being part of the riding so I dug out my roller blades. Nicole wanted to be on her bike right next to me, totally cute but hard since I am not that good on my roller blades. We came in and more fighting. Bret and I can’t take it so we let the kiddos watch some Geo Trax video that came with Justin’s train set. After dinner we just played some more, mostly with trains. We went upstairs early and just read lots of books. Justin said his belly hurt (gas). And as we were kissing Nicole she said her ear hurt. I hope that explains her crankiness. I need to go rest and still try to clean up around here.

This morning the kids slept in a bit. We all needed a goodnight’s sleep. This morning I played a video message from Santa to each kid. It was so cute watching their faces when Santa said their name, age, etc. Santa told Justin he was exceptionally good by being nice this year, and Santa told Nicole she was very good by saying please and thank you. Their faces were priceless watching it in aw. They even reminded Santa what they wanted for Christmas. We ran to Target to return some stuff then walked to Carters. The kids love going into the little farmer’s market and pick out some fruit to eat. When we got home the kids played outside, rode scooters and trikes-little do they know it will be the last time riding trikes. It had been 3 days since bath so they wanted to stay in the bath a really long time. I had to warm up the water 3 times. They played with new squirty Thomas toys they got from grandma/pa for the bath. After bath more fighting. Dad came home and we went to open gym at My Gym. It was empty there-the kids had fun. Dad and Nicole ran to Target as her laptop isn’t working right. Justin and I stayed home and played. We had fun, we read books, played trains, built with blocks. After dinner, we made cookies for Santa. The kids had fun making shapes and putting a ton of sprinkles on. The kiddos left carrots and cookies for Santa and the reindeer. We went upstairs and read Twas The Night Before Christmas. We are not sure if the kiddos get all this. Justin wanted me to sleep in his bed tonight-maybe because he was scared Santa was coming. The kiddos finally went to sleep and we wrapped. Bret and I are going to have Christmas with each other tonight and exchange gifts. Tomorrow it will be way too crazy.

We drove with Paula and gang to see Shamu. Justin took a cat nap on the way down there. We had a great day. We first played at the Bay of Play thing. Of course we went on the tea cups. The kids went in the bounce house and played on the bridges. After we headed to see the Shamu show. The kids were so excited to see Shamu, so cute. After Shamu, Paula strolled Nicole, Katie, and Mikey around to try and nap while I took Sarah and Justin to see the penguins. Nicole didn’t really nap, just had a nice rest. Nicole got to pet an arctic fox’s tail. We went and saw the sharks twice as Justin really loved it. We did a lot; saw the manitees, attempted to pet stingrays. When the stingrays came close Nicole and Justin both pulled their hands away. On our way out we went back to Bay of Play and the kids wanted to ride more rides. There is a ride similiar to Dumbo but with Elmo. The kids weren’t tall enough to ride it by themselves and only two people could fit. So I took one at a time, then Paula went, finally someone from Sea World stayed with the kids while we got everyone on. Not bad a day at Sea World with 2 adults and 5 kids. We stopped at In N Out Burger for dinner. On the way home, Justin said his favorite part of the day was the sharks and Nicole’s was Shamu. Justin fell asleep and Nicole was wide awake on the way home. I am way too tired to write anymore.

This morning it was raining again. Cindy went to someone elses house for a few days, so done with dog sitting. We stayed home and played. Nicole was pretty screamy this morning and the kiddos decided to fight over everything. I was very happy when it was time to go to My Gym. The kids had a great time at My Gym. Today they got to ride the train, they loved it and got to do it a few times. They also hung from the super swing. I wish I brought my video camera. We ran to the grocery store on the way home, forgot something yesterday. Luckily the kids liked running with me in the rain. We came home and the kids took tractors and put the leashes to their skateboard dog and kitty and drove it around the house. There was more fighting too. Aunt Roberta dropped off Tierney. So great to see her, she is getting so big and even more adorable. Justin and Nicole played toys for her and Nicole couldn’t wait to feed her. I got to play with Tierney while my kiddos watched Thomas. I wanted to give them some resty time since we are going to have a busy night. Grandma/pa came over early to play with the kids. They opened some Chanukkah gifts, Justin loved his car carrier and Nicole love her little pony Scootalo. She was really wanting to play with Justin’s toy though. We had Chanukkah dinner. Then the kiddos got so many toys. Justin’s favorite was Geo Trax. Both Grammy and Grandma/pa got pieces of it, so we had to open an early X-mas gift too. Nicole’s favorite toy was a dog in a purse thing. They got this huge Triceratops from Alan, Roberta, and Tierney. The kiddos stayed up late and tomorrow we are going to Sea World. So much going on. They are going to be so sad not to play with their toys. Plus the cleaners are coming so I need to get the house in order.